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HC: Handyman | Ch. 190 - Tomorrow
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 10:56:37 +0000 UTCIt was morning in the real world, and night was about to fall in the Breach.
The team was deep into the sixth shagrat wave. Even though there were roughly twice as many as in wave 21, things were looking much better than the first time they’d faced them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Another group of shagrats collapsed under Marie’s barrage before reaching the ditch.
Christoff and Amari quickly dispatched the few that made it past her. With every strike, their rapid attacks tore huge chunks of HP from the creatures.
Closer to Jack, Horace slammed into a shagrat trying to climb out of the ditch. As his warhammer connected, a chunk of the shagrat’s HP disappeared. The attack had hit hard enough to finish it.
Jack smiled with pride. What a difference a proper meal makes.
He glanced at the meal buffs in the corner of his vision:
Beefy Strike: Deals 2% of the enemy’s max HP damage per strike. Doesn’t work on elites or bosses.
Rodent Vitality: +150 HP and +100 stamina for 20 minutes
Ratty Protein: +5 attack
It had taken a bit of trial and error, but Jack had finally cracked the recipe: Pickled shagrat steak, mountain sorrel, and a base of bone broth. The resulting buffs were a cut above the first version.
The added attack bonus was nice, but the real game-changer was the 2% max HP damage. That bonus alone made it feel like they were slicing through the wave twice as fast.
“Argh! I missed one!” Horace groaned as a shagrat managed to climb out of the ditch while he was busy.
The beast made a break for the fortress but didn’t get far. It limped through a patch of caltrops, prompting several damage numbers to appear and deplete its HP, until it dropped.
Thanks to the materials he’d brought back from outside, the entire stretch between the ditches was fully covered again. And with the flag flying above the wall, every trap now dealt 50% extra damage. Even the occasional shagrat that slipped through their line rarely survived more than a few meters.
The battle continued, steady and controlled, until the final shagrat fell.
Wave 26 cleared. +1 Breach Point.
Jack lowered his ocarina. He’d supported the team in every single battle throughout the night. Ironically, the toughest wave had been the first—harder even than Wave 25, which had brought a shagrat elite.
They had the fights under control now, but the gap between them and the waves was shrinking. Everyone was needed on the front lines. Despite the buff meals and the fully rebuilt trapfield, things hadn’t eased enough for anyone to leave the fortress—not yet. But maybe that was about to change.
Jack rubbed his hands together, a grin tugging at his lips. “So… are we doing this or what?”
“Easy, cowboy,” Marie teased.
“Can you blame him? We haven’t touched the Breach Store this entire run,” Horace said.
It had been a while since they’d unlocked a hidden aid package, too. The only one they’d found recently had been Horace’s—and it wasn’t anything special. A one-time-use item that might help against a boss.
Everyone was eager for something more. The ring of a notification. The thrill of a new power-up.
They needed this one to deliver.
If they didn’t get stronger soon, they’d start falling behind. And once they fell behind, the beasts would begin to overwhelm them. What they needed wasn’t just a new trick—it was breathing room. This package was supposed to be that buffer. The thing that bought them space to explore again.
Even so, Amari remained stoic. “Yes. It’s time to purchase a hidden package. But I think Jack should do it—he’s got the highest luck stat.”
“Does that impact the kind of package we get?” Jack asked, frowning.
Amari shrugged. “Who knows? Better safe than sorry, I guess.”
“All right, here goes.”
“Shut up and do it already,” Marie said.
Jack hesitated, hand hovering over the prompt. Fifty Breach Points. What if it was a dud?
He shook off the thought. No. They needed this.
Do you want to purchase an Aid Package for 50 Breach Points?
He accepted.
Their hard-earned points reset, dropping to zero, but for a few moments, nothing happened.
“Did the system glitch or something?” Jack asked, frowning at the screen.
“I don’t know,” Horace said, scratching his head.
Amari clicked his tongue. “Argh… maybe it’s because Jack managed to cheat his way back into the Breach. The map’s bugging and—”
A sound interrupted him—thin, high, and distant. A whistle through the pass, sharp as a blade, as if the mountain itself were exhaling. The moment it reached them, everything seemed to still at once.
The flag above the fortress wall, which had been flapping lazily all day, suddenly fell limp. Then, with a snap, it twisted in the opposite direction.
A gust of wind slammed through the mountain pass, surging down the road from the direction of the fortress. It was so strong that the gates burst open with a metallic groan. The wind hit them head-on—fierce, freezing. Jackets flared, cloaks whipped, and Jack staggered a step back, teeth clenched against the chill.
Then, just as suddenly, the gust died.
Jack stared down the pass. “What was that?”
Before anyone could answer, the screen blinked, and a notification flared to life.
You’ve unlocked an Aid Package: [Tramontane].
Tramontane
The weather is volatile in the mountains. Strong, cold winds blow from the north, bringing ice and cold.
Effects:
While a wave attacks, the wind will blow through the mountain pass.
-50% movement speed when moving against the wind
Wave number / 10 × cold damage per second
Small chance of frostbite
For a moment, silence hung over the group. Jack reread the description. It was short—barely a paragraph—and honestly, he couldn’t tell if it was any good. His eyes flicked to Amari, whose face remained unreadable.
Then came the tiniest smile.
“Not bad. Not bad at all.”
“YES!” Horace whooped, grabbing Marie’s arms and spinning her around.
Usually, she’d bark something snarky, but now she just laughed—freely, joyfully.
“So this is good?” Jack asked.
Amari nodded. “Oh yes. We were fortunate,” he said, throwing Jack a wink. “Look. This wind doesn’t only affect the mobs—it affects us too. That would’ve been a huge problem if not for your skill and Horace’s package.”
“You mean [Fat Insulation]?”
“Exactly. It boosts cold resistance. So does [1000-Year-Old Ice]—the one Horace found!”
“And the 50% speed debuff is HUGE,” Marie added. “That means I can throw twice as many bombs, and Christoff can fire twice as many arrows before the wave gets to the ditch.”
Jack imagined a stampede of shagrats slowed to a crawl, like beasts charging through molasses. “You’re right. This is good.”
“Better than good,” Horace said. “It even scales with the wave number. That means it’ll stay relevant in the next waves of the Breach. Honestly? It’s the best package I’ve seen. EVER. ”
“One of the best,” Amari corrected gently. “But only because it synergizes nicely with what we already have.”
Jack’s heart beat a little faster. “Does that mean we can start leaving the fortress again?”
“Oh yes. I think Marie and Christoff might be enough to hold the waves on their own. At least until wave 30.”
“Really?!”
Amari nodded. “We’ve earned it.”
Jack exhaled in relief.
“So, shall we take a break, like we agreed?” Marie prompted
“Yeah, sure,” Horace said. “Let’s log out. Be back in how long?”
Jack thought back to the last time he’d had to rush to get back. “Let’s say two hours?” he suggested after some thought.
“Sounds perfect. See you there.”
One by one, everyone left the Breach.
Jack lingered a moment longer, still thinking about the package. The best part wasn’t just that they could explore again. It meant he and Horace were finally free to leave the Breach. It was almost time to save Rob.
Jack logged out.
*
Jack raced down the stairs, track suit on. As he rounded the corner, he heard coughing from the living room—deep, ragged.
His dad was sitting on the couch, hunched forward slightly, a hand over his chest. The coffee mug had been set aside on the table, safely out of the way.
“Dad?”
José waved him off and straightened, clearing his throat. “Morning, son!” he rasped, then coughed again into his sleeve.
“You okay? Do you have a cold?”
“Oh, no. Coffee just went down the wrong pipe,” he said quickly, reaching for the mug again. “There’s some left if you want it.”
Jack hesitated. Then he nodded. That made more sense. He’d never seen his father sick before. As he liked to brag in Portuguese, he had iron health.
“Okay.”
Jack crossed to the counter and poured himself a mug, grabbing a banana while he was at it. The TV was tuned to a news channel—some political trial involving a disgraced official.
“Weren’t you supposed to be working already?” Jack asked.
“I got a call late last night. A pipe burst in an Airbnb, and the owners were desperate. But I sorted it out—just staying in a bit longer now.”
His father turned down the volume and glanced at him. “So? How your week is going?”
“It’s good, Dad.”
“How was your trip to…”
“Providence.”
“Providence, right. It went well?”
Jack thought of Holly, of the train ride, and her presence beside him—chatty, open, curious. He smiled.
“It was good.”
His father gave him a look—not skeptical, just quietly observant. “Happy to hear it.” He sipped his coffee, then added, “And how you are feeling about tomorrow?”
Jack blinked. “Tomorrow?”
“Friday,” his dad said, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.
“Oh. Right. Sorry. I forgot today’s Thursday. I’m ready.”
“We’ll leave at seven.”
Jack gulped at the thought of being up that early, but still managed a nod. “No problem.”
His father smiled, just barely. “Nervous?”
Jack hesitated. The truth was, he hadn’t thought much about it. His mind had been so tied up with Rob, Lydia, and—since yesterday—Holly, that the idea of spending a day working alongside his dad had felt distant.
He glanced at his father’s mug, then at the quiet way he was watching him. Weighing his reaction.
Jack thought of the shagrats—their claws, their shrieks, the weight of holding a line with friends who trusted him.
Compared to that?
Jack shook his head. “I’m okay, Dad.”
His father raised an eyebrow. “I figured you’d be dreading it. One full day of hard work with your old man?”
Jack shrugged. “I’ll do my best. Can’t promise I’ll keep up with you, though.”
José chuckled. “Haha. Good. That’s the spirit.”
Jack finished his banana and drained the rest of his coffee. “I’m heading out for a run, okay?”
“Alright. See you later, son.”
As Jack opened the door, he glanced back—just briefly. His father was sipping his coffee again, backlit by the pale morning light.
He really does seem fine, Jack told himself. Probably nothing.
Jack stepped outside, letting the door close behind him.
José watched him go.
Once he was out of sight, the old man stopped holding the cough in. He bent forward slightly, coughing hard—deep and ragged. It took a while to settle.
He wiped his eyes, breathing out slowly. “He really is changing,” he murmured. “A month ago, he’d be squirming about spending a whole day doing dirty work.”
He steadied himself, then reached for his phone. For a moment, he just stared at it.
Then, with a sigh, he opened the hospital email again and read through it one more time. When he finished, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting the silence settle around him.
“That leaves me at ease,” he said softly. “My boy will be okay.”
He finished the last of his coffee and stood.
“Time to go to work.”
*
Jack had just finished his first lap around the park. The first time he’d come out to jog, he could barely make it halfway without stopping. Now, he felt good—like he could go two full laps. Maybe even three.
Then his phone buzzed.
He slowed to a walk, checked the screen, and smiled.
“Hey, Rob.”
“Hi, Jack. What’s up?” his cousin replied. In the background, a bus announcement crackled, calling out the next stop. Rob was probably on his way to work.
“Not much,” Jack said, a little winded.
“You sound out of breath. Everything okay?”
“I was jogging,” he replied, still breathing hard.
“Oh. I see. Good for you, cous. You tried calling earlier—what was that about?”
Jack wiped sweat from his brow, still smiling. “Where’s IronIre camping you?”
There was a pause. “Uh… why do you want to know?”
Jack’s grin widened. “Because I have a way to save you.”
“Wait—you?”
Jack chuckled. “I know how that sounds. But I’m serious. I think I can break you out.”
Rob went quiet for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was cautious.
“Forgive me for not believing you, Jack… but I doubt there’s anything you can do to help.”
“I don’t blame you,” Jack said. “But you won’t feel that way after I tell you the plan.”
He let the pause linger.
Rob sighed. “Against my better judgment… what is the plan?”
Jack’s grin returned. “So, this is how we’re going to do it…”
