Fallout: New Vegas – The Lost Courier

Sunny and Kai arrived back in Goodsprings, the desert sun casting long shadows over the dusty road. Turning to Kai, Sunny offered a small smile.

"I did have one more thing to teach you," she said, crossing her arms. "But I'd understand if you'd rather just take your pay and be on your way."

Kai gave a slight nod. "I'm on my way."

Sunny didn't argue. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of caps, handing them over. "Here's a little spending money for the trouble."

She then fished out a few bobby pins and placed them in his hand. "Also, take these. If you're short on caps and up for a little scavenging, there's always the schoolhouse."

Kai inspected the bobby pins before slipping them into his pocket. "Thanks. I'll take a look at that safe when I get the chance."

Sunny gave a quick nod. "Always happy to help someone down on their luck." She turned to leave but hesitated, glancing back. "Hey, do me a favor. Trudy—she's the bartender at the Prospector. Kind of the town mom. She likes to meet newcomers, and she'd be cross with me if I didn't ask you to poke your head in and say hi."

With that, she headed toward the saloon, leaving Kai standing in the warm breeze. He adjusted his gear and set off toward the old schoolhouse.

The building, weathered and worn, stood at the edge of town, its broken windows and peeling paint a testament to years of neglect.

Pushing the door open, Kai stepped inside.

The air was thick with dust, the scent of mildew lingering in the dimly lit room. Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the boarded-up windows, casting eerie patterns across the scattered desks and rusted lockers.

His Pip-Boy flickered, picking up minor radiation in the air—not dangerous, but a subtle reminder of the wasteland's ever-present decay.

Moving cautiously, he made his way to the back of the room, where an old terminal and a locked safe sat against the wall. He crouched, pulling out the bobby pins Sunny had given him.

He hesitated, a smirk forming as memories of Fallout: New Vegas flooded his mind. This was his first time picking a lock for real, but his hands moved with practiced ease, muscle memory from countless hours in the game guiding him.

Carefully, he inserted the bobby pin, twisting the screwdriver in his other hand. The lock resisted at first, but with a delicate adjustment, there was a soft click, and the safe creaked open.

Inside, he found a small stash—some pre-war money, a few rounds of ammunition, and, most importantly, few stim packs and rad-x . A simple combat knife, nothing special, but in the Mojave, any weapon was better than none.

Stuffing the loot into his bag, he turned his attention to the terminal. With a few taps, he bypassed its primitive security, revealing old logs and schematics. Most of it was junk, but one entry caught his eye—an old cache hidden just outside of town.

"Looks like I've got my next stop," he muttered, standing up and making his way out of the schoolhouse.

Kai slowly made his way toward the stash mentioned in the log. After a few minutes of searching, he found it—a small cache containing more Stimpaks and chems. Alongside these valuable supplies, he also discovered some scrap and junk, which he could sell later.

With his loot secured, he headed back toward town, following the road. As he walked, he spotted something unusual near a rock—a body. The sight took him by surprise. This was the first time he had ever seen a dead body, and for a brief moment, he froze.

However, he quickly forced himself to calm down, reminding himself that this world was dangerous. If he wanted to survive, he would have to get used to seeing death—and, eventually, taking lives himself.

Pushing aside his hesitation, Kai looted the corpse. He found some .345 Magnum ammunition, a Deprecado hat, and a bounty hunter duster. There was also a note detailing information about a bounty hunter. Pocketing his findings, he continued his journey, making his way toward the Goodsprings graveyard.

At the graveyard, he searched the area, picking up some additional supplies, including a snow globe. Once he had gathered everything of value, he set his sights north, following the road toward one of the most dangerous places to visit early in the game—Chance's Grave.

As he approached, he spotted a small pack of coyotes resting on a nearby hill. Deciding to take them out from a distance, he raised his Varmint Rifle and carefully picked them off one by one. Once the area was clear, he moved in, using his machete to carve up the carcasses for meat.

Continuing forward, he remained cautious, scanning for any potential threats. Soon, he reached the area where the grave was located—but something made him hesitate.

Down in the valley, more than twenty Cazadores swarmed the area, their buzzing wings a constant, ominous noise. Kai knew how deadly they were, especially at this stage.

He took a deep breath and moved carefully, making his way toward Chance's Grave as silently as possible.

He retrieved the Chance's Knife and Great Khan armor, then immediately began his retreat. Climbing back up the path, he didn't stop until he was at a safe distance, then made a break for Goodsprings, not wanting to linger any longer than necessary.

By the time he finally returned, the sun was beginning to set. Evening had arrived, and with it, the end of a long and eventful day.

After arriving back in town, Kai made his way to the Prospector Saloon to meet Trudy. Pushing open the door, he stepped inside and spotted a woman with red hair standing behind the counter. Approaching her, he said, "Excuse me."

Hearing his voice, the woman turned to look at him and smiled. "Well, you've been causing quite a stir. Glad I finally got to meet you. Welcome to the Prospector Saloon."

Kai wasted no time and got straight to the point. "I'm trying to track down the people who attacked me. Do you know anything about them?"

Trudy nodded, her expression turning serious. "Not much, other than they're a bunch of freeloaders who expected a few rounds on the house. I was able to get them to pay up, though." She then gestured toward a damaged radio on the counter. "Of course, one of the Great Khans knocked my radio to the floor 'by accident,' and it hasn't been working since."

Kai considered her words before asking, "Did my attackers say where they were going?"

"I didn't hear exactly," Trudy replied, "but their leader was talking about the Strip. If he wants to get there and avoid the I-15, he'd have to go east. Take Highway 93 up."

Kai gave a slight nod. "Thanks."

"Be careful out there," Trudy said as she returned to her work behind the counter.

As Kai stepped outside, a familiar notification appeared in front of him:

Welcome to Level 2.

A new screen displayed his available skill points—13 in total. Wasting no time, he allocated them carefully:

###

Barter – 7

Energy Weapons – 22

Explosives – 23 (+1)

Guns – 42

Lockpick – 25 (+3)

Medicine – 25 (+2)

Melee Weapons – 35 

Repair – 24 (+2)

Science – 25 (+2)

Speech – 20 (+3)

Sneak – 42 

Survival – 25 (+2)

Unarmed – 23

###

After distributing the points, another screen popped up—this time displaying the available perks. As Kai examined the list, he made two major discoveries.

First, he could select two perks instead of one.

Second, there were far more perks than usual in the selection window.

It seemed that the mod he had downloaded was working everywhere.

As the perk screen appeared, Kai carefully examined his options before selecting his first perk:

Bright Side of Life – At least those bullets hitting your body are rarely criticals...

For his second choice, he picked:

Rapid Reload – Your experience with handling firearms has made you more efficient. With this perk, all your weapons reload 25% faster.

As soon as he confirmed his selections, the screen disappeared, and almost immediately, he felt a change in his body. His reflexes seemed sharper, his hands steadier. Curious to test the effect, he pulled out his Varmint Rifle, ejected the magazine, and reloaded it.

To his surprise, the process was noticeably faster—just like in the game. Seeing this confirmed that the perks were working exactly as intended. This realization only deepened his understanding of just how closely reality mirrored the mechanics of the game.

By the time Kai finished experimenting, night had fallen, and he needed a place to stay. Without many options, he made his way toward Victor's Shack. Entering the small, dimly lit space, he decided that, for the next few days, this would be his home.

Setting his bag down, he took out the coyote meat he had collected earlier and began cooking it over a makeshift fire. The process took about half an hour, and when it was finally done, he took a cautious bite, expecting the worst. To his surprise, it actually tasted decent—not great, but far from inedible.

With his hunger satisfied, Kai lay down on the old, dirty bed. It was uncomfortable, but exhaustion soon overtook him, and before he knew it, he drifted off into sleep.

###

the perk mod which uses here is

- More Perks by Kyung-Bum Lee 

link - https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35979