Thank you so much for your help and reply, its super appreciated and helped me realize some things...
It DOES work properly; it reads zero because it IS zero when the game loads. However, the value displayed in the menu (which is zero at launch) does not update when the variable is increased through gameplay. let's say you pick up a seashell and the seashell counter started at zero but is now one. Thats the kind of interaction I'm trying to achieve, and it doesn't seem like the menu updates when the variable increases. Is this intended design or am I still confused haha...
Thank you so much for your help :)