Chapter 15

Suddenly, Su Han caught a strange sound.
“Mmmph, mmph!” Like someone being smothered, their mouth forced shut.
“Get him out of here, now!” The voice tried to keep low, but she could hear them clearly.
Then came the rustle of movement, furtive, suspicious.
Every alarm bell in Su Han’s head went off. One thought slammed in: If volunteer jobs get assigned by the system, does that mean all those guards at the roadside are players too?
Which means, right now, a group working together, a kidnapping in progress, an obvious setup for ransom…!
Through the thick fog, it was impossible to tell how many people there were, or what they'd do next. Not looking for trouble, Su Han quickened her pace and slipped away. She pretended she’d heard absolutely nothing.
The next day, the fog around the island grew even heavier.
On day three, visibility dipped lower still.
But Su Han enjoyed herself more than ever. To avoid drawing attention from her fellow bamboo-hut tenants, every day at dawn she’d sneak off to the beach to collect seafood.
Soon, she’d haul back a full bucket, saving some for meals and selling the rest. Her prices were fair, her menu delicious, so business was booming: three, four hundred Bei in profit each day, easy.
No need to spend money on food, and for cleaning up, just ten Bei bought her two bars of soap at the general store. By game day four, not only had she left most of her supplies untouched in her portable inventory, she’d stacked up a thousand Bei cash in hand.
Su Han did the math: fifty Bei per day for the bamboo hut, she’d already paid five days’ rent. Clearing the instance required twenty days, so she’d need to set aside 750 Bei for the rest of her stay.
So, off she went to the pharmacy, determined to blow 250 Bei. To her surprise, chaos was erupting inside.
A beefy customer with a surly face was ranting at the clerk, voice booming: “First day I came, you said you were out of stock and to come back tomorrow. Fine, I get it, I was late.”
“Day two, I come running at dawn. You tell me the supply boat had some accident and the shipment’s still not here. Another day to wait.”
“Day three, same story. ‘No idea why, but the boat still hasn’t come. Wait again.’”
“Now it’s day four! What’s your excuse this time? Honestly, I’m starting to think you’re just messing with me for kicks!”
The clerk looked ready to burst into tears, her face twisted with worry. “I swear, I’m not lying! The ship never showed up, I’m losing my mind too!”
Afraid he wouldn’t believe her, she hastily added, “We don’t have a factory on the island; everything gets delivered by boat. Normally, the supply boat comes every other day. This time…who knows what happened? It’s been missing for days!”
“Yeah, right!” The man snorted, not buying it at all.
Su Han’s heart jolted with a sudden, dreadful hunch, the supply boat’s delay could be bad luck…or maybe it was never coming at all…
“I…” The clerk was out of words. She could talk all day, but she couldn’t summon a boat out of thin air.
“Excuse me,” Su Han cut in, voice grim, “does the supply boat deliver just medicine, or is all the island’s stock delivered that way?”
The clerk gulped and nodded, “All our necessities come in by boat…”
Su Han’s heart dropped. She hadn’t misjudged, this was bad. Without a word, she turned and bolted to the general store.
The big customer was still catching up, muttering, “Who cuts in when people are talking? And then bolts without even saying goodbye? No manners at all.”
Suddenly, realization hit. “Wait, if the supply boat never comes, and the pharmacy runs out…doesn’t that mean the supermarket will…”
“That’s exactly right.” The clerk pressed her lips together and nodded in defeat.
“Shit!” The man practically jumped to the ceiling, then tore out of the store.
Meanwhile, Su Han sprinted toward the supermarket, piecing it all together at last.
This whole island produced nothing; every daily necessity was ferried in by boat from the outside. The fog itself wasn’t deadly, just a few car crashes, but the real danger was how it cut the island off completely!
Most people were still living their best lives, naively happy and utterly unprepared, never guessing that crisis was about to crash down on them.
The supermarket was probably running on fumes, scraping by with what little inventory remained. If fresh supplies never came, it wouldn’t last more than a few days for sure.
Once upon a time, Su Han had thought the system’s daily inflation announcements were the scariest thing. All it took was a glance at the price tags for most folks to spiral into panic. What was worse, as days passed, people only sunk deeper into despair, tumbling closer to hell with no hope in sight.
But now she realized, sometimes, the worst thing was how normal everything seemed, until all at once you realized you were about to drop into a survival nightmare. That gut punch? Still left her reeling, nowhere near recovered.
The supermarket was already in sight.
Su Han didn't hesitate, she charged in and started shopping like there was no tomorrow. Her plans to save money for rent? Scrapped. Food and water were currency now, why not just pay rent in bread and bottled water?
Her portable inventory was already packed, but that didn’t stop Su Han’s stockpiling instincts one bit. Only now did she notice, shelves were running thin. A couple people nearby were scooping up supplies in secret too, clearly catching on that something was very wrong.
Su Han acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary, grabbing twenty bars of soap and twenty bottles of mineral water, then happily stocked up on chocolate, colorful candies, cookies, and little cakes. For daily necessities, she picked out towels, toothpaste, face wash, air freshener, perfume, and toothbrushes.
Honestly, she would have hoarded all the soap if she could. Too bad the supply was limited, left with no choice, she had to fill her quota with other items instead.
Doing the math, she realized that pairing twenty soaps with other toiletries would last her at least until after the second instance. Twenty bottles of water, plus the milk from her innate skill, would more than cover her drinking needs. As for the snacks, they were easy to carry and, teamed up with her talent’s bread, were enough to keep her satiety in check and her status debuff-free.
After this wild shopping spree, Su Han was left with just 100 Bei, but walked back to the bamboo hut utterly satisfied.
At exactly 9 a.m., the system’s robotic voice chimed in, “Day 4: The fog has spread further. Due to poor air quality, people are highly susceptible to rhinitis. (Players with cleanliness >80 are immune.)”
At the same time, three bottles of milk, a meat floss cream bun, and a slice of chocolate cake appeared in her inventory.
Su Han sighed, a bit wistful. “As soon as people start panic-buying necessities, the supermarket’s days are numbered.”
Shaking her head, she pushed the thought away, turning her attention to steaming up some crabs.
By day four in the game, picking up seafood on the beach was becoming tougher by the minute. Once word got out, the crowds only grew; with so many hands grabbing, the bounty washed ashore by the waves dwindled every day.
Take this morning, for example. Su Han had spent ages at it, finally managing to fill half a bucket after considerable effort. She’d planned to hit the pharmacy next to snatch up some meds before heading back to hunt more, but honestly, her mood was shot.
Chewing on freshly steamed crab, Su Han mused that survival games really were no joke, it’s just one trap after another.
If anyone got lulled into complacency by the easy living of the past few days, they were probably heading for disaster soon. Even she’d been fooled for a split second, thought maybe there was no rush to exchange all her money for supplies since natural disasters didn’t close the store. Now? She just wanted to laugh... or maybe scream.
It’s just human nature: live too long in peace, and you can’t help but let your guard down, start believing this calm will go on forever. But ready or not, trouble always shows up on schedule.
“Hey, having a snack?” someone called.
Su Han looked up; it was her housemate, Xiao Yanxue. She looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, that just-graduated kind of vibe, and her room was right next door.
The bamboo building’s second floor had four rooms; two were empty for now, which meant only the two of them were living there.
“Want to try some?” Su Han invited her over.
“Oh, should I really?” Xiao Yanxue said, but sat down cheerfully without waiting for a second invitation.
“Don’t worry. I can’t finish it all by myself anyway,” Su Han said breezily.
With so much stuff stockpiled, she really didn’t mind sharing the day’s fresh seafood in a gesture of goodwill.
As she ate, Xiao Yanxue made small talk, “So, where are you from? Why’d you pick the bamboo lodge?”
Su Han thought to herself: Is this girl an NPC or a player? Eating my food while grilling me for personal data, seriously?
Still, she kept a poker face. “I just graduated from college,” she replied, casual as anything. “Traveling on the cheap while I still have time, who knows when work will let me take off again?”
With her baby face and one year out of school, Su Han found it easy to spin this kind of tale.
“I see,” Xiao Yanxue lowered her gaze, thinking to herself that this one must be an NPC. In a survival game, what real player would have too much food and start handing it out?
“What about you?” Su Han tossed the question back.
Xiao Yanxue froze, then shrugged off the topic with a breezy, “Had a fight with the family, so I ran off for some peace and quiet.”
So she’d stormed out and ended up bunking alone in the cheapest room? On paper, her story made perfect sense.
Su Han mused: if this girl hadn’t kept showing up to mooch food, she might almost have believed it. But Xiao Yanxue was stingy with food and drink, like she’d just time-skipped in from some apocalypse novel, a total dead giveaway for a player. No matter how sweet she talked, it just didn’t add up.
But knowing or not knowing made no real difference to Su Han, since she always played multiplayer games like they were single-player. No interest in teaming up, no plans to lure others into a trap, she just wanted her own quiet life.
After they’d eaten their fill, Xiao Yanxue threw out a casual tip: “You should try to stock up on daily essentials and food these next few days.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Su Han feigned innocent confusion.
Xiao Yanxue answered lightly, “The fog keeps closing in. If you pile up enough stuff, you won’t have to run outside as much. Besides, what if you get hit by a car out there?”
Su Han nodded, totally agreeing: “Good point.”
As Xiao Yanxue got up to leave, a faint, sly smile played around her lips.
Su Han stroked her chin, deciding her roommate had some conscience after all, sure, she ate for free, but at least she handed out fair warnings.