Chapter 16

Sitting in her wicker chair, Su Han peered outside, unable to stop a pang of dread, the fog was thickening by the hour. If she stepped into it, she’d barely be able to see half a meter around her, let alone anything further away.
Put a few bad apples in that fog, and it’d be way too easy for them to lie in wait and mug anyone who passed. For safety, Su Han holed up indoors, not daring to go anywhere.
The next morning at 9 a.m., the system’s metallic voice echoed: “Day 5: The mist has receded from the island, though dense fog still circles the perimeter.”
“Air quality remains poor (fog exposure), so there’s a risk of developing rhinitis. (Players with cleanliness >60 are immune.)”
“Lately, car accidents have been frequent, with a surge in patients. Hospital medicine supplies are now depleted.”
As soon as the system finished, the dense haze cloaking the island began to dissipate.
But Su Han couldn’t relax; if anything, the heaviness in her chest only grew. Sure, life on the island looked normal on the surface, but the fog still pressed in all around, and there was no way supply ships could get through. The residents could catch sinus infections, the hospital’s medicine stock was already wiped out, and it felt as if things might spiral out of control any minute now.
Su Han was lost in thoughts of how to clear the instance when the robotic system voice chimed in again: “Experience 30/30. Congratulations, player, level up! Talent increased by 1.”
The transparent stats panel shimmered before her,
Name: Su Han (Real-name verified)
Level: 2 (XP 0/30)
Class: Nutritionist (Intermediate level Talent, XP 0/30)
Satiety: 220/220
Cleanliness: 220/220
Stamina: 220/220
Talent Skill (Intermediate): Each in-game day, you have a 45% chance to receive “one bottle of milk + one slice of dark bread.” There’s a 10% chance to get a “three bottles of milk + one meat floss cream bun + one chocolate cake” deluxe meal set. A rare treat (1% chance) may also appear.
Note: All probabilities can trigger at the same time.
Su Han blinked in surprise. She hadn’t even managed to eat breakfast yet this morning, and now, just from leveling up, all her stats had shot to full.
Her talent skill was genuinely practical. With this upgrade, her chances of snagging clean water and food had just skyrocketed, and now there was even a slim chance at “rare food,” whatever that was, but Su Han could guess: anything labeled rare had to be top-tier loot.
And gaining +100 to max satiety, cleanliness, and stamina each? That was just the icing on the cake. Before, her cap was only 120, and anything under 60 in Cleanliness ran the risk of sinus infections, she’d needed to stay hyper-vigilant. But now, with a cap of 220, she could chill a little.
With Level 2 under her belt, both her survival skills and adaptability had soared far beiond where she started.
Only now did Su Han clearly realize just how crucial clearing an instance was. As for all that forum nonsense about “leaving the dungeon early for best value”, yeah, right. Useless advice.
Word spread of the hospital’s empty medicine shelves, and instant panic rippled through the island. People ran every which way, desperate to know what was going on, where the medicine had gone, and what had become of the supply ships.
Left with no other option, the hospital staff finally told the truth: “There’ve been no supply ships for days. Ever since the fog rolled in, nothing’s come through.”
The chaos that followed was immediate. So everyone had just been burning through stockpiles all this time? How long would those last? When would the next ship get here?
Questions were hurled in every direction, each one breeding more anxiety. Soon, crowds flocked to the supermarket, anxious to snatch up whatever supplies they could before everything vanished from the shelves.
But the more panic spread, the faster the supermarket teetered toward collapse.
At 12:16 noon, the system’s robotic voice cut through the noise: “Supermarket looted. All inventory depleted. Store closed permanently from this moment.”
“It’s happening, it’s happening. Here comes chaos,” Su Han couldn’t help but mutter.
The next second, a knock came at her bedroom door.
Su Han’s heart jumped, was the outside mob already at her door? But after a beat, she realized it couldn’t be that bad yet.
“Open up. It’s me.” Xiao Yanxue’s voice called out from the hall.
Su Han went over and pulled open the door.
“Things just went sideways,” Xiao Yanxue said, her face drawn and serious. “It’s been days since the last supply ship. Every bit of food and goods gets us closer to empty. I told you before to stash some essentials, did you?”
Su Han nodded. “Yeah, I stocked up.”
Xiao Yanxue let out an audible breath. “Good. If we stay holed up here in the bamboo loft, we should be able to outlast the worst of it.”
Su Han felt a little awkward. The truth was, she’d only rented this place through today. “Actually, uh, my lease is up... I have to move out tomorrow morning.”
Xiao Yanxue cut her off, voice stern. “It’s chaos out there, where do you think you’re going? Trust me, staying in this loft is the safest move right now. Besides, we’re near the sea. We can hit the beach at night, pick up some seafood, and make a meal out of it.”
Su Han, “…”
Honestly, she just wanted to solo this game, but it looked like Xiao Yanxue was dead-set on taking her along for the ride. The only question: was Yanxue really a big shot, or just playing at it? Could she actually carry them both through this?
Su Han was… skeptical.
But she’d worked hard to blend in as an NPC, and the last thing she wanted was to blow her cover by saying, “I’m a high-level player, just worry about yourself and let me do my thing.”
So, all she could do was echo blandly, “You’ve got a point.”
Then Yanxue shifted to business mode, all seriousness: “What exactly did you prep?”
“Milk, dark bread, instant noodles, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap…” Su Han rattled off a few random items and wrapped it up. “Should last me about a week or so.”
The look in Xiao Yanxue’s eyes flared, she looked like she’d just discovered buried treasure. But she quickly tamped down her excitement, gave a little cough, and tried for nonchalance: “Great. With that much, we could hold out even longer.”
Su Han caught the shift, her eyes flickering. At first she’d assumed Yanxue’s reminders were well-intentioned, but now… now she had to wonder if Yanxue saw her as just a walking supply cache. Get Su Han to hoard food and daily necessities, wait for the right moment to deal with her, and then just inherit the loot? The more she thought, the more suspicious it sounded, Yanxue’s concern was just a little too… extra.
“So, where’s your stash? Got it somewhere safe?” Yanxue pressed, unable to hide her curiosity.
Su Han stared back in silence, growing even more on guard.
Yanxue coughed, collecting herself, and forced a calm tone: “I just thought it’d be safer if we pooled supplies. Easier to keep an eye on everything.”
“No need.” Su Han was convinced something was off, her voice turned icy cold.
Yanxue looked like she wanted to argue, but after a second, she just let it drop. She smiled gently, put on her friendliest face, and said, “Fine, we’ll keep things separate.”
“Mhm.” Su Han replied, then covertly studied Yanxue, searching for hints of her true intentions.
But Xiao Yanxue just walked away without saying a word.
Inside the room, Su Han sat lost in thought.
At dusk, Su Han grabbed a pack of instant noodles and headed to the kitchen.
Downstairs, Xiao Yanxue was busy as always. She filled one empty bucket after another with tap water and stacked them up to the side. Meanwhile, a kettle on the stove was coming to a boil.
Su Han paused at the doorway. Truth was, storing tap water in open buckets is a breeding ground for bacteria if you don’t seal it, and boiled water’s no different once it cools off.
She had no idea what the rules were in this game world, maybe drinking that water would slap her with a nasty debuff. But since she’d stocked up on more than enough bottled water, she’d never needed to risk it.
Still, thinking it through, if fresh water ran out, bad things would happen for sure. Unclean water was a recipe for sickness, but tap water, even with germs, might be a step up from the worst-case scenario.
“Dinner’s instant noodles?” Xiao Yanxue called out while hustling around, catching a rare break. “Water’s just about to boil, come over!”
“Okay.” Su Han walked over cool and calm, but inside she was on high alert, all but waiting for her roommate to pull something sneaky.
“I’ve stored up a ton of water, so use what you want. Honestly, we’ll probably lose water, power, and gas soon,” Xiao Yanxue said, a worried look crossing her face.
Su Han kept her expression unreadable, thinking, Is this girl even listening? I said my lease is up, I’m leaving tomorrow, and yet here she is acting like we’ll be living together in this bamboo hut forever.
On the outside, she didn’t let a hint of irritation show. She simply poured the hot water into her noodles and added the seasoning packets.
The savory aroma instantly filled the air and spread throughout the kitchen.
Xiao Yanxue closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, her face practically glowing with pleasure. “Smells amazing. I haven’t had instant noodles in forever, should’ve stocked up. Can’t believe I forgot.” There was real regret in her voice by the end.
Su Han asked, “So what did you stockpile?”
“Cornmeal, steamed buns, stuff like that.” Xiao Yanxue gave an embarrassed little smile. “Didn’t I tell you? I ran away from home, didn’t have much cash, so I just bought whatever was cheap.”
Su Han thought to herself, Damn, she really keeps her story straight. Gotta hand it to her, the act never slips.
“If you want, you can have the noodles,” Su Han said, her tone slow and casual.
Xiao Yanxue’s lips curled up in a sly little smile, victory twinkling in her eyes. But before she could celebrate, her roommate added, “But I kind of want to try some of your cornmeal porridge or those corn buns. How about we trade?”
The glee on Xiao Yanxue’s face froze instantly. She turned to look at Su Han, incredulous. “Trade?”
Su Han answered matter-of-factly, “Didn’t you say you wanted instant noodles? And I’m craving cornmeal porridge. Seems like a fair swap.”
Xiao Yanxue: “……”
Are you kidding me?! How is this any different from just eating my own stuff?
From her perspective, the least her roommate could do was treat her to dinner, after all, she was the one who’d reminded her to stock up. But now that she’d dropped a hint, Su Han was just supposed to invite her to eat... right?
Xiao Yanxue stared at the floor mutely, but Su Han wasn’t about to let her off so easily. “Honestly, I think we should eat your cornmeal stuff first anyway. Think about it, if the water, gas, and power get cut, you can still eat instant noodles dry, but cornmeal? Not a chance. So we really ought to finish off the cornmeal before anything else.”
Xiao Yanxue’s eyelid twitched. Not only was Su Han refusing to share, she wanted to burn through all of Xiao Yanxue’s supplies first! Such treachery! Ruthless!
“Forget it. Let’s just eat our own stuff,” she snapped coldly, stomping off to her room in a huff.
Under her breath, Su Han muttered so softly it was almost inaudible, “Guess I was overthinking it, assuming she’d try to kill me for my stockpile. She just wanted to sponge off me like usual. Guess she’s out of luck this time.”