Chapter 8

On the night of Day 11, chaos erupted across the whole town: robberies everywhere! Supermarkets, restaurants, pharmacies, convenience stores, bakeries, any shop still open got looted, no exceptions.
All night long, Su Han hid out in a nearly finished apartment shell (no doors or windows, come and go as you please) and listened to the nonstop screams and wailing outside. All kinds of noise echoed, smashing, looting, burning, you name it.
And all Su Han could do was shift to a more comfortable position and, sleep.
The morning of Day 12, Su Han peeked out the window. Only then did she realize how brutal it had been. The handful of shops still open were now piles of rubble; the owners nowhere to be found. Several people lay sprawled in the street, most badly wounded, some on the edge of death. Anyone whose stamina hit zero must have already respawned by now. As for the major lifeline, the supermarket, there were suddenly fifty guards stationed out front overnight, there was no way they'd let anything happen to it.
"Definitely more than one group pulled this off," Su Han muttered. "And more and more people simply can’t hold on anymore."
Even with purchase limits, if you were willing to line up, you might get lucky and buy something. She was tempted to join the supermarket rush, but her pockets were empty, not a single coin left, so she gave up.
She tore into a meat floss cream bun and started tallying her hoard.
In her portable storage: 100 bars of soap, 14 more bars split across two slots, 100 bottles of water, 9 meat floss cream buns, 60 packs of instant noodles, 10 rolls of medical bandages, 5 boxes of antibiotics, 69 bags of steel shot, 2 slingshots, and her fishing rod.
Inside her backpack, she had a half-used pack of steel pellets, five candles, five lighters, one magnesium bar, and a flint striker.
That was the sum total of all her worldly possessions.
Su Han mused, “Should I start stockpiling more ready-to-eat food?”
Take instant noodles, for example, they’re technically edible raw, but the satiety restored is barely half of what you’d get after cooking, so eating them dry is a total rip-off. Right now, all the instant food she had left was nine meat floss cream bun.
“When I first started playing, I figured those buns were too expensive to buy in bulk. I barely had enough money as it was, so I didn’t hoard them. Milk and black bread take up too much inventory space, so I prioritized gobbling those up first.” Su Han calculated carefully. “Now where the hell am I supposed to get more meat floss cream buns?”
Her innate skill had a 5% chance of dropping a “deluxe meal set”, three bottles of milk, one meat floss cream bun, and a slice of chocolate cake. The odds were so laughably low she could basically forget about it.
Su Han rested her chin in her hand. “Maybe I should just eat up the rest of the meat floss cream bun s and start stockpiling black bread instead?”
After all, black bread was reliably obtainable, way easier to hoard. Those buns, though… She had a hunch they’d be pretty much extinct by the late stages of this instance.
She organized her inventory while mentally reviewing her gameplan. Before she knew it, it was 9 a.m.
The system’s cold, robotic voice rang out right on time: “Day 12. Prices have increased by 100%.”
“Power shortage. From today, electricity will be rationed. All residential buildings will have two hours of blackout daily, with a total blackout after 8 p.m.”
“Due to neglected water pipe maintenance, bacteria counts in the tap water are critically high. From today, tap water is unsafe to drink. (Drinking it anyway risks severe negative status effects.)”
Su Han felt her heart sink. Power rationing wasn’t a big deal, she only operated during the day, and she had candles for light. But losing safe drinking water? That was brutal. Nobody can survive without water. Panic would only ratchet up from here.
The only bit of luck: she found four bottles of milk, a piece of black bread, a meat floss cream buns, and a slice of chocolate cake in her backpack, a double drop from her innate skills, snagging two full meal sets at once.
Chocolate Cake: Restores 40 satiety when eaten.
Su Han had never been so grateful to be a “nutritionist.”
She could just hide out somewhere quiet, but after a moment’s hesitation, Su Han decided to go out scouting, never hurts to pick up a few more supplies.
But the moment she stepped out of her apartment block, she spotted a street vendor set up beside the supermarket, instantly drawing a crowd.
Curious, Su Han wandered closer.
The street stand offered boxes of matches, long stick candles, and bottles of mineral water, enough to tempt anyone. Next to the stand was a massive backpack, clearly meant for hauling all the goods.
A sign stood on the left: “If I get robbed, I’m out.” Warning or threat? Hard to say.
On the right, another sign: “Barter only. Accepting jewelry and medicine. For other useful items, ask first.”
“Come on, line up! One at a time, no rush!” The stall owner was a guy around twenty-five, tall, probably six-foot-one, built solid and athletic, with that unmistakable air of someone who worked out for real.
Su Han had to admit, this dude had guts. Setting up shop right next to a supermarket, watched by forty or fifty security guards, no sane person would dare try robbing him.
But the ruthlessness of it, “If I get robbed, I’m out”, that’s pure intimidation, right there on the sign.
As time ticked by, people soon realized it wasn’t worthless currency that made life scary, but the fact that even with money, they couldn’t buy what they needed.
Having a reliable pop-up shop like this was a rare bright spot, even if it wasn’t easy, at least there was hope. If this stall vanished, where would they even start looking for candles or drinkable water?
So the crowd was extremely well-behaved, quickly lining up in a long, orderly queue.
Su Han didn’t need water or candles, so she watched from the sidelines in silence.
The first customer opened her palm to reveal a blinding array of gold rings, necklaces, and earrings.
“What’ll it be?” The young vendor asked with perfect calm.
“I want candles and mineral water.” The buyer sounded nervous.
“One gold piece gets you two candles, or one bottle of water,” the guy replied, totally unphased.
“That’s robbery!” the customer gasped.
“If you think it’s a rip-off, don’t trade. Not like I’m forcing you.” He shrugged. “But I’d hurry if I were you, I don’t have much left in stock.”
Translation: even if you’re willing to pay later, there might not be any left.
The woman gritted her teeth. “Fine, I’ll take two candles and a bottle of water.” She quickly pocketed one of the gold rings, couldn’t bear to give them all up at once.
The first transaction went smoothly.
Su Han, watching nearby, noticed that after glancing at the gold ring, she could see a floating label: “Gold ring, marked gold, 4.8g.” Handy, no risk of someone trying to scam you.
The second buyer brought out a small golden Buddha statue, boasting, “This weighs a solid 50 grams! You’re not gonna count this as just one gold piece, are you?”
“Ten pieces. What do you want for it?” the vendor asked evenly.
The buy tried to haggle, but he just shot her a cold look. “That thing’s a pain to carry around and hard to break up. That’s the rate.”
The customer shut up, resigned, and just quietly made her choice.
The third in line offered a jade bracelet, lush green, looking pretty nice.
Su Han couldn’t help considering trading for some gold herself. It wasn’t useful in this instance, but it might come in clutch for the next one, right?
But after thinking it over, she let the idea go, gold was a hassle to carry, and besides, she’d only exchanged a small amount of currency before entering the game, so her hoard wasn’t nearly big enough to be tossing around just yet.
She shook her head and walked away, disappointed.
The young vendor tilted his head as he watched Su Han leave, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
With nothing else to do, Su Han wandered the marketplace.
The so-called “marketplace” didn’t actually have a set location. But once enough people started opening stalls and browsing, energy and crowds naturally gathered, and more folks would swing by to check it out.
And that’s how the market on the overpass came to be.
Su Han wandered forward, taking her time, eyes drifting from stall to stall. Maybe it was all that chaos and looting last night, because the selection here was oddly abundant, canned goods, shampoo, medical bandages, you name it.
Someone brushed past her, muttering under their breath, “Player?”
Easy to overlook if you weren’t paying attention.
Su Han’s instincts twitched; she turned to look. Standing behind her was a young girl, seventeen, maybe eighteen at most.
The girl kept her voice low. “I have news. Got any daily necessities?”
“Let’s talk somewhere more private. This way.” Su Han took the lead, steering them away.
The girl pressed her lips together and fell in step.
Only when they reached a quiet corner, ensuring no one else was near, did Su Han raise a brow. “How do I know your info’s even worth it? I’m not paying for something I already know.”
The girl replied, “I’ll tell you the first half, then you decide if you want to hear the rest.”
Su Han arched an eyebrow, amused. “Such as?”
“All daily necessities raise cleanliness but…” The girl trailed off, clearly hinting Su Han needed to pay up for the rest.
But Su Han just said, “That, I already know.”
“All food can, ”
Su Han cut her off, deadpan. “Yeah, I know. Next.”
The girl stared at her for a long moment, then just asked, “So, do you have any daily stuff or not?”
“Soap. About ten bars left,” Su Han reported, tossing out her inventory’s bare minimum.
The girl hesitated, thinking hard, then finally made up her mind. “Inventory management tips, my own tricks. But they’ll cost you. Ten bars of soap.”
Su Han’s expression hovered between a smirk and a glare. “Care to give me a sample? If you just tell me to stock up on the same item, I’m out.”
The girl was forced to offer a teaser, trying to prove herself. “Stock up on ready-to-eat food with a high satiety value. That way, you’ll last longer in an instance, and you don’t have to waste time cooking. If it’s anything else, and you lose water, power, or gas, cooking becomes impossible.”
“Not bad. But none of that’s new to me.” Su Han tossed her a bar of soap, call it a tip, then turned as if to leave.
“Five bars! I’ll tell you everything I know!” the girl blurted, desperate. “No way you already know it all, right?!”
She had reason to panic, her cleanliness was tanking, dangerously close to the red line at 25%. Without soap or body wash for ages, her stamina was dropping at a slow but steady crawl. She’d be under 50 in no time!
Plus, players with a personal inventory space were rare. Even fewer ever crossed paths, and practically none could afford high prices. Bottom line, she didn’t have much choice.
Su Han paused, five bars was cheap enough for a lesson. She turned back, settled the payment, and made herself comfortable. “Go on, I’m listening.”
The girl steadied herself, then began, “You get ten inventory slots. In the first slot, pack a hundred bottles of water, or milk, or whatever drink you want, just make sure it’s clean drinking water.”
“Second slot: a hundred bars of soap, for cleanliness. Third slot: high-satiety, ready-to-eat food, for satiety.”
“With those three covered, don’t bother stockpiling the rest. Use the other seven slots for survival tools.”
Su Han’s face was stoic as ever. “One slot, one tool?”
As she said it, she was thinking, This girl is running a scam! I deserve a refund.
The girl just grinned mysteriously. “Nope. Each of the other seven slots holds a backpack. And in those: tools.”
That stopped Su Han cold.