Chapter 42: Food for Sale.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: Food for Sale.
"What day of the week is it today?"
Lately, I've been feeling the need for a phone.
Rolling up my sleeve to check my wrist out of habit from the zombie apocalypse wasn't uncomfortable—I'd been doing it for nearly ten years, after all—but there was a huge difference between what you could and couldn't do when a feature wasn't provided by the game.
Even if it wasn't a phone, a smartwatch that could function like one would be incredibly useful.
I could use it as a regular watch normally, and then use it for quick tasks or calls.
I should raid a phone store sometime soon and grab one.
This is one of the areas where I lag behind others in this apocalyptic world.
Modern civilization was one of the many things stripped away to preserve the gritty atmosphere of a zombie apocalypse. Since the setting depicted a world where humanity had already collapsed, even basic utilities like water and electricity were on the verge of being cut off, making things like telecommunications an absolute pipe dream.
Sure, there were occasionally mods where you could call a rescue helicopter using a military-grade radio, but even that was outdated tech. In reality, even if zombies appeared in modern society, all infrastructure wouldn't just collapse overnight.
For starters, isn't the number of survivors completely different from the typical beginning of a zombie apocalypse?
A lot of people must have died.
A lot of people must have turned into zombies.
Even now, that number and speed would only be accelerating, not slowing down.
But the foundation of human civilization is quite thick.
It was built rapidly, but it rose higher than expected. While it's true that it can easily crumble without humans to run it, modern society has surprisingly robust systems in place where one person can easily be replaced by another.
That's why, even now, two weeks into this, though there are rumors of spotty connections here and there, things are still running quite well. Not only is the internet working, but broadcasts are still going strong.
I need to adapt to that.
There are bound to be users who leverage these advantages to make rapid progress.
Cheat Mode isn't omnipotent.
It's merely a support mode that helps you grow faster and easier. There are definitely other users out there who got lucky, stacked themselves with great modes, and are growing rapidly.
I need to gather information.
I have to bridge the gap between reality and the 100,000 hours I spent immersed in the zombie apocalypse.
If I can just blend the two, I'll be able to build my own world even more perfectly.
"It's tomorrow."
Before that.
The day of the long-awaited Visiting Black Market Merchant's arrival was drawing near.
Today was Saturday.
Just one more day, and the Visiting Black Market Merchant would arrive.
"I wonder if this is enough Coins."
Currently, I have 1,039 Coins.
Just sitting still costs about 10 Coins a day for the Safe Base system maintenance fee, but that's easily recovered by killing a few zombies, so I don't need to worry about it.
What worries me is that I don't know what the "Visiting Black Market Merchant" will be selling.
I know he'll sell automatic doors, but the price is the issue.
Even if I buy just one, upgrading it to Level 3 requires 70 Coins.
Basically, if I buy two warehouses and two doors to attach to them, it will cost 140 Coins even without the automatic door cost.
And what if he sells other items?
He might bring some Level 3 rare items.
After all, in a zombie apocalypse, a black market merchant is someone who exchanges the Coins you get from killing zombies for various survival supplies.
They, too, are entities adjusted by the system.
The lore says they are survivors who scavenge places others can't reach and trade their precious materials and resources for Coins, but in reality, they're just special NPCs.
In fact, in the zombie apocalypse, black market merchants often sold rare backpacks, so users who couldn't find one even after looting an entire city would actively search for them.
Of course, the spawn rate was low enough that there was a chance you wouldn't find a single merchant while searching a whole city.
What about here?
Aside from the "Visiting Black Market Merchant" who comes directly to my Safe Base as an option, do other black market merchants even exist in this city?
They probably do.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have given us Coins just to use as an officially certified currency among users.
In a way, you have to view the black market merchant as a currency sink created by the game developers.
If Coins only circulated among users, they would accumulate endlessly, eventually causing Coin inflation.
Their purpose is to delete Coins from the economy by exchanging them for consumables.
That is exactly the black market merchant's role.
So, it's always best to hoard as many Coins as possible before meeting one.
Of course, I'm an exception.
Since he comes on his own every week, even if I can't buy something tomorrow, I can just get it next week.
Still, it's best to avoid missing out on good items during our first encounter.
There's no guarantee he'll bring the same stock every time.
"Mmm..."
I pulled up Kim Ji-hee, who was sprawled out on some boxes on the warehouse floor.
"Go wash up. Let's go to work."
"Mmm...? Outside?"
"Yeah. We're going to do some business. Pack some Hetbahn and ramen in here. Kimchi should sell well, too. Focus on things that'll sell fast."
The Zombie Rush.
And the Coins of the people who survived it.
They probably haven't been traded very actively.
Most people probably don't even know what to use them for, and even if they did peer-to-peer trades, they'd likely hoard them out of uncertainty.
I'm going to drain them dry.
"Tell them to meet us at Seongsu Park."
---
800 pyeong is a massive area.
I hadn't expanded it past 400 pyeong initially, but to reach Seongsu Park—a small park about a twenty-minute walk from my house—I needed 800 pyeong, so I expanded it to the maximum.
Though called a park, it wasn't actually that big; it was a modestly sized park that you could walk around in about twenty minutes.
Still, it had plenty of sights and was beautifully landscaped.
Now, of course, it had turned into a strolling ground for zombies, but I had cleared a path starting from the entrance all the way to the outdoor stage where people could sit and rest.
With the effects of Base Invincibility, it wasn't a difficult task at all.
I didn't even need to bother stabbing vital points with a dagger anymore.
If I just punched a lunging zombie in the head with all my might, its skull would shatter.
"...I hope I don't get nerfed."
Level 2 zombies were starting to appear one by one now, but even though it was limited to inside my Safe Base, one of my stats had already surpassed Level 10.
Base Level 2. Base Invincibility Level 6. And Rest Bonus Level 4.
The Rest Bonus was applied randomly, but since it boosted two stats, there was a 50% chance.
If I didn't like the roll, I could just wait another hour to change it, so pushing my Strength to Level 12 was a bit tedious but not difficult.
It's not like every level in Strength made a superhuman difference.
Stats were just created to visualize rough values; gaining a level didn't unlock some special ability or anything.
But once it surpassed Level 10, the difference was undeniable.
Seeing my fists grow hard enough to easily shatter a skull made of human bone made me realize just how real it was.
I might actually be able to pull off those movie scenes where a guy beats criminals into being good citizens with his bare fists.
I mean, why else would I even think like this?
Even if they nerfed me, I wouldn't have any right to complain.
Is there even anyone who could kill me inside my Safe Base?
I even revive once if I die.
But then again, that's why it's a Cheat Mode.
And even with a Cheat Mode like this, on a global scale, it's nothing more than a tiny speck.
I found a suitable spot and unpacked.
On a large mat, I neatly stacked the Hetbahn and all sorts of food I pulled out of my Level 3 Backpack.
"Did you post it?"
"Yes. Seeing how fast the view count is rising, I think a lot of people will show up."
Ever since she was praised a few days ago for gathering information, Kim Ji-hee seemed to be working hard on the local online community to dig up more.
It looked like her efforts were paying off now.
In a zombie apocalypse, there really aren't many ways to gather people.
If you blared a siren, more zombies would show up than humans, and even if you ran around screaming at the top of your lungs, people inside wouldn't be able to hear what you were trying to say.
But sending a message over the internet was simple and convenient.
Those who want to will come out.
The skeptics might stay put, but once they hear reviews from the early birds, they might test the waters and show up later.
Surprisingly, in less than ten minutes, three people walked over from one side of the park.
Armed in their own way, they had fought their way through the zombies and now kept their distance, on high alert.
I hadn't cleared out all the zombies in the park on purpose, and this was why.
To keep just any random riffraff from showing up.
They at least needed to have enough strength to gather Coins.
They were quite young.
Two of them were women whose faces were hidden by helmets, and the other was a man who looked to be in his mid-20s.
Holding a baseball bat, he slowly approached and called out.
"Are you really selling that stuff?"
"Do you have Coins?"
"...But why the informal speech...?"
"You can do it too."
The customer might be king, but in a zombie apocalypse, the guy selling food is the real king.
The man frowned, showing his displeasure, but as the two helmeted women tugged at his clothes and urged him on, he let out a sigh and stepped closer.
Look at this motherfucker. I only have one girl with me, and he's already walking around with two?
Not a very likable first customer.
The man approached and scanned Kim Ji-hee, who was sitting next to me.
Then, he stared blankly for a moment, completely captivated.
Well, that's exactly why I brought her along, so I guess it's a success.
"Step right up! Take your pick! Cheap, cheap! A single Hetbahn is just 10 Coins!"
"...10 Coins? Are you insane?"
"If you've got a problem with it, don't buy it."
And so, my business began.