Chapter 43: It's Market Price.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43: It's Market Price.
I'm so hungry I could die.
But there's absolutely nothing to eat at home.
Filling your stomach with water only works for a moment; in the face of extreme hunger, water is useless.
When you lack energy, your stamina drains and your strength fades.
In a zombie apocalypse world like this, it's the most fatal debuff.
You struggle to survive, but if you can't eat, there's no way to live.
So, you have to eat something, anything.
To get food, you have to hunt zombies and farm.
That's the first way, and the second is trading with someone who has food.
Even in single-player games like a zombie apocalypse, NPCs—other survivors—sometimes had food, and you could trade with them using coins.
It didn't necessarily have to be coins.
As long as you had what the other party wanted, whatever that might be.
In the case of women, their bodies would be the most typical currency.
In any case, the latter is more certain than the former.
Rather than wasting energy in the uncertainty of searching places others might have already looted, paying what the other party wants to secure food is a much easier path to fuel further activities.
That's why they came here too.
Their food was either completely gone or running low, and even when they went out to hunt zombies, they saw no progress.
The downside of a big city like this is that while there are plenty of supplies because of the large population, there are also so many people that almost every decent place to farm has already been picked clean.
And if you try to go deeper, most of those areas are swarming with zombies, since that massive population has all turned.
In the end, buying is the only option.
"...Can't you give us a little discount?"
"I already gave you a discount at 10 coins because you're my first customer. It's normally 20 coins."
"How is a single Hetbahn worth twenty zombies... Sigh..."
The man started to argue but swallowed his words.
He reminded himself that he was the weaker party in front of food.
He glanced back.
He saw two women waiting for him.
Whatever their relationship, if they couldn't get food, they—including himself—would be in danger.
That must be why they were the first to come all this way, even though it could have been false information.
Of course, to ease their suspicions, I had intentionally chosen a broad, open area that could be seen from afar, and set up in the morning after the sun had risen.
"Are you buying?"
"...Six Hetbahns... and how much for the ramen?"
"10 coins."
"...Sigh... Six ramens too."
As Kim Ji-hee picked out the exact numbers the man requested, one of the women shouted from a distance.
"Kimchi too!"
"Kimchi is 5 coins."
"What the..."
Although I had Whole Cabbage Kimchi, I held out a small, single-serving packet of ramen kimchi sold in convenience stores as I spoke.
Frowning, the man took just one.
My first customer has deep pockets.
I almost didn't want to deal with him because he was flanked by two women, which annoyed me, but keeping a business mindset was definitely the right call.
"What's this?"
The bag to hold the Hetbahns and ramen was on the house.
The man asked as he waited for them to be packed into a large plastic bag.
He was looking at the thermal pouches in front of Kim Ji-hee.
These contained meat, which was practically rotting away in abandoned freezers everywhere.
"Chicken, pork, beef. This stuff is a bit pricey, though."
"You have meat? Isn't it spoiled?"
"Do you think I'm trying to ruin my business on day one? Of course it's been kept frozen. It's fresh, not spoiled at all. My skill is related to that."
I opened one to show him a preview.
Inside the thermal pouch, the meats were neatly arranged and divided into chicken, pork, and beef.
"Wow... meat..."
The two women, who had been keeping their distance, ran over to look at the mention of meat.
Meat...
Well, not enough time had passed for meat to become completely extinct yet.
However, unless it had been kept frozen, it would have long since spoiled at room temperature. And since freezing required electricity, it was bound to be an incredibly precious luxury for people who couldn't even find rice and had to come out here.
The man hesitated after seeing the women's expressions.
Since I was a merchant, I answered the question he wanted to ask before he even opened his mouth.
"Chicken is 20 coins for two servings. Pork is 25. Beef is 40."
"...."
Right now, coins had no immediate use.
Unless they found a Black Market Dealer, coins were only used for trading between users. So no matter what price I named, it would be hard for people to judge whether it was expensive or not, since the coins were useless to them anyway.
They would probably just compare the prices I quoted against the total amount of coins they possessed.
After all, it would feel pretty hollow if the coins they had worked so hard to earn through blood and sweat could only buy a few Hetbahns and ramens.
Still, they had to adapt.
It was only like this now because their old lives were still fresh in their minds.
In fact, playing a zombie apocalypse game often makes you realize the true value of food.
Some people get so deeply immersed in a zombie apocalypse that they even start treasuring food in real life.
Though that phase fades a bit once you become a veteran.
Anyway, the man seemed to be busy calculating his coins.
"120 coins... plus 5 coins for the kimchi..."
125 coins was actually a huge amount.
It meant he had killed 125 Level 1 zombies, which was a pretty impressive feat even considering the Zombie Rush.
Well, looking at his skills through my information viewing, it made sense he could pull it off, which was why I had intentionally shown him the meat.
The Host is a god.
Since I could see not only other users' stats but also the coins they possessed.
"Beef! Beef!"
"I'm fine with pork too... Can't we get four servings of pork?"
"...Let's go with pork. Beef is too expensive."
"Aww."
Even if he spent 125 coins, he would still have about 100 coins left.
That was probably why he was able to rush over first to a food stall that didn't even have prices listed.
He was prepared to buy no matter the cost.
"Give us eight servings of pork. 100 coins' worth."
"Since you're a bulk customer, I'll throw in an extra 200g on the house."
"Yay! Awesome!"
"Thank you, boss!"
The two women jumped up and down in excitement.
In an apocalypse like this, having such bright and cheerful people by your side is a blessing in a way.
The guy himself probably had a massive headache managing these clueless airheads, but compared to being surrounded by people who were dying of depression, it was much better.
Kim Ji-hee put the 1kg package of pork into a plastic bag.
"How many grams is this?"
"It's 1kg."
"It's eight servings, so why is it only 1kg? Isn't one serving 200g?"
When the man protested, I scowled deeply.
"What kind of bullshit is that? One serving is 100g."
"No, wait..."
I knew that a standard serving was usually 200g.
But that was just a conventional agreement of the old society. Defining a serving size is entirely up to the seller.
Of course, I wasn't so shameless that I'd scam people to make a sale.
"If you're going to be difficult, don't buy it. Hey, take the meat back."
"Yes."
As Kim Ji-hee went to take the meat back, one of the women stopped her.
"No, wait! Don't take it back. We'll buy it."
"Ji-hoon, let's just buy it. Okay? 1kg is still a lot."
The man named Ji-hoon eventually handed over the coins.
Well, what choice did he have?
Even without the women nagging him, he would have bought it in the end.
Even though I set the prices on a whim, there was no one else selling food in this situation anyway. And even if they did, they would charge at least this much or demand something far more precious.
No one would want coins at this point.
So, right now, when they were starving to death, being able to exchange coins for food was a stroke of luck for Ji-hoon.
"Come back next time. It's not like you have any use for those coins anyway. Just think of it as getting the food for free."
Thinking you're losing out only ruins your mood.
Since all they had were coins, which were nothing but numbers, they might feel like they lost everything. But from their perspective, they should think of it as buying food with useless pebbles.
Advice from a zombie apocalypse veteran naturally spilled out of my mouth.
Then, I called out to the departing Ji-hoon and tossed him a packet of kimchi.
"On the house."
Where else would you find a merchant with such thoughtful consideration?
I had earned 225 coins in less than five minutes.
Thinking back to how many hours I had struggled at the police station, I realized once again that there really are easier ways to make money in this world.
The next customer was already waiting on one side.
He was somewhat chubby.
A hefty man, all by himself.
The man walked straight up and pointed at the thermal pouches.
"Meat. Give me pork."
This guy, who looked to be in his mid-30s, unwashed and unshaven, exuded a strong otaku vibe. But despite his appearance, he was someone who possessed one Level 5 Combat Mode and two Level 3 Combat Modes.
I was glad I came.
I was achieving my goal of seeing how modes were distributed among users by meeting various people, and I was earning coins to boot.
I welcomed the customer with utmost kindness.
"Pork is 25 coins per serving."
"Twenty servings... Huh? Wasn't it 25 coins for 200g just now?"
"Just now? What are you talking about?"
"I heard everything! You just sold two servings to Ji-hoon for 25 coins!"
This Fatty has pretty sharp ears.
"Ah, Ji-hoon just now?"
"Yes! You misspoke about the two servings, right? It's 25 coins for 200g, right?"
"Nope. For you, it's 25 coins for 100g."
"What... Why?!"
"It's market price."
"...It's pork, not fish! What do you mean market price?!"
I could feel the Fatty huffing and puffing.
Clenching his fists, he looked ready to explode at any second.
It made sense.
Since the apocalypse started, this Fatty had probably never met anyone stronger than himself.
"If you're not buying, get lost, you fat pig."
"You started it with the insults!!!"
Watching me put the meat back was like pressing the Fatty's rage button.
Blinded by his craving for meat, he lunged at me.
It felt like I might suffocate if I got crushed under his massive body, but...
"Gah-ack!"
I easily subdued him by grabbing his throat.
As if I'd let him fall over the goods I set out for sale.
I lifted him straight up by his neck.
The Fatty, who easily weighed over 100kg, flailed as he was lifted with a single hand.
"Hey, customer. Do you want a beating? Are you buying or not?"
"I-I'll... I'll buy it... coughgasp..."
"It's 40 coins per serving now. You're buying, right? I'll pack 360 coins' worth for you."
He looked so pitiful on the verge of tears that I threw in a little extra.
"I'll give you an extra 100g on the house and a packet of kimchi to grill with it."
Business was booming.