Chapter 66: It's the Last Bomb Sell.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 66: It's the Last Bomb Sell.
I had to save my 2 remaining points for Level 8, so I set them aside.
Now it was time to use my 3 Normal Mode Level Points.
Saving them until I found a decent mode wouldn't be a bad choice either, but I've always believed that if you save things too long, they just go to waste.
If I could use them right now, even a minute or a second earlier, it made more sense to use them quickly to get whatever small benefit I could.
Besides, I could pretty much keep earning Normal Mode Points anyway.
There was no need to agonize over this.
I had confirmed that I could use these points to unlock other modes available to me, but instead of unlocking a new one, I decided to level up what I already had.
Honestly, since I was gradually expanding my faction and had already fucked another woman, I did wonder if I should invest a few Normal Mode Points into my happy sex life. But in the end, it still felt like a waste.
To be frank, I wasn't even sure if I really needed a Sex Mode.
It wasn't like my dick had issues getting hard.
I had lucked out and picked up Kim Ji-hee—someone no one would object to grading as S-rank—and I was already doing everything I wanted with her.
Since I was over thirty, my stamina was a bit lacking, but as long as I was satisfied, that was all that mattered, so I didn't think of it as a big deal.
There seemed to be plenty of fun Sex Modes, but I judged that investing in survival was the right move for now.
Well, I made this resolution every single time, though.
But after playing 100,000 hours of Zombie Apocalypse, I had developed such a deep-seated trauma that I couldn't help myself.
– Gain a 4% (+2%) chance to obtain 2 kg (+1 kg) of random animal meat from zombies.
– The meat will be from a cow, pig, or chicken, and the cut is also randomized.
With Sex Mode out of the equation, the choice of which Normal Mode to level up was, without a doubt, 'Zombies are an Excellent Source of Meat'.
Zombie Meat was a Host-exclusive mode given to me from the very beginning. While it wasn't quite a Cheat Mode, it practically performed like a semi-Cheat Mode.
Kill a zombie, get meat.
Even 1 kg was enough to last a whole week as a side dish if rationed carefully.
Besides, look at how much I had profited from the meat obtained through this Zombie Meat skill.
I had sold it to other users, raking in an almost extortionate amount of Coins, and that was still ongoing.
Meat is an indispensable food for humans.
Protein. Fat.
Not to mention the taste, texture, and satiety.
Animals were still alive, and if one looked hard enough, they could probably find meat in other regions, but doing so in Seoul right now would be next to impossible.
That was why I had to level it up as quickly as possible.
When the day eventually came that the meat supply dried up, this Zombie Meat skill would elevate my value even further. Until then, every zombie I killed with a lower skill level meant lost potential meat, which was a straight-up loss.
If I leveled it up immediately and hoarded the meat, it would essentially become a permanent supply, at least within my Safe Base.
Originally, this was a mode I had planned to level up quickly, even if it meant spending points.
I had temporarily forgotten about it as the point requirements for Cheat Modes started to skyrocket, though.
But now that I had points that could only be spent on Normal Modes, there was no need to hesitate.
"A 6% chance for 3 kg..."
That sounded like a lot.
In fact, it was a lot.
If I got around 18 kg from killing 100 zombies, honestly, just one day of intense hunting would yield enough to feed 90 people.
By my standards, it could feed 180.
What if it reached Level 10?
It seemed that Normal Modes required a flat 1 point per level.
Judging by the fact that even Level 5 only required 1 point.
Assuming the probability increased by a flat 1% per level, it would be 10% at Level 10. If that became 15% due to the effects of Cheat Mode, just how much meat would that be?
At that rate, putting everything else aside, I might be able to sustain my faction on meat alone.
"Heh."
The timing of this skill upgrade couldn't be better.
With only a few days left before throwing out the final bait, this was perfect for leaving a powerful impression on people.
I spent the remaining time beating zombies to death.
If I killed exactly 100 zombies a day and came back, meat would pile up high in the freezer.
And just like that, Saturday arrived.
This week, I prepared on an even grander and more spectacular scale than last week.
In advance, the ten people at the base moved the crates, packing Level 4 Backpacks and Level 3 Backpacks to the brim with food before heading to the park.
I had already been promoting this heavily since last Sunday, the day I decided to launch the membership.
[THE GREATEST SELL OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!! This Saturday. We are starting our final food business. There will be a major announcement afterward, so if you need food, you absolutely!!! Absolutely must participate and get your food. This week is the last. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.]
I spammed promotions like this literally several times a day.
At the very least, no one living in Seongsu-dong could have missed this post.
On top of that, since I had been selling for two weeks, word must have spread, so a lot of people would show up.
In fact, even though there was still an hour left until 9 o'clock, people were already crowding around.
Everyone seemed astonished by the overwhelming amount of food piling up in the center.
"Did they raid a Homeplus or something?"
"I don't think even they would have this much..."
"They probably would in their warehouse."
"Wow... how much is all of that worth?"
"What's the point? It's too expensive."
"They said it's the greatest sale of all time today. And that it's the last one."
"Why is it the last one?"
"Who knows. Their numbers seem to be growing. Are they trying to build a faction?"
"There's a rumor they're recruiting people while selling food."
"Man, I wish they'd recruit me too."
"Are you out of your mind? Where's your loyalty?"
"Wouldn't you go if it were you?"
"I'd go in a heartbeat."
"You son of a bitch."
Well, the amount of food today was indeed enough to warrant that kind of reaction.
There were over twenty large boxes, and I had even brought a refrigerated display case from some butcher shop to fill it with meat so it would be highly visible today.
Not to mention the other frozen foods and ingredients.
You could practically say I cleaned out almost everything piled up in my food warehouse today.
Even after doing that, it wasn't completely empty, so could anyone even fathom how much rations I received daily?
It was just a fucking lot.
I hadn't paid attention to the food warehouse in quite a while, but either yesterday or the day before, I visited it and happened to overlap with the delivery time. Watching the crates materialize out of thin air made me let out a dumbfounded chuckle.
So this is the scale of a large-scale supply.
And this comes three times a day?
I don't know if the system thought I had built a faction of this scale because I was Level 7, but it was truly, ridiculously massive.
I felt like by the time I reached Level 10, I might receive enough to feed everyone in this neighborhood all by myself.
That was why their reactions were so amusing to me.
This was food I hadn't even gathered for a full week.
The sight of people marveling at it, and the sheer thrill of being able to move so many people with just a single week's worth of effort.
"We're always grateful! Thanks to you, we aren't starving."
"Even if the food is expensive, just being able to buy it is a blessing! Thank you!"
There were even quite a few people who praised me implicitly.
Of course, behind the scenes, there was also the effort of Kim Ji-hee, who had discreetly spread rumors about the membership.
Bees are naturally drawn to sweet honey.
Whatever the case, it wasn't a bad phenomenon for me.
When 9 o'clock struck, I began the business.
"Alright, listen up. I have an announcement before we begin."
For this very moment, I had purchased a megaphone from the Visiting Black Market Merchant for 50 Coins.
It was a whopping Level 2 item.
A megaphone with Level 2 Sound Amplification.
My voice boomed loudly across the park.
Since it was a small park, it might even echo throughout the entire neighborhood.
Naturally, zombies would swarm in.
But no one cared.
The zombies around here had already been mostly wiped out.
Because I had personally cleaned them up.
"As I said, today is the last food sale. Why? Because from now on, only those who have joined our Paradise Membership can buy food. What is the membership? We will give a membership purchase business card to anyone who buys at least one food item today. Read it over, and if you want, you can join."
I promoted the membership, but I didn't overdo it.
The Paradise Membership was, so to speak, a ticket to VIP treatment in this zombie apocalypse world.
Those who qualified would gain the right to eliminate their discomforts.
Water. Electricity. Heating.
If you could solve these issues with Coins, just how much would your quality of life improve in a zombie apocalypse world?
What if you could buy food whenever you wanted?
So, there was no need for me to go around begging each person to join.
Once I put it out there, everyone would scramble to sign up.
"As promised, today we're doing a bomb sell. Hetbahn is 15 Coins. Ramen is 15 Coins."
I announced the same prices as last week.
I could feel a stir in the crowd.
"Didn't he say it was a bomb sale?"
"Why is the price the same as last week?"
"Ah... I brought exactly enough Coins. I thought he'd at least drop it to 10 Coins."
"What the hell. What kind of bomb sale is this?"
I understood how they felt.
But I had never said it was a bomb sale.
"I said a bomb sell, not a bomb sale."
"..."
"Let me repeat: today is the last day I'm selling food. Just so you know, the food sold to Paradise Membership members in the future will go for cost price—a fixed rate of 10 Coins for Hetbahn and 10 Coins for Ramen."
Sale (sale) and sell (sell) have different meanings.
Even someone with as little education as me knows that, so why do they only hear what they want to hear?
There were still plenty of disgruntled people, but those lured by the prospect of 10 Coins rushed forward in a swarm.