The Weapon Draw Ticket

"Relax. I already sent her off easy, so you can quit worrying."

I had read the diary through to its last page. I closed it and spoke to the elderly zombie lying dead on the floor, one finger gone from his hand.

"There's a surprising amount of useful information in here."

True to the journal of a highly educated old man, the writing was clean, and it was full of things worth knowing.

"So that monster I ran into back at my apartment wasn't the only one."

Before I ever reached this house, I had crossed paths with variants—things with one arm turned into a blade—and the old man seemed to have seen that sort more than once around here. One more reason I needed to get stronger, and fast.

"If he'd lived, he'd have made one hell of a capable man. What a waste."

Skilled people like doctors were precious enough in ordinary times. In an age like this, the loss of one stung all the worse.

"Still, this couple left me the house. The least I can do is bury them."

I couldn't leave corpses sitting in the house anyway. Grateful for the safe home they had passed on to me, I carried both bodies out into the yard and buried them in a corner.

I took a length of wood for a marker, carved the epitaph with a kitchen knife, and gave them a grave.

"Rest in peace."

I didn't follow any particular faith, but I pressed my palms together and saw the old couple off.

"All right. Time to collect my reward."

Only then did it occur to me that I still had a reward coming—one I had completely forgotten.

"Obviously, YES."

I pulled back up the notification I had shoved aside while reading the diary and pressed YES.

"Whoa."

A residence ranked Highest. The sound of pure admiration slipped out of me before I could stop it.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

I watched the points come in and felt a satisfied smile spread across my face.

"A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thousand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠points?"

My mouth fell open at the size of the demand.

"You're telling me you want more than half of every point I've earned so far? And not even to hand me something—just to add more items to the shop?"

I rubbed my eyes and looked again, unable to believe it. The required amount did not change.

"Son of a bitch!"

Backstabbed by the shop, I let the curse fly.

"Still... I have to level it up, don't I?"

The level 1 point shop was garbage. The rice balls were nothing but plain rice, with no flavor worth the name, and the lunch boxes carried only the barest nutrition and tasted like nothing at all.

"Agh... and I saved so hard for an ability draw."

I had assumed that working through the main quests would pile up experience, and that the shop would level on some other currency the same way. Faced with a point cost I had not seen coming, I stuffed a fist in my mouth, nearly cried, and went through with the level-up.

"Ooh. Pricey, but being able to get my hands on meat is actually huge, isn't it?"

Leveling the shop had multiplied the food I could buy—so much of it that I could scroll and still not see the end. And in an age when the means of production had been smashed to pieces, easy meat was welcome news.

"And what's this?"

What caught my eye, though, was the tab beneath the food list. I set the food aside for the moment and tapped Residence.

"Huh. This was an option?"

It was expensive, but I liked it a great deal—the idea that I could remodel a residence with power beyond anything scientific.

"I was already uneasy, not knowing when the power would cut out. A generator sitting in the shop is one hell of an insurance policy. I can breathe again."

Perhaps it was the government's determination to protect the power grid no matter what. Broadcasting, the internet, the phones—the state's systems had collapsed, and blackouts came now and then, but the electricity itself still had not been cut. Even so, with no telling when it would go, having the System underwrite me was a relief.

"Hmm. Which means I ought to stockpile fuel ahead of time, doesn't it?"

Once the power finally died, I would need oil to feed a generator. With that in mind, I finished looking over the residence list and clicked the category I had been most eager to see.

"All right. What are we cracking open?"

Humming to myself, I checked the last entry in the shop. What came up was a weapon draw ticket.

"Huh? A weapon draw ticket?"

Once I saw what the draw actually was, my expression turned complicated.

"Hmm... It'll probably underperform whatever a level 3 shop offers, but I was hoping for an ability draw."

I could not hide my disappointment that the draw was not what I had pictured.

"I don't need one right this second. I've got this..."

I stroked my soul partner—the baseball bat—and weighed it.

"Hah. Still, better to have it than not. If I've got points to spare later, I'll draw."

I sighed, ready to let it go. And then—

"Oh. Right. I had that, didn't I?"

Something I had forgotten came back in a flash, and I opened my skill window.

It was a combat ability I had managed to draw, rare enough, but with no way to get a sword I had been treating it as if it did not exist.

"Hmm..."

The moment the forgotten ability surfaced, the urge to draw a weapon took hold of me.

"Anything could happen. I ought to be saving my points..."

The world does not announce its plans. Food could bottom out, or I could end up stranded for a long time somewhere with nothing to eat. Better to keep a decent stock of points on hand.

"No. No way. If a sword doesn't come up, I'm just throwing points in the trash."

My mouth said no. My eyes kept sliding toward the draw.

"Ngh—! I knew it. I can't. I'll hold out this time and do it later, when I can afford it."

In the end I locked the decision in, squeezed both eyes shut, and forced my finger to move, closing the shop window.

"Huh?"

I was certain I had closed the shop. And yet a notice that I had bought the draw was floating in front of my eyes. I opened them properly and looked at my finger. It was pointing straight at Buy Random Weapon Draw.

"Aaaagh! No! Refund! Refund!"

Had instinct beaten reason, or was it a plain mistake? Either way, I shouted for a refund on the weapon draw I had already purchased. The System had no interest in hearing me. The one-reel slot machine that appeared the moment the purchase went through was spinning like mad.

"Please—at least a sword, please...! God, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Holy Mother Mary, spirits of heaven and earth, O System...!!!!"

The System stayed cold and silent through all my shouting. I gave up on the refund, shut my eyes, pressed my palms together, and prayed a sword would come up.

The slot machine stopped. I opened my eyes a little at a time and checked the weapon I had won.

The gamble had paid off.