Chapter 5
Chapter 5
It was morning, and the mother and son arrived at a nearby convenience store, pushing through the many newly spawned zombies.
Puk!
[Level Up!
You have obtained new Free Points.]
As I popped the bald zombie's noggin, I leveled up with a flashy firework sound.
"Whew... It really sucks that this damn game doesn't have perks like health regeneration even when you level up..."
I turned around to look at Mom, still catching my breath.
Mom was following behind, picking up items dropped by the zombies I'd killed and putting them into her bag.
"Mom, do you want to try killing some zombies too?"
"No... I'll just go home and level up slowly by farming and cooking."
In the Ruined Game, you could gain experience from every action, so as Mom said, production-class users could level up slowly in Safety Zones or their My Home.
Of course, it wasn't as fast as hunting.
I nodded, looked at the convenience store with its automatic door stuck half-open, and slowly went inside.
The inside had clearly been looted by previous visitors; there wasn't a single food item or drink on display.
"Oh my... I've never seen such an empty convenience store..."
"You're right. It's already been picked clean."
As I replied, I recalled helping my father install monitors in convenience stores during my school breaks, remembering that there was usually plenty of food stored in the back room.
The people who had been here before must have known there was plenty of stuff in the storage room, as there were signs of them trying to force it open, but this store was uniquely locked tight with two number pad locks.
'A four-digit password... I can't just sit here cycling from 0 to 9999...'
I chuckled at the ridiculous method that popped into my head and used my ability on the lock.
[Number Pad Lock]
Info 1: A 4-digit lock manufactured by Keim Co.
Info 2: Password 7614
Durability 7061/10000
'Huh...?'
Click... click... Clunk!
I had picked the storage room lock way too easily.
"Ahaha... This skill is seriously amazing..."
I laughed in disbelief, picked the other lock, and opened the door to the storage room that the owner had carefully hidden.
Kkii-ik
"Son? How did you open the storage door?"
"My skill is pretty useful, hehehe.
Mom? Grab whatever snacks and drinks you want."
When I opened the door, there weren't many fresh vegetables or fruits, as it was a convenience store, but there were piles of boxed snacks and quite a few 6-packs of 1.5L water bottles stocked up.
Mom took out all the useless items from her inventory, except for the flower pot, dumped them on the floor, and grabbed water and instant rice. I also filled my remaining inventory with boxes of ramen and water.
With our inventories full, Mom and I came out of the storage room. Just in case someone else came by, we locked the door securely and left the convenience store.
"With this much, we won't have to worry about water or food for a while."
"That's true, what a relief~"
Mom and I kept our guards up and sped up our journey back home.
--
Huff... huff...
The mother and son, who had left early in the morning, barely arrived after the sun was high in the sky, covering a distance that would normally take an hour on foot.
"It's... it's home... Mom..."
"Yes... I never thought I'd be this happy to see our house..."
I took out the key I'd carefully kept in my pocket, inserted it into the gate, and...
Bang!
Kkii-ik
Just like when we left, the My Home door opened with a loud metallic sound.
"Oh my! My cucumbers!! And lettuce!!!"
Relieved to be home, Mom ran over to check on the vegetables that had grown like monsters in the yard, and I smiled and closed the door.
[Daegu Metropolitan City, OO-ro 6-gil 7-6]
My Home Owner: Kim Chansu
Current Function: Absolute Protection (5 days, 21 hours, 27 minutes)
Additional Function: View
Info 1: An old detached house completed 24 years ago.
Info 2: The house value is low because it's not connected to city gas.
'Thank goodness Dad is still alive... But from Ulsan to Daegu... I wonder if he knows the way...'
I put aside my worries about Dad for a moment, opened the front door, and neatly laid out the water, ramen, and food we'd scavenged.
Mom followed, entering the kitchen with her arms full of the giant cucumbers and lettuce she'd harvested from outside.
"Oh my, oh my, everything in the fridge must have spoiled... What should I do...?"
I started rummaging through the My Home system to solve Mom's dilemma and discovered a massive chart of things I could purchase under Additional Functions.
[My Home System]
Power 1 day: 1 Peanut Butter
Power 7 days: 5 Peanut Butters
Power 30 days: 20 Peanut Butters
Water 1 day: 1 Peanut Butter
....
Absolute Protection 1 day: 5 Peanut Butters
....
Besides power, water, and protection, there were various buffs like experience boosts or growth speed buffs for plants, just like in the game, and they could all be purchased with Peanut Butter.
'Damn... 5 jars a week?'
Even if I'd only hunted the bare minimum of zombies, the Peanut Butter I'd earned from hunting like a madman all day was only 4 jars.
Two of those had already gone into expanding my and Mom's inventories, so only 2 jars were left.
'We have enough water, so there's no need to unlock the water supply... And Absolute Protection is fine for another 5 days... What we need is power...'
If I trusted Absolute Protection and turned on the lights at night, it would be a shortcut to suicide.
Because just as Geumseul had freely entered other buildings that were under protection, people could enter buildings as they pleased.
'Eventually, it won't be a war against zombies, but a war against people... I need to maximize my growth while people are in chaos...'
"Son, by the way, I leveled up just now while picking cucumbers. Free Points? Where should I use these?"
"Uh... what? You already leveled up?!"
In the Ruined Game, it took five times the time and effort for herbivores to level up compared to zombie hunting.
But Geumseul was shocked by the fact that his mother had leveled up after harvesting only 7 monster cucumbers and about 40 fan-sized lettuce leaves from a small vegetable patch.
'What the? Did they do a stealth patch or something? Damn it! If I knew this, I would've gone for a production class too!!'
"Wow, that's amazing! Do you remember the message that popped up when you harvested the vegetables?"
I was fuming on the inside, but I was satisfied that Mom could become safe more quickly.
"Let's see... Right! It said I harvested a cucumber filled with sincerity.
And the experience... was it 38 for picking one? The lettuce was the same, and the experience went up by about 26 per leaf."
Good lord, one cucumber is worth eight zombies.
"Wow... Mom, you won't have to worry about leveling up from now on... For now, I think it'd be best to use your Free Points on Agriculture."
"Okay.
Oh my, I'm so hungry. Let's eat first..."
Mom opened the electric rice cooker out of habit and sighed as she saw the hard, cold rice.
"Without electricity, there's nothing I can do..."
"Mom, electricity is going to come on now. But don't turn on the lights, and you have to use the induction stove to boil hot water, okay?"
"Huh? Can you create electricity?"
"In this world now, Peanut Butter dropped from killing zombies... that's the currency from now on.
One jar of Peanut Butter can provide 24 hours of electricity."
Lee Su-mi realized that the Peanut Butter her son had obtained bit by bit while risking his life to kill zombies was being used for things like this, and she made a pitiful expression.
"I see... So in order to enjoy the comforts of the past, we ultimately have to fight zombies..."
I nodded, took a jar of Peanut Butter out of my bag, and purchased electricity from the My Home system. At that moment,
Tik tidik ttiriring~
Ttandararanta dandarattada~
The many machines that had been dead inside the house came to life and beeped.
"Then, please make the rice. I'm going to go turn off the unnecessary electricity."
The moment someone outside realized this house had electricity, we would become a zebra that couldn't run in the savanna, so I hurried around to each room and turned off the lights.
I turned off noise-making appliances, and just in case, I even pulled the wire for the doorbell.
It took 20 minutes to sort out the electricity, and when I finished with my room and came down to the living room, I heard Mom's voice from the kitchen.
"Son! Let's eat!"
"Yes!"
My stomach started throwing a tantrum, demanding food at the smell of a meal I hadn't experienced for just a day, and I hurried to the kitchen.
"The fridge was off for a day, so the freezer is a mess... I'll have to clean it up after we eat."
Mom sat in her chair, voicing her full-bellied complaints.
Even though it was clearly just the same side dishes we'd eaten until yesterday morning, I almost teared up at the sight of a proper meal.
"I reheated the rice, and it turned out okay. It didn't spoil, so don't worry and eat."
"Yes! Thanks for the meal!"
I took a big spoonful of warm rice and put it in my mouth, and finally, the tears I'd been holding back flowed out.
"Oh my? Why are you crying? Were you that hungry?"
Seeing me cry, Mom placed some kimchi, which had fermented for another day and turned sour, on top of my rice bowl.
"Hehe... It was only... one night... but I missed it so much..."
"This kid is so unnecessarily emotional. I don't know who you take after."
Like that, the mother and son finished their meal in the blink of an eye, and Geumseul refilled his rice and ate two full bowls.
--
"Oh my... Son! Can't we use the water?"
Mom asked while trying to do the dishes as I sat on the sofa, feeling full.
"Using water for a day also costs one Peanut Butter... We have plenty of water we brought back, so we'll hold out with that, and if it gets really urgent, I'll connect it."
"Is that so? Okay."
Mom started doing the dishes using the water left over from our meal.
'Whew... A safe house... rescuing Mom... being full... I've secured the basic standard of living for now.
If Dad returns and I can find a route to consistently secure Peanut Butter, I'll be able to live safely in this world...'
I clutched my bursting stomach, got up from the sofa, and started preparing to go out.
I re-taped my Crude Spear and sharpened the dull blade with a sharpener we had in the house.
With that, the spear's durability and attack power returned to almost like new.
'Alright... This weapon is enough for now...
The time is awkward, so I should go farming around the hardware store and the mart near the house.'
"Mom! I'm going to go out for a bit to help digest my food!"
"What?!"
Startled by my words, Mom ran out to the living room with her rubber gloves still on.
"Y-you just got back, and you're going out again?"
I smiled brightly at Mom's words, which clearly showed her concern.
"Don't worry, Mom.
We have to work hard and get around while things are chaotic and the stores are full of goods so we can live comfortably later.
I'll go to the Euncheol Hardware Store and V Mart right in front."
"Is that so...? With your dad gone, you're all I have... You mustn't forget that, okay?
Be careful..."
"I know, Mom. I'll be back soon."
With those last words, I put my backpack back on, grabbed my spear, and stepped out the front door.
"Whew... Alright, pull yourself together... Shall we go again?"
Bang!
The gate opened with a loud noise as usual, but perhaps because of the psychological sense of security, I wasn't too worried.
Once I was out in the alley, before heading to the hardware store, I placed my hand on the neighbor's house across from mine and used my skill.
[Daegu Metropolitan City, OO-ro 6-gil 7-4]
My Home Owner: Choi Cheon-ho
Current Function: Absolute Protection (5 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes)
Additional Function: View
'Mr. Choi is still alive. Thank goodness...'
But that feeling didn't last long.
As Geumseul placed his hand on the house right next to his,
[Daegu Metropolitan City, OO-ro 6-gil 7-7]
My Home Owner: None
Purchase Available: 100 Peanut Butters
'Mr. Park... he passed away... Damn it...
But according to the My Home system, if the owner dies, it should be transferred to the son or wife... Don't tell me everyone...'
The fact that a neighbor who had lived next door since I was young and with whom we frequently visited had died made me realize once again that this world was reality, not a game.
'Whew... Pull yourself together, Kim Geum-seul... Right now, my and Mom's safety... and protecting the house so Dad can return... is the top priority...'
I slapped my cheeks to clear my thoughts, gripped my spear even tighter than when I'd left the house, and headed toward the hardware store through the familiar alley.