One Week of Shop Boom and Rising Tensions
I stretched in the security room chair, blinking awake. "Ahhh!! Slept like a rock!!!"
While messing around on the gallery last night, my chronic post-meal food coma hit hard, and I passed out without realizing. Actually, it wasn't just last night. It's already been a whole week since I first opened the shop. Waiting for the free refill every 72 hours and selling it all off promptly, I've already moved over 300 bottles of Odasu water. Which means a nice pile of magic stones in my account too.
"Kuh, sweet as hell...!" Fact is, the total magic stones I've earned add up to about 7,000, but most went straight into extending tile ownership.
Remaining Ownership Period: 59 days, 13 hours, 35 minutes
Instead of expanding bit by bit, I went all-in on a long-term lease. Truth is, I've been like this since the early days of the apocalypse, but that zombie teacher kept showing up in my dreams, making me uneasy. Last night, I even dreamed it was eating me.
"It's all 'cause my mind's uneasy."
What if high blood pressure knocks me out and I wake up to find just one minute left on the ownership? You never know with life. "Best solution is prevention, right?"
The important thing is, now I'm a man who can survive 59 days even if the world ends. "Oh, wait, the world already did."
Whatever.
Member Limit Expanded
Current Members (Lv.2): 200 / 200 - UP!!
After paying the fat rent, I used the leftovers to nudge the shop upgrade along a bit.
"What to have for breakfast today...!" Doesn't matter what I mull over—it's always one of cup rice, canned goods, ramen, or snacks. The poor bastards outside might kill for this stuff, but I'm getting kinda sick of it.
"Ahh, my back."
Sleeping in this chair nonstop is wrecking my back. Bed! Pizza! Chicken! Raw meat! Variety shows! "Woe is meee... all for survival...!" Humming a tune, I prepped to heat up cup rice. No microwave in the security room, so I had to settle for hot water from the purifier and double-boil the rice and retort pouch.
"Man, double-boiling cup rice is crossing the line—even if ramen's fine." Nearly scalded my hand fishing out the pouch, I muttered.
"This is such a pain in the ass..." For my little post-apoc joys, I gotta expand the tiles.
"How much more do I need? Huh! How much!"
To own a new tile, upgrade Blueprint Domination (Lv.1)
Next Level Up Cost: 5,000 magic stones
Current Magic Stones: 3,000
"Oh nooo, can't do it!!" Even in the apocalypse, real estate prices don't budge! "Or... have they tanked hard?"
Whatever. You gotta own property to know. I already knew I couldn't expand tiles yet—it was just for psyching myself up. That's why I skipped inventory slots or listing limits too.
"Skip the tech tree and go straight to tile upgrades?" I was thinking of blowing past everything and just max out tile count.
Time Until Inventory Refill: 4 hours 22 minutes
"Sigh, a bit of time left..." One more free refill and one more water sale, and I can upgrade right away.
"No rush." Time's on my side anyway. Upgrade order doesn't matter. Rent's paid up, no immediate shortages, and stock refills sell themselves for magic stone multiplication. What's to worry? Stocks and crypto pros always grow seed money with day trades first anyway.
"Brr, chilly."
So what do I do till refill? "Gallery scrolling while eating, duh." Time flies. I set the steaming pork jjigae cup rice on my lap and grabbed a plastic spoon.
"Slurp!" Ripped open the spicy-sweet pork pouch, squeezed every drop onto the rice, mixed it up, and a rich oily aroma hit me, making my mouth water.
"Kuh, soul food for men—pork jjigae before or after apocalypse." Shoveled a big spoonful of red-sauced rice and mashed pork bits into my mouth and fired up the gallery.
A week later, the hottest topic was still the shop update. "Dude, this should've cooled off by now."
With this much heat, you'd expect complaints or trolls, but nope?
Instead of dying down, newbies and randos were piling on, fanning the flames. "This the tail-chasing effect?"
Gallery users nearing 100k, so unknowns aren't weird, but this ripple? Impressive.
Official Shop Moves So Far
Everyone knows about the system update last week spawning the shop. I actually managed to get invited after sharing my tragic backstory. I'm super grateful, and since it might happen for others, I’m writing this for the convenience of the bros.
[History]
First 100: Led by Odasu Lord, selection was focused on a mix of charity and specific specs.
2nd 100 Invites (NEW!): Two days ago, the cap hit 200 and a new wave of invites dropped. The conditions were identical to the first.
[Supply Rules – Important]
1. Refill Cycle: The current pattern suggests roughly 72-hour intervals. The shop usually goes inactive or shows as sold out around then. Timing your next open run is key. (Speedrun, seriously, stop sniping the stock.)
[Avoid]
1. Arrogance and Greed: These result in an immediate ban. Take Odasu Lord as an example; he was ironically the first member and the first to be banned. Others followed suit because they didn't learn. The shop is fine with light trolling but absolutely hates hard trolling and reselling. No heavy drama and no resale. Sharing for free is still permitted, though.
[Do]
1. Selection Bias: The shop sides with the weak, but it doesn't reward incompetence. If you pitch a tragic story or genuine hardship, the owner is more likely to be merciful. That said, high-spec users are still getting in, so the shop likely prioritizes survival potential over raw buying power.
[Wrap]
The shop seems to operate beyond simple AI, using subjective judgment and likely scanning all posts before pinning a notice. TL;DR: Farm your stones quietly and wait for the next wave of invites.
Even info posts hitting concept status. "Pffft—cough!" Nearly spat out my cup rice. This is hilarious. Shop as system update? Fine. But a whole wiki?
New notice or conditions? Update ASAP, Yeah.
Guy seems dead serious. "Gotta play along." Pulled out my main alt.
"Damn... cool?" Shop had that intent too? Almost missed it. Lmao and TrollNEET killing it lololol
Gallery joys: deception, trolling, hot topics, shitposting. "Heh."
I'm doing it all solo. "Peak life right here."
Apocalypse and still this fun. "Good job grinding stones this week." Shoveled rice, yelled: "Today: nonstop gallery dive!!"
While TrollNEET lived his best life, in a Yellow Zone hideout. Gallery admin Baek Eunwol—aka Judak—sat cap pulled low, lost in thought waiting for guests.
"..."
A week since the shop. Gallery and real world vibes shifting hard.
"Hahaha!! We actually got invited!!" Beyond her gaze, ragtag crew in the alley hooted at their galleries. Guys who'd normally brawl over scrap paper or stones.
"Huh? You too?"
"Duh! Wrote a killer backstory!"
"Fuck, 20 stones! No coming back till 20 walkers smashed. Next time we buy water!"
Eunwol pulled her cap lower, quietly watching. 350+ water bottles. Shop's week miracle slim, but impact huge. No more killing for filthy puddle water. Now proving to system, grabbing weapons, heading out to monster hell. Hopeless eyes sparking with miracle lust.
"If system's aiming for this... success."
But questions lingered. "Then what am I...?"
She recalled awakening.
You've met awakening conditions
Condition: Survive 5 days total in Red Zone
Difficulty: Hard
Awarding legendary trait proportional to difficulty!
You are system-chosen > Awakened as Administrator (Judak)
She believed intent behind her Capital Gallery admin role. In hellworld, keep this virtual comms space orderly—system's heavy order. So outside, blood-soaked mutant slaying; inside, fake news control.
But why no word to admin on new shop miracle/system? Separate higher system meddling?
"Hmm..." No clue yet.
Prob convenience func
System has clear intent, desired future vision. If hopeful, Eunwol ready to back shop.
"Admin's role too, I'll take it." As she steeled herself—
Guests arrived. "Aha, if it isn't... Judak?"
Armored in tactical vests, gleaming weapons intimidating, munching premium jerky flauntily. Oasis Guild underlings—Yellow Zone food/water suppliers—encircled her.
"Hey. Don't banmal me."
Her cap-shadowed killing glare made the cocky crew flinch and back off.
"...Ahem! You, uh, Judak-nim called us..."
"Yeah."
Seizing momentum, she tipped her brim, voice ice: "Straight up. Why triple water prices suddenly, cut my refugee camp rations?"
Air froze at her chill probe. Her overwhelming presence twisted their faces, eyes darting—
"Fuckin shop update, what else?"
Parting goons, slicked-back man stepped out: Choi Taesoo, Oasis leader.
Click! Smirking faintly, his pistol dead-centered on her forehead.
"...Hah, joke?"
"We ain't joking."
Shop's week. 350 bottles loose. Enough to rock apocalypse order.