Technically speaking, plenty of people had gone shopping at a supermarket in the middle of the night.
But not many people would dare to visit a supermarket that had only just opened in a situation like this.
So when Gu Mian and the others showed up at the ticket booth, the NPC was a little surprised.
The Fatty was terrified. He had even brought along the kitchen knife from Gu Mian's place for self-defense. "Doctor, couldn't we go tomorrow? Why do we have to go in the middle of the night..."
"Didn't you say they only sell a limited number of supermarket tickets each month?" Gu Mian looked like he was there to snatch up tickets.
Chu Changge pushed up his glasses. "Apparently, you're the only one in such a hurry to get one in the middle of the night."
Gu Mian shrugged and looked at the NPC behind the ticket window. "Three tickets to the supermarket, please."
The NPC in the booth was a woman with a ponytail and an utterly ordinary face.
She looked up at Gu Mian. "One supermarket ticket costs fifty points. Three cost one hundred and fifty."
As she spoke, she pushed out a device that looked like the card readers in a cafeteria. "Put your hand on it to scan. It'll deduct the points automatically. Are you paying together or separately?"
Gu Mian looked at the card reader. It was pretty high-tech.
The Fatty was surprised. "That expensive?"
After all, he'd only received ten Game Currency from his first instance.
The Game Currency the Fatty had now had all come from tagging along with Gu Mian. He had Gu Mian to thank for wrecking the special hearse instance; that had earned him a thousand points in compensation.
Normally, one instance earned you ten coins. That meant you'd have to clear five instances just to afford one ticket—and you'd still need money left over to buy things in the supermarket.
The NPC patiently explained, "Since the game has only just started, players won't receive much Game Currency at first. Things will get a little better later on."
"If you don't have enough Game Currency, you can enter an instance first..."
As the NPC spoke, light seemed to gleam in her eyes. She looked like she really wanted them to enter an instance.
Gu Mian knew that ticket sellers had performance targets too, probably tied to how many players entered instances.
"No need." Not wanting to make things difficult for her, Gu Mian cut her off. "Deduct it all from my account."
Deduct it all from yours? A strange expression appeared on the NPC's face. Surely he didn't have enough?
The game had only just begun. Most players would struggle to buy even one ticket, let alone three at once.
She eyed the card reader suspiciously. It actually showed that the deduction of 150 points had gone through.
While the NPC still wore a puzzled expression, Gu Mian received three tickets.
He lowered his head to look at them—
[Game Supermarket Ticket]
[Entry to the Game Supermarket requires this ticket. This is a single-use item.]
[Validity period: January 2019]
They were single-use tickets, and he couldn't save them for later. You had to use each ticket in the month you bought it.
Chu Changge took the tickets from Gu Mian. "Actually, we only needed to buy one. As long as one of us goes into the supermarket, we can buy everything the three of us need."
Gu Mian paused. "I get that, but don't you two want to look around the supermarket?"
The Fatty shifted where he stood. He finally understood what the phrase "wealthy and willful" meant.
The NPC behind the window seemed unable to bear watching. She leaned out. "You'd better save up some Game Currency first and go to the supermarket near the end of the month, when you have more money. Otherwise, even if you get in, you won't have enough to buy anything. There should be more people at the supermarket then, so you'll be less likely to attract attention..."
Attract attention? The Fatty looked confused. "What does that mean?"
Chu Changge glanced at the entrance, his expression knowing. "There are probably already some small gangs around."
Even before the game began, groups like that had existed in the world—
They had nothing to do and spent their days hanging around together, trying to profit off other people.
That was the polite way to put it. Less politely, they were thugs.
Thugs who robbed people on the road.
In the past, groups like that had at least been kept somewhat in check. But now the whole world was in chaos, and no one had time to deal with them.
So they banded together into groups, like the gangs in a game.
When Gu Mian came out of the ticket booth, he spotted a figure flickering past in the distance, like someone keeping watch.
The Fatty wasn't very clever, but even he could guess what was going on.
He nervously edged closer to Gu Mian. "Doctor... I just saw someone dart past over there. Could they be... the kind of people who rob you?"
The Fatty usually devoured stories on Qidian, and he'd read plenty of apocalyptic novels there. He'd seen all sorts of scenes like this in those stories.
"I bet he's a lookout. He sees someone buy a ticket, then goes back and tells the boss. Then the boss brings a bunch of people to steal our stuff..."
As he went on, he seemed to scare himself and shuddered.
Gu Mian didn't seem to care much. He glanced at the supermarket in the distance. "Forget all that. Let's go in and take a look first."
The Fatty was instantly dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, two figures crouched in the darkness not far from the ticket booth.
The thinner one faced a panel, apparently messaging a friend.
"Boss, it's Wang Xiaolong. There are three fat sheep by the Driver's Test Center. They look pretty rich."
A few moments later, a reply came.
"Only three? What do they look like?"
"Yeah, boss, only three. There's a big fat guy who looks pretty strong, and the other two are a doctor and a weak-looking guy. They shouldn't be much of a threat. They bought tickets and went straight into the supermarket. It's not far from the Driver's Test Center."
"Keep an eye on them. I'll bring the others over."
Only after getting the reply did Wang Xiaolong relax a little.
He lit a cigarette in the dark and looked at his companion. "Boss says he'll bring people over in a bit. We're supposed to keep a close eye on them."
The person beside him looked nervous. "Xiaolong, do you think what we're doing is kind of wrong?"
Wang Xiaolong immediately rapped him hard on the head.
"This is no time to worry about what's right or wrong. We need to get something to eat first. Besides, my middle-school history teacher once said something—I can't remember exactly, but it was something like 'heroes rise in troubled times.' We need to pick a side first. Who knows? Maybe our boss will be the next hero. As for the people we're watching, they're the ones who are too weak. Even if we don't rob them, someone else will. We might as well be the ones to benefit."
By then, Gu Mian and the others had handed over their tickets and entered the supermarket.
The Fatty wasn't allowed to bring his kitchen knife inside, of course, so they had to leave it in a locker.
The newly built supermarket in this game was no different from an ordinary large supermarket. It was brightly lit and spacious, and the salespeople greeted customers with smiles.
The only difference was how deserted it was. There were only the three of them.
Gu Mian noticed that the letters NPC floated above every employee's head.
The first floor was the daily necessities section, divided into lots of smaller areas: kitchen supplies, adult products, anime merchandise, and so on.
The selection was extensive. They had everything you could think of.
Prices were clearly marked above all the products, and the salespeople in every section were incredibly enthusiastic, like travelers who'd finally found water after a long drought.
"Come on over, chubby! Look at these blankets. They're thick and soft, and they're only ten coins..."
It looked like the salespeople had performance rankings too.
The Fatty and Chu Changge were being tugged back and forth by competing salespeople.
Gu Mian, on the other hand, was ignored. Maybe these NPCs had an instinctive wariness of danger.
Gu Mian didn't mind. He wandered around the first floor, eventually reaching the most out-of-the-way section.
"Mechanical Tools and Supplies..."
Before you continue