Li Yuqing looked at Zeng Shen, then at the little black kitten in his arms, its big, adorable black eyes blinking. Words of affection instantly spilled from her lips.
"Class president, is this your cat? It's so cute."
"Yeah, I just adopted him." Zeng Shen nodded.
The girl before him wore a white dress, its skirt falling gently from her waist like a waterfall over her long, fair legs. She was his college classmate, Li Yuqing.
Back in college.
He had been their class president.
Li Yuqing, meanwhile, had been the girl of many boys' dreams, one of the university's two reigning campus beauties for three years running.
Her family was supposedly very wealthy, but she had always kept a low profile and worked hard to better herself. She had even expressed an interest in him during college.
But something had happened at home back then, and he hadn't given her a clear answer in time.
By the time he returned to school, she had gone home for six months because of her own family matters, and their budding relationship had fizzled out.
Now, Zeng Shen hadn't expected to run into her at a shop beside the park while out looking for work.
And in the future, she would become an Undead System deity. From the system's introduction, she apparently would be quite powerful, too.
"Oh, I see."
Li Yuqing nodded and reached out to pet the little black kitten. But he slipped out of Zeng Shen's arms at once, ran behind his legs, and eyed the woman warily.
"He seems a little shy around strangers," Zeng Shen said.
"Seems that way..." Li Yuqing withdrew her hand awkwardly, then looked up and asked, "Shen, how's the job search going?"
"Nothing yet."
"If you're having trouble, why not give my online content company a try?" A flicker of anticipation appeared in Li Yuqing's eyes.
Online content creation had been popular these past few years. Zeng Shen had tried his hand at it back in college, too, though only as a hobby. He had collected plenty of material and learned to edit videos to post online, earning a few hundred a month on the side.
Of course, with the apocalypse coming in a year, who the hell would still work?
But without a job, what would he eat?
"Would I have much freedom?"
Zeng Shen asked.
As long as the job gave him plenty of freedom and a few thousand a month to cover his daily expenses, he wasn't picky about what he did.
After all, disaster would strike in a year. There was no point in having that much money when he could simply loot whatever he needed then.
Right now, though, he was almost broke.
Rent still had to be paid every month, so he urgently needed a steady income to cover the coming year's expenses. His parents were farmers in the countryside and couldn't afford to support him for a year, either.
As for the idea of taking out loans from every lending platform and milking them for money because the apocalypse was coming anyway...
This wasn't some novel.
Loan applications in this world were reviewed with unusual strictness. At the very least, he needed proof of six months of steady employment income, along with physical assets to put up as collateral.
Of course, even if he had those things, Zeng Shen still wouldn't want a loan.
After all, he was worried that if the apocalypse didn't arrive and he ended up millions in debt, the joke would really be on him.
"Content creation jobs are pretty flexible. You've done it yourself back in college, remember? Right now, I need someone who can gather, record, or stage the footage I need and edit it," Li Yuqing said with a smile.
"So you want me back in my old line of work. Sure. How much are you offering?" Zeng Shen asked.
"How about a guaranteed ten thousand, plus commission?"
"Holy shit, boss! From now on, whatever you say goes."
"Hahaha."
Li Yuqing laughed softly. Her white skirt rippled slightly, looking as soft as silk in the sunlight, making him want to reach out and touch it.
"All right, then. I want you to come by around one tomorrow afternoon. Go to the thirteenth floor of the office building opposite the rear entrance of the pedestrian street-the one by your apartment complex. Look for a room with a little wooden sign that says Like Family Studio. You'll find me there."
"Yes, boss!"
Zeng Shen raised a hand to his temple and gave her a convincing little salute.
"See you tomorrow, then. I have something to take care of, so I'll be going."
Li Yuqing's face was wreathed in smiles. As though she had accomplished something important, she turned gracefully and left.
[Congratulations, host. You successfully outwitted an Undead System deity and forced her to retreat, protecting your follower. Survival points +1,000.]
"Uh..."
Hearing the system notification in his head, Zeng Shen was briefly stunned.
All right.
Whatever you say.
He went into the shop and bought several packs of fish sausages. After scanning the code and paying at the self-checkout, he carried the little black kitten back to the stone bench, tore open the plastic packaging, and squeezed out a small sausage onto the bench.
The little black kitten stepped forward and sniffed the sausage, opened his mouth slightly, and took a small bite. Then he began wolfing it down.
"Haha, looks like you really like these fish sausages."
Watching the little black kitten's adorable eating habits lifted Zeng Shen's spirits for no particular reason, and he laughed happily.
The little black kitten seemed to understand him. He looked up and answered Zeng Shen with a "meow." Immediately afterward, another beam of white light flew from his body and surged into Zeng Shen.
Congratulations, host: your casual believer is grateful for your feeding and has become your true believer. Reward: 1,000 survival points.
An enormous question mark practically appeared over Zeng Shen's head.
"That works, too?"
Once the little black kitten finished the sausage, Zeng Shen narrowed his eyes and grinned mischievously. "You have other brothers and sisters, right? Take your master to them."
"Meow."
The little black kitten meowed as though he half understood, then jumped off the stone bench and ran toward the park's rear entrance.
Perhaps because the kitten was his believer, Zeng Shen felt that he could understand his meaning instantly, so he hurried after him.
Behind the park was a fairly large abandoned hospital. Zeng Shen already knew that plenty of stray cats made their homes nearby, and he figured that must be where the little black kitten's siblings lived.
Before long.
The cat ran ahead, while the man walked behind.
Just as he reached the park gate, an urgent voice sounded in Zeng Shen's head. At the same time, a virtual panel so red it was almost purple appeared before his eyes, its red text flashing frantically.
[Warning: if you take another step forward, host, you will be attacked by a vicious, terrifying tier-three Hellhound. Given your strength, an attack by a tier-three Hellhound will deal a devastating blow to both you and your follower. Death is certain. Please retreat and leave this area immediately.]
Seeing the system's warning, Zeng Shen's expression grew serious. He crouched down and picked up the little black kitten just as he was about to run out through the park's rear entrance.
A loud "Woof!" suddenly rang out at them.
A little chow chow, only slightly larger than the kitten, darted in front of them and barked nonstop. Its white fur was so dirty it looked gray, and there was no telling whether it had wandered off and gotten lost or been abandoned.
The instant the little white chow chow appeared, the system's voice in Zeng Shen's head became even more frantic and urgent.
[Warning! Warning! Host has encountered a tier-three Hellhound. Please evade it and leave immediately.]
Zeng Shen looked at the little chow chow, which wasn't even half a meter tall, then scanned his surroundings. After confirming there were no other stray dogs, he was instantly speechless.
This puppy was the fucking vicious, terrifying tier-three Hellhound?
"Shoo, shoo. Go back where you came from."
Zeng Shen waved a hand, picked up the frightened little black kitten, and walked straight ahead.
Ignored by Zeng Shen, the little chow chow lowered its body slightly, apparently preparing to bark even louder and assert ownership over the area.
But the next second.
A fish sausage landed at its feet.
The delicious fishy scent of the sausage made the ravenous little chow chow shut its mouth.
It picked up the sausage, then raised its large, sparkling almond-shaped eyes toward Zeng Shen's retreating back, as though determined to remember him for the rest of its life.
[Congratulations, host. The tier-three Hellhound has developed a favorable impression of you. Crisis resolved. Survival points +100.]
"Well, hey! That gets me a hundred survival points, too?"
The sudden hundred-point reward perked Zeng Shen right up. He turned to look at the little chow chow, which had finished its fish sausage and was now gazing at him pleadingly with its big, sparkling eyes.
"Little guy, I'll give you another sausage, and you give me another hundred points."
As he spoke, Zeng Shen willed a fish sausage out of a slot in his inventory space and tossed it over.
"Woof, woof!"
With another fish sausage appearing at its feet, the little chow chow barked happily and eagerly dug in.
It soon finished the sausage, then looked up at Zeng Shen again with pleading eyes, apparently still hungry.
"Why didn't I get another hundred points this time? Wasn't that enough?"
Zeng Shen frowned in confusion and tossed over another fish sausage.
Once the little chow chow finished it, he tossed another...
Before long, the entire pack of fish sausages had gone into the little chow chow's belly.
But he still hadn't received any survival points.
"Damn it, what a waste. I must only get survival points the first time I win this dumb dog over." Having reached that irritated conclusion, Zeng Shen turned without hesitation, held the little black kitten close, and headed toward the abandoned hospital.
Meanwhile.
As he walked, he thought, If I bother with that little chow chow again, I'm a dog.
After Zeng Shen's feeding spree, the little chow chow's belly was full and it was in a wonderful mood.
But the moment it looked up and saw Zeng Shen leaving, it eagerly trotted after him.
[Congratulations, host. You have acquired a tier-three Hellhound as a pet mount. Survival points +1,000, true believers +1, faith +1.]
At the system's notification, Zeng Shen stopped and looked down at the little chow chow that had run up to him, contributed a thousand survival points, and become his true believer.
Suddenly, he felt there might be nothing wrong with playing it safe after all.
"Eye of Observation."