Chapter 9

[Invitation Envelope: Invite apartment friends from your phone contacts to enter an instance together. They may decline. Price: 800]

[Smart Bag: Intelligently changes its backpack form according to the environment within an instance. Connects automatically. Has 3 storage slots, with additional purchases available to expand capacity. Can coexist with storage slots. Price: 350 points]

[Soul-Capturing Camera: Allows you to see things invisible to the naked eye through the camera. Price: 800 points]

[Thunderclap Talisman: Can damage nonliving entities. Price: 500 points]

Su Cheng looked through them one by one and realized her 400 points were nowhere near enough!

"If I'd had a laser gun in that last zombie instance, expanded my storage slots, and found somewhere well stocked to wait until I left the instance, wouldn't that have been great?"

Su Cheng couldn't help fantasizing.

"The Soul-Capturing Camera and Thunderclap Talisman... those are probably meant for supernatural instances."

The long-haired female ghost from a horror movie that had scarred her childhood flashed through Su Cheng's mind, raising goosebumps on her arms.

After looking through everything, all she could afford in the end was a Storage Card.

But right now, she wanted a Smart Bag more than a Storage Card!

Yet to buy the Smart Bag, she would have to put everything else in her basket back...

After agonizing for a minute, Su Cheng decided to buy the Smart Bag after all!

If the supplies she brought back to the apartment couldn't be carried between instances to make survival in the next instance easier, the supplies she had worked so hard to bring back would be far less useful.

For example, wouldn't it be a shame if she couldn't take the pills and food she had brought back this time into the next instance?

Although the Smart Bag wasn't discounted, it counted as an urgently needed item.

The spray, supplements, and Storage Card would have to wait until her next supermarket trip...

After making a long circuit, she had only a Smart Bag left in her basket.

Su Cheng finally understood why everyone in the checkout line she had seen when she first came in had looked so worried...

Author's note:

None.

Chapter 9

When Su Cheng reached the food section, she caught a delicious aroma.

It immediately set off her cravings.

Following the tempting aroma, Su Cheng reached the deli section. Boxes of roast chicken and duck glistened with oil behind the counter, looking crisp and delicious!

"Let me check the price... 30 points?"

Perhaps she had seen so many prices in the hundreds that 30 points actually seemed inexpensive?

She could buy some to try once she had money.

The other shelves mostly held the usual instant noodles, biscuits, oatmeal, and assorted snacks and drinks... There was also a fruit section, not much different from the real world.

There was only one type of item on the yellow-labeled shelves:

[Nutrient Solution: Concentrated nutrients extracted from food in standardized proportions. Extremely nutritious and provides a feeling of fullness. Price: 50 points]

The nutrient solution came in 10 ml test-tube-shaped glass bottles, with several flavors in red, yellow, blue, and green. It looked like vegetable juice.

If Su Cheng had to choose between nutrient solution and roast chicken, she would choose the latter.

The household section carried all sorts of miscellaneous items: clothes, kitchenware, appliances... even stationery.

Su Cheng went to the clothing section first. Like the medicine section, the regular shelves mainly sold bundled sets.

[Four-Season Set - Standard Edition: One set of clothes each for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Includes one free pair of spring shoes. On sale!!! Price: 20 points]

[Four-Season Set - Upgraded Edition: Two sets of clothes each for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, plus one hat and one scarf. Includes one free pair of spring shoes and one free pair of winter shoes. On sale!!! Price: 40 points]

Su Cheng sighed, her gaze landing on a piece of clothing on the yellow-labeled shelves.

[Premium Base Layer Set (Black, Lightweight): Does not protect against the cold. Provides limited fire and water resistance. Price: 20 points]

Su Cheng hesitated between the standard four-season set and the base layers. Ordinary clothes wore out too quickly, and she could obtain them in instances...

"The base layers it is!"

Su Cheng took down a boxed premium base layer set. "Maybe I'll be able to bring back some clothes from the next instance..."

With no points left, Su Cheng lost interest in browsing any further.

The other supplies weren't urgently needed, so there was no rush to buy them. Su Cheng took a casual look around, then headed to the checkout.

The female cashier smiled. "Hello, which membership tier would you like to purchase?"

Su Cheng noticed the name on her badge: Tang Su.

"Hello. What benefits do the three membership tiers offer?"

"Standard members receive no special discounts. Premium members receive 30% off storewide, excluding promotional items. Super Black Diamond members receive 50% off storewide, including promotional items, and the supermarket sends them a special gift every month."

"Please sign me up for a standard membership."

"Certainly."

Tang Su picked up a scanner. "Please hold your bracelet closer so I can scan it and register your information."

"Okay."

The scanner beeped, completing the registration. Only then did Tang Su begin scanning the items for checkout.

Su Cheng remembered something. "Do you sell passes here at the supermarket? I didn't see any."

"Passes aren't displayed on the supermarket shelves. Each pass costs 50,000 points. After the payment is deducted here, I submit the apartment owner's request, and someone delivers the pass to their apartment."

Fifty thousand points. An astronomical price indeed.

"How much are vehicle rentals and access cards?"

"Bicycles cost 50 points a day, electric bikes 80 points a day, and cars 100 points a day. A deposit of 200 points is required before renting. Super Black Diamond members are exempt from the deposit. Each access card costs 50 points."

"Would you like to rent a vehicle or purchase an access card?"

Both access cards and vehicle rentals were for going outside. Su Cheng had no plans to go out at the moment, and besides, she had no points left.

"No, thank you."

"You're welcome. Please show me your bracelet again."

Beep-payment successful.

Su Cheng's bracelet updated. Points: 0.

She had become penniless in an instant.

"Here are your things. Please take them."

Su Cheng accepted the plastic bag without much joy.

There were so many things she wanted but couldn't afford. Her points simply didn't stretch far enough...

Su Cheng sighed deeply and pressed the elevator button.

When the elevator doors opened, a familiar face stepped out.

"Oh? The older sister from Elevator ②?"

It was the older of the twins who had shared the elevator with her last time.

Like Su Cheng, the girl was wrapped in a bathrobe. It seemed she, too, had only recently returned to the apartment.

Su Cheng gave her a polite smile. "What a coincidence. Where's your younger sister?"

A trace of worry appeared on the girl's face. "She hasn't left her instance yet."

"Don't worry. She should be back soon."

"Yes! I think so too!"

"My name's Hai Shuang, and my younger sister is Hai Lu. Can I add you as a friend, big sister?"

Hai Shuang winked playfully, her eyes clear and bright.

Su Cheng didn't refuse and entered her own name in the note.

They didn't chat much longer. Hai Shuang waved. "I'm off to the supermarket. See you next time, Sister Chengzi~"

Sister Chengzi?

Su Cheng chuckled. It had been a long time since she had heard that name. Back in her school days, her close classmates had liked calling her Chengzi.

"Sure. See you next time."

After returning to her apartment, Su Cheng checked her bracelet. It was already 20:35.

Without realizing it, she had spent over an hour browsing the supermarket.

She drew back the apartment curtains. Gray mist filled the view outside, making it impossible to see anything clearly. She wondered what it was like outside the apartment...

Su Cheng lay on the sofa and switched on the television, only to discover that there was just one channel, showing a recording of an outdoor blogger's survival adventure.

"There's a wild boar up ahead. It's agitated right now and extremely aggressive, so it's best not to approach! I'd better cut bamboo somewhere else..."

Su Cheng opened the box containing the Smart Bag.

[Use Smart Bag?]

Use.

[Successfully used. The Smart Bag is now bound to you. No one else can open it.]

The white Smart Bag looked no different from an ordinary cloth bag. When she put something inside, three storage slots popped up.

Each storage slot had a weight limit of 3 kg.

Su Cheng also opened the base layer box. The base layers were thin, and the fabric felt different on the inside and outside, with the outside feeling rougher and stiffer.

"Tsk, tsk. Just these two things cost 370 points."

Su Cheng's heart ached a little. She simply stopped thinking about it and slumped on the sofa.

After the medicinal bath in the white treatment room, her body, which had still been somewhat sore from exercise, had instantly recovered. She felt her arm. "Maybe I'll grow some muscles someday."

Su Cheng ate chocolate as she finished watching the outdoor adventure recording.

Come to think of it, she hadn't watched television in a long time. Before this, she had always scrolled through short videos on her phone. She hadn't even installed a television in her rented place.

After the outdoor adventure show ended, there was a

food

show. Su Cheng didn't want to watch that, so she turned off the television.

She got up and headed to the bathroom. After washing up, she lay down in bed, ready to sleep.

Before entering the apartment, she had been a night owl, staying up until two or three in the morning. After entering the instance, she had developed the good habit of going to bed early.

The soft, springy mattress beneath her was far more comfortable than the folding bed she had slept on for three nights in the convenience store.

Su Cheng yawned. Her last thought before falling asleep was that she would enter an instance as soon as she got up tomorrow morning.

Having zero points felt exactly like having no savings... It left her uneasy.

For once, Su Cheng enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep and woke feeling refreshed.

She checked her bracelet. It was only 9:25.

She had gone to bed early last night and gotten up early today.

Behind the mirror above the bathroom sink were disposable toothbrushes and sample tubes of toothpaste. Su Cheng frugally squeezed out a soybean-sized dab of toothpaste.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Su Cheng sighed. "Needs must. Needs must..."

After washing up, Su Cheng changed into her newly purchased base layers. The one-size-fits-all set fit her perfectly.

Outside the apartment window, everything was still gray and hazy, unchanged by the passage of time.

Inside the apartment, however, the temperature and lighting remained ideal at all times. Even wearing only her base layers, Su Cheng didn't feel cold.