"Clack."
Su Cheng dropped into the familiar medical pod.
"Dr. Lin, we meet again."
Lin Deng glanced at Su Cheng. "Mm."
"You're in good shape. Looks like the last special instance didn't leave any lingering effects."
"I had nightmares at first, but they stopped after a while, thanks to the medicine you gave me."
Dr. Lin gave her a strange look. "What I gave you was just a fairly effective sedative and sleeping pill. A lot of people report that it doesn't do much for them. Your nightmares stopping probably had nothing to do with the medicine."
Su Cheng choked on her words. Why did Dr. Lin have to be so blunt...?
Lin Deng swiped across the tablet, voice as calm and cool as ever. "You're in good condition. Five minutes in the medicinal bath, and you'll be ready."
"Okay, thank you."
Su Cheng was a little curious about where the apartment's doctors came from. Lin Deng, for instance, seemed to have no need to enter instances, only to stay in the white consultation room and receive people leaving them.
The same went for Tang Su.
Did becoming an apartment employee give you the right to stop entering instances?
With that thought, Su Cheng asked, "How can I become an apartment employee like you, Dr. Lin?"
Lin Deng looked up. "You just have to pass a rigorous professional assessment."
A rigorous professional assessment?
If even Lin Deng called it rigorous, the assessment must be far from simple. Plenty of people probably weren't even eligible to take it.
And eligibility might be closely tied to each person's occupation in the real world.
For example, Su Cheng was just an ordinary office worker in the real world, while Lin Deng was probably a professional doctor...
Five minutes later, Su Cheng returned to the apartment.
Calendar updated: Year 0: Month 0: Day 19.
After washing and changing in the bathroom, Su Cheng moved all the water she had brought back from the instance into a corner of her room.
She also took some of the potatoes and eggs out of her smart bag and left them in the apartment so they wouldn't take up too much space in the bag.
"From now on, I'll keep all my empty mineral water bottles. I can also buy some large-capacity reusable water bottles later."
Finally free of the stuffy protective suit, Su Cheng put on loose clothes and stretched comfortably.
Lying on her soft bed, she picked up her phone. Neither Xu Shaowei nor Yan Yu was online; they were still in their instances.
Su Cheng left each of them a message about classes.
They could also keep an eye out for events related to obtaining classes from now on and exchange information with one another.
As usual, Su Cheng checked both group chats, the one with the group owner and the one without.
The group owner was still announcing the death list.
Su Cheng searched the residents' group without the owner for trade offers. She still remembered what she lacked: seasonings, popular science books, heat patches, outdoor tools...
Rather than looking for others, she might as well wait for them to come to her.
Su Cheng simply posted all the items she needed in the group and waited for someone to contact her.
[Ding-dong]
A reply soon arrived on her phone.
Su Cheng hadn't expected it to be someone she knew.
[Hai Shuang]: Sister Chengzi, my sister and I have most of the things you want, but not much of each. Do you want them?
[Su Cheng]: Yes!
Hai Shuang quickly sent over a photo.
Su Cheng opened it and took a look. The seasonings included salt, MSG, cumin powder, and chili powder, with two sets in all.
There was a bag of what looked like thirty or forty heat patches, two outdoor climbing ropes, and five sleeping bags.
[Su Cheng]: I need all of these. What would you like?
[Hai Shuang]: Weapons would be best. We're short on those.
"Weapons, huh..."
Su Cheng looked at the table where she kept her weapons and took out four kitchen knives that had barely been used, along with four pairs of scissors from her stock.
She needed the others herself, so these were all she could trade.
Su Cheng took a photo and sent it over.
[Su Cheng]: These are the only spare weapons I have, but I also have jerky, jam, potatoes, and eggs. Would those work?
[Hai Shuang]: Yes! Kitchen knives and scissors work too. For food, we only need jerky and eggs.
[Su Cheng]: Okay.
[Hai Shuang]: Let's meet outside the apartment~
Su Cheng put all the kitchen knives and scissors into her bag, then took two bags of jerky and twenty eggs.
Su Cheng pressed the elevator button and took out her phone to browse the supermarket's shopping app. She would pass the supermarket on her way out, so she might as well check what she needed and buy it along the way.
She entered "throwing darts" as the keyword. Twenty-one results appeared, sorted by price from low to high.
[Small iron throwing darts (10): Ordinary physical weapons with no special effects. Price: 200 points.] [Small spiral throwing darts (5): Supermarket-exclusive weapons. Upon contact with a target, they thrust forward 5 cm, piercing the flesh. Price: 300 points.] [Reservoir-equipped long-bladed throwing darts (5): Supermarket-exclusive weapons. Can hold poison, releasing the solution in the reservoir upon piercing a target. Price: 300 points.]
"Ding~"
The elevator reached basement level one.
Su Cheng walked toward the supermarket.
"A set of throwing darts costs almost as many points as an ordinary instance gives."
Su Cheng silently cursed the price, then selected the reservoir-equipped long-bladed throwing darts from the supermarket shelf.
As a premium member, she received thirty percent off everything, so five cost her 210 points.
Su Cheng also picked up two smart bags that were selling fast at a discount, spending 400 points.
Smart bags were much more useful than storage slot expansion cards.
Storage slot expansions could only be used when leaving an instance, but there might not be any supplies nearby worth taking at that moment.
Smart bags had plenty of space, largely preventing situations where she could only stare at supplies without being able to take them.
Points balance: 280.
Her points really didn't go far enough.
Su Cheng didn't rent a vehicle.
This was her second trip outside, and she had a rough idea of the route. She wasn't in a hurry either, so she decided to walk.
Basement level one covered a huge area. Su Cheng estimated that walking briskly to the exit would take fifteen minutes, so she let Hai Shuang know in advance.
When Su Cheng reached the exit and swiped her access card, she saw Hai Shuang waiting by the road.
"Hi~ Sister Chengzi."
Hai Shuang waved, every bit as energetic as when they first met.
"Hi."
Su Cheng walked over to her and took the agreed-upon items out of her smart bag.
The two exchanged their goods.
Hai Shuang suddenly asked, "Sister Chengzi, do you know about the gene lock?"
Su Cheng was a little surprised by the sudden question. "Have you unlocked your gene lock?"
Hai Shuang shook her head. "I heard an experienced resident mention it in an instance. But he only brought it up in passing and didn't tell me much."
"If you know, Sister Chengzi, I can trade supplies for information."
Su Cheng didn't mind trading what she knew with Hai Shuang.
She went over the information about the gene lock that she had previously shared with Yan Yu and the others, telling Hai Shuang all of it.
Gratitude filled Hai Shuang's eyes.
She took out a bag of heat patches, two hot water bottles, and three sleeping bags, scratching her cheek a little sheepishly.
"Hai Lu and I don't have much of what you need either. This is all we can give you, Sis..."
Then she promised, "I'll keep an eye out in future instances and bring things back to make up the rest."
Su Cheng shook her head. "It's fine. There's no rush."
Hai Shuang smiled, a little more warmth in her eyes as she looked at Su Cheng.
After finishing her trade with Hai Shuang and returning to the apartment, Su Cheng ate something, watched TV for a while, and began packing for her next instance.
Her smart bag now had eighteen slots.
After packing the main categories-food, weapons, medicine, and daily necessities-she still had thirteen slots left.
As the supplies she kept in her apartment grew more comprehensive, there were more things she could bring.
Su Cheng opened a supplement and drank one vial.
She had kept taking it daily for almost a week. The visible change was that the muscles in her arms and calves had become firmer. The less visible change seemed to be greater hand strength?
Since it was a supermarket-exclusive product, it probably wasn't a sucker tax.
Su Cheng went out and headed for the elevator lobby.
Ordinary Elevator ② was in use. Su Cheng looked at the vacant Elevator ①. She didn't seem to have taken Elevator ① before.
Why not try Elevator ① this time?
Su Cheng entered the elevator and pressed "8."
What kind of instance would it be this time...?
"Ding~"
The elevator doors opened.
Pitch darkness lay beyond.
No matter how many times she saw it, that inky blackness still made her uneasy.
Su Cheng sighed and strode into the darkness.
Author's note:
Entering a new instance next chapter! Monsters in the mist!
Chapter 36
Su Cheng appeared at the entrance to an alley. White mist filled her surroundings, so thick she couldn't even see the opposite wall.
Beyond the alley entrance, dense mist spread everywhere. Nothing was visible.
She could only make out objects within half a meter of herself.
There wasn't a single sound. It was frighteningly quiet.
Su Cheng instantly tensed all over, pressed her back against the wall, and slowed her breathing. The dense mist severely restricted her vision, yet even when she listened carefully, she couldn't hear the slightest sound.
This wasn't normal.
Were there no living creatures in the dense mist at all?
Amid the utter silence, the system's mechanical voice suddenly sounded in her mind, nearly making Su Cheng jump.
[Welcome to the ordinary instance: Shh! Keep quiet] [Basic mission: Survive for 7 days. Completing the mission awards 500 points and allows you to return to the apartment. Advanced mission: Collect entries in the mist monster bestiary (0/5). Completion reward: 600 points.] [Note: Advanced missions are exclusive to residents who have unlocked their gene locks. They trigger randomly in instances and are not mandatory.]
Mist monsters?
Su Cheng's heart skipped a beat. The silence around her suddenly had an explanation.
This instance truly matched its name perfectly.
Su Cheng couldn't see whether any monsters lurked in the dense mist, but remaining exposed outdoors was definitely not the right choice.
She needed to move inside a building for shelter.
Keeping her back against the wall behind her, Su Cheng moved slowly. That wall was the only thing she could see.