Chapter 12
Clatter- thud.
In one corner of Car 2's freight compartment, the old boxes the drones had diligently hauled in all this time were piled up like a mountain.
It was time to crack them open one by one, like ants gathering food.
"All right, let's see..."
Weapons were surprisingly plentiful.
[Toothed Longsword]
[Aluminum Baseball Bat]
[Rusty Machete]
At first glance they looked worthless, but once appraised, each one had its own abilities.
The longsword made wounds bleed longer, and the bat would return to its original shape if it was bent and soaked in hot water.
Of course, compared to the vicious tooth mace hanging in my armory or the combat drones, they were nothing more than toys.
But to ordinary survivors who had to face monsters with their bare hands, they were a lifeline.
"If I certify that they're items, they'll probably sell better."
I started opening the remaining boxes as well.
Aside from weapons, nothing particularly sellable turned up.
There were plenty of odds and ends I'd try to sell, but if they still wouldn't move, I figured I could always dump them in the vending machine.
Besides those, I had other things to sell.
Things I'd picked up from convenience stores and outside.
Cigarettes, soju, whiskey, instant coffee, and all sorts of other indulgences.
"Hmm."
I don't smoke.
As for alcohol, an occasional can of beer was enough; strong whiskey wasn't my taste.
But I know.
I know how valuable these things are in this world.
For people being chased by zombie hordes and drying out day by day, nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine were worth more than mana stones.
Short-form videos, games, novels, music, streaming services, and so on.
In a world where all that dopamine had vanished, the value of those things must have gone up even more.
Lastly, my biggest trade item was water.
I had a purification system fully installed on the train, so I never had to worry about drinking water.
I could even shower as much as I wanted.
"...This one is fine even if I sell it cheap."
I filled a plastic bottle with water safe to drink and put it where it would be easiest to see.
Cigarettes, alcohol, weapons, and water.
The four major apocalypse trade items were all gathered together.
The preparations were complete.
I sat on the sofa and stared at the clock on my smartphone.
My heart was pounding.
It felt oddly tense, like I was trying to buy tickets for a singer's concert.
The Gallery was already in an uproar.
---
[Title : Hey, one minute left.]
Has the Exchange popped up yet?
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : Not up yet
Nureongi1 : Please, please upload some food...
ㄴ ChefKing : Okay, I'll post my dishes for cheap.
ㄴ Nureongi1 : That's a bit... I saw the pictures you posted last time...
ㄴ ChefKing : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Even Nureongi won't eat that foodㅋㅋ
---
And then, the long-awaited time arrived.
12:00 PM
The instant the numbers changed, the Gallery screen on my smartphone flashed.
At the top, where tabs like notices, information, and questions had been divided up, another tab appeared.
A tab called Exchange.
I pressed the Exchange tab with trembling hands.
On the screen I had expected to be empty, posts began pouring in almost at once.
Within about a minute, three posts had been uploaded.
---
[Buying] Looking for a pack of ramen! (Have a gold ring)
[Buying] Anyone have sleeping pills? Will trade mana stones.
[Selling] Running shoes for sale. (One bottle of water)
---
It was utter chaos.
There were far more buyers than sellers.
A textbook case of supply shortage.
Smiling, I uploaded the photos I'd prepared in advance.
---
[Selling] 2L bottled water, cigarettes, whiskey, and weapons for sale.
- Payment methods: mana stones, skill books, monster drop items
- First come, first served. Negotiation possible for a valid reason.
---
The moment I hit the register button.
Ding! Ding!
The notification sound started going off nonstop.
I read their messages in order and started trading.
First, I quickly accepted the trades that offered mana stones or monster drop items.
Once I completed a trade, I learned one thing.
Swoosh.
When a trade was completed, the air opened as if it were being sucked inward, the item vanished into the void, and then the air opened again and spat out the traded item.
"Ah... so that's how it works?"
It might not be for me to say, but it was an amazing skill.
Every time I scrolled down, new posts popped up like notifications.
The more I looked at it, the more it felt like an exchange and, at the same time, a kind of quest.
---
[Buying] Looking for baby diapers. (1L bottled water)
[Buying] Will trade five packs of ramen for antibiotics. Urgent.
[Selling] Zombie teeth for sale (Will accept novels, manga)
---
"Hmm, seeing this, I could probably go fetch it for them."
If a wanted trade item showed up, it might be fine to head out with the intention of getting it.
It felt a little like looking at a collection quest.
"There are a lot of people looking for water..."
---
[Buying] Please, just one bottle of water... My child is showing symptoms of dehydration. All I have are clothes...
[Buying] I'm dying of thirst. I'll give you anything.
---
"This person was the one who posted their selfie last time..."
Looking at the nicknames, there were a lot of familiar people.
I'd been glued to the Gallery every night, so it made sense.
The nicknames of those who had been posting survival logs while cursing this changed world.
I didn't know their names, but the people in this Gallery felt like neighbors to me.
"...Anyway, I have plenty of water."
I let out a sigh and looked back at the train.
Inside my train, clean water was overflowing.
There was enough to spare even after taking a shower.
And yet they were staking their entire fortunes on a single sip of water.
"Water's nothing."
I decided to set my merchant mindset aside for a moment.
Just for water.
I wouldn't lose anything by showing a little generosity here.
To the people who looked desperate for water, I hit the accept button without asking questions or hesitating.
[Trade completed: 1 bottle of 2L water <-> wolf fur]
[Trade completed: 6 bottles of 2L water <-> child's handwritten thank-you letter]
[Trade completed: 3 bottles of 2L water <-> lowest-grade mana stone]
Cracks in the void opened busily.
The water bottles were sent off, and in exchange all sorts of odds and ends came into my warehouse.
The financial gain came down to zero.
But.
"...Cute."
The child's thank-you letter, with its clumsy handwriting, gave me a sense of fulfillment that was hard to come by in the apocalypse.
The sense of accomplishment was pretty satisfying.
And it wasn't just the child's letter.
---
[Title : Wow, seriously, thank you so much ㅠㅠ]
The kid had been on the verge of collapsing from dehydration... Thanks to you, they survived.
I'll definitely pay you back when I get my chance later.
You'll be blessed for this.
---
[Title : Thomas, thanks.]
You practically gave away water for free in this situation.
I'll pay you back when I make it.
---
The board started getting plastered with praise for me.
"This is kind of overwhelming... but am I Thomas?"
Thomas, Train Lord, Chikchiki
My Chik-chik-bok-bok nickname was being warped and mentioned all over the place.
It didn't feel bad.
"I should probably ask them to tone down the mentions a bit..."
I sank deep into the sofa and smiled with satisfaction.
I could make up for it with other goods.
As expected, generosity comes back to you.
"...There are a lot of people looking for medicine. Come to think of it, I should probably keep some on hand too..."
I had potions, but unless I was going to waste them on something as minor as a cold or headache, it was better to have some basic medicine on hand.
I took the mace out of the armory and slung it over my shoulder.
I put on a large travel backpack and asked the drones to move the cart.
I could probably have the drones fetch medicine too, but with the demand I was seeing on the Gallery right now, drone delivery alone wouldn't come close to keeping up.
"I'll have to go myself and bring it all back at once."
I needed to expand my line of goods.
Whirr- click.
My trusty partners lined up on either side of me.
"Let's go."
The train doors opened, and we stepped out onto the gray streets of Incheon.
Our target was the large pharmacy in a commercial building 300 meters from the tracks.
Pharmacies were common enough that, even without choosing a specific destination, one was nearby as soon as the train stopped.
The streets were relatively quiet.
The low-level monsters that occasionally popped out were taken down by the combat drones with suppressed guns, and I just walked along like I was on a stroll.
It was reassuring.
"...Anybody there?"
The glass door in front of the pharmacy had already been shattered, and the inside was pitch-dark.
I stood at the entrance and raised a hand to signal.
"Go in first."
The drones carefully set the cart down at the entrance.
Whoooosh-
The reconnaissance drone flew in first, and the combat drone shone lights around above my head.
A moment later, the recon drone came back out and pointed at several spots with its laser.
"So they're over there?"
Whirr.
It nodded.
Same with convenience stores and pharmacies.
The monsters were always lying in wait, as if they knew exactly where people would come looking.
"Okay, I'll leave those three over there to you."
I left the rear to the drones and walked toward one side.
In a corner of the pharmacy, behind the counter, a ghoul-like thing with pale skin was crouching.
I readjusted my grip on the bludgeon and strode into the counter area.
"Grrr...!"
The ghoul that noticed me staggered to its feet.
Its eyes were glazed, and the drool made it look like a junkie.
"Phew, you look scary."
I kicked off the floor and leapt.
Thank goodness the ceiling was high, since this was a large pharmacy.
In an instant I soared above the thing's head, then brought the bludgeon down from midair.
Crunch-!
The thing's skull was crushed helplessly.
"Kieeek!"
The other three tried to rush me, but I had reliable backup behind me.
Pew, pew-pew-!
The combat drone's firepower pierced their knees and shoulders with perfect accuracy.
With their stance broken, they couldn't avoid the next burst of shots.
"Gotta stock up."
The fight took less than a minute.
I kicked the collapsed ghouls aside and opened the backpack on my back.
The display shelves were full of perfectly good medicines.
I moved my hands quickly.
"Antibiotics, check. Painkillers, digestive medicine, bandages, disinfectant..."
I swept up anything I could grab and stuffed it into the backpack.
Starting with basics like Tylenol and aspirin, I grabbed everything indiscriminately, all the way to prescription medicines.
After all, this was a world where you didn't need a doctor's prescription anymore.
If I didn't know what these medicines were, maybe someone in the Gallery would know.
I'd think about it after I packed it.
I filled the backpack until it was about to burst.
The drones also loaded the medicines onto the cart they'd brought.
"Phew, cleaned it out."
Leaving the empty shelves behind, I stepped out of the pharmacy.