Chapter 20
The rumor that nutritious food had been listed began to spread among the patients at the relief center.
“I heard... I heard they're selling canned tuna...!”
“Th-They say we can eat ramen too...?”
Excited murmurs and sniffles began spreading through the old tents that had previously been filled only with groans and the smell of blood.
One of the nurses watching the scene looked toward the Gallery with reddened eyes and spoke.
“Director... If the Shopkeeper keeps selling food at this rate... maybe we might be able to hold out until Project Eden is completed!”
“Project Eden?”
Director Kang Seok-hyeon nodded slowly.
Project Eden.
A research project said to have been secretly launched to rebuild humanity immediately after the apocalypse.
There had been hopeful rumors that once the research was complete, it would be of tremendous help to humanity, but by now, only the rumors remained, while all traces of its substance had long since vanished.
By the present day, among the people at the relief center, it was merely a far-fetched story that sounded like a ghost tale or an old folktale.
‘We’re... only delaying the apocalypse...’
Director Kang Seok-hyeon firmly shook his head and cut off the nurse.
“Don’t rely on an illusion with nothing but rumors and no substance.”
“Ah... B-But, Director.”
“The only thing we must believe in is the reality right before our eyes. Putting that food into our patients’ mouths right now. Our final task is simply to survive. That is all.”
The nurses fell silent at the director’s sharp rebuke.
This was no time to be swept away by emotion.
They had to compete with the other Shop members and personally secure the limited stock.
“But, Director... Will you be all right...? You know... that user...”
Kang Seok-hyeon knew exactly which user she meant.
The person every participant in the upcoming open run was wary of.
“That user is going to show up again this time...”
Just then, as worry tinged with a sense of defeat drifted through the tent,
Kang Seok-hyeon ran a hand over his balding head, then quietly removed the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.
“Director...?”
For an instant, the eyes hidden behind his glasses held the aura of a predator.
“I may have awakened as a healer through sheer luck and be looking after patients in a doctor’s coat now...”
Crack. Crack.
Kang Seok-hyeon interlaced his large hands and cracked his knuckles as he spoke in a low voice.
“But before the apocalypse, my profession was that of a professional boxer.”
“D-Director...!”
[Time until opening: 2 minutes 34 seconds]
After checking the remaining time on the Shop window one last time, he spoke.
“Then let’s give it a try.”
*
*
*
Pangyo Northern Fortress’s command and control room.
The room was filled with such taut tension that it felt as though breathing itself might become difficult.
“How many do you think we’ll actually be able to get?”
Someone swallowed nervously and cautiously spoke up.
“I heard the bottled water sold out in the blink of an eye last time. But this time, it’s food from before the apocalypse. The competition will be beyond anything we can imagine.”
“Fuck... If I could just get one can of tuna... If I could just drink one sip of cup-ramen broth, I’d have no other wish...”
The soldiers each gripped their gun handles so tightly they looked ready to break them.
A murderous tension that chilled the bones pressed down on the command post, even worse than when they waited atop the ramparts for hundreds of zombies to come surging in.
A mere 100 cans of tuna and roughly 200 cups of ramen.
The adjutant, watching the scene with a troubled expression, approached Captain Kim and cautiously asked,
“Captain... Do you really think it’s possible?”
Captain Kim shook his head with a bitter expression.
“No. Honestly, I’m not confident.”
“Pardon...?”
“I realized it when the stock increased to 700 last time. I proudly considered myself a former member of the 707th and hammered the button like crazy... but I barely managed to get a couple. There’s no way I can keep up with the reaction speed of those Gallery ghosts.”
“C-Captain...”
“Besides... you know that user too. There’s no way I can feel confident against them...”
“Th-Then do we have to give up just like this...?”
At the adjutant’s words, the captain grinned and replied.
“No? That’s why it’s time for our unit to bring out the secret weapon we’ve been saving."
“Pardon? A secret weapon...?”
Captain Kim’s heavy gaze turned toward the corner of the command and control room.
“Private First Class Choi.”
At the call, a scrawny man who had been trembling and cowering in the corner jolted upright like a spring.
“Private First Class! Choi! Jin! Su!”
The unit’s official problem soldier, slow at assembling and disassembling firearms and always wetting himself in fear whenever a wave approached.
His only virtue—and his only source of teasing—was that he had been a top-tier professional gamer before the apocalypse.
“Your reflexes... What was it again? 95 milliseconds?”
“...Yes. At my pre-apocalypse peak, I could land a headshot in 0.1 seconds...”
Captain Kim strode over and looked down at Private First Class Choi, whispering so quietly that no one else could hear.
“Private First Class Choi. You got invited to the Shop too, right?”
“H-How did you know, Captain...?”
“So last time, you hid in the bathroom, bought Oadasu, and drank it by yourself?”
“P-Private First Class Choi Jin-su! Ah, th-that was...”
Private First Class Choi’s face went white.
How did he know?
He had clearly hidden in the bathroom and drunk it alone without anyone knowing!
“Don’t be so surprised. A company commander has his ways of knowing things.”
“I-I’m sorry, sir...!”
Captain Kim grinned and warmly gripped Choi’s narrow shoulders, which had gone stiff.
“Under normal circumstances, I’d send you straight to night watch on the defensive line, but I’ll let it slide this time. In exchange, I’m assigning you one extremely important official mission today.”
“A-A mission, sir...?”
“That’s right. Today’s mission isn’t to stop a wave. It isn’t to pull a trigger, either.”
Captain Kim placed the mana stones collected by the unit members into his hands and said,
“Your only mission is to press the payment button.”
“Gulp...!”
“The fate of our entire company rests on that one finger of yours. Can you do it?”
The company commander’s heavy, solemn order: keep his comrades fed.
The moment everyone’s gazes focused on him,
[Time until opening: 1 minute 34 seconds]
After looking at the timer for a moment, Private First Class Choi saluted and shouted despite his trembling.
“Private First Class Choi Jin-su! I can do it!”
*****
Title : [ShopWiki] I was wrong. The Shop really is just a god ㅇㅇ
To hell with principles, philosophy, and all the rest
It sells a canned-tuna-and-Yukgaejang-cup-noodle combo?
That’s simply the work of an educated man
No, an omnipotent god
I’m converting to the Sudden Worship sect starting today
Ah, Shop, my light. Shop, my salvation.
Anyone who disagrees was half a beat late to the open run ㅇㅇ
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Head Mod] You’ve opened your eyes. The Shop Is God gallery awaits you
ㄴ No way, even the Head Mod defected? ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Then why did you even debate it? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ The Head Mod can’t resist ramen with canned tuna either~~
ㄴ For real, how could anyone resist that? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Half a beat late to the open run, my ass
ㄴ No! Don’t put that curse on us!!!!
ㄴ Not half a beat!!!!
ㄴ Not even a quarter of a beat!!!
I don’t believe in religion, but I believe in the Shopkeeper
ㄴ Starting today, my religion is [Starplex]
ㄴ A cult has entered the chat ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
If someone asks where the future of South Korea is...
ㄴ Tell them to raise their heads and look at the System;;
ㄴ But it really is true...
ㄴ Where is the System?
ㄴ Dunno? Turn it on and it appears right away hehe
The Capital Area Survivors Gallery was packed with praise posts.
“They started worshipping it immediately.”
I awkwardly browsed through the posts.
As you know, I had registered Sabal-myeon.
-Starplex-
[Product: Oadasu 500ML]
[Price: 20 mana stones]
[Stock: 700/700]
[Product: Mild Tuna Can (150g)]
[Price: 40 mana stones]
[Stock: 100/100]
[Product: Sabal-myeon]
[Price: 30 mana stones]
Stock: 200/200]
“Okay. If everything sells, that’s 24,000 mana stones in revenue!!”
I had to sell this much if I wanted to unlock the next tile quickly.
[Mana stones currently owned: 2,000]
My mana stones were already tight, and now they were even tighter, but it wouldn’t be a problem as long as everything sold.
Of course, I was a little anxious too.
“Isn’t everyone’s wallet a little thin...?”
What if they had to spend too many mana stones and couldn’t buy everything?
Of course, this anxiety was a common feeling for a middleman, but there was no helping the nerves.
“I guess I’ll have to invite members one more time.”
Title : The current state of the Food Coalition uncles the instant ramen went up >>> ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[A generous handful of special seaweed toppings for a hearty ocean flavor in your ramen!]
[Don’t throw out the broth! One cup of feed portioned perfectly for eating with it instead of rice!]
Mr. Park, who sold seaweed noodles, and Merchant Choi, who sold pet feed, both joined forces and switched industries ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The Shop isn’t destroying the food market by releasing food. It’s creating a special ramen market instead ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Merchants sure know how to read the room
ㄴ Meta-awareness, as expected ㅋㅋㅋ
Those seaweed toppings are seriously tempting ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Put seaweed on ramen and you’ve got seafood ramen instantly, totally doable;;
ㄴ People are already lining up in front of the merchants to buy hot water and toppings ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Wait, they’re mixing feed into the broth? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ You bastard, don’t you remember mixing cold rice into ramen broth before the apocalypse?
ㄴ We’re short on carbohydrates, so we have to mix in feed too, fuck ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It probably tastes amazing
ㄴ A certified rice thief ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
A truly perfect symbiotic relationship ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ The System sets the table, and the merchants pile on ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ I’m not causing trouble, okay? ㅋㅋㅋ
But seeing how adaptable these people were, it looked like I didn’t need to worry.
“Kya... That’s a pretty good idea.”
They had thought of making seafood ramen.
“But the feed is... seriously...”
How are people supposed to eat that?
Title : Illegal mages got jobs in real time ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
(A photo of someone boiling hot water. JPG)
The illegal mages <<< these bastards say they’re boiling hot water instead of farming the danger zones;;
They’ve gotten lazy...
That’s the right move, ah ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ 3 mana stones for a cup of hot water?
ㄴ Not bad.
Creative economy ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ The System even creates jobs...?
ㄴ It helps you find reemployment too
ㄴ It creates jobs too...
ㄴ Fuck, it’s done everything for us!!!!
For real, the System gives so generously...
ㄴ It’s insane;;
Posts were even appearing about new jobs being created.
I’m actually a little jealous of this.
“Is there any way I can bring that illegal mage here...? Sheesh...”
Come over and grill some meat for me... Anyway.
“How much time is left?”
[Time until opening: 20 seconds]
Before long, the long-awaited opening drew near, and the Gallery began to tremble with excitement.
[The clock that cries when there are 20 seconds left until the open run] Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!
ㄴ [The clock that cries when there are 19 seconds left until the open run] Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!
ㄴ 18 seconds left!!!!
ㄴ Everyone, focus!!!!
ㄴ Fuck, how long has it been since the last open run...
Everyone, gather rouuuund!!!
ㄴ Here we go, here we go...
ㄴ I’m going to taste ramen no matter what...
ㄴ Even if I only get one can of tuna...
“It’s starting.”
I straightened my posture too.
At this very moment, the members I had invited must have been staring down the clock, each filled with desperate hope.
[Time until opening: 5 seconds]
[4 seconds]
[3 seconds]
[2 seconds]
[1 second]
The instant the countdown reached zero.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-!!!!
“O-Oh my!!!!”
I stepped back, unable to believe my eyes.
With the sound of the air being torn apart, mana stones began pouring down over me in a literal waterfall.
*
*
*
“Aaaaaaah!!!! I bought it, fuck, I bought it!!!!”
“I bought some!!!”
Throughout the ruined world, in both safe and danger zones, cries of joy and wails of despair began to overlap.
“Two ramens...! I bought two!!!”
“Mom!!! I got a can of tuna!!!!”
“I couldn’t buy a single thing, fuck!!!!”
Some people sobbed as they clutched the cans of tuna and cups of ramen raining down before their eyes, while others shed tears of blood at the two words [Sold Out] floating in the air.
At the same time,
a woman returned to her hideout.
Clunk-!
Tight black leather pants clung to her lower body to maximize mobility.
Her firm, sharply defined abdominal muscles showed beneath her crop top.
Her perfectly proportioned body resembled that of a track athlete, while a rider’s goggle rested atop her neatly tied blonde ponytail.
But most striking of all were the dozens of different wristwatches and timers wrapped densely around both wrists and forearms like shackles.
Thump-! Thump-thump-!
“Whewww...”
She switched off the old cassette radio playing a beat and turned her gaze toward one side of the room.
In the direction of her gaze were exactly 10 cans of tuna, 6 cups of ramen, and 11 bottles of Oadasu.
These were the items she had just purchased from the Shop.
Ding-!
[The Challenger’s task has been successfully completed!]
[Self-assigned task: Purchase 27 or more items from the Shop within 1 second]
[System difficulty rating: Normal]
[Challenger’s record: 0.9 seconds. 27 items purchased]
[Rewards will be issued in proportion to the difficulty and the degree by which the record was exceeded!!]
“Ahh... Buying 27 items in 0.9 seconds. I exceeded the target againnn...!”
The woman’s name, her eyes glittering with madness, was Cha Do-hee.
“Shooop!!! You really are exactly my type!!!!”
Her verified username was [Speedrun].