Chapter 28
Morning dawned.
The streets of the outside world, swept by last night's wave, were a gruesome sight.
Survivors trudged between the bodies of mutants sprawled here and there and the stains of blood.
Those who had survived began clearing away the mutants' corpses that had piled up overnight and cleaning the streets.
“Min-a Kang... Be happy wherever you are.”
Someone quietly sobbed as they recovered the torn-apart body of a comrade.
“Dad! Dad!!”
“He's already dead. Come with Uncle.”
“We barely made it...”
“You did well. It was horrible, wasn't it.”
Someone else slumped onto the bloodstained ground, patting one another's backs and consoling each other with hollow eyes.
“Haa... Fuck... Why did those bastards suddenly push in like that in the first place?”
“Normally, even when there was a wave, it was just Heavies or Spitters from the Orange Zone, but this time...”
“If not for the System, we'd all have been finished long ago...”
Some of the clearer-headed survivors speculated about why the creatures from the Red Zone had pushed this far.
“Did something happen in the Red Zone...?”
“How would we know that?”
“It's not like that many people go there and come back alive.”
Most Stalkers had yet to explore even the entire Orange Zone, let alone the Red Zone, so they could only feel relieved that they had survived without knowing the reason.
At that moment.
Ding-!
Every street and alley, where only pained groans and sighs had echoed, fell silent as a mouse.
Brilliant blue, semitransparent holographic windows appeared simultaneously in the vision of the survivors who had been hanging their heads in despair.
[Current member count: 200]
▼
[Expanded member count: 4000(NEW!!!)]
The gloomy atmosphere weighing everything down changed in an instant.
Those who had been sobbing while embracing a comrade's corpse, and those who had been holding broken weapons and laughing hollowly alike.
“F-Fuck...!”
“W-What is this...!!!”
"Huh...?"
Everyone stared at the sudden announcement with their mouths hanging open, freezing as if they had agreed beforehand.
The gloom that had consumed them earlier had long since vanished, and they soon stood there blankly, muttering a single number.
“4000...”
“4000 people...”
“Four thousand...”
“Four-thousand-flavor... rat meat... released...”
*****
The number of Shop members had expanded to 4,000.
That simple yet powerful sentence had the Capital Area Survivors Gallery practically bending over backward with excitement.
Title : Fuck, 4000 people? 4000 people????!!!!!!
I didn't misread that, did I?
It really says 4000 people? 4000 people????????
Fuuuuuuuck!!!! 4000 people!!!
ㄴ Not 400, but 4000????
ㄴ I didn't misread that, right????
ㄴ It's not 400, right???
ㄴ I'm not blind, right???
Fuck, it's real!!!
ㄴ Is it an error...?
ㄴ It says 4000 peooooople!!!
ㄴ Wow, crazy... Why did the scale suddenly get this huge ㄷㄷ;;
(A more or less shattered-head photo. jpg)
ㄴ My head really did explode...
ㄴ It increased twentyfold...
Madness swept through the Capital Area Survivors Gallery over the dramatically increased membership.
I woke up, saw the sight, and laughed.
“Heh heh heh.”
The reason I had dramatically increased the number of members, even using every mana stone I had earned this time, was simple.
I hadn't had time to check everything, but while browsing the Gallery, I occasionally saw comments like these.
I'm... a nobody, so I don't have many mana stones...
ㄴ I'm worried I might not be able to buy again when the next stock comes in ㅠㅠ
It's partly because we're all too weak, but...
ㄴ The way things are set up, not buying is too much of a loss ㅠㅠ
I hadn't been able to check everything and had moved on, but complaints that the mana stones were burdensome had begun to appear now and then among members invited mainly because of their sob stories.
“The more people who buy and eat my products, the better the outside world's economy will be, after all.”
The higher the average level of most people outside became, the better things were for me too, so accepting lots of members was ultimately beneficial, of course.
No... I was in the same guild as a member, though.
ㄴ The guild leader said this guy couldn't get hurt.
ㄴ So they took him out of farming ㅅㅂ
That happens.
ㄴ The guild treated members like royalty.
ㄴ I wanna be a member toooooo!!!
It wasn't too extreme, but since the member pool was so small, people had begun saying that members were receiving special treatment.
So I had dramatically increased the number of members before that snowball could roll into an even bigger disaster.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason I had increased the membership.
“This isn't the end!!”
[Hidden achievement completed: Savior in Despair]
[Condition: You have saved more than 2,000 survivors at once]
[Reward: New special processed food/beverage lineup automatically registered and initial stock provided]
By stopping the wave with last night's meat bombardment, I had also unlocked this achievement.
An impossible achievement, apparently, though all I had done was send meat.
It seemed indirect assistance counted as an achievement too.
“Oh, that's sweet?”
Now this was what I called a simple click.
Without using any mana stones, the Shop automatically unlocked and registered new items.
[The following items will be automatically registered in the Shop as achievement rewards!]
[Green Onion-Flavored Cereal 1 BOX (Quantity: 700) - Registration complete]
[Mint Chocolate-Flavored Protein Energy Bar (Quantity: 1,500) - Registration complete]
[Jiaco Coconut Water 250ml (Quantity: 1,500) - Registration complete]
It seemed the rewards had been tailored to my traits, and I was ecstatic to get the chance to sell so many products for free when I hadn't expected it at all.
But looking at the lineup, something felt a little fishy.
“Fuck... Did they just dump unsold inventory on me?”
I mean, green onion-flavored cereal was one thing.
"What's with mint chocolate and Jiaco?"
They really had picked only unsold supermarket inventory and registered it.
Of course, the quantities were enormous, and since it was free, it was still a fantastic deal for me.
“But... will they even like this stuff?”
Let's put up an announcement first.
Title : [★Starplex★] New Stock Replenishment Notice
New stock has been added in proportion to the upcoming member invitations.
[Green Onion-Flavored Cereal 1 box]
[Price: 25 mana stones]
[Quantity: 700]
[Mint Chocolate-Flavored Protein Energy Bar]
[Price: 20 mana stones]
[Quantity: 1,500]
[Jiaco Coconut Water 250ml]
[Price: 25 mana stones]
[Quantity: 1,500]
...?
ㄴ !!!!!
ㄴ ?????
ㄴ Yeeeeah??
ㄴ Fuuuuuuuck!!!
This is insane! Absolutely insane!!!
ㄴ Holy shit, look at the stock!!!!
ㄴ Look at the quantities ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ 700 and 1500?? 3700 total ㄷㄷ
Uh...?
ㄴ And the existing stock is still there!!
ㄴ This is fucking amazing...
ㄴ The Shop is god-tier
Gulp gulp gulp gulp
ㄴ System, come here for a second
ㄴ Gulp gulp!
ㄴ No, you crazy bastards!!
But fuck... wait, what's with the lineup...
ㄴ Green onion...? Cereal...?
ㄴ Wait, I can smell green onions?
ㄴ Fuck, the smell of green onions still exists in this world!!!!
Mint chocolate!!! Jiaco!!!!
ㄴ No, this is actually great!!!! It really is!!!!!
Please give us Jiaco...! Please, I'll drink it...
ㄴ So we really were drinking water dirtier than water used to wash a rag...
ㄴ This is a fact...
ㄴ And Jiaco isn't water used to wash a rag...
The amount of coconut water is fucking incredible...
ㄴ Do we not have to drink sewage anymore...?
ㄴ Is a world where we really don't have to drink sewage anymore finally coming...?
ㄴ Wow, this is a legendary update...
Fortunately, the reactions seemed positive thanks to the overwhelming quantities.
“That's a relief.”
Of course, part of me still felt sorry.
“I wanted to register meat...”
But as you know, my Shop registration allowed one product per inventory slot.
I couldn't combine ribs and pork belly into one slot and register them together.
“Let's see... The largest amount of pork belly is... honeycomb pork belly... 60 packs...”
So even if I registered meat now, there would be 4,000 members, and I'd only have 60 packs of honeycomb pork belly to sell to all of them.
“...”
They had gone wild even over cup ramen, so selling 60 packs of pork belly to 4,000 people would probably cause an actual murder.
“Guys! Someday, I'll feed meat to everyone!!! Yeah!!! I'll build a world where everyone can eat meat!!”
I'll make sure everyone gets at least one piece of meat!!!
It just won't be today.
Until then, let's all hang in there!! I'll hang in there too!!!
With that, I turned my attention back to the Gallery.
Title : Fuck, I just did the simple math
The Capital Area Survivors Gallery has just under 80,000 active users right now.
It dropped a little because so many Gallery users got wiped out during the wave;;
Anyway, so we're picking 4,000 people now?
With siiiimple math, that means one out of every twenty people is guaranteed to become a Shop member.
Do you know what this means?
If you don't get invited this time, you're not just unlucky—you failed to prepare for the interview.
In other words <<< you simply didn't try haaard enough to get invited ㅇㅇㅇ
Fuck, if you don't get invited this time, just accept that you fell behind because you didn't make any effort ㅇㅇㅇ
This time... I have to get invited...!!!!!
ㄴ I have to!!!!!
ㄴ I absolutely have to get invited!!!!!
This is my chance... A chance to earn the Shop's recognition...!!!!!!
ㄴ This is real...
ㄴ Seriously;;
Shop!!! I love you 4000 much!!!
ㄴ I fucking loooooove you 4000 much!!!
ㄴ Fuck, the KOSPI is going to 4000!!!
ㄴ Did it get there?
ㄴ Dunno? It collapsed before it could ㅎ
Food reselling for profit <<< totally possible now
ㄴ I have to get invited...
“Ooh, good enthusiasm.”
Everyone was frantically posting PR pieces to get invited.
- *Featured [Shop Wiki] Distribution of the invitation guide analyzed so far ㅇㅇㅇㅇ!!! [13553]
Following the Shop Wiki, which had meticulously analyzed the cases of members invited in the past and compiled them into a guide.
1. The Shop helps the pitiful and desperate!
2. The Shop wants people with purchasing power!
3. The Shop wants members who aren't the type to brag about their wealth!
Posts tailored to the guide were being spammed like crazy by the so-called Shop Wiki school of users.
- System!!!! Please hear my tragic story!!!!! [3123]
- I was infected, so I amputated one leg with my own hands... [3221]
- I knew this would happen, so I saved up a huge number of mana stones!!! [4322]]
- Who am I?? A mana-stone hoarding S-bung [2111]
....
“Not bad.”
If they handled the applications this sensibly, it made things easier for me.
“But there are some people I should prioritize first.”
I invited every soldier who had made a major contribution during this wave, as well as the Stalkers and small-guild members who had gone out to support the relief centers and defensive lines.
Oh!! What is this!!!
ㄴ I haven't even introduced myself yet, but I got invited!!!
ㄴ You too?
ㄴ Me too!!!
What? Why did I get invited?
ㄴ Dunno? All I wrote was...
ㄴ A post saying I was heading to a relief center during the wave, that's all.
ㄴ Same here.
ㄴ Is that why we got invited...?
ㄴ No way!!!!
“Yes! That's why you were invited!”
Everyone had done their best from their respective positions, so they deserved an appropriate reward.
“Well... if becoming a member is the reward...”
Since I had increased the membership by so much, I figured I could afford to give them this much.
[Shop Wiki] Wait, what the heck!!
ㄴ You prioritized the people who helped during this wave instead of the sob stories...?
ㄴ That's a variable!
ㄴ Seriously
Taking everything into account, I had judged them to be moral and strong enough to go out and help, while also having purchasing power.
Conversely, groups with even greater purchasing power began appearing now that the membership had expanded dramatically.
Title : [Myth] We're Myth, a guild with a branch in the Orange Zone
(A photo more or less explaining the guild's specs. JPG)
Since I heard the Shop's capacity had increased to 4,000, I'm applying on behalf of the entire guild ㅇㅇ
System, invite all 300 members of our Myth guild.
The stock has increased, so we'll buy everything.
Wow, she's really the guild leader.
ㄴ It's Seo-jin noona;;
ㄴ Please share those mana stones....
Isn't applying as an entire guild cheating!!!
ㄴ Shop, please reject those whales and invite the poor solo Stalkers... ㅠㅠㅠ
Wait, Ares just posted an application for the entire guild too...
ㄴ But from the Shop's perspective, accepting whales overflowing with mana stones is beneficial...
ㄴ Is there no place for me...?
As the other users began murmuring anxiously at the appearance of the major guilds, I snorted and typed on my main account.
[Unemployed Troublemaker] Hmm... Didn't you hide really well during this wave, sis?
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ That's right, they never came out!
ㄴ They pretended not to know!
[Myth] What does that have to do with getting invited?
ㄴ [Myth] Our combat power and capital are overwhelming, though ㅎ
ㄴ [Unemployed Troublemaker] The Shop's stock is dirt cheap anyway, and it sells out every day~ Why would capital matter;;
[Unemployed Troublemaker] This auntie didn't put any points into Intelligence, huh;;
ㄴ [Myth] What? Auntie?? Are you crazy??!!!
ㄴ [Unemployed Troublemaker] Craaazy~~!
“Yeah, you're not getting invited.”
I put her invitation priority on hold for now. It wasn't for any grand reason; I just personally disliked her.
Everyone else was coming out to fight, so why hadn't a major guild like theirs done anything?
And I didn't like them suddenly putting on airs in the Gallery.
Of course, I understood that in an apocalyptic world, prioritizing the group's survival came first.
“Who cares.”
I was sucking up to Ggaekkulddarae Ggaekkulnyangnyangi here, so that kind of sentiment was beyond me.
“That's good enough.”
[Current member count(LV.40): 1457/4000] - UP!!
Prioritizing the people who had gone out to help during the wave had already filled a substantial number of slots.
Naturally, I intended to properly invite the other people too.
“Even if I'm choosing fairly, it's only natural to choose moral people when possible.”
So I began inviting people one by one while looking through the RP posts.
“You seem to have more mana stones than I do...? Accepted.”
[Accept]
“Oh my... You went to get the doctor at the relief center during the wave? Accepted.”
[Accept]
Oh!! I got invited!!!
ㄴ Fuck, me too!!!
ㄴ Thank you!!
Wow, seeing people get accepted this steadily...
ㄴ I might be able to get invited too??
ㄴ Me too!
So they aren't only choosing people who went out during the wave...!!
ㄴ For real
ㄴ If nothing major changes, I have a chance too!!!!
ㄴ 4000! 4000! 4000!
“Yes, yes. Live upright, and good things come back around.”
But what's this one?
“A cat mom... Unfortunately... it turned out that way...”
[Reject]
Title : How could you reject such an adorable cat!!!!
I was just rejected...
Wait, you invite people who went to stop the wave, but you won't invite someone who wants to buy a can of tuna for our starving Nabi?
Shop, you're being so cruel...
You have no love for humanity... Sigh, you don't know how pitiful and adorable our Nabi is ㅠㅠㅠ
ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Even the System rejects cat moms ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Fuck, “love for humanity” is something you use for people;;
System, your acceptance cutoff is sharp as hell, seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ The System's grand vision is that cats aren't necessary for the great cause of rebuilding humanity ㅇㅇ
[Unemployed Troublemaker] If it were a dog mom, she'd have been invited immediately ㅇㅇ
ㄴ I'm a dog person, and this is true ㅇㅇ
ㄴ The facts are de-fanged ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The interviews were proceeding smoothly, and the membership was rapidly filling up.
[Current member count(LV.40): 3134/ 4000]
“Okay, shall we hang in there a little longer?”
Just as I turned my attention back to the Gallery to conduct more interviews.
Neither I nor the S-bungs—not even God himself—could have known.
That an unprecedented irregularity was about to appear.
“Uh...”
Title : Um... I... I didn't go out to support the wave... and I don't have many mana stones either...
(A photo of someone more or less shyly covering her breasts with her hand. JPG)
Can this count as self-PR...? ㅠㅠ
Sorry if this is inappropriate ㅠㅠ
Kiyaaaaa!!!
ㄴ Oof, oof...
ㄴ Kyaa....
ㄴ KIA
ㄴ This is the good stuff...
This is how you introduce yourself, ah ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ That's definitely an introduction;;
ㄴ Now that's PR ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Upstanding Young Man] Ah,,, ah,,, ah,,, th-this,,, this is dangerous,,, indeed,,,
ㄴ Grandpa's gonna have a heart attack ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
There's no way she'd get invited for this, right?
ㄴ No way ㅋㅋㅋ
“Spit on me.”
ㄴ Dude
The bare-skin photo before my eyes, and the subtly evasive yet exquisite angle that made it seem shy.
“Huh.”
It had been six months and about two weeks since the apocalypse.
I hadn't seen a single adult video, let alone the usual tiny pixelated clip.
A vigorous twenty-seven-year-old Korean man who had spent all day looking at Jomssaem's mind-breaking face and watching the world be destroyed.
Me—Speedrun.
What did I think when I saw this post?
“Not a chance. What do you take me for?”
Did blood begin rushing through my veins and my pupils dilate?
Did I immediately click the invite button?
No?
“Ha! Do I look like such a flimsy person that something like this could sway me?!!!”
*****
Meanwhile, Head Mod Baek Eunwol was also looking through the Gallery.
“Were the people who helped during this wave invited first?”
The rewards were indeed going first to those who had risked their lives and devoted themselves during the crisis alongside her the previous night.
“As expected, the System has a clear grand cause—the grand cause of rebuilding the world.”
To Eunwol, the System was like an abstract god: cold, lofty, and without a tangible form.
That was why, as an administrator, Eunwol always had worries following close behind.
The Shop was a system she could not interfere with. That existence was so vast and lofty that it always felt far beyond her reach.
She had never been able to figure out how she could properly assist the System.
“For now... I should probably cut the strange posts.”
At that moment, a post with an unusual title suddenly popped up on the board.
- Um... I... I don't have much to brag about... and I don't have many mana stones either... [8231]
Eunwol clicked the post without thinking, and her brow twitched faintly.
“Hmm?”
Because a photo of someone shyly covering her chest had been posted prominently as PR.
“The cooldown's come around again.”
Eunwol muttered impassively.
It was not the first adult image, nor would it be the last.
“But everyone else is seriously risking their lives to PR themselves for an invitation. Couldn't a post like this be sabotage...?”
She did wonder how desperate someone had to be to do this. Should she delete it immediately?
Or should she just issue a warning?
Even so, deep within Eunwol, a strange curiosity stirred.
‘If the System really is a divine being... how would it react to a post devoted to such a primitive, worldly human desire?’
Would it dismiss it as meaningless and ignore it? Would it show even the slightest curiosity?
Just as she stopped her finger before pressing delete and watched the screen, deep in thought.
There was one being who presented Eunwol with a path forward.
Title : Crazy!!!!! Oh my!!!! It really worked!! What do I do!!! ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
(More or less proof. JPG)
I'm the person who just posted the breast pic!!!!!
An invitation alert from the Shop popped up one second after I posted it!!!!
I love you, Shop ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I'll be loyal forever ㅠㅠㅠ!!!
??!!
ㄴ ??!!!
ㄴ Huh??
ㄴ The breast pic... got you invited...?
ㄴ In one second?
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ ...?
A legendary situation has occurred ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Eㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Yepㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
That was the System.
“Y-You got invited...?”
The System granted membership with overwhelming speed compared to the other applicants—quite literally at the speed of light.
An immediate and primitive reaction that approved someone after seeing a bare-skin photo in just one second.
Eunwol's eyes trembled in tiny spasms as if an earthquake had struck.
“Uh... S-System?”
*****
Meanwhile, Speedrun, Cha Do-hee, was resting at her hideout for the first time in a while to heal her wounds.
“Y-You invited someone after seeing a breast pic...?”
After reading the post saying the System had approved an adult image, she abruptly stood up and murmured quietly.
“Hmmm... So you're a man after all, aren't youuu?”
Oh, this one's cute.