Chapter 31
Starplex's basement-level B1 disaster-control room.
I was currently preparing the most sacred, solemn ritual of my life.
Tap.
I had just brought over a matte-textured black portable gas burner from the Living/Camping Section, which I'd unlocked moments ago.
I carefully set a heavy cast-iron griddle with neatly carved grease channels on top of it.
“Fwoooooo...”
I clasped my hands, took a deep breath, and carefully composed myself.
For this moment, I was neither a troublemaking NEET nor the System. I was merely a beast and a lamb standing before meat.
Click—whooosh-!
When I turned the gas burner's switch, blue flames danced and began heating the cast-iron griddle.
How long had it been since I'd seen a flame of civilization that I could control with my own hands?
“Fuck... If I'd known, I would've smoked a cigarette...”
With trembling hands, I picked up the 1++-grade Hanwoo ribeye I'd brought from the Butcher Section.
White marbling like snowflakes, and rosy-red meat.
I'd long since forgotten that horrible cooking method of forcibly blanching it in water from the water purifier.
Only now—finally—could I give it the respect it deserved.
“All right... Up you go.”
I carefully laid the Hanwoo on the searing-hot griddle.
Sizzleeeeeeee-!!!!
“Krrrrgh...!!!”
A sound erupted the instant the meat touched the griddle.
More magnificent than any symphony, more sacred than any serenade.
The Maillard reaction, as the meat's surface moisture evaporated and turned brown.
The salty, rich aroma of beef fat began filling the cramped disaster-control room.
“Fuck... fuuuuuck...”
Tears streamed down both my eyes.
Not from the smoke. From emotion.
I sprinkled herb salt I'd stolen from the Camping Section over the meat.
Tap. Tap.
But it wasn't over yet.
I held back my instinct to chew and swallow the perfectly browned meat immediately through sheer force of will.
“I have to wait... until the juices spread...!”
A perfect steak is completed by patience—in other words, resting.
Drooling, I covered the meat on the cutting board with camping foil and let it rest for about three minutes.
At last, I pulled out the steak knife I'd brought from the Living Section as well.
Scritch, scritch.
As the sharp blade slid smoothly along the grain, a medium-rare cross-section with a perfect pink gradient revealed its radiant beauty.
“Yar...”
The moment I carefully slid a juicy piece of meat between my lips.
“...!!”
Its unparalleled tenderness melted on my tongue before my teeth even touched it.
The nutty richness of the concentrated fat and the savory aroma of the herb salt exploded through my mouth.
“Nghh... wuaaah...!”
I sobbed with my mouth covered.
“This is it... This is what I wanted...!”
Not some tough hunk of meat blanched in hot water.
This perfect grilled meat made with the flames of civilization!
“I think I understand... why humanity discovered fire...”
I wanted to offer a deep bow to the meat sizzling on the griddle—
No, to myself, for enduring this long for its sake—
No—rather, I felt like prostrating myself before the System that had truly made all this possible.
“Th-thank you... System...”
Not me. The real System.
*****
Meanwhile, as Speedrun enjoyed her moving meal.
Outside, a veritable frenzy of purchases was taking place as well.
“Payment! I bought it! I bought itttt!!”
“Me too! I bought it!!!”
In some dark abandoned building in the Yellow Zone.
A Stalker suffering from severe dehydration downed a drink pouch with trembling hands.
[Jiaco Coconut Water 250ml]
A drink that people before the apocalypse had mocked as tasting like water used to wash a rag.
But the liquid sliding down their throat tasted nothing like that horrible flavor lingering in their blurred memories.
“What bastard... sob... What bastard called this water used to wash a rag...”
It was a taste incomparable even to polluted muddy water or purified urine.
The natural electrolytes and subtle coconut sweetness within it were awakening their dying cells anew.
“It's this sweet and refreshing... I feel like it's purifying all my blood...!”
A choked sob echoed inside the abandoned building.
The reason they shed tears was not merely because they had replenished their water and calories.
What they had truly purchased was hope.
Hope that even in this hellish apocalypse, the world could gradually improve under the System's protection.
“Four thousand... It went from 200 to 4,000...”
“If I just hang on a little longer... maybe next time it'll be my turn...!”
That hope was not limited solely to the members who had succeeded in making a purchase.
The tens of thousands of survivors who had yet to be invited also found hope as they looked at the dramatically expanded member limit.
Someday, I, too, might be chosen.
At last, the outside world, which had known nothing but despair, began to stir with anticipation for tomorrow.
*****
A little while later.
“Sluuuurp...”
I was locked in a fierce battle in the Camping Section I'd unlocked.
“Isn't this manual way too unhelpful?”
A huge professional-grade pole tent I'd ambitiously brought over from the Camping Section.
As an apocalypse survivor, this was practically mandatory, so I tried to set it up in style. But after stretching and jabbing the poles this way and that, I eventually threw it onto the floor.
Clatter.
This kind of high-difficulty assembly was too much for a total NEET who had spent his whole life clicking a mouse from the corner of his room.
“As expected, tents have to be pop-up tents.”
In the end, I brought over a sizable pop-up tent displayed in the corner, untied it, and flung it into the air.
Flap—pop!
A cozy shelter that sprang open in one second, fully assembled.
I spread out a rubber mattress, then tossed in the high-end goose-down sleeping bag from the Camping Section and made it nice and fluffy.
“Mmm... this is it, this is it.”
Goodbye to the days of sleeping curled up in a chair in the disaster-control room.
I'd put up with it, grateful even for that, but my back hurt like hell.
“Fuck... This is really moving...”
Of course, it wasn't a bed, but how cozy would it be to sleep inside that goose-down sleeping bag?
“But it'll probably be too hot if I just get in like this...”
I adjusted the air conditioner to its lowest setting, 18 degrees.
“Brr... It's chilly...”
The camping rule is to sleep with the outside cold and the inside warm.
Once it gets a little chillier, I'll dive in and get comfortable.
“Great, the tent's done... Next is the romantic hammock.”
Since I'd unlocked the Camping Section, a hammock was mandatory. I'd always wanted to try one.
Holding a hammock patterned with palm trees, I looked around.
But there was nowhere to tie it.
There was no way there'd be any trees.
“Should I tie it to the display rack?”
The display racks holding the Camping Section's goods looked sturdy, so I decided to tie it to them.
There was a manual, but I didn't know overhand knots, figure-eight knots, or any of that, so I just tied it tightly three times.
“All right, then—the comfort of zero gravity...”
The moment I carefully put my weight on the hammock.
Screeeeech—crash-bang-bang-bang!!!
With a deafening roar, the two racks supporting the hammock couldn't bear my weight and toppled forward.
“Krrrgh...”
The mess kits, lanterns, and tent stakes displayed on them came raining down all over my head, and I tumbled along with them, landing hard on my butt.
“Ah... ow, fuck... That hurts like hell...”
I groaned as I cleared away the fallen mess kits.
“Fuck...! I quit, screw this!”
There's a reason they say you get punished for doing things you normally wouldn't.
I'd done just fine without a hammock.
“Let's be satisfied with the tent and sleeping bag for now.”
At least, I'd finished setting up a home outside the disaster-control room.
Watching those mind-numbing CCTV feeds in that cramped, suffocating room had been too much.
“What was the state of my properties, and how many tiles did I have left?”
I checked the System message again from when I burned mana stones to upgrade Blueprint Mastery to Lv.3.
[Blueprint Mastery has been upgraded to Lv.3!]
[You have been granted ownership rights to 15 additional tiles.]
I'd started with 10 tiles, and this level-up had granted me ownership of 15 more.
“And how many of those did I use on the Camping Section...”
[Tiles currently in use: 24 (23% occupancy)]
Basic Area (Food, Beverage, Butcher, Restroom): 10 tiles
Living/Camping Section: 14 tiles used (NEW!)
[Remaining tiles available for ownership: 1]
“The Living/Camping Section was huge. It ate up 14 tiles.”
Still, it wasn't a bad investment. Above all, I got to eat meat.
And now I could keep eating by making fires.
If push came to shove, I had plenty of tableware and survival supplies I could sell. Besides, I'd be setting up a tent soon, too.
“Of course, I need to wait and see for now.”
For now, I had exactly one precious tile left.
[Building Master Main Quest 3: Achieve 30% ownership of the current floor]
[Mana stones required for next level up: 80,000]
[Mana stones currently held: 59,000]
“The 30% quest is still a little ways away.”
But at this rate, I could earn mana stones just by breathing.
Then what should I use this precious one tile for?
“If you ask, it's only natural that I answer.”
I headed into the hallway outside the disaster-control room and faced two tightly closed iron doors beyond the dark ruins.
[Elevator (B1) - Tiles required for ownership: 1]
Without hesitation, I touched the elevator tile on the holographic blueprint floating in the air.
“Click.”
[Consume the remaining 1 tile to acquire ownership of the Elevator (B1) tile!]
Fwoosh-!
A transparent wave extended to the end of the hallway, and a red [B1] light shone clearly on the elevator that had been dead since the power was cut six months ago.
Ding-dong!
With a cheerful mechanical sound, the heavy iron doors slid open to either side.
“Okay, shall we go?”
I stepped inside.