Countdown

Rayne carefully picked up the three large bags of packaged chicken. She carried them as if they were priceless objects while looking for a secluded corner where she could store them in her system.

The quicker she stored the chicken, the fresher it would be!

Rayne finally spotted a small alleyway and quickly ran over to it. She opened the bags and pretended to be looking for a specific item, but in reality, she was quickly storing each box of chicken.

The chicken was very hot and fresh. It released a heavenly aroma, causing Rayne's stomach to growl again.

She quickly hurried to flag down a taxi and rushed home to enjoy the feast waiting for her!

By the time she got home, the chicken she had been carrying for show had already cooled down, making it slightly less appetizing. She quickly threw it into the 'trash bin' in her system and took out a copy of the hot, freshly packed chicken she had stored earlier.

The whole kitchen table was filled with boxes of different flavored chicken, along with various dipping sauces.

Rayne wasn't worried about wasting food since she could make infinite copies of it whenever she wanted, so she made it a point to try a piece of every flavor!

By the time she finished sampling the last flavor, she was already stuffed! Her stomach was happily digesting the delicious food, making Rayne feel sleepy.

Now that Rayne was finished with her design, she was no longer on any kind of schedule, allowing her to be flexible with her sleep schedule.

She decided that tomorrow she would go car shopping when she woke up.

Rayne quickly cleaned off the table, tossing all the leftovers into the 'trash bin' in her system, and got ready for bed.

Today's accomplishments, along with the satisfying meal, put Rayne in a really good mood, making her fall asleep quickly.

Once Rayne fell asleep, she recognized her surroundings as the nightmare she had experienced a few times before.

This time, she saw images of strong men covered in tattoos, holding guns and weapons. These men walked menacingly through a small neighborhood, kicking down doors and stealing people's supplies.

Some men even grabbed women to take back with them.

Rayne heard screams and cries around her. People were on their knees, begging to be left alone, stating they had no food left.

The group of men ignored the pleas, smashing windows and destroying everything in their path. They laughed while doing this, enjoying the feeling of superiority over the poor people who were trying their best to survive.

"Haha! Boss will be happy with today's harvest! Not only did we manage to find a good amount of supplies, but we even got a few decent-looking women too!" said a man who appeared to be the leader.

The other men joined in on the laughter, while the rest of the people were left crying and hopeless.

"Listen up, vermin! Our boss is a very caring man. If you join us and contribute, you will be guaranteed one meal a day and a roof over your head. All interested, follow me!"

A few people stood up at the promise of food. They hadn't eaten anything in over a week and figured they would most likely die if they didn't join.

A man holding a gun saw an old man trying to get up and walk toward where the people were gathering.

He lifted his leg and kicked the old man, sending him flying back into a pile of trash.

"What makes you think you could contribute to our boss with your frail body?" yelled the man.

Rayne's eyes began to water as she witnessed such cruelty toward the helpless people.

She tried running over to the old man, but like in her previous nightmares, she couldn't move.

"Please make it stop!" she yelled. She didn't know why she kept seeing such horrible scenes, but she didn't want to continue watching.

Unfortunately for Rayne, the scenes kept flashing before her, continuously becoming more and more horrific.

-------------------------

Rayne woke up with an increased heart rate, drenched in sweat. No matter how hard she tried to wake herself up during the nightmare, she couldn't.

She sat up in bed, but before she could calm herself from the nightmare, her eyes widened and her body shook.

The system screen floated in front of her, but this time, with a new message:

[Countdown to the Apocalypse: 1 year, 1 day, 03:28:14]

Rayne held her breath, watching the seconds timer tick down.

Once the seconds counter reached 0 and the minutes counter went to 27, Rayne released her held breath.

What did this mean? Could this message be related to the nightmares?

Rayne's mind raced, thinking of different possibilities as to why the system would display such a message.

But after a few minutes of thinking, she realized that it didn't matter why it appeared. The reality of the situation was that something bad was going to happen.

Rayne forcefully calmed herself, focusing on what she needed to do while she still had time left. This system was a miraculous thing and had already helped her out in so many different ways.

She knew that her survival was closely linked to the system.

"If I can maximize the use of my system now, I should be able to continue to live comfortably in the future, even helping the less fortunate people around me," she mumbled.

Rayne thought of the helpless, starving people she had seen in her nightmare. If she were able to help them in any way, she would do so.

The thought of helping those people brought a sense of determination to Rayne. Now she just needed to store as many things as possible before the timer ran out!

Rayne dismissed the system screen and picked up her cell phone. She logged into her bank account and saw the long string of zeros.

She smiled at the enormous number. Yesterday, she had planned to spend this money to live a carefree life of luxury, with flashy sports cars and designer purses.

But after today, she wanted to buy military-grade vehicles and generators.