Chapter 10: Entering the Supermarket

Although it was just a game, the sudden appearance of a large supermarket out of nowhere still made Song Jian feel a bit awkward. However, looking at the LED screen advertisement, as long as he applied for a membership card, he would get a thousand points, and he could also buy discounted items...

"These discounted items look pretty good. Slurp~" Song Jian stared intently at the LED screen, seeing a large number of second-hand discounted items on it, his mouth watering.

"Other than food and mineral water in the packages, there are also a lot of materials dropped by mutated zombies. All of them are of gray quality. I don't know if this supermarket will take them." Thinking about this made Song Jian even more eager to visit the apocalyptic supermarket.

However, the constant groaning of mutated zombies in the streets reminded Song Jian to stay calm. The apocalyptic supermarket seemed like a fish bait in a pond. If Song Jian were to act rashly, there was a high probability he would be chased by the fully recovered mutated zombies with nowhere to run or hide.

"Wait a bit longer, just a bit longer, in a little while, it will be daybreak!" Song Jian looked at the neon lights of the supermarket not far away, comforting himself.

Fearing to rush out and be killed by the zombies, but also fearing that waiting until daybreak would cause the apocalyptic supermarket to suddenly disappear, Song Jian felt like an old stock trader stuck in a losing situation, looking at the fluctuating stock prices, wanting to cut losses but afraid of a rise, holding on but afraid of a fall, indecisive as if a big hand was clutching his heart.

"Out of sight, out of mind. Time to sleep!"

When the sky was slightly bright, and the sun had not yet risen, with just less than an hour before leaving the game, the mutated zombies in the streets began to instinctively hide in dark corners. Song Jian rolled out of bed and rushed to the window.

"Thank goodness, the supermarket is still there!" His anxious heart finally calmed down, Song Jian took a deep breath, grabbed the baseball bat, pushed away the heavy furniture blocking the door, and carefully walked towards the apocalyptic supermarket.

A mutated zombie was wandering in the corridor, probably hiding in there unintentionally as dawn approached. Song Jian charged straight, swinging his baseball bat, viciously striking the nearest zombie's head.

Thump~

A dull collision sound resounded, and the mutated zombie's head jerked up with a 57-point critical hit number popping out above it.

Just as Song Jian was about to swing his baseball bat again, the mutated zombie had already charged in front of him. The rotten muscles on its face and the stench wafting from its body made Song Jian feel the threat of death.

Dropping the baseball bat, Song Jian directly pulled out his pistol, pressing it against the zombie's head, and fired two shots, turning the zombie into a pile of black ash.

"Hiss, that hurts!" Ignoring the items dropped by the zombie, Song Jian looked at his arm. His sleeve had been torn into shreds, and three scratch marks appeared on his shoulder, slowly seeping blood.

When searching for supplies, Song Jian had found many daily necessities but had not found any medicine for treating wounds.

"It's a zombie!" Song Jian looked at the scratches on his shoulder, feeling his heart go cold, and quickly checked the battle record.

"You used the baseball bat, hit the mutated zombie's weak spot (head), and dealt 67 points of physical damage (critical)!"

"Mutated zombie dealt 12 points of physical damage to you, with a slight 'zombie poison' effect, your skill 'Thick Skin' was effective in resisting this poison attack!"

"You used the pistol, hit the mutated zombie's weak spot (head), and dealt 38 points of ranged physical damage (critical)!"

"You used the pistol, hit the mutated zombie's weak spot (head), and dealt 4 points of ranged physical damage (critical), mutated zombie's health reached zero!"

"Mutated zombie dies!"

System: You killed the mutated zombie and gained 110 experience points.

"Injury from zombie poison, thick skin, phew, that's a relief!" Song Jian sighed and felt that the pain in his shoulder had subsided somewhat.

"This Thick Skin skill sure is useful here with zombies all around, as I'll be exposed to the poison anytime. I should level up this skill whenever I get a chance to stay safe!" Song Jian thought to himself.

The sky was only slightly bright now, and the sun hadn't risen yet. The mutant zombies hadn't lost half of their attributes, so the newbie baseball bat couldn't kill them in one hit, giving the zombies an opportunity to counterattack.

Besides, this attack revealed an unexposed weakness of the baseball bat - slow attack speed. There was at least a one-second gap between two attacks, enough time for Song Jian to use his gun for over two shots. This is why he immediately dropped the bat and drew his gun when the mutant zombie charged at him.

Song Jian's clothes were quickly stained with blood on one side of his body. It looked terrifying, but in reality, his health had only dropped by 12 points, with over 80 percent still remaining.

As his wound healed slowly, Song Jian took off his blood-stained clothes and threw them away. Bare-chested, he cautiously headed out, fearing that the strong smell of blood would attract the zombies outside.

Apocalypse Supermarket was located at Camel Square behind the residential area. Song Jian held onto his baseball bat and carefully dodged the mutant zombies as he walked forwards. After 10 minutes or so, he arrived at Camel Square.

The Apocalypse Supermarket now stood entirely in front of him.

It looked no different from other supermarkets in the city. Song Jian approached the supermarket entrance and found the glass doors tightly closed. Through the doors, he saw a vast sales area filled with various goods on the shelves.

Strangely, there wasn't a single person inside - no cashiers, no stock clerks, and no customers.

The entire supermarket was brightly lit, with no mutant zombies nearby. It seemed as if they were afraid to approach this place, which gave off an eerie vibe.

As Song Jian walked towards the entrance, a "beep-beep" sound came from above the glass doors. A green laser shot out before he could react, scanning him from head to toe.

He was startled, but the green laser eventually retracted. A red light above the glass doors flashed twice and turned green, opening the supermarket doors automatically.

After a moment of hesitation, Song Jian stepped inside.

"Is anyone here?" Song Jian shouted loudly, but everything was quiet.

Thinking for a moment, Song Jian gritted his teeth and walked into the supermarket, which looked much larger on the inside. He couldn't see the end of the aisle opposite him;

"Take a membership card before consuming. Picking up merchandise without a membership card will have consequences!" A cold, mechanical voice echoed in Song Jian's ear, startling him.

Looking around, Song Jian saw a machine similar to an ATM next to an empty service desk. The screen was on, and at the top of the display was an option for "Membership Card."

This was a touch-screen self-service terminal. Song Jian walked up, and there were several options on the screen, so he tapped "Membership Card."

The screen flashed, and all the options disappeared. On the blue screen, several large words appeared: "Mission: Kill 10 mutant zombies and collect 10 mutant zombie cores. Place the 10 zombie cores in the recycling bin next to it to complete the task! Mission Reward: Apocalypse Supermarket Membership Card!"

Below these words, there were two options: "Accept Mission" and "Decline Mission."

"Hiss! I have to complete a mission to get a membership card?" Song Jian gasped.

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