Doomsday survival game? I became a boss by picking up trash

Chapter 203

If that woman is an NPC, then her previous identity must have been that of a player.

Are players who can become NPCs really that useless?

Being beaten down by a predator?
This is not reasonable.

While players in the Omnic Crisis instance may be useless, they are not NPC merchants.

Which of the players, such as Alan, who are recognized as NPCs by the system, is useless?

Despite having 99% of the world's resources controlled by machines, they managed to carve out a bloody path for humanity.

Anyone who becomes an NPC recognized by the system is no ordinary person.

Whether they are businessmen or have any other identity.

That woman wasn't an NPC merchant; she either had a more secretive identity or was just an ordinary NPC.

Song Yu would lean more towards the former; she's not like an ordinary person.

However, she seemed to have a deep hatred for the predators. If she were a player in a dungeon, she probably wouldn't just stand by and watch the predators wreak havoc in this village.

But if she's not a dungeon player, then things get interesting.

Judging from her tone, she seems to have lived in the village for a long time and has a deep understanding of the wild, predators, and the rules and regulations here.

The surrounding villagers all avoided the woman like the plague.

But it wasn't that the villagers avoided the woman; rather, it was that the woman alone isolated everyone else!

It is highly unusual for an ordinary human to survive for so long under the threat of predators.

When luck reaches this level, something seems amiss.

She even showed kindness to herself.

Song Yu was certain that there was something wrong with that woman!

This is not a negative evaluation, but a neutral one.

She must have some secret, or know something that others don't.

Regardless of what that woman knows, the most important thing for Song Yu now is to reunite with Xiao Hei.

Hopefully, the general store in the wilderness will give her some surprises.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this "wilderness" area only has six villages; it's actually an exceptionally large place!

Song Yu estimated that this area might be as large as a province in the real world.

There are so many areas to explore that the map is almost overflowing with markers.

Fortunately, Song Yu has the flying vehicle from the previous instance, which greatly increases his speed.

With the aircraft and her experienced piloting skills, Song Yu flew low in the wilderness without attracting the attention of the predators that appeared the previous night.

However, predators in the wild are numerous.

The aircraft was traveling too fast, and Song Yu crashed into and killed several predators that suddenly appeared while it was traveling at high speed!
They overestimated their own toughness and underestimated Song Yu's defensive capabilities.

This has resulted in Song Yu looking bloodshot and more like a predator than a predator itself.

Stopping by the water to wash off the bloodstains, Song Yu suddenly remembered Sister Shen when she looked at the pieces of flesh stained her body.

This dungeon seems to be Sister Kidney's home turf.

Sister Shen would never be afraid of predators, nor would she be as cautious as she and Sang Ningxin.

Perhaps after finding Xiao Hei, briefly teaming up with Sister Shen to uncover the secrets of this world might be a good option.

This guy is pretty daring and ruthless to himself.

Being with her to deal with predators, aside from anything else, provides bait.

After washing off the stains, Song Yu continued on his way to the general store.

Along the way, Song Yu had accumulated quite a few copper and silver coins, some of which he obtained from defeating the AI.

Having avoided the predators of the previous night, Song Yu's journey to the general store was relatively smooth, with few obstacles.

She set off at around 7 a.m. and didn't arrive at the grocery store until 3 p.m.

A very strange general store.

It sits on a lush green grassland, and its unusual appearance makes it seem particularly eerie.

There is only this one general store on the entire grassland.

The general store exudes a vintage feel; the plastic sheet sign is somewhat worn, and the glass window reflects the dazzling array of goods inside.

Song Yu walked into the general store. The wooden shelves were polished to a shine, and there were some dusty glass jars on them. Empty beer bottles, greenish in color, were piled up in the corner.

Several expired story magazines were pressed on the peeling plywood counter.

Song Yu looked closely and realized that they were all magazines she had read during her adolescence!

This place is filled with traces of time.

So weird!

"Who?"

An aged voice came from behind the curtain behind the counter; the owner of the shop seemed to be quite old.

"Hello, I'm here to buy something."

Song Yu answered calmly.

"Oh, here we come."

The boss responded slowly, followed by heavy footsteps.

From far to near.

An elderly woman with gray hair and glasses appeared in Song Yu's line of sight. She looked very kind, like a slow-moving tortoise.

Would you like a candy?

The old woman dusted off the glass jar with a feather duster, took one out from a pile of colorful fruit candies, and asked Song Yu with a smile.

Song Yu was about to refuse, but was stopped by the information about the glass jar and candy that appeared in front of her.

[Redemption Candy Jar: A magical item from the Scavenging General Store during the Predator Rush, containing seven different colored and flavored fruit candies, it's the last bit of love in the apocalypse.]

[Orange Tangerine Fruit Candy: Consuming this can grant a 10-minute Sweetness buff, increasing all attributes by 50%. However, it has a side effect: after the Sweetness buff disappears, a Pain buff will appear, reducing movement speed by 100%.]

"Thank you."

Song Yu politely accepted the fruit candy and prepared to put it into the backpack compartment.

But the old woman kept staring at Song Yu and asked with a smile.

"Don't want to eat?"

"..."

Upon hearing the old woman's question, Song Yu suddenly felt the candy in her hand become scalding hot.

Before knowing the owner's financial situation, whether to eat or not is a very serious question.

Refusing to eat might anger this unidentified boss.

If he eats it, Song Yu might not be able to withstand the negative buffs after the candy's amplification buff expires.

"toothache."

Song Yu answered cautiously.

"That's it."

The old woman nodded and stopped staring at Song Yu.

She seemed to believe the answer and slowly walked back behind the counter.

"Boss, are all the goods here?"

Song Yu pointed to the sparse goods on the shelves of the grocery store and asked.

"Yeah, things have been a bit unsettled outside lately, so I haven't been out for a long time."

The old woman sat leisurely in a rocking chair behind the counter, slowly lay down, and picked up a palm-leaf fan, fanning herself idly.

"The prices of the goods are all posted; take a look for yourself."

Things haven't been going well lately?
Does this refer to these players?
A scavenging general store?
It seems the owner picked up all these goods from outside?
She didn't know where it had been picked up, but she wanted to pick it up too.

A prop like the Redemption Candy Jar will suffice.

Song Yu thought to himself as he looked at the goods on the shelves.

"Boss, have any other customers come in today?"

Song Yu asked casually. The items in this general store were quite different from those he had encountered in previous dungeons. If he had to say, they might have some similarities to the items in the ocean dungeon.

[Children's Doodle Diary: It seems to point to the location of a hidden area in the game.]

Expired painkillers: can block 100% of pain sensation, but there is a certain probability of causing a state of confusion.

[Eternal Match: Once lit, it will not go out, even if the world is destroyed.]

……

[The Faded Wish List: Use to trigger a side quest with a random reward.]

[The bubble gum that never runs out: As the name suggests, it's meant to be chewed until the end of the world.]

……

[Rusty Gashapon Machine: Insert any currency. There is a 60% chance of getting a curse, a 20% chance of getting a useful item, a 10% chance of getting a blessing buff, a 9.99% chance of getting junk, and a 0.01% chance of getting the hidden prize 'General Store Business License'.]

……

There weren't many props on the shelves, and there was a lot of trash.

But there are still a few useful items.

For example, children's doodle diaries, faded wish lists, and...

Song Yu stopped in front of the rusty gashapon machine. It was an old-fashioned gashapon machine with a bloodstained coin stuck in the coin slot, and colorful plastic eggs inside the glass cover.

The hidden rewards from the gashapon machine are tempting, but the curses are also terrifying.

I wonder how many skills Little Black learned from the Wizard Butterfly, and whether any of them could remove the curse.

It's highly likely that it isn't, and Song Yu was well aware of this.

The dungeon time is too short.

The price of a children's doodle diary is 100 gold coins, and the price of a faded wish list is 200 gold coins.

Apart from the gashapon machine, Song Yu couldn't afford to buy any other items.

Including that jar of redemption candy.

The copper and silver coins in Song Yu's hand combined seemed to be enough to buy only one useful item.

"The other guests..."

The old woman, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, drifted into memories; with age comes a decline in memory.

"A little girl came in this morning; she seemed to be seriously injured."

Song Yu paused. Was he an indigenous person or a player?
Her gaze fell on a rusty shopping cart in the corner; its shape was quite peculiar.

The four wheels of the shopping cart are four thick, blue arms.

This must have been brought back by the old woman from scavenging outside.

A shopping cart that can walk: A shopping cart with rare intelligence, capable of carrying heavy loads, and can go out to "shop" on its own.

But the items it brings back might be food, tools, or even predators.

Note: It cannot be discarded or stored in spatial items. Please do not attempt to discard it.

"..."

This is one of the few items that Song Yu can afford; it only costs one gold coin.

If you combine Song Yu's copper and silver coins, it should be about right.

The exchange rates for copper, silver, and gold coins were displayed on the wall, in a base-1000 system.

However, the fact that this item cannot be discarded makes people hesitate, especially since it may bring back predators.

Song Yu fell into deep thought; the problem of not being able to be discarded was not so big.

It didn't say it couldn't be destroyed.

According to the knowledge base of the mechanical worm-borne virus, it has listed several ways to destroy this shopping cart.

After thinking for a moment, Song Yu took out his money and bought the shopping cart.

The dangers posed by shopping carts are still within a controllable range.

It's worth the gamble!
Song Yu emptied his pockets and poured out all the coins, counting them one by one.

"...998, 999, 1000!"

Seeing the old woman accept the last pile of copper coins, Song Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

It's enough, thankfully.

After buying the shopping cart, Song Yu now only had three copper coins left.

"Want to try the gashapon machine?"

The old woman stared at the three copper coins in Song Yu's hand and smiled like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"No need, I'll save up some money and come back later."

Song Yu resolutely refused and immediately turned and left the grocery store.

As soon as Song Yu stepped out of the gate, she saw a freezer that had inexplicably appeared at the entrance.

Inside were popsicles, ice cream, drinks, and a big watermelon!
The temperature on the grassland is very high, and waves of heat come in waves!

The popsicles and ice packs in the freezer cost only one copper coin each, and a slice of watermelon also cost one copper coin.

"..."

Song Yu turned to look at the old woman in the grocery store; the old woman's smile remained unchanged.

She got it.

The shop owner didn't want her to leave the store with a single penny in her pocket.

Song Yu took a deep breath.

"Give me two popsicles and a slice of watermelon."

"it is good."

The old woman kindly agreed and appeared beside Song Yu with seemingly slow but unusually fast movements.

The long, gleaming knife swiftly and cleanly plunged into the watermelon, its crimson juice flowing out like a murder.

Half a minute later, Song Yu left the grocery store with a watermelon in her mouth and the shopping cart that was following her.

It was clearly a grassland, but the sounds of cicadas and birdsong in summer inexplicably filled the air.

Looking back at the general store one last time, the old woman waved to Song Yu and slowly returned to the store.

It felt like I was back in my childhood.

Song Yu thought to himself as he ate his popsicle.

Riding the aircraft, Song Yu flew rapidly into the woods ahead.

Song Yu hadn't forgotten the injured little girl the grocery store owner had mentioned earlier.

Although he didn't know whether they were players or natives, Song Yu still decided to go and take a look.

As for what to see, that depends on the individual.

That person was injured and probably can't go too far.

The deeper they venture into the wilderness, the more dangerous it becomes. According to the woman in the village who warned her, the injured person would most likely appear near the building.

The nearest building to her was the school, situated in a swampy landscape.

This instance is actually quite interesting. The general store is in the grassland, and the school is in the swamp. The two places are quite close to each other.

Song Yu flew towards the school.

As you approach the swampy terrain, the surrounding temperature begins to drop, becoming cold, damp, and uncomfortable, with a sticky feeling.

Upon entering the swamp, Song Yu immediately spotted the school.

It looks a lot like the school she used to attend.

The school was half-submerged in a dark green swamp, its outer walls covered with vines and moss, and a useless lock hung on the large iron gate.

The windows on the second floor of the teaching building were already shattered, the dark windows like gouged-out eyes, occasionally flashing with an indistinct reflection.

This instance is strangely normal, and strangely bizarre in its own way.

“Song Yu…”

Just as Song Yu was carefully observing the situation at the school and preparing to go in to search, a weak and ghostly voice suddenly rang out above Song Yu!
"Whoa—!!"

Thank you Qin Yi for the 100 book coins, thank you for your support.