Chapter 12: Pet—What If She Really Did Want to Keep Me?

Outside, the wind howled. At seven in the evening, the thick layer of smog had turned into dense black clouds, and no light showed in the night sky.

But the room was brightly lit, its glow cutting through the desolate darkness. Tang Danqing leaned back with her eyes closed. She even had to rest the rabbit’s arm over her face to shield herself from the harsh white lights.

She listened to the wind and snow beating against the windows. Inside, she was still wearing short sleeves.

For a moment, the calm beauty of the virtual world flowed quietly around her.

Suddenly, the light switch on the wall clicked.

The NPC turned off the bright overhead lights and switched on the warm strip lighting around the TV wall. The atmosphere in the living room changed at once, softening like ice slowly melting in rice wine.

Clean. Gentle. Pleasant.

Tang Danqing lowered the rabbit’s arm and opened her eyes a little. She heard the NPC’s light footsteps coming closer.

Her eyes were like shining black pearls. Her face was so adorably earnest it could melt a person’s heart. She wore a smoky-pink nightdress and carried a little plate with a serving of pudding.

The NPC asked carefully, “Shan Qing, are you unhappy?”

Tang Danqing watched her pink lips press into a shy little line, making her look like an animated Y-shaped sprout wriggling to life. The cuteness hit her like a direct strike to the heart—

So cute. How could she be this cute?

The gloom in Tang Danqing’s mind vanished. She opened her arms and smiled at her. “No, I’m just sitting here. Come over, Little Jelly.”

The NPC came over with the plate of pudding and a little silver spoon, asking if Tang Danqing wanted to try it.

“Did you make this?” Tang Danqing’s eyes crinkled with a smile.

The NPC nodded only slightly, as always unhurried and modest.

“I learned how to make it today. Once it was ready, I put it in the fridge to chill until you got back…”

“What would you like to drink? Juice or coffee?”

“Don’t go to any trouble. Water’s fine.” Tang Danqing took the plate and tapped the pudding with the back of her spoon. It wobbled. She lifted an eyebrow. “You did a great job.”

“Go get another spoon. You should have some too.”

The NPC soon returned with a clean spoon. Tang Danqing and the NPC sat together on the giant rabbit’s belly, tasting the pudding.

It was a perfectly ordinary cheese pudding, but chilling it had improved the texture.

While Shang You watched Tang Danqing eat dessert, she studied her mood.

Tang Danqing was quieter than usual today. She didn’t need to say what was on her mind; it seeped out of every pore. If she needed someone to listen, Shang You thought this was a perfect opportunity.

A chance to slip into her heart and learn something she didn’t already know.

After Tang Danqing had calmed down and scraped the last of the pudding from her plate, the NPC brought her a cup of warm water steeped with mint leaves.

The NPC was thoughtful in every way, smiling sweetly beside her.

Tang Danqing’s expression softened as she spoke. “Jelly, you don’t have to keep fussing.”

The NPC spoke softly and sweetly. “You don’t seem to be feeling well… Am I bothering you if I stay here? Should I go somewhere else?”

“Don’t go.” Tang Danqing held out one arm with a smile. “Come here. Can I give you a hug?”

Shang You came over and sat on the rabbit, quiet and still.

Tang Danqing had even used separate spoons when they shared the pudding. She clearly had no intention of getting close to Shang You. Still, she’d decided to take a chance. Shang You’s thoughts were like a boat on a river, while Tang Danqing was the current carrying it. The river stretched beyond sight, and the little boat bobbed along, expectant and unsure where it would end up.

It seemed her latest guess had been right.

Shan Qing quietly wrapped an arm around her back. Shan Qing’s chin rested on her shoulder, her breath warm against her back. Her arms circled Shang You’s waist, neither moving up nor down. The stiff, forceful embrace didn’t budge.

It was the way you hugged a human-shaped cushion. No affection, just strength.

Shang You: “…………”

Considering how carefully Shan Qing had kept their boundaries only a moment ago, giving Shang You bites of pudding with a separate spoon, she was baffled.

This person was so strange. She’d appeared out of nowhere, and Shang You had no idea what she wanted.

Shang You rested against Tang Danqing’s shoulder and breathed in the scent of shampoo from her long hair. She wondered which shelter Tang Danqing had come from.

Was it a big shelter? Were there other people there? Did they all live as well as Shan Qing? Would she take Shang You there one day?

Probably not. If Shan Qing planned to take her there, she wouldn’t have used so many supplies to build this place.

Then was she an experimental subject chosen by that high-tech shelter?

After turning the idea over and over, Shang You tried asking, “Shan Qing, are you all right? When you went out today… did you get hurt?”

“No, not today.” Tang Danqing smiled and pinched the NPC’s cheek. “I’m fine, Jelly. I just ran into some people I didn’t like, and it put me in a bad mood.”

People. So there were other people.

“You’re the one who cheered me up. Seeing you makes me happy.”

Seeing me makes her happy?

Shang You tried to work out what that meant.

She asked anxiously, “Will someone take your things? If it isn’t safe outside, come home…”

Tang Danqing couldn’t help laughing. “The places I go aren’t like here. Nobody’s going to steal supplies from me there.”

The NPC tilted her head, confused.

Tang Danqing continued with a smile. “But we earn all our supplies there. Your job is to stay home, be good, and get healthy.”

The NPC still looked adorably bewildered. Tang Danqing smiled and let the subject drop.

Stay home. Be good. Wait for her…

Shang You had always believed that a green oasis still existed somewhere in the world. It seemed certain that Tang Danqing had come from one. People still produced things there. Technology still existed.

But Shang You, whom Tang Danqing had found in the snow and bitter cold…

Today, she’d begun to see things differently.

Tang Danqing stroked her hair, kept her at home, and gave her supplies. Whenever Tang Danqing came back and saw her, it made her happy. If Shang You had a cat or a dog, she would treat it the same way. Her gaze darkened.

Maybe she wasn’t someone Tang Danqing had rescued. Maybe she wasn’t even an experimental subject. To Tang Danqing, she was more like a pet.

Was that it? Was that why she and Shan Qing had fallen into this pattern of affection and charity? Because Shan Qing saw her as a pet?

Instead of resenting her for it, I should think about what I can gain—and how to get away clean when the time comes.

Tang Danqing hugged the NPC for a while. She really did smell sweet and clean. Tang Danqing gathered up a few strands of her golden hair and brought them to her nose. The scent must have come from her shampoo.

She was like a freshly unwrapped lychee jelly: soft and springy, sweet and fragrant, with juice bursting from every bite.

She was the perfect human-shaped cushion. Tang Danqing felt wonderfully warm and comfortable.

[Quest Complete! Reward: 1,000 Survival Coins]

Tang Danqing’s rest quest, which she hadn’t had time to complete for three days in a row, had suddenly cleared.

Tang Danqing realized what had happened.

So I had to hug the NPC while I rested for it to count? Interacting with characters really matters in this game!

Then one completed Main Quest after another flashed past her eyes.

[Main Quest: Let’s make ourselves more comfortable, one step at a time. Clean the entire suite to lay the groundwork for expanding your shelter.]

[Quest Complete! Reward: 1,500 Survival Coins]

[Main Quest: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Restore three rooms to full function first! (3/3)]

[Quest Complete! Reward: 2,500 Survival Coins]

[Main Quest: Sprint out of the starting gate and restore five more rooms to full function! (5/5)]

[Quest Complete! Reward: 4,000 Survival Coins]

[Main Quest: To protect your new furniture, raise the temperature throughout your shelter above zero degrees as soon as possible.]

[Quest Complete! Reward: 4,000 Survival Coins]

…

Tang Danqing was far ahead of the construction quests’ requirements. One after another, they appeared and were immediately completed.

Watching the Survival Coins roll into her account, Tang Danqing finally came to a stop at this quest:

[Main Quest: Learn from nature’s wisdom! Animals store food before winter. Try planning a storage room and stockpiling some basic supplies. (120/3,000) (Hint: This quest is difficult. Pay close attention to how different supplies contribute different Supply Scores. It may help you complete the quest more easily!)]

Another quest. Tang Danqing released the NPC and sat up on the rabbit’s belly.

The NPC sat up too, obediently hugging her knees as she watched Tang Danqing.

Tang Danqing checked the Info screen. Her Supply Score was 1,180, but the quest had only counted 120. So the system distinguished between her total supplies and basic household supplies.

Come to think of it, before decorating the study and gym, her Supply Score had already reached 880. After all the things she’d bought over the last couple of days, it had increased by only 300.

The quest hint said that different supplies contributed different amounts to the score.

Tang Danqing figured the things she’d bought weren’t food or anything she could use to protect herself. They didn’t directly improve her chances of survival, so they added very little to her Supply Score in an apocalypse survival game.

“Jelly, come with me.” She stood up, already settling on a place for the storage room.

Tang Danqing led the NPC into the little room for the housekeeper. It had been cleaned, but the bed was still bare, and the cramped, enclosed space wasn’t fit for anyone to live in. It would be perfect for storing things.

Tang Danqing turned to the NPC. “Let’s stock up on some things. Household supplies. What do you think we should put away?”

Tang Danqing herself had no need to stockpile dry food. She could buy fresh food or a ready-made feast whenever she wanted. But for the NPC, who spent long stretches home alone, having supplies on hand might feel safer.

That must be the point of the quest.

Tang Danqing couldn’t control what happened outside, but surely she could keep an NPC well-fed in a game.

Buy! Today, she was going to fill a whole storage room for Jelly!