Chapter 3: Recharge: Spend 180,000 and Get Strong

A few seconds later, Tang Danqing heard the NPC answer.

“Anywhere I can sleep is enough for me. I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

Pretty obedient.

“Then we’ll make do with this for now.”

Tang Danqing followed her own plan and bought a thick, plush rug for 150 coins.

It appeared out of thin air, its long white pile so soft and warm-looking that she wanted to dive right in.

Then she bought a duck-down comforter insert for 1,200 coins and a set of pale yellow bedding for 300.

In an instant, her balance dropped to twenty coins.

The thick, snowy-white comforter, pale yellow sheets and duvet cover, and two pillowcases appeared and landed on the rug.

Shang You stifled a gasp and watched in disbelief.

Shan Qing could make food appear. She could make all sorts of things appear.

Why was someone like that willing to keep her around?

Shang You had no idea. She only knew how to watch Shan Qing’s reactions, stay cautious, and keep her claws sheathed, doing her best to accommodate the woman’s whims.

Shan Qing’s strength could give her a chance, but the difference in their power could just as easily become a threat. Shang You had survived in the apocalypse for years. She knew how to make herself useful without becoming a nuisance.

Tang Danqing asked the NPC to help her lay the rug on the bed frame. They spread the sheets over it, then stuffed the comforter into its cover. The pillowcases would have to wait; her balance wasn’t enough to buy pillow inserts. When money was tight, little luxuries came last.

There was no pillow, but the bed had a soft base and warm bedding. It could keep out the draft and hold in the heat. It was still a perfectly good bed to sleep in.

[Quest Complete! Reward: 500 Survival Coins.]

[Main Quest: Technology Makes Life Better! Try using an electrical appliance.]

So this quest only gave her 500 coins?

Tang Danqing was a little disappointed. She’d just spent 1,650. She’d hoped that once she had the money, she could replace the rug with a mattress and move the rug into the living room, upgrading the bed without wasting anything.

But now she couldn’t afford a mattress again.

Her new quest was to “use an electrical appliance.” Right. The power being out was a big problem.

Tang Danqing glanced at the wood-burning heater and said to the NPC, “Stay warm in the bedroom. Leave a window in the living room cracked open, and don’t shut the bedroom door all the way. The suite’s so big, and we need to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.”

The game was so realistic that she worried her NPC roommate might warm herself by the fire all night, only to pass out from carbon monoxide poisoning before Tang Danqing logged in the next day.

“Do you know where this suite gets its power?”

The NPC answered at once. “There’s an electrical room in the hallway. I can take you there.”

Because of the suite’s size and its location on the top floor, it even had its own electrical room.

The lock was already frozen and broken, so the door opened with a push. Tang Danqing went inside and found a large transformer and several wires. Unfortunately, those had all been damaged, too.

If Tang Danqing wanted to use electrical appliances, she’d have to build a new power system.

She browsed the electrical section of the Pocket Shop:

[Fuel-Powered Generator System: 3,500 Survival Coins]

[Lithium Battery Bank: 8,000 Survival Coins]

[Off-Grid Solar Power System: 15,000 Survival Coins]

Tang Danqing: “…”

There were cheaper alternatives if she bought individual machines. A diesel generator cost only 500 Survival Coins.

Compared with a complete power system, it was like buying a single grain of sugar instead of a finished candy.

Tang Danqing tapped the crisp, frozen transformer and shook her head. “Show me the water tank room.”

The NPC led her to the water tank room. It held several large stainless-steel tanks and the pipes connecting them. Some of the pipes had already been smashed open.

Tang Danqing looked at the Shop’s water purification, insulation, and circulation systems. Each one cost thousands of Survival Coins.

How many side quests and Achievements would she have to grind through to afford them?

[Achievement Unlocked: Remember the Source.]

[Achievement Reward: 300 Survival Coins.]

Compared with the prices she’d just seen, those few hundred Survival Coins felt like nothing.

Tang Danqing shook her head again and muttered, “Not today.”

The NPC watched her quietly, her eyes full of concern.

Tang Danqing took a sip of hot water beside the heater, lost in thought as she warmed herself.

Shang You had no idea what she was looking at. She only knew Tang Danqing had been staring into empty air the whole time, as if there were something there.

Tang Danqing was looking at the Pocket Shop.

More specifically, she was browsing the expensive appliances and fixtures: heaters, air conditioners, temperature-control systems, ventilation systems, water dispensers, toilets, bathtubs, and sinks.

It was like walking into a Ferrari dealership with fifty cents in your pocket.

No matter. Tang Danqing had added up the prices. She could get all of it for around 100,000 Survival Coins.

This was her first time in a full-dive game. She’d only wanted to try it out and see if it was any good. She hadn’t spent a cent.

Next time would be different.

Tang Danqing had no intention of grinding through hard work in the game. For her, games were meant to be a pleasure you paid for. The kind where you spent 180,000 and came out stronger—that was fun.

Next time, she’d charge up her account before logging in and shop to her heart’s content.

“Um,” she said, turning to the NPC. “I’m going to leave for today.”

The NPC looked at her, seemingly confused.

“I’ll come back tomorrow.” The animation didn’t offer much detail in the way of expressions, but Tang Danqing thought she could read the NPC’s mood from her head tilt.

The NPC thought for a moment. “Should I… see you out?”

“No need.” Tang Danqing suddenly remembered something. “Actually, I want to leave you with a few things.”

She didn’t have many Survival Coins left, so she couldn’t do any high-tech renovations. But she could leave her roommate some everyday supplies.

First, food: two hot dog buns for thirty coins, two boiled eggs for ten, a can of hairtail for thirty, a box of freeze-dried fruit for fifty, a two-gallon jug of mineral water for twenty, and a new stainless-steel bowl for ten. One hundred and fifty coins in all.

Then she bought a bottle of alcohol spray for everyday use, a bottle of povidone-iodine, a box of adhesive bandages, two packs of tissues, and five heat patches. That cost another ninety-six Survival Coins.

Last, she spent a hundred coins on a little battery-powered lamp and handed it to the NPC.

“After dark, use this for now. Be careful not to kick over the heater at the foot of the bed. If you need to get up during the night, make sure you can see where you’re going. Got it? I’ll come find you tomorrow. By the time I get back, our place won’t look like this anymore.”

“Make sure you tuck yourself into bed tonight. Don’t catch a cold.”

The NPC responded meekly. “All right… I’ll wait for you. I’ll walk you out…”

Just as Shang You watched Tang Danqing with a gentle expression, the woman suddenly disappeared before her eyes.

Shang You’s pupils tightened. She reached out and grabbed at the empty air…

[Exit Game]

Tang Danqing took off her headset and looked at the message on the pod’s display.

[Play in moderation to keep your mind sharp. Gaming addiction harms your health.

Game logins remaining today: 0.

Maximum play time per session: 4 hours.]

Tang Danqing unplugged the sensors and climbed out of the game pod. She rubbed her dizzy temples.

The full-dive game was fun, but the technology still wasn’t mature. Even the game pod she’d bought for over a million yuan could only run a handful of games, and playing too long left her brain feeling strange.

After taking a few deep breaths and stretching, Tang Danqing sat beside the pod and connected her phone with a data cable.

The game she’d just played was called Extreme Cold Apocalypse.

She selected it and checked her balance. You currently have 474 Survival Coins.

Then she tapped Recharge.

Following the prompts, she pressed “Next” step by step. The exchange rate was one yuan to one hundred Survival Coins. Once she recharged through the GM, she could claim the coins the next time she logged in.

The process was more complicated than in an ordinary online game.

Tang Danqing followed the instructions and entered the official bank account number in her mobile banking app. After the transfer went through, she copied the transaction number, went back to the GM page, pasted it in, and verified it. The whole process took seven or eight minutes before her 1,500-yuan recharge finally went through.

[Converted to 150,000 Survival Coins!]

Tang Danqing grinned and stretched. She unplugged her phone and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the February city under its bright evening sky. It was only six, but the sunset had already filled the sky.

She went to the kitchen and fixed herself a nutritious dinner according to her fitness meal plan.

She was only halfway through when the crew for her next film hurriedly called her to a hotel. The cast had to attend an impromptu discussion meeting.

Tang Danqing was one of the rare actresses in Chinese entertainment who was both good-looking and capable in dramatic scenes. Among young performers, she was practically one of a kind. Thanks to that rarity, she never lacked action films to work on, and the pay was good, too.

She’d been taken in by a martial arts class as a child. Back then, a fortune-teller by the temple had said she had the face and bearing of a leader and would surely become one if she trained hard.

Looking back, Tang Danqing figured the fortune-teller had probably taken money from her master and had been forced to make something up.

As for stardom, she was only a third-tier celebrity. And in action films, there was no such thing as a female lead. The leading roles always went to big-name men. Tang Danqing was the one who played the supporting roles.

The script meeting had been called because Rong Yu, the film’s star and box-office draw, had finally found a free moment. Everyone else had to arrange their schedules around him.

Rong Yu didn’t particularly like Tang Danqing. During the meeting, he went out of his way to embarrass her.

“Hey, Little Tang. I hear you learned grappling at that martial arts school and you’re pretty good at it. Why don’t you show us something? Here, take this bottle. Let’s see what shape you can squeeze it into.”

Tang Danqing didn’t like him much, either. She wasn’t about to perform like a trained monkey in front of everyone.

“My skills are just amateur tricks. Rong, you’ve been in this business for years and still haven’t seen the real thing? And you want me to show you?”

Rong Yu was taken aback. He hadn’t expected the young woman to speak so bluntly, and his expression soured. The others in the conference room hurried to smooth things over and change the subject.

In the hotel elevator, another supporting actor glanced at Tang Danqing from behind with the quiet awe one might reserve for a hero.

The atmosphere between her and Rong Yu had been so tense that after the meeting, none of the other actors dared to start a conversation with her. Tang Danqing simply walked home alone beneath the streetlights.

She’d already signed her contract. What did she have to be afraid of?

After work, she went home, practiced a few moves, and played her game. That adorable NPC roommate was a lot cuter than this bunch of worldly, calculating coworkers.