Chapter 9 Even Dogs Shake Their Heads at This Price

Chapter 9 These Prices Would Make a Dog Cringe

Hua Diao bolted upright from the bed, rubbing her eyes before becoming fully alert.

"So the novel was right after all. The apocalypse is really here," she muttered, finally accepting reality.

She wavered between relief at being prepared and having stockpiled supplies ahead of others, and lamenting the loss of peaceful days.

After all, she had grown up in an era of peace. The worst she had ever faced were a few near-death scrapes from bad luck. Though she was tougher than most, this was the apocalypse—an unknown, dangerous world where her newly reclaimed life could be snatched away at any moment...

Her feelings were mixed, but that didn’t stop her from checking the survival game panel.

The game panel resembled a computer screen, but it wasn’t solid—just a hologram.

Hovering in front of her, the main page displayed her personal information:

Player: Hua Diao

Age: 23

Level: Lv0

Agility: 9

Strength: 6

Defense: 3

Mental Power: 10

Bound Items: 0

Hua Diao glanced at her stats and was pretty pleased. Before the game began, the highest base stat a human could have was 10 points. At least she had maxed-out Mental Power and 9 points in Agility.

If it had been her previous life’s body—trained hard to dodge misfortune—her Strength and Defense stats would’ve been higher.

But surviving was what mattered. With enough training, this body’s stats would improve eventually.

She glanced down, continuing to examine the interface. Besides the main page, there were three sections in the menu below:

Official Marketplace

Player Marketplace

Chat Channel

The novel was vague, and seeing it firsthand was different, so Hua Diao studied the panel carefully.

The Official Marketplace was basically the in-game store. Inside, numerous items were already listed—food and daily necessities.

The food section was extensive, ranging from compressed biscuits to gourmet meals. It covered nearly every edible item on Earth, categorized into raw ingredients and prepared dishes, spanning thousands of listings.

Essentials included everything from towels to clothes and even beds, covering all the basics comprehensively.

But this didn’t mean the game system was kind or benevolent—because the prices were outrageous.

The game didn’t take real money, using Copper Coins, Silver Coins, and Gold Coins instead.

100 Copper Coins = 1 Silver Coin

100 Silver Coins = 1 Gold Coin

As for earning these coins, there were two methods:

1. Exchanging real-world food for game currency (other items couldn’t be exchanged).

2. Hunting monsters for loot.

Hua Diao sat cross-legged on the bed, casually tossing out a 500g bag of rice from her island space to test the exchange. It converted into 1 Copper Coin, directly deposited into her account balance.

Then she checked the Official Marketplace—the same 500g bag of rice was priced at 1 Silver Coin.

Seriously? A hundred times the price?!

Even dogs would shake their heads at these prices!

If there was ever a definition of a scam, this game was it—the king of rip-offs!

Hua Diao’s jaw dropped, but she also understood why the game dared to price things so outrageously: they had no competition.

After the apocalypse began, real-world food would spoil faster. Unless players obtained timeless storage items, their supplies would rot, forcing them to trade for coins—better than letting it go to waste.

Even the food stored in her island space wouldn’t last forever. Since time passed normally inside, the food would still expire naturally, unaffected by the apocalypse’s accelerated decay.

And this was just the basic version of the Official Marketplace.

Having read the novel, Hua Diao knew that only after killing monsters and reaching Level 1 would players become "full players." Then, by purchasing a Gold Coin membership, the exchange would upgrade.

Higher-tier memberships unlocked more advanced items—vehicles, weapons, and rarer commodities.

But for now, she moved on to the second section: the Player Marketplace.

As the name suggested, this was a player-run market where anyone could list items at their own prices. The game didn’t interfere as long as both parties agreed—but it took a 10% transaction fee, and trades had to be in game currency.

Once again, the game profited.

Scrolling through, Hua Diao saw a few players had jumped in early and already listed items.

The first listing was a giant teddy bear priced at 3 Gold Coins by a player named "Happy Little Bear."

Now that’s just insane—who would buy that?

The second listing was more reasonable: a tiny potato for 3 Copper Coins.

But no one was buying yet. In these early days, people didn’t get how precious food was in the apocalypse. Three coppers for a potato? A bargain!

Hua Diao had stockpiled enough that she didn’t need this potato, so she skipped it.

Figuring nothing else would interest her yet, she quickly skipped ahead and tapped into the Chat Channel.

The chat was divided into Global and Private chats.

Private messages were free, but public messages cost 1 Copper Coin per 100 characters (with an additional coin for every extra 100).

Though the fee was low, who’d spend coins before making any?

Hua Diao opened it and—sure enough, the morons were out.

"Dumb and Happy": OMG, IT’S HAPPENING! THIS GAME’S WILD! WAKE UP, PEOPLE—LOOT NOW!!!

Another message was issued by the Chinese government.

China indeed reacted swiftly, promptly using the public channel to send a warning to the entire nation.

"Chinese government": Greetings, citizens of China. On behalf of the Chinese government, I hereby issue the following alerts:

1. Due to unknown reasons, the magnetic field of our planet, Blue Star, has become disordered, causing complete signal disruption and disconnection. Messages can now only be transmitted through the game system’s chat channel. It is unclear when normal signals will be restored, so we urge all citizens to quickly adapt to using the game system’s chat function.

2. Giant mosquitoes and insects have overrun the outdoors, growing extremely large with hard, elongated mouthparts capable of piercing ordinary fabric to bite human skin. Those bitten have developed dangerous symptoms such as high fever, diarrhea, and blurred vision. In more severe cases, some victims have experienced cardiac arrest and are currently undergoing emergency treatment. Stay calm and avoid going outside unless you’re fully protected; minimize outdoor activities unless absolutely necessary and with foolproof protective measures. 3. Monsters like werewolves and goblins have been spotted across various regions of China. These creatures are utterly inhuman, powerful, and bloodthirsty. For now, they are active in open areas and have not yet invaded buildings, but there is no guarantee this will remain the case. We advise all citizens to keep your eyes peeled and ears open, observe your surroundings carefully, and exercise extreme caution when outside. If you lack the strength to confront these creatures, flee immediately upon encountering them—do not attempt to fight.