Chapter 31 - “Restaurant”

Last time, on Apocalypse Lord: A group tries to ambush Yun Ling and Guard B. Equipment durability is introduced.

This chapter has been brought to you by me and Smash10101.

Chapter 31 – Restaurant

Mother Zong wiped her tears. “At the start of the game, we were eating together. Later, seeing many people and monsters in the city, we walked towards the suburbs.”

“We found five camps along the way, and finally found you!”

“Right, why is this place not called ‘Rising Cloud Camp’ but Rising Cloud Village?”

Zong Ye Ming did not know how to answer.

“It is almost dark. How about we walk around first?” Father Zong suggested.

Zong Ye Ming focused, and said, “Come with me.”

**

Whether it was unlocking the restaurant or the blacksmith shop, they both needed professional NPCs. Yun Ling originally wanted to act based on chance, but who knew —

[Name: Adam]

Level: 0

Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 5, Stamina 5, Intelligence 5, Spirit 5.

Combat Skills: None

Life Skills: Elementary Forging

Craftable Items: Short Dagger, Short Knife, Long Sword.

Employment Price: 50 copper coins.

[Name: David]

Level: 0

Attributes: Strength 6, Agility 5, Stamina 5, Intelligence 5, Spirit 5.

Combat Skills: None

Life Skills: Elementary Cooking

Craftable Items: Mixed Grain Steamed Bun, Rice Porridge, Rice Cake.

Employment Price: 50 copper coins.

Two professionals were spawned at the same time.

Yun Ling was very melancholy.

The Woodworking Workshop could create equipment, but limited by materials, most were white.

The Blacksmith Shop was different. It could refine minerals, create knives, daggers, bows, white equipment, blue equipment, purple equipment, and even orange equipment.

As to the restaurant, after it was built, the shop would sell recovery foods to the outside. Also, when there was a restaurant in the territory, the residents could spend copper coins to buy food, and did not need to cook for themselves.

“I wanted to unlock the restaurant, and the Blacksmith Shop together. But the Defensive Shield is necessary, and the building slots are limited…”

Yun Ling gave a long sigh, and helplessly unlocked the “Restaurant.”

Copper coins -100.

A new building rose from the ground.

Yun Ling confirmed hiring David, and gave the name “Chef A” and had him work in the Restaurant in the future.

“Lord, “sticky rice” is needed to make rice cakes,” Chef A reminded.

“I know,” Yun Ling said, “in the future, I will add the collection mission in the mission hall.”

**

“This is the mission hall. You can bring the materials from the monster drops here to trade for copper coins.”

“This is the Woodworking Workshop. It sells wood sticks, round shields, wood staffs, torches, and other equipment.”

“This is the Tailor Shop. It sells cloth shoes, cloth armor, and belts. Other than this, there are simple bandages, high quality bandages, quivers, and hunting quivers.”

“This is the warehouse. I do not know what is inside. No one is allowed in.”

“Those are wood houses. Each one costs 500 copper coins. After buying it, you will possess 20 square meters of your own private space. I heard that other people can only enter after they receive the owner’s permission.”

“The transparent shield above the territory appeared not long ago. I do not know what its purpose is. I guess that it is a defensive building.”

“The restaurant was just built. I do not know what it sells. How about we go in to look?”

Along the way, Zong Ye Ming introduced for his family. After they finished touring, they were coincidentally at the restaurant doors.

This was dinner time. Father Zong nodded. “Let’s go in to see.”

The front of the restaurant was a large hall, and the kitchen was in the back.

Father Zong tried to push open the door to enter but then received a system notification, [You do not have access. You are prohibited from entering.]

“Inside is where the NPC works. Players are not allowed in,” Zong Ye Ming said as he examined the shelves.

[Name: Mixed Grain Steamed Bun]

Quality: Normal

Use Effect: Base recovery speed +1 HP per minute (lasts 1 hour)

Price: 50 copper coins.

[Name: Rice Porridge]

Quality: Normal

Use Effect: Base recovery speed +1 MP per minute (lasts 1 hour)

Price: 50 copper coins.

[Name: Mixed Grain Steamed Bun]

Quality: None

Use Effect: Fills the stomach.

Price: 2 copper coins.

[Name: Rice Porridge]

Quality: None

Use Effect: Fills the stomach.

Price: 1 copper coin.

Zong Ye Ming asked, “Do you want to eat mixed grain steamed buns? What about porridge?”

Mother Zong said, “Buy four bowls of porridge. No need for the steamed buns. We have our own dry food.”

“Okay.” Zong Ye Ming purchased four bowls of porridge.

Copper coins -4.

The rice porridge on the shelf immediately went from “untouchable” to “take.”

Zong Ye Ming took the rice porridge, and found that there was a wood spoon placed next to the wood bowl with the porridge.

He examined the wood spoon, and the wood bowl. Both had the words “restaurant items, prohibited from being taken out.”

“Let’s find a place to sit and eat,” Zong Ye Ming’s older brother said.

There were many square tables in the dining hall. The tables and chairs were clean and neat, without a trace of dust.

The family of four found a place to sit down.

Mother Zong took out corn wraps, sausage, biscuits, and spiced beef from her backpack. “Eat.”

Zong Ye Ming did not feel well. Before the start of the game, the family situation was not bad. When did they not have three meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and one soup at each meal? Now…

Father Zong and Mother Zong had suffered a bit these days and were eating the corn wraps well.

His older brother took a bite of biscuit, a bowl of porridge, dazing out as he ate his dinner.

“What are you thinking about?” Zong Ye Ming wondered.

“I was thinking, Rising Cloud Village is really a good place,” his older brother slowly said.

Zong Ye Ming, “……”

Compared to the high–end community they lived before, what kind of good place was this? Was his brother stupid?

“Your brother is right,” Father Zong said, “compared to other territories, Rising Cloud Village is hundreds, thousands of times better.”

Zong Ye Ming was stunned.

Mother Zong looked at her stunned son and understood. “You only have stayed in Rising Cloud Village? You never went to the other territories?”

“Never,” Zong Ye Ming admitted.

“First, I did not know where the other territories were, and couldn’t go.”

“Also, I did not want to risk it, and so I was always close by.”

“Even more importantly, there is a limit to the residents. I fear if I went to another territory, I will not be able to buy a temporary resident status, and could not stay in the safe area overnight.”

Hearing this, his older brother sighed. “You had good luck.”

Zong Ye Ming was curious upon hearing this. “What about the other territories?”

Mother Zong did not speak, but her expression was not pretty.

Father Zong snorted coldly. “Disorderly, chaotic, has few buildings, and few goods.”

Zong Ye Ming stilled, and said hesitantly, “But Rising Cloud Village does not have many shops…”

His brother said, “Yesterday, we stayed overnight in the Stardust Camp. There, there was only the warehouse, the Woodworking Workshop, the BBQ shop, and the Tailor Shop.”

“The Woodworking Workshop sold wood beds, wood chairs, wood spears, and torches. The Tailor Shop sold cloth shoes, belts, quivers, and simple bandages. The BBQ shop sold pork belly, and beef.”

“The quantity of goods is low, and the variety limited.”

Zong Ye Ming was stunned.

“In the territory, you have to pay tax on transactions, so people use the excuse of saving money to go out of the camp to make the transaction,” Father Zong had a cold expression. “The end result is that they were ambushed, and robbed.”

“The food is monopolized by the large teams, and very expensive.” Mother Zong sighed. “One pound of rice for 20 copper coins. One bag of instant noodles for 10 copper coins. One piece of flatbread the size of my hand for 5 copper coins. Listen to this price.”

“Is this not cheating?!” Zong Ye Ming was shocked and stunned.

“If you do not buy, just wait to starve,” his older brother laughed scornfully. “Not everyone is so lucky to find food and water, especially people like us who came from the city center to the suburbs.”

“The shops have been raided already, and the ones who came later found nothing.”

Zong Ye Ming felt sad hearing it. “Brother…”

“All right, we are fine.” His brother brushed over the topic. “In the future, the family will work together, and our days will get better.”

“Right!” Zong Ye Ming cheered up. “First save money to buy official resident status, then buy a house, and hoard more food.”

Suddenly, he understood that hoarding food was such a good habit.

“I saw that players were selling equipment they made themselves. When we have money, each of us can buy a pair of straw sandals,” Father Zong calmly analyzed. “Outfit ourselves, then team up to fight monsters, and hunt. When we reach high levels, our days will get better and better.”

Mother Zong said, “I have the ‘Elementary Foraging’ skill! You fight monsters, and I can collect materials on the side. The berries are edible, the linen cloth can be sold for money. If I get straw, I can copy others and weave straw sandals.”

The family of four talked to each other, full of anticipation towards the future.

**

Yun Ling inspected the territory attribute window.

The window showed —

[Population Capacity: 1000]

[Existing Residents: 238 (Temporary Residents 217)]

It could be seen from when the territory upgraded there were new players coming in.

Yun Ling temporarily did not have to worry about population saturation, and she started to consider a new question.

At this time, the territory had unlockable buildings: 7, and existing buildings: 7. These were the Warehouse (level 1), the Mission Hall (level 1), the Woodworking Workshop (level 1), the Tailor Shop (level 1), the residences (level 1), the Defensive Shield (level 1), the Restaurant (level 1).

She wanted to save copper coins and choose to upgrade one of them.

“A level 2 warehouse could hold more materials, and increase shelf life of food. It should be a good choice to pick this?” Yun Ling thought.

“A level 2 Tailor Shop can hold more employees, and it is good to mass produce bandages.”

“If I remember correctly, a level 2 defensive shield has 20000 HP. It is the barrier of the territory. The higher the HP, the more safe the residents of the territory will be.”

Yun Ling could not decide so she went out for a stroll.

“Jam, delicious jam! It is delicious on bread! A bottle for 3 copper coins.”

“Selling mushrooms! Fresh mushrooms! 10 for 1 copper coin!”

“Honey from a bee swarm drop! Fragrant and sweet! Come and get what you need.”

“Eggs from killing a gold pheasant. 1 for 1 copper coin. Last four left, buy as soon as possible.”

“Clearance sale! Three rabbit skins, just 5 copper coins! Two rabbit legs, just 5 copper coins!”

In Apocalypse Calamity, there were hundreds of cooking materials. Those listed in the mission hall were just a few of the most commonly seen and easy to obtain.

The jam was made from processing berries.

Mushrooms were all over the place to be picked. Yun Ling knew of a “mushroom soup” recipe of which the product could restore HP and MP at the same time.

The honey dropped by the bees were a basic material. Yun Ling knew of at least seven recipes that could use such a material.

Not to mention the chicken eggs. They were suitable to just being cooked directly or paired with other materials.

Rabbit skin could be used to make bracers and gloves. If one had a high level life skill, they could make blue quality equipment.

Yun Ling saw players setting up stalls all over the place and hawking materials so she could not move away.

“In any case, the game food has over half a year of shelf life, hoarding early will always be of use in the future.”

Thinking like this, Yun Ling relaxed and bought as much as she wanted.

**

The bonfires swayed.

Yu Kun sat by the bonfire, his eyes blank and unfocused.

He was a first-year university student.

At the start of the game, he had been doing an overnighter with his dormmate at an internet cafe. Then he accidentally picked up a skill, and managed to fight his way to survival with his dormmate.

Then they found supplies, fought monsters, and leveled up, their lifes gradually steadying.

He had originally thought the days would go on like this. But today, when exploring, they encountered a boss and his subordinates.

He wanted to avoid them, but his dormmate said one needed to take risks to get rich. There was no meaning to be a normal player, they should be the strongest.

Yu Kun was exasperated, but there were many who agreed with such a statement. In the end, all the teammates had voted, and most people agreed to fighting the boss.

The fighting was so fierce that Yu Kun would not ever forget it.

In the end, the players suffered a great loss, most wounded or dead.

Yu Kun had seen the state of the situation, and left alone, managing to return alive.

But so what if he fled back to the territory alive? The team was gone, his trusted teammates were gone, and he was left alone.

Yu Kun dazed out at the bonfire, feeling empty inside.

**

Setting Sun Village

Shi Jian Shan chewed on a coarse grain steamed bun with a numb expression.

By his side, a middle-aged man in his forties was full of fury. “These people are really not people! They said when we joined, if we worked hard, and skill cards were part of the drop, they would divide the cards among the members.

“But in the end? They did not even take out one!”

“No matter the treasure, it is the core of the team that gets it. Us little characters do not benefit at all.”

“If we had known it would be like this, why join the team at the start? It would be better to go at this alone!”

“Now, this is great. It is Day 7 of the game, the monsters outside have made groups and are all around the territory. Us? No skills, no equipment, not even players!”

The middle-aged player was full of anger and wanted to immediately leave the team.

“Yes.” Shi Jian Shan murmured. “Why did we trust their words before? Why were we greedy for comfort and did not dare to leave? Now, we cannot leave even if we want to.”

“This is Day 7 of the game, people have picked up all the skill cards. No skills, no weapons, we cannot survive if we leave the team.”

The middle-aged man sighed heavily. The truth was shallow and he could figure it out on his own, but it was too late.

The more he thought, the more he was angry and the more he cursed.

“Old Liang, save your strength,” Shi Jian Shan warned. “The team leader only gives normal members two steamed buns per day, one in the morning, one at night. If you are so hungry you cannot work, the team will abandon you.”

The middle-aged man wanted to argue, but as his lips moved, he could not say a thing. In the end, he closed his eyes in despair.

Shi Jian Shan looked down and said nothing.

He had heard that collecting resources could unlock skills to become players. He wanted to find a chance to try. No matter what, he could not just sit by!

He made a decision, his expression unchanged as though he had accepted his fate.

**

Rising Cloud Village.

It was deep in the night, and most players were asleep.

Old Zhang was still sitting on his bench, facing the bonfire, as he wove straw.

Zhang Hong Bo could not bear it and whispered, “Grandfather, you can weave tomorrow. It is very late now.”

Old Zhang stubbornly said, “I am not tired, I will just work a while longer. You sleep first.”

Zhang Hong Bo was silent.

How could he not be tired? He had continued for almost eighteen hours! He was already old and not in good health, but still messing around like this …

But he knew that Grandfather was racing for time.

Straw sandals did not need much skill. They were easy to learn how to weave, and the raw material was easy to obtain. Some people with skilled hands, upon thinking about it, could teach themselves.

After a while, everyone will learn how to weave straw sandals. So why would people buy from them? Who would be buying?

Due to this, Grandfather determined to sell more straw sandals and make more money before other people learned how to do this.

His original words were like this, “Hong Bo, time does not wait for people. If we miss this time, who knows if there will be another chance to make money? Work a bit more, be a bit more tired, and when we have official residence status, we can buy a house, and not worry about anything in the future. Even if we can only sell one pair of straw sandals every two to three days, we will not starve!”

Zhang Hong Bo only hated that he was so clumsy that he could not learn. Otherwise, he could replace his grandfather and weave day and night.

Thinking of how many players surrounded and watched his grandfather during dusk, unable to be stopped, Zhang Hong Bo sighed and did not urge more.

**

Day 8 of the game.

Yun Ling cooked Spiced Meat Steamed Buns, and prepared to eat breakfast.

The steamed buns were soft on the surface and contained spiced beef. After they were steamed, the juices would penetrate into the dough, and it was extremely fragrant! With a bite, she would taste meat and sauce.

During her meal, the system suddenly notified, [Player “You Qing Wen” requests to enter the room. Will you allow it?”

You Qing Wen and Zheng Ming Yue had bought a wood house nearby, and they were neighbors.

Yun Ling did not hesitate and pressed “yes.”

Entering the door, You Qing Wen couldn’t help but sniff. “So good.”

“Spiced Meat Steamed Bun, you want to eat?” Yun Ling gave her a warm welcome.

You Qing Wen swallowed but looked dignified in expression. “No, I ate breakfast already.”

Right now, no one was having a good time, and food was more valuable than gold. She did not lack for food, and had no need to get food from someone else for free.

You Qing Wen cleared her throat and said, “The team got a new job in an underground room in a rural village to move supplies. Will you come?”

Yun Ling shook her head. “No.”

You Qing Wen was puzzled. “This job is pretty good, and you can find all kinds of materials if you go. You’re not moved at all?”

The calamity came so suddenly now people were fearful of starving. Everyone furiously hoarded food if they had the chance, like hamsters.

Yun Ling was helpless. “I want to go. I want supplies, I want game materials. Sometimes, I want to fight monsters and level up, produce my own equipment. There are so many things, and I cannot finish all the work.”

You Qing Wen, “……”

Was everyday so fulfilling? It was frightening to hear about.

“So,” You Qing Wen considered her words, “you think that other things are more important, and so you are willing to give up on gathering supplies?”

“Gathering mushrooms, honey and other game materials is also gathering supplies,” Yun Ling said solemnly. “What is different is that these can be used to make game equipment, and can provide buffs to players.”

Even more importantly, she already had a hoard of rice and flour in the warehouse for her to eat for a long time.

You Qing Wen hesitated and then tentatively asked, “Do you have some insider information?”

Yun Ling laughed. “No, these are just my own guesses. For some reason, I just feel that game materials are more important than real life items.”

“Alright, then I will not call you for similar jobs now.” You Qing Wen’s expression changed and then she made a decision with pain. “After a few days, when there is enough food to eat for half a year, I will stop running around with the team.”

“Then I will fight more monsters, get more drops, and hoard more game materials.”

You Qing Wen remembered on Day 1 of the game, Yun Ling had told them to take cards and learn skills. Because of this, she was firm in her belief that it was correct to listen to Yun Ling.

Yun Ling acknowledged. Inside, she thought, no matter how the situation changed, being diligent in leveling up was never wrong.

**

After the meal, Yun Ling left with the NPCs.

A few minutes after leaving the territory, she found there were many sweet potatoes half in the dirt.

Yun Ling was overjoyed and summoned Guard B. “Dig!”

[Foraging success. You have obtained 1 x Sweet Potato.]

The system kept on sending notifications.

The sweet potatoes were large and heavy in her hand.

Yun Ling wanted to take Guard B nearby to level up, but then heard a sharp bird cry.

Her expression turned grave and she said quickly, “Enemy attack! Sky! Prepare to fight!”

Then the birds dove down at them in a large black swarm.

“Crowd attack skills!” Yun Ling shouted.

“Chaos Stick.” Guard A swept with a wood stick.

“Meteor Shower.” Mage A raised the staff.

“Volley.” Archer A shot seven arrows towards the front.

Yun Ling and Guard B stepped forward to be at the front. Then they used their shields to smash and drive away the enemies.

After a round, dozens of birds were wounded. The others were frightened, and flapped their wings, turning and running away.

Dropped items: 29 x copper coins, 1 x white skill card, 5 x dead branches, 3 x soil.

Yun Ling sighed softly and rejoiced, “If we were a beat slower, and they attacked first, this would have been bad.”

When the birds dove down and targeted one person, they would deal a lot of damage. If one was unlucky, they could die, not knowing what had happened.

Picking up the items off the ground, Yun Ling ordered, “Continue digging.”

**

The sweet potatoes were a very convenient food material. They could be steamed or roasted, and they tasted good.

Yun Ling looked at the pile of sweet potatoes in the backpack, so she could not help but set up a fire and start roasting one.

As time passed, the skin of the sweet potato softened, and a tempting smell spread through the air.

Yun Ling peeled away the black skin, and tried a taste. Immediately, she smiled.

The sweet potato was both sweet and sticky like it was full of honey. It was very delicious!

[Name: Roasted Sweet Potato]

Quality: Normal

Required Materials: 1 x Sweet Potato

Use Effect: Base recovery speed +1 HP per minute (lasts 1 hour)

This was a characteristic of the cooking skill.

There were materials all over the place and anything could be cooked with. But the things made all had similar effects, most of them just increasing base recovery speed.

Yun Ling had learned cooking by accident. During the beta, she obtained the “Intermediate Cooking” skill card, so she could get the skill right after learning it. She thought that there was no harm in having many skills, so she used the skill card.

Reality proved that cooking was very practical. There were many sources of food, and she could mass produce recovery items. She could not use them all herself, and could sell them to others at high prices.

It was due to learning Intermediate Cooking that she had the spare money to buy basic materials and pay her way to her Advanced Sewing skill

The scenes of the beta were still in her mind. When Yun Ling thought of the past, she was slightly dazed.

“That —” a young voice spoke. “Could you give me a little of the sweet potato?”

She looked and saw a young girl of sixteen or so walk out of the bush, and look timidly at her.

Sweet potato?

Yun Ling stilled. “I ate some already.”

“No matter.” The girl swallowed.

Yun Ling realized. “How long since you ate?”

The girl pressed her lips together and said after a long white. “I have not eaten for a day and night…”

Yun Ling sighed. “Sit here a while, and I will roast one for you.”

Then, she took out a new sweet potato from her backpack and started to roast it.

The girl seemed to be sitting on thorns. She wrung her fingers together, and said lowly, her head bowed, “I, I do not have copper coins, I cannot pay.”

“Just a sweet potato,” Yun Ling said unconcernedly, “I will give it to you, you don’t need to pay.”

The girl almost cried. “You are such a good person.”

“I am Xiao Ying. In the past, I stayed with other people, and they thought I was clumsy and could not help, so they did not let me follow anymore.”

“I know the world has changed, you have to fight monsters, earn copper coins. But I am afraid…”

Nearing the end, the girl was trembling all over as though she could not suppress the terror she felt inside.

Yun Ling told her, “It is okay to not fight monsters.”

The girl looked dazedly at Yun Ling, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Translator Ramblings: Don’t ask me how dirt comes from killing birds.