The first stop was the pharmacy next to the residential complex.
After entering, Rong Hui picked up two thermometers, ten boxes of frostbite ointment, ten boxes of anti inflammatory medicine, ten boxes of fever reducers, five bottles of disinfectant iodine, ten large rolls of medical bandages, five large bottles of fish oil, five large boxes of multivitamins. After that she casually bought some cold medicine and bruise ointment. When she noticed medical heat packs and medical masks at the checkout counter, she bought one hundred of each.
These medicines and supplies were what she urgently needed. Compared with them, food was not as pressing.
The total cost came to more than eight thousand. The pharmacy salesperson happily packed everything into large paper bags for Rong Hui. Customers who bought in such large quantities were rare. Her commission would double.
Just as Rong Hui finished putting the medicine into the car, a man in his thirties rushed into the pharmacy behind her.
“Pack up all the frostbite ointment and fever medicine for me!”
Why were so many people suddenly buying frostbite ointment today?
The pharmacy staff looked at the panting man with confusion.
Rong Hui did not turn around. If she guessed correctly, this man was also a survivor placed here by the system. It seemed that she was not the only survivor in this world. She would have to be even more careful in her next actions.
After getting into the car, Rong Hui immediately stored the large bag of medicine into the System Backpack. She planned to reserve one backpack slot specifically for medical supplies.
Her next destination was an outdoor equipment shop.
Since this instance was called Extreme Cold, ordinary winter clothing would definitely not be enough. As soon as she entered the store, she explained that she planned to go skiing and camping and wanted to buy some useful equipment.
This immediately matched the salesperson’s expertise.
The salesperson enthusiastically recommended a new technology down skiing suit that was both warm and waterproof. The only drawback was the price, 8,900 yuan per set.
Rong Hui did not bargain. She replaced the overalls in the set with regular zippered pants and bought two sets directly.
Under the salesperson’s astonished gaze, Rong Hui also purchased a windproof tent, an inflatable mattress, an envelope style down sleeping bag, two compressed down quilts, a forty liter hiking backpack, a hanging thermometer, anti slip snow spike shoes, a rabbit fur hat, wool socks, a windproof face mask, and a head mounted lamp.
She even took all the protein bars and chocolate that were on promotion near the entrance.
After thinking through some details, Rong Hui also bought ten sets of fleece underwear for changing, five sets of fleece clothing, and one hundred sets of disposable underwear.
Cleanliness was one of the personal status attributes. She could not ignore her hygiene.
Rong Hui asked the staff to pack everything in the largest waterproof storage box and also requested two commercial kraft paper packing boxes as complimentary items. Each measured two meters by two meters by two meters.
The total bill came to sixty five thousand yuan.
System Backpack slots were limited, so she needed to maximize the amount of supplies stored inside containers before putting them into the backpack to save space.
Her next stop was the supermarket.
Rong Hui chose a supermarket far from the original owner’s home, one famous for fresh food.
She suspected that the survivor supply pack distributed by the system might represent the optimal stockpiling strategy. Since there was a standard answer, why not copy it? Therefore, for food supplies she decided to focus mainly on ready made meals.
She bought ninety nine one liter bottles of mineral water to fill one System Backpack slot completely.
She also took ninety nine ready to eat chocolate breads and ninety nine bars of soap.
Together with one slot reserved for medicine, this would basically ensure that her four personal status values would not collapse.
After securing the essential supplies, the anxiety in Rong Hui’s heart finally eased.
Now it was time for her free shopping.
She had never enjoyed shopping this much in her life.
Fried chicken, buy.
Salmon, buy.
Durian, buy.
Anything delicious that caught her eye went straight into the cart.
Rong Hui focused on ready made food, because she noticed that the original owner’s home did not even have a cooking pot. It clearly belonged to a takeout dependent office worker who never cooked.
For items like sushi platters, ready to eat pastries, roasted meat rice bowls, and other prepared meals, she took five boxes of each flavor, stacking them high in her cart.
She decided to reserve one backpack slot specifically for food. Even if she could not finish everything in this instance, she could trade with others or bring it into the next instance.
Interestingly, once items entered the System Backpack, they floated inside the slot like icons in a game interface. Whenever she took them out, they appeared exactly as they had when first stored.
This made Rong Hui, a hoarding enthusiast, extremely happy.
As long as items were placed in the System Backpack, she did not have to worry about preservation at all.
After picking out her favorite foods, Rong Hui calmed down a little and added a box of luncheon meat, a box of instant noodles, a box of canned meat, a box of nut flavored compressed biscuits, and a large crate of farm eggs from a specialty egg counter.
These foods were easy to store and did not take up much space. She could eat them openly in front of others, and trading them would not attract attention.
After finishing with food, Rong Hui found smokeless barbecue charcoal and took five boxes. She also bought some raw skewered meat and seafood.
In large cities it was already difficult to buy charcoal, so barbecue charcoal would have to serve as a substitute.
After making several trips back and forth to the parking lot, Rong Hui used the car as cover to gradually store the supplies into her System Backpack.
During the final trip, she bought several cartons of cigarettes and several bottles of strong liquor.
If supplies became scarce later, cigarettes would become hard currency, and strong liquor could serve both as disinfectant and as a way to warm the body.
Her final destination was the building materials market.
She needed insulation cotton and tarpaulin.
Since she did not know the exact severity of the coming disaster, she would first stay in the original owner’s apartment. Therefore, she needed to strengthen it with some protective measures.
Insulation cotton could temporarily buffer temperature changes when extreme cold arrived. Tarpaulin could prevent water leakage and protect against broken windows.
If she had enough time, she would have even hired a construction team to renovate the apartment entirely. Unfortunately, there was not enough time, so she could only reinforce it herself as best as possible.
After searching online for several stores and confirming their addresses by phone, Rong Hui drove directly to them.
At the market, she purchased twenty meters of one meter wide insulation cotton that could be cut as needed, fifty meters of tarpaulin, and also found an industrial grade thick felt material, which she bought as well.
She also purchased several bottles of industrial adhesive. After that, the money she had on hand was almost completely spent.
She placed everything into the car and checked the time.
It was already 11:35.
She had moved quickly and could still make it home in time. The system had said the disaster would arrive at 12:00. Rong Hui did not dare gamble on what might happen if she remained outside.
She drove the car back to the apartment complex and checked the time again.
11:45.
There was still enough time.
She parked the small pink car in the underground garage and locked it. Then she decided to visit the small supermarket inside the residential complex to buy a few inconspicuous daily necessities.
As soon as she entered the supermarket, she saw the owner stocking shelves, with piles of cardboard boxes stacked at his feet.
“I don’t know what madness is going on today. A bunch of people rushed in buying things like crazy. Money doesn’t seem to mean anything anymore,” the owner muttered with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.
Rong Hui immediately understood that these must also be survivors in the same instance.
Interestingly, she had not seen survivors frantically buying supplies at the large supermarket earlier. The customers there had shopped slowly and calmly, clearly ordinary residents of the instance.
After a moment’s thought, Rong Hui understood why.
Not every survivor had a car in this instance. The large supermarket was several kilometers away. Within the limited time available, the neighborhood supermarket was the most convenient place to buy supplies.
Although she somewhat disliked the original owner’s pink mini car, Rong Hui had to admit that having a car made things much easier.
Inside the small supermarket, she bought some hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and sanitary pads, then paid and prepared to return home.
The original owner’s apartment was on the sixth floor.
As soon as she stepped out of the supermarket, a roaring northern wind blew so fiercely that it was difficult to keep her eyes open. Rong Hui could clearly feel the sudden drop in temperature.
The time was already 11:55.
She quickened her pace.
When she entered the elevator, she encountered several people carrying large plastic bags. Their tense body language made it easy to tell they were not local residents.
Rong Hui naturally shifted her gaze away and avoided eye contact, maintaining a relaxed expression.
The people beside her exchanged glances. One of them even opened his mouth as if to start a conversation, but another person quickly pulled him back.
When the elevator reached the fourth floor, all of them got off.
“Why didn’t you let me ask her? What if she was also a player?”
“Didn’t you see what she bought? Just a few rolls of toilet paper. If she were a player, she wouldn’t be moving so casually right now. No need to expose ourselves.”
The group continued discussing in the hallway on the fourth floor.
Standing in the elevator, Rong Hui heard everything clearly all the way up to the sixth floor.
She made no sound.
Only after she heard them enter their apartment did she unlock her own door and go inside.
Those people referred to survivors as “players,” treating the instance like a game.
Rong Hui did not agree with that mindset.
The beginner instance had already taught her a harsh lesson. She would never treat the Doomsday Train system like a game.
Moreover, she had a very independent personality. She neither wanted to be targeted as easy prey nor risk cooperating with strangers.
It was better for everyone to go their own way.
After all, they might eventually become competitors.
Back inside the apartment, Rong Hui finally relaxed.
She had made it home before twelve.
…