‘A Mutated Blood Merchant.
My luck is pretty good.’
Yuna Bishop immediately rode her bike over.
A rich aroma of cooking food wafted from the camp, smelling like home.
‘I miss my grandma a little.’
Yuna Bishop pursed her lips, parked her bike in the camp, and walked toward the Mutated Blood Merchant.
“A player?
Welcome to my temporary camp.”
Sue Carter glanced at Yuna Bishop, her voice somewhat cold as she calmly explained the trading rules to her.
“As you can see, I’m a merchant who collects Mutated Blood.
You can trade Mutated Blood to me for supplies you need.
The higher the tier of the blood, the higher the tier of the supplies you can get in return.”
“But the supplies I can provide each day are limited, so…
you get it.”
“Mhm.”
Yuna Bishop nodded obediently.
Her attitude was very friendly, even toward an NPC.
‘Can’t be helped.
If you don’t have the strength, you make up for it with your attitude.’
“Oh, right.
I accepted your quest to collect blood.”
Yuna Bishop took a vial of Level 2 Blood from her jacket pocket and handed it to the Mutated Blood Merchant.
She noticed that Sue Carter had a gun at her waist.
As soon as she handed the blood to Sue Carter, Yuna Bishop’s blood collection quest was completed, and she received the ten-thousand-RMB reward.
“That’s right.
This is exactly what I need.”
Sue Carter nodded, her expression composed.
[NPC—Mutated Blood Merchant Sue Carter’s Favorability +1]
“If you can, please help me collect more Mutated Blood.”
As soon as Sue Carter finished speaking, Yuna Bishop immediately received a new side quest.
[Player has triggered a follow-up side quest—Tier 2 Mutated Blood Collection (0/80)]
[Reward: 50,000 RMB]
The reward was higher, but there were fewer quests.
Although the difficulty had also increased, Yuna Bishop was already very satisfied.
‘At this rate, I’ll be able to save up a million soon!’
“You’re the first player to complete the quest, so I’ll give you one extra Backpack Grid as a bonus.”
Sue Carter said to Yuna Bishop.
Just as she finished speaking, Yuna Bishop’s Backpack Grids increased by one.
Yuna Bishop’s eyes lit up.
‘I didn’t expect such a pleasant surprise!’
“Thank you!”
‘You can never have too many Backpack Grids.’
With the side quest sorted out, Yuna Bishop finally had the peace of mind to look at Sue Carter’s merchandise.
A virtual screen unfolded before Yuna Bishop.
There were many supplies available for trade: Backpack Grids, firearms, armor, vehicles…
There was food, drink, tools—everything.
Yuna Bishop only had 21 vials of Tier 1 Blood at the moment.
She couldn’t afford almost anything she wanted.
Take Backpack Grids, for example.
Their exchange price increased with each purchase, and the starting price was Tier 4 Mutated Blood.
At most, she could afford two bottles of water or two compressed biscuits, which were worth 10 vials of Tier 1 Blood.
“…”
‘So poor.’
Yuna Bishop considered her options and ultimately chose to exchange for crossbow bolts.
One bolt cost 5 vials of Level 1 Blood, and she got enough to bring her total to 10.
She wasn’t actually in dire need of food and water right now; she had enough food to last at least three days.
‘It’s better to arm myself and kill more zombies!’
“Do you buy back supplies here?”
Yuna Bishop asked Sue Carter, glancing at her own supplies.
She planned to streamline her backpack and try to hoard a single category of supplies.
“I don’t, but Nathan King does.
You can go find him.
He’s been in the New District recently.”
“Recently?”
Yuna Bishop keenly picked up on the key word in Sue Carter’s sentence.
‘These NPC merchants move around?’
“Mhm.
Staying in one place for too long attracts the attention of zombies.”
“I’ll be leaving this place in three days.
When I do, you can find me in Wexen.”
Perhaps because her favorability had increased a little, Sue Carter revealed quite a bit of useful information to Yuna Bishop.
“See you tomorrow.”
Sue Carter shouldered her backpack, and the camp, once full of life, instantly became empty.
She mounted a heavy motorcycle and sped away from Yuna Bishop without hesitation, leaving behind a cloud of exhaust.
Yuna Bishop stood there and glanced at the sky.
Before she knew it, it was almost evening.
Night was when the zombies were most active.
She had to leave as soon as possible.
Just as she was about to leave, Yuna Bishop suddenly spotted a patch of berries in a clearing in the camp (+1 Satiety, alleviates Malnutrition negative status).
Yuna Bishop had noticed from the very beginning that she seemed to have a knack for finding supplies.
She could tell where supplies were with just a glance.
‘This must be the effect of the Scavenger Trash Man Talent.’
There were quite a few berries.
Yuna Bishop went over and picked all of them.
There were 13 in total.
The bright red berries were like translucent, sparkling gems—very tempting.
‘Although it’s not shown on the Attribute panel, based on the supplies we can collect, we players must also have four other attributes: Satiety, Hydration, Mood, and Health.’
She would need to keep a constant eye on those four attributes.
After picking the berries, Yuna Bishop got on her bicycle and left the camp, heading for the location of her planned shelter.
Not long after she left, a few other players found the camp.
Unfortunately, they were too late.
The shelter Yuna Bishop had chosen was in a village on the outskirts of the city.
The buildings in the village were almost all two-story houses.
The sky hadn’t completely darkened when she arrived, but the zombies in the village were clearly growing restless, letting out low roars.
Yuna Bishop held her Crossbow and began searching house by house.
‘If any zombies are left behind, it’ll be very dangerous once night falls.’
The village only had about twenty households, so clearing it out was simple.
They were all Tier 1 Zombies.
Yuna Bishop wanted to find some Tier 2 Zombies to kill, but there were none to be found.
The Blood Volume of a Tier 1 Zombie was basically between 50 and 150—never more.
Her Crossbow could handle them perfectly.
Perhaps because it was a village, the resources Yuna Bishop found here were almost all fruits and vegetables.
She found four potatoes (+5 Satiety, chance of causing Poisoned status), seven ears of corn (+7 Satiety, +5 Hydration), and one large peach (+11 Satiety, +8 Hydration).
She also got 11 vials of Tier 1 Blood that dropped from the zombies she killed.
Yuna Bishop didn’t search with extreme care, since she still needed to leave time to set up a shelter for herself.
She chose the only three-story house in the village.
Its yard was surrounded by a concrete wall, which offered a decent amount of security.
Using her Backpack Grids, Yuna Bishop moved furniture and other things from the houses into this small building.
She also found a grill, which was perfect for roasting the potatoes and corn.
A village like this wouldn’t be short on firewood, but there were no lighters or even matches to be found, so Yuna Bishop had to try starting a fire by drilling wood.
Yuna Bishop closed the courtyard gate.
She set up a small trap at the entrance; it would alert her if any zombies or humans appeared.
Returning to the third floor, Yuna Bishop sat on the bed by the window.
Just then, the last sliver of light vanished from the horizon.
The entire room was plunged into darkness, and she couldn’t see a thing.
The night of the zombies had officially begun!