“Redeem the hotel.”
Chen Xi rode her bicycle to a vacant area on the outskirts of S City. A national highway ran nearby, making it a perfect spot to set up the hotel.
【Redemption successful! Host, do you want me to connect to the Hotel Management System?】
“Of course, I need you!”
【Got it, Host!】 008 was excited. It was the best partner a host could ask for!
Soon, 008 connected its system to the Hotel Management System. Chen Xi could now fully operate the hotel through it, essentially integrating an AI system into the hotel.
【Initializing… Deploy the hotel?】
“Yes.”
As soon as she spoke, a two-story building materialized before her eyes. It looked somewhat old, resembling a guesthouse from the 1970s or 1980s.
A wooden fence surrounded the building, leaving open space in front and behind.
【Please name the hotel, Host.】
Before Chen Xi could respond, 008 continued:
【Host, I have a great idea! How about “Morning Light Hotel”? It matches your name.】
“No. That would make people link it to me. We need to be low-profile.” Chen Xi shook her head and thought for a moment. “Call it Dawnlight Hotel. Simple, grand, and it’s a common style in post-apocalypse novels.”
008: …Fine.
【Name registered! Hotel sign generating… Loaded! Host can open the control panel to view hotel info.】
Immediately, a tablet-sized transparent screen appeared in front of Chen Xi.
【Name: Dawnlight Hotel
Owner: Chen Xi
Dimension: Apocalypse Dimension
Level: Lv.1 Guesthouse (0/100)
Revenue: 0
Balance: 0
Facilities: Cashier Desk ×1, Single Rooms ×6, Double Rooms ×2
Description: Host has absolute control within hotel boundaries, immune to all harm
Upgrade to Lv.2 requires 100 Lv.1 Crystal Cores in revenue
Note: 1 Lv.2 Crystal Core = 10 Lv.1 Crystal Core Coins, and so on】
Chen Xi: …Yeah, it really is a guesthouse. The hotel is a bit too rundown at the start.
She was about to step in when she noticed about 7–8 zombies roughly 10 meters away from the small store, approaching. Their skin was bluish-gray, their bodies decomposed, and their limbs stiff.
Hearing the noise must have drawn them. Chen Xi hurried inside and closed the guesthouse door.
“This fence isn’t even taller than me… can it really stop zombies?” Chen Xi doubted, looking at the waist-high barrier.
【Don’t worry, Host. As long as you’re inside the hotel boundaries, you are immune to all harm. Zombies cannot enter.】
She looked outside and saw the zombies stopped about a meter from the fence, wandered for a bit, and then staggered away.
【Exactly. The fence isn’t what blocks them—it’s the protective shield above it. It’s transparent by default, so you couldn’t see it.】
Chen Xi opened the control panel and indeed saw 【Protective Shield】 under 【Infrastructure】.
“What! The shield costs crystal cores! 10 cores per day! Plus utilities, another 10 cores a day… I haven’t even opened for business yet, and I’m already losing 20 cores!”
【Host, stay calm. These require energy to operate. This is actually a small cost. Just kill three zombies, and it’s covered.】
Chen Xi: Killing zombies is out of the question. Better to attract some customers instead.
Chen Xi decided to inspect the hotel’s facilities so she could open for business today.
Entering through the glass doors, she saw a cashier desk. Behind it was a staff room prepared for her: one bedroom, a living room, and a bathroom.
Past the cashier desk was a corridor with four single rooms, two on each side, about 15 square meters each, with a single bed, small wardrobe, desk, and chair. No private bathrooms.
At the end of the corridor was a public bathroom, separated by gender, and a public shower with two washing machines for each side.
Upstairs, two single rooms faced each other with the same furniture as downstairs; further in were two double rooms, also door-to-door.
Chen Xi opened a double room: about 30 square meters, a 2m × 2m double bed, a slightly larger desk with two chairs, a bigger wardrobe, a dressing table, and a private bathroom.
Laundry still required going to the first-floor public shower.
Not bad, especially since it could be upgraded.
“Xiao Ba, how is cleaning handled? Don’t tell me I have to do it myself?”
【Host, the hotel has self-cleaning, but… it still consumes crystal cores, 10 per day.】 008’s voice lowered, fearing Chen Xi would get upset.
“Fine, take the cost. I can’t clean each room myself. That time’s better spent killing 10 zombies.”
Chen Xi waved her hand. “Anything else that requires payment, tell me.”
【Nothing for now.】
Chen Xi perked up: “Good. Clean the hotel once, and we start business!”
【Got it! Host, there’s also a newbie gift pack. Do you want to see it?】
【Newbie gift pack for Host: Lottery Tickets ×3】
“Eh? System, the gift pack includes lottery tickets, right?” Maybe I can get a weapon…
【Beep! Detected: Host has Lottery Tickets ×3. Prize pool: all items in the store. Start lottery now?】
“Start!”
A white flash appeared. A few seconds later, three cards appeared, which Chen Xi checked:
【Pure Water ×1 case (24 × 500ml bottles)】
【Instant Noodles ×1 case (12 cups)】
【Scented Perfume ×1 bottle (20 sprays)
Note: Special item. Spray to mask scent, preventing zombie attacks. Lasts 2 hours per use.】
This was the perfume she drew from check-in before! Didn’t expect it to be in the store too—convenient.
Does this mean the zombie virus antidote is also in the store?
Chen Xi opened the store in the bottom-left corner of the screen. A new window appeared, similar to modern shopping apps, with categories like 【Food】, 【Beverages】, 【Daily Supplies】, 【Clothing】, 【Home】, 【Medicine】, plus 【Weapons】 and 【Transportation】.
Browsing quickly, she saw plenty of items: modern food and supplies, and in 【Weapons】—laser knives, laser guns, all sci-fi stuff. Prices were high; the cheapest laser knife cost 99 Lv.1 Crystal Cores.
Chen Xi checked her previous laser knife draw—she basically “earned” 99 cores for free. That would have required killing 99 zombies otherwise.
The lottery system is truly amazing!
She searched for the zombie virus antidote: found it. Price: 999 cores. Forget it, too expensive.
Looking at her “huge” 266 cores from zombie kills, Chen Xi closed the weapons store. For now, she’d only buy food, drinks, and daily supplies.
After familiarizing herself with the hotel system, Chen Xi set the room prices:
Single room: 8 cores/night
Double room: 15 cores/night
Water and electricity free.
In-room washing and showers: free.
Public bath: 0.5 hour = 1 core
Public washing machine: 0.5 core per use
For food, drinks, and daily necessities, Chen Xi spent 30 cores on a five-tier shelf. Top three shelves: collected noodles, biscuits, bread, bottled water, milk.
Bottom two: daily items like discounted clothes, shoes, socks, and toiletries.
Prices were reasonable: food around 5 cores, clothes under 20 cores.
She considered an automatic vending machine, but it cost 500 cores—more than her balance of 300—so she gave up.
“All right, let’s start business.”
Immediately, the hotel sign lit up, standing out in the dark, power-out apocalypse night.