“Boss, you aren’t tricking us, right? You aren’t some sea monster in disguise, are you?”
Huh? A sea monster in disguise? These guests were clearly terrified out of their wits.
After Su Su told the mother and daughter that she had opened an inn on the lighthouse, they had been in this state of novelty mixed with fear and trepidation. Even after she brought them inside the lighthouse and showed them the rooms, they still couldn’t believe it.
“I’m not lying. A single room is ten points per night. Do you wish to check in?”
Seeing Su Su’s frank and open expression, the mother and daughter felt an indescribable sense of reassurance. They glanced at each other, and finally, the older mother made the decision.
It had been five years. Everyone missed living on solid ground. Since they were just ordinary people who never had the chance to live in a Sea Base, even if this was a trap, they were willing to take the risk.
“We’ll stay. But how are these points calculated? Is it the same as the exchange rate at the Sea Bases?”
—Host, our points are consistent with the current exchange points on this planet. There is an exchange machine under the cashier desk. You can take it out; it will automatically calculate the value of the items exchanged.
Su Su was just about to ask the System, but the System answered her a step ahead.
She was already standing at the cashier desk. Moving slightly to the side and looking down, she saw the exchange machine the System mentioned. It was a machine about the size of a banknote counter with a circular metal disc on top and an electronic screen below that displayed the exchange value.
Su Su bent down and placed the exchange machine onto the counter.
“The exchange rate is the same as the Sea Bases. One F-grade heart core can be exchanged for ten points.”
In this world, not only had all land become ocean, but the creatures that originally lived in the sea had mutated into monsters. Correspondingly, people categorized these monsters into nine levels, from the lowest F-grade to the highest SSS-grade. One basic F-grade heart core could be exchanged for ten points.
However, not every F-grade sea monster possessed a heart core, so the value of a heart core wasn’t as low as one might imagine.
Ten points a night was an absolute steal for Li Yang and her daughter. In a Sea Base, even the cheapest hotel room cost ten points a night, and you couldn’t just stay whenever you wanted—you had to book in advance and wait in line, often for over a week without success.
Without a moment’s hesitation, they immediately pulled several transparent, soybean-sized heart cores from their backpack.
“Please place them on the disc.”
Following Su Su’s instructions, they put the items down. The screen below the disc immediately displayed: 80 Points.
“How do you want to distribute these points? Only registered guests can enter the rooms, so I suggest you set up two accounts.”
“Then we’ll take two cards, with forty points charged to each.”
“Alright.”
Su Su clicked ‘Confirm’ through the System interface. Soon, the heart cores on the disc vanished, replaced by two black cards. The surface of the cards featured a photograph of the lighthouse.
“These are your membership cards and your room cards. All transactions at the inn must be made through these cards. Please keep them safe.”
After the mother and daughter took their cards and left, Su Su sat down on the chair behind the cashier desk. As the room check-in was successful, the System provided a quest prompt.
—Inn Upgrade (Level 1): Guests Checked In 2/10, Infrastructure 0/1.
“System, what is this ‘Infrastructure’?”
—Host, please open the System Store and look at the categories in the upper right corner.
After binding with the System, a virtual interface appeared before Su Su’s eyes. She skipped over ‘Characters’ and ‘Quests’ and clicked directly into the Store. Following the System’s reminder, she found ‘Infrastructure’ under the categories.
After a quick browse, Su Su gave a helpless smile. Even the cheapest platform railing cost one hundred points. She currently only had twenty points, so she closed the store without looking further.
With nothing to do, Su Su’s stomach soon began to growl. She had almost forgotten—she hadn’t eaten or drank anything yet.
“System, where’s my food?”
—Coming right up! Host, please check.
In the blink of an eye, a 500ml bottle of water and a fist-sized steamed bun appeared in Su Su’s hand.
“System, I don’t want to eat a steamed bun. Change it to something else.”
Su Su placed the bun on the counter and unscrewed the cap, chugging more than half the bottle of water in one go. After she finished drinking, the System remained silent.
“System?”
—Sorry, Host. Because the current inn level is too low, the only food supplied at the moment is water and steamed buns.
The System’s voice was very small, as if it were afraid Su Su would fly into a rage and quit. Unexpectedly, the Host just sat there quietly. Just as the System was feeling moved, Su Su’s expression suddenly contorted.
“System, I’m going to kill you.”
—Host, please don’t!
She should have known from the moment she saw this dilapidated lighthouse. This System was stingy to the core, unwilling to give even a shred of a benefit.
With no other choice, Su Su savagely ate the steamed bun. In the end, she wasn’t full and asked for two more. Just as she finished the second and was about to eat the third, Li Yang and her daughter returned with their belongings from the boat.
As soon as they pushed the door open, they saw Su Su gnawing on a bun with a look of utter despair. The mother and daughter’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Bo—Boss, do you sell those steamed buns?”
“Hmm?”
Su Su looked down at the bun in her hand and asked the System directly, “System, how much for these buns?”
—Steamed buns and water are five points each, but…
“But what?”
—Host, without sales equipment, the inn cannot sell products to guests.
Su Su took a deep, heavy breath. Since there were guests present, she suppressed her fury. “System, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. I think we should just stop running this inn and close it down.”
Anyway, there was no penalty for failing System quests. At worst, she’d just live on water and buns every day. Sensing Su Su’s thoughts, the System immediately panicked.
—Wait, wait! Host, this problem is actually very easy to solve. Your current points are exactly enough to buy the most basic sales equipment. Once you buy it, you can sell products to guests!
Afraid that Su Su would throw in the towel, the System quickly dug out the cheapest insulated warming box from the store and applied an 80% discount.
Could her measly points afford it? Su Su opened the store, filtered for discounted items, and sure enough, the first one was it: a square orange insulated warming box priced at twenty points.
Su Su bought it without hesitation.
The next second, an orange warming box appeared under the cashier desk. There was a screen on the front of the box for swiping cards to purchase items.
“This shop sells steamed buns as well as 500ml bottles of water. Both are priced at five points. Do you need any?” As she spoke, she lifted the warming box from under the desk and placed it on the counter.
“Fi—five points?”
The mother and daughter looked at each other in disbelief again. In the Sea Bases, while buns and water also cost five points, they were strictly rationed. Not only was there a daily limit of 10,000 units, but each person could only buy one bottle of water and one bun per day. This was a benefit only found in the A-grade Sea Bases with populations reaching 100,000. General small-to-medium Sea Bases couldn’t even feed their own residents; they had no extra food or water for charity.
“Boss, we’ll take as many buns as you have.”
The mother and daughter spoke with great bravado. Su Su gave them an odd look.
“My supply of buns and water is unlimited. Are you sure you want all of them?” At the shocked expressions of the pair, Su Su continued, “Furthermore, each guest can only consume food and water purchased with their own membership card, and the food has an expiration date. I suggest you don’t buy too much at once.”
“Then… then we’ll each buy six buns.”
After hearing Su Su’s explanation, they hesitated for a moment before deciding to spend all the points on their cards. Su Su had no objections and had them use their membership cards to select the items on the warming box screen and confirm payment. After a simple operation, they each retrieved six buns from the box.
Holding the buns in their hands, they were filled with surprise and joy. They hadn’t expected this to be real. Li Xiaoxi, the daughter, didn’t think too much—she simply peeled off the thin layer of paper and stuffed a bun into her mouth. Her eyes lit up instantly.
“Oh my god, it’s delicious! Mom, try it quickly!”
“Child, what’s the rush?”
Li Yang tried to stop her but was too late. Seeing her daughter stuff the bun into her mouth, and unable to openly scold her in front of Su Su, she could only watch with a face full of worry. She had originally planned to take the buns back and test them for poison before eating. After all, the lighthouse and the inn had appeared too suddenly; it was hard not to overthink things.
After waiting a few minutes and seeing that Li Xiaoxi was fine after eating two buns, Li Yang finally opened one and began to eat.
Hmm?
Li Yang’s eyes widened instantly. She found the bun in her mouth to be soft, sweet, and carrying a faint aroma of wheat. It was vastly different from the salty, fishy-smelling buns at the Sea Bases that were cultivated using sea monster carcasses. It was clearly made from normal flour grown using Wood-attribute powers. One of these should have cost at least twenty points. The mother and daughter felt like they had hit the jackpot today.
“Boss, do you sell water here too?”
Li Yang was eating a bit too quickly. She was about to take out her water skin from her backpack when she remembered the boss had mentioned they sold water. They usually drank seawater purified by crude filters, which always had a strange aftertaste. Since the buns in the shop were normal, then the water…
“Yes, a bottle is also five points. If you want to buy, you can swipe your cards.”
“Alright.”
Li Yang grit her teeth and pulled more heart cores from her bag. Without even needing to consult Su Su, she directly topped up her and her daughter’s cards with fifty points each. Then they each swiped for a bottle of water and held them in their hands.
Unscrewing the cap and pouring the water into her mouth, Li Yang felt as if she had returned to the time before the apocalypse began. The water was clear and thirst-quenching, without a single off-flavor. This was what water meant for humans should taste like.
The mother and daughter happily ate three buns in the lobby, drank a whole bottle of water, and then bought two more bottles and two more buns each. They tucked them into their backpacks and went back to their rooms.
In an instant, the once-lively lobby was left with only Su Su.
Now full and hydrated, Su Su inevitably felt drowsy. Since there were no other guests anyway, she let out a large yawn, stood up, and went back to the employee dormitory. After locking the door, she collapsed onto the bottom bunk closest to the door and fell fast asleep.
“Mom, do you think all of this is real?”
After the mother and daughter finished organizing their rooms, they left and went back to their boat. The canopy was small, less than four square meters. Aside from the bunk beds separated by wooden boards, every other space was crammed with belongings. The air inside the canopy was thick with salty moisture, a stark contrast to the dryness of the inn. It was precisely because the difference was so great that everything felt like a dream.
“I don’t know, but that boss looks young and doesn’t have the face of a deceiver. There’s a high probability it’s real.”
Li Yang performed a simple analysis. A significant amount of time had passed since they ate the buns and water and they felt fine, showing the food and water were non-toxic and trustworthy. As for whether the rooms were safe, they would have to wait until nightfall. At the thought of the ocean at night, both felt a chill of dread.
By the time Su Su woke up, it was already dark outside. She stretched; it really was more comfortable sleeping in a bed.
Walking out of the employee dormitory, the small chandelier in the lobby had been turned on, forming a sharp contrast with the murky blackness outside the windows. She stepped out of the inn and onto the platform, looking out at the thick, dark surface of the sea under the moonlight.
Around the edge of the circular platform was a ring of mottled, rusted railings. Perhaps because it wasn’t inside the inn, the previous renovation hadn’t included it. Su Su took a quick walk around the perimeter of the lighthouse. On all four sides, there was nothing but sea; no boats were in sight.
With nothing much to see, she turned to return to the inn, but just as she took a step, a light suddenly flared above her. Looking up, she saw a red signal lamp lit at the top of the lighthouse, and below the lamp, a glowing sign was shining:
Ground Inn.
The characters emitted a warm yellow glow, making them incredibly conspicuous on the pitch-black sea.