“Meow-ha~ I’ve ascended!”
Shan Nai closed her eyes, brimming with excitement, the fuzzy cat ears atop her head trembling slightly.
Suddenly!
BOOM—
CRACK—
Dozens of bolts of heavenly lightning, thick as water barrels, struck down without warning, all of them slamming into a small, plump, golden-glowing orange cat hovering in midair.
Shan Nai, deceased.
…
【Ding~】
【Host with compatible soul signature detected.】
【Please bind with this system as soon as possible before you are reduced to ash!】
Shan Nai had been struck so thoroughly by the lightning that not even a single cat hair remained.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before she heard this strange voice in the darkness, her one remaining wisp of consciousness dazed and at a loss.
“Is someone talking? What’s the benefit of binding?”
【Resurrection is possible! Ten, nine, eight, seven…】
The cold, mechanical electronic voice echoed in the darkness.
“Bi… bind.”
Resurrection was far too tempting a prospect for Shan Nai. She had finally cultivated to the point of ascension, hadn’t even had a single day to enjoy the fruits of her labor, and then she was gone, of course her heart couldn’t accept it.
【Ding, the Apocalypse Supermarket System is binding.】
【Progress 10%—30%—60%…】
【Binding successful!】
Along with the string of notification chimes, the void before Shan Nai’s eyes gave way to pitch darkness, a terrifying dizziness sweeping over her as though she were leaping across time and space.
After a good while.
Everything finally settled, and Shan Nai slowly opened her eyes. The scene before her was both strange and familiar.
Shan Nai was a spirit cat who had cultivated in hiding, deep in the mountain forests of the twenty-first century.
Her true form was an orange cat.
Since taking up cultivation she had been honest and diligent, walking the righteous path among mortals, accumulating no small amount of merit.
And yet, on the very day she achieved the Dao and ascended—
She’d been struck dead by heavenly lightning!
She still remembered that after it happened, the little lightning bolt had cried in a panic, apologizing over and over, saying it had drunk some peach blossom wine before setting out and hadn’t seen clearly who it was striking.
Who drinks and then goes to work? That was entirely its fault!
What terrible luck.
Such a shame, too, wasting her fair, beautiful skin, her long lovely legs, her face that could topple kingdoms.
But anyway, what was going on now?
She recognized this room, it was the little house she’d built for herself deep in the mountains.
But the furnishings inside had changed a great deal, and everything looked terribly worn down.
A hall of less than fifty square meters, a central air conditioner overhead, dusty gray walls, yellowed floor tiles.
To the left were two rows of empty shelves, to the right, near the window, sat two broken tables, and across from the tables was a food pass-through window. Tucked into the corner near the entrance was a checkout counter and a water dispenser.
The layout clearly resembled a shop.
Oh right, what system had she just bound with!
【Welcome, Host, to the Apocalypse Supermarket. New task unlocked: name the supermarket.】
Shan Nai bit the tip of her finger, seeming to think for a moment. “Lucky Supermarket!”
【Task complete. Initial points earned: 100.】
“Huh? Why does your voice sound different?”
The system’s voice had changed from the original electronic tone to something more like a baby’s voice now, though its gender was impossible to tell.
【I am Supermarket System No. 1105. In order to feel closer to the host’s daily life, I have specially switched to a cuter voice pack.】
Shan Nai nodded and crawled up off the floor, walking over to the window to look at the scene outside.
The supermarket was located in City A, Xia Nation, more than three years into the apocalypse. Many places had changed their names since then.
This used to be the busiest commercial street, but now, the entire city didn’t have a shred of life left in it.
Everywhere she looked was abandoned buildings and devastation.
The streets were piled with wrecked cars and zombies wandering aimlessly with their heads lolling to the side.
Severed limbs and chunks of flesh lay everywhere, the blood long since blackened and cracked dry. Strangely shaped trees bristled with thorns.
The sweltering air was thick with the stench of rot and decay…
“Slam!” Shan Nai forcefully shut the window.
“So this really is the apocalypse… but when I ascended, Blue Star was still fine.”
Shan Nai was baffled.
Back when she wasn’t cultivating, she used to go down the mountain to wander around, and she’d read some apocalypse novels and watched a few movies. But this scene was even more terrifying than anything in the movies.
If she hadn’t fought quite a few demonic beasts herself, a sight like this would have knocked her flat unconscious.
【This is Blue Star, three years into the apocalypse. As for other systems, this one is unaware of them. Please familiarize yourself with this world as soon as possible, and prepare to begin your tasks.】
Following that, the system transmitted a set of data and images into Shan Nai’s mind.
Three years ago, the apocalypse struck without warning, glaciers and snowy mountains around the world suddenly melted, earthquakes and tsunamis followed, torrential rains and mountain floods came, extreme cold and extreme heat took turns ravaging the earth.
The massive natural disasters left countless humans dead and injured.
As the polar ice caps melted, an unknown virus quietly emerged. Most of the infected turned into zombies, and plants and animals alike began to mutate.
Only a tiny fraction of people developed supernatural abilities.
Water and soil were contaminated, power and internet cut off, resources scarce, of the eight billion humans worldwide, less than 30% remained alive…
“That’s even more terrifying than getting struck by lightning… So is this supermarket safe? I don’t have any cultivation left right now…” Shan Nai was very concerned about the question of safety.
【Rest assured, Host, the supermarket is absolutely safe. You yourself are also protected by a shield. Your task is simply to earn money and upgrade the supermarket to its highest level, you don’t need to worry about anything else.】
“Alright! That’s great, then. Time to lie flat. A thousand years of grueling cultivation, I’m exhausted.” Shan Nai let out a breath and arched an eyebrow.
She’d already tried, there was no spiritual energy here, so cultivating was impossible. She’d just have to be a laid-back cat for the rest of this life.
She just didn’t know if her cultivation would come back once she finished upgrading the supermarket.
【Please complete the task: tidy up and clean the supermarket.】
“Okay.”
Complete tasks to upgrade the shop, right? She could do that! Being alive was already so nice.
Shan Nai looked around the place once more.
Even though the layout had changed, it was at least the house she used to live in, still felt familiar and warm.
She ran to the bathroom, dug out a small basin, filled it half full of water, found a torn rag, and got ready to clean up.
It was so filthy, as if no one had lived here for hundreds of years.
“The water outside is contaminated, and there’s no power, but we still have water and electricity here! System, what kind of organization are you? So impressive.”
Looking at the clean water, Shan Nai suddenly felt like this system had some serious backing.
Even she, a little cultivating cat, couldn’t help but blurt out how amazing it was.
【The system comes from a more technologically advanced dimension.】
Shan Nai nodded without asking further, picked up the basin of water, and cleaned the entire shop spotless.
Besides the main hall, the small hallway in the back also had a single bedroom and a storeroom.
The bedroom furnishings were simple too, a single bed, a small desk, a chair.
Across from it were the bathroom and the kitchen.
“Ah!” A startled cry rang out from the bathroom.
Just a moment ago!
After dumping out the dirty water, Shan Nai had wiped down the mirror over the sink along the way, but when she glanced up and caught sight of the reflection, it gave her a fright.
“My body… it shrank!”
Truth be told, it was only now that she noticed her frame and both hands had shrunk down considerably.
The girl in the mirror looked soft and delicate, a fair, oval face, big double-lidded eyes, a small elegant upturned nose, plump pink lips, standing about 155 centimeters tall, though thankfully her proportions were still good.
This girl was clearly the appearance she’d had right when she first took human form, converted to human age, she looked about fourteen or fifteen.
【It’s like this: the host’s physical body has already been reduced to ash. This body is the maximum effort the system could manage for the host, as a result, the system’s energy has also been exhausted, or else the supermarket wouldn’t have started out in such a sorry state.】
The system hurried to explain patiently.
“Ah, I see… okay… thank you.” Shan Nai offered her thanks silently in her heart.
“My peach is gone… replaced with a kumquat, waaah…”
Life was hard. The little cat sighed.
Shan Nai pouted, touching her now-flat chest.
Even though it was still her, without her cultivation, changing back to how she used to look was now nearly impossible, and she felt more than a little conflicted about it.
【But this way you’re younger, make do with it, Host, it’s very cute!】 The system could clearly be heard genuinely complimenting her.
Shan Nai wanted to cry but had no tears left.
But there was nothing to be done about it either way.
She could only channel her grief into strength. She tied her long hair up into a bun and rolled up her sleeves to keep working.