LSG Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Hyper-inflation 1.2

After the owner left, Su Han hurried over to the supermarket. Unfortunately, when she arrived, all daily necessities and food items were already sold out.

On the shelf, there were only a few desolate cans of baby food and seasoning mixes, hardly things one could fill up their stomach on.

After leaving the supermarket, Su Han slowly strolled along the road, contemplating what to do. In the end, she decided to test her luck elsewhere and look around for other bodegas, hardware shops, or even pharmacies.

After walking for around 10 minutes, she finally saw a convenience store on the corner. But after walking in, she discovered with astonishment that over half the shelves were completely bare. It was as if the store had been hijacked by a group of wild looters.

Continuing forward, a pharmacy stood on the next block over. When she went in, a familiar scene greeted her, empty racks and bare shelves. Considering the store looked nearly abandoned, Su Han almost assumed that they were going out of business. Only by asking the clerk did she find out how terrifying the mass-purchasing power of a panicked group of people was. The store was entirely sold out, with not a single piece of inventory left.

Su Han seemed to have sensed something strange going on, quietly murmuring under her breath, “Compared to the increasing prices, the lack of inventory seems to be the more serious problem here.” 

Considering currency depreciation, although its value is decreasing, money still has purchasing power. However, if there was insufficient inventory left. . . then this issue would hardly be a problem you could solve by throwing money at.

Su Han casually wandered around the entire town as if only taking a nighttime stroll. After walking for over 40 minutes, she finally uncovered a small shop hidden in the corner of the street that was seemingly disregarded by the panic-buying mass.

“What do you need?” The shopkeeper bluntly greeted her.

Su Han was almost taken aback for a moment. Although she already stockpiled many necessities, who could possibly complain about having more of these “precious” commodities? The more the better. . .

After carefully calculating, Su Han sorted out her inventory: 100 bars of soap, 100 bottles of mineral water, 10 buttered meat floss buns, 10 medical bandages, 5 boxes of anti-inflammatory medicine, 70 bags of steel ammo balls (each bag containing 100 balls),  2 slingshots, 1 bottle of milk, and 1 piece of rye bread.

“I need 10 bars of soap.”

Su Han still had her Nutritionist occupation to rely on for food and water. Considering that medicine was currently out of stock, Su Han decided to continue buying daily necessities.

The shopkeeper briskly passed over the soap, “8 shells for a bar, your total is 80 shells.”

After Su Han finished paying, she suddenly had a realization. This morning when she went to the supermarket, a bar of soap was just 5 shells. In just an afternoon’s time, the price had already risen to 8 shells. The irony was that now she even felt quite fortunate and lucky to be able to buy a few bars of soap.

Ah. . . she probably lost her mind. Mmm. . . most likely.

Despite these thoughts, Su Han still “rebelliously” bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and a towel, officially returning to the life of a penniless part-time worker.

After this long and tiring day, Su Han’s Cleanliness status had already dropped from 100 to only 53, looking to be on the verge of entering the “high-risk” yellow zone. However, after using the toothbrush, toothpaste, and towel, her Cleanliness rapidly recovered back up to 98.

After eating a bowl of noodles, Su Han drowsily laid down in her bed, swiftly falling into exhausted slumber.

Tomorrow would be a new day. . .

Day 2

At exactly 8:30 A.M., Su Han promptly began working. Because it was so early, hardly any customers had arrived and the store wasn’t busy at all. While serving the customers, she paid careful attention to the main points of their discussion.

At a nearby table sat a couple of “aunties” who were animatedly airing out their grievances while eating.

“Yesterday after work, I didn’t even have time to eat before I rushed to the supermarket. Thankfully, I got there early. Otherwise, there would be nothing left!”

“I went shopping at the department store as well yesterday. I waited in the checkout line for nearly an hour!”

“Everyone I know is desperately trying to exchange money for physical goods. Each one is so anxious that I can’t help but be nervous as well. Ah. . . this won’t do. I’m going to go to the store right away.”

“I heard that the supermarket is fully stocked up on goods today. I have to hurry over to buy some supplies back. The sight of all those empty shelves yesterday was simply too shocking.”

Hmm. . . the store was re-stocked today? Su Han thought in her mind, “This indeed was some good news.“

Regrettably, only a few moments of peace passed before the system notification sounded at 9:00 A.M. sharp, “Day 2: The market price of goods has risen by 50%.”

Only this time, no changes occurred in the quantity of milk or rye bread in her portable warehouse.

Suddenly, one of the aunties waved her over, “Miss, these noodles taste pretty good. Pack another bowl to-go for me.”

Before Su Han could say anything, the owner interjected, “We can do take-out but the price is 23 shells a bowl.” 

The auntie was rather unhappy, with a clearly dissatisfied look on her face. “The bowl I just ate was only 15 shells, okay?” 

The proprietress emotionlessly replied, “That was before. Now, the price is of course different.” 

Hearing the owner’s response, the auntie was speechless for a long moment and could only awkwardly leave things as is.

After the aunties left, the boss hurriedly told Su Han, “I’m going to go re-stock the inventory, watch the store for me” before rushing out the door.

Su Han roughly guessed that the owner was likely afraid that the flour prices would continue to skyrocket and was in a hurry to buy some more. However, who knows how much she would be able to buy. . .

It wasn’t until around 3:00 P.M. that the proprietress finally came back, only this time with a rather ugly complexion. “I bought 2 bags of flour. Let’s use this first and I’ll think of another solution later.”

A bag of flour can probably only make around 200 bowls of noodles, 2 bags. . . could maybe sustain the restaurant’s operations for 5 or 6 days.

“Okay.” Su Han nodded in response, secretly thinking in her heart, “If the system wanted to forcibly implement hyperinflation conditions, there was very little that they could do. . .“

After receiving her salary in the evening, Su Han discovered that the supermarket was emptied again. Without any other options, she returned to the small corner shop from yesterday. Only today, the store wasn’t spared from the frantic mass buying. Over half the inventory was already gone.

“A bar of soap is 13 shells. There are 15 bars left but I’m only selling 10 pieces max. I have to leave 5 for myself.” The boss directly stated his price without beating around the bush.

Su Han had an indifferent look on her face but was thinking, “Uh-huh as if she could afford to buy 10 bars of soap!”

“I want 7 bars of soap. As for the rest. . . what do you have for less than 9 shells?”

The owner pursed his lips, considering for a moment.

“A bottle of milk, no more no less. Exactly 9 shells.”

“Okay, 7 bars of soap and a bottle of milk then!” Su Han decisively decided.

After eating dinner, Su Han used up 2 bars of soap to increase her Cleanliness Status back up to 100. As night fell further, no matter how much she tossed and turned, Su Han couldn’t fall asleep.

The difficulty of this game seemingly exceeded her imagination. Day by day, she felt the pressure of the difficulty’s exponential rise seemingly crush down on her.

Day 3

At exactly 9:00 A.M. the following morning, the system notification sounded again, “Day 3: The market price of goods has risen by 50%.”

Su Han stilled for a moment. Another 50% increase in market price? In other words, the price for a bowl of noodles was 23 shells yesterday and now today, the price would have to be raised to at least 35 shells a bowl.

Madness. . .

Of course, to put it another way, this also meant that a single day’s salary wasn’t worth as much as the 3 meals included every day.

In a more optimistic manner of thinking, in a way, Su Han was receiving double her salary with the 3 meals included.

“I’m going to die! This simply is outrageous! They’re not giving anyone a way to live anymore!” The proprietress anxiously chewed on her lips, her panic bubbling up inside of her. Although she said she was going to come up with a solution, she couldn’t find a way out even after a long period of consideration. Getting a single bag of flour was already no easy task.

Su Han remained silent, placidly doing her regular work. When the noodle shop couldn’t hold on anymore, she would leave.

In the evening, she rushed toward the little corner shop, holding on to a tiny wisp of hope despite anticipating that the store would be sold out.

As expected, the shop owner told her, “At 20 shells a bar, soap was sold out a while ago.” 

“What’s left in the store then?” Su Han asked, wanting to spend up her salary.

“Well if talking about food, drinks, or daily necessities. I indeed have nothing.” The owner unceremoniously replied.

Su Han, “……”

Well, there was clearly nothing to say then. She could only accept her fate.

“All the goods were sold out this afternoon. You came so late, of course, there’s nothing left.” The store owner couldn’t resist commenting a few more words.

Su Han weakly shrugged her shoulders, helplessly saying, “What can I do . . . I have to work all day. This is the only time I’m free.”

Seeing that Su Han was only a young girl, the store owner couldn’t bear cruelly turning her away and gave her some advice.

“You know that big supermarket, right? Every day, they re-stock at 6:00 A.M. in the morning. If you get there early enough, you might be able to buy daily necessities.”

Pausing for a moment, he can’t resist asking, “Speaking of the soap, why do you need so many bars for?”

“Stockpiling, of course.”

Su Han blinked once slowly before very seriously stating, “I’m afraid that they’ll sell out soon, so of course, I have to stock up more at home.“

Needless to say in the eyes of an NPC, a bar of soap could naturally last for a long time, perhaps at least half a month. But for players like Su Han, a bar of soap was only a one-time-use item, gone in an instant.

“Sigh. . . it’s exactly because of people with similar thoughts as you that there’s such a lack of daily necessities right now!” The store owner shook his head back and front, feeling that hoarding was quite an immoral behavior.

Su Han didn’t reply, only faintly smiling before leaving.

Day 4

On the 4th day of the game, she woke up extra early and hurried toward the supermarket.

Unexpectedly, many, many people had the same idea. Bright and early in the morning, a huge crowd had already formed in the supermarket, everyone pushing and shoving back and forth. As soon as the shop clerk would re-stock the goods, the customers would storm the shelves and madly clear the goods.

Thankfully, Su Han’s hands were quite nimble and she snatched up 5 bars of soap before struggling to jostle her way through the crowd toward the checkout counter. And then. . . looking at the queue line, it was over 50 metres long.

For a single instant, Su Han’s mindset momentarily collapsed, feeling as if she was going to have a nervous breakdown. . . But what could she do? There was no other way, if she wanted to buy the soap, she would have to obediently wait in line.

After roughly 1 hour and 25 minutes later, Su Han finally walked out of the supermarket doors, carrying the 5 bars of soap in a bag.

Subsequently, when she returned to the noodle shop, she saw the proprietress worriedly pacing around, muttering something under her breath.

Su Han didn’t go over and bother her, instead making some noodles for breakfast and beginning her work.

At exactly 9:00 A.M. the system notification sounded, as if mimicking a funeral toll, “Day 4: The market price of goods has risen by 75%.”

The hyperinflation rate didn’t slow down at all, but instead, even sped up.

Su Han looked through her warehouse and discovered her occupation skills were also triggered, earning her an additional bottle of milk and a piece of rye bread.

At that moment, the proprietress took a deep breath before motioning Su Han over, slowly and unsteadily saying, “I need to discuss something with you.”  

“Please go ahead.” Su Han softly replied with a look of obedience on her face. Of course, regarding what they were going to discuss, Su Han already had a few guesses in her heart. After all, a bowl of noodles was already 61 shells now. With her current salary, she could barely even afford to eat one bowl.

Of course, reality proved that her boss was still a very generous person. The proprietress gently said in a rather negotiating tone, “I won’t pay you a salary but how about 2 meals a day, lunch and dinner?” 

“No problem.” Su Han eagerly agreed, smiling in a very agreeable fashion. Of course, she was also very clear in her heart about how difficult finding a new job would be. And even if she got a salary, she might not be able to buy any goods. So, after this consideration, the owner’s condition of 2 meals a day was already a very excellent offer.

“Can everything quickly return to normal? In these kinds of days, it’s really too hard to live. . .” The proprietress couldn’t help but lightly lament.

However. . .

On Day 5, market prices continued to rise by 75%

On Day 6, market prices continued to rise by 75%

On Day 7, market prices continued to rise by 100%

In the short period of 3 days, the cost of a bowl of noodles rose to 375 shells.

At this moment, even worse news arrived, “Due to the lack of raw materials, many manufacturing companies have announced bankruptcy and their employees are now currently jobless.”