LSG Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Hyper-inflation 1.4

Just as Su Han prepared to enter a rather unassuming alleyway, a drunkard walked by in front of her. As he passed by, swaying back and forth with uneven footsteps, he ran into Su Han, his shoulder forcefully knocking into hers.

With a thud, the drunkard fell backward onto the ground in a muddleheaded manner before looking around in a daze. Seemingly completely unaware of what just happened.

On the other hand, Su Han slightly frowned, her face bearing a cold and imposing expression. “Stop pretending and get up. Return what you just stole.”

Although no changes occurred within her portable warehouse, Su Han could feel that her backpack was slightly lighter than before. Obviously, there was a problem with the guy in front of her.

The man didn’t respond to Su Han’s words, continuing to act out the role of a crazy drunkard.

Su Han coldly smiled before softly saying, “How about I throw you in the river and let you wake up a bit, hmm?”

The drunkard: “…..”

What the . . . ? The man felt like cursing. This girl clearly looked rather quite quiet and sweet. Why was she so violent when speaking?

His eyes seemed to regain some clarity before sighing helplessly, “How did you find out?”

“My backpack quite obviously became lighter so you probably stole my slingshot ammo.” Su Han directly told him, “If you took something else, I might not have noticed.”

The man was suddenly overcome with a sense of indignation and regret. His luck was terrible! Reluctantly, he reached into his pocket and took out the bag of steel ammo balls, tossing them back to their rightful owner.

“Here.” 

Su Han caught the bag and asked curiously, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll beat you up?”

This guy was caught stealing in broad daylight but didn’t seem to care at all.

The drunkard snorted, “It’s too tiring to beat people up, okay? Everyone’s hungry these days, don’t waste your energy.” Anyways, it wasn’t like he had anything to lose so he was hardly scared.

Su Han hesitantly shifted the ammo balls in her hands before suddenly asking, “Are you a player?”

His pickpocketing skills were ridiculously smooth. She couldn’t help but suspect that it was his Occupation’s skill.

The man froze an instant before lifting up his head and sincerely inquiring,

“Do you have anything to drink?” 

“What?” Su Han didn’t understand.

“Well, if you have something to drink, then yeah, I’m a player and we can talk. And if not, you can leave.” The man idly replied.

Su Han secretly thought, wasn’t this just a roundabout way of admitting he was a player? If there wasn’t anything to drink, he probably wasn’t going to share any information.

After some thought, she ultimately decided to take out a bottle of milk. Casually waving it in front of the drunkard’s face, she said firmly, “As long as your information’s good, it’s yours.”

The drunkard’s eyes lit up before excitedly exclaiming, “Wow, you’re doing pretty well for yourself!” Being able to nonchalantly exchange a bottle of milk meant that this girl was definitely rather well-stocked.

“Shut up.” Su Han was worried that a few NPCs might still be following her and lowered her voice to a whisper, her tone still brisk and urgent, “Let’s find somewhere else to talk, follow me.”

The man’s face showed a subtle look of impatience but his desire for the milk won out in the end as he quietly followed Su Han.

After taking a few twists and turns, Su Han finally threw off the tails behind her and had the chance to take a good look at the following drunkard. His body reeked of alcohol, his hair messed up into spiky peaks, his face bright red, and his eyes swollen. His poor state didn’t quite seem to be faked and it seemed clear that he wasn’t living well.

“Start talking, what do you know?”

The man held out his palm before demanding, “Pay me first.”

Su Han indifferently tossed over the bottle of milk before taking out another bottle of milk and saying coldly, “If I’m satisfied with your answers, this one’s also yours.”

The drunkard’s face grew even more scarlet, clearly rather elated. Immediately, he gave up all the information he knew.

“My name is Wei Minzhe, Occupation: Thief. As long as I have physical contact with my target, I have a 30% chance of stealing any of their items.” 

“Are you worried that the NPCs will overhear us? Really, there’s no need. I tested it out before. As long as you say the word, ‘Player’, the system will automatically filter the conversation out. Even if we’re screaming about the game from the rooftops, the NPCs will only hear some random nonsense.”

“As for my Occupation’s skill, doesn’t it sound quite way too outlandish, stealing on contact? Well, the NPCs don’t seem to care at all even if they get robbed that way. I’m pretty sure that the system’s running some kind of interference code to make it seem reasonable.” 

Ah, so that’s how it works then. Su Han revealed a contemplative expression before giving the drunkard a withering side-eye.

“What happened to you then? How did your life get so miserable?” She asked, slightly perplexed.

Even if he used up all 100 points in the Virtual Mall to buy food and daily necessities, he wouldn’t be in such a wretched condition as now. . .

“Don’t even mention it.” Wei Minzhe complained with a sour expression on his face, “I was scammed by the system!”

“What do you mean?”

“After reading your character attributes, didn’t you realize you only need enough food and daily necessities to stay alive?

“Essentially, food can increase Satiety and daily necessities like soap can recover Cleanliness. It really doesn’t matter what type of each you use.” 

“So, bottled water in-game is pretty much useless. Why not use it to trade for other resources?” 

Wei Minzhe gave a self-deprecating chuckle before glumly continuing, “Well, if you had the above thoughts, you have basically already been conned.” 

Su Han’s expression remained inscrutable as she indifferently said, “How so?”

“Although bottled water can only slightly recover Satiety, as long you drink less than 500 mL a day, you will receive the status Dehydrated and your Physical Stamina will continuously fall. However, I also discovered that it doesn’t specifically have to be water, Coke, milk, and alcohol can all be substituted. Basically, you just have to intake at least 500 mL of something rehydrating every day.” 

“Also even if you use towels and toothbrushes/toothpaste to replenish Cleanliness, as long as you go 72 hours without using soap or shower gel, you will receive the status Infected.”

“Similarly, eating chocolate and candy can recover Satiety but within 72 hours you have to consume some kind of staple like rice or a flour-based food. I haven’t tested out this condition so I’m not sure what kind of negative status you’ll be inflicted with. However, I knew someone who encountered it before.” 

Wei Minzhe spoke slowly, seeming to savor each word he spoke as if he had undergone all the sharpest vicissitudes of life. After all, he personally learned these lessons by paying with his own blood, sweat, and tears.

Comparatively, Su Han really wasn’t able to empathize with his situation and instead, suddenly remembered the Great-Value Gift Bundle she bought before.

The package contained soap, bottled water (hydrating drink), buttered meat floss buns (staple food), and medical bandages (remedial supplies). Every item was essential. Now reflecting back on the past, it seemed like the system had already given them a subtle hint before!

Because the Portable Warehouse had limited space (10 boxes) but could hold up to 100 pieces of the same item, she decided to collect supplies based on the items she already had. Who knew that by accident, she had unconsciously followed the correct method to survive?

“How come you don’t know anything?” Wei Minzhe asked, seemingly bewildered. “It’s already Day 7, you haven’t received a single negative status before?” 

Su Han lightly shook her head before replying, “I usually eat noodle soup at a local shop and buy soap pretty frequently.”

Wei Minzhe was left speechless. Noodles were a staple food, soup could substitute as a water source, and there was plenty of soap. Seriously?!! This girl clearly didn’t lack anything! Of course, she wouldn’t understand the struggles of normal people in society.

Su Han asked, “You didn’t buy the Portable Warehouse or the Great-Value Gift Bundle?”

Wei Minzhe fidgeted awkwardly, his face flushing even more in embarrassment, “I . . . exchanged all my points for currency, a total of 10,000 shells. But once I entered the game, I found that it was too difficult to carry the items I bought. And then, I ended up stock-piling the wrong things . . .”

“Recently, I’ve had no choice but to drink alcohol for my water source. To be honest, I don’t even like alcohol. Even worst, after drinking a certain amount, I receive the negative conditions Drunk and sometimes even Alcohol Poisoning.”

“But what can I do? All the supermarkets sell out too quickly, so now, it’s really difficult to buy bottled water, soda, or other drinks.”

Su Han was absolutely baffled, “You’ve never thought of boiling tap water instead?”

Wei Minzhe instantly froze on the spot, his body going rigid to commit to his performance of imitating a deer in headlights.

Su Han then continued to toss some extra salt on his wound by further saying.

“Huh. I stocked up on bottled water because I was worried about a power outage. Why haven’t you boiled water? Just fill up a container with tap water, bring it to a boil, and there you go~ clean drinking water, no?

After all, this was how noodle soup was made.

Wei Minzhe slowly lowered his head to stare at the ground, shamefully avoiding Su Han’s eyes. His heart was immediately filled with countless grievances and a rather righteous outrage.

Clearly, he was rich! 10,000 shells! So all he did was to buy, buy and buy. He never even thought that it was possible for him to do it himself. . .

Day by day, drinking alcohol had worn down his Physical Stamina stats and even sped up the rate of decrease in his Cleanliness values!

In that single moment, Wei Minzhe never felt more helpless or stupid in his life. He was simply a fool! (And also an unlucky fool at that). Obviously, he was dealt a good hand but he played himself into the gutter.

“What else do you know?” Su Han directly interrupted his train of thought, hoping he had more to share. Truthfully, she was rather satisfied with all she learned so far, but who knows? She might be able to squeeze out a bit more information from this rather ”experienced” colleague of hers.

Wei Minzhe lifelessly responded, “Due to the increase in unemployment, most people can’t afford to feed their families. Theft and robbery are common occurrences. But fortunately, for now, robbers are only looting items. No one has gotten seriously hurt yet but after a while, who knows. . .”

“In exchange for food, everyone has been scrambling to trade in their valuables. But after they run out of both food and goods, people are going to become desperate and by then, there’s probably nothing that they won’t do for a bite to eat. No line they won’t cross to survive.” 

The supermarket re-stocks inventory at 6:00 A.M. o’clock exactly every day. But at 4 or 5 A.M., people are already lining up. It’s way too difficult to buy anything. Anyways before 7:00 A.M., the supermarket will definitely be sold out.”

“As far as I know, the even poorer families end up picking through the rotten vegetables that other people don’t want at the farmer’s market. Some people have even started fishing and hunting birds just to feed themselves.”

“I don’t know anything else.” 

“Thanks.” Su Han casually tossed the other bottle of milk to Wei Minzhe before leaving in a rather free-spirited manner.

Wei Minzhe couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Once he realized that he could boil tap water to drink, this bottle of water was hardly that important anymore.

_____

At around half past 1 in at the afternoon, numerous people were fishing in the lake near the Four Seasons Park.

Suddenly, a single individual shouted out loud excitedly, face beaming brightly with joy, “I got one! It’s on the hook!” He quickly reeled in the line.

Once the fish was moved onto land, it indeed was revealed to be a big one.

The man, smiling ear to ear, deliberately struck up a conversation with the old man next to him. “Hey, Lao He, what about you? How many fish have you caught today?” 

Of course, considering that he was sitting right to Lao He, there was no way he wasn’t clear that his old fishing pal was currently losing a war with the fishes. After all traditionally, old man He generally averaged a very solid capture rate of 0%.

Despite hearing his friend’s provocation, Lao He pretended not to notice the hidden implication, continuing to fish despite his rather poor skills—or honestly, his complete lack of ability to catch a single fish.

He grunted loudly before dismissively pointing at his friend, “Lao Ding, what are you yelling for? You have scared all the fish away.” 

Lao Ding’s lips twitched, clearly amused. He then flippantly responded, “Clearly, it’s your own skills that need some work . . . What are you blaming me for?” 

Lao He was simply incensed.

Old man Ding continued, “Aiya . . . You don’t even know how to fish, what do you need two fishing rods for? Wouldn’t it be better to give it to someone who actually needs it?”

“Humph! I don’t care and it’s my fishing pole, so mind your own business!” Lao He stubbornly replied, seemingly set in his ways.

Secretly, Lao He was also quite hesitant regarding this business. 3 days had already passed. Everyone else had already caught something. However, he still had nothing to show with his 2 fishing poles.

Their family’s supply of rice was running quite low. If he didn’t do anything, his whole family would starve! Although he might be able to accept his fate as he was quite old already and his days were long numbered. However, he still had a granddaughter left and she was still just a child!

At the thought of his family and granddaughter, Lao He couldn’t help but fret.

At this time, a rather clear and mellow female voice sounded behind them, “Excuse me, whose fishing rod is this? Does it belong to anyone?”

“Not for sale!” Lao He retorted rather irately.

“Can I rent it instead then?” The voice persisted in asking.

Rent? Startled, Lao He looked up and realized that the person asking was only a rather young short-haired girl. The young lady’s overall appearance seemed well put together and neat.

And of course, this girl was indeed Su Han.

“How do you want to rent?” Lao He finally asked after hesitating for a moment. He pretty much had zero faith in his ability to catch a fish anytime in the near future.

“Let me borrow the fishing rod for 4 hours and all the fish caught will be split equally.” Su Han lightly smiled, her confidence clear for all to see.

Just as Lao He was about to ask what would happen if she didn’t catch anything, he could feel the words get stuck in his throat. Half a day already passed and he had nothing to show for it. The situation could hardly get worse from here. . .

Thankfully, he swallowed his words back in time and instead said, “Okay, fine by me. You can sit next to me and fish.”

There was hardly anything to worry about and at this point, what did he have to lose?