Chapter 1 – Through the Ruins
“An’an, your mom and I are heading out to restock. You keep an eye on the store for us.”
Tang Yu’an’s father moved the merchandise inside from the storefront, leaving only a window open.
He patted his son’s head and reminded him, “Focus on your homework, and if it gets too busy, just close up the shop until we get back.”
“Okay.”
Tang Yu’an nodded and watched his parents drive off in their small delivery van before turning and going back inside.
Their store wasn’t large; as soon as you walked in, it was packed with everyday goods stacked high. A few meters in, a row of shelves blocked the way, with just a small gap left open that separated the shop from their living quarters in the back.
As soon as he stepped inside, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but sneeze.
He rubbed his nose and glanced out the window.
It was just after four in the afternoon, but the sky had already started to darken, and a cool wind was blowing. It looked like it might rain soon.
Tang Yu’an turned on the small desk lamp on the counter and took out his textbooks and homework from his backpack.
He worked on his assignments seriously, occasionally pausing to take care of customers.
Outside, the street was bustling with people.
Every now and then, someone would stop by to buy a pack of cigarettes, or a child on their way home from school would run in to buy some candy.
Tang Yu’an juggled his homework and the shop with ease, swiftly completing question after question.
Just as he was stuck on a particularly tricky problem, he heard footsteps. Thinking it was a customer, he turned his head and couldn’t help but brighten up when he saw who it was.
“Brother Qi!”
Standing outside the window was a tall, slender boy in a blue-and-white school uniform with a gentle smile on his youthful face.
It was his neighbor and older brother figure, Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi was three years older than Tang Yu’an. Ever since Tang Yu’an had learned to walk, he’d loved following Zhou Qi around like a little shadow, sticking to him everywhere he went.
Now that they were older, they were still close friends.
“Are you home alone?” Zhou Qi leaned casually against the windowsill, asking through the open window.
“Yep, my parents went out to restock.”
Tang Yu’an ran to the door and unlocked it. “Brother Qi, come on in! I’m stuck on a question; can you explain it to me?”
“Where’s your little sister?”
“As soon as school let out, her friends took her to the park. She’s probably jumping rope there now.”
Zhou Qi stepped inside.
Tang Yu’an suddenly froze, staring at something behind Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi smiled and handed him a clear plastic bag he’d been holding. Inside were still-steaming sesame balls and fried sweet potato slices, giving off a faint, delicious aroma.
It was the smell that had made Tang Yu’an stop mid-sentence.
“Wow, snacks!” Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up. “Thanks, Brother Qi!”
Zhou Qi reached out and ruffled his hair, and Tang Yu’an, without dodging, took the snacks with a grin. He watched as Zhou Qi bent down to prop the door open with a nearby brick.
“Brother Qi, I’m stuck on a question. Could you help me out?”
“Of course.”
Tang Yu’an had just started middle school, and Zhou Qi would come by every day after school to help him with his studies.
Besides their friendship since childhood, Zhou Qi was grateful for the support Tang Yu’an’s parents had always shown him.
Zhou Qi was an orphan, raised by his grandmother.
As neighbors, Tang Yu’an’s family had helped him and his grandmother many times, especially when his grandmother was bedridden, giving him a sense of security when he was young.
After his grandmother passed away, Tang Yu’an’s family had even taken it upon themselves to cover Zhou Qi’s school fees and living expenses.
Fortunately, Zhou Qi was a promising student. This year, he had been accepted to the city’s top high school with excellent grades. Not only did he receive a tuition reduction, but he also qualified for a scholarship.
“Achoo!”
Tang Yu’an suddenly sneezed.
Zhou Qi frowned slightly, looking at him. “Did you catch a cold?”
The flu had been going around lately, hitting at least half the students in Zhou Qi’s class. Seeing Tang Yu’an sneeze made him worry a bit.
“I don’t think so,” Tang Yu’an said, rubbing his nose. “It’s just a little tickle—no runny nose or anything.”
Seeing that Tang Yu’an looked fine and was in good spirits, Zhou Qi relaxed a little, though he still said, “Then don’t eat the sweet potato fries and sesame balls—they’re too ‘heaty.’”
Tang Yu’an immediately looked disappointed.
“Just a little taste should be fine…”
“Bang—”
Suddenly, the door to the Grocery Store closed with a loud slam, startling them both.
“Is it just the wind?”
Tang Yu’an mumbled, jumping down from his chair and running to open the door.
But when he struggled to push the door open, he froze in place, stunned. The bustling street outside had vanished, replaced by a desolate world of sunken ground and collapsed buildings, completely devoid of people.
At that moment, a clear electronic voice sounded in his ear: [Ding~ The Doomsday Grocery Store System is now online!]
Tang Yu’an stared at the words that had suddenly appeared in front of him. He instinctively stepped back, only to trip over some clutter and fall to the ground.
“An’an!”
Zhou Qi rushed over. After making sure Tang Yu’an wasn’t hurt, he reached out to close the door again.
But even through the open window, they could see that the familiar, bustling street was gone, replaced by a world shrouded in dark clouds, a barren wasteland devoid of life.
After several attempts to close and reopen the door and windows, and seeing that the scene outside remained unchanged, Zhou Qi finally stopped.
There was a look of confusion and helplessness on his face, but when he turned to Tang Yu’an, he forced himself to appear calm.
“An’an, you stay here. I’ll go outside and check things out.”
Zhou Qi tried to step outside the shop, but Tang Yu’an grabbed his hand, stopping him. Tang Yu’an asked, “Brother Qi, can… can you see the words floating in the air?”
“What words?”
“They’re on a transparent screen, in black-and-gold text. It says, ‘The Doomsday Grocery Store System is now online…’”
Zhou Qi felt a chill run down his spine.
Doomsday… System…
He looked around, confirming that he couldn’t see the text that Tang Yu’an described. Shaking his head, he replied, “No, I don’t see anything.”
Just then, the electronic voice sounded in Tang Yu’an’s ear again, and the text on the screen in front of him changed.
[Congratulations! You’ve been chosen as a Doomsday Interdimensional Merchant!]
[Opening personal dashboard…]
Tang Yu’an looked out at the eerily silent, desolate world beyond, then at the strange words on the screen in front of him. Suddenly, he understood.
“Are you the one who brought us here?” Tang Yu’an asked urgently. “I don’t want to be any kind of merchant! Whoever you are, please send us home!”
His emotions must have surged too strongly, because the voice, which had gone quiet, now spoke up again.
[The reason you were chosen is that your birthplace has already entered a doomsday countdown. Even if you go back, you—without any powers—will perish along with it.]
Tang Yu’an stared at the words in shock, his eyes quickly filling with tears. “Are you… are you saying my dad, mom, and Xinxin… they’re all going to die?”
Was their world really on the brink of apocalypse?
The news was too much for him to bear, and the young boy shook his head in disbelief, completely overwhelmed by panic.
However, as he looked through the open door at the unfamiliar world outside, Tang Yu’an suddenly realized… this might actually be real.
This thing called the “System” had the power to transport both them and the entire Grocery Store here in an instant; it had no reason to deceive him.
Tang Yu’an tried to calm himself down and asked, “Why is our world going to be destroyed? There must be a reason, right?”
[Sorry, insufficient energy to determine cause]
“Then… could you bring my dad, mom, and Xinxin over here too?”
[Sorry, insufficient energy to transport others]
[Personal Dashboard now open. The Intelligent System will soon enter hibernation. Please complete your tasks diligently]
[Become a top interdimensional merchant, and everything you desire will be within reach]
After that message appeared, the screen in front of Tang Yu’an flickered before the text shrank into a corner, and a new functional panel appeared.
The electronic voice that had been speaking into his ear then fell silent.
“Intelligent System? System?”
No matter how Tang Yu’an called out, no new words appeared on the panel, nor did that robotic voice sound again.
“An’an?”
Tang Yu’an looked up and saw Zhou Qi’s worried, confused eyes. Swallowing his fear and sadness, he forced himself to explain everything he had learned from the System.
After hearing it all, Zhou Qi’s face also turned pale.
After a long silence, he murmured, “It seems we’re not going to be able to go back anytime soon…”
“Will we ever be able to go back?” Tang Yu’an looked lost and despondent.
“If we can find a way to recharge the System and wake it up, maybe we’ll have a chance,” Zhou Qi speculated. “Didn’t it say that if you become a top interdimensional merchant, you can get anything you want?”
A faint hope sparked in Tang Yu’an’s heart, but it quickly faded. “But the System said our world is already in a doomsday countdown…”
Even if they could go back, they might only have a short time before they’d be destroyed along with their world.
Zhou Qi looked at him with a steady gaze. “Then, we’ll have to work hard to level up, become top merchants, and before we go back, find a way to solve Earth’s crisis.”
Zhou Qi wasn’t completely sure of this plan himself, but… they needed a goal. And at least, after hearing Zhou Qi’s words, Tang Yu’an finally calmed down completely.
“Brother Qi, I understand.”
Tang Yu’an wiped his face and spoke seriously, “Let’s find a way to go home together.”
And save his family and the planet, too.
Zhou Qi exhaled slowly and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Let’s start by looking at this ‘Personal Dashboard’ the System mentioned.”
“Okay.”
Tang Yu’an gathered himself and focused once more on the translucent panel hovering in the air.
It was a semi-transparent screen, and now that the Intelligent System had gone into hibernation, it seemed he could control it on his own, making it appear or disappear at will.
The screen displayed five sections: Personal Information, Store, Marketplace, Inventory, and Tasks.
Tang Yu’an’s gaze fell on the first section. At his thought, the section selected itself and opened up, displaying rows of information.
[Name: Tang Yu’an]
[Nickname: N/A]
[Merchant Level: Lv0 (0/10)]
[Shop Name: Peace Grocery Store]
[Employees: 0 ]
[Points: 0 ]
[Pets: None ]
Peace Grocery Store—that was the name of his family’s store.
The shop name was displayed in a soft golden color on the Personal Information page. At his mental command, the Store section opened up before his eyes.
[Peace Grocery Store]
[Level: Lv0 ]
[Description: An ordinary grocery store that holds only a small amount of stock and has no special features. ]
[Total Transactions: 0 ]
[Total Points Earned: 0 ]
Aside from renaming the store, there were no other options available. Of course, renaming it was out of the question—it was, after all, a family legacy, a memory of his parents.
After a quick look, Tang Yu’an exited the store page and returned to the main menu, entering the “Marketplace” section.
The Marketplace was divided into two parts: the Wholesale Market and Buyback.
Wholesale Market… Could that mean he could actually buy things? Tang Yu’an perked up, eagerly clicking into the Wholesale Market to investigate.
While Tang Yu’an studied the Grocery Store System interface intently, Zhou Qi didn’t interrupt him. Instead, he got up quietly and began to inspect the shop’s condition.
The small lamp Tang Yu’an had turned on earlier had already gone out.
Zhou Qi felt around for the light switch, but the lights wouldn’t come on. He headed to the kitchen at the back of the shop and tried the faucet.
As expected, they were now without water or electricity.
The apocalypse…
Zhou Qi pressed his lips together. After leaving the kitchen, he noticed that the back door of the store was open. He quickly went over to lock it and, just to be safe, jammed a wooden beam against it.
Next, he found a flashlight. Passing by Tang Yu’an, he kept his steps light, and finally stepped out through the front door of the Grocery Store.
The light outside had dimmed even further.
Zhou Qi climbed onto a pile of stones a few steps from the door and scanned the surroundings.
There was an open area in front of the store, littered with stones of various sizes. Buried beneath them, he could faintly make out the remnants of abandoned cars, and strange plants had begun to grow from the cracks in the stones.
Across from the store stood several collapsed buildings, from which bits of rubble and dust drifted down in the evening breeze.
Beyond that, everything was lost in the shadows of night and thick mist, but it was clear that this city had once suffered a devastating catastrophe.
Zhou Qi withdrew his gaze and turned back, forced to tilt his head up.
The Peace Grocery Store was wedged right beneath two partially collapsed buildings, sitting precariously within the triangle formed by their tilted structures. The setup looked dangerously unstable.
By the time Zhou Qi finished his inspection and returned to the store, Tang Yu’an had mostly figured out the System’s interface and was just about to look for him.
“Brother Qi!”
Seeing Zhou Qi come back, Tang Yu’an quickly stepped forward. “How is it? Did you find anything?”
Zhou Qi shook his head and briefly explained the outside situation, then voiced his concerns. For now, they had enough food, but they’d need to find a way to get more water soon.
There was only one box of bottled water in the store. It seemed that the System, due to low energy, hadn’t transported all their stock. The water tank in the kitchen was only half full, and even if they rationed it, it wouldn’t last very long.
Hearing this, Tang Yu’an actually smiled.
It was the first time he’d smiled since arriving here. He said, “We don’t need to worry about that. The System has a way for us to get water.”
“Get water?”
“Yep!” Tang Yu’an nodded. “There’s a Marketplace section in the System where we can exchange points for supplies. They have Grocery Store water in there.”
However, probably because of his low level, the Wholesale Market currently only displayed three items available for exchange—
[Grocery Store Water: 1 point/L ]
[Brown Rice: 1 point/100g ]
[Salt: 1 point/10g ]
After listening, Zhou Qi’s eyes lit up as well.
Water, rice, and salt—these were critical supplies for basic survival. If they could really exchange points for these, then they’d be able to last quite a while.
“How do we get points? Are there any conditions?” Zhou Qi asked.
“You need points,” Tang Yu’an explained. “Points can be earned through transactions and by completing tasks. Right now, there’s a daily and a weekly task available.”
Tang Yu’an opened the task interface and read it aloud to Zhou Qi. The screen displayed the following tasks:
[Daily Tasks (Refreshes at 00:00 each day)]
- Complete a transaction (0/1)
- Purchase items from the Wholesale Market (0/10)
- Use the Inventory List feature to organize goods (0/1)
- Clean the store (0/1)
- Complete a transaction with a profit (0/1)
[Weekly Tasks (Refreshes at 00:00 after seven days)]
- Complete transactions with profit (0/10)
- Cultivate a regular customer (0/1)
“Though it doesn’t specify any rewards for completing these tasks,” Tang Yu’an said, “based on the points system, we should earn points if we finish them.”
Zhou Qi nodded, thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket, pulling out a small bundle of change. He selected a 10 yuan (~$1.3) bill and handed it to Tang Yu’an.
“I’ll buy 500 grams of green onion chicken-flavored biscuits. You can keep the change.”
Since Zhou Qi often visited the Tang family and sometimes helped with the store, he was familiar with the prices. 500 grams of green onion chicken flavored biscuits was 7 yuan (~$0.96), so this sale should technically be profitable by regular-world standards.
However, in this apocalyptic world, it might work differently…
Sure enough, after Tang Yu’an weighed out the biscuits for him, a message appeared on the screen—
[You completed a loss-making transaction with a new customer. EXP +3, Points +0]
“No good, it says we made a loss, but I did get some experience points,” Tang Yu’an said.
Looking at his Personal Information screen, his experience bar now read 3/10. A few more transactions and he’d likely level up—so it wasn’t a total loss.
At the same time, new text appeared on the System screen:
[You completed Daily Task (1), Points +2]
“There are points for completing daily tasks!” Tang Yu’an shared the good news with Zhou Qi happily.
This meant they didn’t have to worry about the water problem!
Zhou Qi’s face lit up with a smile too. Then, from the biscuits Tang Yu’an had just “sold” him, he grabbed a handful and held it out to Tang Yu’an, saying, “I’ll trade these five biscuits for that 10 yuan bill in your hand.”
Tang Yu’an blinked in surprise, but he handed the 10 yuan back and accepted the biscuits.
The result—
[You completed a profitable transaction with a returning customer. EXP +2, Points +2]
[You completed Daily Task (5), Points +2]
Tang Yu’an: !!!
Wait—that worked?!
Uh oh! Loopholes!