Chapter 24
[Special Task: Please complete the “Grab-and-go” game challenge as an external assistant.]
[Would you like to participate in this event?]
[You have five minutes to decide.]
[Task Details: This is a targeted order, issued only to taskers with memory capabilities far beyond ordinary people.
The issuer requires the taker to participate as an off-the-record helper in the “Grab-and-go” flash-sale shopping game.
Task location: a super-luxury supermarket with an area of 1,800 square meters.
Task duration: 90 minutes.
Task process: search for 100 specified products based on the shopping list and complete the purchase within 90 minutes.
Task requirement: acquire as many items as possible.
Rewards:
Within the time limit, each item purchased = 1 point.
All 100 items = 200 points + 1 wishing star + 1 game souvenir.
Restrictions:
The participant must not damage any in-store items, must not use supernatural abilities, and must not use any tools.
Taboo: Obey all supermarket rules.
If the participant picks up one incorrect item, one of their previously collected items will be randomly removed. If the number of collected items falls below zero, the participant will randomly lose an organ.]
Jiang Jitang finished reading quickly and sat up in one second. He changed into flexible casual wear, put on indoor training shoes, and covered his Golden Eye with a sports wristband. He confirmed participation right before the countdown ended.
Two hundred points… I can do this!
He looked up. Light split through the darkness, and a massive supermart opened its doors to him.
This was a fully functioning supermarket—bright, clean, orderly.
The only difference?
Every customer and cashier inside was a waddling, wheezing, green-skinned zombie.
And he stood at the entrance of this “lively” supermarket with a shopping card and a list in hand. The list was densely packed with a hundred items, down to the exact brand and model.
The items were random and obscure, clearly meant to test patience and memory. The brand names were all long strings of letters entirely unfriendly to a C-Country citizen.
But he could remember them anyway.
His teacher’s standard for accepting disciples was to memorize one thousand basic potion formulas per day, purely with brainpower—no magic allowed.
Even so, Jiang Jitang wasn’t sure what the “supermarket rules” were. There were no hints.
Normal rules would be: No stealing, no damaging goods, no fighting. Probably also no shouting, running, or lighting fires.
Would this place be special?
Jiang Jitang stared at the customers and staff—zombies with rotting limbs shuffling between shelves, cashiers swaying behind counters.
He silently entered and grabbed a cart.
But the moment both feet crossed the threshold, the previously quiet supermarket woke up.
Every zombie smelled fresh human scent. Heads twisted, gray-white eyes locked on him, hunger and bloodlust burning behind them—but forcibly restrained by rules.
Jiang Jitang?
He walked lightly, unfazed, oblivious.
He took three carts and linked them together like a mini train while reading the list.
After memorizing all hundred items and their brands, he casually grabbed a nearby flyer.
It contained today’s specials, the supermarket layout, and discount promotions.
He quickly mapped all 100 items mentally into regions and plotted the most time-efficient route.
First stop: right-side instant-food aisle. Several niche snacks were listed on the sheet.
His vision gave him an overwhelming advantage—he instantly spotted every item he needed.
“Excuse me, coming through.”
A zombie staff member exhaled at him, staring hungrily, but still moved aside a bit.
Not bad—these things could even understand basic communication. Jiang Jitang realized they weren’t that annoying. Quiet, obedient… just ugly.
“Mint-flavored beer… who drinks this? And Witch Finger chocolate cookies. Sorry, excuse me, need to grab that.”
Working mode Jiang Jitang ran at 200% concentration—avoiding zombies, navigating shelves, and tossing items into carts with precision.
Whether the customer was a heavily decayed corpse or a grotesquely mutated variant, he always smiled and politely said: “Hello, please, may I—thank you.”
But trouble arrived when he picked up the last item.
“Five hundred and twenty-seven dollars? No way I miscalculated… Over budget? Ah, so this is why it gives two hundred points.”
Due to habit, he tallied the total price in his head while shopping—national math instincts die hard.
Final total: $527.
His shopping card limit: $500.
No supermarket in any country allows taking items without full payment. If he tried, he would break rules. But leaving items behind meant losing the grand prize.
Two paths:
1. Drop one or two expensive items -> Lose the 200 points + wishing star.
2. Legally get more money within time -> Pay fully.
“Foreign countries love coupons, right?”
Foreign homemakers always hunted coupons in newspapers and magazines.
He looked at the zombies.
Did zombies carry coupons?
Supermarket cameras recorded an unbelievable scene:
A human enthusiastically helping elderly zombies pick up their canes, returning runaway zombie toddlers to their mothers, grabbing toys from high shelves for child zombies, helping housewife zombies lift boxes of canned food…
“I think it’s reasonable to accept some coupons as a service fee, right?”
These zombies all had coupons. After helping, he politely asked for a tip.
“Hhh… hhhh…”
The zombies flared their nostrils desperately, craving his flesh.
Then he simply reached toward their hands and pinched their coupons.
“Hh!!”
The zombies had experienced forced buy-and-sell.
Usually they reluctantly gave two coupons; generous ones gave four or five. He judged by their expressions—if one looked like it was about to hunt him, he stuffed half the stack back.
Through paid “zombie services,” Jiang Jitang collected 19 coupons worth $57 in ten minutes.
Now he could afford everything.
Foreign coupons truly were cash-equivalent: no minimum purchase, no product restriction, stackable.
“Largest shopping bags, please.”
He placed the card and coupons on the scanner with a bright smile.
The zombie cashier scanned every item, swiped the card, took the coupons, then tossed three giant shopping bags at him.
“Thank you.”
He packed quickly and returned the carts neatly.
83 minutes into the game.
[The shopper has purchased all items within 90 minutes. Game complete. The participant has cleared “Black Friday” instance.]
[Game over. External personnel have 6 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the area.]
He put on a mask.
His “external helper” identity would eventually become known. Better later than sooner—by then he’d be strong enough to protect himself.
Jiang Jitang had faith in his future.
[Congratulations to the tasker for completing the challenge.]
[Rewards: 200 points, 1 wishing star, and the game souvenir ‘Supermarket Shopping Card.’]
[Supermarket Shopping Card: A $500 prepaid card, convertible to other currencies. One-time use. Remember, in this world, nothing works without money.]
The game ended. The previously zombie-packed supermarket was now empty. No customers, no staff—only a group of 17 players stood before him.
Half were white, some Asian, two Black players. Most were okay, but two were miserable—both missing both arms. One white man, one Black woman.
“Harry, hold on! We cleared it! You’ll get treatment once we’re home.”
A brown-haired girl hugged what was probably her boyfriend. Both his arms were gone—clean cuts, clearly man-made.
“It’s no use… sorry, Julian.” The man glared at the healthier players with hatred.
The girl sobbed loudly.
“Merciful Lord, thank you…” A chubby curly-haired man knelt and prayed.
“Yo! External assist! Bro! Your delivery was perfect timing—I thought we were dead!”
Someone rushed to hug him.
Jiang Jitang stepped back and avoided it. He put on his cool, expressionless face. “Hello.”
“Whoa, reserved Eastern guy.”
“Could be a trap.”
“Yeah, who knows what’s happening?”
“Special NPC? Special player? Never heard of external assistance…”
The white players quacked like ducks, and not all were grateful—some wrinkled their noses at his skin tone.
“Are you from C-Nation? I’m a C-Nation player!”
A Chinese-looking guy ran over, teary-eyed.
“How do I thank you?”
“Yes, from C-Nation.”
“How do I add you, big bro? Forum friend? What’s your ID?”
The boy rattled off his forum handle and which region he was in: “I’m in the Southeast region of the Cube World Forum! Add me! I’m useless but rich—really! Dumb but loaded!”
Richness uncertain. Dumbness evident.
“See you if fate allows.”
Time to leave. After receiving the forum info, Jiang Jitang lost interest in everything else.
He quickly approached the armless couple and healed them without a word. Then he healed the Black woman. Then he grabbed his loot and left.
At home, he showered again and fully disinfected. Hard not to touch zombie… flesh… during the game.
By the time he lay in bed it was nearly 11 p.m., but the grind-addicted king still forced himself awake to open the Cube World Forum.
Black screen. Then multilingual text appeared:
Visitor “No.000” has entered the Cube World.
“…Um, thank you?”
