Alan gestured to the three men—Sam, Milo, and Luis—and gave them clear instructions. Their objective was to head to the small cafeteria on the second floor of the west wing. Normally reserved for hospital staff, this cafeteria held an abundance of canned food that could be salvaged. Their task was simple: gather as much food as possible.
Meanwhile, Alan and Vicky would make their way to the lab to scavenge for medical supplies. Seeing how Alan know his way around the hospital, the young woman couldn't contain her curiosity, her eyes brimming with questions.
"How do you know this hospital so well? Were you a regular visitor here?"
Alan shrugged, choosing not to divulge any further information. He certainly had no intention of revealing his knowledge of the hospital was due to his previous scouting in real life, a meticulous plan to ensure his advantage within the game.
"Let's focus on the task at hand," he replied.
Alan emphasized the importance of caution, reminding the group that they might encounter resistance while searching for supplies. If they came across any weapons, he urged them to use them without hesitation. There was one more crucial detail he shared.
"Oh, and one more thing—I'm expecting a friend named Daniel. Please don't harm him."
Initially, Alan had planned to partner with Daniel for this salvage operation. However, due to the uncertainty of Daniel's spawn location, Alan had agreed to bring others along as backup. He wasn't sure if Daniel would reach the hospital in time, but he had instructed him not to come if he couldn't make it within the agreed time frame.
With their tasks assigned, the group of five split up. Alan and Vicky swiftly ascended to the third floor, arriving at the lab a few minutes later. They found the area deserted and began searching for the specific items they needed.
As they scoured the lab, they stumbled upon various medical supplies, each labeled with its attributes, effects, and other remarks according to the game's interface
####
[Name: Gauze Bandage]
[Type: Medicine]
[Rarity: Common]
[Attributes: Recovers 30 HP within 90 seconds]
[Effects: Suppresses Bleeding]
[Able To Bring Outside The Game: Yes]
[Remarks: Use too much and you will look like a Mummy]
####
[Name: Painkiller]
[Type: Medicine]
[Rarity: Common]
[Attributes: None]
[Effects: It can relieve your pain for 3 minutes!]
[Able To Bring Out Of The Game: Yes]
[Remarks: Be warned, being painless doesn't make you invincible]
####
[Name:Blood Pack]
[Type: Medicine]
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Attributes: Recovers 60 HP within 120 seconds]
[Effect: None]
[Able To Bring Outside The Game: Yes]
[Remarks: Precious items, especially for those who drink one]
In addition to the items marked by the game, Alan also told Vicky to get all the alcohol she could find, even though those were not marked as game items. Facing her apparent confusion, Alan just nonchalantly replied without providing an explanation.
"Just get them all." He waved his hand as he searched on the other side of the room.
The two opened up almost all of the cabinets in the lab until Alan found what he was looking for, a few bottles of unmarked antiseptics and one useful marked item.
[Name: Antibiotics]
[Type: Medicine]
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Attributes: None]
[Effects: It can cure infection]
[Able To Bring Outside The Game: Yes]
[Remarks: Rabies is a bitch!]
During all the salvaging Alan found unexpected valuable items, one not easy to find on stage one of the apocalypse game
[Name: Buffout]
[Type: Medicine]
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Attributes: STR +2, END +2, MAX Hp +30 for 120 seconds]
[Effects: HP and STAMiINA - halved for 30 minutes]
[Able To Bring Outside The Game: No]
Finally, after ransacking the needed items, they gathered everything they had just found.
[14 x Gauze Bandage]
[8 x Painkillers]
[2x Bloodpack]
[2 x Antibiotics]
[1x Buffout]
Alan checked out his Gamelink and looked at the remaining time in the countdown.
[6 hours: 7 minutes]
This indicated that they had been playing the game for almost two hours, and when Alan saw the number, he quickly called on Vicky.
"We need to leave now," he said in a hurry.
The girl was taken by surprise. She just found entering another room that she believed had more time could be useful. She then immediately suggested they should stay longer,
"No, we have no time. Let's go!"
Actually, Alan was still hoping that Daniel would come, but the 2 hours was the limited time both of them had agreed. If the high school student couldn't reach the place by then, Alan told him not to come.
Vicky quickly follow Alan's lead toward the cafeteria on the second floor, where the others were piling up all the canned food and storing it in their bags.
These were medium size canned food that was usually used to feed a large number of people.
[Name: Canned Meat]
[Type: Food]
[Rarity: Common]
[Attributes: Recover 30 HP and 20% Stamina regeneration within 15 minutes]
[Effects: Prevent hunger]
[Able To Bring Outside The Game: Yes]
[Remarks: Don't ask what meat is inside]
####
[Name: Canned Fruits]
[Type: Food]
[Rarity: Common]
[Attributes: Recover 20 HP and 30% Stamina regeneration within 15 minutes]
[Effects: Prevent hunger]
[Able To Bring Outside The Game: Yes]
[Remarks: 100% Artificial fruit]
The way the game worked was that the player's bags served as some kind of spatial storage that could be filled with various items of any size. However, there were a certain amount of limitations depending on their level of strength.
Alan and Vicky had the medicines and several alcohol bottles on their back. Although these items were supposed to be light, when Alan picked up his 13th canned food, a notification suddenly came to his mind.
[Warning: You have carried too many items]
The penalty for pushing the bag limit would be a considerable drop in stamina generation. When this happened, the players would find it much harder to move to the point of being unable to move at all.
Vicky could only store 9 food cans, whereas Luis, who had the same strength, could store 12 canned foods.
Sam, a construction worker with higher strength, could store up to 16 cans, while Milo, who surprised everyone, was able to store up to 18 cans.
By this time, there were still 50 more cans left in the kitchen.
"Maybe we should find a cart and carry them all inside." It was Sam who made such a suggestion.
"That's what I am talking about, dawg!" said Luis, quickly agreed
"No, we need to prioritize speed. We don't have time," Alan explained convincingly, though Sam and Luis remained skeptical.
Sam argued, "What's the rush, bro? We still have six hours left. We've got plenty of time. We should gather more for the next round."
Alan, prepared to leave them behind if necessary, felt a pang of frustration. But before he could act on his impulse, a commotion erupted from outside.
"Dammit, they're already here!"