Am I dreaming?
Qian Zhenzhen closed her eyes and pinched her soft arm flesh hard, but when she opened her eyes again, the text on the system panel remained unchanged:
[Dear Miss Qian Zhenzhen:
Congratulations on binding to the Inn Management System and inheriting this newborn inn.
It has an unknown future with infinite possibilities. We look forward to it becoming a world-renowned, mysteriously alluring destination under your management.
You will also have a safe, sturdy, warm, and comfortable apocalyptic haven, exclusively yours, that will never disappear.
...
Welcome, Inn Manager.
Thank you for coming.
Sincerely, "Inn Management System"]
Qian Zhenzhen looked up at the wooden cabin in the forest ahead.
Moss and vines covered the exterior walls, creeping through the cracks into the house. The rotting wooden door was covered in dust, creaking in the wind. A murder of crows perched on the roof, cawing sharply at the newcomer and dropping their droppings.
Does this count as an inn?
Qian Zhenzhen: ...It looks more like a haunted house hiding zombies.
To be honest, she had no idea how she ended up in such a bizarre situation.
Half a month ago, Y City, where she had lived since childhood, was overrun by zombies and completely fell. As one of the survivors, she followed the militia organization's instructions and boarded transport buses with other residents in batches to travel to a new base.
But unexpectedly, after the bus convoy entered this mountainous area, they encountered an earthquake/landslide/mudslide(?). It was nighttime, and she was drowsy on the bus, unclear about what exactly happened, but there was a loud boom and all vehicles were thrown off the mountain road, plunging down the cliff.
When she woke up, she heard the rapid sound of gunfire.
Mutated beasts from the forest had arrived and begun their killing and feeding. The people in the bus were either dead or turned into zombies, packed like sardines in the overturned vehicle, mouths open in shrieks.
Fortunately, she had obediently fastened her seatbelt before the ride, so she wasn't thrown from her seat, though her whole body ached from the impact. She tried calling for help, but no one responded, and the gunfire quickly died away.
Using her military knife and the emergency hammer by the window, she successfully cut through the seatbelt and broke the glass to climb outside.
The other three buses lay scattered around, crushing large patches of vegetation. The two armored Jeeps leading the way hadn't escaped disaster either - one hung from an exposed rocky outcrop in mid-air, billowing thick smoke, while the other had crashed near the buses, its seats empty, suggesting the militia personnel had already escaped.
With beasts all around, Qian Zhenzhen didn't dare linger and immediately fled the scene in panic, not caring which direction.
The sun was high, visibility was clear, and she moved cautiously, trying hard to avoid falling or twisting her ankle. Thanks to her daily training, she performed exceptionally well and successfully shook off those beasts.
When she leaned against a tree catching her breath in exhaustion, this wooden cabin appeared before her, and then the system showed up, automatically binding to her.
A golden finger? The chosen one?
Regardless, Qian Zhenzhen did need a rest stop. Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. Hopefully, this system will be reliable...
Perhaps sensing her thoughts, new text appeared on the blue-and-white gradient panel:
[Wow, your inn has been waiting so long for an owner that it seems to have fallen into slumber. Please complete tasks to wake it up!
Task - Opening Preparations (1): Renovate the Inn]
[Opening Preparations (1): Renovate the Inn
Please gather the following items as soon as possible:
Wood (0/10) Stone (0/10) Metal (0/5) ...
Rewards: Sweet and juicy large strawberries *58 Koi vouchers *18]
Qian Zhenzhen's eyes immediately caught the reward content, and through the simple text, she seemed to smell the long-lost strawberry scent, her mouth-watering uncontrollably.
Wuwu, who doesn't love bright red, sweet large strawberries? Since the apocalypse descended three years ago, she hadn't eaten this kind of fresh fruit that was exclusively supplied to the upper class...
The system provided another friendly tip:
[During the opening preparation period, you will receive "Newbie Immunity" FF [Countdown: 71:59:59]]
Newbie Immunity: Within the time limit, all aggressive creatures will ignore you. In their perception, you are no different from sunlight, air, and dew.
[You lack the tools to complete the task. Quick, open the newbie gift package!]
Wow, is it this user-friendly?
Qian Zhenzhen followed the guide to look at the bottom right corner and opened the sparkling gift package icon.
[You obtained Potion Box *1] [You obtained Tool Box *1] [You obtained Koi Vouchers *58]
Pa, peng.
Two sounds rang out, stirring up dust as a small iron box and a large wooden box materialized in the clearing in front of the cabin.
Qian Zhenzhen pinched herself again to confirm she wasn't dreaming.
She opened the small iron box first.
Inside was a layer of temperature-controlled material containing three rare and powerful rapid-acting potions - Recovery Potion, Healing Potion, and Anti-Mutation Serum.
These, three potions were too precious to use for minor ailments, better save them for now. She was lucky that she wasn't injured when the bus crashed, and only got a few scratches from tree branches while escaping, which would heal on their own in a couple of days, so she had no need for these.
Opening the large wooden box next, an array of brand-new tools appeared before her.
Iron axe, pickaxe, shovel, hammer, sickle, saw, chisel, pliers, screwdriver, wrench... a rich variety, one of each. And also, a black work apron and a pair of white work gloves?
Qian Zhenzhen's eyes lit up.
Touching those tools, her heart surged with emotion, and she finally believed the management system was real.
The system also had a regional map that could be viewed. At this moment, the inn location, the bus crash site, and the path she took while escaping between them all lit up.
The inn was green, the bus was red - representing safety and danger respectively.
Other areas were black fog, waiting for her to explore and unlock.
Collecting wood wouldn't require going too far, as many cedar trees around the inn could be cut down directly.
Collecting stones wouldn't be difficult either, as she had seen plenty of rocks while escaping earlier, which she could dig up.
The most troublesome would be collecting metal - if she couldn't find a location with metal ore deposits, she'd have to go to the bus crash site and strip off some sheet metal, would that count as metal?
Qian Zhenzhen walked to the cabin door, tore away the tangled vines, and pulled hard—
"Cough cough cough..." A cloud of dust hit her face, mixed with the musty smell of age and perhaps some decaying plants and animals. The interior was dark and looked eerie and terrifying with vines covering the outer walls blocking the light. Good heavens, it was completely uninhabitable!
She struggled to push the toolbox inside the cabin, then slammed the wooden door shut with a bang and walked a few steps away to catch her breath.