“This is what we have to do in the next six weeks,” Zan Xinyi says. The system hadn’t even given her two months. She thinks it calculated that since she got the first level done about one week ahead of schedule, she could definitely get the next task done two weeks ahead of schedule.

  That’s what turning your work in early gets you.

  She’s stolen a whiteboard and markers from a child’s bedroom two floors down, and taps on it with a big flourish.

  “Five levels total,” she says. “The fifth level needs to be a boss level. At least two other monster designs on top of the shadows need to be implemented, though don’t give them different silhouettes, I want to reuse my current animation base. The summoning menu needs to be enhanced--”

  “Completely overhauled,” Wei Shengyuan says.

  “Enhanced, and there needs to be gacha characters of various rarities. I’m thinking three.”

  “Isn’t three too little?” Jiang Jin asks. “I thought gacha games usually had at least five.”

  “We are doing three. Three rarities, five characters.”

  “Are we including the Witch and the Siren as characters in that total?” Wei Shengyuan asks. His arms are crossed as he leans back in his chair. She can’t believe he has another ugly green polo shirt after the last one got destroyed.

  Zan Xinyi considers a future where the average player is able to summon a character based on her. Has someone based on her as part of their collection. Ew.

  “The Siren can be put into the pool, but the Witch is definitely not,” she says. “So you need to come up with four new characters.”

  “Five new characters it is,” Wei Shengyuan says. “And...they all need two card movesets? One support, one attack?”

  “Seven character themes,” Jiang Jin says, eyes wide. “And the boss will need a special one as well! Different field music for every level...”

  “Calm down,” Zan Xinyi says hastily. “You don’t have to do all that. Maybe only 3 star characters have themes. And if a level has the same weather tag, it can share the same field music. Consolidate. Do less work. Reuse your tracks.”

  Jiang Jin nods, her eyes still huge. Zan Xinyi does not think she is going to consolidate.

  “Finally,” Zan Xinyi says reluctantly. “There needs to be a currency system. I’ll make it so that you get--”

  What is she going to call the fake money.

  “Hail Stones.”

  Because it’s a weather thing, and they are ‘hailing’ new summons.

  No one laughs at her joke. Jiang Jin gives her a blank smile, and Wei Shengyuan sighs.

  “--Or something else, if I come up with a better name,” Zan Xinyi says sullenly. “That’s it, everyone. Any more questions?”

  Jiang Jin’s hand shoots up.

  “Me! Me!”

  “Yes, Jiang Jin.”

  “Can I have a character too? I want one like the Witch or the Siren! I’ve also put some thoughts into my design already.”

  Zan Xinyi looks over at Wei Shengyuan, who is trying to shake his head out of Jiang Jin’s sight.

  “Of course you can,” Zan Xinyi says generously. “Anything else?”

  “The bathroom needs to be inspected,” Wei Shengyuan says. “It wasn’t designed for the amount of humidity and moisture that having water in the bathtub 24/7 brings about, and I smell something strange. Also, the fan is giving out.”

  The slight schadenfreude disappears back into pure annoyance. All of this and the chores just do not end.

  “There’s got to be someone in this apartment building who did their own bathroom repair recently enough to still have supplies,” Zan Xinyi sighs. “I’ll look around for a caulk gun. We’ve already got some vinegar and baking soda if there’s mildew as well; let’s add it to the Wet Dog Post pick up list anyway.”

  “I also want to come with you,” Jiang Jin says. She’s twisting her hands into her sleeves.

  “Come with me? To look for a caulk gun? You can do that by yourself, if you want to do it that badly. We also need to track down more laundry detergent.”

  “No. I want to come with you the next time you go to Wet Dog Post. Now that Qingqing is here, it’s fine for me to leave the base, right? Qingqing can defend it just as well as I can!”

  Zan Xinyi hadn’t even thought that Jiang Jin would be able to defend it that well the last time. But it turns out Jiang Jin is very useful when it comes to keeping things far away.

  “Is there some reason you have to go?”

  “Well,” Jiang Jin says awkwardly. “The noise in the area is...ever since the mist rolled in and turned green, the zombies have been doing nothing but screaming their heads off. I know the sound gets muffled a bit for the rest of you, but I can hear it constantly. So I know I only requested soundproofing for a studio, but I also need to find just-- so much. Earbuds. Whatever will help.”

  She should never ask for questions ever again.

  “Have you thought it’s not the zombies that got louder, but your hearing that got sharper?” Wei Shengyuan asks.

  “I didn’t think of that. Oh no!”

  “It’s probably both,” Zan Xinyi says. “Alright. I don’t want to know about any other problems, even if there are more. Go away, everyone.”

  Even though she said that, there’s not that many places they can go. Jiang Jin goes next door and starts working on her music loud enough that definitely covers up any zombie cries, and Wei Shengyuan doesn’t even go back to the bathroom, instead rolling himself over to the kitchen to start cooking. He’s got a strange work around where he conjures a reflective panel of water at an angle over the stove so he can see inside of the pot while staying in his seat.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  So it’s Zan Xinyi herself who has to get up and truly go the farthest away.

  Mask on, broom in her hand in case an unknown threat gets past the known threat of the plant, Zan Xinyi descends one floor, sits down on the last step, and sighs.

  She’s been a short term thinker all her life.

  Just get to the next grade level. Just get to the next house, next job, next shift, next sale. Words tripping out of her and she doesn’t even know where the sentence is going, just that it has to keep going.

  Explaining yourself is for people who think that if you just explain well enough, people will show you sympathy and understanding.

  It’s not true, and even if it was, does she want sympathy and understanding? No. She wants--

  Big picture thinking is for people whose future is promising.

  If she looks too far into the future, there’s nothing but terrible things staring back at her.

  And it’s fine if she doesn’t plan well for the game. If every inch of Sunny Days Sparkle Power Endless Hell is a slapdash mess, that’s fine.

  Zan Xinyi tucks her hands underneath her legs so they’ll stop shaking.

  It’s not good to look into her future, and it’s unreasonable to expect her to look into the game’s future, but what about Wei Shengyuan and Jiang Jin’s future?

  Even if Jiang Jin hadn’t brought up wanting to go to Wet Dog Post, Zan Xinyi should’ve thought of that. Not about the hearing problem, but because another thing they need is a real doctor to take a look at Jiang Jin’s broken arm and Wei Shengyuan’s...everything.

  Does one of the other scavenger crews have a doctor? A supernatural healer? Or will she need to go all the way to the military base? But Jiang Jin can’t go to the base, her mutation is too high. So that would involve going into the base, finding a doctor willing to leave the base for a short bit in exchange for high pay, then setting that up.

  Hopefully one of the other crews has someone, or knows someone.

  But really.

  Zan Xinyi slowly calms down.

  Actually, it’s not her responsibility. Jiang Jin said she wanted to go out because Jiang Jin isn’t a quiet person. If she needs it, she’ll say it, and if she doesn’t say it, then how could Zan Xinyi be expected to do something about it?

  And Wei Shengyuan...that asshole doesn’t even know how to complain properly, but he’s gotten better too. Didn’t he bring up the issue with the bathroom?

  When Jiang Jin had made her most extravagant request, the system had responded. But he’s never requested materials important enough to him to trigger the stupid thing, the way Jiang Jin had wanted her soundproofing and her studio equipment.

  Well.

  She’s not going to ask him.

  Zan Xinyi cracks both of her wrists and uses her broom to push herself back up. De-bugging while Wei Shengyuan died has left her still not in the mood to begin the next coding push, so it’s onto her next task:

  She needs to go sort through the plant’s room and find the names of Qingguang’s three children.

  Or--

  Zan Xinyi’s foot pauses on the next step.

  She’d promised sushi for everyone when the first stage of the game was completed. And everyone’s sick of replenishable snacks and canned food.

  “Jiang Jin,” Zan Xinyi says, wearily acknowledging that even the privacy of going downstairs is an illusion. “I’m heading out. Be back in a few hours.”

  “Be back!”

  Zan Xinyi sighs as Jiang Jin sends her own voice as an echoey acknowledgement.

  Alone in the fog, she still chooses to not drive the car.

  When it’s a necessity, most things can be overcome. When it’s a matter of pride, anything can be overcome.

  But when it’s not--

  On her left arm, a burn twists and curves over warped flesh, always concealed by the longsleeve shirts she wears.

  A fuel burn.

  She’s lucky she can still bend her arm at the elbow. Her girlfriend had said she was lucky to have the arm. She’s lucky that the scar isn’t painful. It doesn’t hurt, not even a tingle when she runs her hands over it.

  She’d been trapped in the car, and she could see the flames on her arm, the way they ignited the rainbow slick and turned blue.

  Sirens everywhere. Lights everywhere. A downed electrical wire cutting off the road. Half an hour for them to safely cut her out of her own car.

  Then she’d woken up in the hospital, and the real nightmare with her car insurance began. Was there alcohol in the car? Was there anyone else in the car? Were you speeding? Tired?

  Was it your fault.

  Admit it was your fault.

  There’s a convenience store close by, the one she used to buy from all the time. It’s been long enough past the evacuation that all the meat has either been eaten or spoiled, but that’s not what she needs.

  Her broom sweeps away the remnants of a mutant fight, cleaning away the blood and viscera in the isle.

  Some cans of spam. Some dried seaweed. Some cucumbers. Canned crab. Canned fake crab.

  Her girlfriend was allergic to crab, so she hasn’t eaten any for years.

  The convenience store doesn’t have everything. She still needs to roam a bit further. There’s sticky rice back at the base, but does she really need to go all the way to the river to get a fish? Honestly, she’d be fine with just throwing in a decorative plastic goldfish and watching Wei Shengyuan wrinkle his nose, but--

  Zan Xinyi stops.

  A goldfish.

  That’s right, there are fish that are nowhere near the river. Now, it’s time for her to read through old emails. Who got in trouble with the landlord for having a pet fish, when pets are banned in their apartment?

  Who was it?

  Back in the apartment building, Zan Xinyi sticks one of her tags on her phone and begins to scroll rapidly.

  Wei Shengyuan email chain.

  Resident on the second floor accidentally sending a message about his broken microwave to the entire building.

  Wei Shengyuan’s second email chain.

  Noise complaint from the third floor. Fourth floor above them too loud.

  Zan Xinyi pauses at that one. That’s not about her, is it?

  Definitely not.

  Warning to the residents: pets are definitely not allowed. Even fish.

  Wow, this is from the 9th floor. No wonder. The 9th floor is the top most floor, and the landlord only rented it to his own relatives. So even though he acted like everyone was equal, issuing a warning like that...the chance of a fish still being there is higher than the apartment building itself.

  Zan Xinyi looks all the way up 9 flights of stairs.

  Is she really going to bother doing all of this for one meal?

  “I’m back,” she says to the empty air. She holds up her plastic bag.

  A grandly welcoming trumpet echoes through the air as Jiang Jin parrots, “Back!”

  Zan Xinyi pauses for a second as she sheds the chills from the mist outside.

  The hell...

  It’s the first time being greeted by an empty space and an echo has ever been so warm.

  he currently is 10 chapters ahead. That's right, I've actually written over 50k of this, and we've still got so far to go... webnovels are crazy.