Apocalypse Mode: My Cheat Code Virtual Boyfriend - Chapter 1

“Xun’er! Stop holing up in your room playing games! Take your sister to Fresh Daily Supermarket and bring back the rice!”

Ms. Bai Guifang’s voice pierced through the ceiling, bypassing Bai Xun’s gaming headset and drilling straight into his eardrums.

Inside the headset, a clear, gentle male voice was cooing softly by Bai Xun’s ear: “Thank you, hubby~”

Caught between this tender fantasy and his mother’s booming voice, Bai Xun made a swift decision and immediately took off his headset: “Coming, Mom! Have the lunchboxes been delivered today? Should I drop them off on the way?”

“Not yet, hurry down and help me pack them!” Bai Guifang’s voice echoed from the kitchen on the first floor.

Bai Xun clicked his mouse, sending five bottles of strength potions to the white beast-eared man on his computer screen. Only after receiving the notification that his favorability had increased by 30 did he exit the game with satisfaction and shut down the computer.

Their home was a self-built house in an urban village, three stories high with a small courtyard. He lived in the innermost room on the second floor, and if he didn’t move quickly, he’d be in for a scolding.

“Where are you? Is your butt glued to the chair? All talk and no action, what kind of man dawdles like this!” Bai Guifang’s voice was full of vigor.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Bai Xun hurried down, his footsteps swift as he entered the kitchen just before his mother launched her next verbal assault.

Ms. Bai Guifang worked in the food industry. Over the past decade, she had built the solid reputation of “Sister Fang’s Lunchboxes”, with daily orders starting at a hundred boxes.

Fortunately, the kitchen was spacious enough to handle such a large volume of lunchboxes, with room for the large stoves, the oversized electric rice cooker for steaming rice, and the massive freezer for storing frozen meat.

In the center of the kitchen stood a large round table, lined with plastic lunchboxes. Bai Guifang was scooping potato curry chicken into them with a large ladle, while his younger sister, Bai Yu, was putting on the lids.

His grandmother, Bai Xiuzhen, was using a rice paddle to fill the boxes. Bai Xun stepped forward and took the paddle from her: “Grandma, let me handle this. You can just put the boxes into the crates.”

Grandma Bai was a spirited little old lady who, in her youth, could lift a 30-pound bag of hulled wheat with one hand.

With a cheerful smile on her face, she gave Bai Xun a hearty slap on the shoulder, nearly sending him tumbling into the rice cooker: “My big grandson knows how to care for his grandma!”

Bai Yu grinned from the side: “Brother, your physical fitness isn’t up to par. Grandma’s slap almost sent you flying into the rice cooker. I bet even the chickens in our coop could beat you in a fight.”

As he packed the lunchboxes, Bai Xun argued earnestly: “That big rooster in our coop really is tougher than me. It’ll peck anyone except Grandma.”

Bai Guifang finished scooping the last ladle of potato curry chicken and tapped the edge of the pot twice with her iron ladle: “You useless brat, you can’t even beat a chicken and you have the nerve to say that. Hurry up and take these lunchboxes out to deliver them to Boss Wang.”

Bai Xun ducked his head, afraid his mother’s formidable iron ladle would come swinging at the back of his skull: “Sis, go get the cart. We’re heading out.”

Several large boxes of insulated foam containers were neatly stacked on a small pull cart. Bai Xun pulled from the front while Bai Yu steadied it from behind. Their courtyard was small, and the Wuling mini-truck they usually used for deliveries couldn’t fit inside, so it was parked outside the large iron gate.

By the time all the lunchboxes were loaded into the truck, Bai Xun was drenched in sweat. He had no idea what was up with the weather this year, even in November, the sun was still blazing fiercely, wilting several of the vegetable seedlings planted in foam boxes on their rooftop.

Several chickens at home had already succumbed to heatstroke, and after eating chicken for several meals in a row, the family now felt queasy at the mere thought of it.

“Bro, Mom wants you to buy some more seasonings. We’re running low,” Bai Yu said from the passenger seat, tapping away on her phone to reply to messages.

Bai Xun opened the car door and got in. “Ask Mom if there’s anything else she needs. Make a list so we can get everything at once. It’s way too hot out, I wouldn’t even bother leaving the house if there weren’t air conditioning.”

Bai Yu chimed in, “Exactly! How about I make my own list for you, and I’ll just stay home?”

Bai Xun locked the doors. “Don’t even think about it. I’ve welded these doors shut.”

The siblings bantered all the way, and after delivering lunch boxes to Boss Wang, they drove straight to the Fresh Daily Supermarket.

Since their family ran a small business, they naturally had to compare prices carefully.

Thanks to Bai Guifang’s meticulous selection, the grains and oils at Fresh Daily Supermarket were the most affordable.

Bai Xun grabbed a shopping cart and opened the shopping list his mom had sent: 12 bags of 50-kilogram rice, 3 boxes of dried noodles, 6 bags of 25-kilogram flour, 5 buckets of 10-liter peanut oil, and 3 bottles of 1.9-liter soy sauce.

He took a screenshot, scrolled through his contacts to find the chat with the Fresh Daily owner, and sent it over, asking the owner to pull the items directly from the warehouse.

Bai Yu tugged the cart straight to the snack aisle, stocking up like she was supplying the village gossip hub, tossing a bag of every flavor of sunflower seeds into the cart.

“Why so many bags of sunflower seeds? What, is an FBI fugitive coming to our house to give a lecture?” Bai Xun blurted out as he watched Bai Yu sweep the shelves.

Bai Yu kept moving, shifting from sunflower seeds to potato chips. “I get snacky while watching shows. Bro, grab two family-sized bags of the cucumber-flavored chips from the top shelf.”

After loading up on seeds and chips, Bai Yu moved on to jerky. Seeing that she wouldn’t be leaving the snack aisle anytime soon, Bai Xun left the cart with her and headed to the household goods section alone.

The towels at home were fraying, so he grabbed a dozen.

Shower gel on sale? Stock up a whole box.

Were they out of toilet paper? Better check with mother Bai Guifang.

Mother Bai Guifang quickly replied with a voice message: “No need for toilet paper. Is toothpaste on sale? If it is, stock up on a few tubes.”

As if her words were prophetic, toothpaste was indeed on sale, not only discounted but also offering a “buy ten, get one free” deal, with a row of toothbrushes thrown in as a bonus.

He bought them without hesitation.

When they reunited at the checkout, Bai Yu stood obediently beside a cart overflowing with snacks.

Bai Xun’s eyebrow twitched. “I can pay, but you’re taking the heat when Mom scolds us.”

Bai Yu laughed nervously. “Fine, I’ll take it. Mom might not even get mad. I got her favorite crab roe-flavored sachima and Grandma’s favorite fish tofu…”

“If I’m paying, where are my favorite snacks?”

“Ahahaha, just a little oversight!”

After stocking up at Fresh Daily Supermarket, Bai Xun drove home while Bai Yu scrolled through her phone in the passenger seat.

“Bro, I saw a weird post. Let me read it to you,” Bai Yu suddenly said.

“What post?” Bai Xun asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Warning, everyone who sees this post should immediately stock up on food and lock their doors and windows. Tomorrow is the end of the world, natural disasters are coming, monsters are invading, starting with a massive rainstorm…” Bai Yu read a bit of the opening before stopping. “Ah! It’s gone. The post got deleted. Could the end of the world really be true?”

Bai Xun glanced out the car window at the clear, sunny sky. “We’ll find out tomorrow. But I think it’s probably fake. The weather has been a bit strange this year, but it’s not like it’s going to escalate into natural disasters and the end of the world.”

When they arrived home, a small truck was parked with its rear end blocking their driveway. Bai Guifang stood at the door with her hands on her hips, waiting for the delivery driver to back up and unload the frozen meat.

Bai Xun parked their Wuling minivan in a corner spot to avoid blocking the road. Bai Yu got out first and unloaded the small cart from the back of the van.

“Bro, can you carry all this?” Bai Yu patted the bags of rice stacked in the cargo area, their solid texture thudding under her hand.

“I should be able to manage.” Bai Xun turned off the engine, pulled out the keys, and went to the back of the van. He wrapped his arms around a bag of rice, tightened his core, and steadied his stance, carefully placing the bag onto the cart.

Bai Yu waited for her brother to finish unloading the rice, then pulled the cart toward the house, chattering away as she called out for their mom.

As a corporate drone with two and a half years of work experience, Bai Xun’s physical fitness was no longer what it used to be. After carrying eight bags of rice, he was already drenched in sweat, beads of perspiration rolling down his forehead and back. He lifted the hem of his shirt to fan himself.

The direct sunlight burned against Bai Xun’s skin with a scorching heat. He shielded his eyes with his hand and glanced up at the sun hanging high in the sky, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.

The feeling didn’t last long. His younger sister, Bai Yu, soon returned with the empty cart to unload more goods, and the strange sensation was buried under the busyness of the task.

Next to the kitchen on the first floor of their house was a small storage room, equipped with stainless steel shelves for storing cooking oil, rice, and flour.

Today happened to be their restocking day. The shelves, which had been half-empty, were now fully replenished with ingredients. The packed storage room held enough supplies to keep their business running for half a month.

“Mom, we don’t even make steamed buns. Why did you buy so much flour?” Bai Xun placed the last bag of flour onto the stainless steel shelf and leaned over to ask Bai Guifang, who was busy arranging frozen meat in the freezer.

Bai Guifang didn’t pause her work, stuffing frozen chicken and pig trotters into the freezer until there wasn’t a single gap left. “We got a big order, selling fried twist pastries to Boss Li. Don’t slack off tomorrow either. Come down and help with the packaging.”

Bai Xun wandered out of the storage room. “Isn’t tomorrow supposed to be a day off? Instead of making boxed meals, we’re making twist pastries. So much for a break!”

“Go on, get out of here! Do you have to talk so much?”

The harsh sunlight only lasted until three in the afternoon. The sky suddenly turned as dark as ink, and the wind howled, tearing at the grass on the ground, a sign that a massive rainstorm was about to hit.

Red alerts for heavy rain kept popping up on their phones, warning residents to stay indoors and avoid going outside.

“Xun’er, go catch all the chickens in the coop and bring them inside. Go with your grandpa and use a cage to keep them on the third floor. Last time it rained, four of my chickens drowned. Xiao Yu, go clean up the small room on the third floor and check if we still have any diesel left.”

As the head of the household, Bai Guifang calmly directed the pre-disaster preparations. She wasn’t idle either, darting outside in a flash to efficiently gather the dried vegetables and radishes that were hanging in the yard.

Bai Xun, carrying the chicken cage toward the coop, was a bit distracted. Ever since receiving the heavy rain warning on his phone, his heart had been pounding, his mind fixated on that now-404 doomsday post his sister had been reading in the car.

“Cluck-cluck-cluck!”

Distracted, Bai Xun was immediately greeted by the fierce rooster as soon as he entered the coop. The bird flapped its wings and lunged at him, slapping him twice across the face. If he hadn’t dodged quickly, those iron-like claws would have gouged bloody trenches across his chest.

“Da Ming! If you dare move recklessly again, I’ll twist your wings off and stew you with mushrooms!” Grandma Bai, following behind Bai Xun, glared at the rooster and threatened fiercely after seeing it attack her eldest grandson.

Once Grandma Bai entered the coop, all the chickens huddled together, shrinking in fear. For some reason, every chicken in the house was terrified of her. As Bai Xun reached out to stuff them into the cage, none dared to move a muscle.

After three trips back and forth, he finally managed to move all the chickens to the third floor. Grandma Bai hurried back to the living room to catch some TV while she still could, once the floodwaters rose, the power would surely go out.

Although they had bought a diesel generator two years ago to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply for Grandpa Bai during his serious illness, diesel was expensive. It was best to save it whenever possible.

Outside, it hadn’t started raining yet, but the wind whipped the curtains, making them flutter wildly. Bai Xun closed the window and sat beside Grandma Bai, feeling restless. Normally, he could comment on the annual mother-in-law versus daughter-in-law drama on TV, but today he couldn’t focus at all.

“Little sister, how much diesel is left at home?” Bai Xun asked.

“Huh? Oh, about twenty liters. If we keep it running continuously, it should last around six days,” Bai Yu replied, crunching on a small twist snack. Suddenly being called out, her mind almost failed to catch up. “What’s wrong, brother? You’re not still thinking about that post, are it? You told me not to overthink it, but now you’re the one dwelling on it.”

Bai Xun frowned. He knew his current state wasn’t normal. Every time he felt this restless, something bad was bound to happen.

“I’m heading back to my room,” he said abruptly, standing up. As he passed Bai Yu, he snatched a handful of her twist snacks before heading upstairs, satisfied.

“Bandit! There’s a whole plate on the table, but you had to steal mine. Is it true that what’s in someone else’s mouth always tastes better?” Bai Yu glared at her brother’s retreating back and muttered under her breath.

Before the thunder started, Bai Xun quickly turned on his computer to send gifts to his beloved “wife.” On the screen, a beast-eared man smiled warmly and brightly. “You’re back!”

Ah, my goodness! This was the man he had personally designed. That smile struck right at the heart of his desires.

In a daze, Bai Xun seemed to see an old man with a white beard holding a red thread on his left and a naked child drawing a bow on his right. The old man said, “Tie the knot?” The child said, “Let loose an arrow!”

The man’s handsome, deep-set eyes relaxed and lifted. Bai Xun murmured “darling wife” repeatedly as he moved the mouse.

His wife’s furry ears? Click!

His wife’s big tail? Click!

His wife’s chest muscles? Grow bigger with a touch!

His wife’s eight-pack abs? Up, down, left, right, B, A, B, A!

His wife’s… ahem, that can’t be shown on screen!

On the display, the man trembled with each click of the mouse, his face flushing as he turned away to avoid the cursor arrow. “P-please don’t touch!”

Bai Xun chuckled. He would touch, he would touch! A wife like this was absolutely adorable!

Suddenly, a rolling thunderclap exploded in the sky. A spiderweb-like bolt of lightning split the heavens outside the window. With the tremor brought by the thunder, the screen in front of him went completely black.

Bai Xun’s face darkened along with it.