Apocalypse Mode: My Cheat Code Virtual Boyfriend - Chapter 11

[Game unlock condition met: Crystal Cones (2/1)]

[Unlock now: Yes/No]

Bai Xun tapped “Yes.”

The next moment, the page transitioned, and the Kitchen Simulator card gradually filled with color from the edges. Sunlight streamed through the card’s windows, illuminating the spacious, modern industrial-style kitchen.

[Game Name: Kitchen Simulator]

[Game Status: Unlocked (3/3)]

The Kitchen Simulator unlocked quite generously, revealing all its functions at once. Bai Xun tapped on “Game Status” and a wave of immense joy instantly washed over him as he glanced at the details.

[Unlocked: Storage (1/1)]

[Description: Unlocked by Achievement I “First Step into the Storage Room.” The Kitchen Simulator can store food items and kitchen utensils of each category, with no quantity limit.]

[Unlocked: Shelf Life (1/1)]

[Description: Unlocked by Achievement II “Hmm, What’s That Smell?” The shelf life of food stored in the Kitchen Simulator is extended to three times its original duration. Food placed in the storage space comes with a spoilage countdown timer.]

[Unlocked: Decorate the Kitchen (1/1)]

[Description: Unlocked by Achievement III “Versatile Kitchen, I Have Every Look You Want.” The Kitchen Simulator offers eight different kitchen appearances that can be placed in the real world.]

It was like being handed a pillow just as you were about to doze off. Bai Xun had been worrying about the limited load capacity of the rubber raft and inflatable floating platform during flood escapes. Now, with the Kitchen Simulator’s storage and preservation functions, most of those problems were solved.

Bai Xun carefully examined the Kitchen Simulator modified by the Star Game System. The original feature of providing ingredients had been removed, but all the advanced cooking appliances were retained. The storage and preservation functions derived from achievements perfectly aligned with his current urgent needs.

As for the last, somewhat optional decorative function, it could still come in handy once they settled down.

Before unlocking the Kitchen Simulator, Bai Xun had speculated based on the original game content whether it would unlock a bunch of kitchenware and food. But on second thought, that seemed too overpowered, a dream too grand to even imagine. Yet, it had now been realized to a large extent.

The Star Game System was truly impressive. He was growing increasingly curious about what the other unlocked games would be like.

Bai Xun stepped out of the restroom stall, unable to contain his joy.

In the emergency room, Cheng Wei had just finished having his wound bandaged. The doctor recommended tetanus and hemorrhagic fever vaccines, as a rat bite required virus prevention.

After listening carefully to the doctor’s advice, Bai Xun had Cheng Wei receive both vaccines. However, the hemorrhagic fever vaccine required three doses: the first administered now, with the second and third doses scheduled for the 7th and 21st days, respectively.

Time was the biggest issue. There was no guarantee this clinic would still be here by the seventh day.

After a moment’s thought, Bai Xun directly asked the doctor if he could purchase the remaining two doses to administer at home. The doctor hesitated but eventually agreed.

After settling the bill and collecting the medication, Bai Xun planned to head straight home. But Cheng Wei still remembered the main purpose of their trip today: “We haven’t gone to the gas station to buy diesel yet.”

Bai Xun opened the navigation app. “Let me check the distance. If it’s within one kilometer, we’ll go.”

After that stretch of road with the hanging rat-man, he had been driving around recklessly and had long since veered off course. Now he wasn’t even sure where the gas station he originally intended to go to was located.

“Navigation started. Total distance: 1.1 kilometers…”

Cheng Wei turned his head to look at Bai Xun, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Let’s go. It’s so close, only 1.1 kilometers.”

Bai Xun hadn’t expected that by sheer luck, they had still ended up driving near the station. It would be a shame not to go now.

He took the opportunity Cheng Wei offered to step down gracefully. “Alright. It’ll only take five minutes from here. After we buy the diesel, we’ll head home. There’s lamb stew simmering at home. We’ll go back and replenish your blood.”

The journey was short, and within five minutes, they arrived.

The gas station was surrounded by a ring of flood-control sandbags. Under the bright lights, the station staff appeared to be carrying out some major pre-disaster preparations.

Since the car couldn’t drive in, Bai Xun planned to get out and carry the plastic containers over himself. As soon as Cheng Wei unbuckled his seatbelt, Bai Xun pressed him back down. “You just got bandaged up. If you go down and lift the oil drums, you might reopen your wound. Stay in the car. I’ll be back soon.”

Cheng Wei looked out the car window. Under the gloomy curtain of rain were sparse pedestrians and the brightly lit gas station. The car was parked under the eaves of a 24-hour convenience store less than 20 meters from the station. If Bai Xun were in danger, Cheng Wei would have enough time to rush out of the car immediately.

“Alright, I’ll wait for you to come back.”

Bai Xun breathed a sigh of relief. He really wasn’t comfortable with Cheng Wei following him.

Putting on his raincoat and carrying four empty containers, Bai Xun stepped over the flood-control sandbags and entered the gas station. One of the busy staff members put down what he was doing and walked over. “Hello, what type of fuel do you need?”

Bai Xun placed the empty containers on the ground. “One container each of No. 0, -10, -20, and -35.”

The staff member said, “Please show me your ID.”

Bai Xun took out his prepared ID and handed it over. The staff member carefully compared his facial features before returning it.

While waiting for the fuel to be pumped, the other staff members at the station gradually shut off the equipment’s power and valves. It seemed that after serving this last customer, the station would close.

“Is the station closing? What if the crude oil here gets flooded?” Bai Xun couldn’t resist his curiosity and asked the staff member who was filling his containers.

“We’ll close after finishing the flood preparations. Don’t worry too much about flooding. We have drainage pumps and sealed packaging. See the nozzle of this fuel pump? There’s a valve here at the top. The outlet isn’t easily flooded. There’s also a waterproof filter inside this fuel dispenser. Generally, it won’t get flooded.”

Since he was the only customer, the staff member was happy to answer these technical questions.

“What if the entire gas station gets submerged? Can the oil in the tanks still be used?” Bai Xun pressed further.

“I’ve worked here for over ten years and have never encountered such a severe flood. We have an emergency drainage plan. The fuel pumps are locked and powered off. If the floating tanks start leaking, we’ll pump out the remaining oil and transfer it.” The staff member seemed a bit surprised by his persistence but still briefly explained the flood prevention measures.

What Bai Xun was really thinking was whether he could come back one last time to scavenge some fuel after the flood submerged everything. Now, it seemed unlikely.

After refueling, he made several trips to move the fuel drums back into the cargo compartment. He then got into the driver’s seat and hurried home. It was nearly one in the afternoon, and he was about to miss lunchtime.

By the time he returned to East City Yipin, he had indeed missed the meal. Grandma Bai had already eaten lunch and was taking her afternoon nap, while Bai Guifang and Bai Yu hadn’t eaten yet, they waited for him to return before starting the meal together.

After changing clothes and finishing lunch, Bai Xun walked to the room where bottled water and packaged food were stored. He opened the Kitchen Simulator and casually touched a 12-liter large bottle of mineral water.

A panel popped up with the prompt: [Store 12L Mineral Water × 1?]

After Bai Xun selected “Yes,” the large bottle of mineral water vanished on the spot. Below the [Game Name] and [Game Status] in the Kitchen Simulator, a new section called [Stored Food] appeared.

Clicking on [Stored Food] revealed a grid page with 20 slots. The first slot displayed the icon of the large bottle of mineral water, with a small “1” in the top-right corner indicating the quantity.

Clicking on the mineral water icon brought up a rectangular text box with an explanation: One 12-liter bottle of mineral water. Expiration countdown: 5 years, 273 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes, 23 seconds.

Bai Xun walked over to a box of canned Meicai Kou Rou (preserved vegetable with braised pork) and stored it in the Kitchen Simulator. The explanation read: One box containing 20 cans of Meicai Kou Rou. Expiration countdown: 3 years, 305 days, 8 hours, 43 minutes, 16 seconds.

For the next ten minutes, Bai Xun acted like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city and was seeing everything for the first time. He touched this and that, storing all the food and drinking water in the room into the Kitchen Simulator’s storage space. The room felt noticeably emptier afterward.

After finishing here, he eagerly rubbed his hands together and headed to the kitchen. He yanked open the freezer and started grabbing frozen meat with his bare hands.

Bai Yu, who was playing on her phone in the living room, looked up and saw her brother bent over, rummaging through the freezer. If their mom saw this, he’d surely get scolded for wasting electricity.

She tiptoed over to Bai Xun and tapped him on the shoulder. “Bro, what are you doing? Mom’s going to yell at you if she sees this.”

Bai Xun, who was reaching for a bag of frozen shrimp at the bottom of the freezer, was startled and nearly fell in. “You almost scared me to death. I just unlocked a storage function that can hold food and kitchenware.”

The freezer was already half-empty. The pork trotters had an expiration countdown of 1 year, 245 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes, 9 seconds; the frozen chicken, 1 year, 293 days, 12 hours, 34 minutes, 19 seconds; and the frozen shrimp, 1 year, 309 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes, 29 seconds. The frozen meats had their shelf life extended by three times, but none exceeded two years.

Bai Yu was curious. “Can it store any food and kitchenware? What about snacks?”

Bai Xun continued storing items. “Of course it can. Once I finish storing this batch, I’ll head out again to buy more food. Might as well stock up while we can.”

Bai Yu lowered her voice. “Then take me with you, bro. Since Brother Cheng Wei is injured and resting, you can bring me along. I can help too.”

The nearby large supermarket was less than two kilometers from East City Yipin. As long as they avoided the remote corners they had mistakenly driven into that morning, driving on the main roads in bustling areas was still relatively safe on the third day of the apocalypse.

Bai Xun did need help. “Alright, go change into something comfortable and come with me later.”

Bai Yu smiled with an exaggerated flattery. “Oh, brother, I knew you were the best! I’ll go change right now.”

After storing the frozen meats and vegetables, Bai Xun placed a carrot into the kitchen simulator. The displayed countdown read 54 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes, and 24 seconds. Among all the vegetables and fruits, aside from potatoes and sweet potatoes, none were particularly long-lasting. Even with the support of the Star game system, they could only be stored for up to two months at most.

All the kitchenware stored in the “Kitchenware Storage” section of the kitchen simulator took up a full page and a half. One item that surprised Bai Xun was a cleaver used for chopping bones, it was unexpectedly classified as kitchenware.

If a cleaver used for chopping bones could be stored, could other things be stored too?

His gaze slowly shifted toward the handheld chainsaw that was still in its unopened packaging.