Since the building was abandoned before construction was finished, there were no window frames or glass, giving the group a clear view of the compound.
Seeing it made their eyes grow wide with excitement as they took in the massive compound with numerous buildings arranged in a circular pattern.
"I don't remember ever seeing that there," Gu Jin, another member of the group, commented.
"Me Stage neither. So, did you really see it materialize out of nowhere?" Lin Huan asked, placing a hand on Ren Aiguo's thin shoulder.
"Yes, it was really magical," the boy replied excitedly, feeling relieved that everyone now believed him.
Gao Haiming threw a glance at the excited boy before quickly turning away, wondering how an entire compound could materialize out of thin air. Looking at it from here, he could tell it was built to be a fortress, as it had no openings, making it the perfect shelter.
But its questionable appearance made him suspicious as he wondered if it was a shelter or a trap meant to draw in ignorant survivors.
Gao Shen's thoughts went along the same line as he stood next to his brother with a slight frown while they both thought about what to do.
Meanwhile, the elderly man who had spoken against Ren Aiguo a few minutes ago felt self-conscious, avoiding everyone from a corner.
"Do you think it is safe?" one of the many people in the room suddenly asked, making the air turn gloomy as they all stared at the compound, contemplating his question.
"We can only know that if we go," Gao Haiming suddenly proclaimed.
"We will go, but I will not force any of you to follow me there. So, I will give everyone tonight to think about whether you are willing to come with us," Gao Shen finally spoke up, his stance silencing any questions.
His tall figure looked strong and resolute as he walked out of the room, leaving no room for further debate. Gao Haiming calmly stared around the room for a second before following his brother out, giving everyone a chance to choose for themselves.
As everyone stood there thinking of what to do, Zhao Yuan suddenly stirred from her sleep before sitting up in a daze.
Taking in the sight in front of her, she took some time to process everything that had happened before climbing off the bed. Her movements looked almost robotic as she walked to the bathroom, took a shower, and cleaned up before stepping out in a robe. Walking to the wardrobe, she pulled it open, chose her familiar pink uniform, and put it on.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she took in her appearance and tapped the exit icon.
Looking around the familiar restaurant, she walked up to the side of the counter before tapping on the tasks icon, which now displayed a red exclamation mark.
More icons appeared, each distinctly different: one was shaped like a trophy, another like a shopping cart, another like a book, and many more whose meanings she couldn't even guess.
Tapping on the trophy icon, she was happy to see that she had completed some tasks and could claim rewards. The first reward was for serving a hundred people, and the second was for serving 500 dishes. She quickly clicked on the first reward and was happy to receive what looked like magenta-pink tickets.
After tapping on the second reward, she was shocked to discover the tickets were different: the first had the image of a plate of food, while the second had a person's silhouette. Clicking on the third reward for making 100 customers happy, she found similar human-silhouette tickets. Before clicking on the fourth reward for cooking 1,000 dishes, she noticed it had a different silhouette that resembled a book.
Tapping the fifth reward, she was not surprised to see different tickets carrying the silhouette of coins. The sixth reward for unlocking a second restaurant yielded a different ticket with the silhouette of a map.
Although confused by the different tickets, she didn't dwell on it as she stared at the updated stats, which showed that she now had to achieve ten times her previous results to earn even more awards.
Feeling a bit more confident, she exited the rewards menu before clicking on the home icon, which took her back to the restaurant screen that asked if she wanted to continue.
Zhao Yuan's finger was quick as she tapped the screen to proceed, already mentally prepared for another exhausting shift, when a red warning flashed across the display:
"No ingredients to open the restaurant."
Staring at the screen with ire, she quickly tapped to exit. She tapped the tasks icon again and proceeded to select the shopping cart icon.
A familiar dizzying sensation engulfed Zhao Yuan before she found herself standing in a massive warehouse. Just the sheer size of it was shocking. Her mouth almost gaped open as she took in the sight of endless, colorful aisles of freakishly tall shelves lined up in perfect rows.
Directly in front of her stood a massive, well-stocked shelf filled with colorfully packaged, translucent goods that she couldn't make out clearly. Walking up to the shelf, Zhao Yuan reached out her hand to pick out whatever was on it before a prompt appeared before her eyes:
"Item not available. Continue service to unlock."
Staring at the glaring red message, she frowned before walking to the opposite shelf and reaching out for something with a different appearance. She didn't know what she expected to happen, but when she touched the almost intangible item, the same familiar sentence flashed before her eyes.
Zhao Yuan stood there silently, contemplating what she was supposed to do. Everything in this place seemed governed by game logic, and thinking of the many games she had played, she remembered that you could often only access items matched to your level. Since she had served chips and fruit juice before, she assumed she would be able to access those items.
Making up her mind, Zhao Yuan looked up at the massive signs hanging above the shelves and slowly started roaming around. If anyone else had been there to see her, they would have assumed she was wandering aimlessly, but she was searching for the produce section.
After walking down multiple aisles, she was finally relieved to see the produce section sign and rushed toward it. The section was massive, with numerous shelves and freezers filled to the brim with translucent, multicolored items. Knowing what would happen if she touched those, she walked straight to the fruit section.
Looking around, her eyes lit up with unconcealed joy as she stared at a vibrant pile of fresh oranges. Walking up to them, she picked one up and was relieved to feel its cold, textured surface. Holding it, she was about to examine it further when it suddenly vanished from her hand.
Zhao Yuan froze, confused as she stared down at her empty hand in shock. Feeling curious, she picked up another one, only for it to disappear as well.
While she stood there wondering where the oranges were vanishing to, two bags of oranges materialised in the fruit chute back in the restaurant.
Unaware of this, Zhao Yuan stubbornly continued picking up oranges, hoping they would stop disappearing—until a message suddenly popped up before her:
"Fruit storage full. Upgrade to increase capacity."