Chapter 1
Binding Stocking up in the Star House in the End of the World
Written by Nan Ling
[1]
When Youxi opened the small door under the stairs of her apartment, she was stunned for a moment. She thought she had just woken up and was still dreaming. She closed the door again and looked around.
The apartment was bought just a year ago. It was a one-bedroom and one-living room with a high ceiling and split levels. The decoration was simple and bright. The entire south-facing wall was floor-to-ceiling glass. On the second floor, there was an open bedroom with a shower room, which was only half the size of the first floor.
This storage room was located under the stairs. It was a small space separated by only three or four square meters. She used it to store some snacks, drinks, daily necessities and other miscellaneous items.
Just like now, the reason she went downstairs was that she had run out of toothpaste and she wanted to go into the stairwell to get a new one.
Within a few seconds of looking around, all the sleepiness was gone, and a chill that made her scalp tingle rose from the soles of her feet.
Youxi quickly went back upstairs to get her phone, and returned to the stairwell again. While turning on the recording function, she stretched out her trembling hand and opened the low door in front of her.
Inside the door, the originally small and dark storage room was replaced by an empty room.
The room was not big, a square space of about 20 square meters. There was a window on the wall facing her, and on the left wall was a convex entrance facing outward, with a door there.
You Xi calmed down and walked into the room. The distance of two or three steps was the end of the original storage room, but now she could still continue to walk inside until she reached the window.
The first judgment: this room is not a visual illusion of hers, but a real existence.
The window is not big, with a grid window frame and covered with glass. It is foggy outside and it is impossible to tell what the environment is.
She recalled the structure of the apartment. According to the orientation, the window is now facing the left wall after entering the apartment. What is outside the wall on the left side of her apartment? She remembered that it should be a safety staircase. In short, there should be no windows in this direction, and even if there are windows, the scene outside should not be like this.
So the second conclusion was made: this room should not be part of the apartment building, but a different space that appeared out of thin air.
She walked to the entrance again. The door was tightly closed. The door panel was made of some unknown material. It was matte black and cold to the touch. All the walls and floors in the room seemed to be of this material. The difference was that the walls and floors were light gray, and only the door was black.
The door handle was of a very ordinary style, which meant that this door could be opened. What would be outside if this door was opened?
Youxi gently grasped the door handle. The moment she touched it, a strange sound suddenly popped up in her mind.
【*#(&%&(*$)(*)#($……】
After a while, the voice gradually became clear, neutral, cold, and full of inorganic texture.
【Language conversion successful!】
【Detected autonomous contact of organic life forms on the G blue planet of the YKA galaxy 23333 star system...】
【The star house is being tied...】
What the hell is this!?
You Xi was startled and subconsciously wanted to let go, but her fingers seemed to be stuck to the door handle. The cold texture spread from her fingertips to her wrist, and finally rushed straight to her brain.
She held her wrist with her other hand, put one foot on the door panel, and pulled hard to break free.
[Detected that the organic life form has the intention to refuse, the binding command self-check... Ding, the race of the organic life form has not been registered yet, the race level is too low, and the intention to refuse can be directly ignored...]
"What do you mean..." In an instant, anger overwhelmed fear, "You can bind it at will just because the level is low!" [
Detected that the organic life form is emotionally turbulent and strongly resists binding, Ding, start the unbinding and destruction program, the organic life form will be cleared within thirty seconds... Thirty, twenty-nine...] Even if You Xi was confused, she could understand the meaning of the word clear. [Twenty-one, twenty...] "Wait, wait! This is my home! You showed up inexplicably!" [Fifteen, fourteen...] She didn't know if it was an illusion, she felt like her body was falling apart... "..." Youxi slapped the door, "Wait! I'm bound! I'm willing to be bound to Xingwu!" [Eight, seven, six... beep! Tying Xingwu, please wait...] The irresistible feeling of disintegration disappeared. Youxi's hand was still fixed by the door handle. Even if she didn't want to wait, she had to wait. The cold feeling invaded her brain and body again. After a moment, the abnormality faded, and her fingers finally left the door handle. [Hello, host, the Star House has been bound, and the Novice World will open at midnight in seven days. Please be prepared.] This time, she found that she didn't seem to hear the voice, but received it directly in her mind. You Xi was confused for a long time before she slowly spoke: "I have a few questions. First, who are you, or what are you? Second, what is the Novice World, why should I be prepared? Third, what is the Star House, where does this door lead to, and how many people on Planet G Blue are bound to the Star House besides me?" [I am the Star House System. You can think of me as the Star House Central Server. The Star House is the carrier for the host to travel through the world. The door is a passage that is only opened when traveling through the world. The Star House can be upgraded. The Novice World is a benefit for the host to travel through the apocalyptic world for the first time. It is easy to use, and the type of world can be learned six days in advance. The host can also draw three star tools for free before opening the Novice World. Finally, information about whether someone else has bound the Star House cannot be disclosed. ] You Xi grasped a key point in these messages: "Apocalyptic...world?" [The host voluntarily binds to the Star House, which means that he agrees to voluntarily perform the apocalyptic shuttle mission. The mission is opened once a month, and each apocalyptic world is opened randomly. The disasters are not the same. The host needs to constantly improve his own abilities, strive to pass through more worlds, and strive to survive. ] You Xi was silent for a moment, and then spoke again: "Fuck..." [……] [Grass is a plant on G Blue Star. I can't understand what the host meant by this sentence.] You Xi smiled and said, "No need to analyze, just listen. By the way, can I untie the Star House after I bind it?" [The program to untie and destroy organic life forms can be started at any time——] "Okay, just pretend I didn't ask!" [Okay, host, the novice world mission data will be delivered at midnight tomorrow. Please come and check it on time. After the host completes three mission worlds, the Star House can unlock the portable function of this world.]
"Portable?"
[Host, this can be understood as a portable shelter space.]
Portable space? This is probably the most useful sentence she has heard today, but this is only after she completes the three world missions. If she dies before completing the missions, this portable space will be meaningless.
"Finally, what about the things in my storage room?" Although the original space is small, because of the nature of her work, she usually stays at home and likes to buy things in boxes. There are quite a lot of things, and she spent a lot of money.
[After the host is bound, all the items originally in the gap of the space have been returned to the star house warehouse. The host can touch any star house wall to open the warehouse function. Youxi
tried it, and sure enough, when she touched the wall and tried to open the warehouse, a rectangular door without a door panel appeared in the wall in front of her. The space inside was half the size of her apartment downstairs, estimated to be about 30 square meters.
But the actual space is not calculated based on square meters, the height must also be taken into account, about five or six meters high, so the total space is about 180 cubic meters. Near the door, all her food and drink supplies and household items are neatly hung.
"I want to get the toothpaste, how do I get it--" She just looked at the basket where the toothpaste was placed. The brand and appearance of the toothpaste just appeared in her mind, and the toothpaste appeared in her hand out of thin air, "Take things with your mind?"
[After the Star House Warehouse is opened, the host can take things with his mind from anywhere in all worlds and organize them with his mind. There is no time flow and no gravity in the warehouse. The items will remain in the state of entering the warehouse, and the host cannot enter. The warehouse space of the Star House can be upgraded with the Star House.]
You Xi understood. Although the Star House needs to unlock the portable function after completing the novice world, this Star House warehouse can now be carried around. People just can't enter, but they can store things.
"Not bad." You Xi praised halfheartedly. It would be great if there was just an extra space for no reason, but it had to come with some kind of apocalyptic world mission. The thought made her irritated.
You Xi walked out of the Star House and took a look before closing the door. It was still the Star House space.
She closed the door and lay down on the sofa.
Outside the French window on the right, the morning light was bright. The sunlight shone into the apartment through the white gauze, and the warm light was on the clean wooden floor.
You Xi's mind was empty for an unknown period of time, and she suddenly stood up and picked up the phone.
Call the police?
She was a little scared. What if she was the only special phenomenon... She couldn't be impatient. She had to stay calm and wait and see. Maybe someone else was in the same situation as her.
In the end, You Xi called her mother.
"Xixi, are you coming home for dinner today? Mom will make you sweet and sour spareribs and crucian carp soup!"
"Mom, wait a minute, is there anyone next to you?...Okay, listen to me first, I will open the storage room under the stairwell today..."
After a moment, Fan Qi spoke: "My dear, what did you say just now? The signal is not good, I didn't hear you clearly."
You Xi frowned and said it again. She had guessed something.
Sure enough, after she finished speaking, Fan Qi said again that she didn't hear clearly and asked her to say it again.
"It's okay, Mom. I just want to come back for dinner tonight. I'll send you a message later if there's anything you want to eat. Remember to check the message."
After hanging up the phone, she used her mobile phone to edit a text message about what happened today and sent it to her mother. This time it was even better. After sending the message, it went unanswered. She sent it three times and finally called her again to ask if she had seen the message. She said no.
"My dear, what happened to you today?"
"It's okay, Mom. Maybe my phone is broken. I'll find time to fix it later."
"Then will you come back for dinner tonight?"
"Yes."
After hanging up the phone, she opened the photo album on her mobile phone again. As expected, the video of the Star House she had just recorded was not successfully saved.
[Don't waste your energy. The Star House has an autonomous confidentiality function. ] A neutral and cold voice sounded in her mind.
"Will you let me be quiet for a while?"
[……]
****
At 24:00 that night (i.e. midnight the next day), Youxi pushed open the door of the stairwell and received the data of the novice world.
[Novice apocalypse world:
Difficulty: Low.
World type: natural disaster apocalypse (melt), tsunami and low temperature.
World time: 5 hours before the tsunami.
World identity: an office worker who followed the company to the L island for a team-building trip.
World missions: 1. Escape from L island (10 star coins for completion), 2. Survive for three months (30 star coins for completion).
World suggestions (only for the novice world): avoid tsunamis, prepare equipment to resist low temperatures, plenty of drinking water, appropriate tools and weapons. ]
Youxi breathed a sigh of relief after reading it. Fortunately, the first world was not a zombie apocalypse.
"Survive for three months? Do I have to stay there for so long? And what about this world identity? Isn't it me who traveled through it? What happens if the world mission fails?"
[One year in the other world is one second in this world. The world identity is the identity of the host integrated into the apocalyptic world. The world mission fails and the host dies. ]
"..." You Xi was speechless, opening and closing his mouth tightly, "Then what does this fusion mean?"
[This novice world is a fusion of fragments from two different worlds. ]
"If I understand correctly, does this mean that the world difficulty has increased?"
[This world is still within the difficulty range of the novice world. ]
"You are a room and you understand the artistic processing of language?" You Xi sneered, "Can I draw three star tools now?"
[Yes. 】
A few seconds later, the light in the star house dimmed, and countless stars emerged from the walls and began to rotate around her. You Xi seemed to be surrounded by countless stars, as if she was in the Milky Way.
After a while, the stars stopped, and three of them grew larger and became star clusters floating in front of her, while the other stars disappeared into the walls again.
The star house returned to its original state, and the three star clusters fell into her palm one by one.
【Free star tool extraction is a benefit for the Novice World mission, and it only happens once. Please use the star tools well to get through the Novice World. 】
"You mean, I can't extract items for free in the future?"
【The host can use star coins to buy or extract star tools. 】
"So you still have a mall?"
[The Star House Mall is open after the first apocalyptic world mission is completed.]
"So, this time I not only drew three props for free, but also got them in advance, which can really be considered a benefit." You Xi clicked on the star clusters one by one and collected three star tools.
[Star Tool: Translation Gum (one-time)
After consumption, there is no language barrier in the current world.]
[Star Tool: Disguise Lipstick (second use, each effective time 24 hours)
After applying, you can change your height, appearance, age and gender at will, only effective in the apocalyptic world.]
[Star Tool: High-temperature Perfume (mini bottle, three hours long)
can spray high-temperature flames, can adjust the size, and automatically protect the film, only effective in the apocalyptic world]
"..." It feels weird, it seems to be quite useful, but it also feels like it doesn't have much use... except that the third one still has some effect in the low-temperature world.
Youxi complained in her heart while putting the "three-piece date set" - no, three pieces of star equipment - into the Star House warehouse. After the Star House warehouse was opened, she could now store things anytime and anywhere.
Afterwards, she spent some time counting her current inventory.
The list is as follows:
1. Food: two bags of rice (5kg), two barrels of cooking oil (5L); four boxes each of chocolate and coffee flavored Choco Biscuits; three bags of Fujihashi duck tongues; two large bags each of pork jerky and beef jerky; half a box of cheese flavored compressed biscuits (24 pieces);
one and a half boxes of canned luncheon meat (8 cans); two large bags each of Laotan sauerkraut, spicy beef, scallion spareribs, and Shin Ramyun (5 packs); half a box of mixed spicy tender beef and tomato beef brisket for the self-igniting hot pot (24 boxes);
three boxes of Orion chocolate pies (20 pieces); dozens of potato chips, mochi, chocolate lollipops, large spicy chips, and small spicy strips of various brands.
2. Beverages: 2 boxes of 5L bottled water (4 bottles); 1.5 boxes of bottled mineral water (24 bottles); 1
box of Coke and Fanta (12 bottles); 2 boxes of boxed milk (24 boxes);
2 boxes of low-sugar milk tea (12 bottles); 5 bags of VV soy milk powder (500g).
3. Daily necessities: 2 boxes of tissue paper (48 packs); 5 bags of toilet paper (10 rolls);
more than half a box of solid alcohol (100g x 200 pieces); more than 10 packs of sanitary napkins for daily and night use;
7 or 8 boxes of toothpaste; 2 bottles of shampoo and bath soap (1L); toothbrushes, toilet water, hand soap, and a few towels.
Of course, these were only the items originally stored in the storage room, not including the rice, flour, grain, oil, various condiments, canned dry goods that she kept in the small kitchen, the fish, meat, eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator, and the various snacks in the living room cabinet.
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