Chapter 2: God’s Supermarket
Song Yuqing glanced around. While there were plenty of supplies, this place definitely wasn’t up to “supermarket” standards. Besides, what kind of supermarket had peeling, mottled walls?
“Nice to meet you. You can call me Master Fu. I’m the boss behind God’s Supermarket.”
Song Yuqing listened closely. Something was off about the boy’s voice. It wasn’t coming from behind the door; it sounded more like a radio broadcast—hollow, synthetic, and distinctly like an AI.
“Where are you? Are you human?”
“That’s none of your business.” The young man chuckled softly.
Song Yuqing quietly reached into a nearby display cabinet and slipped a Swiss Army knife into her hand, hiding it from view.
“Don’t worry, God’s Supermarket guarantees your safety,” the voice assured her.
“Could it be…” Song Yuqing swallowed hard. “Are you a god?”
“Heh, I could be.”
Song Yuqing: “…”
After years of working in the film industry, the actors she hated directing the most were three-year-old toddlers and sixteen-year-old boys. One couldn’t understand a word you said, and the other was so edgy and immature that you didn’t even want to talk to them.
But right now, she was in someone else’s territory. She had to play along and give this “Master Fu” some face.
Song Yuqing asked politely, “Excuse me, can I stay here?”
“Sure. You can eat and use whatever you want from God’s Supermarket, as long as you don’t damage the property.”
Song Yuqing’s eyes lit up. “Then can I bring my parents to live here too?”
“Of course. I can even help you find them.”
Is he really that kind-hearted? she wondered.
“But…” The young man paused, his tone shifting to mock seriousness. “We need to sign a contract first.”
A yellowed piece of parchment appeared out of thin air and hovered right in front of Song Yuqing’s face. On it was a black-and-white portrait of her, with a dense block of illegible fine print below it.
Well, zombies are real now, she thought. What else is impossible?
She reached out to take the paper, squinting to read the tiny text.
“Don’t bother reading it. It’s just a standard liability agreement so you don’t wreck the store.”
“Are there really no other conditions?” Even with her mind in turmoil, Song Yuqing remained sharp.
“You’re overthinking it. I thought you were a straightforward person,” the boy sighed.
Song Yuqing rolled her eyes inwardly. She had been screwed over by contracts before! She’d once been dragged into a grueling, drawn-out labor dispute lawsuit.
“Look, I have other things to do. If you don’t sign, I’ll throw you outside to feed the zombies!” Master Fu began to count down. “Three, two, two and a half…”
Song Yuqing had only one thought: if she wanted to survive the night, staying in this convenience store was her only viable option.
She used the Swiss Army knife to nick her thumb, pressing a bloody fingerprint onto the bottom of the page.
As soon as she lifted her thumb, the fine print blurred and shifted, revealing three massive, bold words at the top: Indentured Servitude Contract.
Song Yuqing: “???”
Furious, she grabbed the contract to tear it to shreds, but the parchment wiggled mockingly in her grasp before vanishing into thin air.
“You lied to me?!” Song Yuqing’s temples throbbed. She had a sudden, overwhelming urge to punch something.
“Congratulations on becoming the official, permanent manager of God’s Supermarket! From now on, you must follow my instructions and run the store well.”
“I quit.”
If there weren’t a horde of zombies outside, Song Yuqing would have bolted right then and there. She didn’t believe this disembodied voice could actually catch her.
She marched toward the front door, pressing her ear against the wood to listen for the undead. A plan formed in her mind: she would stuff as many supplies as she could fit into her new spatial inventory and slip away.
She wasn’t about to become an indentured servant! The world had practically ended, and they expected her to work retail?!
Her parents had owned a convenience store back home, so she knew firsthand how grueling the work was. Growing up, she had absolutely hated manning the register. Even in times of peace, convenience stores were prime targets for theft and robbery—let alone in a post-apocalyptic wasteland swarming with zombies!
“The benefits of being the store manager include: One, free food and accommodation. Two, guaranteed personal safety. Three, free teleportation for your parents. And four, occasional bonus rewards…”
“Fine.” Song Yuqing decided to take the gamble.
It’s a three-year contract, she reasoned. My parents and I can stay safely in this store for three years. Besides, as the manager, she could just choose to keep the doors locked and closed every day.
She glanced at the four aisles of shelves, secretly calculating how long the current stock of supplies would last them.
“Master Fu, how exactly are you going to bring my parents here?”
“Huh? Oh, you have to go find them yourself first!”
Song Yuqing was speechless. Great. Scammed again.
“Look, Song Yuqing, signing that contract wasn’t a total loss for you. See? I just upgraded your spatial ability,” Master Fu said, his tone dripping with smugness. “Let me teach you how to use it to find your parents.”
Song Yuqing was more convinced than ever that Master Fu was an AI. How else could he know so much about her? How could he upgrade her powers without her even noticing? Maybe she was bound to an AI system like the protagonists in those webnovels—it was just a terribly unreliable one.
“First, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Inhale… exhale… inhale…”
Song Yuqing followed his instructions, though it felt oddly like a guided meditation. Is this really going to work?
“When you open your eyes, you’ll be inside a square room with a single door. Open that door, and you will see your parents.”
Song Yuqing swallowed her skepticism. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself standing in a dim, box-like room. Faint light filtered through cracks in the walls, barely illuminating the space.
But Master Fu was wrong. There wasn’t just one door. There were three: two black, and one white.
“Uh, there are three doors,” she pointed out.
“Oh! My bad, I made a mistake and gave you a double upgrade. It’s fine, you’ll need them eventually anyway. Consider it a signing bonus!”
Song Yuqing’s mouth twitched. “So, which one do I open?”
“The white one.”
Heart pounding with anticipation, Song Yuqing pushed open the white door.
She froze. Her feet felt glued to the floor, refusing to take a single step forward.
Beyond the threshold was her hometown, the city she had lived in since childhood. But it was completely unrecognizable. It was a landscape of pure ruin. Raging fires rolled from the shattered pavement up into the sky, and black ash drifted down like a heavy, suffocating snow.
And there, standing among the charred debris, were her parents.
They were zombies. They were snarling, violently fighting each other over a human skull.
Hearing the door open, her zombified parents slowly turned to look at her, their milky gray eyes rolling lifelessly in their sockets.
Bang—!
Song Yuqing slammed the door shut.
“That wasn’t them,” she whispered.
She leaned her forehead against the wood, trembling as she stared blankly at the door that separated her from the end of the world.
What were the last words her parents had ever said to her? She couldn’t remember. All she had left was that final, frantic text message: live well.
Slowly, the dark, box-like room faded away, and Song Yuqing found herself back in the quiet convenience store.
“Ah… my condolences…” Master Fu muttered awkwardly.
“It’s fine,” Song Yuqing said, her face deathly pale.
“Right, well… let’s move on to the basics of God’s Supermarket!” Master Fu quickly changed the subject, rambling incessantly. “None of the items here have expiration dates. As long as they are stocked on the shelves, they will stay perfectly fresh!
“As the acting store manager, your duties are simple. First, keep the shelves stocked at all times. Second, meet a monthly sales quota of thirty zombies! Of course, that’s just the beginner’s target. If your performance is good, I’ll upgrade the supermarket’s layout, and your spatial abilities will level up with it. I expect you to make God’s Supermarket bigger and stronger! I believe in you! You might look weak and fragile, but I know you’ve got a fiery, energetic heart hidden beneath that calm exterior!”
Master Fu grew more and more hyped up as he spoke, completely oblivious to Song Yuqing’s darkening expression.
“Can you come out and show yourself so I can get a look at you?” she interrupted.
“I don’t have a physical body in this world!”
