Stockpiling Supplies&Raising a Child in a Post-Apocalyptic World by DrawingCards

Chapter 19

The system seemed to sense Lin Ran's doubts and explained, "Host, the items in the card-drawing system are random each time. It might be better next time, hehe."

If the system had a physical form, Lin Ran would have grabbed and shaken it. Other people's systems were cool and had cheat-like abilities, but hers seemed useless and frustrating.

Not only could anyone use the card-drawing machine if they met the conditions, but most of the items were also useless. Lin Ran was exasperated.

With a "nothing to lose" attitude, Lin Ran glanced at the ten items again. She took a deep breath and pressed the "start drawing" button on the screen.

A red frame appeared on the screen, rotating clockwise over the ten items. After a few seconds, the red frame stopped on the Wahaha. The machine emitted a golden light, and a card depicting Wahaha appeared in front of Lin Ran, as if waiting for her to take it.

Lin Ran felt a tightness in her chest but reluctantly grabbed the card. The golden light from the machine disappeared, leaving nine items on the screen; the Wahaha was gone.

Lin Ran stared at the card in disbelief, unable to react.

The system, thinking she didn't know how to use the card, helpfully reminded her, "Host, the card's attributes are written on the back. You can use your mind to retrieve or use the items on the card."

Lin Ran's face turned pale, and her hand holding the card trembled. She had risked her life for a pack of Wahaha. If she had known, she would have stayed in the small supermarket downstairs, where there was plenty of Wahaha without the risk.

Taking a few deep breaths, Lin Ran admitted that the sight of the Wahaha had made her break down a bit.

"Great, just great, Wahaha," she muttered through gritted teeth.

She flipped the card over and read the description: Wahaha Card Attributes: E-level card, the fifth rank out of six (the second lowest rank). A favorite drink for children, combining fruity and milky flavors. In the apocalypse, it might bring you a taste of childhood joy.

Lin Ran nearly crushed the card in frustration. One hundred zombie crystal cores, earned with her life, for this? Out of six ranks, she drew the second lowest.

She should have known with her luck; even drinking water was a struggle for her.

She gritted her teeth and checked how many crystal cores she had left. Fortunately, she had killed many zombies and kicked several off the stairs while running up the safety stairway, so she still had 92 zombie crystal cores.

Lin Ran reassured herself to stay calm; panicking now would only lead to their demise on the rooftop. She took out the compound crossbow from her backpack, which still had ten arrows left in its quiver. Though she had fifty more arrows in her storage space, the current situation demanded that she conserve them.

She looked up at Mo Shuyu, who was standing quietly a few steps away, observing her. Mo Shuyu had seen everything, including the card glowing with golden light when it appeared before Lin Ran. However, she hadn't asked any questions.

Lin Ran was quite satisfied with Mo Shuyu. She had no time to explain everything to her now, being too preoccupied with their immediate survival.

On the other hand, Mo Shuyu, seeing Lin Ran's dejected look, didn't dare to disturb her. She had also seen the strange machine and the card Lin Ran had drawn from it. But she remained calm, having noticed another secret about Lin Ran.

While running up the fire escape, Mo Shuyu had seen Lin Ran's Tang sword disappear and reappear in her hand. However, Mo Shuyu had no intention of asking about it, understanding that Lin Ran didn't want her to know too much. She decided it was best to stay quiet.

Lin Ran stared at the card in front of her, took a few deep breaths, and with a thought, the card flashed, turning into a carton of Wahaha drinks in her hand.

She looked at the Wahaha drinks, amused and frustrated.

She sat down, took out a pack of wet wipes from her backpack, and wiped the blood off her hands. Then, she opened the carton, inserted straws into two of the bottles, and handed one to Mo Shuyu. "Drink it. Let's rest a bit before figuring out our next move."

"Okay," Mo Shuyu replied, taking the bottle but hesitating to drink. The Wahaha drinks had just transformed from a card—could they really be safe to drink?

Seeing Mo Shuyu not drinking, Lin Ran didn't press her. She took her own bottle and drank it, knowing that replenishing her energy with something sugary was the best she could do for herself right now.

Feeling thirsty, Mo Shuyu also sat down and drank the Wahaha, seeing Lin Ran already drinking hers.

Lin Ran put the remaining two bottles into her backpack, knowing that these four bottles of Wahaha had cost her 100 zombie crystal cores. She placed the backpack beside her and lay down to rest for ten minutes. Then, she picked up the compound crossbow and arrows and approached the zombies. The rooftop was still tightly surrounded by zombies, with those in the front pressed so hard against the "transparent wall" by the ones behind them that they looked like flatbread.

Lin Ran loaded an arrow and shot at the closest zombie. The arrow flew through the air, hitting the zombie squarely in the forehead.

Her eyes brightened. The zombies at the front were so tightly packed that they couldn't move, essentially making them stationary targets. This made it much easier to kill them and collect more zombie crystal cores for another draw.

However, thinking about her luck, Lin Ran couldn't get too excited. She focused on shooting the remaining nine arrows at the nearest zombies. Since the zombies at the front couldn't move, she retrieved her arrows after shooting, then continued shooting at the frontmost zombies.

After shooting all the front zombies, Lin Ran was exhausted and collapsed on the ground. At the same time, the system's voice rang in her ear: "Congratulations on killing 87 zombies and obtaining 87 zombie crystal cores. Combined with the previous 92 cores, you now have 179 level-1 zombie crystal cores."

Lin Ran sighed in relief, sitting down with the compound crossbow, exhausted. She finally had enough cores for another draw. Her strength was spent, and she lay on the ground for a while to recover.

Mo Shuyu, worried about Lin Ran, approached and cautiously asked, "Are you okay?"

Lin Ran opened her eyes, glanced at Mo Shuyu, and sighed. She checked the time on her phone: it was already 5:10 PM. In less than two hours, the card-drawing machine would disappear, and the zombies would no longer be restrained.

Instead of answering Mo Shuyu, Lin Ran asked, "How's your luck usually?"