Chapter 12:

Food, Drink and Fun’s real name is Kang Zeyang. Initially, when his good friend Han Jiaqing recommended “Doomsday Camp” to him, he inwardly refused.

What kind of Doomsday Camp? It didn’t sound impressive at all. And claims like playing the game reduces tumors? It sounded like false advertising, a trap.

Kang Zeyang continued to play the currently popular online game on the market, not sparing a glance at “Doomsday Camp.”

However—

“Savings Expert: Gym time, group discount for five, anyone interested?”

Kang Zeyang had never heard of anyone exercising for a game, so when he saw someone organizing a group, he was instantly shocked.

What was even more speechless was that, as soon as the message appeared, four people immediately signed up. Three others came a bit late and formed another group.

In addition, some were practicing martial arts, learning swordsmanship, and knife skills, making the most of their spare time.

Previously, there were group members who experienced life on a Pig Farm, learning about scientific feeding methods.

… What kind of game is “Doomsday Camp” exactly? Why does everyone seem so obsessed?

A hint of curiosity arose in Kang Zeyang’s mind.

He discreetly asked Han Jiaqing, “What sets ‘Doomsday Camp’ apart from other holographic online games?”

Han Jiaqing told him, “You can cut wood, mine, farm, and take odd jobs, or start from scratch to experience the joy of entrepreneurship. You can also team up for wilderness hunts and feel the thrill of being chased by high-level beasts.”

Kang Zeyang: ??

It didn’t sound like a serious game at all!

Kang Zeyang was full of resistance, but he couldn’t resist the addiction of the group’s youth discussing “Doomsday Camp” every day. It dominated the chat.

Finally, it was the day for code distribution.

Kang Zeyang couldn’t resist and grabbed one.

—He wanted to see for himself how fun this game really was and why so many people were so obsessed and addicted to it.

**

After completing the property transfer procedures, Yun Shan leaped to become a small landowner with sixteen plots of land. After designing, adjusting, and re-planning, the estate began to take shape.

After the adjustments—

The bamboo houses were placed close together, neatly arranged.

The cultivated land (vegetable garden) extended endlessly, as far as the eye could see.

The extra space was used for a courtyard, where Dahei could run and play freely.

Originally, the bamboo houses were meant to be demolished, but when the NPCs built the houses, they used a special technique that allowed the entire house to be moved. Yun Shan didn’t bother with the hassle and simply relocated them.

After the renovations, Yun Shan set aside time specifically to make snacks for Dahei.

Fragrant braised beef, crispy chicken slices, and extra chewy pig skin jerky, all exceptionally delicious to eat.

Dahei was engulfed in the delicious food, rolling around happily.

However, this time, it didn’t hide its beloved snacks anymore.

The harsh reality taught it that what it eats into its belly is truly its own, storing it away might lead to it being stolen.

Therefore, as soon as the food was in its possession, Dahei indulged in hearty eating, making its belly round and full.

Yun Shan took the opportunity to check Dahei’s physical condition. After a while, she smiled faintly, “The recovery is good. The previous injuries have all healed, and its mental state is much more stable.”

Seeing that it was still early, she called Dahei and went out for a walk together.

**

“Fried Spring Rolls, freshly baked spring rolls.”

“Sweet and chewy sweet pastries, delicious and affordable!”

“Sesame seed doughnuts, fried dough sticks, black sesame cakes, come and take a look at what you like.”

Walking on the street, Yun Shan clearly felt the rapid development of the food and beverage industry, with a wide variety of foods, leaving people dazzled.

Take spring rolls for example. There were several flavors of spring rolls, such as duck and savory filling, pork and cabbage savory filling, red bean sweet filling, and peanut sweet filling, each offering a unique taste.

As for the sweet pastries, they could be cut into small pieces and fried, steamed until soft, or eaten directly, each presenting a different texture.

As for the sesame seed doughnuts, they were coated with sesame on the outside, with glutinous rice inside, soft and chewy yet not sticky. Inside was the freshly fried dough stick, crispy to the bite. When combined, the unique taste made it a delight to savor.

Then there were the black sesame cakes and glutinous rice cakes, both made by grinding roasted sesame mixed with sugar and combining it with glutinous rice, resulting in pastry that was sweet, refreshing, soft, and chewy.

After finishing the duck and red bean spring rolls, Yun Shan turned to buy fried sweet pastries, then bought sesame seed doughnuts and glutinous rice cakes.

Even though her status panel showed:

Stamina: 87/100%            

Satiety: 100/100%

Even though her satiety had returned to full, she didn’t stop eating.

“Holographic online games are really great… being able to taste food, not getting full, and not having to worry about gaining weight,” Yun Shan sighed leisurely.

Beside her, Dahei was struggling to move after devouring the pork and cabbage spring rolls.

**

Mission Hall.

The room had quite a few new faces. They had gray names and wore coarse linen clothes, gathered in front of the bulletin board, some in contemplation, others swiftly comparing the cost-effectiveness of different professions.

Yun Shan stepped forward to check.

There were more new job recruitment notices on the left side.

【Farmer】

Workplace: Red Maple Farm.

Job Description: Clearing land/cultivating/caring for farmland.

Salary: 3 points/hour, paid daily.

Contact: Go to Red Maple Farm and look for NPC Captain Hao.

【Apprentice】

Workplace: Red Maple Farm.

Job Description: Feeding and caring for Black Striped Pigs.

Salary: 4 points/hour, paid weekly.

Requirements: Patience and friendliness, relevant work experience preferred.

Contact: Go to Red Maple Farm and look for NPC Ms. Hu.

Yun Shan thought, “My friends haven’t even completed their apprenticeships, and the NPCs have already opened a Farm. It’s a real shame. If I can get things done ahead of time, what’s there to fear about not making a fortune?”

Looking to the right, there were also many bounty quests.

【Buying Purple Grass】

Quantity: Unlimited

Reward: 4 points/plant

Requirements: Good quality

【Large-Scale Purchase of Black Striped Pigs】

Quantity: Unlimited

Reward: 1-500 points/each, depending on type, quality, and weight

Requirements: Live, disease-free.

【Buying Black Gold Ore】

Quantity: 20

Reward: 10 points/piece

Requirements: None

It had the flavor of an online game.

After taking a stroll, Yun Shan roughly grasped the game’s progression and then left with Dahei.

**

After the treatment ended, Lu Ming felt relieved for only a couple of days before he started to have headaches again.

“Where’s the medicine? Is it ready?” asked Lu Ming.

“Here it is,” Zuo Xin handed over the freshly brewed herbal soup. “My Lord, be careful, it’s hot.”

The Tranquilizing Soup was still a faint emerald green, clear and pure, without any impurities.

Lu Ming took a sip, remained silent, and furrowed his brow tightly.

“What’s wrong?” Zuo Xin couldn’t understand.

Lu Ming noticed something and asked, “Who brewed this herbal soup?”

“I did,” Zuo Xin replied honestly.

“Are you sure you followed all the steps correctly?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t be careless when making medicine for the Lord,” replied Zuo Xin.

Zuo Xing furrowed his brow, “Could it be the prescription from the Divine Doctor…”

“The prescription is fine,” Lu Ming set down the Tranquilizing Soup, “It tastes the same as the one I had before.”

“Then why hasn’t the Lord’s condition improved?” Zuo Xin was puzzled. “These past two days, your insomnia has returned.”

Lu Ming rubbed his brow, “The Tranquilizing Soup can alleviate symptoms, it’s just not very effective.”

“But at the Divine Doctor’s place, after the Lord took the medicine, he clearly slept for a long time…” It was the same prescription, and Zuo Xin didn’t understand why the effect was so different.

“That was made by her,” Lu Ming’s insight was clear, “Yun Shan suggested taking the medicine daily but advised against brewing it oneself, she must have an enhanced awakening ability.”

Zuo Xin, “…”

Having heard from Zuo Xin about the entire process of the Lord’s illness and treatment, Lu Ming was particularly speechless at this moment. “The doctor advised taking the medicine daily, why did you insist on brewing it yourself?”

Zuo Xin: “…I was afraid of causing trouble for the doctor.”

“Never mind. Prepare several rare herbs and deliver them yourself. Say that you’ll come to collect the medicine in the future,” Lu Ming instructed.

So, when Yun Shan returned home from her walk, Zuo Xin stood at the door, waiting for who knows how long.

“Why are you here?” she asked knowingly.

Zuo Xin smiled bitterly and handed her a brocade box, “Brewing medicine is such a delicate task, ordinary people can’t do it. Please, divine doctor, take care of this.”

Yun Shan didn’t make it difficult for him and simply said, “Remember to follow the doctor’s instructions in the future.”

**

Upon entering the game, Kang Zeyang first marveled at the game’s realism and high-quality scenery modeling as usual.

Then, he teamed up with the newcomers to venture into the wilderness to fight beasts. However, before they even spotted any beasts, he was struck on the back of his head by a heavy blow.

Kang Zeyang saw stars instantly.

As he fell to the ground, he focused his gaze and realized that the one who ambushed him was a two-star Crimson-bellied Pheasant.

“Brothers, attack together!”

The new players, unafraid as they were, surrounded the pheasant, attempting to use sheer numbers to their advantage.

—They were new to the game, completely ignorant of gaming conventions, not even aware that they only had one life.

Dying wouldn’t lead to revival at a respawn point, instead, it meant permanent deletion.

The two-star Crimson-bellied Pheasant showed a fierce glint in its eyes, pecking with flashes of white light, swiftly transitioning from “surrounded by players” to “actively hunting players”.

“Help, help—”

A gray-named player had just called for help, but the next second, they were gone.

Kang Zeyang was thoroughly alarmed.

He finally understood why his friends had all made plans to go to fitness classes and martial arts lessons after registering their accounts. In this situation, without some martial arts skills, they couldn’t cope.

Furthermore, having a strong body meant being able to escape faster than others, even in a life-threatening situation.

“Ahh, don’t chase me!”

Seeing another player in panic, running away in the direction away from the camp, the fierce two-star Crimson-bellied Pheasant chased after them.

With a swift movement, Kang Zeyang quietly got up and hurried back— the wilderness was too dangerous, and he didn’t want to stay there.

Hunting was a failure, but he still needed to earn points.

Kang Zeyang went to the mission hall, intending to take on a temporary job.

However…

Vegetable cutter: Basic knife skills required, stamina over 100, weekly salary.

Herbalist: Requires basic knowledge of medicinal properties, relevant work experience, weekly salary.

Apprentice: Requires relevant work experience in Farming, weekly salary.

After looking through all the recruitment notices, he found that he could only choose between two part-time jobs—either as a lumberjack or a farmer.

Interestingly, only these two jobs offered daily pay.

After all the effort to secure a registration code, was it all just to become a laborer in the game? Maybe quitting the game would be better.

Such thoughts crossed Kang Zeyang’s mind more than once.

But as he remembered being bullied by a chicken earlier, he felt an intense sense of resentment.

Hesitating for a moment, Kang Zeyang chose to become a farmer and cultivate the land.

To clear the land meant to develop uncultivated land and make it suitable for cultivation.

Kang Zeyang’s task was to prepare the land for farming by making it suitable for planting.

In fact, farming and caring for the fields were also options, but Kang Zeyang, being a rich second-generation, had never done farm work or cultivated land, so he could only work hard at clearing the land.

Four hours later.

Kang Zeyang was kicked out of the game.

【Today’s cumulative online time: 240 minutes (4 hours), has reached the limit.】

【For your health, further login is prohibited today.】

【Please, players, balance work and rest, and game moderately.】

Kang Zeyang spent an hour in the wilderness survival, followed by three hours of strenuous physical labor. After logging out, he didn’t even have the strength to curse.

At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind. What kind of nonsense game is this? How could anyone be so addicted to it? Does that group of people in the chat have a masochistic tendency?