Apocalypse Arrives: I Become a Powerhouse by Scavenging
Chapter 13: Continuing to Stockpile

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Continuing to Stockpile

Moira Lynch thought, ’...What a lame excuse.’

Everyone chosen by the game was currently running a fever from their talent awakening, so the reason these people were at her door was blatantly obvious.

Moira Lynch didn’t want to expose her identity. She was just an ordinary person without the courage or ability to save the world. All she wanted was to live a quiet life of her own. Of course, she was willing to help where she could, but only on the condition that her own safety was guaranteed.

As for revealing her identity, she couldn’t do it—at least, not yet. Her secret was too big, and she wouldn’t expose it until she had the ability to protect herself.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her country; it was that everyone has their own selfish side.

"Oh, is that so? Go ahead and check, then."

With a nonchalant expression, Moira Lynch let them take her temperature with the scanner.

Just over thirty-seven degrees. She didn’t have a fever.

A flicker of disappointment passed through the eyes of the two people standing behind the property manager.

One of them glanced inside the apartment. He saw a mountain of flattened delivery boxes and merchandise scattered everywhere. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the swimming pool that took up half the living room.

"Why did you order so many things?" the man asked.

"I just moved in, so I had to buy a lot of new things," Moira Lynch explained nonchalantly.

The property manager quickly confirmed her story.

"Is there anything else? The weather has finally cooled down a bit, and I need to go buy supplies." As she spoke, Moira Lynch put on an anxious expression.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual about her, the group left to knock on the next door.

Moira Lynch, for her part, hopped on her electric scooter and sped off toward the nearest supermarket.

Along the way, Moira Lynch regretted for the hundredth time not getting her driver’s license. She’d thought it was too expensive back then, and now she was stuck zipping around on an electric scooter.

The supermarket was an absolute madhouse, with people packed shoulder to shoulder. Most of them were crowded into the food and frozen-goods aisles.

Moira Lynch didn’t join the fray. Instead, she found an employee and asked about home delivery. After all, most people had driven there, but she had come on her scooter. It would be impossible for her to haul everything back on her own.

The employee politely informed her that they could, but their delivery fee was a "little" steep.

Moira Lynch said that was no problem.

She then headed to the beverage aisle and bought all her favorite drinks. Next was the frozen section. The frozen meals were already sold out, but hardly anyone was buying ice cream and popsicles. Perfect. She’d take them all.

She also bought out their entire stock of foldable swimming pools. In addition to the large, family-sized ones like she had before, Moira Lynch found some smaller ones, likely for children. She bought every last one.

Then she saw the brand-new fitness equipment. She hadn’t thought to stock up on that before. ’The game will definitely require physical fitness,’ she thought. ’Buy it!’

Moira Lynch then bought some household items and seasonings before finally finishing her shopping for the day.

"Um, aren’t you buying any staple foods?" the clerk taking her order couldn’t help but ask.

It would have made sense if she couldn’t afford it, but judging by the way the young woman had been shopping, she clearly wasn’t short on cash. Her purchases had already exceeded 300,000.

The professional-grade fitness equipment alone cost over a hundred thousand.

Moira Lynch glanced at the food section, where the crowd was growing even thicker, and said flatly, "I can’t fight those people for it."

The clerk was speechless. ’...That’s a fair point.’

The ferocity of those middle-aged shoppers was legendary. This slender young woman with her thin arms and legs truly didn’t stand a chance.

After leaving her address for the delivery, Moira Lynch didn’t go home. Instead, she took advantage of the cooler weather and headed toward the city center, where there were two more large supermarkets.

At each of the two supermarkets, Moira Lynch confirmed they offered home delivery and then proceeded to clean out every section except for the food aisles.

On her way, she passed the pet store she’d visited before and remembered she still needed to stock up on food for her fur babies at home.

She had already bought a fair amount, but with so many pets, they went through it quickly.

She called a pet food manufacturer directly and ordered a large batch of dog food, cat food, and various other pet supplies.

The person on the other end of the line asked why she was buying so much. After all, if she only had a cat or two, she wouldn’t need to buy nearly that much.

Besides, in times like these, if the temperature kept rising, people themselves might not survive. Who would still be worried about pets?

Therefore, the manufacturer found Moira Lynch’s behavior highly suspicious.

"To eat, of course," she said. "I can’t get my hands on regular food, so I have to get creative. Dog food and cat food are still food, right? Humans can eat it. This stuff is all professionally formulated for cats and dogs; the ingredients are probably better quality than what people eat."

The more she talked, the more Moira Lynch convinced herself. She immediately added another batch to her order.

The person on the other end seemed stunned by her answer. After a long silence, they finally said slowly, "Alright, we understand. Your order will be delivered as soon as possible."

Satisfied, Moira Lynch hung up and headed into the pet store.

Inside, she bought seven or eight sled dogs: Alaskan Malamutes, Huskies, and Samoyeds—the so-called "three stooges of the sled dog world."

Of course, Moira Lynch wasn’t buying them for their looks. She genuinely intended to train them to pull a sled. She had no idea if she would ever need them, but it was better to be prepared, just in case.

Leaving the clerk staring in shock, Moira Lynch rode off on her electric scooter. The dogs, of course, would be delivered.

By the time she got home, everything she had bought that day had already been delivered.

Moira Lynch directed the delivery workers to move everything inside. Only after they had left did she transfer all the items into her storage space.

She put the "three stooges" into her space as well. As sled dogs, even the nighttime temperatures were torturous for them.

After a short rest, Moira Lynch assembled one of the new pools she’d bought. She stored the original, water-filled pool in her space, then turned on the tap to start filling the new one.

Once that was done, Moira Lynch didn’t rest. She took out a piece of paper to map out a schedule for herself. ’An early start makes for a productive day,’ she mused. Mornings, when her mind was sharpest, would be for studying the interstellar language. Afternoons would be for working out—since she’d bought all that fitness equipment, she couldn’t let it go to waste. Evenings, when the temperature dropped, would be for going out to buy more supplies.

Based on today’s events, Moira Lynch had a feeling the government was on the verge of making its move. The only reason they hadn’t yet was because things hadn’t descended into total chaos. Intervening rashly would only intensify public fear.

’They seem to be waiting for the right moment,’ she thought. ’Are they waiting for the players to successfully awaken their talents?’

Moira Lynch shook her head. ’Forget it. No point thinking about it. It has nothing to do with me, anyway.’