All this money was saved up bit by bit by him through frugality, just so that one day he could leave this godforsaken place and move to the much better Giant Rock City.

But now...

He had a new plan for this “fortune.”

If you can be your own boss, why live under someone else’s roof?

“The ruins of the sanatorium above the shelter can be put to use, and the walls around the building are all concrete structures... If there are players to command, gathering some materials nearby and repairing it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“There’s a wetland park near the sanatorium, so collecting scrap metal won’t be easy, but the surrounding vegetation is fairly lush, so there shouldn’t be a shortage of fuel for heating. Besides that, wood can be used to repair buildings and make furniture... Axes! Right, I need to buy four axes.”

Leveling up by fighting monsters?

No way!

It’s already been said this is a 100% realistic hardcore game. Since it’s a hardcore game, you naturally have to start with the most basic work!

“Shovels and saws and other tools are also essential!” Even before the players have logged in, Brian Carter has already figured out how to assign their tasks.

Of course, besides work tools, the most crucial thing is food.

Once the cultivation pod is activated, it will immediately consume the active substances pre-stored inside to synthesize clones for the players to use.

And these clones need to eat!

Although when players are offline, the clones can lie in the cultivation pod and hibernate at a lower metabolic rate, they can’t just lie there forever.

People need to eat to live—that’s an eternal truth!

“At the very least, I need to stock enough food for five adults for a week... If it’s two meals a day, one wheat cake per meal, that’s 70 cakes.”

Wheat cakes are the most common food on Bett Street; you can get one for just 1 chip.

They’re about the size of a palm, probably mixed with tree bark or other fibers, making them very hard and rough, like dirt with sand in it, but they fill you up and provide a bit of salt.

Throw them in a pot to boil, and you can make a porridge.

Seventy cakes would cost 70 chips; even with bargaining, it would still be at least 60 chips. That would blow his budget.

Brian Carter frowned, but soon relaxed.

He’d just overcomplicated the problem.

There’s really no need for those players to eat too well.

If he swapped the wheat cakes for the raw ingredients—green wheat produced by the nearby farms—it would only cost 3 chips for a whole kilogram!

Stock up 5 kilograms, and that’s enough for a few days!

If it’s not enough, he could just do what the survivors on Bett Street do and mix in some tree bark or plant roots.

As for everything else, he’d figure it out later.

“For now, I’ll just prepare these things...”

Sweeping the allocated chips into his backpack, Brian Carter slung it back over his shoulder.

Even though he hadn’t slept all night, he was feeling incredibly energized, as if he’d rediscovered the meaning of life, with not a trace of sleepiness.

When he opened the door and stepped outside, he saw the little girl from next door crouched at the entrance of the neighboring shack, curiously watching his place.

Brian Carter knew her name was Emily Cooper, the youngest daughter of the Yu family.

Most survivors on the wasteland were sallow and skinny, and the Yu family’s youngest daughter was no exception. Her stick-thin arms and legs made it hard to believe she was already of marrying age.

When Brian Carter noticed her, she didn’t act shy. She walked out of the house.

“I heard some noise from your place, so I came to check.”

Every morning at dawn, the men of Bett Street would go out scavenging or hunting, while the elderly, women, and children usually stayed home to watch the house or do some work to earn money.

Even though everyone was dirt poor, barely scraping by with nothing to save and nothing worth stealing at home, nobody wanted someone to take advantage while they were out.

This man called Brian Carter was an outsider, usually leaving early and returning late, rarely interacting with the neighbors in the settlement.

She didn’t know much about him, just thought he didn’t look like someone who could endure hardship.

At first, everyone was wary of him, and her mother told her to keep an eye on this outsider.

But Xiaoyu didn’t think he was a bad person, because once, when he was making soup at his door, he gave her a bowl.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. When you go out, I can watch your house for you.” She blinked and cheerfully added, “I’m free anyway.”

Poor child.

If this were that other world, she’d still be in school at her age.

Not wanting to seem patronizing, Brian Carter hid the trace of pity in his eyes, pulled a lollipop from his pocket with a blank expression, and put it in the little girl’s hand.

“Here, eat this.”

“Don’t tell anyone I gave it to you.”

“Otherwise, there won’t be any more in the future.”

She had never seen this kind of food before.

Emily Cooper first bit into the wrapper, found she couldn’t bite through, and then realized the outer packaging needed to be torn open.

Her big, dark eyes stared at the red candy ball on the plastic stick. She carefully stuck out her tongue and gave it a gentle lick.