Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Transmigrated to the Apocalypse and Bound to a Mobile Lottery Store

[Leave Your Brain at the Door.]

[This story has no male lead!!]

"Who am I? Where am I? And where is this place?" Lily Hart stared blankly at the weed-choked, deserted street.

Five minutes ago, she was hit by a car while crossing the street. When she woke up, she was here.

The intersection looked a lot like the one where she’d been hit, but it was completely desolate, as if it had been uninhabited for a very long time.

Suddenly, a shadow emerged from around a corner. Her eyes lit up, and she waved excitedly.

"Hey—?" Her greeting died in her throat, instantly replaced by a scream. "AHHH—"

Lily Hart spun around and ran, trying to dispel her fear with a high-pitched shriek. "Oh, Mommy, why are there zombies here—"

[Volume detected exceeding one hundred decibels. Successfully binding Mobile Lottery Ticket Shop System.]

Lily Hart, wholly focused on running for her life, completely ignored the voice in her head as her adrenaline skyrocketed.

Then, an RV suddenly appeared up ahead. It was brand new, gleaming in the sunlight.

A zombie was in hot pursuit behind her. If its claws were any longer, they could have clawed right through the back of her head.

Lily Hart didn’t have time to think. She sped up, ran over, yanked the door open, leaped inside, and slammed it shut behind her.

The whole sequence was a single, fluid motion, as if she had rehearsed it a thousand times.

She plopped down on the floor and began to pant, muttering over and over, "Too real... too intense... This can’t be the real world, can it..."

’She didn’t get it. If getting hit by a car was supposed to get her reincarnated, she should have become the heir to some mega-fortune. What was she doing here?!’

[Host, welcome to the Mobile Lottery Ticket Shop. Your mission is to carry forward the shop’s legacy, opening a branch in every base! Current progress: (0/1128)]

[A ten-meter radius around you is an absolute safe zone, so no need to worry about zombies~ The shop has a wide variety of tickets, all scratch-and-win, redeemable on the spot~]

’Lottery tickets? Like scratch-offs?’

Lily Hart was just an ordinary girl. Whenever she went to the mall, playing scratch-offs was a must, though most of the time she was just making a donation to the lottery commission.

But hey, who didn’t dream of getting rich overnight?

She scrambled to her feet and asked, bewildered, "You’re my system? And this is a mobile lottery shop?"

The next moment, a screen of light materialized in front of Lily Hart, displaying an introduction to this world.

After reading it, she felt her world come crashing down. It was the tenth year of the apocalypse. Resources were scarce, and civilization had collapsed.

There were over a thousand bases within Cathaya, with Central Command as the leader, followed by a host of smaller bases.

Here, there was nothing to eat, no decent sleep, and the constant risk of death. On top of that, you had to deal with the deception and backstabbing of other humans...

’So... my purpose for being here is to sell lottery tickets? That’s ridiculous.’

’I wish a car would hit me again. I’m not asking for much, just send me back to my own world.’

After a long time, Lily Hart resigned herself to her fate...

She had always been adaptable. Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. It’s not like she could just kill herself.

Having adapted well, Lily Hart began to explore the RV.

It was, how to put it... a case of "small but missing a few vital organs." There was a solitary driver’s seat, a bed at the back of the cabin, and a tiny bathroom.

And... and... that was it. Nothing else. The space wasn’t very big, either.

Lily Hart couldn’t help but demand, "Where are the lottery tickets? I want scratch-offs!"

’Don’t ask. Let’s just say the addiction is strong.’

Even the system was stunned. It had expected her to complain about how crude the setup was. It never imagined she’d be such a model host, with her mind set only on scratch-offs.

[Host, please proceed to the right of the vehicle’s door.]

Lily Hart went over and found a smart control panel on the wall to the right of the door.

Relying on her years of experience with smartphones, she tinkered with it for a while and discovered the panel could control the entire vehicle.

She pressed a button, and a section in the middle of the RV’s right side simply vanished, as if a window had appeared out of thin air.

A counter extended out horizontally from the bottom of the opening, with an awning on top. It reminded her of an ice cream truck.

Lily Hart rushed over, her excitement palpable. "Where are the tickets?" she asked impatiently.

The screen of light appeared before her again. It was a shop. In the top-right corner was her profile picture, and next to it, a number: 100.

[Host, these are your initial points. You can use them to purchase everything you need. Of course, you will enjoy an employee discount.]

Lily Hart was speechless. ’What can you even buy with a hundred points these days?’

"Are you saying I have to stock the lottery tickets myself? And then sell them?" Lily Hart couldn’t help but raise her voice, baffled.

[That is correct, Host. Furthermore, you are currently Level 1, so your daily spending in the shop cannot exceed one hundred points~ We look forward to your upgrade~] The system’s tone was not the least bit apologetic; in fact, it sounded perfectly self-righteous.

Lily Hart huffily scrolled through the shop and went to the lottery ticket category. ’I’d like to see just how many scratch-offs I can buy with a hundred points.’

’I’m buying them all! I’m not going to eat! I’m not going to drink! I’ll wake up and just start scratching.’

She discovered that many of the categories in the shop were grayed out and unclickable. Only the scratch-off category shimmered, as if trying to entice her.

The prices were so low she started to question reality. A booklet of scratch-offs called "Big 7," containing 20 tickets, sold for a mere 2 points.

’Well, I guess I do need to eat and drink after all.’

She ordered five booklets of "Big 7" in one go, spending 10 points.

Then she ordered another five booklets of "lucky charm" scratch-offs, spending another 10 points.

’Today’s goal: sell them all!’

Suddenly, Lily Hart remembered something. "Can people still use dollars in this apocalypse?"

In the information she had just read, the currency of the apocalypse had been replaced by Crystal Cores. Dollars were only good for wiping your mouth.

[You cannot, Host.]

That made Lily Hart curious. ’So what do you win from scratching them? It can’t be Crystal Cores, can it?’

"Can I scratch one?" Lily Hart asked expectantly. Her hands were already itching just looking at the familiar scratch-off tickets.

[You cannot, Host.]

"You cold, heartless shrew!" Lily Hart cursed.

The shop owner wasn’t allowed to play, so all she could do was wait for customers. She took out the ten booklets of scratch-offs she had just ordered and arranged them neatly on the counter.

Then she propped her chin on her hands and zoned out again, silently cursing the system. ’Fucking hell, there isn’t even a stool? You expect me to stand here and sell all day?!’

System: ’You have points and you don’t buy one! And you blame me! Women!’

After a long time, just as Lily Hart was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard the gasping of a zombie near her ear.

Her eyes snapped open. A zombie stood ten meters away. It seemed particularly interested in the area but was unable to enter, no matter how it tried.

"Let it in," Lily Hart said, her spirits lifting.

A white light flashed. The ten-meter safe zone was temporarily deactivated. But as long as she remained inside the RV, she was the absolute ruler of this domain.

The zombie, looking dazed, shambled in with its head lolling about. Lily Hart could barely stand to look at it.

It was missing an eyeball, its entire right hand had been severed, and it walked with a pronounced limp.

The zombies in this world weren’t actually that terrifying. They just seemed to be infected humans who had lost their sanity and become bloodthirsty.

"Hey?" Lily Hart greeted him enthusiastically. ’A customer is a customer, after all.’

She had a bright and striking face, the kind that grows on you. She looked for all the world like someone destined for big business.

The zombie tilted its head in confusion, then slowly shook it. It didn’t understand a single thing.

Lily Hart hurriedly opened the shop, found the language tab, and discovered... there was actually a Zombie language?! ’How incredible!’