Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Pork and Cabbage Dumplings

They’d heard the rations would be cut again next year. How were ordinary people supposed to survive?!

A silent, mutual understanding instantly formed between the three of them. They would seize this RV! Make it their own! And the water inside would be theirs!

Lily Hart was oblivious to their intentions. All she knew was that when customers arrived, she had to give them a warm welcome.

"Hi, care for a scratch-off?" A warm, brilliant smile spread across Lily Hart’s face as she greeted the three stone-faced figures approaching her, their faces dark and grim.

The contrast was jarring: Lily Hart, standing inside the RV, fair-skinned, radiant, and brimming with vitality, versus the three survivors outside, dressed in tattered rags, gaunt and sun-darkened.

The longer the three of them watched, the more their jealousy grew, and a deep-seated fear began to take root. How could a woman who looked barely out of her teens be living so well in the apocalypse?

’She must be incredibly powerful!’

The desire to take the RV for themselves was temporarily suppressed.

The woman among the three spoke first. "Scratch-offs? What can you win? Solid currency? Or... dollars?" Her voice was hoarse, raspy from a throat that had long gone without relief.

Lily Hart’s eyes lit up as she launched into an enthusiastic sales pitch. "Who even uses dollars these days? Of course not! You can win all sorts of things: weapons, food, daily necessities... and even Crystal Cores~"

She added with a flourish, "If you can think of it, you can win it!"

The woman’s face lit up with surprise. "Food? Really? I have to try!!" She hadn’t eaten a proper meal all month and had long since forgotten what it felt like to be full.

Lily Hart immediately chirped, "One Crystal Core per ticket~"

"That’s too expensive! Do you have any idea how hard it is for us to kill a single zombie? Can you even guarantee that every ticket wins a prize?" the woman asked, her tone a mixture of hesitation and accusation.

Still, she thought, this shopkeeper seemed pretty easy to get along with—not like the high-and-mighty Base Commanders who looked down on everyone.

Lily Hart paused to think, then said earnestly, "I can’t guarantee every ticket’s a winner. You know what they say: take a chance, and your bicycle might become a motorcycle! If you don’t even take the chance, you won’t even have the bicycle!"

In reality, she was asking her System on the spot.

’She has a point...’ she thought. ’It’s been ten years since the apocalypse started. Who doesn’t have a few savings by now!’

As if retrieving a precious treasure, the woman pulled a gray Crystal Core from within her clothes. It resembled a diamond, but it didn’t sparkle, and it certainly wasn’t forever.

Lily Hart took it and tossed it into the Lucky Cat’s mouth. Its eyes immediately began to spin rapidly. When they stopped, a number appeared: 50.

At the same time, the Lucky Cat opened its mouth and let out a little MEOW~, as if speaking in some feline tongue: "Luna Corbin, 50 points..."

’Ah... so one Crystal Core is worth 50 points?’ A general concept formed in Lily Hart’s mind.

Just then, the System’s voice rang out. [Congratulations, Host, on selling your first scratch-off ticket.]

Lily Hart waited for it to continue, but when it didn’t, she asked impatiently, "And my reward?"

The System replied with shameless audacity: [The points.]

Lily Hart cursed under her breath, "Damn it, I earned those myself! You useless System!"

"I’ll take one of those ’Big 7’ tickets," Luna Corbin said, pointing to a stack of scratch-offs on the left. She simply liked the look of them.

"You got it." Snapping back to the present, Lily Hart tore a ticket from a booklet, handed it over along with a small golden scraper, and said, "Use this to scratch it!"

Luna Corbin seemed to have never seen one before. She leaned over the counter to study it, and the two men with her huddled closer, their curiosity piqued.

Lily Hart pointed. "That’s the scratch-off film. Scrape it away. There’s a treasure hidden underneath~"

Brimming with excitement, Luna Corbin started scraping with the little golden tool. The film didn’t cover the entire ticket, just a rectangular area at the bottom; the rest of the card was covered in instructions and cartoon graphics.

She carefully scraped away a corner, revealing a few faint words: Thank you for your patronage...

A chill went through her heart, but she didn’t give up. She kept scraping sideways until an entire row of "Thank you for your patronage" was revealed.

The two men couldn’t contain themselves and started jeering. "Ooooh! Thank you for your patronage! Thank you for your patronage!"

Luna Corbin didn’t hold back, landing a punch on each of their foreheads. The force sent their upper bodies reeling, and they stumbled back a few steps before regaining their balance.

They were furious but dared not say a word.

Lily Hart watched, completely baffled. She’d assumed they were ride-or-die companions, depending on each other to survive the apocalypse. Who knew their relationship was... this amusing.

Luna Corbin started on the next row. Another line of "Thank you for your patronage." She couldn’t help but glance up at Lily Hart. ’Is she just trying to scam me out of my Crystal Core?’

She immediately dismissed the thought. ’No, she has a brand-new RV. I even saw a bathroom through the crack in the door—it was spotless. That means she definitely has water!’

With a sliver of doubt still lingering, she continued to scratch. Finally, at the very end, she uncovered the image of a dumpling.

But the apocalypse had raged for so long that dumplings had faded into the mists of history. She pointed to the image and asked, "Shopkeeper, what is this?"

Lily Hart glanced over and blurted out, "A dumpling. What kind of filling do you want?"

Seeing the utterly baffled looks on their faces, she made an executive decision. ’Pork and cabbage it is, and a large portion at that! She’s my first customer, after all. I should treat her well. She might even come back.’

She stuffed the scratch-off ticket into the cat’s mouth. The Lucky Cat let out a few soft meows, making Lily Hart’s fingers itch with the desire to pet it, but its back was as smooth as a waterslide...

In no time, a plate of steaming hot dumplings appeared on the counter. There were about twenty in total.

Each one was plump and chubby, with a wrapper so translucent you could almost see the pinkish meat filling inside. The aroma alone was an assault on their senses.

Luna Corbin’s eyes were glued to the plate. The sight of the rising steam alone was enough to make her swallow uncontrollably. "Are... are those for me?" she asked, her voice trembling with anticipation.

Lily Hart pushed the plate toward her, added a pair of chopsticks, and declared firmly, "Yours! They’re all yours!"

"How can you eat dumplings without dipping sauce? Let’s get some sauce!" With a snap of her fingers, Lily Hart produced a small dish of chili and vinegar dipping sauce, which appeared before them.

Luna Corbin was completely overwhelmed. Under the envious, jealous, and hateful glares of the two men, she picked up a dumpling and shakily brought it to her lips.

The flavor was overwhelming. First came the perfectly chewy wrapper, then the generous filling—so much meat there was barely any cabbage to be found. As she bit down, savory juices exploded in her mouth, mingling with the rich aroma of pork.

In that instant, tears streamed down Luna Corbin’s face. She was crying from pure, unadulterated deliciousness.

It had been far too long since she’d tasted anything so wonderful. The look she now gave Lily Hart was filled with pure adoration.

One of the men, swallowing hard for what felt like the fourth time, finally lost his restraint. He reached out to snatch a dumpling, but the moment his hand touched the plate, he was flung ten meters through the air.

The others watched as his body sailed through the air before landing with a heavy, sickening THUD.

Lily Hart flashed Luna Corbin a friendly smile. "Don’t worry, you can keep eating. This establishment guarantees the safety and rights of its patrons."

Reassured, Luna Corbin shot a smug, triumphant glance at the other man, who was staring daggers at her, and then continued to devour her meal.

Tears streamed down her face as she ate. "It’s so, so good," she sobbed. "This is my first time eating dumplings since the apocalypse began. This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted!"

She was scarfing them down so fast that Lily Hart, worried she might choke, turned and poured her a glass of water.

Luna and the other man froze. Even the one who had been flung away, now struggling to his feet just to get a whiff of the food, was stunned into silence.

In unison, their voices trembling with excitement, they cried out, "Water! It’s water!"

Lily Hart quickly explained, "That’s right, it’s water. It’s not poisoned. Go ahead and drink."