Chapter 22: Recruiting Employees for the Game World!

Chapter 22: Recruiting Employees in the Game World!

"Don't look at me like that; I'm not an idiot!" Lu Feng, seemingly guessing the thoughts behind the female NPC's gaze, explained, "Food doesn't mean much to me, but I am in great need of other things—gold, jewelry, technology, and so on."

He didn't care about revealing certain things; after all, he could exit the game at any moment.

Lin Jiao fell silent upon hearing this, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, she asked, "Then what kind of salary are you offering me?"

She had come to terms with the situation: she was on the verge of starvation, and survival was the only thing that mattered. Though she didn't know what this "ability user" wanted with gold and such, he clearly had no intention of explaining, and she wasn't about to press him.

Lu Feng countered with his own question: "What kind of salary do you want?"

Clearly, he wasn't familiar with the wage standards of this world. He only knew what he had gathered from the game's official lore, but background data didn't necessarily reflect the reality of this world.

Lin Jiao suddenly gave a charming laugh. "Respected sir, if you can provide me with two full meals a day, I shall become your most loyal subordinate."

Lu Feng laughed at this. "Then let's make it three full meals, plus a midnight snack. I'm not the type to mistreat my subordinates."

Two full meals a day? It was as if she thought he couldn't afford a proper wage.

Lin Jiao was stunned. She asked uncertainly, "Are you serious?"

In this world, a job providing two full meals a day was incredibly hard to find. Even then, the quality of those meals was usually poor, and one would likely have to join a faction like the City East Alliance to even have a chance at them. Yet, this man was offering an extra meal on top of that, plus a midnight snack. Such extravagance was likely reserved only for the so-called nobles holding core power within the City East Alliance.

"Naturally." Lu Feng smiled and tossed the bag of cola and egg yolk pies he had brought with him to the beautiful female NPC.

Three meals a day plus a midnight snack—at his world's low prices, it wouldn't even cost fifty yuan. The tea from the Qingfeng Tea House headquarters cost 7,500 yuan a box; selling just one could keep this wandering NPC working for him for over 150 days.

Lin Jiao instinctively caught the bag of food. Overcome by hunger, she didn't overthink it; she immediately tore open an egg yolk pie and began to eat. To her, the food was real, and nothing else seemed to matter.

"By the way, my surname is Lu. I'm Lu Feng," he added. "Since I'm the boss now, I should know the names of my employees."

"Lin Jiao!" she replied, looking up before immediately grabbing a can of cola and gulping it down. Honestly, cola was delicious—she couldn't remember the last time she’d had any, and it was magically chilled, too.

"Lin Jiao, tell me about this department store. Are there others here?" Lu Feng asked, curious. "Earlier, there was that screeching sound, and your expression changed. What made that noise?"

He was certain that in a department store of this size, there must be gold and jewelry shops. But first, he needed to understand the current situation.

Lin Jiao nodded and explained, "There are others, but after being trapped here so long, most are likely dead. A month ago, rumors spread from the City East Alliance that there was plenty of food in the department store's warehouse. Many came, but the warehouse had long been picked clean."

"Moreover, there were four mutated beasts inside. Those things are terrifying. A battle broke out immediately; most people exhausted all their ammunition just to take down one. When they tried to flee, the fighting attracted all the zombies from the surrounding area, and the ones inside the store were awakened as well."

"Now, the building is crawling with zombies, and the area outside is just as dense with them. So, everyone had to retreat into the building and got trapped. That screeching sound? Someone definitely got caught by a mutated beast. You can imagine their fate."

Lu Feng listened, finally understanding the situation. The department store was currently a dead end; to get out, he would have to deal with the remaining three mutated beasts. He had no idea what kind of creatures they were, so he would have to plan carefully. However, the fact that many people had exhausted their ammo just to kill one was a clear sign of their lethality.

Lu Feng thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any other people trapped in here that I could hire?"

Lin Jiao nodded. "I know one—a brute with immense strength. I was injured by him while fighting over a bucket of purified water. I have no idea where he gets that kind of power."

"Can you find him?" Lu Feng asked immediately. Before knowing about the mutated beasts, he had thought he would just be dealing with zombies, but now he knew he would need help.

Lin Jiao nodded. "Yes, but I can't guarantee anything else."

"Find him first." Lu Feng then chatted with Lin Jiao to gauge the time and learned it was the year 2093. This was over 70 years after his own time. The game's background information hadn't been specific, but now he knew. From Lin Jiao, he also learned that human technology had advanced rapidly over those 70 years. After the apocalypse began, the government had launched immigrant ships into deep space, carrying the hope of humanity away from the planet. That explained the futuristic signage in the department store.

As for why the apocalypse started, even Lin Jiao didn't know. After the collapse, the government had vanished so quickly that no one was left to investigate.

"I don't know where he's hiding in the building right now, but I'll find him as soon as I can." After eating and drinking her fill, Lin Jiao packed away the remaining cola and pies and headed out of the tea shop. She hadn't forgotten Lu Feng's request.

Seeing this, Lu Feng didn't wait around. With a thought, he returned to his apartment.

[Foreign substances cleared!]

...

Early the next morning, when Lu Feng woke up, he noticed the anomaly in the game world. Lin Jiao had returned to the Qingfeng Tea House, and standing behind her was a muscular man holding a giant axe. They were standing in a standoff, both guarding against the other.

He realized this must be the man Lin Jiao mentioned. He quickly got up, left his apartment, and headed to a nearby area to go on a shopping spree. He bought several large bags of bulk bread.

Inside the game world, in the Qingfeng Tea House, Lin Jiao looked nervous, assuming the muscular man was eyeing the cola and egg yolk pies in her hands.

The muscular man frowned and said, "Woman, where is this boss you spoke of? You better not be lying to me. If you are, you'd better split that food in your hands with me, or this won't end well."

"He will appear," Lin Jiao said, though she was anxious. She didn't know when he would show up, and if this guy lost his patience, she was no match for him.

Just then, a voice rang out: "Lin Jiao, it seems you've brought the man."

Lin Jiao looked at Lu Feng, finally letting out a breath of relief.

The muscular man also looked at Lu Feng, frowning as he asked, "Are you the one who wants to hire me?"

"It seems Lin Jiao has already filled you in," Lu Feng said, tossing the bag of bread and egg yolk pies at the man's feet. "Is this enough?"

The man instinctively looked at the bag; the sight of the bread and pies inside made his eyes widen. "It seems like Lin Jiao was right—you really do have a lot of food. But if I just take this, it becomes mine. I don't necessarily have to work for you."

Lu Feng didn't say a word. With a thought, he vanished from the spot. This shocked the muscular man. A moment later, Lu Feng reappeared, holding two more bags filled with bread and pies, and tossed them at the man's feet as well.

"Is that enough?" Lu Feng asked again.

"Boss, my name is Xu Bin!" the man replied decisively, his eyes fixed on the two additional bags.

He sat down immediately, tore into a piece of bread, and began to devour it, followed by a second, third, and fourth. Clearly, he was famished, and the feeling of being able to eat without restraint was pure bliss. At that moment, he decided that having a boss to provide for him didn't seem so bad after all.

Xu Bin didn't forget to ask, "Boss, I'm not a freeloader. If you have any orders, just say the word."

Lu Feng smiled; at least the man had a sense of integrity. "I do have orders. You and Lin Jiao go and scout the department store. Find out how many gold shops, jewelry stores, and similar shops are still here."