Chương 42: The First Foundation Stone

"Time limit: thirty days."

"Failure penalty: one resource previously converted to unlimited supply will be reclaimed."

"Completion reward: the host may select another existing resource inside the convenience store and convert it to unlimited supply." The system paused. When it spoke again, there was an unusual hint of helplessness in its voice.

"Task completion detected."

"Task reward unlocked. Please select one existing resource inside the convenience store and convert it to unlimited supply." Jack froze. He quickly asked, "LOSS, what exactly is this hidden task? And how did I complete it before I even knew it existed?" For once, the system had no immediate answer. Just as Jack was about to ask again, it finally said, "Human, would you believe this system if it told you it had no idea?"

"Would you believe me if I said I believed you?"

"This system truly does not know," LOSS replied, sounding unusually irritated.

"Believe whatever you want." That only made Jack more suspicious.

"This reward isn't going to come back and bite me later, is it?" LOSS ignored him.

"Task reward unlocked. Please select one existing resource inside the convenience store and convert it into an unlimited supply." Jack waited, but the system clearly had no intention of explaining further.

"Fine. I'll choose after I've thought it over." This time, LOSS was the one left speechless. What neither of them realized was that the hidden tasks did not come from any process LOSS recognized. They were generated by a separate mechanism beyond the system's own awareness. That mechanism judged Jack by the consequences of his actions. Whenever something he did benefited not only himself but also the people or environment around him, a hidden task could be triggered.

Sometimes, however, the task appeared only after Jack had already fulfilled its conditions without realizing it. When that happened, LOSS received nothing more than a completed task—and a reward ready to be claimed. Cass had been watching Jack stand there in silence, his expression shifting from confusion to suspicion and then frustration. Finally, he waved a hand in front of Jack's face.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Jack came back to himself.

"Nothing. I just remembered there was something I hadn't done, but now I can't remember what it was." Cass accepted the excuse and nodded toward the distance.

"Elias and Reed have already left for the settlement. Marlin's gone too." Jack looked over and saw the three figures far off in the distance. He returned to the shade with Cass and sat down, turning his attention to the reward he had yet to choose. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. With the settlement preparing to move here, he needed to know what they were still lacking.

"How do you all live over there?" Jack asked. Cass looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean where everyone sleeps. Do you all stay in one place, or does each person have a room?" That made Cass laugh.

"Rooms? Our settlement isn't big enough for anything like that. Everyone just finds whatever scraps they can use as dividers. Once you block off a small corner, that becomes your sleeping area."

"So everyone has their own space?"

"More or less," Cass said.

"It isn't much, but at least you don't have to sleep with everyone staring at you. Ava is the only exception. She's still young, so she sleeps beside Vane." Jack tried to picture the arrangement.

"What about a common area? Somewhere everyone can sit or gather?"

"We don't have one. There isn't enough room." Cass gestured as he explained.

"The sleeping areas are divided along both sides, and there's a narrow path through the middle. Most of the supplies are stored at the very back. If too many people move around at once, the whole place feels crowded." Jack nodded slowly.

"And the toilet?" Cass gave him a strange look.

"What toilet?"

"You don't have one?"

"You find somewhere outside the settlement and take care of it there. Just don't go too close."

"Not only that," Vane added from nearby.

"You have to check the wind direction first." Jack took a moment to understand. Cass nodded seriously.

"If you choose the wrong spot, the smell blows straight back into the settlement. Everyone will curse you for the rest of the day." Jack quickly changed the subject.

"Does anyone know how to cook?" Susan and Ray had just come out of the store after finishing their work.

"Marg says she can," Susan said.

"But I've never actually seen her cook."

"She never had anything to cook," Cass added with a shrug.

"We barely had food worth putting in a pot, so whether she knew how didn't make much difference." Everyone laughed. From everything he had heard, Jack could roughly picture the settlement now: a cramped shelter divided into small sleeping spaces, with barely enough room left for a narrow path through the middle. Supplies were piled at the back, there was nowhere for everyone to gather, and even cooking had become pointless when there was almost nothing to put in a pot.

It was enough to keep people alive, but not much more than that. With Elias and the others preparing to move here, Jack could not simply give them another crowded space and expect them to live the same way. They would need proper places to sleep, somewhere to cook, and at least a few basic facilities. The conversation had also helped him narrow down what kind of resource he should choose for his reward. Cass looked at him.

"Why are you asking all this?"

"Because once everyone moves here, you can't keep living behind piles of random scrap," Jack said.

"You can use tents for now, but if the sun-dried bricks work, we might eventually be able to build proper houses." Cass stared at him.

"Houses?" Vane, Susan, and Ray all turned toward Jack. Even Mort stopped working on the wooden mold and looked over. Jack laughed.

"It's too early to make any promises. We don't even know whether the bricks will dry without cracking. But one thing is certain—your living conditions need to improve." He looked toward Mort.

"So whether anyone gets a real house may depend on you. You don't want to spend the rest of your life sleeping in a shack either, do you?"

"What does that have to do with—" Mort stopped and looked at him again.

"Wait. I'd get to live in one too?"

"Of course," Jack said.

"I'm making you work, not sentencing you to sleep outside forever." Mort remained still for a moment, then nodded firmly.

"I'll make those bricks work." He immediately returned to the mold, working with far more energy than before. Jack watched him for a moment.

"Did I motivate him too much?"

"Maybe a little," Cass said solemnly. After working for a short while, Mort looked back, somewhat embarrassed.

"Can I have some water?" Jack froze, then slapped his forehead.

"Right. Sorry, I forgot." He grabbed a bottle of water from the nearby supplies and tossed it over. Mort caught it and stared at Jack for a moment, as if the apology surprised him more than the water. Then he twisted the cap open, drank several mouthfuls, and returned to the mold with even more energy than before. Mort had barely returned to the mold when a sharp cry rang out from the Dustchuck burrows. Everyone beneath the tent immediately turned toward the sound.

Cass's smile vanished, Vane reached for his weapon, and Mort stopped working. At almost the same moment, the system warned Jack:"Human, an approaching mutant carnivorous feline has been detected."

"Target count: one."

"Estimated time until entry into convenience store range: fifteen minutes."