I Built an Inn at the End of the World

Wild rabbits and chickens posed a threat—they'd mutated like the fierce wolves and boars, becoming dangerous and aggressive. Best to avoid them entirely.

As night fell quickly, Qian Zhenzhen lit makeshift torches from twigs, activated her watch's flashlight, and proceeded carefully.

She planned to stay awake all night and set up defenses after completing her exploration.

Four hundred meters north of the inn, she found a gravel beach with calm river water that rippled gently, casting misty gleams in the moonlight.

Finding a closer, stable water source—Complete (√)

The opposite bank showed flat, forested land. Reeds swayed by the water, their catkins drifting in the breeze, triggering her sneezes.

Though she could swim, she dared not enter the water.

Who knew if the fish had mutated? Becoming piranha food would make her the shortest-lived inn operator ever.

After resting briefly and eating by the riverside, she filled her wooden basin and bucket before moving on.

The inn's western side revealed quarry-ready exposed rock—useful for future gathering.

Upon returning to the cabin, she'd cleared three-quarters of the map's fog, leaving only the northern riverside unexplored.

Map fog area exploration—Temporarily concluded (-)

At four AM, Qian Zhenzhen noted the "Newbie Protection" buff would vanish by noon.

Eight hours remained—she had to use them well!

After a quick meal and wash-up, she set her alarm for five o'clock and napped briefly. At dawn, she began gathering trees, bamboo, stones, and soil, stockpiling everything possible.

She barely made it back to the cabin as the buff expired.

[You have lost the "Newbie Protection" buff, please be careful when outdoors!]

[As the inn's operator, attacks within the inn will not affect you.]

[Your inn can also be damaged (exempt during upgrades), please maintain and protect it promptly.]

Click.

Qian Zhenzhen secured the door latch, keeping the dangerous forest at bay.

In the kitchen, she lit the stove and heated disinfected river water in the built-in iron pot.

The basic conditions allowed only for a simple wash with soap and hot water, including her hair.

She scooped the remaining water into a wooden basin using a bamboo tube, diluted it, and soaked her tired feet.

Exhausted from days of intense work, she climbed to the loft without eating and fell asleep instantly.

She woke at six in the evening.

Her watch beeped as her stomach growled fiercely.

Hurrying downstairs, she found the business sign on the counter.

[Before opening for business, please name your inn!]

Another step to complete?

Her head ached—she was terrible at naming things!

Kai X Yue? X-lton? Maybe X Family or Han X Ting?

Or something straightforward like Money Coming, Lots of Money, Fortune Welcome, or Money's Place? Perhaps something more refined—Golden House?

Qian Zhenzhen scratched her head in frustration until finally pointing to name it "True Fragrance."

This idea had its origins. Both her parents had the surname Qian, and they used to always say: "Ah, only now with rising prices do we know how fragrant money is - you need money to buy houses and cars!"

They even joked, "If we'd known earlier, we would have named Zhenzhen 'True Fragrance,' how cute would that be! O(∩_∩)O Haha~"

They thought Y City was too small and remote, wanting to send her to develop in the Alliance's capital city. After she finally got accepted to university there, during the summer break before school started, the couple took out their life savings, planning to look at properties in the capital city and buy a new apartment in her name.

That day as they carried their luggage downstairs, Qian Zhenzhen noticed the keys left on the dining table and hurried to the window to call out: "Mom, Dad, wait! You forgot your keys!"

They rolled down the car window and waved: "We don't need them, you can let us in when we return. Remember to eat well while you're home alone!"

But a few days later, the apocalypse came, zombies broke out, cities fell one after another, and the Alliance collapsed.

Qian Zhenzhen held her phone day and night waiting, but there wasn't a single call or message.

Her parents who forgot their keys never made it back home.

...

18:18:18.

Prosperity, prosperity, prosperity.

Such an auspicious number - let's start the first business operation at this time!

Qian Zhenzhen opened the front door, timing it precisely, and hung up the business sign.

[Your inn is now open, congratulations on taking your first step in business!]

[You received 188 Koi Vouchers]

[You received 10 Fortune and Prosperity Vouchers]

[You've unlocked the lottery function!]

[Your inn is too dark, no customers will approach, quickly go to the voucher store to purchase lighting products!]

The inn had no water or electricity - previously Qian Zhenzhen had relied on outdoor bonfires and her watch's flashlight for lighting. To run an inn, she would indeed need things like candles and oil lamps for lighting, preferably solar-powered lighting fixtures.

Opening the voucher store, a dazzling array of goods appeared before her eyes, from small items like needles and buttons to large ones like passenger buses - almost everything needed for running an inn could be found there.

One pack of white candles (5 pieces) = 1 Koi Voucher

One handheld oil lamp = 1.5 Koi Vouchers (oil not included)

One set of small solar wall lamps (4 pieces) = 20 Koi Vouchers

One set of solar floor lamps (4 pieces) = 40 Koi Vouchers

These were still relatively cheap - the expensive ones were in the [Food], [Renovation], and [Armament] categories. First looking at [Food] - oh my god, these prices made even brave Zhenzhen feel daunted.

One egg = 2 Koi Vouchers

One jin of vegetables (varies by type) = 6~20 Koi Vouchers

One bottle of fresh milk (300ml) = 8 Koi Vouchers

One barrel of drinking water (5L) = 10 Koi Vouchers

One jin of pork = 40 Koi Vouchers

Yet a non-stick pot good for both stir-frying and soup-making with a lid only cost 10 Koi Vouchers!

And those big strawberries the system had originally rewarded her with were priced at 2 Koi Vouchers each in the store. That means 58 big strawberries =

The large strawberries that the system initially rewarded her with cost 2 Koi Vouchers each in the store. In other words, 58 large strawberries = 116 Koi Vouchers, about equivalent to three jin of pork.

Since completing her tasks until now, she had only accumulated 282 Koi Vouchers in total, enough to buy seven jin of pork.

Qian Zhenzhen slumped over the counter.

It seemed the prices in the voucher store were tied to her post-apocalyptic setting - all items that had become expensive and rare in reality were equally costly to obtain in the store.

At this rate, when would she ever achieve financial freedom in terms of meat, eggs, and dairy?

Qian Zhenzhen looked at the description of the Koi Vouchers:

[You can obtain these through inn management, completing tasks, recycling function, fortune pool, ??? and other means.]

She glanced at the walnuts she had collected yesterday.

[You recycled Walnut x1]

[You received Koi Voucher x0.001]

Qian Zhenzhen: ...

Fine then, 1000 walnuts for 1 Koi Voucher (1 pack of candles)? The labor cost alone for collecting so many is worth more than that!