Chapter 5: Serene Ranch 1
The next day, Moira Lynch was woken up by the heat. The temperature was even higher than yesterday.
The cats and dogs she had brought back the day before were sprawled listlessly on the living room floor, having lost all their previous energy.
Seeing this, Moira Lynch simply put them all into her space.
She glanced at the swimming pool. It was already full.
She stored the full pool in her space, then took out a new one and started filling it.
Moira Lynch didn’t plan on going out today; it was just too hot. But while she could stay indoors, she couldn’t stop stockpiling supplies.
Moira Lynch held her phone, placing one order after another. In front of her, several tablets were running furiously.
Remembering that her cooking skills weren’t great, Moira Lynch bought a lot of ready-made meals that only needed to be heated up. She also bought plenty of cookbooks.
In the end, Moira Lynch simply bought a copy of every book she could find, even textbooks. ’I can study them when I’m bored,’ she thought, ’though that’s not very likely.’
But Moira Lynch didn’t overthink it; buying was the right move. She even purchased numerous masterclass courses.
Moira Lynch paused when she scrolled to the baby products page. In her previous life, she had been focused only on making money and had never considered marriage. In this life, she was only eighteen and about to face all sorts of cataclysms. ’Who knows what the future will hold?’
Even so, her hands placed the orders uncontrollably. ’Better to be prepared.’
’Oh, right. Solar-powered power banks. I’ll get those too.’
For the next few days, Moira Lynch spent her days at home downloading TV shows and anime and shopping online. Once dusk fell and the temperature dropped, she would go out to buy things and pick up her deliveries from the warehouse.
As the temperature continued to rise, people seemed to sense something was wrong. Many began hoarding supplies, causing prices to skyrocket.
After a busy half-month, almost all the supplies had arrived, except for a few things she had ordered recently.
This included all sorts of vehicles: for the sky, for the land, and for the water.
Moira Lynch even had someone procure a helicopter for her. She didn’t know how to fly it, but just having it gave her peace of mind.
On top of that, she used a third of her funds to buy fuel: firewood, coal, gasoline, diesel, and natural gas. Since she couldn’t buy too much at once, she purchased it in batches.
Staring at the three million remaining in her bank account, Moira Lynch was suddenly dazed. In her previous life, she didn’t even have a fraction of this amount. And just now, her first thought had been, ’Finally, it’s almost gone.’
Moira Lynch leaned back on the sofa. A moment later, a Maine Coon cat padded over, rubbing against her and letting out an affectionate meow.
She picked up the kitten and buried her face in its soft belly, huffing its scent with abandon.
A moment later, Moira Lynch looked utterly content, the exhaustion completely wiped from her face.
’Kittens really are the cutest creatures in the world.’
Because the temperature outside was climbing higher each day, Moira Lynch kept the animals in her space most of the time, only letting them out occasionally.
All the windows of the villa were covered with thermal insulation mats. Aside from making it a bit dark, this kept the indoor temperature much lower than outside. Moira Lynch also placed a water-filled pool in the living room, bringing the temperature down even further.
She converted one million into cash to keep on hand in case the internet crashed and mobile payments became useless. The remaining two million went toward buying more supplies and paying utility bills.
Even with all of Moira Lynch’s cooling measures, she still didn’t dare turn off the air conditioning, leaving it on twenty-four hours a day. It was easy to imagine that the electricity bill for the month would be staggering.
Then there was the water bill. Her taps had been running almost twenty-four hours a day during this period.
Moira Lynch’s daily routine now consisted of ordering, receiving, and unboxing packages. After that, she would study various survival skills and browse forums for survivalists and wilderness enthusiasts, using their posts to learn new things and fill the gaps in her own knowledge.
She had to admit, many of the items mentioned in the posts were things an ordinary person like her had never even heard of, yet they were incredibly convenient and practical.
The room was quiet, with two cats resting peacefully with Moira Lynch against the headboard. As for the dogs, they had made too much of a mess in her space and had lost their bed privileges.
The clock struck midnight, but Moira Lynch remained completely oblivious, still engrossed in the forum posts on her phone.
Just then, an emotionless, mechanical voice suddenly rang in her ears.
[Hello, residents of Caelus. It has been detected that you are experiencing the onset of cataclysms. Congratulations, you have been selected for the Survival Game. Do you wish to participate? There is no penalty for refusal, but you will permanently forfeit your eligibility for the game.]
[Yes / No]
Hearing the voice, Moira Lynch shot upright. Her brow was tightly furrowed, her expression devoid of any joy.
’Based on my years of reading novels,’ she thought, ’survival games usually mean danger and death. Besides, this counts as some kind of alien invasion, doesn’t it?’
Although she had a strong aversion to this survival game, Moira Lynch didn’t refuse.
’After all, this is an opportunity I can’t afford to miss. If things get too bad, I can always hide in my space.’
After she tapped ’Confirm,’ her vision went black, and she vanished from her bed.
Discovering their owner had suddenly vanished, the two Maine Coons spun in circles, meowing anxiously.
As for Moira Lynch, she had been teleported to a vast, boundless grassland.
She looked around. She wasn’t the only one here, but even though people were close by, she couldn’t see their faces clearly.
Many people were in pajamas and barefoot. Some had even been brought over wearing nothing but their underwear.
It was understandable, really. ’The weather is so hot, and it’s horribly uncomfortable to sleep when you’re sweating and your pajamas are sticking to you.’
’After all, not everyone has the money to run their air conditioning twenty-four hours a day.’
Just then, the mechanical voice rang out again.
[Congratulations, players, on arriving at the first instance: Serene Ranch.]
[As the largest ranch on Planet Serene, we are responsible for providing the entire star system with the highest quality dairy and meat products. This means there are countless tasks to be done every day. To ensure a better, faster, and continuous supply, we must hire a group of temporary workers.]
[As temporary workers, your mission is to follow orders and successfully complete the tasks assigned by the ranch owner. The duration is three days. Those who fail will lose their eligibility for the game.]
’From the sound of the system’s explanation, this instance doesn’t seem very dangerous,’ Moira thought. ’The worst that can happen is just losing my eligibility for the game.’
Moira Lynch looked around. ’It said we have to follow the ranch owner’s orders... but where is the ranch owner? Where are we temporary workers supposed to get our tasks?’