Level 999 Returned to Day One

4

Chapter 4 — The First Supply Run

By the end of the week, my investment had done exactly what I remembered. The numbers on my screen were almost funny. A few days ago, I barely had enough money to survive a month.

Now?

I finally had enough to start preparing properly. Not enough to save humanity, but maybe enough to save myself. And maybe the people I cared about. I slipped my phone into my pocket and grabbed my keys. It was time. The first stop was food. Calories, Rice, Beans, Canned meat, Canned vegetables, Protein bars, Dried fruits. Anything with a long shelf life.

The cashier looked at my cart and raised an eyebrow.

“Big party?”

“Something like that.”

The second store was medicine. Painkillers, Bandages, Disinfectants, Antibiotics, Medical gloves, Burn cream, Anti-inflammatory drugs. In the apocalypse, infections killed almost as many people as monsters, especially during the first year. Most people learned that lesson too late; I wasn’t going to. The third stop was water supplies, Water purification tablets, Portable filters, and storage containers.

By the third month of the apocalypse, clean water had become more valuable than gold. Civilization collapsed quickly. Sanitation collapsed even faster. Next came fuel. Gasoline, Portable stoves, Batteries, Power banks, Flashlights, and generators. The kind of things people only remembered they needed after the lights stopped working, but I remembered because I had lived through the darkness that followed.

By sunset, the back of my car was packed. Just enough to look like someone preparing for an unusually long camping trip. When I finally pulled into the driveway, the porch light was already on. Mom opened the front door before I even reached it. Her eyes immediately moved to the supplies in my hands. Then to the boxes still sitting in the car.

“…Kai.”

Uh oh. “What exactly are you doing?”

“Preparing.”

“Preparing for what?”

“I’ve been reading about emergency preparedness.”

She stared at me.

“Emergency preparedness.”

“Natural disasters happen.”

“We live nowhere near a fault line.”

“…Preparedness is universal.”

The silence that followed was painful. Finally, she sighed. “Just don’t spend all your money.” That was a bit too late, but I nodded.

“I won’t”

That night, after everyone had gone to bed, I stood by my bedroom window again. The city lights stretched into the distance. The next morning, I woke up before sunrise. I checked my phone. 6:12 AM. I got dressed and headed back out. Yesterday had only been the beginning. Food spoiled. Medicine ran out. Fuel burned.

If I wanted to survive the first few months of the apocalypse without fighting over scraps like everyone else had, I needed more…..Much more. This time, I avoided the larger stores. Big purchases in one location attracted attention. Attention created questions. Questions created records. Records created problems. Instead, I spread my purchases across the city. A few cases of bottled water from one store. Medical supplies from another. Camping gear from a third. Canned food from a fourth. Nothing unusual on its own. Just another customer making ordinary purchases.

By noon, the trunk was full again. As was the back seat, and the passenger seat. I looked at the mountain of supplies and frowned. Storage was becoming a problem. My bedroom closet wasn’t exactly designed for surviving the collapse of civilization, Neither was the garage. I needed somewhere bigger, somewhere private, somewhere no one would think to look. A warehouse, A storage unit, an abandoned building. My mind immediately began running through possibilities. Then I remembered Storage King Unit 247.

In my previous life, the owner had fled during the first week of the apocalypse, leaving hundreds of units abandoned. One of them had become a temporary shelter for survivors. More importantly….It had survived. No raids, no monster nests. No dungeon emergence points nearby. Safe…Or at least as safe as anything could be after the world ended. A slow smile appeared on my face. Looks like I had just found my warehouse.

As I drove home, the radio played quietly in the background. Traffic reports, Weather forecasts, Sports updates, normal things. Then the announcer spoke again.

“Authorities are investigating reports of unusual seismic activity near…”

I froze. My hand tightened on the steering wheel. That wasn’t supposed to happen for another week. The report continued. “…experts have stated there is no cause for concern.” No cause for concern. I almost laughed. The first hidden dungeon. The one that would emerge seven days from now. Except apparently….It had just started early. My eyes narrowed slightly. I drove the rest of the way home in silence. Because for the first time since returning, a thought entered my mind that I didn’t like. What if my memories stopped being accurate? What if the future I knew no longer existed? I parked the car and stared at the supplies in the back seat. Food, Medicine, Fuel, Water. Because if the timeline wanted to change…Then I would adapt. Just like I always had.

After all…..Surviving impossible situations was what Level 999 players did best. I didn’t unload the supplies immediately. Instead, I sat in the driver’s seat for several minutes, staring at the steering wheel. The seismic report replayed in my head. One week early, but enough.Enough to prove the future wasn’t as fixed as I wanted it to be. I exhaled slowly.

“Fine.”

If the timeline wanted to change, then I’d change faster. By late afternoon, I was standing outside Storage King. The building looked the same as I remembered. Three floors, Rows of metal doors. A chain-link fence surrounding the property. In my previous life, this place had sheltered nearly fifty survivors during the second month of the apocalypse. Most of them died later, but not here. That was enough for me. The receptionist glanced up as I entered.

“Can I help you?”

“I need a storage unit.”

“How big?”

“The biggest one you’ve got available.”

She blinked.

“Moving?”

“Something like that.”

After a few minutes of paperwork and a painful amount of money leaving my account, I had my answer. Unit 247. For a moment, I just stared at the number written on the contract. Same unit, Same location. History really was trying to repeat itself. Too bad I wasn’t going to let it. The first trip took almost an hour. The second took longer. By the third trip, my arms were sore, and sweat clung to my shirt. Food stacked against one wall. Medical supplies against another. Fuel separated carefully from everything else. Water supplies in the corner.

In my first life, I entered the apocalypse with nothing but panic and bad luck. This time, I was entering it with a plan. A very large difference. As I locked the unit, a strange feeling crawled up my spine. The same feeling I’d had yesterday. Like something was watching. I turned. Just rows of storage units stretching into the distance. My eyes narrowed. Then a faint chime echoed in my mind.

[Prerequisites fulfilled.]

I froze.

“What?”

The message disappeared as quickly as it came. My heartbeat quickened slightly. That wasn’t supposed to happen. The System hadn’t even arrived yet. There shouldn’t be messages. There shouldn’t be prerequisites. There shouldn’t be anything. And yet…I looked back at Unit 247. Food. Medicine. Fuel. Water.

Slowly, a possibility formed in my mind. The System wasn’t waiting for July 30th. A slow grin spread across my face.

“Good.”

Because if the System wanted to start early…So would I. I locked the unit and slipped the key into my pocket. I intended to reach Level 999 again.

And then go even further….Because what’s life without a little risk?