Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

Day nineteen of the game.

By now, Perry Yates could already sense that something was off.

”The number of prey seems to have dropped today, and...”

She looked up at the sky.

It was starting to snow.

The scene felt a bit familiar.

The snow wasn’t heavy, but it hadn’t stopped since this morning, falling intermittently all day.

’Looks like I need to find a shelter, and fast.’

She then looked at the Little Ferret in her arms and asked, ”Can you find a bigger cave?”

Knowing the Little Ferret was highly intelligent and could understand her, Perry Yates gave it a rough description of the cave size she needed.

She finished by adding that if it found one, there would be all-you-can-eat roasted meat.

Hearing the promise of all-you-can-eat roasted meat, the Little Ferret’s eyes brightened, and it immediately began to think seriously.

After a few minutes, the Little Ferret suddenly pointed in one direction and squeaked. ”SQUEAK.”

Seeing this, Perry Yates steered the cloud in that direction.

After flying for a few hours, the snow grew heavier, gradually beginning to obscure her vision.

Just then, the Little Ferret squeaked again. ”SQUEAK.”

They had arrived.

Perry Yates looked toward the spot the Little Ferret had found. From a distance, she could see there was indeed a cave, and it was certainly large enough, but...

It seemed there was already a ”resident” inside.

Every creature Perry Yates had encountered before, aside from the Snow-Ox Clan, had been covered in white fur. This one, however, was entirely black.

Seeing this, two words formed in Perry Yates’s mind: ’Apex predator!’

Only creatures at the very top of the food chain, like humans, don’t bother with camouflage.

’Never mind.’

Perry Yates decisively abandoned the cave. ’If worst comes to worst, I’ll just use the other one I found.’

She hadn’t been idle on the way here; she hadn’t placed all her hopes solely on the Little Ferret.

On the way, she had discovered an unoccupied cave.

It was spacious, but the ceiling was a bit low—too low for the Safe House to fit. A tent, however, would be no problem, and there would still be plenty of room to spare.

Seeing the sky grow darker and the snow fall heavier, Perry Yates made her decision. ’I’ll go to that cave.’

Meanwhile, the Little Ferret in her arms watched Perry Yates abandon the cave it had chosen, a look of disappointment in its eyes. Its roasted meat had flown away.

「After arriving at the cave.」

Perry Yates first inspected the cave inside and out. Once she confirmed there were no other creatures, she gave it a quick sweep.

Once it was clean, she cut blocks from the snow outside to seal the cave entrance, using more snow to fill in the gaps.

It was a technique she had learned from watching videos of the Inuit.

In the end, only a small entrance remained. After Perry Yates slipped inside, she sealed that as well, leaving only a small air hole to the outside.

Inside the cave, Perry Yates didn’t stay idle. She took out the unextinguishable fire.

Worried the fire would melt the snow sealing the entrance, Perry Yates placed it deeper inside the cave.

The Little Ferret, who had apparently never seen fire before, was extremely curious about this heat-emitting object. Its little black-bean eyes were filled with a probing curiosity, and then...

”SQUEAK!!”

A shrill cry suddenly rang out.

The sound was so piercing that Perry Yates, thinking something terrible had happened, whipped her head around to look.

She saw the once snow-white Little Ferret was now a scorched yellow, with one patch of its fur burned completely black.

The entire Ferret looked like it had just crawled out of the fire—even its whiskers were singed and curled.

”SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!!”

The Little Ferret pointed at the burning fire and unleashed a flurry of accusations at her.

From the Little Ferret’s frantic gesturing, Perry Yates pieced together what had happened. ’It serves you right,’ she thought. ’What did you expect jumping into a fire? Who else would get burned?’

”All right, all right, don’t be angry. Fire is dangerous. You can’t touch it directly...”

Then, Perry Yates gave the Little Ferret a basic rundown on the properties of fire.

At first, the Little Ferret was still very wary of the fire after its accident. But when it heard that its favorite food—roasted meat—was actually made using fire, its little black-bean eyes widened, as if to say, ’For real? I may not know much, but don’t you dare lie to me!’

After receiving confirmation, the Little Ferret wasn’t angry anymore. It leaped from Perry Yates’s arms, trotted over to the fireside, and turned to look at her with an expectant expression.

In response, Perry Yates took a skewer of raw meat from her Space Backpack and handed it to the Little Ferret.

”Just hold it over the fire to cook. Remember to keep turning it to make sure every side gets cooked. It should be ready in about ten minutes.”

After listening to Perry Yates, the Little Ferret nodded very seriously, showing that it understood.

”Squeak?”

’How long is ten minutes?’

Sensing the Little Ferret’s question, Perry Yates felt a bit stuck. She didn’t have a timer, so she couldn’t accurately judge ten minutes. Besides, she usually just eyeballed it when she cooked meat.

After a moment’s thought, she pulled a piece of pre-cooked meat from her Space Backpack and said, ”It should look about like this when it’s done.”

The Little Ferret nodded seriously and carefully examined the cooked piece of meat.

After a long moment, it gingerly placed its own skewer over the fire and began to turn it.

Perry Yates found the Little Ferret’s serious expression amusing.

’It’s a shame I don’t have a camera,’ she thought. ’A video of this would definitely go viral online.’

She had already thought of the title: ”Ferret BBQ.”

She took out her Tent Shelter and set it up, then began to process her latest kills.

Although she could have the Survival Game Administration process them like last time, bringing out so many kills at once could attract unwanted attention.

Besides, she might have to sell a portion to the Survival Game Administration. ’Why bother?’ she thought. ’It’s better to process it myself.’

Having merged with a non-attribute Hunting Skill Card, Perry Yates was now quite adept at butchering her kills.

But since she was only one person, it was a bit slow.

Perry Yates skinned the animals, then butchered the meat and stored it in her Space Backpack.

She didn’t waste the bones, either.

There might not be any meat on the bones, but the marrow was a delicacy—even more nutritious than the meat itself.

Perry Yates cracked open some of the larger bones and collected the marrow inside.

She looked at the bone in her hands, which was thicker than both of her arms put together.

”I’ve decided,” she said. ”Tonight’s dinner is roasted bone marrow.”