I Built an Inn at the End of the World

Li Lan's eyes deepened with emotion, words caught in her throat, but she finally took the chopsticks and sat down with her daughter, saying "Thank you."

[Excellent proprietor, thanks to your generosity, customers will receive a 10% discount on their total purchase!]

[Customer satisfaction continues to rise, keep up the good work!]

Qian Zhenzhen: ...

Why did it suddenly give a discount? Was it because she triggered the keyword "discount"?

What if she said "free"...

She didn't dare say more—she didn't want to lose money.

Seeing the "satisfaction continues to rise," her mood improved even more, and she immediately opened the can, scooping out the luncheon meat onto the mother and daughter's plates.

Zhou Shuxuan hadn't eaten meat in so long that in her excitement, she accidentally choked, immediately breaking into a coughing fit, her little face turning red.

"Eat slowly!" Li Lan gently patted her daughter's back while taking the cup Qian Zhenzhen handed over to give her water.

The candlelight flickered softly, the soap's fragrance was pleasant, and at the warm stove, three women of different ages sat together, enjoying this special "gathering."

Looking at the loving mother and daughter before her, Qian Zhenzhen had a moment of revelation, as if seeing her own mother sitting at the table, gently yet helplessly reminding her: "Zhenzhen, put down your phone and eat properly."

Mm... eat properly.

Food (1/1) - Complete (√)

#

[You have completed [Beginner Task (1): Host a Guest]. Rewards will be distributed after the hosting period ends, based on the guest's rating level.]

Early morning, as Qian Zhenzhen opened her eyes, a system notification popped up.

[NO.1 Consumption Bill [Yesterday] (Unit: Koi Vouchers)

Food & Beverage: 10.15

Ginger tea 0.5 + canned luncheon meat 12 + sweet potato soup 1 + steamed lily bulbs 1 (Prices assessed based on voucher store rates, portions, and labor costs—proprietor has not set custom prices)

Additional: [Proprietor joined group meal] 30% discount

...

Lodging: 0

Guest room (furnishing incomplete, unable to generate income)

...

Additional: [Proprietor offered discount] 10% off

Total: 9.14

*Bill not yet settled!]

Pricing? Since the mother and daughter hadn't brought any vouchers, and she wasn't familiar with the exchange rates yet, she'd follow the system's pricing for now.

The group meal discount made sense—she had joined them for dinner last night and eaten quite a bit herself.

Another prompt appeared:

[Note: The guest has not settled their bill!]

Then came a surprising message:

[Your inn was attacked (now ended, duration 00:05:42), damage level 0.1% (minor). Would you like to spend materials/Koi Vouchers on repairs?]

Qian Zhenzhen leaped out of bed and rushed to check both the front and back windows of the attic.

Dawn had barely broken. The forest lay dark and quiet, save for distant howls of zombies and beasts carried on the wind.

After getting dressed, she descended from the attic. All was silent from the guest room—the mother and daughter still slept.

Her inspection of doors and windows revealed only one anomaly: deep claw marks on the outside of the back door. Some creature had attacked, leaving splinters and droppings behind.

What is this...

Was it marking its territory before planning a full attack?

Considering the worst possibilities, Qian Zhenzhen held her breath as she swept the droppings into a distant pit with her homemade leaf broom.

She sprinkled disinfectant powder at the doorway, then boiled the remaining river water and used a bamboo ladle to sterilize the area.

Taking half-burned firewood from the stove and gathering dead leaves, she burned the droppings in the pit. To her disgust, parasites were still writhing inside.

She opted to repair the damage, using 0.05 wood materials.

While her guests still slept, she decided to fetch more river water.

The journey was four hundred meters—a five-minute round trip. With her spatial storage containing guns, an iron axe, and a pickaxe, she felt equipped to handle any beasts or zombies.

She bought a plastic water tank from the voucher store—150L capacity with lid and spout for 12 Koi Vouchers. Combined with wooden basins, barrels, and various containers, careful rationing would make it last three days.

If only they had a proper water pumping and purification system to connect directly to the river—wouldn't that be easier?

But such equipment, even if available in the store, would likely cost a fortune. Better to stay practical since the inn had just opened—one step at a time!

"Huff... huff..."

Low panting emerged from behind the trees. Three wolves appeared.

Unlike before, they didn't ignore her. Their blood-red eyes fixed on her intently, foul saliva dripping from their jaws, fur bristling.

As they surrounded her from three directions, Qian Zhenzhen broke into a run.

Having traveled this path before, she navigated it expertly—jumping over holes, dodging fallen trees, and swiftly reaching the riverside.

At the gravel beach, she spun around and pulled an iron axe from her spatial storage.

Her earlier rest stop here hadn't been idle—she'd gathered plenty of stones. Now she wielded the axe in her right hand while throwing stones with her left, trying to intimidate the wolves.

Leave now, or you won't get another chance!

The wolves were clearly starving, their hollow bellies swaying like deflated balloons as they ran.

Ignoring her threats, they charged forward, crouched, and with a "Roar—" leaped at her from three directions, jaws aimed at her upper, middle, and lower body.

Two massive dirt piles materialized, slamming into two wolves and pinning them down.

The third wolf was already at her face. Qian Zhenzhen planted her feet, focused on its head, raised her iron axe, and—swoosh!—struck.

The blade connected, but the impact numbed her palm and fingers, causing the axe to slip from her grip.

Though she hadn't split its head, she'd landed a solid hit.

The wolf crashed down with the axe still embedded, whimpering "woo woo..."

Without hesitation, Qian Zhenzhen drew an iron shovel and struck its head repeatedly—bang! bang! bang! After retrieving her axe for a final blow, she dispatched the two wolves still trapped under the dirt piles.

The system chimed with messages:[You killed [Mutant Wolf]*3]

[You gained Experience*300]

[You unlocked the Enhancement function!]

[You can use experience points to enhance yourself, ??, items, and even your inn! Of course, enhancing different targets requires different amounts of experience, and once enhanced it cannot be undone, please decide carefully.]

[You unlocked Quest Sub-category—???]

[You haven't unlocked the related function yet, unable to obtain "Quest Sub-category", please continue operating!]

Qian Zhenzhen discovered a new enhancement function panel in the system, with herself as the first enhanceable target, requiring 200 experience points.

She decided to use it on herself immediately.

[You have reached level 1!]

[All your attributes increased by 0.1%! (Attributes include stamina, attack, defense, dodge, resistance, etc.)]

Qian Zhenzhen opened her character panel:

[Qian Zhenzhen (Female)

Age: 21

Profile: The inn's operator, possessing unusual calmness, courage and wisdom, a reliable partner.

Stamina: B

Attack: C

...

...

Overall Rating: C+]

The rating made sense—with her background in logistics work, she wasn't combat-oriented. Without the system's help, she wouldn't have managed against those wolves.

Still, that plus after the C was promising. With more enhancements, she might reach B level, or even A! Though fighting wasn't her preference, better attributes would certainly help.