Moments later, a petite, bespectacled girl with a calm demeanor materialized in the living room.
The girl had long, gray, wavy hair and stood just over five feet tall, slightly shorter than Himari.
Her attire was rather peculiar, appearing to be a high school uniform with a white lab coat that reached her ankles, making her quite conspicuous.
“……Quite a few familiar faces.”
Seeing the noticeably different safehouse construction, the girl didn't show any surprise. Instead, her gaze calmly shifted to the others.
“Mr. Kirisu, Senior Sakurajima of the third year.”
“This should be ‘Sweet Bullet’s’ Toyohashi-san, right?”
“Huh…? You know me?”
Toyohashi Himari was taken aback, not expecting the other to know her identity.
“With someone like Senior Sakurajima, a big name in the school, the related gossip has already spread far and wide.”
The gray-haired girl smiled, with a hint of self-deprecation in her tone.
“Unlike me, an outcast, you are more famous than you think.”
“Seems like we don’t need introductions for these few.”
Lu Chen interjected, taking the lead in the conversation.
“I’m Lu Chen, consider me the captain of this team. This is my safehouse, and also the team’s meeting point.”
“Currently, there are three official members, and Mr. Kirisu who just joined today.”
“If you want to join us, please introduce yourself, okay?”
“Self-introduction… that’s reasonable.”
The girl lowered her eyelids, seemingly uncomfortable speaking in front of so many people. But she still calmed down and said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Futaba Riyo, second-year student of Ichinose Academy.”
“Besides that, is there anything else you want to know?”
Lu Chen pondered for a moment and asked.
“Do you have any particular skills, or something you’re good at?”
In his memory, Futaba seemed to be an intellectual type with a good knowledge base.
Of course, in this environment, knowledge like quantum mechanics wouldn't be useful.
Hearing the question, Futaba Riyo fell into thought, then raised her arm, revealing the wristwatch she wore.
“If you mean ‘what I can contribute to the team’…”
“During the previous games, I got a ‘Database’ function plugin, which can query available crafting recipes based on scanned materials.”
“Although I don’t have much fighting strength, I can make some simple items… Of course, it requires sufficient materials.”
This answer was quite sincere.
For ordinary players, this kind of information could be considered a secret weapon.
“Crafting items…”
Lu Chen’s eyes lit up, as if he had an idea.
“You have the ‘Handicraft’ professional skill?”
“… Indeed, I do.”
Seeing Lu Chen correctly identify the skill name ‘Handicraft’, Futaba looked at him in slight surprise and nodded slightly.
“I gained the ‘Handicraft’ skill after making my first item.”
“Currently, it has 5 levels of proficiency, and the max level seems to be 100.”
“Good.”
Lu Chen immediately took a book out of his storage space.
It was the “Beginner’s Guide to Handicraft” he got from the newspaper stand the next day.
“Welcome to the team. Consider this book a welcome gift.”
“If you need any materials for crafting in the future, just tell me.”
It was clear he planned to make Futaba Riyo the team’s logistics specialist.
“… Am I considered ‘passed’ the ‘interview’?”
Futaba Riyo took the book, glanced at it, and a look of surprise appeared on her delicate face.
She hadn’t expected Lu Chen to have an item that could enhance the ‘Handicraft’ level.
“Yes, two new members just joined today, so let me introduce the team’s benefits to you both.”
Lu Chen clapped his hands, gathering everyone in front of him.
“First, I will be responsible for distributing essential survival supplies to team members.”
“Although there are only some plain-tasting canned food and purified water for now, I believe things will get better.”
“Second, this place—my safehouse has been expanded and upgraded, transformed into a ‘Survivor Base’, which can serve as a meeting place for the team.”
“The meeting place has some facilities that can be used by team members.”
“For example, independent bathroom rooms, and this automatic vending machine here.”
“Automatic vending machine?”
Hearing Lu Chen mention it, Mai finally noticed a metal cabinet that had appeared in the corner of the living room at some point.
“Hehe, Mai-nee, this is the surprise I was talking about.”
Himari, who already knew about it, immediately boasted.
“I found it with Lu Chen while cleaning up zombies in the hotel lobby. We were lucky, right?”
“So that’s what you were keeping from me.”
Mai looked at Lu Chen in realization. He shrugged and gestured with his eyes:
It was this little girl who told me not to tell you, don't blame me.
“Anyway, this vending machine can guarantee a certain amount of drinks and food every day.”
Lu Chen brought the team members to the vending machine and introduced its functions.
“The vending machine allows purchasing 10 items per day and has a chance to get decent items.”
“If you have some spare money, you can come here and spend it.”
The vending machine's rows of colorful and varied item packages instantly caught the eyes of the girls.
“Prices are so cheap?”
Mai compared the prices with the goods players listed on the trading exchange and sighed.
“It’s practically free.”
“Hm… there are even adhesives and electrical tape.”
Futaba squatted down, browsing the last two rows of miscellaneous items, muttering something to herself.
“With these materials, maybe I can find more crafting recipes…”
“Ahem, if you want to buy something, we can talk about it later.”
Lu Chen coughed lightly, drawing the girls’ attention back to him.
“Finally, there are the team’s action rules.”
“Everyone must gather at the meeting place before 6 pm every day, before being teleported to the danger zone.”
“This way we can teleport to the vicinity of the same danger zone.”
“After teleporting, don’t wander around. Wait for me to find and gather everyone, then we will decide on the next course of action based on the situation.”
“That’s it. Does anyone have any questions?”
Having laid out the team’s action rules he’d summarized up to now, Lu Chen waited for the others’ reactions.
“I have a question.”
Suddenly, Toyohashi Himari raised her hand.
“Toyohashi-san, please.”
Lu Chen nodded at Himari as if calling on her in class, signaling her to continue.
“I want to request using the bathroom here.”
The blonde girl tugged at her clothes and casually complained.
“Although I have a raincoat, I still got a bit wet today. My clothes are damp… I want to take a bath and rest.”
“Sure, come to me later to get toiletries.”
Lu Chen had scavenged a lot of daily necessities from the supermarket, just in case.
Seeing him agree to Himari’s request, the others were immediately tempted.
“Give me one too.”
Mai followed her sister’s question and casually added.
“After Himari is done, I’d like to use the bathroom too.”
“… You got wet too?”
Lu Chen looked at Mai in confusion.
As someone with water element abilities, it shouldn't be the case.
Even if she got completely soaked, she could just condense the water and be dry.
Her face reddened, and she said softly.
“I just want to take a bath. It has nothing to do with getting wet.”
“You just took a bath yesterday.”
“Isn’t it normal to shower once a day?”
“… You’re right.”
Lu Chen looked at the remaining two in a bit of a headache.
Although Kirisu Madoka and Futaba Riyo didn’t apply.
But judging by their expressions… they clearly wanted to use the bathroom as well.
“You can arrange your own time. No need to ask me in the future. It’s a hassle.”
Hearing this, the girls immediately felt relieved.
After all, having to report to Lu Chen every time they wanted to take a bath felt a bit strange.
Having handled the new members, Lu Chen went back to his cabin and stretched comfortably.
He could hear the girls chatting and the sound of showering outside.
This made him realize that although the safehouse was safe, the soundproofing wasn’t very good.
“Right, Futaba is here, let me give her a word-tag.”
Lu Chen opened the chatroom’s friend list and used the word-tag ability on Futaba Riyo’s friend information page.
【Ding! Player “Futaba Riyo” has obtained the special word-tag: “Open Your Heart”!】
(Open Your Heart: This player will remove their “Heart Wall” from you and show you their unknown side)