Wait, Is the Apocalypse Happening Outside?

I.

Qi Sui's restaurant is deep in the mountains, a two-hour drive from the nearest town. It rarely gets any customers.

Qi Sui doesn't rely on the restaurant to make money. He grows vegetables and feeds the dogs every day. He's happy as long as he can provide for himself.

But after Qi Sui served a "food blogger" dressed like a beggar, an unbelievable fortune came his way!

Every weekend, countless customers came to Qi Sui's little restaurant, crying and begging for a bite to eat. They were all incredibly generous with their praise, able to rave for an hour about even the most ordinary stir-fried pork with chili peppers.

Thinking that a guest was a guest, Qi Sui welcomed them, offered them comforting words, and even expanded his tiny, shabby shop several times, ready for the weekend crowds.

Just when Qi Sui began to suspect he might become famous across the country, the customers who had only come on weekends started showing up on weekdays too.

Then Qi Sui received one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The bad news was that the apocalypse had arrived. The population had dropped by ninety percent, and society had fallen apart.

The good news was that, thanks to Qi Sui's heroic efforts to save the world, countless survivor teams had been rescued, and the three major survivor bases built around his tiny restaurant had all been completed.

And Qi Sui had been hailed as the savior by everyone. They built a statue of him and worshipped it day and night.

Qi Sui: ...Huh?

II.

Yan Lichen's team was wiped out during an exploration mission, leaving him as the sole survivor.

At death's door, he saw a Chinese restaurant of the kind found only in historical documentaries.

Thinking he had become a contaminated creature, he let himself go completely and devoured the delicious dishes he'd never seen before.

The meal was delicious. The bath was wonderfully clean. He hadn't been contaminated at all.

But he had no money to pay.

Under Qi Sui's murderous gaze, Yan Lichen, who could beat contaminated creatures into mush, trembled. "C-could I pay you back in, um, flesh?"

III.

Even after Yan Lichen had the money to pay, he still wanted to pay in flesh.

But Qi Sui's restaurant had become a paradise in the apocalypse, and Yan Lichen couldn't even squeeze his way inside.

So Yan Lichen established the first survivor base of the apocalypse, hoping to lure Qi Sui over so he could pay him back in flesh day and night.

Theme: No matter where you go, stay true to your original aspirations