Apocalypse Supermarket: I Exchange Noodles for Artifacts

Chapter 6: The Burrowing Mutation

The ground shook even harder as concrete cracks spread across the street outside. Mia let out a small scream, dropping her water bottle as she held onto the edge of the silver counter.

Jax grabbed the heavy wooden frame of the checkout desk to steady himself. He kept his eyes locked onto the iron sewer grate sitting twenty feet away from the store entrance.

With a deafening crash, the heavy metal grate burst straight up into the air, flying high before smashing down on top of a parked car.

A massive creature crawled slowly out of the dark hole. It was three times the size of a normal man, covered in dark, stone-like scales that glistened with wet slime. Instead of eyes, the front of its head had four long, twitching feelers. Its fingers ended in long, curved digging claws that tore up the asphalt like paper.

Ordinary ghouls standing near the street backed away in fear, whimpering like scared dogs. The massive beast did not even glance at them. It turned its long, ugly head straight toward Jax's convenience store.

The four feelers on its face twitched wildly in the cold air. It was sniffing the brilliant golden light radiating from the store's new barrier.

"It can smell the magic," Mia whispered, her face pale as a sheet. "That thing feeds on energy!"

The giant beast let out a roaring hiss that made Jax's ears ring. It bent its heavy back legs and leaped straight across the street, slamming its massive scaled chest into the glass storefront.

BOOM!

A blinding flash of golden light exploded at the point of impact. The barrier held strong, but the entire shop shook from the massive force.

Jax’s vision flashed bright red as the system screen forced its way to the front of his view.

[WARNING: Heavy Kinetic Impact Detected!]

[Sanctuary Energy Reserve: 45%]

[Energy Draining Rate: High!]

Jax felt a lump in his throat. Up until now, small ghouls had bounced off the barrier without lowering his energy. But this giant scaled monster had enough strength to drain the store's magic with every single hit.

The beast pulled back its heavy claw, glowing red veins pulsing beneath its thick scales. It smashed its fist into the barrier again.

BOOM!

[Sanctuary Energy Reserve: 35%]

"Jax, what do we do?" Mia cried out, tears welling in her eyes. "If that thing breaks in, we're dead!"

Jax forced his brain to think fast. He could not step outside to fight that monster head-on. Even with his body upgraded by two hundred percent, that beast could squash him in a second. He had to kill it or drive it away from inside the store's safety zone.

He looked over at his store shelves. He had instant noodles, bottled water, snacks, and cheap cleaning supplies. None of those were weapons.

Then Jax remembered the rules of his system: ordinary store goods possessed supernatural properties inside his domain.

He turned and sprinted toward the back aisle where the store kept cheap hardware items. He snatched up a two-gallon plastic jug of heavy floor cleaning bleach and a box of long, thick iron shelf nails.

Jax ran back to the cashier counter and slammed the items down on the glowing silver desk. He tapped the system screen quickly.

"System! Combine these! Convert them into something that can kill that beast!" Jax shouted.

The golden screen flashed as a green light swallowed the jug of bleach and the iron nails.

[System Transmutation Active!]

[Item Created: Acidic Spike Bomb]

[System Effect: Explodes into a cloud of concentrated corrosive acid upon contact, melting thick scales and flesh instantly.]

[Cost: 200 Energy Points.]

[Remaining Energy: 25%]

A heavy black metal ball covered in sharp iron spikes appeared on the counter. It was slightly bigger than a bowling ball, dripping with a faint green liquid that hissed as it touched the air.

Jax picked up the heavy spike bomb. The weight felt perfect in his hands thanks to his upgraded strength.

Outside, the beast roared in triumph as it saw the golden light around the store fading dimmer. It pulled back its thick arm, raising both claws to deliver a final, devastating double strike.

Jax stepped right up to the front glass door. He looked through the barrier, eye-to-eye with the eyeless monster.

"Hey, ugly!" Jax shouted at the top of his lungs.

The monster's feelers twitched toward his voice. It opened its wide maw, revealing three rows of yellow, razor-sharp teeth.

Jax didn't hesitate. He wound his arm back and threw the black spike bomb through the golden barrier.

Because Jax was throwing an item outward, the safe zone let the bomb pass through the glass frame smoothly. The heavy spiked ball flew straight through the air and landed right inside the open mouth of the roaring beast.

The monster swallowed the bomb whole by reflex. It stopped moving for a split second, its yellow feelers freezing in place.

KABOOM!

A muffled explosion echoed from inside the creature's chest. Green acidic smoke burst out from the beast's nose and mouth. The monster let out a horrific, gurgling shriek as its thick scales began to melt away into gross green foam.

It crashed onto its knees, thrashing wildly on the pavement as the acid ate through its guts.

Jax let out a proud laugh, ready to celebrate his quick victory. But his smile died instantly.

The dying beast, in its wild pain, threw its heavy body backward. As it thrashed, its thick tail smashed sideways into the main electrical power pole sitting on the sidewalk right outside the store.

The heavy wooden pole snapped in half with a loud crack. The thick high-voltage power lines collapsed, crashing straight down onto the store's glass roof.

SPARK! BZZZZT!

Blue electricity flared wildly over the golden shield. The overload caused the store's central power box to burst into flames, sending dark black smoke rising into the shop ceiling.

The golden light covering the front window began to flicker rapidly, growing thinner and thinner by the second.

The system screen flashed bright blood-red, letting out a screaming alarm that pierced Jax's ears.

[CRITICAL WARNING: Main Power Line Destroyed!]

[Sanctuary Energy Reserve: 15%]

[Total Barrier Power Failure will occur in 5 minutes!]