20 20 - Poison Ivy

[A/N: Question, should I keep adding chapters going over the players' adventures as they go through the games, or perhaps start adding a lot more of these types of chapters?]

[A/N: Whoops, forgot to post the chapter]

[Zeref's(MC) Pov]

"This device...it's a terraformer?" Poison Ivy asked.

"Indeed, while I won't reveal too much about the device, what I will tell you, is that it was created to bring life back to a desolate wasteland, and it 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥, it may have taken years, but it did eventually bring back life."

"What would I have to do to obtain this device? If it actually exists," She asked with seriousness, folding her arms underneath her breasts, pushing them up to show them off, and staring at me.

"You need only play the games I offer in my store and earn credits, and wait for the item to appear in the Credit Store."

She balked at my reply as she let her arms fall and one of her eyebrows rise, clearly because she was expecting a steeper price.

"You'll have to work hard, but eventually, you should be able to earn enough credits to purchase a G.E.C.K from the Credit Store, but for now, why not come over here and see our public products for sale? I offer a wide range of goods, from Medical Stimulants to food and cold beverages, I'm sure I'll have something that suits your tastes."

Still, she stood by the door, not coming closer, seemingly pondering what to do.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I swear I don't bite," I chuckled, raising my hand and signaling her to come forward.

Eventually, she did step forward, and I began showing her the public goods I had to offer from both Fallout and Project Zomboid.

For Fallout, I had of course, the Stimpaks and its other variants, as well as the notable beverages of the wasteland, such as Vim, Sunset Sasparilla, and of course, Nuka Cola and its variants.

As for food, I offered the popular pre-war food of America, such as Blamco Mac & Cheese, Dandy Boy Apples, Fancy Lads Snack Cakes, Salisbury Steak, and Sugar Bombs.

I even now offered the more exotic food of the wasteland, such as Deathclaw Omlets and Steak, Mirelurk Cakes, Queen Mirelurk Stew, Radstag Steak, and even Radscorpian Casserole.

As for what I offered from Project Zomboid regarding food, it was pretty much normal, such as Eggs, bread, peanut butter, canned food, etc.

I felt like I was running a convenience store more than a cafe at times, and I even invested in a refrigerator that cost me a measly 1k. The fridge was well worth the cost, being extremely advanced compared to anything humanity could produce.

Anyways, Ivy ended up asking what Deathclaws, Radscorpions, and various other things about my products, and luckily, the system came to my rescue as I read out the in-depth descriptions about the items and the process they went through to be created.

It turns out the process was surprisingly humane, especially when it came to the more meat-based products, which I could tell still caused a bit of displeasure from Ivy.

"What about the computers and that man? Why is he frozen still like a statue?" Poison Ivy asked, curious and glancing over at Kyle, deep in his session.

"Those are the VR Computers, they let you access your store account, the VR Games, and the Credit Store."

"Games?"

"Ah, the Virtual Worlds, essentially, are incredibly realistic worlds in which you, as the player, can explore as if it were a real world. Currently, only two games are available to customers, The Fallout Series and Project Zomboid."

"What do these...worlds entail?" Ivy asked.

"The First is a series of Games that features a singular world across several points in time, how I would describe Fallout, would be the player has to survive through a desolate wasteland that is struggling to recover from a disaster. When it comes to Project Zomboid however, it's a sandbox world where the player is put into a Zombie Apocalypse and must strive to survive."

'Man, I really got to make some kind of Game trailers so I don't have to keep introducing the games myself,' I noted to myself, as I got a part of my mind to begin working on it.

"And this...Fallout, I assume has the device featured in it?" Ivy asked.

"That's right, though you don't have to play the game if you don't want to, you can earn credits from either game and use the credits to buy a G.E.C.K whenever it shows up for sale," I informed her, knowing that Project Zomboid would probably be easier for new players to adjust to than Fallout.

Speaking of which, one of my minds was actually going over the two games, and making them playable as simple PC games, adding both the virtual and PC option for players, though earning credits through the PC would amount to a lot less than those who play through the games Virtually and frankly, the Virtual Worlds will have a lot more freedom, including the continuation feature, and be much better.

I call it the Classic Mode and Virtual Mode.

Before I forget, another downside to the Classic Mode is that it didn't have the time acceleration that the VM did.

"How much would it cost to play these...games?"

"$50 an hour, though at the end of this month that price will be raised to $100 an hour," I informed her.

"Expensive," Poison Ivy stated with a frown.

"But well worth the price," I replied with a chuckle.

"...I will need time...I shall return," She stated, sounding quite like Wonder Woman for a second before leaving.

'Ah well, I did try, though who knows, she might tell her friends about my quaint cafe.'

With her gone, I went back to watching Kyle's playthrough of Fallout 2 and let the other parts of my mind continue working...only for the doors to slide open again, not even ten minutes later.

Taking control of my body with one of the parts of my mind, I looked up to see a group of aggressive men with bats, knives, and metal pipes in hand.

"Hmm? Costumers! Welcome!"

---

It turns out that they were cowards, and ended up running straight out the door when they found out my body wasn't a statue or some decoration.

They came from the Gotham entrance, so I guess I should expect more visitors soon as they will likely spread tales about my cafe to their accomplices.

And low and behold, not even 15 minutes later, more thugs and criminals arrived before turning back.

This went on for the next couple of hours, with those who entered my cafe simply running back out upon seeing my form, which was becoming a bit annoying, and each man or woman who entered my cafe looked to be criminals or 'tough guys,' solidifying my idea that the location of the new entrance was in that of Gotham, the most crime-infested city of the DC Universe.

Eventually, someone from Gotham gained enough confidence to actually stay and talk to me, allowing me to show them the newly made trailers of Fallout and Project Zomboid.

The parts of my mind that were working on the Classic Modes were also almost done, so the mind that worked on the trailers was set to work on trailers for the modes for both games too.

Everything was turning out well, and by the time I am done with these last couple of things, I expect I should have more customers, though I doubt they would be any good people.

As for my Cafe entrance in new york, I noticed more people have begun to walk by the entrance every once in a while, so I do think people are moving back into the area now that the gangs have been removed, so I should also begin expecting customers soon from that entrance too.

I was surprised by how much fun I was having, I would have never expected to live again after dying, especially not in a fictional world as a fictional being, in a magical cafe.

In my past life when I was human, I certainly wasn't religious, I simply believed that upon death, everything that makes up a person would simply cease as the brain shuts down and the body begins to rot. I didn't believe there would be an afterlife or a dream, I simply believed in the nothingness.

Speaking of my past life, I certainly wasn't anything special, I spent most of my time working and reading, and what little time left playing games and listening to music, until I eventually died, not that I remember how I died.

But enough about that sore topic, that's the past, and now? A new life lies ahead of me, and I couldn't help what wonders I would see or help create.