Chapter 134: What’s the most expensive item you got?

[ <LUST> chuckles... That person is indeed a human though. ]

’...’ Fredrinn was both surprised and also waiting for Lust to elaborate.

The silence hung between his thoughts, heavy with disbelief. He stared at the pale young man behind the counter, dressed in his crisp green uniform, smooth apron, and cap, perfectly polished in a world that had crumbled into ash. It defied reason. How could a living, breathing human act like an unfeeling piece of software?

So it did.

[ <LUST> explains that the person Billy has been contaminated by the ’Archive’. He now serves as a vital gear in the apocalypse, serving as the NPC. ]

Fredrinn took a deep breath in astonishment.

He didn’t remember that term particularly, but he did remember that it was a slang used to make fun of stupid people.

Back in the modern world before everything went to hell—and even in the faint memories he had pieced together from this era—calling someone an NPC was just internet mockery for mindless sheep who couldn’t think for themselves.

[ <LUST> shakes its head. Host is incorrect, NPC does not associate with stupidity or intelligence. Host can consider them as controlled slaves like Rose’s slaves, only intended to do a single task. That task for Billy is to serve as the cafe’s clerk. ]

Fredrinn glanced back at Billy who was explaining the difference between bread and toast to Max.

"You see, sir, bread is soft and untoasted, whereas toast is subjected to radiant heat, giving it a crisp texture and browned surface," Billy was explaining, completely earnest, his hands folded neatly over his apron.

Max nodded along with agonizing slowness, pretending to absorb the groundbreaking culinary wisdom.

Clearly, Billy didn’t appear to be dumb. Not intelligent either, but definitely not that dumb.

Weird was a the correct word to describe him.

He possessed vocabulary, patience, and logic, yet all of it was funneled entirely through the narrow lens of retail service.

’What’s the use of NPC then? Getting a coffee for 100 bucks? Though I don’t even know how much that is in current time... At my time it was quite a lot.’ Fredrinn sighed as he said.

A hundred dollars for roasted beans in boiling water sounded absurd, but in a post-apocalyptic ruin where currency had lost all meaning, asking for cash or card was even more ridiculous.

[ <LUST> shrugs. There are several kinds of NPCs, created due to some glitches in awakenings as well as inherent quality of doing the job very well. After all, if a person has been milking cows since birth... Why find someone else to do it? ]

When put like that, Fredrinn could understand the logic behind Lust’s explanation.

The world had shifted. The apocalypse wasn’t just mindless disease; it was an overhaul of reality itself. If the system running this collapse needed certain structures to function, it repurposed whatever was on hand.

Though he didn’t really know what Archive really is and what it even intends to do.

It sounded ancient, administrative, and chillingly indifferent.

’Haah... At this point even being good at something is more of a curse than a blessing.’ He sighed.

Imagine working hard your whole life, mastering a craft, only for an apocalyptic phenomenon to look down, deem you the ideal worker bee, and lock your mind into an eternal shift with no breaks.

[ <LUST> reminds host that excess of anything is a curse. The NPC Billy has been amazing at his job, loving it more than his life and used to work over 18 hours a day just serving customers and finding his life’s meaning in attending to orders...

Now he can do it forever without the need of sleep or exhaustion. Maybe he’s not unhappy, the fault is in host’s eyes. ]

’Heh, how could someone be happy about that?’ Fredrinn shook his head, not wanting to comment any further on the topic and get more depressed about those thoughts.

To Fredrinn, losing one’s free will to a corporate loop sounded like the lowest circle of hell, regardless of how much Billy might have loved pouring lattes in life.

But philosophy wouldn’t clear the floor or feed his group.

He pivoted back to the original and important topics.

’You still didn’t tell me if the NPCs are actually useful or not. All you told me is that they are created by the mysterious Archive.’

[ <LUST> sighs. The NPCs do their job, but since they are created by Archive, they possess great powers. Mostly the powers related to their job.

In this case, Billy’s power is most likely related to creation magic. And as for its use, the foods may provide a buff or not. It is not guaranteed as not all NPCs are created the same.

In addition, NPCs are invulnerable and capable of protecting themselves if harmed. So it is highly advised not to provoke them. ]

Fredrinn’s brain nearly lagged for a couple of seconds.

Creation magic? CREATION MAGIC?

As a wizard and mage from Apolasia, Fredrinn knew a lot about magic and mana. He had spent decades mastering circles, weaving formulas, and manipulating elements across distant battlefields.

And there was one thing that was universal.

Magic cannot create... It can only affect. It’s a law. An unwritten rule.

After all, how can you create a ball of water out of thin air? Well, it is possible to do so in a spell, but the moment it is cast and the mana has been stopped channeling, the water created would vanish.

It doesn’t matter if that water had been used to drink or given to plants.

It would vanish from the stomach. It would disappear from the soil.

Sure, if you shot a stream of water at a dirty car, it would be cleaned and when the spell is stopped casting, it would stay cleaned.

But it wasn’t creating anything, the mud was merely displaced. The magic affected the dust, but it couldn’t make it disappear or create it out of nowhere.

Magic converted, shaped, accelerated, and pushed—it never truly birthed real matter from nothing.

So when Fredrinn heard that Billy possessed creation magic...

The implications detonated in his mind like thunder.

He rushed forward, pushing Max away and standing in front of the NPC.

Max stumbled back a step, blinking in utter shock as Fredrinn cut right in front of him.

Ignoring everyone around him, Fredrinn planted his hands firmly on the cold marble counter, his gaze locked intensely on Billy’s hollow, smiling face.

"What’s the most expensive item you got?" He asked directly.