Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 390: Mystery Eggs

Kim Haru spotted a stall selling nothing but snakes, surrounded by a water barrier to prevent them from slithering away.

After all, not everyone attending the market was an ability user—there were ordinary people here too.

Kim Haru had no interest in these slippery creatures.

Why would he want one when he had Fuzzball's soft fur to pet and his Cryo Wolf' playful antics to keep him entertained?

He only glanced at them briefly to memorize their appearance—just in case he ever ran into one in the wild and needed to know how to deal with it.

Then, he moved on to browse other stalls.

Most of the strange creatures on sale didn't interest him.

Just as he was about to walk past this section entirely, he noticed something odd—a completely silent stall.

It wasn't that there were no people at the stall, but rather that the goods being sold weren't making any noise.

Unlike other stalls, where the creatures struggled and made sounds, this stall's merchandise remained still.

Looking closer, Kim Haru realized what was being sold—eggs.

An egg stall.

That actually caught his interest.

He walked up to listen to the stall owner explaining to another customer.

"Each egg is labeled with its price and species. Pick whichever you want. Whether or not it hatches, I can't guarantee. But I can assure you that they're all still alive for now."

"What about that pile?" someone asked, pointing to a separate stack of eggs divided by a stone.

That side also had a large pile of eggs, but unlike the labeled ones, these had no markings—no species, no price.

Only a sign in front that read, "Fifty crystal cores."

There were far more eggs in the unlabeled pile than in the clearly marked one.

Kim Haru roughly compared the two piles.

While the unlabeled eggs varied in size and shape just like the labeled ones, not a single egg from that pile matched anything in the identified section.

The vendor spread his hands over the pile of eggs. "These? It all depends on luck."

"Luck?"

"To be honest, I picked up most of these eggs. I don't know their species, but I can guarantee they're still alive. Whether you manage to hatch something out of them, though—that's not my responsibility. So, all of them are fifty crystal cores. Good or bad, it's up to luck."

Wasn't this just like buying a mystery bag?

Kim Haru was intrigued.

He first glanced at the eggs with clear price tags.

Most of the names were unfamiliar to him, and the prices varied.

One particularly small egg, about the size of a chicken egg, was marked at a whopping one thousand crystal cores.

What surprised Kim Haru the most was that not all the eggs belonged to oviparous species.

Among them, he noticed labels for mice, insects, and even monkeys—animals that were typically viviparous.

After eavesdropping on a few conversations, he learned that after the apocalypse, the distinction between egg-laying and live birth had become completely chaotic.

In other words, there was no telling what these eggs might hatch into.

Kim Haru wasn't particularly interested in hatching a pet.

What he really wanted was livestock—if he could hatch a cow or sheep, that would be perfect.

The Biryong Plains still didn't have any livestock.

With that goal in mind, he focused on picking out the largest eggs.

The random egg section didn't attract much attention.

Apart from a few Fire-type ability users, who were confident they could incubate the eggs, most people focused on the eggs with known species.

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Just as the vendor had said, while these eggs were currently alive, they wouldn't hatch without the right conditions.

A single mistake could result in nothing hatching at all, wasting a fortune in crystal cores.

To ensure successful hatching, people needed specialized incubators or Fire-type ability users to maintain the proper temperature.

That wasn't an easy task.

Once an egg was set for incubation, a Fire-type ability user would need to tend to it daily, with only short breaks, until it hatched.

That meant no missions, no hunting zombies, no scavenging for supplies—nothing else.

Because of this, hiring someone to incubate an egg often cost far more than the egg itself.

Still, if the egg showed signs of hatching, its owner would keep watch nearby.

The first person the newly hatched creature saw would naturally form a bond with it, leading to a higher chance of successful taming.

Compared to capturing a wild creature, raising one from birth was much easier.

Of course, there was also a significant chance that, despite all efforts, the creature would never be tamed and would have to be put down.

With such a high price to pay, it was no wonder that those who could afford eggs preferred the ones with known species.

No one wanted to take a gamble, only to end up hatching something useless—or worse, something they despised.

Still, there were always people willing to take risks.

Seeing Kim Haru, who wasn't a Fire-type ability user, picking out random eggs, the other shoppers assumed he was one of those gamblers.

A Fire-type ability user who was also browsing the random eggs kindly gave him a warning. "Bigger isn't always better when it comes to eggs."

Kim Haru looked over, curious.

Fire-type ability users tended to be straightforward.

The man didn't mind that Kim Haru was silent.

Seeing that he was listening, he pointed at the large eggs Kim Haru had selected, then gestured toward his own choices—smaller eggs, one of which was only the size of a quail egg.

"There's a saying: 'Concentrated essence makes for the best quality.' It's better to pick smaller eggs. It's not a guarantee, but generally, the smaller the egg, the more dangerous the creature inside. The ones you've picked? They might just hatch into oversized animals with no brains and no abilities."

The ability user even gave Kim Haru a few examples—rock cow, multi-horned goat, and other creatures that were all brawn and no intelligence.

How could he have known?