Sickly Cannon Fodder: Spoiled by the Powerful Apocalypse Bosses-Chapter 19

Suzy froze for a split second before a surge of wild joy rushed through her.

It was just a birthday gift—yet his favorability had jumped past sixty!

The way she looked at Derek now, her eyes were practically glowing.

Derek... he really was her perfect junior.

"Use it!" she answered the system in her mind without hesitation.

[Function Unlocked: Physical Enhancement]

[Trigger Condition: Host must make contact with the bound target to activate physical enhancement.]

Suzy had been listening carefully to every word from the system. When she heard the explanation, she blanked for a moment.

Could contact really strengthen her body?

That was incredible.

But... what kind of contact?

She waited.

And waited.

No further explanation came.

Clearly, the system had no intention of elaborating.

So she would have to test it herself. The target was standing right in front of her after all.

Without overthinking it, Suzy stepped closer.

Under Derek’s attentive gaze, she suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand.

Derek froze.

Suzy had always been frail; her constitution weak. Her fingers were naturally cool to the touch, almost icy.

Derek’s hand, in contrast, was warm—radiating steady heat through their skin.

When she took hold of him, he didn’t pull away. In fact, after a heartbeat of surprise, he instinctively curled his fingers slightly, enclosing her hand in his.

He was still stunned; the subtle response was purely reflex.

But Suzy wasn’t paying attention to that at all. Her entire focus was on testing the system.

She held his hand and waited patiently.

Nothing. No notification. No change.

But this was contact, wasn’t it?

Physical contact—didn’t that count?

Just as confusion crept in, Derek finally found his voice.

"S-Senior... what’s wrong?"

He still didn’t withdraw his hand, simply letting her hold it.

A flush had spread across his pale cheeks, blooming red under the streetlights. His long lashes trembled faintly, the movement visible in the glow.

Only then did Suzy realize how abrupt—and intimate—her action must have seemed.

Her mind spun quickly, scrambling for a reasonable excuse.

After a split second, she straightened her expression, tightened her grip slightly, and said solemnly, "Derek, what I told you earlier—you must take it seriously. This is confidential. I’ve only told you."

She deliberately spoke slower, dragging out her words to buy time while still holding his hand.

Derek, however, wasn’t focused on the impropriety of the gesture at all. His eyes lit up instead. "Senior... you only told me?"

"Yes." Suzy nodded.

Derek’s smile widened, bright and unguarded. "Don’t worry. I’ll remember everything you said."

She kept talking for a while longer, stretching the conversation as much as possible.

Still no system notification.

At last, she had no choice but to let go.

One thing was now certain: Simple physical contact didn’t trigger the new function.

Disappointment and frustration tangled in her chest.

Honestly, if the system was going to unlock a feature, couldn’t it at least explain the rules clearly?

She grumbled inwardly.

As if hearing her complaint, the system finally responded.

[Contact refers to kissing and XX.]

Suzy’s eyes widened in shock.

Excuse me... What?!

Her brain buzzed violently, as if someone had struck a tuning fork inside her skull.

Kissing and—what?!

She forced her expression to remain composed in front of Derek, swallowing down the shock that threatened to show on her face.

Clearing her throat, she said evenly, "It’s getting late. You should head back."

Derek’s lips parted slightly, as though he wanted to say something.

In the end, he swallowed the words. "Alright. I’ll head back then. See you, Senior."

Derek had driven himself. Even as he said goodbye, there was a trace of reluctance in his voice.

After watching him leave, Suzy remained seated in her car for a long while, trying to steady herself.

Only kissing and... that... would trigger physical enhancement. What kind of dual-cultivation nonsense was this?!

It felt absurd. Outrageous.

No matter how loudly she screamed in her head, the system remained silent—pretending to be dead.

Ten minutes later, Suzy gradually calmed down and forced herself to accept reality.

If she thought about it carefully... it was kind of thrilling.

She glanced at the time. It was still early.

Instead of heading home, she started the car and drove around the nearby streets, beginning another round of food stockpiling.

Any restaurant still open along the way—she went in.

Sour fish stew. Braised chicken rice. Pork fillets over rice...

For these quick-service meals, she didn’t hesitate—fifty portions at a time, all packed to go.

Since she could rest on the plane tomorrow, she figured she might as well use the remaining hours tonight to stock up on as many ready-made dishes as possible.

Once everything was packed, she loaded the boxes into her car and quietly transferred them into her storage space.

Next stop: the nearest night market.

It wasn’t the weekend, so the crowd was sparse, the atmosphere slightly subdued.

Suzy went from stall to stall, placing orders like a whirlwind.

Spiral-cut potatoes. Stinky tofu. Fried chicken cutlets. Chicken cartilage. Skewered cold dishes. Fried rice noodles. Grilled cold noodles. Takoyaki. Barbecue skewers. Snail rice noodles. All kinds of pastas and pizzas...

Every night market staple she could think of—she ordered no fewer than fifty portions each.

The vendors were instantly overwhelmed.

Whenever it came time to pick up the food, Suzy made sure to put on her mask and cover up thoroughly.

Some shop owners couldn’t help asking why she was buying so much. She casually explained it was for students’ late-night snacks and brushed off further questions.

While waiting for the food to be prepared, she used her phone to order milk tea from nearby shops.

There were several schools in the area, so milk tea stores were everywhere. By the time she collected the snacks, the drinks were ready too.

Box after box went into the trunk—and from there, into her space.

Then she moved on to the next destination.

She kept at it until midnight, sweeping through nearly every type of street food she could imagine.

Past midnight, she even went to a popular barbecue restaurant and bought out every ingredient they had left.

Her excuse? Hosting an event.

By the time she finally drove home, it was three in the morning.

She showered, collapsed into bed, and before falling asleep, checked her haul inside the space.

The sight made her deeply satisfied.

Almost every roadside delicacy she could think of—she had it now.

And this was only the first batch.

Over the next three months, she would prepare far more.

***

The next morning, when the alarm rang, Suzy got ready and headed to the airport.

She had already cleared out everything from her apartment—every single item stored in her space. Not even furniture remained.

If nothing unexpected happened, the place would sell quickly.

Her apartment was in one of the city’s most sought-after developments—and in a prime school district at that.

It was the kind of property that would disappear the moment it hit the market. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

If she hadn’t known the apocalypse was coming, she would never have considered selling it.

The price she set was reasonable. She was confident it would sell within three months.

Once it did, the agency would handle the paperwork. She would simply wait to collect the money.

Two hours later, Suzy arrived in C City.

The moment she stepped off the plane, her phone rang.

It was her uncle.

Leonard Kale had taken the day off specifically to pick her up.

As she exited the airport, she spotted him immediately—a man in a brown coat, refined and gentle in bearing, standing out even in the crowd.