Ch 26: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Lu Yao found herself back in front of the door labeled “Exit.” She pulled the handle again, but still didn’t return to the small room she had originally entered from.

Instead, a long, dimly lit hallway appeared before her, lined with doors on either side. The door she had exited from was labeled “Zero,” and as she walked forward, the door numbers increased.

When she reached door number 50, the number on the door suddenly reset to zero, and the door swung open, releasing a flood of NPCs in various forms.

“End of the shift, end of the shift! We have a day off tomorrow, and I’m heading to the snack shop to get in line!”

“I’m going too! I want to try the cream coffee pudding. I heard it’s bittersweet and super delicious!”

“Braised pork noodles, braised pork noodles! I’m eating three bowls!”

One NPC suddenly gasped, “Wait! Boss, what are you doing here?”

The other NPCs, who hadn’t left yet, also noticed Lu Yao. Curious, they all wondered why the snack shop owner was here.

Is this the amusement park? Lu Yao wondered.

So these guys have jobs during the day, she thought with a small smile, and vaguely pointed behind her. “I just came out from there.”

The NPCs were shocked. “You went into the game? Which door did you come out from?”

Not understanding why they were so agitated, Lu Yao thought back and replied, “The one at the far end, the door labeled zero.”

At that, the NPCs immediately crowded around her, carefully examining her from head to toe.

“Oh my god, how did you end up going through that door? Are you hurt?”

“That door is the scariest! Were you frightened?”

“Hey, her hand’s scraped! Who did this? Check the surveillance footage and dock their pay! Does it hurt?”

Lu Yao: …My hand probably got scraped when Zhao Yuqing shoved me in the plaza.

These NPCs had no idea how terrifying they looked at that moment. One had an eyeball hanging out, connected by pink sinew; another had a mouth split all the way to their ears, with three tongues lolling around as they spoke. Someone else even had two faces, front and back, both fussing over Lu Yao’s wellbeing.

If Lu Yao weren’t a bit experienced and hadn’t just survived a game without fainting from fear, this group of monsters would’ve scared her half to death.

And… these guys all seemed to know she was human…

Feeling conflicted, Lu Yao realized that if the customers knew, the staff definitely did too. They’d just been playing along with her “illusion master” persona the whole time.

From the crowd, a small, dark purple eggplant-like pony struggled to make its way through. Upon seeing Lu Yao surrounded by NPCs, it exclaimed in surprise, “Boss? What are you doing here? Stop crowding her, don’t bully her!”

The NPCs raised their hands in innocence, showing they weren’t bullying her.

Lu Yao: “…Xiao Qie?”

The eggplant pony slowly morphed back into Xiao Qie’s usual form.

The stack of paper bills Xiao Qie had been carrying spilled onto the ground, but he didn’t bother picking them up. Instead, he squatted down in front of Lu Yao, worried. “Boss, are you alright?”

Lu Yao picked up one of the scattered bills, recognizing the same soft RMB notes from the stack in her shop.

She had never fully believed Qi Shen’s explanation, so she had never used the money. Now she understood where it came from.

Xiao Qie didn’t care about the soft RMB bills scattered on the floor. He helped Lu Yao up, intending to take her back to the shop.

But Lu Yao stopped him and bent down to collect the bills.

Xiao Qie was confused. “Why bother? You never use them. Let’s go back to the shop.”

They collected these bills every day after their shifts. Most challengers didn’t bring money into the game, except in lower-level instances. And the only bills they could bring out of the game were 100 RMB notes, meaning it took several rounds in different instances to gather even a small stack.

Even though they always brought the money back to the snack shop, Lu Yao had never used it, leaving it stored along with the other ingredients.

Xiao Qie felt a little hurt.

Lu Yao finished gathering the scattered bills, patted Xiao Qie on the head, and said, “Who said I won’t use it? From now on, this money will be used to buy you guys snacks.”

Xiao Qie looked up. “Really?”

Lu Yao nodded. “Yes. Summer’s coming soon, so we’ll buy ice cream, milk tea, and watermelon.”

…

At the amusement park entrance, Lu Yao and Xiao Qie encountered Bai Jian, the head guard. Lu Yao released Xiao Qie’s hand and approached Bai Jian, removing the ring and handing it to him. “I met the Demon God. Thank you.”

Bai Jian, suppressing his excitement, had only been testing the waters and wasn’t certain Lu Yao would really meet the Demon God. The Demon God, heartbroken for some reason, had been in a long slumber somewhere within the park, and Bai Jian hadn’t seen him in many years.

He returned Lu Yao’s belongings to her—her phone, keys, and loose change—but didn’t take the ring, replying calmly, “Since you’ve signed the contract, the ring is yours now.”

Though this ring was special, it seemed fitting for Lu Yao to keep it.

Lu Yao didn’t refuse. After receiving her belongings, she said, “I’ll find a way to thank you properly another time, Chief.”

Bai Jian wasn’t concerned about thanks. As he watched Lu Yao walk away from the amusement park, he couldn’t resist asking, “Did the Demon God say anything?”

Lu Yao turned back. “He said he’ll come to the snack shop in three days for a meal.”

Both Bai Jian and Xiao Qie were stunned.

The Demon God had actually agreed.

Lu Yao and Xiao Qie returned to the snack shop, where a crowd had gathered at the entrance.

“She’s out, she’s out. I told you she’d be fine.”

“Even the blood demon was reasonable enough to escort her to the exit.”

“But why did it take her so long to come out? Do you think she was scared?”

These people were the same ones who had watched the live stream in the cinema. After seeing the blood demon escort Lu Yao to the exit, they had come here to wait for her. Now that they saw she was safe, they began to disperse.

Inside the shop, only Qi Shen was present—Bai Ming, Xingzi, and Quan Shengju were still in the game.

Xiao Qie explained that they were all in the game.

Lu Yao briefly recounted her experience to Qi Shen, mentioning that she hadn’t been able to buy the matcha mille crepe and would get it for him the next day.

Qi Shen sat on a stool, his expression serious. “You entered the game? And with a black ring?”

Lu Yao nodded.

Qi Shen asked, “Were you scared?”

Xiao Qie, sitting nearby, was a bit tense. It seemed like Lu Yao had uncovered the final secret. She had entered one of the most terrifying and realistic games in the park, and Xiao Qie worried that she might be horrified or disgusted.

Lu Yao nodded. “There was blood and dismembered limbs everywhere, and organs spilled all over the floor. The ground was so sticky with blood, it was really slippery, and when I fell, it hurt like hell.”

Qi Shen: “…That’s it?”

In a horror game, falling and getting hurt was her biggest takeaway? Who cared about that minor detail?

Lu Yao continued, “The floor was really slick. The blood was thick, and when I fell, I couldn’t get up. Even Qing, who was playing an NPC, couldn’t bear to watch and came over to help me. Even though he was in the form of a monster, I recognized those familiar shark-like teeth of his, and his voice was easy to identify, even though he tried to disguise it with a raspy tone.”

Qi Shen: “…”

We are not the same. Not even close.

Xiao Qie studied Lu Yao’s expression carefully, confirming she wasn’t showing any signs of disgust. She was simply recounting her experience. Xiao Qie relaxed a little.

Lu Yao thought for a moment and said, “I ran into Qi Jue. He’s been looking for you.”

Previously, she hadn’t wanted to bring up things happening in the real world, but after going through the game, her perspective shifted. Revealing a bit of information didn’t seem like a problem.

Qi Shen’s eyes flickered. “He’s my cousin.”

Lu Yao nodded. “He’s got a ring now too. A black one.”

Qi Shen’s expression turned grim. Both brothers, it seemed, were destined for short lives. After a moment, he calmed down. “Sometimes knowing your fate in advance isn’t a blessing. The ring merely gives the living a choice—to wait in silence for fate to come or to struggle in defiance. Neither path is easy. But my cousin is smarter and more capable than I am. His ending will surely be different from mine.”

…

City Center, Teahouse.

Zhuang Liang and Qi Jue were still waiting for Lu Yao. It had been nearly two hours since she entered the game.

Time inside the game flowed differently from the outside, and by now, Lu Yao had spent about eight hours in the game. Normally, the amusement park didn’t allow players to bring food into the game, and there was no food provided in the game world either. After eight hours, the player’s physical limits would typically be reached, and she should have exited by now.

But as another hour passed, Lu Yao still hadn’t returned.

According to the rules, players must return to the same spot they entered from when they exit the game. Experienced players usually prepare the items they want to bring into the game ahead of time and enter from home or a safe location, not recklessly from the outside, like Lu Yao had done.

Zhuang Liang was getting anxious. Usually, first-time players die fairly quickly—why hadn’t she come out yet? Could she have been sent to a death zone?

But this was her first time entering the game.

Only players who failed in their last game session would be teleported near the death zone. That’s what had happened to Qi Shen. After losing the game, he’d been transported to a strange place. He had sensed his fate and tried to escape, but it was inevitable.

Zhuang Liang couldn’t shake the feeling that there were too many mysteries surrounding Lu Yao. He couldn’t figure her out at all.

“What are you looking at?” Zhuang Liang kicked Qi Jue beside him.

Qi Jue was slumped over the table, holding his phone. “I’m browsing the forum. There’s a trending post that just blew up.”

Zhuang Liang, feeling restless, pulled out his phone and started scrolling through the forum as well.

Only players could access the amusement park’s forum, and once you got a ring, you automatically learned the forum’s address.

Upon logging in, Zhuang Liang saw a highly popular post dominating the homepage. It already had over 500 comments, and the title was extremely clickbait-y: “How I Survived in the Black Ring World Thanks to an NPC Helping New Players.”

Zhuang Liang took one glance at the title and immediately dismissed it as fake. Since when would any NPC help new players in this game?

Especially not in the terrifying Black Ring World. Even in the Gray Ring and White Ring Worlds, such a thing would be impossible.

NPCs were designed to find the most painful ways to kill players within the game’s rules. They thrived on blood and slaughter, acting purely on instinct like mindless monsters.

Yet the post kept gaining traction, racking up over a hundred more comments in just a few minutes.

With a mindset to poke holes in the logic and expose the post as attention-seeking nonsense, Zhuang Liang clicked into the thread—only to be greeted by a frantic post:

“AAAAAHHHHH!!! Let me scream first—I survived the Black Ring World! Third time in! My ring is now used up!”

Before I explain what happened today, let me give some context.

My ring is a black ring, and I came out of my second game three months ago. I was shredded to bits inside the game.

Afterward, I was too scared to sleep at night, constantly on edge, terrified that at any second I’d be dragged back into the game. This stress completely ruined my normal life. After consulting a few therapists, I made the decision to enter the game one more time to resolve this.

If I didn’t make it out, then it was my fate. But if I could scrape by and survive, it’d be worth another 30 years of my life.

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on my side. Right after entering, I ran into a swamp monster that chased me relentlessly and tore off one of my arms. I barely managed to escape.

But then I stumbled straight into the blood demon’s territory. Anyone who’s played in the Black Ring World knows how terrifying the blood demon is, and the one I encountered was even worse than usual.

It was twice the size of the ones I’d seen before, horrifying in appearance, covered in thick armor, and its fingers were massive and razor-sharp.

It saw me but didn’t rush to kill me right away. Instead, it followed me at a distance, slowly closing in until I was too exhausted to keep running. Finally, it cornered me.

Its hand was big enough to wrap around my entire head. I could smell the stench of blood and rot. I could feel its claws digging into my scalp, and the blood that started to flow turned icy cold as it dripped down my head, soaking my hair and clothes.

My limbs went weak, and I couldn’t make a sound. I thought I was going to die—miracles don’t happen to people like me.

Now, here’s the strange part. What happened next was so bizarre that even now, I can’t fully explain it, but I swear this is what I saw, right in front of my own eyes.

I gave up struggling and stopped trying to move.

Suddenly, I heard a strange thud, followed by an irritated female voice saying something like, “I’m covered in blood, this is so annoying.”

The blood demon seemed to be drawn to the voice and hesitated. It let go of me and turned toward the source of the sound.

There, lying on the ground, was a girl who seemed like a clueless new player. She had fallen and couldn’t get back up because the ground was too slippery.

At that moment, I felt a wave of relief—I might actually survive.

Then, the truly interesting thing happened—

The post abruptly cut off here, followed by layers of replies from other players.

“Hurry up! What’s the interesting part?”

“Is the OP still making this up? It’s okay, just keep going. I’m fully immersed in the story now; it feels so real.”

“Come on! Don’t leave us hanging here! We’re waiting for the update!!!”

“Wow, I’ve never seen a post like this before, and it’s surprisingly detailed. Now I’m curious about what happened next…”

Zhuang Liang frowned as he scrolled further. He wanted to know what happened next too, but the post kept dragging on without an update from the original poster, leaving everyone on edge.

Frustrated, Zhuang Liang clicked “view only OP’s posts.”

OP: “I thought the next moment that newbie player was going to die. Can you guess what happened next? I bet you can’t—it was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Another pointless reply. Zhuang Liang’s frown deepened as he continued scrolling.

OP: “The blood demon walked up to the girl, shook its head as if unsure, and then extended its hand toward her.”

The player didn’t seem to understand what it wanted and ignored it.

The blood demon waited for a long time, then slowly opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp, fine teeth—it looked terrifying.

I thought it was about to get angry and devour the girl.

But instead, the blood demon gritted its teeth and said something!

I couldn’t understand what it said, but the girl seemed to. She actually reached out and grabbed the blood demon’s huge claw, letting it help her up from the ground.

Not only did the blood demon not kill her, it carefully helped her walk, as if guiding her somewhere.

No one noticed me, and I managed to stay hidden in the blood demon’s lair until the game ended.

All I can say is that the whole thing was utterly bizarre.

I still can’t figure out who that girl was…

The post ended there. Zhuang Liang turned off the “view only OP’s posts” filter and scrolled through the comments. As expected, most readers were treating the post as nothing more than a tall tale.

“66666 OP, you’ve got such an imagination. You should be writing novels.”

“This is a fresh take. I’ve never seen this kind of story before.”

“LOL, did the OP get so messed up in the game that they started hallucinating?”

“If you told me this happened in the White Ring World, I might’ve believed it. But the Black Ring World? Come on, everyone knows the NPCs there are ruthless killers. You’re lucky if they don’t kill you ten times over.”

“I gotta say, the OP did a good job with the setup. I was fully immersed at the start.”

“But the last part? Too far-fetched. What’s next? A love story between a player and an NPC?”

…

The thread was filled with sarcastic replies, but the OP remained calm, only responding once with: “Believe it or not, it really happened, and I survived the game. I’ve made it out, and you might encounter her one day. Don’t be too surprised when you do.”

Qi Jue finished reading the thread and looked up at Zhuang Liang. “How much of this do you think is true?”

In the past, Zhuang Liang would have dismissed it as complete fiction, but now, an uncertain thought lingered in his mind.

He didn’t answer immediately, instead grabbing his phone and standing up. “Let’s go find her.”

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