Ch 51: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Task Expiration? What’s going on?

Lu Yao was confused. “I thought only the final task had a time limit? Why is the third one expiring?”

System: “All tasks have time limits, but in the previous shop, the task completion rate was so high and fast that there were no time limit notifications.”

Lu Yao: “…Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

System: “Because no time limit warnings were triggered before.”

Lu Yao: “…”

That explanation was as useful as none.

The third task was to serve 100 customers. Lu Yao asked, “How many more do I need to serve?”

System: “Fifty-nine.”

Fifty-nine more?

Despite being busy every day, she had only served 41 customers in all this time.

Lu Yao began to reflect. Concerned about handling everything alone, she hadn’t advertised the nail salon much and had always aimed for high-quality, intricate designs, striving to meet each customer’s expectations. While her reputation had improved, the business hadn’t attracted enough customers, and now even the task was in jeopardy.

“What happens if the task expires?” Lu Yao asked.

System: “If the task expires, the rewards will be withdrawn. You might not get the key items in this world or clues to the next world. Your journey could end here.”

Lu Yao: “…”

Now you tell me this?

Panic-stricken, Lu Yao quickly thought of a solution.

She had 72 hours—three days to serve 59 customers. Her appointments for the next three days were fully booked, but that only accounted for 24 people. She still needed to find 35 more customers.

Unfortunately, this day was packed with things to do, including a meeting at noon with a buyer for the black ring.

Lu Yao first stopped by the snack shop to drop off the fresh ingredients she bought in Onorton City, then brought five breakfasts back to the nail salon.

After breakfast, and before her customers arrived, Lu Yao gathered her three apprentices at the workbench, her expression unusually serious. “You’ve all been learning at the nail salon for some time now, and I want to assess your recent progress.”

The three apprentices reacted differently. While Mumu and Tina seemed surprised but relaxed, Eugenia was visibly tense.

Lu Yao pulled out three sample nail designs and reassured them, “No need to be nervous; it’s just a simple test. Here are three basic designs: solid color, single-color gradient, and stamped nails. Choose the one that interests you and practice. I’ll review your work this afternoon.”

Though these designs were relatively simple and not typically chosen by salon customers, they were good foundational exercises for the apprentices.

Eugenia relaxed a little, knowing the test was straightforward.

The apprentices eagerly chose their designs and began practicing, taking this test very seriously.

Meanwhile, Harold, looking bored, tugged on Lu Yao’s sleeve. “What are you planning now?”

Lu Yao was about to discuss things with the system when she saw Harold and decided to involve him. “Don’t wander off this afternoon. I have something very important for you.”

“Something important?” The young black dragon immediately straightened up, his laziness replaced with alertness. “What is it?”

Lu Yao smiled. “I’ll tell you in the afternoon.”

Content, Harold sat quietly on the sofa, waiting patiently for his task.

With Harold settled, Lu Yao turned back to the system. “I sketched out a flyer. Please help me print 2,000 copies before the afternoon.”

System: “…What flyers? What are you trying to do?”

Lu Yao: “Stop talking and get it done. I’m busy.”

System: “It will cost 20,000 popularity points to print 2,000 flyers. Does the store owner choose to print?”

Lu Yao: “…Yes. And I want dynamic flyers, don’t print the wrong kind.”

System: “…”

Can’t outsmart her anymore, the store owner is getting sharper.

…

At 11:30, Lu Yao calculated the time and set off from the shopping street, taking about an hour to get to the teahouse where she had an appointment with the buyer.

She regretted choosing a location so far away—it was exhausting to travel back and forth. Next time, she’d meet the buyer at the previous teahouse, which was much closer.

Lu Yao had booked a private room in advance, but when she arrived, the buyer was already there, along with Zhuang Liang.

This time, the buyer’s surname was Xiao. He was dressed in a suit, appearing to be in his forties, with a gloomy look.

Zhuang Liang stood up instinctively when he saw Lu Yao. “Miss Lu.”

Lu Yao nodded and, without bothering to order tea, pulled out the ring and slid it across the table. “Check it.”

Zhuang Liang, knowing the ring would be fine, still performed a routine inspection before looking at Xiao Zhiwei. “No issues. It’s a new ring.”

Xiao Zhiwei reached out to take the ring, but Lu Yao was quicker, withdrawing it first. “Mr. Xiao, have you prepared the payment?”

Xiao Zhiwei placed a briefcase on the table. “Here’s 500,000.”

Lu Yao: “?”

Zhuang Liang immediately felt a bad premonition.

Xiao Zhiwei clasped his hands together, his gaze towards Lu Yao filled with contempt. His eyebrows raised, projecting a heavy sense of pressure. “For someone struggling to survive, life isn’t easy. Two million is quite excessive, Miss Lu. How about we settle at 500,000?”

Lu Yao felt irritated. If the deal wasn’t happening, it wasn’t worth wasting her time.

She put the black ring away and stood up. “I hope Mr. Xiao can bargain with Death as well. Maybe he’ll extend your life from 3 o’clock to 5 o’clock. I’m not selling the ring.”

Xiao Zhiwei clapped his hands with a smile, and four bodyguards in suits and sunglasses entered the room, blocking the door.

“Miss Lu, I suggest you sell the ring to me.” Xiao Zhiwei looked her up and down, clearly expecting her to be humiliated and surrender the ring.

Xiao Zhiwei was a real estate tycoon from a nearby city. After finding a gray ring at home and learning he didn’t have much time left, he hurriedly went to the forum looking for a black ring.

While waiting to trade with Lu Yao, he spent some time lurking in forums and learned that black rings could originally be bought for as low as 100,000.

Thinking fast, he wormed his way into a high-level player group on the forum and gathered some intel—the seller of the ring seemed to be a naive young girl.

When Xiao Zhiwei arrived in Yao Guang City, he found Zhuang Liang, who was known as “Mr. Zhuang,” to help verify the ring. Meanwhile, Xiao plotted—if the ring was genuine, he would try to buy it for 500,000. If Lu Yao refused, he might not have to pay at all and simply take it by force.

The atmosphere in the room grew tense. Zhuang Liang immediately stood up, hastily trying to explain, “Miss Lu, I have nothing to do with this. He just asked me to verify the ring. I didn’t know he only prepared 500,000.”

Xiao Zhiwei snickered, thinking that even Zhuang Liang wasn’t much, looking so pathetic.

Lu Yao pulled the black ring from her pocket again and gave Zhuang Liang a curious look. “I don’t recall doing anything to you. Why are you so scared of me?”

“…” Zhuang Liang’s scalp tingled, his smile strained and worse than crying.

Xiao Zhiwei, full of confidence, reached for the ring in Lu Yao’s hand. “That’s more like it. Don’t be too greedy, young lady.”

Zhuang Liang caught a glimpse of the ring and silently lit a candle for Xiao Zhiwei in his mind. This isn’t the same ring as before.

The one Lu Yao had just pulled out was the ring from their first meeting at the teahouse—the one that could be used an unlimited number of times.

Lu Yao glanced at Xiao Zhiwei, her smile faint. “Mr. Xiao, be careful not to let your greed trip you up.”

With that, she slowly put the ring on her finger. A number appeared above her head, and in the next second, she disappeared from sight.

Xiao Zhiwei’s face turned dark as he slammed the table, causing the tea to spill and scald his hand. Furious, he flung the teacups off the table and glared at Zhuang Liang. “She entered the game? Does she think she can run away? Hmph, I’ll wait here! She has to come out eventually!”

Even if he couldn’t buy the ring, he wanted to vent his anger.

Zhuang Liang said nothing. He had just glimpsed the number floating above Lu Yao’s head—6,895.

How long had it been?

Her lifespan had increased by nearly 5,000 years.

Was she still human, or something else entirely?

Zhuang Liang didn’t dare think further. Throwing out a quick, “She’s not coming back, and don’t bother looking for me again,” he hurriedly left the teahouse without looking back.

…

Lu Yao was transported into the game, landing in the middle of a large-scale massacre.

The ground was still wet with fresh blood, and most of the players were already dead. Only one person remained.

Qi Jue was in shambles—his limbs were broken, leaving only one hand that appeared somewhat intact, but even the inside of that hand had been completely shattered.

This was his third time entering the game, and if he died here, he would face real death outside.

A blood demon held him up by his head, slowly tightening its grip, ready to crush him.

Qi Jue’s vision blurred, and he thought he saw his brother, Qi Shen, waving at him from the riverbank. He knew he wouldn’t survive this round.

Staying alive… was so difficult.

Thinking of the tragic way Qi Shen had died, Qi Jue felt a wave of sadness. Who would collect his body this time? He hoped it wouldn’t be too gruesome; the elders in the Qi family couldn’t bear another brutal death like that.

Lu Yao, without paying much attention to the bloodied figure, was more focused on returning to her store. She spotted a monster NPC in the distance that looked a lot like Qing, the one she had met before, and tentatively called out, “Qing?”

The blood demon stiffened, slowly releasing its grip on Qi Jue and turning around. “You’re here again?”

Ignoring the blood-soaked mess, Lu Yao grabbed Qing’s hand, hastily explaining her situation. “I was selling a ring, but the buyer tried to extort me, so I had no choice but to escape into the game.”

Qing, as one of the game administrators, accepted the “complaint” without hesitation and led her toward the exit. “I’ll invite him for a stay in the highest-level game in the park and then ban his account.”

Lu Yao asked curiously, “What happens after his account is banned?”

Qing replied calmly, “Nothing much. He just won’t be able to enter the park again.”

…That was probably the harshest punishment they could give.

Qi Jue, barely conscious, heard a familiar voice and struggled to open his eyes.

His vision was clouded with blood, so he couldn’t see clearly.

But he could hear Lu Yao talking to Qing, though he couldn’t make out the details of their conversation. Yet, he recognized Lu Yao’s voice.

Suddenly, he remembered a post he had once seen on the forum about a rookie female player who was favored by the NPCs. It really was her.

Back when he had seen her outside the snack shop, he had already suspected it was her, but the feeling of meeting her in the game like this was completely different.

He could finally understand the excitement of the player who had written that post.

A faint smile tugged at Qi Jue’s lips—he had been saved by her.

…

As they stood at the exit, a thought crossed Lu Yao’s mind, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Qing, Bai Ming once told me that when you run out of time, you come to the game to steal time from others. You’re not stealing time from the living, right?”

Qing turned his head. “Why do you think it’s not from the living?”

Lu Yao replied, “The park didn’t exist from the start. Your time must have come from somewhere.”

Now that the size of the park had shrunk, the lives of the residents in Dreamland didn’t seem to be affected much.

Qing seemed to sigh and was silent for a moment before finally saying, “Our time comes from the demon god. We’ve been draining his power.”

If the day came when the demon god lost his power, this world would cease to exist.

…

Lu Yao emerged from the game, unexpectedly saving herself time. When she returned to the nail salon, it was only a little past 1 PM.

The afternoon’s appointments had just begun to arrive, and she quickly collected herself and got to work.

As the clients were selecting their nail designs, the system notified her that the flyers were ready.

Lu Yao called Harold over and handed him a large stack of flyers. “You’re going to Braibis City this afternoon. Hand these out in crowded places. And make sure to be extra sweet to the pretty ladies. Get them to take one.”

Braibis City, the nation’s capital, was the most prosperous city, with a large population and thriving economy. It was full of people willing to spend on new experiences, far more so than in Emeraldstone Town.

Though she hadn’t visited the capital herself, Lu Yao had gotten a sense of it while serving students from the magic academy. Their spending power was far higher than the residents of Emeraldstone Town.

Harold, who had been eagerly anticipating an important mission all day, had expected something along the lines of slaying a level-20 beast.

He stared at the colorful flyers in front of him, his expression frozen. “This is the important task?”

“Yep. And no slacking off. This mission is critical for the survival of the nail salon, so it’s really important.”

Lu Yao had become quite skilled at coaxing the little black dragon.

Harold didn’t want to go stand on a street corner and hand out flyers to humans. The thought alone made him angry. How were they even worthy of him?

Seeing the conflicted look on his face, Lu Yao sighed slightly, her tone regretful. “I really thought you were the only one who could handle this task. But if it’s too much for you, I’ll let Mumu handle it. He’s sweet, and he’s cute, so this job will be easy for him.”

Mumu chirped innocently in the background, “Chirp!”

Harold felt something was off, but couldn’t put his finger on it. He only knew he was frustrated.

If that little slime could do it, how could he not?

Harold grabbed a stack of flyers and stormed out.

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️