Ch 55: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

The two guards at the entrance of the nail salon were clearly not ordinary people, easily repelling several adventurer teams. Even members of the Black Hawk team seemed no different from regular weaklings in front of them.

Inside the salon, who knew what kind of terrifying situation was hidden? With heavy hearts, three members of the Silver Wing team, aside from Annie, entered the nail salon.

“We’re doomed, we’re doomed!”

However, the scene inside was completely different from what Ian and the others had imagined.

The salon was bright and clean, exuding a warm, cozy atmosphere. Upon closer inspection, there were many new and intriguing things they’d never seen elsewhere.

The elf, Carrie, noticed a customer getting their nails done at the workstation and couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“Is this… nail art?”

She had never seen such trendy and beautiful designs, with rich and vibrant colors, including her favorite green and light purple.

Lu Yao walked over and introduced herself, “We’re having a promotion right now—nail art at a 90% discount. If you’re interested, feel free to try it.”

Curious, the elf asked, “Does your shop only do nail art?”

Lu Yao nodded. “Yes.”

The elf was puzzled, unable to understand what powerful figure this little salon could have offended to attract so many adventurers.

Since they were already inside, aside from the intimidating guards at the entrance, the owner and others in the shop appeared ordinary. The elf thought this was a good opportunity to gather some information. Since the Black Hawk and Red Eye teams had already failed, they might still have a chance.

After clearing her thoughts, the elf smiled at Lu Yao. “I’d like to get my nails done.”

Lu Yao handed her a number. “There’s a bit of a wait. You can relax over in the lounge area, where we have snacks and water.”

The discount promotion was still going for another half day, so the shop had a good number of customers waiting. The adventurers had scared off some, which made it a bit quieter. The elf received number nine.

Ian and Carter, after assessing the salon, had the same idea as the elf. As members of the same adventurer team, they were used to understanding each other’s thoughts with just a glance.

Lu Yao’s attention was on Carter, but she first approached Annie. “I’m not sure why, but a lot of adventurers came by today. Are you here for the same reason?”

The team’s mission couldn’t be revealed to the shop owner—it would be too embarrassing.

Annie struggled to come up with an excuse, her mind racing. She looked down at her nails, an idea forming.

She shook her head repeatedly, “You misunderstand, shopkeeper. These are my teammates from the same adventurer group. I just returned to school recently, and they saw my nails and were really interested, so they insisted on coming to check it out.”

The elf, now noticing Annie’s nails, stood up, walked over, and lifted her hand, clearly impressed. “So, you got your nails done here? These are gorgeous!”

Annie’s expression stiffened, feeling too embarrassed to meet Lu Yao’s eyes.

Lu Yao, maintaining her warm smile, glanced at Ian and Carter. “So, your teammates are all here for nail art?”

Annie shot a look at Ian and Carter, signaling: Nod and say ‘yes.’

Awkwardly, Ian scratched his head. “Yeah, we’re all here to get our nails done.”

Lu Yao happily stood up. “Great! I’m not too busy at the moment. Let’s start with this gentleman, the beastman. Is that alright?”

Carter: “…”

Confused and bewildered, Carter sat in the chair at the workstation. What was supposed to be a simple mission with C-level difficulty and A-level pay had taken a completely unexpected turn.

He was a heavy sword warrior, carrying two great swords on his back, known for being the most stable presence in the team during battle. But getting his nails done? That just didn’t sit right with him.

Lu Yao took out her tools and introduced, “We’re having a special promotion today, a 90% discount on nail art. Feel free to look at the available styles and see if there’s anything you like.”

Carter mentally psyched himself up, telling himself that this was a necessary sacrifice for the mission.

“It’s just nail art… at least I won’t get hurt,” he thought.

Lu Yao handed him a tablet casually, saying, “If none of the simpler designs appeal to you, we also offer custom nail art. Here are some examples for reference.”

Carter, feeling resistant to the idea of getting his nails done, delayed his decision by flipping through the designs, trying to buy time.

To his surprise, the shop’s designs were quite impressive, far superior to the cheap wood ash liquid often sold in witch shops. As he browsed through the options, his attention became increasingly focused. Some of these designs were actually quite appealing.

Suddenly, Carter’s gaze stopped on one particular design. His beast-like amber eyes widened in shock. Pointing to a specific design on the tablet, he looked up and asked, “Did you create this one too?”

Lu Yao glanced at the screen and nodded, “Yes, that’s a custom magic nail art design.”

Carter took a deep breath and couldn’t help but swallow hard. “How much would it cost to have this design done?”

Luyao thought for a moment and replied, “500 gold coins.”

Carter’s shoulders tensed—that’s expensive—but the design was stunning!

He had always thought that only women would get their nails done. But for the first time, he saw something this cool and couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Hearing the steep price of 500 gold coins and noticing Carter’s changing expressions, Ian couldn’t resist getting up to see what had caught his attention.

Carter pointed at the design on the tablet, his beast-like eyes sparkling. “Ian, look at this!”

Ian thought Carter was just being a curious beastman, easily impressed by anything unusual.

“Nail art—how amazing could it possibly be?” he thought.

He looked down at the tablet, expecting a simple image, but it was a five-second video—a dark nail with purple lightning branching out like tree roots, illuminating layers of heavy clouds.

It wasn’t just static nail art. The lightning moved dynamically, and there was a strong magical presence about it.

The most unbelievable part was that the lightning wasn’t just a painted design—it looked like real lightning had been summoned and sealed onto the nails.

Ian, being a lightning-affinity warrior, was highly attuned to lightning magic.

This design didn’t just feature lightning; it was imbued with magic from multiple attributes.

“This was made by you?” Ian asked Lu Yao, finding it hard to believe.

Luyao nodded. “Yes. This design takes a bit longer to complete. If you’re interested, it’s best to schedule an appointment for tomorrow.”

Ian felt a chill run through him as he returned to Annie’s side, whispering, “Who is this shop owner?”

Annie sighed, knowing she couldn’t reveal the dragons’ connection to the shop due to their contract. She could only offer a vague warning, “Forget about this mission. Don’t even think about it. Once we get our nails done, let’s head back.”

Ian placed his hands on his knees, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

Carter continued to gaze longingly at the lightning magic nail design, but 500 gold coins were just too much.

Reluctantly, he put the tablet down and picked a simple black nail design.

Beastmen are a type of subhuman, capable of taking on human form but retaining some beastly features.

Carter, a tiger-like beastman, had a round face with a pair of furry ears on top of his head and tiger-striped fur covering the back of his hands.

This was Lu Yao’s first time getting close to a beastman, and she curiously pinched his furry paw.

Carter’s tiger eyes widened in surprise—this human was quite bold.

Lu Yao took out a file and started shaping his nails, asking, “Do you need to shift into your beast form during battle?”

Carter nodded dumbly. “Yes, sometimes.”

Like the dragons, beastmen were stronger in their beast forms than in their human ones.

Luyao nodded. “I’ll use a magic seal on your nails later. That way, even if you transform, the nail art won’t fall off.”

Carter didn’t quite understand what a magic seal was, but Ian’s expression shifted as he stood up, watching Lu Yao’s every move closely.

The plain color style was simple and only required two layers of magical arrays.

After filing the nails and applying a base coat, Lu Yao first drew a light-element magic array on the nail surface. Then, she layered it with a few coats of black nail polish, cured it under the lamp, and finally drew a dark-element magic array before sealing it with a magic layer.

Lu Yao let go of Carter’s hand and packed up her tools. “You can try shifting into your beast form.”

Carter had already been startled when he saw the shop owner using both light and dark magic for nail art. Now hearing her suggestion, he transformed his slightly furry hand into a massive beast paw covered in thick fur, with black claws extending out. In his palm, soft pink pads became visible.

The freshly done nails didn’t fall off. Instead, after a brief cracking sound, they quickly restored themselves to their original form, perfectly adhering to the nail surface.

Carter was amazed. He had never thought magic could be used in this way.

Ian stepped back, equally shocked. It was surprising enough that the shop owner was a dual-element mage, but her use of magic was peculiar and unexpected, leaving them both in awe.

Ian hurried Carter up from the seat and quickly took his place in front of Lu Yao, extending his hands and saying eagerly, “I want the same kind of nails as Carter.”

By this point, he had completely forgotten the original reason they had come to the shop. All he wanted was to see that amazing magic array again.

By dusk, all four members of the Silver Wing team left the nail salon, with Ian and Carter sporting black magic-enhanced nails, while the elf had opted for a gradient of green.

Annie, having spent the entire afternoon drinking tea, was so full she practically glowed.

As they walked through Fountain Square, Carter kept staring at his hands, unable to resist exclaiming, “That lightning magic nail art was incredible—I need to save up for it!”

His teammates weren’t surprised at all.

The elf had later seen the Grand Priest’s dynamic nail art and stood frozen in place for a full five minutes.

The shop owner had said that the Grand Priest’s set cost a thousand gold coins, even more expensive than the one Carter had admired.

Ian, on the other hand, was lost in thought about the magic arrays the shop owner had used. If further developed, those two arrays could be applied to weapons.

Unfortunately, the shop owner had no interest in weapon development, and those who did lacked the magical talent to use such arrays.

Later, in her office, Lu Yao opened the illustration catalog and noticed that the marker for the subhuman race had been lit up. Six other markers still remained blacked out.

“Tina, aside from humans, dragons, elves, subhumans, and demons, what other races are there on this continent?” Lu Yao asked.

Their two-day promotional event had just ended, and the three apprentices were exhausted.

Tina, sprawled on the workbench, weakly replied, “Undead, fae, vampires, and demons.”

Lu Yao’s eyes sparkled at the thought. These were all races unlikely to have much interest in nail art, making the task even more challenging.

Harold and Si Jin walked in, both looking grim.

Harold went straight to Lu Yao’s side, saying, “Don’t go out alone for a while. If you need anything, call me, Si Jin, or Tina.”

Puzzled, Lu Yao asked, “Why?”

Si Jin replied, “We checked around. Someone posted a mission at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Is the target the nail shop?” Lu Yao already had a guess.

Si Jin nodded gravely.

Harold, however, was nonchalant. “Don’t worry. All the ones coming here are weaklings. I can deal with them with just one finger.”

Lu Yao rested her chin on her hand, considering. “The issue isn’t their strength but the disruption they’re causing to the business.”

“Alright, I’ll think of a solution,” Lu Yao said.

“What are you planning?” Si Jin asked.

Not only him but Harold and Tina were also curious.

To eliminate the source of the problem—namely, the Redheart Guild—would require substantial effort.

For others, it would be a difficult task. But if Lu Yao asked the dragons for help, they could destroy the Redheart Guild in an instant.

Lu Yao roughly guessed who had posted the mission but wanted to focus on completing her system tasks first.

“Are there any other races at the Adventurer’s Guild, like fae, vampires, or necromancers?” Lu Yao asked.

Harold and Si Jin weren’t familiar with this kind of information.

Tina raised her hand, “Those races rarely show up openly in human territories. But there’s a rumor that a demon-blooded adventurer was seen in Bribris City.”

Demons usually only appeared in the mortal realm when summoned in exchange for a soul.

If Tina’s information was correct, that demon adventurer might be Lu Yao’s only chance to unlock the demon race marker in the catalog.

Lu Yao certainly didn’t want to give up her soul for this task.

She took out the magic book Si Jin had given her and flipped to a page. “Let’s try using this magic array first.”

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