Ch 82: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Jiang Shanrun strained his eyes wide open, peering down at the box’s contents. He instinctively wiped his hands on his clothes twice before carefully lifting the item inside—a half-peeled, leafless pineapple.

What a pity. Disappointment flashed in Jiang Shanrun’s eyes.

Jiang Han was puzzled, “Grandpa, what’s wrong? Isn’t this fruit?”

Jiang Shanrun shook his head, his tone slightly regretful, “It’s a pineapple, but the skin and leaves have been removed, so there are no seeds left. This one’s just for eating.”

Jiang Han responded, “…Being able to eat it is good enough; I’ve never even had pineapple before. We still have several more here; surely, we’ll get some fruit with seeds. Brother Chi, you open one too.”

The three of them quickly opened the remaining six boxes, pulling out two apples, a pear, half a watermelon, a small Ataulfo mango, and an orange. Including the hidden selection Jiang Han had drawn in the store, a colorful array of fruits covered the table.

The wrinkles on Jiang Shanrun’s face finally began to smooth, and his eyes sparkled with unmistakable joy. “These really are unmutated fruits! We need to save the seeds from the apples, pears, watermelon, grapes, and mangoes. Chi Jin, help me carefully extract the seeds from the two strawberries as well, and dig out any seeds from this orange too. After this transition period, I’ll go out and gather some good soil and start cultivating from scratch.”

Jiang Han sliced a small piece of pineapple, dividing it into three parts, one for each of them.

He took a bite and his eyes squinted with delight, “Wow! It’s so sweet, so fragrant, and so juicy. Pineapple is amazing! Grandpa, we can get more fruit. I’ll have someone collect the seeds, and we’ll send them over.”

Chi Jin sat lazily at the table, long fingers pinching the blind box packaging they had just opened. “Where did you get all this fruit?”

Jiang Han remembered he hadn’t explained and slapped the table, “A strange store has appeared in Fairy Tale Square. You can use crystal cores to exchange for blind boxes, and inside are hot drinks, instant noodles, and fruit. The shop owner is also unusual; I don’t know where she got these items.”

Chi Jin slipped his hand into his pocket and stood, heading outside, “I’m going to take a look.”

Jiang Han ran after him, “Brother Chi, it’s still Eternal Night. Can you find your way with those sunglasses on?”

Chi Jin had been found by Jiang Shanrun while searching for seeds and soil outside the base, injured and unconscious. After a long recovery, he stayed in Changming Base, proving to have a knack for tending plants and helping with the greenhouse for years now.

Chi Jin’s eyes were initially light-sensitive due to his injury, so he always wore a pair of sunglasses he somehow found and never took off—not even during Eternal Night.

The sunglasses seemed almost fused with him at this point, much to Jiang Han’s amusement and bafflement.

Chi Jin, now outside, looked up at the boundless darkness of the Eternal Night sky and said softly, “Eternal Night is coming to an end. If I go out without my glasses, I’ll go blind.”

Jiang Han muttered, “…Aren’t you basically blind already?”

…

The news spread quickly, and people flocked from various bases, forming long queues outside the blind box store.

Initially, some individuals, noticing the lack of staff, tried using their abilities to smash the store and grab goods, even going so far as to shove others out of line.

In no time, this group was added to the blacklist system, ejected from the store, and permanently barred from reentry.

Seeing what happened to them, other hopeful shoppers read the sign at the door and quickly gave up any unruly ideas, lining up in an orderly fashion.

People from Hope Base, who had already received a batch of hot drink and instant noodle blind boxes, recognized the familiar packaging in the machines. Realizing the origin of the base’s recent supplies, they eagerly fished out their crystal cores to exchange for more.

Even some onlookers, hesitant at first, were persuaded by the frenzy and decided to exchange a crystal core or two for a blind box.

At fifteen tokens per draw—equivalent to a mid-grade crystal core or four or five low-grade ones—the food quality and taste were worth every bit. It was a genuine deal.

Yet, with the Eternal Night extending longer than expected, ordinary people who had exhausted their food stores now had to either exchange crystal cores for food or wait for the base’s distribution.

Nowadays, most people have limited resources. Some worry they won’t be able to buy many blind boxes, while others fear that those in front might clear out the machines, leaving nothing for those at the back.

However, people soon discovered that each machine had a purchase limit: only one box per person. This restriction allowed many ordinary folks to buy emergency food at a manageable price.

Neighbors from the same base would meet at the store, and if they didn’t have enough crystal cores for all three types of boxes, they’d plan to each buy different ones to exchange later back at the base. Some would swap hot drinks for fruit, and even though it might seem less advantageous—since each fruit box weighed a fixed 500 grams and varied in quantity based on fruit type—having fresh food was rare. For instance, a box of small apples might contain four, a box of mini mangoes up to ten, while a watermelon box might hold only half a small one.

Despite seeming to “lose” value in the trade, people often diluted the sweet hot drink to share a small taste with family, stretching out the enjoyment. Others traded instant noodles for fruit, exchanging a third or half a packet for one or two small fruits.

Seeing the fresh fruit from the blind boxes made everyone’s eyes light up with longing, especially adults who remembered pre-Doomsday tastes and were frequently reminded of past foods.

The line stretched from the store out into the square, but fortunately, Fairy Tale Plaza was spacious enough to accommodate the long queue. While waiting, someone noticed that the dense darkness above seemed to lighten just a little, sparking hope: “Could the Eternal Night be ending?”

People looked up in unison, and sure enough, the ink-black sky seemed to be receding.

Gradually, a glimmer of light appeared at the horizon, and inch by inch, the darkness retreated. Eternal Night had ended.

After exchanging for their blind boxes, people returned to their bases, diluted the food with water to stretch it, and then immediately set about preparing for the upcoming transition period. This phase, with plentiful rain and sunlight, would spur rampant plant growth, and previously dormant mutated plants and animals would awaken.

Everyone readied themselves for hunting, stockpiling crystal cores, finding food, and collecting rainwater, all in preparation for the next Day of Uncertainty. Based on past cycles, the next phase would likely bring a deadly cold snap.

As the cold wave set in, snow would fill the sky, temperatures would drop to below -30 degrees Celsius, and people, lacking effective insulation, would be trapped indoors, with many losing their lives each time.

But this time, residents of the bases near Fairy Tale Plaza were unusually motivated; as long as they could hunt enough crystal cores, they could trade them for food at the blind box store. Even with a one-a-day limit, gathering over ten days could provide substantial supplies for the Day of Impermanence.

…

Once the store’s goods were sold out, it would automatically close. Lu Yao opened the shop door and saw the three blind box machines empty. She pulled aside a hidden door on the wall, stepped into the newly upgraded backroom, and retrieved the two computers from the storage.

The space was about 20 square meters, enough to fit the computers, two chairs, and still have room for a small stockpile.

Lu Yao powered up the computers, infusing them with magic to activate her enhanced blacklist system, which overlaid the previous blacklist and purchase limit systems.

In an instant, the entire store and all the machines within it connected to the two computers in the backroom. Outside, an invisible, transparent shield rose to protect the store. The temporary three-day blacklist system had accumulated data on over thirty individuals, now transferred to the main blacklist system on Computer One. Based on their misconduct in the store, each person was assigned a graded restriction.

For minor offenses, individuals added to the blacklist would be barred from the store for two months. Those guilty of serious acts, such as attempting to smash machines or steal goods, were placed on the highest restriction level; unless removed by the owner, they would never be allowed back in the store.

Computer Two, linked to each machine in the store, now recorded inventory and sales data from this point onward. The purchase limits remained the same for now, though Lu Yao planned to add a new feature that would work with the nail salon’s second floor once it was operational and integrated with a magical array.

Recently, some customers had discovered a clean water source in the store, bringing containers from their base to fill up on water. As word spread, more people began queuing with buckets and pots, returning multiple times to gather water.

Lu Yao frowned; while it was understandable, this couldn’t continue unchecked. She set a limit on the water dispenser: only customers who purchased blind boxes could use it, with a cap of one liter per use.

Satisfied that the system was up and running, Lu Yao prepared to head to the snack shop to pick up a new batch of blind boxes. As she was closing the door, she noticed that Eternal Night in the Impermanence World had ended, giving her a full view of her surroundings for the first time.

The blind box store was positioned in the plaza of an old, abandoned shopping center. The buildings resembled those in her world but were vacant, giving the place an eerie, desolate feel, scarred and worn down by the elements.

By the time Lu Yao returned to her own world, it was past eight in the evening, the prime time for the snack shop’s late-night business. Xingzi informed her that the blind boxes had been moved to the fourth floor, where Meng Qin and Ning Yun were still at work.

Startled, Lu Yao wondered why they were still working. The packaging position wasn’t meant to be this demanding—had she inadvertently overloaded them? She began to consider hiring additional packagers.

On the fourth floor, Ning Yun sat cross-legged on the floor, watching as Meng Qin adjusted a machine. “Do you think it’ll work this time?”

Meng Qin circled the machine twice, making adjustments before setting a sample box on it and flipping the switch. “This time, it should work.”

Moments later, a steady stream of identical packaging boxes began dropping from the machine.

Lu Yao arrived just in time to see this, hurrying over in surprise. “You’ve already managed to start mass production?”

Ning Yun turned around, beaming. “Boss, you finally came! Meng Qin just finished crafting this machine, and we were running a test.”

Lu Yao greeted her and circled the machine, impressed. “You can actually make a machine like this? That’s incredible.”

With a calm expression, Meng Qin scratched his chin, “For now, this works and saves us from handcrafting everything. I can improve it later to boost efficiency.”

The machine functioned like a copy machine: once provided with a standard template, it could continually produce identical products. The boxes it produced were indistinguishable from handcrafted ones.

Lu Yao was thrilled, realizing she’d unknowingly recruited a master in the field—someone not only skilled but innovative. She asked Meng Qin several questions, taking notes on multiple sheets of paper. Later, she returned to the nail salon, where she magically replicated a similar machine specifically for stamping blind box seals.

After restocking the blind box store, Lu Yao returned to the nail salon with several boxes of crystal cores to begin developing crystal core blind boxes.

When Ambrose and Edward saw the cores, they remarked that the rough stones held energy similar to magical gems. Intrigued, Lu Yao tested a simple magic array, discovering that the cores could indeed trigger it.

Fascinated, she spent three days in the research lab, designing a magic array capable of extracting 100% of the crystal core’s energy, which she incorporated seamlessly into the new crystal core blind boxes.

In the Impermanence World, on the fifth day of the transition period, the blind box store launched its newest series—the crystal core blind box.

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