Ch 87: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Lu Yao first stopped by the snack shop to discuss the design of the series’ blind box packaging with Meng Qin and Ning Yun. Then she headed to the blind box shop to retrieve the new glass display shelf from storage.

When a shop opens, its initial business model is fixed according to the primary category selected. Only by completing tasks and leveling up can the shop gradually gain more flexibility. At the outset, Lu Yao’s blind box shop could only support automatic vending machines with no other display options.

For Lu Yao, the joy of drawing blind boxes lies in exploring the unknown, satisfying the urge to collect, testing one’s luck, and sometimes using money to indulge herself. However, the Impermenance World is a place of limited resources, and people there mostly draw blind boxes to survive.

Occasionally, Lu Yao felt a bit helpless about it; people in this world didn’t seem able to fully enjoy the thrill of drawing blind boxes. To ensure a stable start, she had limited the number of items each machine could dispense per person. In reality, most ordinary customers only bought between two and five items daily. The restrictions mainly affected those with the means to buy in bulk.

Now, with the addition of the glass display shelf, wealthier customers might find a bit of joy here.

Lu Yao created two new series: a staple food series and a medicine series. Alongside these, the winter-exclusive crystal core energy series, hot drink series, instant noodle series, and fruit series were updated with new packaging, offering complete sets available for purchase. Each set contained eight items, with the chance to reveal a hidden item that would replace one of the regular items.

The glass display shelf was divided into three tiers, each capable of holding sixty items, totaling 180 items. She stocked thirty sets of each series on the glass shelf, with the remainder distributed among the vending machines.

The crystal core winter-exclusive series was only stocked on the glass shelf; the crystal core machine held regular crystal core blind boxes due to the price difference between the two.

After stocking everything, Lu Yao admired the fully stocked display shelf and six vending machines, feeling satisfied—it was finally beginning to look like a proper blind box shop.

Time flowed more slowly in the Impermanence World than in the other three worlds. She had spent two days preparing these goods, but only one day had passed there. Task progress was also based on the Impermanence World’s time, meaning only one day of the 20-day time limit to reach 200,000 yuan in sales had passed.

Despite the cold snap, customers were coming in more than she’d anticipated. On the first day, revenue from blind box tokens had barely exceeded 10,000. With nine days remaining, she needed to earn another 190,000 to complete the task.

To ensure she met the target, Lu Yao decided to install a large screen in the shop at the cost of 20,000 popularity points. She recorded and edited a few short clips demonstrating the excitement of opening the blind boxes and set them to play in rotation. She planned to monitor sales over the next two days and, if needed, come up with additional strategies.

Nighttime during the cold snap was even more dangerous than during Eternal Night, so there likely wouldn’t be any customers at night.

Yawning, Lu Yao headed back to her nail salon to rest.

…

At the first light of dawn, Wei Xuan and Nie Yu, wrapped in warming blankets, arrived at the blind box shop. With people frequently visiting to redeem items, they didn’t want their less-than-discreet residence to attract too much attention and planned to redeem two food blind boxes early in the day.

They pushed open the shop door and immediately spotted a new device on the opposite wall: a large display screen showing short clips about the blind boxes. Wei Xuan stared at it, both shocked and thrilled. “New blind boxes have been stocked!”

Yesterday’s empty shelves were now full, and the two new blind box machines were packed with fresh items. After watching the promotional clips, they eagerly approached the glass shelf, gazing longingly at the complete sets of blind boxes with unmistakable excitement in their eyes.

Nie Yu suggested, “Should we try out some of the new items?”

Wei Xuan counted her crystal cores, hesitating. “The medicine blind box costs a hundred coins per draw, which is too pricey. The staple food blind box is thirty coins per draw, so maybe we could try our luck. But we don’t have a pot—if we could just draw a pressure cooker from the crystal core blind box, that would solve things.”

This time, the food blind boxes were different from before, with items like rice, potatoes, and sweet potatoes—all raw ingredients that needed to be cooked. The shop owner had thoughtfully shown images in the promotional video of these staple foods made into delicious, appetizing dishes, making them even more tempting.

Nie Yu looked up at the display on the wall. “The winter-exclusive crystal core blind box has pots and a filter-heating water bottle. If we had enough crystal cores, we could just buy a whole winter-exclusive set and get all the essentials for living, then the staple food blind box would be much more convenient.”

The winter-exclusive crystal core blind box was pricier than the regular one, matching the price of the medicine blind box at a hundred coins per draw. A full set was eight hundred coins, an amount they found overwhelming.

Silence hung in the air as the two stood by the glass display, unable to tear themselves away. While medicine blind boxes were valuable, they were less immediately needed if they stayed healthy. But the winter-exclusive crystal core box and staple food boxes—they truly wanted those.

Wei Xuan thought quickly and then said, “How about we go hunting for mutated fish in the river? With the liquid crystal core knife, we should be able to break the ice.”

During the cold snap, most land-based mutated animals and plants entered hibernation again, but aquatic mutants remained active. Beyond the Fairy Tale Plaza, a long, wide river stretched out, its entire surface now frozen over.

In the past, people only considered fishing for mutated aquatic creatures toward the end of the cold season when other food sources ran out. Nie Yu agreed, “Good idea. We’ll bring a bit of fruit as bait—mutated fish should go for it.”

They drew one hot drink and one instant noodle blind box, which they took back to their residence for safekeeping. Wei Xuan reached into a hidden hole in the wall and pulled out two warming pads. “These are from the trade with Jiang Han’s group. Let’s use them before heading out; otherwise, we’ll freeze.”

Without warm clothing or protective outerwear, they relied on the warming pads for outdoor hunting in the severe cold. Nie Yu helped Wei Xuan attach hers and then turned around so she could attach his, casually mentioning, “Let’s aim to gather plenty of crystal cores today. If we can, we should also draw a regular crystal core blind box; the fuel blocks and warming pads are really useful.”

…

At the Hope Base.

Xi Tingran, along with Xi Ruiyang and a few team members, were preparing to head out. This lively group included two researchers from Base Z8: Yi Chuan, the team leader, and key team member Li Jia.

Last night, after learning about the blind box shop from Xi Tingran and seeing the crystal core energy-based solid fuel blocks, warming pads, and pocket flashlights, the two scientists were eager to visit the shop. The thick snow and howling winds had stopped them last night, but early that morning, they showed up at Xi Tingran’s residence, urging him to set off for the shop as soon as possible.

Yi Chuan, in his forties, wore an old pair of metal-framed glasses. The gold-plated frames had faded to a dull gray, and scratches covered the lenses. They were his last pair, and he took great care of them. Li Jia, in her thirties, wore her hair in a ponytail, her expression serious and reserved.

The other three members of their research team, all younger, also wanted to visit the blind box shop, but they had fallen ill as soon as they arrived at the base. The researchers had lived comfortably at Base Z8, with ample resources, free from the need to hunt or go outdoors. This cold-weather trek had been a grueling ordeal, and after being exposed to the elements for days, it was no surprise they’d gotten sick.

With medicine in short supply, the base provided them with the best food available, hoping they’d recover gradually.

Yi Chuan and Li Jia were anxious yet conflicted about going to the blind box shop. Someone had managed to develop practical uses for crystal core energy before them, with what seemed to be a higher efficiency than their own research. Could it really be possible? They found it hard to believe without seeing it firsthand.

Early risers headed to the blind box shop to exchange for food saw Xi Tingran’s team and quietly joined in, finding safety in numbers. As they walked, the group grew larger. When they arrived at the blind box shop, it was already bustling with people.

Notable figures from nearby bases—Changming, Tingcheng, Chaoyang—were all gathered around the glass display shelves, excitedly discussing something.

Xi Tingran approached Jiang Han and greeted him, “What’s all the excitement today?”

Jiang Han said nothing, pulling out his blind box coins and pressing them into the slot next to the glass shelf. The red button lit up, and he quickly selected three types—winter-exclusive crystal core blind box, staple food blind box, and medicine blind box. He opted for the protection contract on all three and clutched them tightly in his arms. Sighing with satisfaction, he finally turned back to Xi Tingran, trying to keep calm. “The shop released three new series. You can see the details on the screen—I’m heading home to open these!”

Xi Tingran had already noticed the TV on the wall, displaying ads for the store’s products. It brought to mind memories of the fast-food and bubble tea shops twenty years ago, where similar ad screens were a common sight.

The team stared up at the promotional video, transfixed. Li Jia, spotting the medicine blind box, frowned and muttered, “Does this shop really offer safe and effective medicine?”

Zheng Yang, standing nearby, replied, “Who guarantees anything nowadays? If you can buy it, that’s good enough. Besides, everything here has been solid so far.”

Li Jia pressed her lips together, feeling stifled. The shop itself and its equipment looked high-end, but selling essentials through a lottery system? She’d wanted cold medicine; what if she didn’t draw any and had to keep spending crystal coins?

Didn’t anyone else find this strange? The people here seemed to really trust the shop. What Li Jia didn’t realize was that everything in the store had strict purchasing limits—any box set from the glass display shelf was limited to three boxes per person per visit.

Just then, the screen showed the complete lineup for the crystal core blind box set, with a first-person view of someone unboxing it. The winter-exclusive series included eight standard items: a windproof and thermal set (gloves, goggles, mask, and thermal socks), crystal core-powered watch, upgraded capacity pressure cooker, insulated lunchbox, heated water filter bottle, crystal core heating blanket, hand warmer, and winter coat.

The video had background music and subtitles, detailing each item’s appearance and intended use. Almost every item met their needs perfectly, with no exceptions. At the end of the video, a note teased two hidden items—a large and a small—but didn’t show them.

“The winter-exclusive series is incredible. With a set like that, this cold snap would be nothing!” Zheng Yang was thrilled.

Everyone else shared the sentiment, eager to spend their crystal coins right away and buy three boxes each.

Seeing the prices, everyone’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“Getting a whole set is too expensive. Maybe we should just try our luck with single boxes.”

“The staple food blind box is such a bargain! All eight standard items are non-perishable, and a full set is only two hundred and forty. If I had a cooking pot, I’d definitely go for this one—different staples every day!”

“Who wouldn’t want the winter-exclusive series? Every single item in that set is something you’d kill for!”

“The medicine blind box sounds great, too! Bandages, anti-bleed, fever reducers, cough suppressants, anti-inflammatories, frostbite treatments… If I had a full set of these, I’d be overjoyed!”

“Anyone up for a hunting trip by the river? I want everything, but I’m running out of crystal cores.”

“Let’s go, let’s go! I’m determined to save up for the entire winter-exclusive set!”

People came and went in waves at the blind box shop, and each group seemed to bring even more newcomers. Some exchanged for single boxes, while many lingered at the glass display shelves, unable to resist the allure of a complete set with the chance to find hidden items. If they had more money, who could resist?

Xi Tingran had enough crystal cores to exchange for two full sets, so he and Xi Ruiyang each got three boxes. Yi Chuan and Li Jia also wanted full sets, specifically targeting the winter crystal core and medicine series. But short on crystal cores, they resorted to drawing a few from the machines instead.

Only then did Li Jia learn that the blind box machines had purchase limits—she couldn’t just draw as many as she wanted. She managed to get one medicine box, one regular crystal core box, and one hot drink box. She tore open the hot drink first and found honey grapefruit tea—sweet and warm, and just one sip left her in awe.

Zheng Yang, Li Shuang, and Xia Min didn’t have enough crystal cores to get full sets individually, so they pooled their resources to buy a winter-exclusive set together. Eager to open it and with strength in numbers to deter any thieves, they settled down in the shop to unbox it on the spot.

They divided the boxes based on how much each had contributed: Zheng Yang got four, Li Shuang and Xia Min each got two. Zheng Yang opened a warm and windproof four-piece set, a heated water bottle, a hand warmer, and a heating blanket. Li Shuang got a pressure cooker and an insulated lunchbox.

Xia Min went last, her first box containing a winter coat, leaving only one box—the watch was the last item missing from the set. She didn’t expect much as she casually opened it.

Out fell a card: “Congratulations! You’ve received a small hidden item exchange voucher.”

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