Ch 58: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

The day the internet café officially opened, the weather was perfect.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, dispelling the damp gloom of the forest.

Sitting at the entrance of the café, Lu Yao held a bottle of AD calcium milk in her hand—sweet and tangy, just like childhood.

Cheng Ye peeked out from behind the counter. “Those little sparrow spirits haven’t returned since they left.”

The rookie employee was eager to get to work.

Lu Yao replied, “Don’t panic. Let’s wait until noon. If we still don’t have any customers by then, we’ll think of something.”

Cheng Ye had heard Lu Yao mention that the café’s location wasn’t ideal and felt uncertain.

Lu Yao had faced similar situations with several of her stores and was used to it, but Cheng Ye wasn’t.

If the café failed, he’d be unemployed just as he started the job—the psychological gap was too much to bear.

The internal staff chat group was also closely watching the performance of the new store.

[Interdimensional Cinema Gesi]: “@Interdimensional Internet Café Cheng Ye, how’s it going? Any customers yet?”

Lu Yao had only added Cheng Ye to the internal staff group last night.

Seeing over 200 employees across the nine shops along the street gave Cheng Ye his first sense of how massive this operation was.

In the evening, when the office workers and students had free time, the group became as lively as a morning market, with messages flying by as if spanning several worlds.

As the sole employee of the internet café, the rookie staffer quietly lurked in the chat all night, too timid to speak.

[Interdimensional Internet Café, Cheng Ye]: “Not yet. The sparrow spirits haven’t come back.”

[Interdimensional Cinema, Kuba]: “Lu Yao is so naïve. How could spirits possibly keep their promises?”

[Nail Salon Harold]: “Every store of Lu Yao’s starts out this way. I’ll swing by during lunch to help.”

[Nail Salon Tina]: “[Jealous.JPG] If only I could help too.”

Tina and Harold had been preparing to leave Emerald Town for Dragon Valley but paused when they noticed Harold still glued to his phone. Curious, Tina peeked at the group chat.

She was genuinely envious of Harold, who could accompany Lu Yao to various alternate worlds and help her sort out troubles.

The rest of them had to stay on the continent of Alexander, guarding the nail salon and waiting for Lu Yao’s return.

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: “@Cheng Ye, let us know in the group if customers arrive. The ‘support squad’ is ready to act!”

[Interdimensionall Cinema, Gao Meng]: “+1, always ready!!!”

[Little Pet Cafe Zhou Su]: “+1”

[Little Pet Cafe Ji Zhixin]: “+1”

[Hot Spring Inn Bai Lu]: “+1”

…

In the Floating World Continent.

Lu Yao suddenly stood up and squinted at the heights. “Looks like they’re back.”

Her tone was flat, as if everything was within her expectations.

Cheng Ye looked up toward the door and saw a flock of sparrows fluttering in from outside.

Thud, thud, thud—

They all crashed into the wall in a heap.

Cheng Ye instinctively shut his eyes—it hurt just watching.

The sparrow spirits slid down to the floor, shook their heads, and scrambled to their feet, flapping toward Lu Yao, who stood by the door.

Lu Yao, however, was still gazing outside. In the forest, a black swallow hovered, unwilling to leave.

As soon as the sparrow spirits appeared, the black swallow dived down, its sharp beak jabbing into a sparrow’s wing, flipping it over.

The black swallow was fierce, taking on ten sparrows at once.

In the blink of an eye, all the sparrows had been knocked to the ground.

Not satisfied, the swallow landed on the floor and continued chasing the sparrows around, pecking at them.

Lu Yao observed for a moment and realized the swallow must have a grudge against the sparrows.

After this round of beatings, the sparrows were utterly deflated.

Lu Yao stepped in to block the swallow, who still seemed ready to strike again, and gave Cheng Ye a subtle signal with her eyes.

Cheng Ye blinked and quickly pulled out his phone.

[Interdimensional Internet Café, Cheng Ye]: “A black swallow showed up. Support team, get ready!”

[Little Pet Cafe Zhou Su]: “!!!”

[Little Pet Cafe Ji Zhixin]: “Support team ready!”

[Little Pet Cafe Zhou Su]: “Received!”

…

The black swallow was quite large. It wasn’t afraid of Lu Yao but didn’t harm her either. Seizing every opportunity, it tried to grab the sparrows cowering behind her like quails.

Lu Yao said, “Friend, may I ask what grievance you have with them? Judging by this beating, they’ve surely learned their lesson.”

The black swallow perched on the armrest of a chair, speaking in a human voice. “Move aside! Today I’m going to make them beg for mercy!”

Zhou Su and Ji Zhixin, members of the support team, walked in just in time to hear the swallow’s rough words. Struggling to hold back their laughter, they stood aside to watch the drama unfold.

The swallow, seeing Lu Yao was determined to shield the sparrows, began loudly recounting its history with them.

Two hundred years ago, it was an ordinary swallow living in the town of Baixian Mountain.

Back then, it had the misfortune of encountering this troublesome group of sparrows.

Sparrows couldn’t build nests properly.

To be precise, they weren’t as skilled as swallows. Sparrows would haphazardly pile together some grass to form crude nests.

Unhappy with their own nests, the sparrows would wait for the swallows to finish building theirs, then drive them out and occupy the carefully crafted mud nests.

Though the black swallow was good at building nests, it couldn’t fend off the crafty and aggressive sparrows.

That year, it repeatedly built new nests, only to have them taken over time and again.

Forced to relocate multiple times, the swallow eventually stumbled upon a stroke of fortune, gaining intelligence and cultivating for 200 years. It finally achieved human form just days ago.

Emerging from its cave, it unexpectedly ran into these same sparrows.

To its surprise, they too had gained intelligence over the centuries.

But the tables had turned. The once-bullied swallow had grown several sizes larger, chasing the sparrows for a full day and night, finally cornering them here.

Behind her back, Lu Yao gestured to Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye cleared his throat, snapping Zhou Su and Ji Zhixin out of their daze.

The two recomposed themselves and approached the counter.

Ji Zhixin, clearly inexperienced, awkwardly said, “Net manager, open a computer for me.”

Cheng Ye remained seated. “One hour for ten mid-grade spirit stones.”

To enhance the immersion, Bai Lu had even arranged for traditional costumes to be rented.

That morning, the shop staff had received outfits and simple styling.

Ji Zhixin reached into his wide sleeve and pulled out a handful of colorful “spirit stones,” tossing them onto the counter. “One hour.”

He grabbed a number and casually walked to a computer near Lu Yao, sitting down and immediately starting to play.

Zhou Su completed the same process and sat next to him.

Both of them quickly opened simple mini-games, even inserting a bit of clumsy roleplay.

Ji Zhixin glanced at Zhou Su, who had opened a dress-up game, and sneered. “What’s so fun about that?”

Zhou Su, noticing Ji Zhixin’s screen loading Plants vs. Zombies, retorted, “This is even more boring!”

The two began arguing, attracting the attention of both the black swallow and the sparrows peeking out from behind Lu Yao.

Lu Yao, looking slightly embarrassed, explained to the swallow, “They’re customers.”

The black swallow hopped onto the back of Ji Zhixin’s chair, tilting its head to observe. “What’s he doing?”

Lu Yao replied, “This is an internet café. Customers come here just to go online.”

The swallow’s beady black eyes filled with curiosity. “Go online?”

Lu Yao nodded. “It’s a bit complicated to explain. How about this? My sparrows were thoughtless and disturbed you two centuries ago. I’ll apologize on their behalf. Since today is the café’s grand opening, I’ll give you some free internet coupons. Come by to play when you have time—it might help you let off some steam.”

The swallow alternated between watching Ji Zhixin’s hands under the desk and the screen above, ignoring Lu Yao for a while before asking, “What’s a coupon?”

Lu Yao explained, “Running an internet café is like running a shop in the human world. If customers want to go online, they need to pay with spirit stones. As for coupons, they’re a special promotion for our grand opening. With a coupon, customers don’t need to pay any spirit stones and can use the internet for free for three days. Normally, each customer is limited to one coupon. Since the sparrows were out of line, I’ll give you ten free coupons as an apology.”

A flicker of black spiritual light flashed, and the black swallow standing on the chair back suddenly transformed into a boy dressed in black, with jet-black eyes. He stood behind the chair, tilting his head as he looked at Lu Yao. “How do I play?”

In his transformed form, the black swallow appeared to be a slender boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old, with clear, rounded black eyes like polished river stones and strikingly handsome features.

Lu Yao waved to Cheng Ye. “Net manager, set up a computer for the Black Swallow Young Master.”

The black swallow’s seat was right next to Ji Zhixin’s.

The two undercover support staff straightened their backs, their hearts pounding, doing their best not to glance sideways.

Lu Yao handed the black swallow ten free coupons and guided him step by step on how to start up the computer, even showing him how to navigate to the game page.

Once connected to the internal system, the café’s computers shared a language conversion function with the network. All text on the desktop instantly transformed into the universal language of the Floating World Continent with a single click.

The desktop offered a selection of online games, MOBA games, chat software, reading apps, and video players. However, for the inhabitants of the Floating World Continent, the concept of an internet café was entirely new. Overcomplicating things might overwhelm them.

Recalling the simple joy of early internet cafés and arcades over a decade ago, Lu Yao decided to start with the basics. Interest, after all, is the best teacher.

Finally, Lu Yao pointed to Cheng Ye, who was seated behind the counter. “That’s the net manager. If you need anything, just ask him.”

While Lu Yao taught the black swallow how to use the computer, the sparrows quietly perched on the backs of chairs, watching intently. Even without using a computer themselves, they had already absorbed most of the knowledge.

Once left alone, the black swallow didn’t move right away. He glanced sideways, observing Ji Zhixin at the next seat.

After watching for a while, he managed to find the same game on the webpage and began playing.

About half an hour later, the black swallow was fully immersed, no longer paying attention to the others, his focus entirely on the game in front of him. Watching the decaying creatures approach his “home,” he couldn’t help but think of the pesky sparrows, which only made his turret placement movements faster and more fluid.

Ji Zhixin carefully glanced over using his peripheral vision. Not bad, he’s learning quickly.

Next to him, Zhou Su switched to a different game. On her screen, a white-bearded old man tossed ropes to dig up buried gold mines, scoring points for each piece successfully pulled to the surface.

The sparrows perched around her watched intently, their beady eyes glued to the screen. Each time Zhou Su’s rope missed, they hopped in agitation, as if itching to take over.

…

Eventually, Ji Zhixin got bored of Plants vs. Zombies and opened Bubble Bobble. Feeling it was dull to play alone, he called Zhou Su over. Together, they controlled two characters on a single map.

With Zhou Su’s computer free, the sparrows sneaked over, cautiously hopping down onto the desk. Their claws tapped at the keyboard and mouse, attempting to start a new game.

The black swallow boy didn’t stay long. After about two hours, he left the café.

Having completed their task, the two undercover support staff finally exited as well.

Once outside, Zhou Su exhaled deeply. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, did you see the black swallow transform?”

Ji Zhixin shook his head.

He was slightly more composed than Zhou Su—but only outwardly. No one knew that when the black swallow transformed behind him, he almost crushed the mouse in his grip to stop himself from turning around.

Lu Yao stepped out of the store and saw the two of them still looking shaken. Smiling, she said, “You’re too tense. It’s fine to take a look or even try to start a conversation.”

Zhou Su shook her head vigorously. “Talk to him? No way. That’s a swallow spirit!”

Then, looking a bit regretful, she added, “We sat together for so long, and I didn’t even dare look at him properly.”

Ji Zhixin said, “I glanced at him—he looks quite young. Hard to believe he’s already two hundred years old.”

Lu Yao chuckled. “Cheng Ye recorded the black swallow’s transformation. It’s in the group chat. You can scroll back and take a look—he’s actually quite handsome.”

!!!

Ji Zhixin and Zhou Su stopped chatting and immediately pulled out their phones to open the group chat.

The message thread popped up.

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: “Support Group Three requests to be dispatched!”

[Interdimensional Cinema, Gesi]: “Support Group Two requests to be dispatched!”

[Hot Spring Inn Bai Lu]: “Support Group Four requests to be dispatched!”

[Blind Box Shop Lilly]: “Why isn’t Uncle Ming volunteering? You’re the hope of the blind box shop!”

[Blind Box Shop Ji Feiming]: “…”

…

The chat had already accumulated thousands of messages. Ji Zhixin and Zhou Su scrolled for ages before finding Cheng Ye’s video.

It was a short clip, only about two seconds. The large black swallow perched on the back of Ji Zhixin’s chair suddenly transformed into a handsome young boy standing beside Lu Yao.

The staff immediately flooded the comments.

[Interdimensional Cinema Die Qi]: “Holy crap! It’s really a spirit!!!”

[Snack Shop Ning Yun]: “The little swallow spirit is actually pretty cute.”

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: “The boss was so calm, even remembered to promote the free coupons. [Facepalm.JPG]”

The video clearly showed the two undercover employees frozen stiff, too scared to move, while the boss faced the boy spirit calmly, conversing with him as if it were business as usual.

[Snack Shop Bai Ming]: “The boss is always like that. She’s never afraid, even when she meets us.”

[Little Pet Cafe Jiu Hua]: “@Snack Shop Bai Ming, I’ve always wondered—where exactly is your snack shop? Are you guys not human either?”

[Snack Shop Xingzi]: “Little Jiu Hua, it’s better not to ask too many questions.”

…

The conversation spiraled from the swallow spirit into hundreds of unrelated messages.

Cheng Ye, with nothing better to do, even shared details about the two-hundred-year grudge between the swallow spirit and the sparrow spirits.

[Nail Salon Ambrose]: “If the swallow spirit didn’t seek revenge, this wouldn’t be happening now.”

[Nail Salon Edward]: “Two hundred years ago, it just lost its home. Two hundred years later, it might lose everything.”

[Nail Salon Eugenia]: “Don’t… don’t make it sound like the new shop is a shady one…”

[Hot Spring Inn Heici]: “Shady… shady shop? What’s that?”

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: “!!! Heici, darling, you’re sending messages now?!”

[Hot Spring Inn Bai Lu]: “Sister Bai Yi, stay calm, stay calm!”

…

Finally, Ji Zhixin and Zhou Su caught up to the current conversation. Every shop’s support group was eager to “help” at the internet café.

Inside the café, the sparrow spirits were pestering Lu Yao.

They wanted to play games.

Lu Yao had Cheng Ye set up a computer for them at the station closest to the counter.

Sitting down, she asked, “What do you want to play?”

The sparrows wanted to play everything, but since they hadn’t yet taken human form, controlling any game was an ordeal.

They tried working together—two sparrows managed the mouse while the rest hopped on the keyboard.

Unfortunately, their lack of coordination was a problem. One would press too lightly, another would skip over keys entirely.

Despite the poor gaming experience, they refused to give up.

Lu Yao sat beside them, amused by the spectacle. “Little sparrows, work hard to transform!”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️