Ch 63: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Is pitching dreams like this even legal?

Lu Yao wasn’t familiar with the esports scene, but the résumé included a photo, and under “Professional Experience,” it stated the applicant had played for a top-tier domestic team, with a retirement date listed as… yesterday.

Retired yesterday and already applying for an internet café job today? That reeks of hitting rock bottom.

But if it really was this person, Lu Yao couldn’t say no.

She wanted this net manager.

Exiting the email, Lu Yao searched the applicant’s name online, and five full pages of competitive records and statistics popped up.

The person in the match videos looked slightly different from the photo on the résumé, but it was clearly the same individual.

If this isn’t a prank, then this… is striking gold.

Even retired, a top professional player would have plenty of opportunities—like streaming, with platforms surely lining up to sign them.

Sitting up straight, Lu Yao decided not to dwell on whether the résumé was legitimate and immediately sent out an interview invitation.

…

Yaoguang City, a residential complex.

Zhong Lianjia groggily crawled out of bed, his head pounding as if it were about to explode.

Last night, he had been in a terrible mood and drank far too much.

Now it felt like he was paying for it, nausea rising as he stumbled into the bathroom to vomit. Afterward, feeling slightly better, he sat back on his bed and reached for his phone.

The screen was black, unresponsive no matter how much he tapped it.

After issuing his retirement statement yesterday, he had been bombarded with messages. Not wanting to deal with them, he vaguely remembered doing something before shutting off his phone.

Weird!

For the life of him, he couldn’t recall what he had done before powering it down.

After a quiet night, he turned the phone back on, and a flood of notification sounds began chiming incessantly.

Zhong Lianjia ignored the noise, tossing the phone aside, and went to the kitchen for water.

After gulping down a whole bottle of cold water, he sat on the balcony, staring into space.

Normally at this hour, he would be in the training room.

That routine, so deeply ingrained, had ended yesterday—completely and irreversibly.

Zhong Lianjia thought he had made peace with it, but waking up alone in this unfamiliar city, he realized how empty he felt.

His heart, his body, everything seemed hollowed out, leaving just a thin shell enclosing this barren, unremarkable self.

Life really is utterly joyless.

His phone continued its relentless buzzing. With a resigned sigh, Zhong Lianjia returned to his room and picked it up.

A strange notification appeared on the screen.

[Interview time: 2:00 PM. Interview location: Yaoguang City. Before heading to the interview, please sign the confidentiality agreement in the app.]

What is this?

He began scrolling through his messages and found a copy of the résumé he had sent last night.

The memory came rushing back—before turning off his phone, he had found a job posting for the best-paying net manager position in Yaoguang City and submitted his résumé.

And the most ridiculous part?

They actually shortlisted him!

The interview invitation was already there.

What should I do? Should I go?

Zhong Lianjia sat on the bed, his mind a tangled mess.

…

Shopping Street, Lu Yao’s Interdimensional Internet Café.

“Net manager! Net manager!”

“Net manager, come help me with this!”

“Net manager!!!”

The “dandelion bomb” had proven to be a resounding success. The previously quiet café was now bustling, with the main hall fully occupied and even the two private booths taken.

Cheng Ye could barely keep up, and Lu Yao flitted from one task to another to assist.

Earlier that morning, a group of curious young demons had arrived just in time to witness Wuling being challenged to a PK duel.

The opponent, likely an experienced player with a new account, seemed irritated by Wuling’s character. Using a paid item, they initiated PK mode directly.

Wuling, suddenly thrown into the arena, was clueless about what was happening.

Lu Yao quickly explained the basics of PK battles to him.

No sooner had she finished than the countdown hit zero, and the fight began.

The opponent, a swordsman like Wuling, was around the same level but equipped with a decent weapon. Confident in their advantage, they assumed they could easily crush a rookie like him.

Wuling, having just started A Dream of Jianghu the day before, lacked game sense but made up for it with real combat instincts and quick reflexes.

The opponent launched swift, aggressive attacks, hoping to catch Wuling off guard. Yet each time, Wuling countered with precision, narrowly keeping his health bar intact. In the end, Wuling eked out a surprising victory.

This low-level newbie duel would normally go unnoticed in the game, but within the café, it sparked a wave of excitement.

This PK mode, where players controlled puppet-like characters in the game world without risking their cultivation levels, resonated deeply with the battle-loving demon clientele.

The café quickly filled to capacity, with everyone clamoring for computers.

Some demons, upon hearing that creating a game account cost twenty top-grade spirit stones, grumbled about the expense and left. Their seats were immediately taken by new arrivals.

One such customer called out loudly as they sat down: “Net manager! Quick, quick, quick, set up an account for me!”

Wuling, who had been grinding levels alone, suddenly received a friend request.

A leopard demon at a nearby computer, looking a bit shy, said, “Big brother, can I join you?”

“…” Wuling hesitated but eventually accepted under the little leopard demon’s pleading gaze.

Soon, the white-clad swordsman on Wuling’s screen was joined by a red-clad girl with the name Enuo.

Lu Yao watched this unfold quietly.

A little leopard demon playing as a female character? Was that intentional or just a mistake?

Walking through the main hall, she noticed that single-player games, online games, and dramas all had their fans among the demon customers. The café’s popularity was clearly on the rise.

Even demons without spirit stones or those who arrived too late to get a seat lingered, gathering in small groups behind other customers, eyes glued to the screens.

Seeing this, Cheng Ye couldn’t help but recall his childhood, when he and his friends would crowd around to watch others play at internet cafés.

…

By noon, the sparrow spirits returned after being absent all morning.

Where they had gone remained a mystery, but each one returned with a spirit stone clutched in its beak.

They deposited the stones in a birdcage, forming a small mountain of wealth, then flew off again after rolling around the counter to bask in Lu Yao’s attention.

Lu Yao chuckled, exasperated, as she looked at the pile of low-grade spirit stones.

Cheng Ye asked, “Where did they cause trouble this time?”

Lu Yao shook her head. “This time, it doesn’t seem like trouble.”

Cheng Ye: “?”

Lu Yao explained, “They heard that the Demon Emperor is recruiting followers and went to sign up as little henchmen to earn spirit stones.”

Recalling what she’d overheard from the sparrows earlier, she laughed. “Apparently, Black Swallow and Cui Yu went too, and they earned even more spirit stones than the sparrows. It’s driving the little guys mad with jealousy.”

Cheng Ye was puzzled. “The Demon Emperor? That must be someone incredibly powerful, right? Why would they accept sparrow spirits as underlings?”

Lu Yao shrugged. “I don’t really understand demon politics. As long as they’re not causing trouble for mortals, being little henchmen is fine by me. Anyway, the Demon Emperor is technically their real boss.”

Cheng Ye mused, “I wonder what the Demon Emperor’s true form is.”

He occasionally overheard customers chatting about how the rulers of the demon and magic realms were always the strongest of their kind.

In his mind, he pictured mythical beings and characters from fantasy dramas—majestic nine-tailed foxes, serpentine dragons, and the like, all exuding power and grandeur.

A customer buying water and snacks overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but chime in: “Our Demon Emperor is a flower demon.”

A flower demon?

Cheng Ye struggled to imagine it.

Lu Yao asked the customer, “Have you seen the Demon Emperor?”

The little demon shook its head. “How could someone like us possibly meet such a noble figure? It’s said that while the current Demon Emperor is a flower demon, they are the most powerful emperor in history.”

Lu Yao’s curiosity was piqued. “What kind of flower are they?”

The little demon shook its head again. “The world only knows that the Demon Emperor’s true form is a flower, but no one has ever seen it.”

After lunch, Lu Yao sat at the counter, occasionally glancing out toward the door.

Cheng Ye noticed and asked, “What’s going on?”

Lu Yao replied, “Someone sent in a résumé yesterday. I invited them for an interview this morning. I’m wondering if they’ll show up.”

Cheng Ye remarked, “For you to care this much, they must be quite the candidate.”

Lu Yao couldn’t help but laugh. “Whether they’re suitable or not is hard to say, but they’re definitely unexpected.”

…

On the main road outside the shop street, a yellow taxi pulled to a stop.

Zhong Lianjia stepped out, carrying a casual backpack. Looking down the dilapidated street, he took out his phone to double-check the location and asked the driver, “Are you sure this is the shopping street I’m supposed to go to?”

The driver, clearly annoyed, replied, “This is it. There’s no other place by that name around here. If you don’t believe me, I can drive you back.”

Zhong Lianjia took a deep breath, waved the driver off, and turned to walk down the narrow path.

He was determined to see what kind of internet café this was, located in such a rundown area, yet bold enough to offer a 10K monthly salary for a net manager.

Isn’t selling dreams like this illegal?

Besides, could a place like this even have business?

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