Ch 76: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Someone nudged him again, disrupting his focus just as he was about to return to his lane. The leopard demon was on the verge of losing his temper.

In that brief moment of distraction, three opponents burst out from the bush on the right, dived under his tower, secured the kill, and walked away leisurely.

His screen turned gray.

The leopard demon didn’t even have the energy to be angry anymore.

When he turned to see the person who had nudged him, it turned out to be the net manager, Zhong Lianjia. He hesitated but couldn’t hold back. “Why are you bothering me?!”

Zhong Lianjia was too familiar with the leopard demon’s moods to take offense. Instead of arguing, he quietly apologized.

Ever since the incident where the store owner punished the demons after a fight broke out in the café, the demon patrons had noticeably become more polite toward both the owner and the staff.

After Zhong Lianjia’s apology, the leopard demon didn’t press the issue further.

Zhong Lianjia noticed Guanzhong watching him with a curious gaze. He smiled faintly, then returned to the counter.

Guanzhong followed him. “You’re the attendant?”

Xuanfeng had already explained how the café worked, including the role of attendants, so Guanzhong understood they were the go-to for assistance.

Initially uninterested in internet gaming, Guanzhong’s curiosity was piqued after watching the leopard demon’s terrible gameplay. Surely I could do better than that, he thought.

Though the Baixian Mountain lacked spiritual energy, the local demons were surprisingly diligent, spending most of their nights cultivating. As a result, the café was much quieter at night than during the day.

Zhong Lianjia set up an account for Guanzhong.

Guanzhong was determined. He sat down and immediately launched into Canyon.

However, once he began, he realized this “computer” was far more difficult to use than he had imagined. It took him two whole hours to get accustomed to clicking the mouse and pressing the keyboard keys. By the time he finished the beginner’s tutorial, dawn was breaking.

Most of the other patrons had already left, but the leopard demon was still there, furiously typing away at his keyboard, clearly hooked.

Guanzhong, dizzy from hours of gaming, lost interest and sat idly at his station.

At that moment, a middle-aged man walked into the café. His attire was similar to the attendants’, and like them, he was human.

The man approached the counter and produced a stack of strange boxes seemingly out of thin air.

When he opened one, a fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

Guanzhong wrinkled his nose and called out loudly, “net manager, what is that?”

Before Zhong Lianjia could respond, the leopard demon shouted, “net manager! Two grilled sausages, two char siu buns, a bowl of sweet rice wine osmanthus soup, two skewers of roasted sweet potato skins, and a large drumstick!”

With fewer patrons around, Zhong Lianjia fetched a tray and prepared the leopard demon’s order.

During busier times, guests would have to collect their own food from the counter. But for now, Zhong Lianjia delivered the tray to the leopard demon’s table and took his payment in spirit stones.

Guanzhong sat a couple of seats away from the leopard demon. He couldn’t help but glance over and watch as the leopard demon devoured his meal, swallowing involuntarily at the sight.

Though demons typically fed on the dark emotions of humans, with no particular interest in human food, Guanzhong found his appetite stirred as he watched the leopard demon eat.

The leopard demon, still bitter about his losing streak, was in a foul mood. However, the café’s food was perfectly to his taste. After a few bites, he felt much better.

Noticing Guanzhong’s gaze, the leopard demon grabbed a char siu bun from his plate and handed it over. “Try this. These buns are my favorite thing here—way better than anything in Liuxian City.”

Guanzhong didn’t hesitate, taking a bite. The soft, fluffy bun and rich, savory-sweet char siu filling tasted far better than he’d imagined. The more he ate, the more delicious it became.

So this is what human food tastes like.

In just a few bites, he finished the bun and licked the lingering flavor from his fingers. Without saying a word, he stood up and walked straight to the counter.

From receiving the bun to finishing it and heading to the counter, Guanzhong didn’t speak a single word.

The leopard demon was quite satisfied.

The world had gained another char siu bun enthusiast.

Breakfast at the internet café usually started at 5:30 a.m., and the selection was at its peak at this time.

Guanzhong was dazzled by the variety and spent five minutes picking before deciding. Demons didn’t usually eat human food, but the bun given by the leopard demon had piqued his curiosity. He ended up choosing grilled sausage, red bean paste buns, shumai, roasted sweet potato skins, and a bowl of iced rock sugar snow fungus soup.

The net manager packaged the food neatly, collected the spirit stones, and returned to his seat.

Guanzhong noticed there was also a computer in front of the attendant. After completing the transaction, the attendant immediately started staring at the screen, his hands on the keyboard and mouse—something Guanzhong found oddly familiar.

While munching on his grilled sausage, Guanzhong walked behind the counter to take a closer look.

Sure enough, the net manager was playing that same game.

He was even playing the same hero the leopard demon had struggled with earlier. The match had just started, with the first wave of minions spawning.

Guanzhong watched for a few minutes, his expression gradually growing serious. He was so focused he forgot to finish his sausage.

The leopard demon, waiting for Guanzhong to return, noticed he hadn’t come back. Instead, Guanzhong was loitering behind the counter, staring at something like an idiot.

Feeling thirsty, the leopard demon decided to buy some water and wandered over to the counter, only to see Guanzhong watching the attendant play. Curious, the leopard demon joined in.

Huh? The net manager was also playing that game, using his favorite hero.

This piqued his interest. He decided to see how good the net manager actually was.

After a few minutes, the leopard demon’s expression turned grim.

He had lost all night with this hero, finding it useless with its short range and lack of mobility. He’d even sworn to never use this “trash” hero again—yet here was the net manager, dominating the game with it.

The leopard demon glanced at his own hands, then back at the net manager. The thought that the net manager might be better than him was hard to swallow.

Perhaps inspired by the day’s trending gaming news or amused by the leopard demon’s clumsy gameplay earlier, Zhong Lianjia had remembered why he’d first fallen in love with this game. With few customers after midnight, he’d logged into a secondary account to pass the time.

Surprisingly, with his mindset shifted, his gameplay felt smoother than ever.

Instead of his usual jungle role, he tried out top, mid, and support, excelling in each position. This time, using the same hero as the leopard demon, he couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the demon being constantly ganked.

Since he needed to keep an ear out for customers, Zhong Lianjia hadn’t put on headphones.

When the leopard demon came to spectate, Zhong Lianjia was just being targeted by the enemy team, who called for their jungler and mid-laner to gank him. Seizing the opportunity, he decided to show off a bit.

He pinged for mid-lane support and stayed under the tower, weaving in and out to bait the enemy.

At this point, Guanzhong and the leopard demon hadn’t realized his intention, nor had they sensed the incoming danger.

When three opponents suddenly jumped out of the bushes, both of them nearly leaped out of their seats.

He’s going to die! He’s going to die!

But the tragedy they feared didn’t happen.

Unlike a panicked novice frantically spamming skills, Zhong Lianjia used his tank build and agile movements to soak damage, baiting out the enemy’s key abilities.

At the perfect moment, his mid-laner flanked from the enemy’s jungle, landing a crowd-control ability that pushed all three opponents back under the tower.

Zhong Lianjia secured the first kill on the enemy mage, his teammate finished off the jungler, and together they dove the tower to take down the under-leveled top-laner.

Guanzhong and the leopard demon were dumbfounded.

The scrawny net manager suddenly seemed larger than life in their eyes.

At 6:30 a.m., Lu Yao arrived to take over the shift. With only two net managers working, the hours were still a bit long. Occasionally, Cheng Ye also had to write programs, making his hours even longer.

Lu Yao was planning to hire another net manager. She had interviewed a few candidates recently, but none were suitable.

Until she found someone, Lu Yao personally came in early in the morning and stayed for a few hours in the afternoon to help cover shifts.

Zhong Lianjia yawned as he logged off, packed his bag, and got ready to leave for the day.

The leopard demon and Guanzhong stood nearby, looking like they had something to say but hesitated.

Zhong waved at Lu Yao, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the café.

The leopard demon immediately followed him, seemingly trying to catch up, but returned shortly after. The human had disappeared as soon as he stepped outside.

Leaning against the counter, the leopard demon asked, “Lu Yao, is Xiao Zhong really good at games?”

Lu Yao replied, “Of course, he used to be a professional player. You’ve probably never seen him in action during his matches.”

The two demons both shook their heads blankly.

Recently, Lu Yao had taken the time to learn about gaming, including the history, rules, and structure of professional leagues. She enthusiastically shared her newfound knowledge and even pulled up videos of Zhong’s matches as examples.

For the first time, the leopard demon and Guanzhong experienced watching games from a spectator’s perspective.

Humans, with their fleeting lifespans of no more than a hundred years, seemed to expend far more energy pursuing such endeavors compared to demons and devils.

They watched several match highlights in a row. While they didn’t understand much of the strategy, one thing became clear—when it came to gaming, Zhong was far superior to them.

That evening, when Zhong returned for his shift, he noticed a portion of the customers suddenly being exceptionally attentive to him. At first, he thought it was just his imagination.

Later that night, the leopard demon invited him to eat instant noodles. Surprised and flattered, Zhong didn’t dare refuse.

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️

Thingyan: Next chapter pw is zhong