Ch 105: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Lu Yao had originally planned for the earliest match to be held three days later, as she had just designed new blueprints and intended to expand the third floor into a dedicated competition venue the day after.

Now, time was too tight, so they had to host an impromptu match in the first-floor lobby.

Coincidentally, the cultivation team had occupied two rows of seats for training earlier. They could now allocate one side to the demon clan team.

The shop had intended to hold a low-key match without disturbing other customers.

However, demons and devils had a penchant for excitement. Upon seeing the internet café staff clear a small area for the match, they stopped gaming altogether, gathered around, and watched the preparations instead.

Even for a temporary setup, there was plenty to do. Lu Yao sent a message in the employee group chat, summoning the staff members who were still training to come over and help.

Noticing the growing curiosity of the customers, Lu Yao decided to use a floating projection system to broadcast the real-time match on the second floor’s central area, allowing customers to observe from the upstairs hallway instead of crowding the lobby.

The staff, who had been playing poorly in their practice matches, immediately got up and rushed to the café upon receiving the message.

Liu Yixi and Mei Xue, who had just left Office No. 1 and were preparing to head home for some rest, also turned around and headed back upon seeing the message.

The match between the cultivation team and the demon clan team was not only entertaining but also an opportunity to observe the strength of future opponents.

Over a dozen young people from the shopping street came to help, quickly clearing out the competition area. The customers were guided upstairs to wait, leaving only the store staff and the competing teams on the first floor.

The café’s regulars were surprised to see the young people downstairs, who shared a similar attire and demeanor with the owner.

They had always assumed the staff consisted only of the owner, a network administrator, and a mermaid cashier, plus the recent addition of a temporary admin-cum-courier. Who knew the café had so many more employees?

Did these people all live in the world of the internet?

Regardless of the commotion on the second floor, the preparations on the first floor proceeded in an orderly fashion.

The cultivation team sent out Zhu Qingyun as the top laner, Bai Ji as the mid-laner, and Zhong Jinglan as the ADC.

With Xie Zili absent, the support role was filled by a fresh-faced customer who had arrived that afternoon, wearing a bamboo-green robe and introducing himself as Jian Buyi. The jungler was the boisterous Xiao Yi.

Despite being introduced to the café and its games only today, the cultivation team was composed and confident, showing no signs of panic in their demeanor.

On the demon clan’s side, the lineup included the leopard demon Wen Rong and the spider demon Zhu Ying as jungler and mid-laner, respectively.

Since the match was between the cultivation and demon teams, the devils couldn’t participate. Danxi and Guan Zhong could only watch from the sidelines, and with insufficient players, they brought in Jiao Niang as the ADC. The newly arrived flower demon and cat demon filled the top lane and support roles.

The flower demon and cat demon had only recently joined the Six Realms sect and had been introduced to the game just two days ago. By strict standards, they were still rookies, with skills not much better than their opponents, which helped balance the match.

With both teams assembled, the players lined up according to their positions to take their seats.

The cultivation team used newly created accounts, which lacked any characters to play.

The demon clan’s situation was slightly better, but still far from competitive standards.

Xiao Zhong sat at the bar for a few minutes before standing up and retrieving ten accounts, each with all heroes unlocked and matching ranks, to distribute to the players.

At that moment, facing over twenty pairs of utterly shocked eyes, Xiao Zhong couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.

After all, with five million followers, lending a few accounts was no big deal—it was child’s play.

As this was a temporary match, the venue and format were relatively simple, with a best-of-three series planned.

Lu Yao set up soundproof barriers and enchantments downstairs. During the match, players couldn’t hear the noise from the second floor or see the floating projection above their heads. Once they put on their headsets, they could focus solely on the game.

Both teams logged into the room, and the banning phase proceeded quickly.

After entering the canyon, the demon team’s jungler, mid-laner, and ADC, relying on their greater experience, schemed to create trouble.

This led to an old-school scenario on the field: the blue side (demon team) jungler led the mid-laner and ADC across the river directly to the opponent’s blue buff bush, where they crouched in ambush, even planting a ward at the triangular choke point.

Wen Rong said in the team voice chat: “He’ll definitely come this way. I taught him this jungle path this afternoon. They’ve only ever played against AI and have never encountered an ambush. This time, we’ll show them how treacherous people can be.”

Not even a minute passed before Xiao Yi, having purchased his equipment, headed into the jungle. He was reassuring the nervous Zhong Jinglan over voice chat when suddenly, he heard the kill notification. His screen went gray before he could react.

Xiao Yi: “…”

Zhong Jinglan, already on edge, was startled by the kill notification. Her hand shook, and she looked up to see that the first blood was gone.

Zhong Jinglan: “…What happened?”

Xiao Yi: “…That little leopard ambushed me. Three of them.”

With the limited vision on the field, the rest of the red team was caught off guard and unsure how to respond.

Upstairs, this was the first time the spectators had witnessed such a clear ambush. Some, unfamiliar with games or this particular title, were baffled as they watched the little red figure on the field get ganged up on by three blue figures moments after leaving spawn.

The blue ADC, having secured the first kill, waited for the blue buff to spawn, then helped the jungler take it before swaggering back to the lane to begin the match as usual.

From this point, the demon team’s advantage started to snowball. Xiao Yi found himself completely suppressed by the little leopard demon and, within ten minutes, had given away three more kills, growing increasingly frustrated.

Jiao Niang, who typically preferred roaming mid like Zhu Ying, was playing in the bottom lane this match. Her oppressive performance was terrifying, to say the least.

Although part of this could be attributed to the red team’s rookie bottom lane duo, Jiao Niang’s support frequently made mistakes, unintentionally taking her minions, missing critical crowd control, and still, Jiao Niang managed to secure kills through her precise movement alone.

The first match ended in less than fifteen minutes. The cultivation team’s jungle, mid, and bottom lanes had all been utterly overrun, with only Zhu Qingyun in the top lane managing to suppress the little flower demon opposite him.

But the canyon game is a team-based endeavor, where economy, equipment, power spikes, and synergy are all crucial.

Sometimes, a dominant jungler or top laner could carry, but as a total novice, Zhu Qingyun lacked that capability.

In the first match, the cultivation team crumbled quickly, giving the demon team their first win.

The cultivation team requested a pause and asked for external coaching.

External coaching—essentially a live tutorial from Xiao Zhong—was permitted for rookies like the cultivation team, as long as it didn’t exceed 30 minutes.

Even in a game, when victory is at stake, the fun quickly diminishes.

The atmosphere within the cultivation team grew much tenser compared to before the first match. Zhu Qingyun and Jian Buyi bombarded Xiao Zhong with questions, while Xiao Zhong, resembling a freshly hired elementary school teacher, struggled to explain basic concepts to these curious yet naïve students in simple terms.

Inwardly, Xiao Zhong was despairing. Given the cultivation team’s current state, why on earth had they suggested a match to the owner?

They didn’t understand the rules, hero abilities, or the map layout. Their fundamentals were nearly non-existent. Even if the demon team handed them five free kills at the start, they’d probably still lose.

However, faced with Zhu Qingyun and Jian Buyi’s earnest and determined gazes, Xiao Zhong swallowed his harsher words and did his best to address their immediate issues.

While the cultivation team underwent their crash course, the demon team waited leisurely, exuding an air of relaxed confidence.

Lu Yao, holding Xiong An’an, sat on the sidelines watching. Seeing the little leopard demon’s smug expression, she couldn’t resist walking over to give him a warning tap.

In the center of the field, an incense burner had been set up. When the ash burned out, the whistle sounded, signaling the end of external coaching.

Xiao Zhong stepped back as the second match was about to begin.

Just then, the door of the internet café was pushed open, and in walked a boy dressed in a daoist robe.

He hadn’t expected the café to look like this and froze in the doorway, unsure whether to enter or retreat.

Lu Yao waved at him. “Xie Zili, over here.”

Xie Zili noticed Jiao Niang seated in the middle of the lobby and instinctively wanted to head in that direction, but Lu Yao called him back, so he awkwardly walked along the wall toward her.

Lu Yao said, “They’re in the middle of a match over there. Wait here for a bit.”

Xie Zili thought he had misheard. “A match? What match?”

Lu Yao replied, “A match between the Cultivation Realm and the Demon Realm.”

Xie Zili hesitated. “…But I saw Jiao Niang there too—”

Lu Yao nodded. “Yes, she’s one of the players. You missed the last game; she played brilliantly.”

Xie Zili glanced toward the center of the lobby. Jiao Niang, wearing a simple hairstyle and light makeup, sat with headphones on, her fingers flying over the keyboard and mouse. She was smiling and chatting with the person beside her, her expression light and cheerful.

Xie Zili had never seen this side of Jiao Niang before.

In his memory, Jiao Niang was always melancholy, her gaze toward him filled with a complicated and suppressed love.

But now, she didn’t seem to notice him at all. She was fully immersed in this group of demons, competing against cultivators in a way he had never imagined.

It was as though she had shed her identity as a “mother” at some point, becoming purely a demon.

And he, unexpectedly, felt a bitter resentment well up inside him.

…

For the second game, the sides switched. The demons took the red side, and the cultivators took the blue side.

Xiao Zhong’s crash course seemed to have had an effect, though not a particularly significant one.

The cultivation team was clearly starting to strategize, but their plans weren’t exactly well-executed.

Perhaps learning from the previous game, they realized that the opposing top laner and support were less experienced than the other three players. They decided to target the top lane flower demon first.

The flower demon’s true form was a sensitive plant, and her personality mirrored that of her species: shy and introverted. When “harassed,” her instinct was to close up and hide.

True to the demon race’s instinct-driven nature, the flower demon never initiated attacks in the game. Her vision control was minimal, and upon sensing an ambush, she simply hid under her tower and refused to come out.

Xiao Yi and his support waited in the top lane for a long time but couldn’t find an opening.

After clearing a wave of jungle monsters and slightly upgrading their skills and equipment, the blue side’s top laner, jungler, and support decided to try again—this time targeting the bottom lane.

Zhong Jinglan was still unable to suppress Jiao Niang’s growth. The difference in experience and basic skills was simply too vast, and no amount of crash-course training could bridge that gap.

With Lu Yao providing a detailed live commentary, Xie Zili gradually gained a general understanding of the game’s dynamics.

But he wasn’t interested in anything else—his focus was solely on the bottom lane.

He knew that Jiao Niang’s in-game character was the one wielding the strange firearm.

When he saw the blue team’s top laner and jungler frantically signaling as they moved toward the bottom lane, Xie Zili couldn’t suppress his emotions any longer.

Four players setting up an ambush, trying to bait and surround two—this group of cultivators was utterly shameless.

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