Ch 120: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

After the maintenance and upgrades, the ground floor of the internet café expanded to double its previous size, adding 60 new computers. On the second floor, which originally had rooms along the walls in a suspended corridor, new redwood bridges were built, forming a cross-shaped structure extending toward the center. These bridges were divided into private rooms of varying sizes, from single-person to three-person rooms, adding 30 more computers.

The newly built third, fourth, and fifth floors were temporarily closed to customers. During the upgrades, Lu Yao also expanded the convenience store and the package pick-up area on the ground floor.

Because she was busy with store expansions and constructing the virtual world, Lu Yao could no longer work shifts. Following Jiao Niang’s recommendation, she hired Xiao Xiao, a small flower demon (whose true form was a mimosa), to take turns with Jiao Niang working day and night shifts.

Cheng Ye took full responsibility for the game development and operations. He and Xiao Zhong recommended Wen Rong, the leopard spirit, and the devil clan’s Guan Zhong to serve as system administrators. With the café’s larger scale, both the upper and lower floors needed staff to keep things in order. After brief interviews, Lu Yao signed probationary contracts with Wen Rong and Guan Zhong.

On the grand reopening day, all new staff members were on site. Regular customers stepped into the café, hesitating at first due to the dramatic overnight transformation. The shop now boasted a total of 90 additional computers, making Super Dimensional Internet Café comparable to a large, bustling city-center internet café.

Familiar with the owner’s extraordinary capabilities, customers quickly adapted. The layout changes—such as a one-meter-wide pathway between the bar, the convenience store, and the package rack—meant queues for logging in, purchasing snacks, or picking up parcels were now less crowded and more orderly.

Curious customers roamed about for a moment, discussed the updates with their companions, and then quietly queued at the counter or sought assistance from a system administrator to log in. Everyone remembered that the new game’s beta testing started today. While the expanded café was more spacious, they didn’t want to take chances and hurried to secure a seat.

When the “Tales of the Six Realms” beta test launched, a 90-second opening CG was projected simultaneously above the first and second floors.

In the animated sequence, various scenes from the immersive game world unfolded, resembling mystic realms familiar to the inhabitants of the Floating World. The visuals borrowed heavily from the aesthetics and settings of the continent itself. Most customers found the imagery novel yet strangely familiar, though not particularly shocking.

However, a few moments stood out, especially in the scenes of team battles where demons, devils, and cultivators weren’t fighting as opponents but as allies. The opposing team included a reconnaissance sparrow demon, ghosts, and even celestial beings. The combat was intense and fluid, captivating everyone’s attention.

What truly struck a chord was the seamless cooperation among humans, demons, devils, and ghosts within the teams. The battle scenes showcased a dynamic synergy, with each side fighting fiercely yet harmoniously.

Sitting in the hall, Ling Xiangsi of Tianyan Sect frowned slightly, her arms crossed. “Why would cultivators mix with demons and devils in this game?”

Beside her, Jian Buyi of Jiujue Sect glanced at her before surveying the hall, where demons, devils, and even cultivators mingled freely. He said nothing—after all, the lines had long since blurred.

Following the recent competitive season, cultivator teams had repeatedly challenged the shopping street team to meet the so-called “Strongest in the Three Realms.” Though the store staff were often busy, they sometimes allowed disciples from the Floating World Sect to fill in. Despite numerous attempts, the cultivator teams had never bested the shopping street team, only managing to scrape by with a minor victory here and there—falling far short of meeting the strongest.

Over time, cultivators and demons had learned to ignore each other in the café, occasionally even discussing online memes or gaming strategies. However, the idea of trusting one another enough to watch each other’s backs in life-or-death battles, as depicted in the opening CG, was absurd and outrageous to the orthodox cultivators.

Demons and devils weren’t thrilled either. Casual interactions at the internet café were one thing, but trusting those self-righteous cultivators? Out of the question.

Once the CG ended, the beta test officially opened. Customers from all three realms—each harboring their own subtle grievances—began logging in one after another.

Logging into the game interface, players are greeted with a one-minute introduction to the game’s world background. Following this, six black bronze gates appear on the screen.

In Tales of the Six Realms, players can choose from six available races: Humans/Cultivators, Magic beasts, Demons, Devils, Ghosts, and Celestials.

The little sparrow demons eagerly picked the “Gate of Ten Thousand Demons” without hesitation.

Next to them, the half-demon bear cub hesitated for a while before also entering the “Gate of Ten Thousand Demona.”

Meanwhile, Guan Zhong, who was on shift, noticed that Danxi chose the “Gate of Refining Devils.”

The cultivators, without exception, all entered the “Gate of Seeking the Dao.”

After selecting a race, players proceed to choose their cultivation path from a detailed list and then customize their character’s appearance.

The character customization interface provides both preset “parts” and an option to sketch your design manually, allowing players full creative control over their appearance.

Once the character creation is complete, the game officially begins.

At this stage of the beta, Tales of the Six Realms offers three main gameplay modes:

1. Exploration and Quests
   Players traverse the map, complete quests, and collect experience points, spirit stones, and enhancement materials.
2. Team Dungeons
   Players form parties to grind dungeons for materials.
   These two modes resemble standard browser-based RPGs, where players use experience to level up, spirit stones and materials to enhance attributes, strengthen weapons, and refine pills. Weapons and pills can be sold at weapon shops or alchemy halls for additional resources.
3. Multiplayer Online Battles (unlocked at level 20)
   This is a faction-based PvP mode where players push through maps to defeat the opposing team.
   Players can choose from three battle formats: 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5.
   The mode, akin to a wuxia-inspired MOBA game, is called “Trial Cliff” in Tales of the Six Realms. In Trial Cliff, players are no longer restricted to their initial race selection. Instead, they can pick from a pool of characters representing various races and lineages. Characters are regularly updated, and each one is tailored to a specific sub-race within the six factions.

The first character designed for the game was the Sparrow Scout from the demon race. Its inspiration came from the sparrow demons who frequented the café and a humanoid sketch drawn by Lu Yao for them.

Thanks to the rich and vivid source material, the design of the sparrow scout’s demon form, human form, skills, and backstory was completed in just two days.

On the first day of testing, most players hadn’t yet reached level 20 and were busy exploring maps and completing quests.

One unique feature of Tales of the Six Realms is that each race receives unique quests, maps, and dungeon content, with slight differences in quest rewards.

Players could exchange gameplay tips and tasks on the world chat and privately trade materials.

By the end of the first day, around 200 players had logged in, but actionable feedback was sparse.

On the second day, a few players reached level 20 and gained access to Trial Cliff.

Given the small beta testing pool, only a handful of players managed to level up so quickly. At this point, Trial Cliff only supported AI matches, limited to the 3v3 mode.

Coincidentally, the first three players to enter the mode were all cultivators: Jiang Yan from Hengze Sect, Ling Xiangsi from Tianyan Sect, and Xiao Yi from Kunlun Sect.

When entering Trial Cliff for the first time, players watch a beginner tutorial video introducing the map, gameplay mechanics, and currently available characters.

Halfway through the video, the three players began to relax—they were familiar with this type of gameplay.

“This is just team-based combat!”

They quickly realized that the team battles allowed characters of different races to cooperate, explaining the mixed-race teams depicted in the opening CG.

During the character selection phase, all three players chose cultivator characters, specifically sword cultivators.

One unique feature of Tales of the Six Realms is that players on the same team can select the same character, which sets it apart from other MOBA games.

The AI opponents consisted of a diverse lineup: the demon race’s scout sparrow, the blood demon from the demon generals, and a human race’s zither cultivator.

After selecting their characters, the map began loading.

In the three-player mode, the map consists of a single main lane, but each faction has multiple buff points along the lane, providing plenty of opportunities to contest resources.

Ling Xiangsi and Xiao Yi, both sword cultivators, had no hesitation in choosing the only sword cultivator character from the pool.

Jiang Yan’s reasoning was more personal. In reality, his poor aptitude had prevented him from pursuing sword cultivation in Hengze Sect, forcing him to become a pill cultivator.

When Jiang Yan entered Tales of the Six Realms, he chose the “Gate of Seeking the Dao.” During the second stage, “Cultivation Path,” he opted to become a sword cultivator instead of a pill cultivator.

The path of a sword cultivator differs significantly from that of a pill cultivator. Even though the game’s setting doesn’t fully replicate reality, Jiang Yan experienced a brief joy of practicing swordsmanship in the game.

Motivated by his newfound passion, he worked hard to level up and became one of the first players to reach level 20.

When he unlocked the Trial Cliff mode and saw the available characters, he instantly chose the only sword cultivator among the four cultivator options.

Once the three players entered the map, they finally examined their characters’ skills:

• Basic attack
• Combo skill
• Ultimate skill

The sword cultivator character is designed as an assassin, boasting high burst damage and powerful output. However, it comes with four-star difficulty (out of five) and low durability.

Xiao Yi quickly formulated a plan:
“As long as we survive until level 5 and upgrade the ultimate skill during the Golden Core stage, we can slice through the enemy like butter.”

Ling Xiangsi had the same idea.

Having spent considerable time playing 5v5 games at the café to challenge the Three Realms’ Strongest, they quickly grasped the mechanics of this new mode.

Jiang Yan practiced the controls, rolling across his keyboard to familiarize himself with the skills, and quietly followed his two teammates.

The plan was simple: stay cautious, farm until level 5, and unleash their ultimate skills to dominate the enemy.

The opposing AI team had other plans.

At level 5, the scout sparrow transformed, summoning five untransformed sparrow minions. These minions had little attack power but were annoyingly effective at scouting, harassing opponents, and providing cover.

Meanwhile, the blood demon, as a melee fighter, built up blood rage to deal painful attacks with life steal. Upon transforming, their weapon could morph into a swarm of vampiric bats capable of mid-range attacks.

To make things worse, the zither cultivator supported the team perfectly: providing speed buffs when the sparrow minions harassed and healing the blood demon precisely when their health was low.

After healing, the blood demon launched devastating attacks, shielded by the sparrow scout’s interference. In no time, the three squishy sword cultivators were wiped out.

Frustrated but not defeated, the sword cultivator team respawned and tried again.

They relied on their skill, hoping to turn the tide through superior gameplay. But each time they initiated a team fight, their desperation grew. They lost three consecutive battles, their performance worsening with each attempt.

Within twenty minutes, the AI team destroyed the players’ base.

Xiao Yi and Ling Xiangsi stared blankly at the large “DEFEAT” text on their screens, unable to comprehend how their sword cultivators lost so badly.

Sure, the blood demon was powerful in the late game, but by the end, they couldn’t even take down the scout sparrow, which had minimal attack power and tanky gear that made its health bar nearly invincible.

Xiao Yi and Ling Xiangsi were deeply dissatisfied with the game’s mechanics. Feeling demoralized, they logged out after filling out feedback surveys, unwilling to continue playing.

Jiang Yan, however, stayed online for a few more rounds. He was paired with AI teammates for subsequent matches, but the repetitive experience soon bored him as well.

He exited the Trial Cliff and went back to taking quests and farming materials, occasionally recruiting players in the world chat to team up for dungeons, continuing to level up.

When Jiang Yan exited the Trial Cliff, he happened to level up, and for a brief moment, his vision darkened, as if he had seen a strange door.

But the moment passed so quickly that by the time he reacted, everything was back to normal. He assumed he had been playing too long and his eyes were tired, so he didn’t think much of it.

By the afternoon, around thirty beta players had reached level 20.

With more players online, it was inevitable to encounter other races in the Trial Cliff.

At first, players tended to choose characters of their own race, and team configurations were no longer as extreme as the three sword cultivators. This made the matches much more enjoyable.

The character designs in Tales of the Six Realms were fresh and interesting. Both the demon and monster races featured pre- and post-transformation forms, while cultivators would change their equipment and weapons as they leveled up. Just exploring the upgraded forms of different characters kept many players entertained for hours.

The most excited were the sparrow demons in the café.

They hadn’t known that the shopkeeper had turned sparrow demons into game characters. They didn’t understand what they saw in the CG until they entered the Trial Cliff and saw the familiar yet unfamiliar character cards in the pool. The sparrows were stunned.

Scout Sparrow of the Demon Race!

They were scouts!!!

The sparrows chirped noisily in excitement, and in their first match, they all chose the scout character.

The scout’s strength lay in its agility, excelling in harassment and support. Post-transformation, it even gained companions to help.

When they reached level 5 and unlocked their transformation, the sparrow demons, who had dreamed of transforming, jumped up and down in excitement.

Once they cultivated enough to transform in real life, they would surely look just as amazing and powerful.

Besides the sparrow scout, there were a total of 24 released character cards, spanning humans, demons, devils, ghosts, and other creatures.

By evening, the café was abuzz with discussions about Tales of the Six Realms.

Devil and demon customers were particularly enthusiastic about discussing the character cards in the Trial Cliff, especially those whose true forms were similar to certain game characters. They spoke with pride, as if they had been awarded a certificate.

The sparrow demons, in particular, were so proud they seemed about to sprout wings.

Meanwhile, Xiong An’an was sulking again.

Despite being the café’s most beloved little bear demon and a national treasure, he didn’t have his own character card in the new game.

The sparrow demons, who couldn’t even transform yet, not only had a character card but were also the most popular characters discussed on the second day of the game’s launch.

The little bear demon rolled on the floor of the café in frustration, whining pitifully.

Zhong Lianjia entered the store carrying his bag and saw the little furball, now covered in dust like a sesame rice ball. He didn’t mind, though, and bent down to pick him up. “Why’s our little bear demon upset?”

Xiong An’an whimpered in grievance, his beady eyes filled with resentment as he stared at Lu Yao.

Lu Yao, holding the little Tang Kang in her arms, sighed helplessly. “He’s throwing a tantrum because I didn’t turn our great national treasure cub into a character card.”

Hearing her tone, Xiong An’an immediately realized he’d made a mistake—she was soft-hearted, not one to yield to hard tactics.

Scrambling out of Zhong Lianjia’s arms, he scampered over to hug Lu Yao’s leg, switching to a routine of cuddling and being adorable.

Suddenly, a chilling aura filled the shop, making the air feel uncomfortably cold. Lu Yao turned, scanning her surroundings.

Dark red water stains began to slowly emerge on the wall beside the courier shelves. Lu Yao instinctively clutched the little Tang Kang tightly and pushed Zhong Lianjia away. “The ghost gate is opening—get out of here.”

Zhong Lianjia froze. “…”

What’s going on?

Lu Yao was also considering the visitor’s intentions.

Was it because the little Tang Kang’s time had come?

Or was it related to the ten invitations she had sent to the underworld?

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