Ch 121: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Ji Feichen was organizing the courier shelf, with only a few packages left unclaimed; the customers might come by later in the evening.

When he saw dark red water stains emerging on the wall, he paused slightly.

The guests in the café hadn’t noticed that the ghost gate was about to open. Lu Yao handed over the little Tang Kang and Xiong An’an to Jiao Niang, then quickly walked to the courier shelf and told Ji Feichen to leave as well.

The water stains on the wall extended until they formed the shape of a door.

This door was relatively small, unlike the rusty copper door that had appeared on the second floor last time.

In the center of the black iron doorframe, a ghostly head emerged. Its face was blue, its fangs sharp, and it held a rusty, mottled dagger in its mouth. Around its neck was a thick chain, and its bulging eyes rolled twice before fixing on Lu Yao.

The ghost head, dagger still clenched in its teeth, did not move its mouth but let out a hoarse, raspy voice: “Found you.”

Lu Yao stepped forward. “May I ask who you are?”

Eeeeeeek—

A teeth-grating creak sounded as the dark ghostly door opened a crack, and a stack of white envelopes was pushed through the doorway.

Through the gap, Lu Yao could see a tall man with pitch-black pupils staring intently at her.

She glanced at the envelopes but didn’t take them. Instead, she said, “So, we have guests from afar. There are still seats upstairs. May I ask how many of you are here?”

The black iron door opened further, and four ghosts stepped out.

Two men and two women, all dressed in subdued black robes, their eyes dark as ink, and their skin two shades paler than that of ordinary humans.

They quietly emerged from the door, saying nothing.

Behind them, the River of Crossing flowed silently. Just as the ghost gate was about to close, a ghostly official clung to the door and shouted at them, “If you don’t know something, ask. Don’t act mute.”

The four ghosts, who had been striking cool poses, froze. “…”

Lu Yao recognized the official—it was Xie Yi, who had visited the café last time.

She stopped him, skipping his name and simply addressing him as “Brother official.” She quickly turned back to the small shop’s shelves, sweeping a bunch of snacks and drinks into a bag. Handing it to him, she whispered a few questions.

Xie Yi, having a high regard for the shopkeeper’s methods, replied frankly.

Those invitations had stirred some confusion after they were submitted. The higher-ups had argued about it before deciding to send a few officials to investigate.

Hearing this, Lu Yao felt reassured.

Those invitations weren’t particularly special—just written with the demon god’s finger bone, after all.

Time was limited, so Xie Yi only exchanged a few words with Lu Yao before the ghost gate closed again.

With a bag full of earthly snacks in hand, Xie Yi waded through the River of Crossing to find Fan Song.

When the ghostly door and the dark red stains on the wall disappeared without a trace, Lu Yao turned back to attend to the ghost officials.

She led them to the counter and asked the young leopard demon to assign them computers.

The four ghostly officials couldn’t help but look around the shop. It was completely different from what they had imagined.

The liveliness was one thing, but humans, demons, and devils mingling together was entirely unexpected.

Their superiors had described the situation as serious, and while things did seem unusual, the officials couldn’t discern any immediate issues.

Since the main hall was fully occupied, Lu Yao asked Guan Zhong to escort the guests upstairs and teach them how to use the computers.

Upstairs, the four ghosts sat in a private room, watching videos to learn how to operate the machines. Occasionally, they asked Guan Zhong questions about the café.

Guan Zhong, oblivious to their identities, answered everything without reservation.

Initially, the ghostly guests focused on gathering information, but after an hour of learning, they became increasingly absorbed in the wonders of the internet, gradually forgetting their original purpose.

By midnight, one of them finally remembered their mission. Opening the screen, they located the Tales of the Six Realms icon and logged into the game using a beta test account.

Perhaps from staring at the screen for too long, the ghostly guest felt a bit tired. After finishing the beginner’s tutorial, they didn’t feel like moving and idly opened the world channel to watch other players chat.

【Anyone have Water Velvet Grass? I’ll trade ten Gold Blessing Flowers for it.】

【Unbelievable! Why is that demon scout in Trial Cliff so overpowered? Isn’t there a way to counter them?】

【The café’s bias toward demon and devil characters is nothing new. Even their characters are stronger than the cultivators. Whoever wants to play this lousy game can go ahead!】

【That’s not entirely true. Team composition is crucial. As long as it’s not an all-swordsman or all-bladesman team and there’s some cooperation with demon or devil characters, cultivators can grow very powerful too.】

【Are you nuts? Who wants to cooperate with demons or devil?】

【You’re so tough, then why don’t you just stop coming to the café altogether!】

…

The world channel quickly turned into a heated argument.

The ghostly guest, still new to the online world, didn’t understand many of the terms but found the commotion entertaining.

After all, humans, demons, and devils all eventually pass through the ghost gate. In death, everyone is the same.

It’s only while alive that they find so many reasons to quarrel.

At that moment, a player sent an odd message amid the argument.

【Whoa, I just entered the Mirage!】

The veteran players, busy arguing, ignored the comment.

The ghostly guest, curious, pressed on the message, clicked “Reply,” and asked: 【What Mirage?】

The player immediately responded: 【No idea. My level just hit 40, and the screen went black. Next thing I know, I’m in this Mirage. Where did you see me?】

Ghostly guest: 【In the world channel.】

Player: 【Whoa! It’s real!】

Ghostly guest: 【What do you mean?】

Player: 【I’m in the Mirage now. There’s this weird floating interface in front of me. I just tried touching it, and I can send messages to the world channel. I thought no one could actually see them.】

This time, the ghostly guest didn’t respond, but most players in the world channel noticed the chat and started frantically replying to the Mirage player.

【What Mirage?】

【It’s just like the screen, except I’ve become the character I was playing in the game.】

【What about your inventory? Still got your stuff?】

【Not on me, but I can access it through the interface. All the materials and spirit stones from my quests are still there.】

…

【Never heard of this before… How do you enter the Mirage?】

【I don’t know. It just happened when I reached level 40.】

…

The world channel fell silent for about ten seconds before suddenly exploding with messages, scrolling by like a torrent.

【What’s happening?】

【What’s going on?】

【How can a game be connected to a Mirage?】

【Could this be a bug?】

【Where’s the admin? Call the admin!!!】

…

Five minutes later, the café released its second game CG through a full-dome projection.

When an account reaches level 40, the player will be summoned into the game’s Mirage to personally experience the epic world of Tales of the Six Realms.

The café’s players: !!!

A full-immersion cultivation MMORPG!

So it turns out that leveling up, doing quests, and competitive matches over the past few days weren’t the game’s selling points at all—full-immersion cultivation was!

With this announcement, the customers in the café were in an uproar. They abandoned their arguments and spent the entire night grinding quests and farming for level 40.

Don’t ask them why they’re already cultivating daily but still want to experience cultivation and leveling up in a game—it’s just different.

After a few days of gameplay, the guests from the Floating World Continent understood that Tales of the Six Realms wasn’t identical to their own world.

The game’s map designs, quest mechanics, competitive modes, and even the mountains, rivers, and seas on the map were all distinct from the Floating World Continent.

Many minor demons and half demons who couldn’t normally qualify for real-world trial Mirages found that in Tales of the Six Realms, as long as they reached level 40, they could be summoned into the game’s Mirage.

In the eyes of the café patrons, it didn’t feel like they were being summoned into a Mirage; rather, it seemed they were stepping into the boxed world before them, transforming into the pixelated little characters running wild on the screen. The thought alone was amusing.

Since the first player entered the Mirage, around a dozen more followed that same evening.

By the next day, discussions about Tales of the Six Realms among the café patrons surged to a new peak.

Initially, many human cultivators had stopped playing after a few sessions due to the game’s mechanics. However, upon hearing the news that Tales of the Six Realms connected to the Mirage, many returned to grind levels once again.

By the sixth day of the beta test, most players had reached the level threshold for entering the Mirage. Even the ghostly guests who had joined two days late had entered the Mirage by then.

Standing once more before the six black-bronze doors, a female ghost player chose not to enter the “Gate of Samara” but instead picked the less popular “Worldly Splendor.”

She had been dead for a thousand years, long bored of the gloomy Netherworld. Having passed through the ghost gate and become a ghost emissary, reincarnating into the human world was no easy feat. In that case, why not live again in this game?

The heavy black-bronze door slowly opened, letting light pour in.

She squinted as the bustling sounds of the street reached her ears. Stepping through the doorway, the door behind her gently closed.

She found herself on a lively street, the distinct atmosphere of the human world manifesting in sounds and smells that enveloped her in an instant.

The female ghost froze for a moment—it truly felt like the human world, with no trace of being a Mirage.

She pinched herself, and it hurt.

“Freshly steamed buns! Get your hot buns here!”

The street vendor’s shout brought her back to reality, the aroma wafting into her nose. She couldn’t resist swallowing and walked over to order two buns.

The currency in Tales of the Six Realms consisted solely of spirit stones, categorized into low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade.

Each large bun cost one low-grade spirit stone.

The female ghost purchased two buns, opened her system inventory, and retrieved two low-grade spirit stones from the designated slot to pay the vendor. She turned around, tore open the oil paper, and took a big bite of the bun.

The fluffy yet firm dough was thin, giving way to juicy, tender meat filling in a single bite. It was hot, but she couldn’t stop eating—it was too delicious.

After finishing one bun, she suddenly remembered: Can you even eat food in the Mirage?

In life, she had been a cultivator and visited one or two minor secret realms. Unfortunately, she wasn’t lucky enough to find treasures or encounter Mirages.

A thousand years had passed, and her memories from her previous life had grown blurry. She couldn’t quite determine if this situation was normal or not.

However, as more players entered the game Mirage, they soon discovered it differed significantly from the usual Mirages they had encountered.

Mirages within secret realms were typically pre-designed puzzles, emphasizing tests of character and strength. Everything within such Mirages was illusory, and solving the puzzle to find the answer was the ultimate goal.

In contrast, in the Mirage of Tales of the Six Realms, the street food, roadside inns, and the people inside them felt anything but illusory—everything seemed entirely real.

Moreover, players felt tired from completing tasks, hungry after long hours, and pain when injured.

It didn’t feel like a Mirage at all.

The most intriguing part was that every player had a system interface in the Mirage. Data previously viewable only on computer screens was now presented directly before each player.

How many beasts they had hunted, how many herbs they had gathered, how much ore they had mined, how much experience they had gained, and how much more was needed to level up—all of it was visible on the panel.

What they saw and experienced—if not a Mirage—left them wondering how else to explain it.

After the seven-day beta test ended, the game team spent another three days fixing several bugs, followed by a three-day second round of internal testing by the café’s staff.

A week later, Tale of the Six Realms officially launched at the Internet Café.

During the beta test, the Mirage mode had sparked limited but heated discussions among beta players. Those who hadn’t gotten beta access were eager to try it out, anxiously awaiting the game’s official release.

On launch day, patrons swarmed the café like tadpoles in a summer pond, squeezing through the narrow doorway under the Bodhi tree, afraid they’d miss out on securing a computer.

Registering a new game account, like other platforms, required only ten high-grade spirit stones.

Within half an hour of launch, nearly all of the café’s 100+ computers were occupied by Tales of the Six Realms players.

Players who had participated in the beta test blended in, registering new accounts and immediately starting to grind levels. After all, in this game, the real journey began at level 40.

This time, whether human, demon, or devil, players showed less concern about sticking to their own race or profession during the initial selection. Many began experimenting with other races and roles.

Reaching level 40 and entering the Mirage offered a whole new experience.

The game’s reputation spread quickly among café patrons, in turn boosting the café’s popularity.

Few patrons realized that the Mirage they entered in the game was, in fact, located on the café’s fourth floor.

At launch, Chi Jiumeng also registered an account, grinding her way to level 40 just to experience the Mirage herself. After all, she had participated in designing the Mirage’s framework but hadn’t expected it to be used in this way.

However, when Chi Jiumeng transitioned from the game into the Mirage, she immediately noticed changes the owner had made later.

Many of the traps, dungeons, and secret rooms she had designed had been modified to varying degrees. Feeling conflicted, Chi Jiumeng left the game and went to the counter to find Lu Yao. Translated on Hololo novels.

The staff informed her that the owner was busy building new game dungeons and unavailable to meet.

Could this mean that after level 40 and the Mirage, there would be new trial grounds?

Chi Jiumeng thought of the café’s fifth floor, which she had never visited, and recalled the stack of blueprints she’d once glimpsed in Lu Yao’s hands. One seemed to be labeled “Sky Ladder,” though she hadn’t gotten a clear look at it.

…

At the base of Mount Baixian, disciples of the Hengze Sect were returning from their travels, stepping out of the teleportation array in high spirits.

A junior disciple marveled at the bustling streets, “It’s been a while since I was last here. The town seems much livelier.”

A senior sister nodded, “Indeed, much livelier. I wonder if Junior Brother Jiang’s health has improved.”

Another junior sister added, “We found some snow lotus grass in the secret realm last time and saved a few stalks for him.”

The group returned to Hengze Sect and encountered a young medicine boy from the pill workshop at the entrance.

The medicine boy burst into tears upon seeing them. “Senior brothers and sisters, you’ve finally returned!”

The Hengze disciples, unaware of what had happened, looked at him in confusion.

The medicine boy knelt on the ground, wailing sorrowfully.

“Ever since a few months ago, when Senior Brother Jiang saved a girl being bullied by sparrow demons on the mountain, he has been going up the mountain more and more frequently.

“At first, it wasn’t much different from his usual trips to gather herbs every couple of months. But in the past month, Senior Brother Jiang has been going to the mountain almost daily. Each time he stays for a whole day, doesn’t bring a medicine boy, and comes back without any herbs.

“This time, Senior Brother Jiang has been gone for three days without returning to the sect.

“He must have been bewitched by the little demons on the mountain! His body is so weak—if we don’t go rescue him soon, it might be too late!”

The recently returned disciples of Hengze Sect: “…”

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