Ch 55: My Multiverse Supermarket

An Fengxuan didn’t say anything. She watched Zhou Li with sharp, wary eyes—ready to defend herself at any sign of danger, yet also waiting for the woman to initiate a mission.

Zhou Li blinked.

So rude?

Then, realizing where this girl came from, she understood her caution and didn’t bother arguing.

“Do you need to buy something?” Zhou Li asked.

An Fengxuan waited for a while, but no mission was triggered.

She breathed a sigh of relief. So this wasn’t a “rules-type” instance.

According to player classifications, existing instances fell into four main types:

adventure-combat, puzzle-deduction, rule-logic, and survival-competition.

Adventure-combat tested one’s physical skills and item power.

Survival-competition tested human nature.

Puzzle-deduction and rule-logic both required clear thinking, tight reasoning, and keen observation.

But rule-logic instances were far more dangerous—none who’d entered one had ever emerged unscathed.

The New International Department Store instance she was in was a survival-competition type. Her goal was to complete missions assigned by the alien species, collect the instance’s secret keys, and find the item that would allow her to clear it.

There were five players total in this instance, each confined to specific floors. The first to obtain a key could unlock seals and access other levels.

That thought made her take a step back.

Could this person in front of her be another player?

But she had already met the other four at the start—this face was new.

Just as she wondered whether someone had used a disguise item, Zhou Li lost patience.

She sat back behind the cashier counter and picked up a book.

An Fengxuan caught a glimpse of the title—Analytical Thinking for Civil Service Exams.

An Fengxuan: …?

Was that the civil service exam she was thinking of?

Ever since the alien species descended with The Game, who in their right mind still studied for government jobs!?

Cautiously, she asked, “Which guild are you from?”

“What guild?” Zhou Li looked up. “I’m the owner of this Good Life Supermarket.”

“You’re… a solo player then?”

“I’m not a player. I’m just someone running a supermarket.”

“Then… you’re an alien?”

Zhou Li sighed. “I’m not a player, and I’m not an alien. I don’t belong to any faction in your world. If you have to label me, then this supermarket and I are our own faction. I don’t take part in your Game, I don’t help aliens persecute players, and I don’t want to be involved in your conflicts. But if you’re here to shop, you’re welcome.”

An Fengxuan was stunned.

Since the alien invasion, there had never been a truly neutral faction outside The Game or the player system. Translated on hololonovels.

Those that called themselves “neutral” were either NPC institutions set by The Game for balance or guilds formed by powerful players.

A human truly independent of The Game? That was no ordinary existence.

Her unease softened a little.

She patted her hungry stomach. “I’d like to buy something to eat.”

Then, uncertain, she asked, “The food here… it’s edible, right?”

“They’re all within shelf life. I don’t sell expired goods,” Zhou Li said.

Of course, she sometimes discounted items nearing expiration—but since starting interplanetary trade, she never worried about inventory anymore.

It had been years since An Fengxuan heard the phrase “shelf life.” In these instances, time flowed differently—some set decades in the past, some a thousand years ahead—so expiry dates meant nothing.

Hearing such a normal word again strangely comforted her.

She glanced toward the hot display case. The buns looked tempting—but she remembered an earlier instance where she’d broken one open only to find it crawling with maggots. Her stomach lurched.

Seeing her gaze linger, Zhou Li asked, “Want some buns? They’re fresh—barbecue pork and custard.”

“Custard, please,” An Fengxuan said quickly.

Custard buns wouldn’t trigger her trauma.

“Two yuan each,” Zhou Li said. “But to shop here, you’ll need to exchange something of value for supermarket member points.”

To keep things consistent across worlds, Zhou Li used “points” stored on a membership card as the standard currency.

An Fengxuan froze. Then frowned.

In this world, only items and Game Coins had value. Money, gold, jewels—they were worthless trash.

Carrying extras into an instance was even a burden, so she never brought jewelry.

All she had were her tools and a few Game Coins.

She took one out and asked cautiously, “Do you accept this?”

Zhou Li: …

In her own world, those were practically worthless.

Still, her experience with cross-world auctions had taught her to check before dismissing.

“Let’s see,” she said, taking it and listing it on the marketplace.

Nothing came up. No value, no buyers.

That meant not priceless—just useless.

“I don’t accept this.”

An Fengxuan stared.

A neutral supermarket that didn’t accept Game Coins!?

Who was this boss?

“Why that shocked look?” Zhou Li asked.

Flustered, An Fengxuan said, “Because Game Coins are our currency! Even aliens accept them…”

Even aliens used them—and this woman didn’t?

“I told you,” Zhou Li said mildly, “I’m not a player or an alien.”

An Fengxuan found that oddly convincing.

Zhou Li tilted her head toward the outer mall. “By the way, isn’t there already a supermarket out there? Why not buy food there?”

An Fengxuan blinked.

Now she was sure—this woman wasn’t a player.

“That’s because this place is an instance,” she explained. “Most of the stuff inside is fake. Well—not fake exactly, but The Game recreates real buildings using its own matter. The aliens can eat it safely, but humans can’t.”

“Ah, I see,” Zhou Li said, enlightened. Then frowned. “But then… do you players not eat or drink at all?”

“There’s another world outside the instance,” An said. “Humans can eat there. But to stop players from starving inside, The Game does supply some human-safe food—you just have to earn it through missions or identify it yourself.”

Zhou Li sighed.

This world was massive—if she could restock here, she wouldn’t have to worry about attracting government scrutiny back home.

Unfortunately, the food here wasn’t safe for humans.

“You’re not worried my food’s unsafe, then?” she asked.

“I’m at least a B-class player,” An said. “I can tell what’s edible and what’s not.”

“So everything out there’s inedible?”

“Some is fine,” An said. “But in this instance, my role is the supermarket’s janitor. I can’t eat anything inside during work.”

“Not even if you buy it?”

“No. That would count as theft. The real-world store this instance is based on once had a murder case from that kind of misunderstanding, so The Game banned it entirely…”

She stopped mid-sentence.

She suddenly realized why the floor’s blood couldn’t be cleaned—

She’d been tackling the task from the wrong angle!

Her eyes lit up. Without another word, she bolted from the store.

Zhou Li: ???

What just happened?

She assumed the girl had no valuables and had gone to finish her mission.

Still, seeing the Game Coin left behind, she called after her, “Hey! Your coin!”

Half an hour later, An Fengxuan returned, smiling. “Thank you!”

“For what?” Zhou Li asked. “Your coin’s right here—I just held onto it for you.”

An said, “Keep it. A souvenir.”

Zhou Li thought, what kind of souvenir is that? Back home, one yuan could buy a handful.

Still, since she’d kept it without triggering any system alert, it was harmless to her or the supermarket. She slipped it into a drawer.

Then An pulled out a large adhesive patch. “This is an E-grade item—called the Hair-Growth Patch. Wherever you stick it, hair grows within five minutes. Unlimited use. Is that valuable enough?”

Zhou Li: …

What kind of game made such bizarre items!?

Totally useless—surely worth nothing—

But before she could finish thinking, the auction interface popped up:

【Hair-Growth Patch (E-grade)】

Year: Unknown

Origin: Unknown

Owner: An Fengxuan

Starting Price: 184,130 (suggested)

Buyout: 200,000 (suggested)

Zhou Li froze.

She asked the system, “The buyer’s not… a hairstylist, right?”

System: “The global hair-regrowth market is worth hundreds of billions. You tell me—does that item have demand?”

Zhou Li said, “That figure’s from my country’s economy, isn’t it? Don’t tell me the buyers across the auction network are all stylists from my world!”

System: …

The lack of reply said everything.

Zhou Li turned to An Fengxuan. “This is worth two hundred thousand points.”

An Fengxuan gawked.

In the outside market, an E-grade item was worth maybe five hundred Game Coins.

Yet the little boss had just given her 200,000 points?!

And the prices here were about the same as—or cheaper than—outside the instance!

She couldn’t imagine it.

If an E-grade item fetched that much, how much would an A- or S-grade one be worth!?

☢️☢️☢️