Ch 59: My Multiverse Supermarket

An Yixiao found a note tucked inside the pocket of a battery scooter’s windbreaker.

1. Dawn Village is a Five-Beauties Village.
2. The villagers are all very kind and friendly, and every household is happy and harmonious.
3. Staying out overnight is forbidden.
4. You cannot refuse a good friend’s request.
5. …

The fifth rule was blacked out. No matter what method An Yixiao tried, she couldn’t restore it.

“Guild leader.” A Blue Owl elite named Lü Chui, who had entered the dungeon with her, hurried over.

An Yixiao asked, “Did you find any other rules?”

Lü Chui shook her head. “I ran into an aberration and almost triggered a rule violation. I didn’t want to alert it, so I pulled back.”

An Yixiao handed her the rules she’d found.

After reading them, Lü Chui muttered, “This rule list overemphasizes how perfect Dawn Village is. If it were really that wonderful, why would it even become a dungeon?”

An Yixiao asked, “The ‘Five Beauties’—what are they?”

Lü Chui: …

An Yixiao said, “You should’ve done your homework before coming in. ‘Five Beauties’ means environmental beauty, ecological beauty, cultural beauty, harmony beauty, and social beauty.”

Lü Chui scratched his head like a robot incapable of independent thought. “And then?”

An Yixiao, unsurprised, said evenly, “The second rule fits the ‘Five Beauties’ concept, and the third one barely aligns. But the fourth…”

Lü Chui’s brain finally kicked in. “Why specify ‘good friends’ instead of villagers? The fourth rule clashes with the others. Maybe it’s a fake rule—or maybe it’s the only true one.”

That was the difficulty of rule-based dungeons: the mix of truth and lies. Players had to distinguish which was which.

An Yixiao looked up at the blood-red moon. “Curfew’s almost here.”

Lü Chui asked, “The listening devices are all dead in here. How do you know the time?”

“The moon tells me,” An Yixiao said. “You head back first. Tonight’s the first night after entering. The chance of danger is low—but not zero. Be careful.”

“Got it. You too, guild leader.” Lü Chui turned and left.

An Yixiao took out a wristwatch and held it toward the blood moon. The hands moved on their own—set by an invisible force—to 9:30.

Half an hour left. She decided to explore a little longer.

She walked to the village committee office. Translated on hololonovels. On the bulletin board outside, she saw a weather-worn notice about the “National Five-Beauties Village” competition. The ink was so smudged that she couldn’t tell if it was an announcement of Dawn Village’s award or a pre-evaluation posting.

Honestly, An Yixiao doubted this place could’ve ever won.

Though quiet and peaceful, the village was clearly impoverished and outdated.

It was large, with spacious courtyards around every home, but most houses were red-brick and tile-roofed. Two-story farmhouses were rare.

Some walls had collapsed, replaced with haystacks and firewood piles.

Still, that wasn’t decisive—“Five Beauties” evaluations weren’t about wealth, but the environment.

And in fairness, Dawn Village was spotless. The roads were clean, the doorfronts swept, and the “three-front responsibilities” policy was well enforced.

Then, suddenly, An Yixiao felt a malicious gaze fixed on her.

She glanced around but saw no one.

Instead, the pitch-dark village committee office itself seemed to ooze malevolence.

She checked the time—five minutes to curfew.

Her judgment was clear now: the rule “Staying out overnight is forbidden” was real.

An Yixiao turned and left immediately.

In this dungeon, her assigned identity was the niece of a local villager named Zhang. She had returned for her grandfather’s funeral.

Her role didn’t give her any immunity to the rule, so she had to be home by ten o’clock.

When she reached her “uncle Zhang’s” house, a figure was standing at the gate, staring straight at her.

When she stepped inside just before the last minute, the face showed a flicker of regret.

An Yixiao: …

These anomalies weren’t even pretending anymore, huh?

“Why are you back so late?” her uncle asked.

An Yixiao thought for a moment, then pulled a small student backpack from her shoulder and took out a desk lamp. “The lamp in my room broke, so I went to buy a new one.”

Uncle Zhang seemed to remember that her role was a senior high school student. He didn’t question further and said, “I know you’re busy preparing for exams, but you still need to rest. Don’t stay up too late.”

An Yixiao nodded cautiously.

Back in her room, she found that the door lock was broken.

Luckily, among An Fengxuan’s hoarded junk, there was a spare lock.

She replaced it and threw the old lamp—ruined by the dungeon’s strange power—into the trash, setting her own lamp on the desk.

The warm orange light filled the room.

She even pretended to study from the books her role came with.

After some time, she heard the creaking of a wooden door.

The door was old—each push made the whole frame tremble.

Through the frosted glass in the center, a shadow appeared, someone pressing close, peering inside.

An Yixiao stayed silent. Then a voice—her “cousin” Zhang Pu—called softly, “Cousin, are you asleep? I don’t understand a question. Can you teach me?”

An Yixiao frowned.

She hadn’t yet found the house-specific rules, which put her at a disadvantage—she didn’t know what actions could trigger violations.

Then she suddenly recalled the fourth rule: You cannot refuse a good friend’s request.

But Zhang Pu wasn’t this role’s good friend. Did that mean she could refuse him?

She considered three interpretations:

1. You cannot refuse my good friend’s request.
2. You cannot refuse the player’s good friend’s request.
3. The least likely—but possible—was that an aberration named “Good Friend” existed.

An Yixiao decided to test it.

She said, “Uncle said I should rest when it’s time to rest. You should listen to him, shouldn’t you?”

The shadow behind the glass twisted.

Then Zhang Pu began pounding on the door, screaming, “Why won’t you teach me! Open up! Open the door!”

Clearly, the aberration had lost control.

The rule’s subject was now clear.

—The rule-maker and Zhang Pu were good friends.

The rule was real.

And it applied to all players.

Which raised a terrifying question: was Zhang Pu the only “good friend” they couldn’t refuse?

【Author’s Note】

I’m skipping some of the detailed dungeon mechanics since my brain power is limited. We’ll mainly stay with the little shop owner’s perspective. [Noob][Noob][Noob]

Note: “Five Beauties” slogans vary by region. Here, it references the Xianxi Town “New Era Beautiful Village Evaluation Program.”

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