Ch 158: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

The colleagues at the door hesitated to enter, but He Baiheng stood up and firmly pulled them into his office.

“Just take a look, just one glance.”

One coworker muttered reluctantly, “How could Ghost Street have a bug? You must be mistaken.”

He Baiheng pressed the reluctant coworker into his chair. “Look closely. On the street, some characters have strange silver bracelets on their wrists.”

He Baiheng’s computer displayed a game interface: a nighttime street illuminated by colorful lights, with blocky, toy-like buildings clustered together.

Pixelated characters moved about in groups, crowding the screen like tiny sardines. The small screen and the dense population made it hard to see details.

The male coworker squinted at the screen for a long time and shook his head. “There are too many people, and it’s nighttime. I can’t see clearly.”

He Baiheng called out to the others, “Come look. I’ve been observing all day and confirmed that some people in Ghost Street have suddenly acquired these strange bracelets out of nowhere.”

The coworkers lingering at the door didn’t budge. “It’s probably just a new in-game item. Isn’t Ghost Street known for its high degree of freedom?”

He Baiheng countered, “No. I’ve already checked. There’s no item like these bracelets coded into the game’s programming. But today, I noticed even the patrol members from the church faction have them.”

The seated coworker stared at the screen for a while, rubbed his eyes, and got up. “I don’t see it. Xiao Bai, we’re heading to Angel Street for drinks. Just wrap up and come with us.”

He Baiheng declined. “You guys go ahead. I need to figure out this bug.”

“You’re working overtime again? I didn’t see anything unusual. Even if it’s a bug, it’s probably just a minor visual glitch. Players won’t even notice, and you can patch it tomorrow.”

He Baiheng sat back down, his eyes fixed on the monitor. “I don’t even like drinking, and all the bars around here taste the same. There’s nothing new. You guys go without me.”

Unable to persuade him and running out of time, the group left.

He Baiheng’s workstation was flanked by two auxiliary computers that were actively scanning the game’s code.

With advances in technology, holographic gaming had become the most popular form of entertainment in this world.

Ghost Street, which He Baiheng maintained, was just one of many holographic games. A simulation-based urban management game, it allowed players to choose from three starting roles: merchant, customer, or street protector.

• Merchants operated stores in one of Ghost Street’s four districts, devising business strategies and choosing their projects.
• Customers took an exploration path, visiting unique and intriguing shops throughout Ghost Street.
• Street protectors, representing the game’s safeguard forces like the Street Management Office and the Church, required players to pass specific tests to qualify.

In addition to patrolling the streets, mediating disputes among shops, and resolving issues between merchants and customers, street protectors had a hidden role: fighting an evil force lurking in the shadows of Ghost Street.

To make the game more engaging, the developers introduced an antagonistic faction: Abhorrents, malevolent entities that could corrupt Ghost Street residents and even cause players to become mutated.

The Church and Street Management Office factions were tasked with defending merchants and customers, ensuring the peace and stability of Ghost Street.

In terms of player reception, this innovative feature was a resounding success.

This unique gameplay made Ghost Street stand out among other games in its genre, establishing it as a timeless simulation game with consistently stellar reviews.

Seven years after its release, Ghost Street remained a top-tier game in its category.

As one of the game’s maintenance programmers, He Baiheng had a deep attachment to Ghost Street.

Even though he hadn’t entered the Ghost Street world himself, He Baiheng habitually observed its activities daily.

This morning, as he ate his breakfast—stale bread and barely-flavored milk, with Ghost Street as his virtual entertainment—his eyes froze on a pixelated character by the roadside, gnawing on a pancake.

The tiny pixelated figure wore a silver bracelet on its left wrist. Familiar with every detail of the game world, He Baiheng was sure he had never seen this item before, nor had any shop sold a bracelet of this style.

Soon, he noticed that the bracelet wasn’t unique; some players, merchants, and even church members and patrol team were wearing it.

He Baiheng spent the entire day investigating but couldn’t trace the origin of the bracelet or understand why so many players now possessed it.

What he could see, however, was that players with the bracelet were visibly more energetic, and their activity levels were significantly higher.

Player activity in Ghost Street had always been high, but He Baiheng’s daily observations allowed him to notice a distinct uptick in engagement over the past few days.

He grabbed a pre-made meal from the fridge, heated it, and sat down at his desk with the meal box, continuing his search for the mysterious “bracelet bug.”

At midnight, the lights in Ghost Street began to go out one by one. The entire world fell silent, like a realm of the dead.

He Baiheng pulled his legs up onto his chair, his eyes aching and swollen, still unable to solve the “bracelet mystery.”

When his eyes could take no more, he applied some anti-fatigue eye drops, leaned back, and closed his eyes, intending to rest for five minutes.

But fatigue soon overtook him, and he fell asleep in that posture.

The office lights remained on, and the Ghost Street world on his computer screen lay shrouded in nighttime, appearing as if it too had fallen asleep.

Unbeknownst to him, his primary monitor flickered to life at some point. A shop on the North District street lit up, and shortly after, two cloaked figures emerged from the shop.

The time in the lower right corner of the screen read 5:25 AM.

Unfortunately, He Baiheng remained fast asleep, missing this extraordinary scene.

…

Ghost Street, North District.

Lu Yao, cloaked, moved through the street shadows. The person leading her was tall, also cloaked in black.

The two acted under the cover of the deepest darkness before dawn, traversing silent, pitch-black alleys and steadily approaching the central city area.

Lu Yao wore a Ghost Bracelet on her wrist and, unable to speak aloud, sent a message through it: “How much farther?”

The figure in front stopped, turned back to glance at her, and typed a reply into his own bracelet.

[Pei Qi: Five minutes.]

[Lu Yao: Your ability is quite handy.]

[Pei Qi: I too received the blessing of the Great Demon Clarissa.]

The man leading the way was Pei Qi, one of the employees at the DIY Workshop. Like Chen You, Pei Qi had received Clarissa’s blessing, but his abilities differed significantly from hers.

One of Pei Qi’s abilities was [Night Stealth].

Through experimentation, he found this skill particularly suited for infiltration and intelligence gathering. Even during Ghost Street’s slumber period, he could safely navigate the streets, extending his ability to protect a companion as well.

Many players blessed with unusual abilities now roamed Ghost Street, some like Pei Qi, possessing skills suited for stealth and reconnaissance.

Lu Yao had issued a mission through the Ghost Bracelet system to players with similar abilities. The task: gather intelligence about him and submit findings through the system. Rewards would be granted based on the value of the information provided.

The rewards include but are not limited to real willpower, ghost coins, rare materials, and healing potions.

In the middle of the night, Pei Qi contacted Lu Yao through the Ghost Bracelet, informing her that he had located the master control room of Ghost Street and requesting her to accompany him there.

According to Pei Qi, the game’s logout system was hidden somewhere in Ghost Street, but he had previously been unable to confirm its location.

After obtaining the Ghost Bracelet, he found its location and planned to activate the logout system to free the players trapped in Ghost Street. However, Pei Qi needed someone with strong combat capabilities to accompany him since neither he nor his abilities were suited for fighting.

Lu Yao found his request absurd and protested, “Pei Qi, do I look like someone who knows how to fight?”

Pei Qi replied, “From the first time I met you in the quiet room of the church, I knew you were the person I was waiting for.”

Pei Qi had once received a prophecy: one day, the companion of a god would arrive in Ghost Street.

Initially, Pei Qi didn’t take it seriously. He didn’t believe in gods but had nowhere else to go, so he decided to stay in the quiet room of the church. To his surprise, such a person truly appeared.

Lu Yao felt speechless.

This was straight out of a comic protagonist’s script, filled with a dramatic sense of destiny and over-the-top flair. She couldn’t help but think of the system.

It must be that little guy again.

However, Pei Qi’s goal and her purpose seemed to align. If the system existed outside the game’s world, sending players out of Ghost Street would also give her a chance to find it.

Lu Yao wasn’t skilled at combat, but she had plenty of tools.

Moreover, the entity claiming to be a god in Ghost Street didn’t seem particularly powerful. Lu Yao figured that accompanying Pei Qi on this mission wouldn’t pose much of a problem.

The two moved swiftly through the shadows, reaching their destination before dawn.

As expected, the master control area Pei Qi mentioned was located in the special passage zone accessible only to street patrol.

To proceed, they needed to cross a narrow, red road bridge on one side of the passage, leading toward the central city area.

Pei Qi messaged her, “Those red streams that circulate like flowing water contain a special substance. They scan the brainwaves of those passing through to extract memories and information. That’s how he initially controlled the church and the street management offices, and he’s still doing so.”

Lu Yao was surprised. “The church staff said it’s a purification ray. They claim that exposure to the light lowers the mutation rate for street administrators compared to ordinary people.”

Pei Qi sneered. “Lies. Even they can’t remember when the light first appeared or what it really does.”

Lu Yao recalled that the system had once tried to warn her about this but hadn’t finished its explanation. Thinking it over, she realized it must have been cautioning her against being exposed to the ray.

However, since she wasn’t just a consciousness but a real person, the ray probably couldn’t scan her memories.

Suddenly remembering an incident on the Floating World Continent, Lu Yao grew cautious. “Doesn’t that mean as soon as we step in, all our thoughts will be scanned?”

Pei Qi seemed prepared for this and opened the system panel on his Ghost Bracelet. He pulled out two masks, handing one to Lu Yao.

“This is a tool I created with my ability. It’s called ‘Demon’s Disguise.’ With it on, we won’t be detected.”

Lu Yao asked, “Is this how you managed to sneak in?”

Pei Qi nodded as he donned the mask. “Yes. Let’s go. I hope this will be over soon. Dawn is approaching, and the shop might not remain calm.”

Pei Qi had also received the bounty task Lu Yao posted through the Ghost Bracelet. Today was the day his followers were scheduled to visit the DIY Workshop.

The visitors weren’t friendly, and without the shopkeeper present, the situation could spiral out of control.

But Pei Qi felt that if he and Lu Yao succeeded in activating the logout system, allowing everyone to leave, they wouldn’t have to deal with him or his followers anymore.

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