Ch 69: My Multiverse Supermarket

Duan Jing chose to keep exploring the dungeon instead of fleeing.

If the small supermarket hadn’t appeared, she would have used an artifact to force-quit the dungeon the moment she regained a bit of clarity.

But now that there was a safe zone that could cleanse pollution, she wanted to try again.

Even if she couldn’t clear the dungeon, she hoped at least to save those players whose minds hadn’t been completely tainted.

An Yixiao didn’t stop her, but before she left, she lent her a tool.

“This is Twin Bells. Tie one to yourself—if you can’t hold on anymore, ring it. It’ll guide you back here.” An Yixiao hung the other bell at the supermarket’s door.

Since Zhou Li’s family also had the habit of hanging bells and mugwort at the door, she didn’t mind another decoration.

After receiving the item, Duan Jing decided the safest place to wear it was around her neck.

Zhou Li: … “What are you, Doramon?”

Once she’d prepared herself, Duan Jing resolutely pushed open the door.

Just as she was about to step out, she turned back and asked to buy more food and daily necessities on credit.

She could secretly eat the food later, and the daily goods could be used to bribe anomalies.

Having lived in this dungeon for three months, she believed she understood the “teachers” and “instructors” well enough.

Their cruelty, greed, and lust were the blades that drove players to despair—and their greatest weaknesses.

For anomalies, the “teacher” and “instructor” roles were just masks. What they demanded from students and what they practiced themselves were completely different—blatant double standards.

They forbade students from dressing fashionably, calling it indecent, yet secretly wore makeup and perfume.

They banned students from dating, calling it immoral, yet flirted with their coworkers.

Some even took the chance to touch students inappropriately.

Greed, gluttony, lust—each vice was a potential crack in their armor.

Duan Jing decided to start with the greedy ones.

Watching her disappear into the false morning light, Zhou Li sighed.

“Worried about her?” An Yixiao asked.

“Got any ideas to boost sales? It’s been days and she’s my only customer.”

Zhou Li really was frustrated. In the previous two worlds, customers had come rushing in without her needing to advertise. But this world’s restrictions made it hard to land big transactions.

An Yixiao said, “Maybe lower the entry threshold?”

To her, the supermarket’s shopping rules were too strict—customers had to register as members and could only trade unpolluted, low-grade artifacts for points. Those few rules alone scared off nearly everyone.

“Can’t lower it.” Zhou Li spread her hands. “That’s the system’s rule.”

“Then take the supermarket to the Public Hall. Plenty of players there,” An Yixiao suggested.

The Public Hall was a human-safe zone that mimicked the real world. Since anomalies couldn’t leave their dungeons, it was humanity’s sanctuary.

“I’d love to, but right now I don’t have the opportunity,” Zhou Li said.

An Yixiao nodded thoughtfully. So, the supermarket really could travel to any dungeon—it just wasn’t under the owner’s control.

“In that case, if you want more customers, that’s easy,” she said, and stepped outside.

Instantly, waves of hostility flooded toward her from the dungeon.

Within moments, several instructor-type anomalies approached, faces twisted with excitement and bloodlust. “A stowaway…”

Smugglers weren’t protected by dungeon rules—they could be hunted freely.

Before they could strike, An Yixiao slipped back into the supermarket.

The instructor anomalies froze.

They glared at the “Good Life Supermarket” sign, resentment flickering in their eyes, but didn’t dare cross the threshold.

Then An Yixiao darted out again.

The anomalies spun around to strike—but she moved even faster this time, dodging easily and slapping one across the face before darting back inside.

The instructors were stunned. Then, humiliated fury twisted their features; veins bulged, muscles convulsed as if something monstrous was about to burst through their skin.

Still, they seemed to know the supermarket’s rules and didn’t dare attack it directly.

Instead, they stepped inside, trying to intimidate her.

Zhou Li, seeing new “customers,” immediately switched into shopkeeper mode. “Welcome to the Good Life Supermarket! What can I get you today?”

“Your lives!” snarled one buzz-cut instructor barely holding his human shape.

Zhou Li smiled sweetly. “Sorry, that item’s not in stock.”

The instructors glared but, realizing they couldn’t touch her, prepared to leave—until one of them sniffed the air sharply, eyes lighting up. “Alcohol? There’s booze here?”

“It’s been ages since I’ve had a drink,” another murmured.

The buzz-cut one asked, “How much for the wine?”

“The prices are marked,” Zhou Li said. “But you need a membership first. To register, you’ll have to exchange something valuable for points.”

The buzz-cut instructor pulled out a membership card.

Zhou Li blinked in surprise—then froze when she saw the name on it: Zhang Xiaozi.

If she remembered right, that was the girl from Dawn Village—the one whose father sent her here.

“Cai, where’d you get that card?” asked a blue-eyed instructor.

The buzz-cut one smirked. “Found it in some wretch’s luggage.”

Mingde School, being a boarding academy, strictly inspected every student’s belongings. They could confiscate anything under vague “rule violations.”

Even when Zhang Xiaozi tried to explain the card wasn’t on the prohibited list, they ignored her.

He hadn’t thought much of it—until he saw this supermarket.

Zhou Li’s smile faded. “That card can only be used by its owner.”

In a rage, the buzz-cut instructor crushed it into a ball.

The standoff lingered—until the rich smell of alcohol spread through the store.

The anomalies couldn’t resist anymore. They pulled out the artifacts they’d looted from players.

Most of the items were unpolluted or only lightly tainted.

After the auction system verified they weren’t too dangerous, Zhou Li exchanged them for store points.

The instructors bought their wine, promptly forgot their grudge against An Yixiao, and sneaked back to the school like thieves.

“Make sure you mop up after them,” Zhou Li said.

As An Yixiao screwed the bottle cap shut, she asked, “Boss, can I expense this? It was my wine.”

“It’s coming out of your debt,” Zhou Li said, then frowned. “Why would anomalies be interested in ordinary alcohol?”

An Yixiao asked, “You think anomalies don’t need to eat, that they can live purely on the Game’s materials?” Without waiting for a reply, she continued, “Actually, they need energy just like us. Their source of energy is a special substance unique to the Game. That’s why many dungeon foods—though inedible to humans—can sustain anomalies, since those foods are only simulations of that substance.”

She paused. “But even if they can draw power from it, that ‘food’ isn’t tasty.”

“Like plain porridge,” Zhou Li mused. “Filling, full of carbs, but flavorless.”

“Exactly,” An Yixiao said. “What you might not know is that the food here doesn’t just tempt humans—it also lures anomalies. As long as they have desire, they’ll crave it.”

“Think they can get drunk?” Zhou Li was already planning to stock up on high-proof liquor—if she could knock out even one anomaly, that’d be worth it.

Though her principle was to avoid meddling in other worlds, anomalies weren’t human, and the Game behind them didn’t represent the will of any plane.

From a trade standpoint, dealing with anomalies was far less profitable than dealing with people.

“Not sure,” An Yixiao said. “But we’ll find out soon enough.”

Whether anomalies could get drunk—she’d know the answer in a moment.

☢️☢️☢️

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