Ch 167: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

“…You seem a little disappointed,” the driver remarked.

Lu Yao: “How did they end up on the rooftop?”

Driver: “With over 100,000 people demanding justice, the company can’t possibly afford the compensation. Death might actually be easier for them.”

The road ahead became increasingly congested, packed with crowds, making it impossible for the car to proceed further.

Lu Yao, Harold, and Qiuyu got out mid-way and spent over half an hour struggling through the throngs before finally reaching the base of the Technology Building.

Lu Yao tilted her head back to gaze upward. The towering structure had at least seventy floors; from the top, the people below must look smaller than ants.

Harold: “There are four people up there, standing on the railing.”

Qiuyu: “If they really fall, those rescue measures below won’t be enough to save them.”

Below the building, rescue workers and security personnel dressed in bright blue uniforms tried to disperse the crowd while setting up inflatable air mattresses on the ground for rescue attempts.

The crowd, however, chanted incessantly, “Jump! Jump! Jump!” Most of them had floating screens in front of their eyes, live-streaming the pale, panicked faces of the four men at the edge of the railing. Behind them, several rescue personnel worked frantically to talk them down, their tense postures mirroring the gravity of the situation.

Standing among the masses, Lu Yao could feel an overwhelming wave of madness she could not suppress. If someone fell, they would be nothing more than a droplet in the ocean, stirring no real change. The tragedy of Ghost Street would not end there.

Amid the group of four on the rooftop, Lu Yao recognized a familiar face—Pei Qi. A former employee of her store, he had promised to come find her someday. Now, his despondent eyes were filled with exhaustion and despair as he stood precariously on the edge.

Lu Yao turned to Harold and Qiuyu: “I’ll head upstairs. You two stay here and act if the situation changes.”

To prevent the increasingly agitated crowd from storming the building, professional security forces had sealed off the main entrance, leaving Lu Yao trapped amidst the throng.

On the rooftop, Pei Qi, He Baiheng, and two other maintenance employees stood on the brink of the railing, their ears filled with the crowd’s furious chanting: Jump! Jump! Jump!

He Baiheng clenched his fists tightly against his trousers, his face a picture of anguish, conflict, and confusion. Pei Qi, not far from him, was visibly struggling. Having just been discharged from the hospital, his body was still weak, and sweat poured down his paper-white face.

As dusk settled, a cool breeze brushed past, bringing a fleeting sense of tranquility. Pei Qi squinted as a faint illusion played in his mind: the sound of doves flapping their wings, as though they were flying toward him.

He began to lean forward.

The rescue worker behind him reacted immediately, sprinting toward him in alarm.

Meanwhile, He Baiheng, pale as a sheet, felt something light push him from behind. The next moment, his ears were filled with the rushing sound of wind. He fell like a heavy stone, plummeting toward the ground.

Crash!

The sound was reminiscent of a summer evening, the fizzy gurgling of soda being poured into a glass.

“Harold—Qiuyu!”

Lu Yao knelt at the shattered edge of a floor-to-ceiling window on the 15th floor, gripping her Nine Treasures Staff with both hands. The wand’s handle hooked onto the back of Pei Qi’s suit collar as she struggled to haul him up.

Having wasted too much time outside, Lu Yao had finally resorted to certain measures to sneak into the Technology Building. However, she hadn’t anticipated that the internal security systems would be far stricter than the external ones, requiring facial recognition, fingerprint verification, and iris scans just to access the elevators.

With no other options, she had taken the stairs, all the while using her Ghost Bracelet to contact Ren You, asking him to update her on the situation outside.

Mingshi City’s residents were following the unfolding events in real-time through livestreams.

When Lu Yao heard someone falling, she had just reached the 15th floor. She used magic to shatter the bulletproof glass on the building’s exterior.

Time was extremely tight. Her body reacted faster than her mind—seeing someone plummeting, she instinctively extended her magic wand. Originally intending to draw a magic array, the wand unexpectedly hooked onto Pei Qi.

This was arguably worse than missing entirely. With her hands occupied, Lu Yao couldn’t use her abilities, and at only fifteen floors above ground, she wasn’t confident she could complete the array in time.

Fortunately, she kept her composure. Kneeling on the ground, she carefully dragged him back onto the balcony.

When Pei Qi opened his eyes, his legs were still dangling outside the balcony. Squinting weakly, he recognized Lu Yao. His face showed panic as if his throat was blocked with a nest of ants—itchy and dry, yet unable to make a sound.

He lay on the floor, breathing heavily, his limbs limp, and drenched in cold sweat.

Lu Yao dragged Pei Qi to a safer spot inside before rising and stepping to the broken window. She glanced downward at the enormous bubble-like netting catching the falling glass shards, gently sinking toward the ground.

The soapy bubble structure resembled the protective net outside the Childhood Tutoring Center’s entrance. It would only burst upon landing, ensuring no innocent bystanders were harmed by falling shards.

A gust of wind blew upward, and a pair of massive wings blotted out the night and city lights, casting a shadow over the scene.

Harold’s leather jacket glinted under the lights as he descended, carrying two men. He retracted his wings and leapt onto the balcony, casually placing the two terrified men beside Pei Qi before turning to Lu Yao.

“This one’s not on me,” he remarked dryly. “You’re the one being over-the-top.”

Lu Yao sighed. “Where’s Qiuyu?”

“Right here,” came a calm reply. A soft click of high heels echoed on the floor as Qiuyu emerged, holding a lanky man in her arms. Her black dress billowed dramatically in the night wind.

Standing firm, Qiuyu gracefully retracted her wings before kneeling to place He Baiheng beside Pei Qi. She looked up at Lu Yao. “It’s chaotic down there. What’s the next move?”

The sudden turn of events, the massive crowd, and cameras everywhere complicated the situation.

As Harold and Qiuyu discussed creating a concealment barrier, they’d heard Lu Yao’s shout and looked up to see someone falling. Instinctively, they had acted.

To dragons, humans were fragile creatures. Catching them before they hit the ground was paramount.

Both young dragons heeded Lu Yao’s warning not to fully reveal their dragon forms, only unfurling their wings. Even so, the sight caused a significant stir.

Lu Yao’s Ghost Bracelet beeped incessantly, flooding with messages.

Ren You: Boss, you guys are over the top!!!

Cai Yuxing: Find cover immediately! The internet’s full of videos, and both your brother and the tall lady’s faces are all over the place!

…

Lu Yao tapped open the video Ren You had sent. Not only had Harold and Qiuyu been caught on camera, but she herself had been filmed on the 15th floor.

Some were already speculating online if she was the DIY Workshop owner.

Turning off the message notifications, Lu Yao looked down at Pei Qi. “I didn’t think you’d be so weak.”

Pei Qi propped himself up on the floor and slowly sat up, his voice hoarse. “No, that’s not it. I never intended for this to happen.”

Lu Yao frowned slightly.

Pei Qi, sitting with his legs bent, pressed his trembling right hand with his left, forcing himself to speak calmly. “It seems… he has come here.”

Beside him, two maintenance employees huddled on the floor, crying and trembling, utterly shaken.

He Baiheng, in slightly better condition, gingerly sat up. He stole a cautious glance at Qiuyu, standing by Lu Yao’s side, before his gaze shifted to Lu Yao. His face turned pale.

For someone who had never entered Ghost Street, it would have been difficult to recognize Lu Yao by appearance alone. But He Baiheng had stared at the game interface for days, and the short-haired girl with the gold earring in her left ear, combined with the recent events and her casual tone, immediately reminded him of the character from the game.

Lu Yao glanced at He Baiheng, then squatted down to speak to Pei Qi.

“What do you mean?”

Pei Qi wearily rubbed his temples. “I’ve already convinced the core development team to take full responsibility for this incident. We’re prepared to cover all the losses and make compensations. But this afternoon, protesters suddenly appeared outside the company building, and the online discourse spiraled out of control. I was in the office discussing matters with my staff when my mind suddenly went blank. By the time I came to, I was already standing on the rooftop.”

He Baiheng snapped out of his daze. “The same thing happened to me. Starting this afternoon, my head felt foggy, and when I regained clarity, I was on the rooftop.”

Lu Yao tilted her head slightly, looking between Pei Qi and He Baiheng for a few seconds before raising her hand to point at her ear. “Do you both always wear this?”

Pei Qi touched the communications device in his ear. “It’s just more convenient this way.”

Lu Yao couldn’t help but shake her head. “You’re too careless. Have you ever considered how people ended up in Ghost Street? It wasn’t just young people—even someone like Grandma Xu, an elderly woman, wound up there.”

Pei Qi stared at her with wide eyes, a look of innocent bewilderment.

Lu Yao leaned closer and reached out to remove Pei Qi’s communications device.

His expression immediately changed. Lowering his head, he seemed to process something for a few seconds. When he looked up again, his gaze on Lu Yao was strange. “How did you get here?”

Qiuyu mimicked Lu Yao’s actions, swiftly plucking He Baiheng’s device from his ear.

Meanwhile, Harold, looking annoyed, crouched down and removed the devices from the two employees still crying and clutching their heads.

Suddenly, the world became eerily silent.

Pei Qi stared at Lu Yao for a while, then suddenly leaned forward and grabbed her wrist.

Lu Yao looked puzzled. “What are you doing?”

The skin beneath his palm was soft and slightly cool, but after a few seconds, it began to warm.

Pei Qi murmured, “…Not a robot after all.”

Lu Yao sighed. “You sound kind of disappointed.”

Pei Qi seemed about to say more, but Harold interrupted, “Someone’s coming.”

The fifteenth-floor office was currently unused and unoccupied. However, the rescue teams from both above and below, having snapped out of their confusion, were now hurrying to the 15th floor.

Lu Yao turned toward the broken window. “Which floor is the mainframe on?”

Pei Qi hesitated for a moment before answering, “The sixty-sixth floor. But you won’t get in. This isn’t Ghost Street. Things won’t be as straightforward as initiating a logout program.”

The sixty-sixth floor housed the most advanced security system in Mingshi City. It wasn’t something that could be bypassed with brute force alone.

The night wind poured through the shattered window as Lu Yao walked to the edge. She turned back and waved at Pei Qi. “Stop wearing that communications device if you don’t need to. If things go well, I’ll come back for you. Oh, and I brought your bracelet.”

The silver bracelet traced a faint arc of light in the night as Pei Qi caught it. Looking up toward the window, he realized the three of them had already vanished.

He Baiheng gazed out the window. “What are they going to Polaris for?”

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