Chapter 2: The Shopkeepers’ Group
by LhaoziA countdown timer appeared on the system’s virtual screen.
Wait a minute…
Why did this level-based matching mechanism seem so familiar?
It felt just like playing a massive, fully immersive business simulation game!
The corners of Lu Weiran’s lips curled upward. Suddenly, she found herself looking forward to it.
While waiting for the matching process to finish, Lu Weiran didn’t sit idle. She took the opportunity to familiarize herself with the inn’s layout.
Hope Inn had only two floors.
Directly opposite the entrance was an air conditioner, allowing guests to feel a refreshing chill the moment they stepped inside.
And it wasn’t just the entrance. Every corner of the inn was filled with a naturally cool and refreshing atmosphere, forming a stark contrast with the visibly scorching heat waves outside.
The first floor housed the reception desk, lobby, and the inn’s main guest rooms.
There were two types of rooms: single rooms and double rooms.
The lobby featured an enormous floor-to-ceiling glass window.
Beside it stood a simple rectangular wooden table with a matching set of chairs. The entire furniture set was finished in a fresh, natural wood tone.
A spiral staircase led up to the second floor.
There was only one room upstairs—her bedroom.
The bedroom walls had been painted a muted, low-saturation shade of green.
A soft, spacious bed was positioned near the window, where sheer curtains filtered the sunlight, making it gentle and pleasant.
An exotic-style carpet covered the floor, with a throne-shaped beanbag chair placed on top of it.
Several square cushions were neatly piled on the carpet.
She could easily imagine herself lying among the cushions, gazing up at the deep blue sky without even having to lift her head.
If she played some cheerful music and paired it with a glass of ice-cold cola, how wonderfully relaxing would that be?
There was even a separate pet room on the second floor, specially prepared for Mushroom. A folding screen divided the space into two simple sections.
The bedroom was small but fully furnished, with a simple and practical layout.
It was ready for immediate occupancy.
Lu Weiran looked around, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile.
She was very pleased.
“This room is amazing!”
After all that struggling in the desert, she was drenched in sweat. She hadn’t noticed how uncomfortable she felt while outdoors, but once she stepped inside, the sticky sensation all over her body became impossible to ignore.
Perhaps it was because her shop level was too low.
The matching process had been taking an awfully long time.
Lu Weiran decided she wasn’t going to wait anymore.
She went straight to the shower and enjoyed a refreshing bath. By the time she finished, she felt as though she had come back to life. All the pent-up frustration inside her had completely disappeared.
“That’s more like it!”
After drying her long, damp hair with a towel, Lu Weiran sat on the sofa and combed it. She casually tied it up however she pleased.
While doing so, she began exploring the information displayed on the virtual screen.
The little green dot was the shop’s location-tracking function.
Beneath the location where she and Mushroom were currently staying, the name ‘Hope Inn’ had appeared.
That tiny green dot looked just like the red notification badge in the upper-right corner of an app. It was rather distracting.
Lu Weiran immediately turned it off.
The reception function was connected to the computer at the inn’s front desk. It provided much more comprehensive information than the computer itself.
Room No. 1, Room No. 2… Every room was vacant.
She couldn’t make much sense of it for now, so she left it alone.
The section Lu Weiran was most interested in was the shop.
The shop had two categories: Restocking and Daily Essentials.
The Restocking section contained everything related to running an inn, including sofas, pillows, hair dryers, robot vacuum cleaners, and other household furnishings.
The selection was incredibly comprehensive. It even stocked practically every item one might find in an ordinary home.
Its functionality was impressive.
The Daily Essentials section mainly contained simple, ready-to-eat food products, such as instant noodles, jumbo sausages, bread, eggs, milk, Eight-Treasure Porridge, biscuits, chocolate, and more.
Everything could be eaten immediately and provided the basic necessities for daily survival.
However, all of these items required points to purchase.
One egg cost 1 point.
And her starting balance was 0 points.
Lu Weiran silently covered her face.
Good grief! She was so broke that she couldn’t even afford an egg!
Fortunately, the system wasn’t planning to starve her to death right from the beginning.
The refrigerator in the inn’s small kitchen was already stocked with food, mostly canned meat that could be eaten directly.
However, the supplies were limited.
Originally, there had been enough food to last one person and one dog for an entire week. Now, it would only last them a few days.
As for food supplies beyond that, she would have to earn points through business operations.
In other words, once she opened her inn, if no customers showed up and she earned no points, she would eventually starve to death right there.
[Ding!]
[Matching successful! You have successfully joined the group chat. Group members have been notified of your arrival!]
[Countdown: 3—2—1—]
Click!
A faint flash of white light flickered across the system’s virtual screen.
The sound was extremely subtle, almost like the click of a camera shutter.
“???”
Lu Weiran caught it immediately, and her expression turned serious.
Then she remembered that she was no longer on Blue Star.
At that moment, the words Shopkeepers’ Group (6) lit up at the top center of the screen.
The faint sense of unease was quickly swept away by the excitement she had been holding back for so long.
The matching process had taken a full three or four hours.
It had finally succeeded!
Could it be that the group members existed in different time streams, resulting in differences in their perception of time?
The group name was simply ‘Shopkeepers’ Group’. It was straightforward and unpretentious.
She tapped to enter.
At the very top was a group announcement.
[Group Announcement: Shopkeeper Rules]
[1. The Shopkeepers’ Group is now full.
Note: Members cannot leave the group unless they die. If the number of members decreases, no new members will be added. This will remain the case until the last remaining member dies.]
[2. Trading is permitted within the group, and all transactions are absolutely fair.
Note: All trades must be conducted in good faith. Deception is prohibited. Both parties must participate willingly. Forced transactions and the seizure of another person’s resources are strictly forbidden.]
[3. Trading is permitted within the group, but restrictions apply.
Note: All transactions are subject to the rules of each business world and the scope of business operations. The system reserves the sole right to interpret all restrictions.]
[4. Gifts are permitted within the group.
Note: All gifted items must undergo system evaluation. Items that fail the evaluation will be erased. The system reserves the sole right to interpret the evaluation results.]
[5. Private messaging has been unlocked.
Note: Each member is allowed only one private conversation per week. Group discussions have no limit, so please communicate in the group whenever possible.]
[6. Penalties for violations.
Note: Exploiting loopholes will result in a mute penalty. Abusive language, obscene content, and other uncivilized behavior will also result in a mute penalty.]
[7. The shopkeeper with the highest shop level will become the group leader.
Note: The position of group leader is not permanent. The current group leader has two private messaging opportunities and one opportunity to mute a member.]
[8. Shop Levels.
A sincere piece of advice: All shopkeepers are encouraged to work hard to upgrade their shops. When one falls, everyone suffers. We hope all shopkeepers will support and help one another.]
[9. More updates pending…]
What a ridiculously long list of group rules!
Below the announcement were several unread messages.
Xia Houlan (Western Fantasy Nail Salon): “I was just sleeping when the system suddenly jolted me awake! The announcement, which hadn’t changed in ages, has finally been updated, and the group chat was even locked. @Everyone, hurry up and read the announcement!”
Ge Jiangfang (Interstellar Restaurant): “The group was probably locked because the last newcomer has finally joined. There are way too many words in that announcement. Uncle here gets dizzy just looking at all that text, so I didn’t read it. Anyway, welcome to the group, newcomer!”
Xie Yushan (Strange World Farm): “Wow! The new member is a pretty big sister! Her profile picture looks so cool and fierce. Welcome, welcome~”
[Ding! Xie Yushan (Strange World Farm) has gifted Lu Weiran (Desert Inn) a little red flower.]
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