Chapter 8: The Doll Is Too Delicate to Take Care of Herself (1)

“Congratulations! You have successfully passed the A+-rank NPC assessment. Your identity has been determined: Puppeteer [Unique Special Profession]. Your NPC classification is: Special Rare NPC.”

“You have obtained a special item: Instructions for Creating a Substitute Death Puppet (Can only be crafted by Puppeteers).”

“Rank S Instance Dungeon: Lilith’s Doll has been successfully loaded into the game system as an independent instance dungeon.”

“Detected that you have exceeded the required instance dungeon rating. As a congratulatory reward, you may select one territory free of charge, without spending any points, from the Modern World category of the game world. Would you like to make your selection now?”

“Warning: This territory will have far-reaching consequences. Please choose carefully.”

Hmm?

Looking at the simulated map spread out before her, which displayed all the available territories she could choose from, Ye Jiujiu pondered for a moment before slowly settling her gaze on a bustling commercial district with very few vacant storefronts.

She raised her finger and lightly tapped a two-story commercial-residential shop. It was situated beside a shopping mall on the left and a technology building on the right, right in the middle of a busy entertainment street, with an upscale residential community directly behind it. It also had convenient transportation access.

“I think this place looks pretty good.” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Requirements for selecting this territory:

Territory Price: Points (System reward detected. You are not required to pay any points for this purchase.)

Associated Instance Dungeon: A+ rank or above (Requirement met).

Personal Level: A rank or above (Requirement met).”

“Congratulations! Territory successfully claimed!”

As the system announcement sounded, the scenery shifted, and Ye Jiujiu found herself standing inside the empty storefront.

“Dear Miss Ye Jiujiu, you have successfully entered the NPC Daily Life Zone of the game world.”

“The following are the rules governing NPC daily life in the Modern World category: Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

1. Once an instance dungeon has finished loading into the game system, if a player triggers your dungeon, it will operate automatically according to your settings. You will no longer need to personally oversee it.

Players who fail to clear your dungeon or experience emotional fluctuations will earn you corresponding point rewards. However, if a player successfully clears your dungeon, the corresponding number of points will be deducted from your account as compensation.

(Your instance dungeon has been detected as S-rank. Since the highest player level currently permitted in this world’s background setting is A+, your dungeon is currently in Sealed Mode.)

2. You may use points to upgrade your abilities, improve your affiliated instance dungeon, purchase daily necessities, develop trade businesses, and more. Points are the game’s sole designated universal currency.

(Items in the system shop and items generated by instance dungeons can only affect players. Items crafted by NPCs, however, can affect both players and NPCs.)

3. When your point balance becomes negative, the system will successively repossess the territories and instance dungeons registered under your name, and eventually even repossess you, placing you on sale in the system shop.

4. NPCs are not permitted to kill one another within the game world. Each violation will incur a fine of 1,000 points.

5. Please maintain order in all designated areas. NPCs who violate the rules of a particular area will not be protected by Rule 4 (unless you have sufficient points to pay the fine for violating the regulations). Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

6. When an NPC’s personal level and the level of their affiliated instance dungeon have both reached the maximum rank of S+, that NPC will obtain a certain special ability.”

Ye Jiujiu, who understood everything at a glance: …

Upgrading her abilities required points. Upgrading her instance dungeon required points. Daily life in the game required points. Killing another NPC required points. Violating the regulations required points…

She looked through the rules from top to bottom, then from left to right.

After summarizing everything, wasn’t the entire system essentially just three words?

Earn points.

She could only say that it was fortunate she had been clever when choosing her territory.

For one thing, it served as both a commercial and residential property. For another, she had chosen a location densely populated with NPCs. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

After letting out a long sigh of relief, Ye Jiujiu raised her eyes toward the empty storefront and slowly opened the system shop.

She started with the second floor.

Since this would be her future living space, she partitioned off fifteen square meters for a bathroom and shower area. Then came the bed and bedding, wardrobe, desk… All kinds of daily necessities were neatly arranged in their designated places.

Including miscellaneous supplies such as a laptop, ballpoint pens, and white paper, she spent a total of 40.8 points.

Next was the first floor.

After glancing at her skills, Ye Jiujiu immediately decided to open a puppet shop.

Display cabinets, a cashier counter, all sorts of decorations and accessories…

After all the renovations were complete, another 30 points were gone. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Looking at the 629 points she had left, Ye Jiujiu simply decided to round things off and spent 129 points purchasing various materials for making puppets.

As for the ordinary merchandise, Ye Jiujiu naturally crafted them herself, using her Puppet Empowerment skill to grant each puppet various minor abilities.

For example, a dog plushie with excellent tracking abilities and a target-locking function; a dancing doll that could create corresponding illusions by inducing fear; and a rabbit plushie with incredible physical strength…

Even the lowest-ranked of these puppet items, the storage puppet, was E+ rank. The highest-ranked one, a single-use Cursed Doll, had even reached C+ rank.

If Ye Jiujiu had used more valuable materials, the ranks of these puppet items would not have been limited to such levels.

Their selling prices were determined by their abilities, ranging from 10 to 500 points.

As for the special merchandise, naturally, it was the Substitute Death Puppet. She had spent 100 points making it and set its selling price at 1,000 points.

Everything seemed to have been arranged properly. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Wasn’t it time to open for business?

Looking at the display cabinets and shelves, which had enough puppets to fill them, with slightly wider gaps between each item, Ye Jiujiu stood up and stretched. She relaxed her body after spending so long crafting puppets, although psychologically, she felt as though she ought to be experiencing some discomfort.

But after coming back to her senses…

She looked around, inspecting this side and then the other.

Something seemed to be missing…

As she pondered, Ye Jiujiu stared at the empty cashier counter and suddenly realized what it was.

She was still missing employees!

Hiring a cashier would be easy. Its rank didn’t matter. She could simply use whatever materials she had on hand to make another puppet and grant it a little intelligence. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

But what about security personnel?

Ye Jiujiu wasn’t particularly keen on spending points to create high-ranking puppets. Just then, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her.

She remembered Bai Xing, whom she had casually stuffed into a corner of a certain ancient castle.

If she remembered correctly, that player had been…

A+ rank?

Ye Jiujiu promptly hauled Bai Xing out and checked the puppet’s attributes.

[Puppet Name: Bai Xing (Can be re-edited)

Rank: A+ Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Weapon: Shadow Blade

Skills:

• Shadow Escape (Lv. 8): Can conceal itself within darkness. (100 points required for upgrade.)

• Shadow Stab (Lv. 8): Can merge into shadows to deliver a lethal strike. (100 points required for upgrade.)

• Hidden Weapon Mastery (Lv. 8): Even falling petals and picked leaves can become weapons. (100 points required for upgrade.)

• Agility (Lv. 9): (500 points required for upgrade.)

• Combat Techniques (Lv. 7): (100 points required for upgrade.)**

All she could say was that an A+ rank player certainly lived up to their reputation. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

If she had to fight Bai Xing in close combat, even ten versions of herself probably wouldn’t be enough to withstand a single swing of his blade.

Ye Jiujiu gained a profound understanding of just how inadequate her own combat abilities were.

And so…

Using her Draw and Paint skill, she reshaped Bai Xing’s appearance from scratch, giving him a face and physique more suited to her aesthetic preferences. She then renamed him Shadow and bestowed intelligence upon him.

After that, she decided to keep this A+-rank puppet by her side.

As for the shop…

Ye Jiujiu reluctantly took out 200 points to purchase materials for making another puppet.

The vengeful soul of someone who had been brutally murdered, a bloodstained mascot costume, a giant hammer covered in human remains… Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

A two-meter-tall teddy bear puppet slowly took shape in Ye Jiujiu’s hands.

[Puppet Name: Big Bear]

Rank: C

Weapon: Giant Hammer

Skills:

• Defense (Lv. 1): (100 points required for upgrade.)

• Healing (Lv. 1): (100 points required for upgrade.)

• Berserk (Lv. 1): After sustaining 50% damage, the puppet will enter a berserk state. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

While in berserk state:

• Attack increases by 50%.

• Defense increases by 20%.

• Movement speed increases by 30%.

• Healing recovery increases by 60%.

(100 points required for upgrade.)

The remaining scraps of material weren’t wasted either. Ye Jiujiu gathered them together and kneaded them into a smaller teddy bear, a little over thirty centimeters tall.

[Puppet Name: Little Bear] Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Rank: F-

Weapon: Pebbles

Skills:

• Throwing (Lv. 1): (100 points required for upgrade.)

• Accounting (Lv. 1): (100 points required for upgrade.)

After Ye Jiujiu bestowed intelligence upon them, the two teddy bears, one large and one small, stared at each other in mutual bewilderment.

Then, the clarity gradually returned to their dark, bead-like eyes.

That settled everything. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Satisfied, Ye Jiujiu pushed the two teddy bears toward their respective posts.

After taking a day to rest and recuperate, Ye Jiujiu’s puppet shop finally opened for business.

There were no firecrackers, no red carpet, and certainly no flower baskets. She simply opened the doors quietly to the public and rolled up the blinds covering the glass display windows.

One exquisite plush doll after another naturally attracted quite a few curious glances.

However, when those gazes landed on the price tags attached to the dolls—

20 points?

30 points?

40 points? Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Was the shopkeeper joking?

How touching! The shopkeeper could have robbed them outright, but instead, she insisted on giving them some useless plush toys that nobody wanted!

The hell? Do I look like a walking pile of points to you?

I’m out of here!

Ye Jiujiu, who waited an entire day without receiving a single customer: …?

She slowly fell into deep thought.

Lowering her prices was out of the question. So was chasing after customers to explain how amazing her puppets were and begging them to make a purchase.

There was no other reason. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

She simply couldn’t bring herself to abandon her pride as Ye Jiujiu.

Just as Ye Jiujiu was pondering how to get the NPCs to actively seek out her merchandise…

The game system’s notification suddenly rang out inside her mind.