Chapter 26: Demon King's Territory Shop Opens

Luo Yan

In all honesty, Hell had been quite good to him; in these eighteen years, the kindness he had felt far outweighed any grievances.

Although he couldn't claim any loyalty to His Majesty the Demon God, seeing the subjects of His Majesty living such miserable lives outside still made his heart ache a little.

Especially in Sarah, he saw himself in a different set of circumstances.

The amount of kindness he had felt in Hell was the same amount of malice this little one had felt on the surface.

Anyway, today was almost over.

For these last few hours, he might as well act like a human.

Just as the Demon King was tucking the blanket over the kitten he had picked up, in the cave on the other side, the players who had been grinding in the Demon King's territory all day were also preparing to log off.

Facing the gloomy, pitch-black mine, the Pig-Headed Knight suddenly spoke up in surprise, as if he had discovered a new world.

"Guys! I don't know if you've noticed... this game doesn't strain your eyes at all!"

Ye Zhiqiu gave him a strange look.

"Is that strange?"

The Pig-Headed Knight said excitedly.

"Of course! Don't you think it's magical?!"

Ye Zhiqiu: "Not really... after all, you're closing your eyes once the game starts, right?"

The Pig-Headed Knight was stunned for a moment.

"Huh? For real?"

Ye Zhiqiu: "Just guessing."

Pig-Headed Knight: "..."

Ye Zhiqiu: "Come to think of it, this game is indeed a bit odd. Although it's very grindy to actually play, its impact on real life isn't as big as one might imagine."

He had been online at high intensity for over a dozen hours, only logging off once to grab a meal, yet he didn't feel the slightest bit of fatigue.

This further verified his conjecture that the game development team must have mastered some epoch-making technology.

For example...

Controlling people's dreams.

Every time he thought of this, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help but get excited.

Not only because he saw the vast commercial prospects behind this game, but also because he was about to witness the birth of an epoch-making technology and see for himself the series of changes it would bring and the possibilities it contained! Perhaps people wouldn't have to wait until the next century to go to work in their dreams, leaving their waking hours for themselves.

Thinking about it, it was actually quite wonderful.

Rock Candy Gourd: "It's fine if there's no impact."

Grilled Lamb Skewer: "Don't you guys have to work?!"

Hu Wan: "Don't learn from him, this guy is probably a pro gamer."

Ye Zhiqiu glanced sideways at this quiet one.

A pro gamer, huh.

Are there any real pro players here?

He wasn't any pro player; he was just a casual player who played a lot of games.

Gulp It Down: "... Come to think of it, I'm suddenly curious, what would happen if you stayed online for 24 hours?"

Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "You'll wake up from hunger! I've tried it."

Grilled Lamb Skewer: "Even if you don't wake up from hunger, your body wouldn't be able to take it, right?!"

Brother Gulp showed a regretful expression.

"Sigh, you guys say if you could hold on... would you directly transmigrate into the game world?"

Everyone was silent for a while, casting subtle glances at this guy with the novel train of thought.

Pig-Headed Knight: "Transmigrating into a succubus I could accept, but becoming a skeleton soldier... forget it."

Ye Zhiqiu: "Isn't the key the ID? The game is one thing, but transmigrating into the game world with this name... you wouldn't have any friends."

Watching the brother who was about to have a mental breakdown, Hu Wan coughed lightly and patted him on the shoulder.

"... You'd better go get some sleep."

Watching that ID, which was enough to kill one's appetite, walk toward the corner, Ye Zhiqiu said goodbye to Hu Wan and prepared to log off as well.

Seeing that this king of grinding was actually preparing to rest, Zhi Shi Xue Bao couldn't help but ask curiously.

"How come you're not continuing to grind monsters?"

Ye Zhiqiu: "I'm already at max level, why grind?"

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this.

Minotaur Warrior: "Holy crap? You dog, you're already at max level!?"

Ye Zhiqiu: "It's only LV3, don't make it sound like I'm at level 100... By the way, I'm looking for the Demon King, have you guys seen him?"

Pig-Headed Knight: "Haven't seen him... why don't you try attacking that statue? He appeared when I touched it last time."

Ye Zhiqiu: "Get lost, go trick a newbie, don't try to trick me."

On the other side.

Gou Shi, who was wandering around the Demon King's territory, bumped into another eccentric person after Brother Gulp.

In the corner of the mine, a skeleton soldier was fiddling with some wooden boards he had dismantled from somewhere, plastering mud mixed with rat viscera onto them to create square-shaped gardens.

However, that thing clearly didn't look like it was for planting flowers and grass; at least, he had never seen this method of planting.

Out of curiosity, he leaned over and asked.

"Buddy, what are you doing?"

The skeleton raised its head, and a unique ID floated beside its head—

【Table and Chair】

Gou Shi almost spat out his drink.

Table and Chair: "Growing mushrooms, is there something you need?"

"Mushrooms?"

Gou Shi was stunned for a moment, leaned in to look, and sure enough, he saw some tiny mushrooms growing on the rat corpses.

These mushrooms grew mainly on their abdomens, especially where there were wounds.

How magical!

Is it a fictional fungus species in the game world?! However...

"... What's the use of this?" "Don't know." Table and Chair shook his head and said as a matter of course.

Gou Shi couldn't help but retort.

"Then why are you growing it?"

Hearing this senseless question, Table and Chair gave him a strange look in return and asked.

"Then why are you playing the game?"

Gou Shi stared at him, dumbfounded, unable to say a word in rebuttal for a moment.

That makes so much sense!

He was convinced.

"... Buddy, let's add each other as friends, I think you're a talent, let's keep in touch!"

"Whatever."

Clicking agree casually, Table and Chair stopped looking at him and continued to stare intently at his mushroom garden.

"Just don't bother me."

The next morning, Luo Yan got up early, intending to simply make a lava-warmed egg, but unfortunately, there were no firebird eggs or lava here, so he had to give up on that.

Better just eat bread.

After a simple meal, Luo Yan went to the well in the inn's backyard to get some water to wash up, then took a moment to check on the condition of the little wild cat he had picked up last night.

Sarah was sleeping soundly, curled up in a ball wrapped in the quilt, her steady purring exactly like a kitten's.

However, Luo Yan could feel that she wasn't sleeping very deeply, and any slight movement might wake her up.

Perhaps hearing footsteps at the door, the purring gradually stopped, and then the closed eyelids opened a tiny slit, revealing amber pupils.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

Sarah, who was still bleary-eyed a second ago, sat up from the bed board with full energy the next second.

"Skewers! Rats! Tails!"

"We'll talk about that tonight," Luo Yan tossed the bread into her hands, "Eat something light in the morning."

"Bread!"

Smelling the mouth-watering aroma of wheat, Sarah's eyes sparkled, and she took a bite, almost eating her index finger along with it.

Watching her wolfing it down, Luo Yan, who had just eaten his fill, felt a bit hungry again, so he stopped looking at this guy and picked up the wooden board he had dismantled from the next room, writing and drawing on it with a magic crystal pen.

Yesterday's daily activity data was quite good; it seemed there would be no problem completing the Catastrophe System's mission.

After the mission was completed, a large batch of new players would enter. To prevent them from running around like headless flies, he had to make some simple signs to stick in the mine, telling them where they could go and where they couldn't.

In addition, there were some players with no sense of direction who couldn't find their way home, a problem that also needed to be solved.

As for the last board, it was for Sarah.

Finally finishing the bread in her hand, Sarah licked her fingers, still wanting more. At this moment, she finally noticed what Luo Yan was doing, so she curiously leaned over.

"This is, what?"

Feeling his nose itch from those furry ears, Luo Yan reached out and pushed her away a bit, holding up the board in his hand and saying.

"Today is the opening day of the Demon King's territory convenience store, I'm planning to write a sign myself."

"Convenience store? Sign?"

Although she didn't understand what these two words meant, those two ears had already pricked up curiously.

"Simply put, it's a place like a shop. You promised to work for me last night... don't you remember?"

Sarah looked at him blankly, feeling that no such thing had happened, but also vaguely as if she had heard it.

"What does Sarah need to do?"

Luo Yan said in a casual tone.

"It's very simple, my servants will come to you to buy things, you just give them the items, I'll teach you the specifics later."

For things like accounting, Hearing You You could handle it by adding "game rules."

Simply put, if the player's balance was sufficient, the 【Transaction Successful】 option would pop up before their eyes.

Conversely, if the player's balance was insufficient, and they still forcibly proceeded with the transaction after seeing the pop-up prompt, it would result in the "Demon King's Absolute Punishment."

Although she was a shop clerk, Sarah didn't actually need to handle cash, just manage the inventory.

As for the players' nonsense, if she was happy, she could reply with a 'meow', and if she wasn't, she didn't have to pay them any mind.

Those guys were into that sort of thing anyway.

"Leave it to me!" It sounded interesting, and Sarah nodded enthusiastically, "Sarah, can work!"

"Mm! Work hard, there's a salary!"

Luo Yan smiled and patted her shoulder, then handed the written wooden board to her.

The wooden sign said 'No Feeding', but since it was in block characters, Sarah couldn't read it anyway.

After finishing these things, Luo Yan took Sarah to the mine, intending to introduce her to the players.

However, the moment he stepped into the Demon King's territory, a skeleton soldier knelt respectfully on one knee on the ground.

"Respected Demon King, I am your most, most, most loyal servant, Ye Zhiqiu."

"My contribution points have reached 1000, surely this is enough to prove my loyalty—"

This guy had high emotional intelligence.

But Luo Yan, who still had things to do, didn't want to waste time listening to him beat around the bush.

"Upgrade, granted."

After saying this, he extended his magic wand, pointing it at the skeleton soldier's forehead in a showy manner, while silently calling out to a certain clingy ghost in his heart.

'Hearing You You, it's up to you.'

'Ooh! Received!'

A dark green light flickered, hitting the top of the skeleton soldier's head with pinpoint accuracy.

That feeling was wonderful.

It was like the soul had been sublimated, the barren desert had been nourished by sweet springs... in short, to describe it in one word, it was absolutely amazing.

Ye Zhiqiu savored it carefully for a long time, and when he came to his senses and wanted to express his promotion speech, he saw that the Demon King was already gone.

"...?"

Good grief.

Was he skipped by an NPC? (End of chapter)