Chapter 2

"So, is there a novice gift pack? I'm freezing to death." Wrapping the blanket Sesame Paste had given her tightly around herself, Rao Ke asked, shivering.

She had just woken up, still a bit dazed, and was rendered speechless by Sesame Paste's theatrical antics. She could only force herself to calm down.

But the biting wind didn't give Rao Ke much time. She was too cold to think about anything else.

"So you agree!" Sesame Paste excitedly jumped into Rao Ke's arms and quickly sent her the novice gift pack.

Rao Ke opened it in a hurry.

[Congratulations, host! You have received: "One Initial Wooden Cabin," "Initial Vending Set," and "Top-Tier Barrier."]

As Rao Ke accepted the gift pack, the shabby cabin suddenly flashed with white light, and the rundown, dirty wooden house instantly became brand new.

Rao Ke, momentarily blinded: ...

"The initial cabin comes with a top-tier barrier and a temperature control system," Sesame Paste explained.

Rao Ke could also feel the environment, which had been bone-chillingly cold, turn warm and cozy. She stopped hiding inside the blanket.

"So, you agree to stay here and run the shop?" Sesame Paste asked nervously, its tail swishing back and forth.

Looking at the nervous little cat, Rao Ke ran a hand through her hair. "First, tell me everything that happened."

Sesame Paste nervously explained the whole situation. Rao Ke thought for a moment, while Sesame Paste felt each second stretch into an eternity.

"Fine." After hesitating, Rao Ke agreed.

For Rao Ke, it was all the same—she was still running a shop, no matter where she was. And Sesame Paste had essentially given her a second life, so she had no right to blame it.

It was just a pity she hadn't had a meal with Xu Ruozhen and her family before leaving. At that thought, Rao Ke sighed.

"Will I ever have a chance to go back?" Rao Ke suddenly asked.

Sesame Paste nodded. "Of course. Once we accumulate enough energy points, you can."

Rao Ke nodded. Since she was here, she would make the best of it. She started exploring the cabin with Sesame Paste.

The cabin had two floors. The first was the sales area, the second Rao Ke's private living space.

Rao Ke stood in place, scanning her surroundings. Since this was just the most basic cabin, the first floor only had a simple wooden checkout table and four empty wooden cabinets lined up against the wall.

"Sesame Paste, open the Initial Vending Set." Seeing the cabin with nothing to sell, Rao Ke remembered the initial vending set from the novice gift pack.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the right to stock: "Mineral Water," "Braised Beef Flavor Instant Noodles," and "Crab Meat Rice Balls."]

"Stocking? Where do I get the funds?" Rao Ke asked, looking at Sesame Paste.

Sesame Paste pulled out a white tablet from who knows where and handed it to her.

"This is your system panel," it said.

"Shouldn't a system panel be a high-tech blue screen that appears with your consciousness?" Rao Ke fiddled with the tablet, feeling it wasn't like the system panels described in novels—it had an unassuming, plain quality.

The tablet was thin, neither too big nor too small. Rao Ke could hold it comfortably in one hand, and it was very light. On the back was a simple sun icon.

Sesame Paste looked at Rao Ke and explained, "I thought you'd be more accustomed to this kind of system panel, since it's similar to your communication devices. It can grow or shrink at your will."

"If you want, you can also summon the panel with your mind," it added.

Rao Ke nodded. She was indeed more used to this kind of panel. She opened the tablet and saw the system main page.

The main page had four sections: Host Information, Mall, Sand Table, and Astrolabe.

Rao Ke opened the Host Information section.

[Host: Rao Ke

Gender: Female

Occupation: Undecided

Level: lv1 (0%)

Funds: 500 credits

Assets: Initial wooden cabin (Broke and clinking, roll up your sleeves and work hard!)]

Rao Ke tapped on the level, and a line of text appeared.

[To upgrade from lv1 to lv2, you need to sell 1,000 items.]

"If someone buys five roasted skewers, does that count as one item sold or five?" Rao Ke asked, looking at the upgrade task.

"One item. No matter how many of the same item one person buys in a day, it counts as one."

"But for example, with rice balls, crab meat rice balls and plum rice balls count as two different items," Sesame Paste added, crouching nearby.

Rao Ke nodded. "What is this occupation?"

"This is a world of magic. You can choose different occupations based on your magical aptitude, like mage, witch, knight, and so on," Sesame Paste said, flicking its tail.

"Wow, sounds great!" Rao Ke was quite interested—after all, who hadn't dreamed of having magic and saving the world as a child?

The rest wasn't much to look at. Rao Ke scrolled down and saw that the Mall section had a lot of locked items. Only the three just unlocked were bright, indicating they could be purchased.

Rao Ke checked the purchase prices.

[Mineral Water: 2 credits

Braised Beef Flavor Instant Noodles: 3 credits

Crab Meat Rice Balls: 5 credits]

"You can set the selling price yourself. Generally, it's best not to exceed twice the purchase price," Sesame Paste explained, then hesitated before adding, "Try not to set it too high. Moderate is best."

"Hmm?" Rao Ke looked at Sesame Paste curiously. Usually, there was a story behind such advice.

"Our goods management system tends to choose hosts somewhat randomly. Hosts' characters are unstable—some are too good, some too bad. The overly greedy ones get punished by the regulators, and the overly kind ones get scammed out of their goods; that's considered light," Sesame Paste said casually.

Rao Ke nodded, feeling that running a shop wasn't so easy. She continued to the last two sections.

The Sand Table section, as the name suggested, could turn Rao Ke's owned properties into a realistic virtual sandbox.

Since Rao Ke had nothing yet, she could only see a simple, pitiful cabin. Clicking on it revealed it had two floors, but since it was in chibi form, it was especially cute and detailed.

At that moment, a chibi character in a nightgown and an adorable chibi black cat were standing on the sandbox of the first floor.

Rao Ke planned to go up to the second floor and take a good look later, so she just glanced over it.

Finally, there was the Astrolabe section.

"The Astrolabe is this continent's dedicated communication and entertainment app. It was supposedly designed by the greatest Human Emperor in collaboration with all the races. For convenience, I've installed it in the system panel."

The communication section was blank, but the entertainment section was rich and colorful. However, anything related to Blue Star required payment to unlock.

"Do you have the original authors' copyrights? Charging fees without permission..." Rao Ke couldn't help but complain.

Sesame Paste looked a bit guilty, lowered its head, and started licking its paw, pretending not to hear.

Rao Ke just teased and then carried Sesame Paste upstairs.

The moment she entered the second floor, Rao Ke froze in place.

The decor and furnishings were exactly the same as the room she had lived in for five years. She even saw the cat bed she had bought for Sesame Paste.

"This is my little compensation to you, since I brought you here without your permission," Sesame Paste said, a bit shy but trying to stay calm.

"Thank you, Sesame Paste." Rao Ke felt her eyes well up with tears.

Rao Ke had always known gratitude and contentment. If it weren't for Sesame Paste, she might have died in her room long ago.

Even if Sesame Paste did nothing and just asked her to work off a debt, Rao Ke would have agreed.

"Ahem! Don't be too moved. Just run the shop well—that's my repayment!" Sesame Paste said, trying to look serious on its cute little cat face.

Although the senior system had said to act aloof at first and observe the host's character, it just couldn't keep it up!

"Mm, I'll work hard." Rao Ke smiled and rubbed Sesame Paste's fluffy head.

"Oh, right. What do you want to do with your assets on Blue Star?" Sesame Paste suddenly remembered something it had forgotten and quickly asked.

"Donate them all to the Nancheng Orphanage," Rao Ke said without hesitation. "How did you handle my disappearance?"

"I used some tricks to alter the memories of the people around you. In their eyes, you went to seek treatment for your heart condition," Sesame Paste explained casually.

"Mm, let's work hard." Thinking of her home, Rao Ke became even more determined.

"As for your heart problem, we can trade with the elves for Bailing Fruit to cure it."

After learning so much in one day, Rao Ke was a bit tired. She lay on the bed in her nightgown, closing her eyes to rest.

"Oh, right! First, let's give the shop a name!" Sesame Paste had been dawdling all along and finally remembered there was still this unfinished business.

"Then let's call it Keke Shop," Rao Ke said without a second thought. That had been the name she'd planned for her convenience store before.

[Novice Task 1: Let 200 people know about Keke Shop

Progress (0/200)

Reward: Unlock purchase rights for fresh food + 10 random food and beverage items]

[Novice Task 2: Serve 200 customers

Progress (0/200)

Reward: Shop module upgrade]

[Long-term Task: Level up to lv2

Progress (0%)

Reward: Unlock fresh food + beverage section]

"Novice tasks are relatively simple; the long-term task can be taken slowly." After issuing the tasks, Sesame Paste stretched lazily.

"Sesame Paste, where's the nearest human settlement from our cabin?"

"We're currently on the edge of Adventure Forest. If you walk east from the cabin for about 10 minutes, you'll come across a wanderer's town," Sesame Paste said, pulling up its map.

Rao Ke closed her eyes to rest but laid out her plan: "Let's go to the wanderer's town first to scope things out, get a feel for the situation, then figure out how to start business."

"Tell me about this world's background." Rao Ke sat up, propping a pillow behind her back, and took out the tablet to start taking notes.

Sesame Paste slowly began to introduce the world, unfolding its lore before Rao Ke.

The world was called the Kaqisha Continent, a magical continent. To Rao Ke, it seemed closer to a Western fantasy world, since besides humans, there were magical races like elves, mermaids, beastmen, and so on.

As for other details, Sesame Paste didn't know much and said Rao Ke would have to explore on her own.

"By the way, did you feel it was extremely cold when you first arrived?" Sesame Paste looked at Rao Ke.

"Three months ago, the calamity descended on the Kachisha Continent. Currently, it manifests as more powerful and frequent beast tides in spring and autumn, with lush and aggressive plant growth, and more extreme temperatures in summer and winter," Sesame Paste briefly explained.

Rao Ke looked at Sesame Paste. "Do you know where the calamity comes from?"

There was nothing to hide. "This continent is undergoing a civilization evolution assessment, with a three-year period. Our goods management system is usually dispatched to assist the civilization in completing its evolution."

After learning about the situation, Rao Ke felt drowsy. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, thinking she would deal with tomorrow's matters tomorrow.

Seeing Rao Ke asleep, Sesame Paste quietly jumped to the foot of the bed, curled into a small ball, and nestled by Rao Ke's feet to sleep.

Outside, the cold wind howled, scraping against the windows, while snow piled on the windowsill.

Inside, Rao Ke slept soundly, hugging her plush toy, while Sesame Paste curled up at her feet, snoring softly.

And so, the first day in the other world quietly came to an end...