Chapter 44: Louyun City

Chapter 44: Louyun City

Because of the 30% deduction, Shu Fu was already inside Jiale Supermarket by 2 PM that afternoon.

There was only one Jiale Supermarket in the entire city of Louyun. Coincidentally, Shu Fu had memories of this supermarket.

The supermarket was located in the area where "Shu Fu" had lived before. The original "Shu Fu" had lived a life just like any ordinary girl before college. She was born in Louyun City and attended school there from elementary through high school.

Growing up, her family had moved twice. The second move happened when she was in junior high school. The new home was close to several relatives. Her parents often took her to Jiale Supermarket, where they occasionally ran into relatives also buying groceries.

She lived there until she graduated from high school, after which her parents tragically passed away in an accident.

Her parents were not only children; both had siblings, and as is common with older generations, there was favoritism. Since she was a girl and didn’t fit the traditional expectation of carrying on the family name, her parents weren’t the favored ones.

Even after her parents' death, several relatives, under the guise of taking care of her, tried to bypass her and handle the matters of her house and money. Seeing her refusal, they shamelessly tried to lecture her.

Though young and inexperienced, Shu Fu was not someone who could be easily manipulated. She pretended to go along with them, saw them off, and then took care of the house and money herself. She changed her phone number and left for Sui City, where her university was located.

This time when Shu Fu returned to Louyun City, she had considered the possibility of running into her former relatives. She didn’t care much either way; even if she met them, it wouldn’t matter much to her.

However, it was clear that this mission was connected to Shu Fu's past life and the people in it.

Otherwise, why would the task be timed and located here?

It was a Saturday afternoon. When "Shu Fu" was younger, she used to accompany her parents to the supermarket on Saturday afternoons, occasionally running into relatives there too.

Jiale Supermarket was a well-stocked large supermarket. Wearing a baseball cap and a mask, Shu Fu entered the supermarket and grabbed a shopping cart. Since she was already there, she decided to head to the fresh produce section first.

It was already the afternoon, and only the usual apples and oranges were left on the shelves. She took a bag of each without being picky, along with a carton of eggs and a few vegetables. She then casually strolled through the supermarket, alert to her surroundings, waiting for any unexpected events.

The supermarket was peaceful, located far from the eastern part of the city, which made it inaccessible to many out-of-town refugees. Moreover, Louyun City had just experienced a hurricane and tsunami, making the chances of another disaster in the short term even smaller.

At 3:27 PM, as Shu Fu pushed her cart past the snack aisle, she suddenly saw a few familiar faces. It had been over four years since she last saw them. Normally, people change somewhat in appearance over four years, and these three were no exception.

But Shu Fu recognized them immediately. The slightly older woman, in her forties, was her uncle's wife—her aunt. The other two, a brother and sister a couple of years apart, were her older cousin and younger cousin.

Shu Fu felt a strange mix of familiarity and unease, as if her past and present were colliding in an unsettling way. The memories from her original world told her that she had never met them before that day. Yet, she had clear memories of these three people in her mind.

Especially the cousin brother and sister. Young teenagers changed the most in appearance. It had been over four years, and they were at a distance. Logically, she shouldn’t have recognized them so quickly, but the moment her eyes landed on their faces, her mind instantly recognized them, as if the memories were imprinted in her very core.

This feeling made her somewhat uncomfortable, but Shu Fu kept a safe distance as she followed them, staying alert for any unexpected events.

The supermarket wasn’t empty on that Saturday afternoon. Most people’s attention was on the shelves. Even if someone was pushing a cart behind them, it was a normal occurrence. Shu Fu followed them, strolling through the supermarket, and eventually followed them to the checkout counters.

But nothing happened as they paid and left.

By the time it was past 4 PM, she considered whether to abandon her own purchases and leave to continue following them. But then her left wrist suddenly vibrated.

The vibration left her confused.

Was the mission complete?

Twenty minutes later, inside a stall in the supermarket's bathroom.

**

Shu Fu looked at the black notebook in her hand, her expression somewhat inexplicable.

"Today, between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM, the check-in mission at Jiale Textile Supermarket was completed, earning 5% progress toward Raft Level 3. (Current progress of Raft Level 3: 75%)"

There was no additional progress bonus, nor any lottery reward, but this mission was indeed complete.

Meanwhile, beneath the line of grayish text, another new line of black text appeared.

"Today, between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM, complete the dinner check-in mission at Dongfu Noodle Shop to earn 5% progress toward Raft Level 3. (Current progress of Raft Level 3: 75%)

Note: Failure to complete this mission will deduct 30% of the progress bar."

Shu Fu thought.

She felt like she was playing some kind of strange new game.

Another twenty minutes later, having already placed the fresh food purchased from the supermarket into the back of her jeep, Shu Fu returned once again to the shopping mall where Jiale Textile Supermarket was located. The Dongfu Noodle Shop was also familiar to her, situated on the first floor of the shopping mall. After exiting from another passage of Jiale Textile Supermarket, she would pass by the lane where the noodle shop was situated.

Many shops lined both sides of the passage, including snack shops, phone shops, clothing stores, and beverage shops… It was essentially an indoor shopping street.

She had been to this Dongfu Noodle Shop with her parents a few times before. The food was nothing special, not as good as the noodles from the shop she had deliberately stocked up on before. But since the mission specifically required a dinner check-in, she decided to follow the instructions carefully.

The shop wasn’t big, with only about seven or eight tables. She ordered a beef noodle soup and chose a corner table, deliberately sitting in a position facing outward.

Sitting in this spot, people passing by outside wouldn’t notice her at first glance, but with just a turn of her head, she could observe the movements inside and outside the shop.

It wasn’t quite dinner time yet, so there were few customers in the shop. The noodles arrived quickly, served in a large bowl with red soup and a layer of bright red chili oil floating on top. Shu Fu took off her hat and mask, retrieved a pair of in-ear Bluetooth earphones, and grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks before starting to eat.

Pretending to scroll through her phone while eating, she ate each mouthful of noodles slowly.

After all, the mission required her to stay for an hour, so she had to remain there until after six.

Gradually, other customers began to arrive. Among the newcomers, familiar faces appeared again—Shu Fu’s aunt and her two children.

The woman went to the front to order, while the younger brother and sister took the shopping bags from their mother’s hands and turned to find seats.

There were plenty of empty tables, but the place felt too empty, and because of this, when they turned to look around, their eyes swept past Shu Fu’s face.

She frowned, bracing herself for a typical family drama, but strangely, their eyes passed over her without lingering, instead locking onto the empty table next to her before walking straight over.

Shu Fu subconsciously touched her face. Since she was eating, she had taken off her mask and hat. They had seen her clearly from such a close distance, so why didn’t they show any recognition?

Had they not recognized her at all?

It had indeed been four years, but the change in "Shu Fu" from four years ago to now wasn’t significant. They had seen her frequently back then, so it was strange that they had no impression of her at all.

She furrowed her brow and watched as her aunt, having finished ordering, scanned the room.

Shu Fu felt the gaze sweep over her again, but just like her younger cousins, the woman’s eyes passed over her without stopping.

Her aunt quickly walked over to the table next to Shu Fu, placed the receipt on the table, and began pulling out tissues and hand sanitizer from her bag, instructing the two children to sanitize their hands while muttering about how it was a waste to come out for noodles when there were still leftovers from lunch at home.

Shu Fu glanced sideways at her, recognizing the woman as someone who, in her memories, had been a bit of a clean freak and liked to nag, but was good to her children. So good, in fact, that she had once tried to claim Shu Fu’s house for her kids, disregarding all familial decency.

That house, although small, was a school district property. Shu Fu’s parents had bought it specifically for that reason.

At the time, Shu Fu’s younger cousin was about to enter middle school, and the house naturally became the aunt’s target. However, Shu Fu’s mother’s side of the family, particularly her uncle, also had their eyes on the house, wanting to use it as a marriage home. After all, Shu Fu’s mother had used family money to buy the house, so they felt it belonged to them.

However, all these arguments were just empty words without any evidence. The parties involved were no longer around, and there was no promissory note. Shu Fu's aunt wasn’t about to give in.

A group of people were arguing in front of Shu Fu without treating her as a living person. To them, she was just a prop, not a real person...

Her memories were crystal clear. Certain images still brought displeasure when recalled. She was so familiar with the other person’s face that they should have been equally familiar with hers. So, Shu Fu couldn’t understand why, even though they had plainly seen her, there was no response at all.

It was as if they didn’t recognize her at all.

After a moment’s thought, she stood up and walked straight to the neighboring table. She smiled and nodded at the three people sitting there. "What a surprise! It’s been a while!"

Her greeting was abrupt and eye-catching. Even if they hadn’t seen her clearly before, standing this close and speaking should make it impossible for them to ignore her—unless they had Alzheimer’s or something similar.

However, Shu Fu's aunt looked up at her for a moment, her expression turning slightly confused. "You... who are you?"

Shu Fu, who had braced herself for a dramatic reunion, was left speechless. "You don’t remember me?"

"I’m sorry, I don’t know you. You must have mistaken me for someone else," Shu Fu’s aunt said with a somewhat apologetic and distant expression.

Shu Fu was intimately familiar with every expression on this face. She remembered the long discussions about the ownership of the house and the lengthy talks about caring for her and feeling sorry for her.

She also remembered how much Shu Fu had loathed this hypocritical face, the kind of feeling that made her want to slap it every time they met.

But now, all those intense emotions felt like a one-sided performance.

The other person’s eyes held only unfamiliarity and wariness.

Shu Fu turned to look at the brother and sister, leaning on the table and lowering her face a little. "Don’t you not remember me either?" In the moment she asked this question, Shu Fu already knew the answer from their expressions.

Sure enough, the brother and sister stared at her blankly, their eyes not only distant but also filled with wariness and fear. The sister even tugged at her mother’s hand, calling out "Mom," asking what was going on.

"What exactly do you want—" The woman’s expression quickly turned sour.

Just as she was about to shoo Shu Fu away, Shu Fu stepped back and spoke to them with a regretful expression. "I’m really sorry, I’ve mistaken you for someone else. Sorry for the disturbance."

She didn’t stay any longer and, without returning to her own table, walked out of the noodle shop.

It was enough. She had completely confirmed that they didn’t recognize her, and it wasn’t that they were pretending not to know her. They genuinely didn’t recognize her.

To these three people, she was a complete stranger they had never seen before.

When this realization hit, a subtle, eerie chill crept up Shu Fu’s spine, causing a slight tingling on her scalp. A few moments later, her left wrist vibrated faintly again.

Shortly after, back inside the jeep, Shu Fu opened the black notebook.

"This afternoon, between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM, the dinner check-in mission at Dongfu Noodle Shop was completed, earning 5% progress for Raft Level 3; an additional 5% progress bonus was awarded; and spin draw rewards: 3 times. (Current progress for Raft Level 3: 85%)"

That night, Shu Fu made herself a cup of black coffee, sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table, and opened her planning notebook to review today’s events.

**

First of all, today’s mission was different from the usual. There were two missions in a single day, but the content of these two missions felt very similar. For some reason, the way to complete the mission was also different from previous missions.

The first time, she didn’t receive any bonuses or draw rewards.

The second time, even though she didn’t feel the usual sense of completing a mission, the rewards indicated that she had performed the mission well.

What puzzled her was the focus of these two missions. What had she done that made the bracelet judge her to have completed the mission?

And why didn’t the person who was likely related to the mission recognize her at all?

After analyzing, there are only two possible explanations.

First, there might be something wrong with her face. The real Shu Fu is a different person, and she is merely a female time traveler who borrowed and recorded Shu Fu's memories and identity background.

Second, Shu Fu's existence is fictitious. There has never been a Shu Fu in Louyun City, nor has there been anyone with the same appearance as her in this city. The melodramatic past stored in her memory is also entirely fabricated.

In either case, one thing is clear. As she speculated on the day of her awakening, all her memories before arriving in Sui City are just memories.

She is a total outsider, ruling out the possibility of her being a unique type of rebirth individual with confused memories.

Sui City is where she landed. Since arriving in this world, she has only been in Sui City, whether it was the four years when she considered herself a local due to these memories or the awakened version of herself who remembered her original world.

She's been stuck there, consistent with the logic of lighting up the map according to mission points.

However, new questions arise.

Since she was already in Sui City and had no connection to the people in Louyun City, why was she given such an identity? Wouldn't it be simpler and more reasonable to keep her only as a graduate of Sui City University?

If she hadn't had those seemingly real memories of Louyun City from the start, she might have awakened earlier without spending four years.

If she was meant to complete missions, why delay her potential awakening?

From another angle, today's two missions clearly involved "Shu Fu's" past relatives. If memories can be implanted, why weren't these "relatives" given the same memories? Why leave such an obvious loophole?

After all, the fact that they don't recognize her can be easily discovered once they meet.

It's like there's a glitch in the mission, and it's a glaring one. Why leave it there?

Continuing with this line of thought, since there is already a glitch, she shouldn't have received extra progress bar bonuses after completing the mission, right?

It's like when a person works overtime but goes to the wrong company. There's a fundamental issue, so how could they possibly receive overtime pay?

A sudden realization hit Shu Fu, sending chills down her spine.

Going to the wrong company shouldn't count as overtime—unless going to the wrong company was the actual content of the overtime!

In other words, the true purpose of today's two missions... was likely for her to discover this glitch?!

Shu Fu suddenly knelt on the coffee table, her mind racing.

If that's the case, it all makes sense!

The first mission passed quickly because she completed it, but the three of them didn't see her face. She was wearing a mask and a hat, so it's no wonder they didn't recognize her, and she didn't find the glitch.

But during the second mission, curious about the change in mission format and as a test, she not only revealed her face but also initiated a conversation, allowing them to see her clearly. It was then that she realized she was a complete stranger to them.

Upon reflection, the vibrating notification of mission completion did occur after she realized she was a stranger to them—after discovering the glitch.

So, the actual target of today's mission wasn't "Shu Fu's" aunt, but herself!

This thought, when pondered further, is chilling. It's as if the bracelet wanted to convey a message through this mission...

What message?

To overturn the identity and background settings this world gave her?

To make her deeply aware of her own abnormal existence again?

To tell her that there was no original host, and all the missions she had completed had nothing to do with any original host?

Remind her that this isn't a real world?

Tell her that she's in a massive controllable virtual world?

Or… could it just be expressing the wristband's opposition to this world?

Delving deeper into her thoughts, her awakening day—the day she recalled her original world—could it have been planned all along?

Was everything arranged?

For what purpose?

Outside this world, who is watching her?

……

Shu Fu’s head was starting to hurt again, not from physical pain, but from the mental clutter of too many thoughts.

She closed the notebook, leaned back into the sofa, and let her eyes drift shut.

The last time she felt this confused about a mission was during the second and third missions. But with experience under her belt, she wasn’t as fixated this time, and her thoughts cleared up faster.

She had done her analysis, noted down the key points and speculations, so she decided to give herself a break.

In any case, today the mission progress bar went from 70% to 85%, a huge leap toward the Level 3 raft, which is truly cause for celebration!

To unwind, she figured she’d start with the spin draws.

Thinking about how this simple mission gave her three draw chances made Shu Fu happy.

Good luck or bad, it didn’t matter; three draws, she could win through quantity!

Shu Fu opened her eyes again, climbed back onto the sofa, and sat cross-legged in a comfortable position, then took out the spin draw.

First spin, a green fourth prize: one-week electricity card.

Shu Fu thought: Not bad, keep going!

Second spin, a blue fifth prize: raft railing ×1

Shu Fu felt frustrated: ……

Last chance—a blue third prize: staggered space.

Shu Fu: What the heck is this?