Chapter 24: The First Commodity

Chapter 24: The First Item

Su Bai hadn't closed the ward door when he first entered, so he shut it before using his left hand, marked with the Mist Shop’s brand, to open it a crack once more.

Through the narrow opening, instead of the cold, white light of the hospital corridor, a warm, yellowish glow emerged—equally bright but far more soothing to the eyes.

As Su Bai pushed the door open, the sound of wind chimes tinkling in the breeze greeted him, rather than the usual hospital ambiance.

Then, right before his eyes, on the counter inside the Mist Shop, an eerie doll woven from intertwined cords and threads slowly transformed into the child who called himself "Xiao Wu," moving to the melody of the wind chimes.

"Welcome, ma’am—no, welcome back, Boss, to the Mist Shop." Xiao Wu hopped down from the counter, smiling broadly as he stared intently at Su Bai, as if trying to discern something profound on his face.

"Xiao Wu, I need your help." Su Bai skipped the pleasantries and immediately recounted his hospital ordeal, then pleaded, "Is there a way to keep my mother protected while I’m away?"

Having already become a player in the nightmare world, Su Bai knew he couldn’t be by his mother’s side around the clock. Even if he chose to return to the real world after each game, there were still many things he wanted to accomplish in this second chance at life.

"Your mother, ma’am?"

Xiao Wu tilted his head, pondering seriously for a moment, then stated with certainty, "Boss, although Xiao Wu can’t leave the shop to help, and ordinary humans can’t stay long in a time-frozen space, there is a very simple way to keep those ghostly things away from the ward."

As he spoke, Xiao Wu pointed toward two doors on the side of the counter.

Su Bai recalled Xiao Wu’s previous introduction: one door led to a warehouse that could produce items from the human world, and the other was a rest room prepared for him, the new owner of the Mist Shop.

Xiao Wu, with his short legs, walked over to the rest room door and continued, "Boss, only you can open this door. Just use your left hand, same as when opening the warehouse."

Though unsure how the rest room related to his request, Su Bai walked over and opened the door.

Like the empty shop outside, the first thing Su Bai saw were four white walls. Besides that, there was a comfortable-looking single bed with a matching bedside table. The brand-new mattress and quilt appeared soft, and despite the simplicity, Su Bai, who hadn’t slept in a proper bed in over ten years, felt a stir of emotion.

Additionally, beside the bedside table, there was another door.

A small rest room with two doors. If the one Su Bai opened connected the Mist Shop to the rest room, where did the other door lead?

"This room seems a bit small now, but as the white sand in the jar increases, it will grow larger." Xiao Wu pointed to the other door and said, "Boss, just press your left hand on the doorknob and focus on imagining, and you can use this door to connect to any door in the human world."

"For example, you could link this door to your mother’s ward door. That way, no matter where you enter the Mist Shop from, you can return directly to that ward through this door."

"Most importantly, once the two doors are connected, it means the ward has, in a way, become part of the Mist Shop." Xiao Wu looked seriously at Su Bai. "Not only will lesser ghosts be unable to approach the ward, but even if relatively more powerful ghostly entities appear nearby, Xiao Wu and you, Boss, will know immediately."

"If I’m in the middle of a nightmare world game, as long as I find a door with a handle, I can return to the Mist Shop and use this door to go back to the real world?" Su Bai immediately thought of another possible use for the door.

"Theoretically, that's correct, but the master said using it that way would make the already chaotic nightmares even more chaotic." Xiao Wu shook his head regretfully. "So the master instructed Xiao Wu to lock the rest room door if you’re in the middle of a nightmare game."

"I'm sorry."

Seeing Xiao Wu, who had been so happy to help moments ago, now looking dejected, Su Bai ruffled the little one’s soft hair and smiled. "Don’t worry, cheating with unknown consequences isn’t my style either."

"Thank you very much, Xiao Wu."

"No need for thanks between Boss and Xiao Wu." The little one shook his head with an air of maturity. "Is there anything else Boss needs help with? When you came in just now, Xiao Wu noticed the white sand in the jar had increased somewhat. Did you gain something in the nightmare?"

Su Bai entered the rest room and connected the inner door to his mother’s ward door.

After confirming the connection was successful, he opened the warehouse door and retrieved an item suitable for housing the white qipao paper doll.

"High heels?"

Xiao Wu saw that what Su Bai took out was a pair of white high heels—the most common, yet classic style.

"After all, she’s a lady who cares deeply about her appearance." Su Bai placed the high heels as the first product solemnly on the shelf against the wall. The heels from the warehouse were in a transparent drawer-style shoe box, tied with a beautiful white silk ribbon.

"I promised to give the lady a good place to stay. Since she trusted me without hesitation, I should prepare properly," Su Bai said, half-seriously.

The white qipao had indeed "trusted" him without a word—after all, it hadn’t had a chance to speak in that situation.

Su Bai opened the shoe box and touched the white high heels with his left hand.

The brand on his left hand had already shown him how to turn the evil ghost in the bead strand into a Mist Shop product. The principle might be complex, but for Su Bai, the newly appointed shop owner, the process was simple: close his eyes and imagine forcing the thing inside.

When Su Bai opened his eyes again, a small blood mist seeped into the high heels, dyeing their originally black soles a blood-red color.

"Whoever wears these will feel their body become as light as a paper doll." Xiao Wu, who had somehow crept up beside Su Bai, identified the product’s special function with just a glance. "If explored carefully, more functions could likely be discovered."

This ability of Xiao Wu’s probably came with his role as the shop assistant.

Su Bai could also feel that the moment this special product was created, the power he had exhausted in the nightmare world game began trickling back into his body at a steady pace, even more abundantly than before.

"Boss, although some power will remain in the shop after the product is sold, your body is still too weak, and there aren’t enough special products yet. It’s not time for the shop to open."

Su Bai was well aware of this. Considering his and his mother’s life in the real world, what he lacked most now was real-world money. Originally, Su Bai planned to sell Mist Shop products to players with ample resources in the real world, but for now, improving his survival chances was more important.

Just as Su Bai was lost in thought, the child beside him suddenly grew serious, frowning and listening intently as if hearing something.

"Understood."

"What’s wrong?" Su Bai faintly heard Xiao Wu speak and looked up to see the cute-faced child staring at him.

"Nothing, ma’am—Boss. Maybe the shop’s power is too weak, and Xiao Wu needs to rest for a while." The child grabbed Su Bai’s sleeve, his dark red eyes fixed solely on Su Bai, expression deadly serious. "Remember, if you’re in danger and can’t find a door, you must wake me. Just keep calling my name, and I will... hear..."

Xiao Wu’s voice trailed off, his form gradually turned translucent until he became the doll woven from string and thread, dropping to the floor.

Since Xiao Wu had mentioned his power was tied to the shop, Su Bai wasn’t too surprised by the child’s slumber. He simply bent down, picked up the doll, placed it properly on the nearby counter, and continued pondering the money issue.

The two nurses in the inpatient department hadn’t mentioned fees when they saw Su Bai, so at least it wasn’t yet time to pay the fees. With his mother safe from lesser ghosts, the situation was temporarily stable.

That meant his priority wasn’t enjoying the real world’s sunlight but stocking up on inventory!

He needed to meet more players since running a shop required not just inventory but also a customer base.

Both were hard to find in the real world. Although in his previous life, Su Bai had heard of players forming groups there, even with dedicated apps, he’d never left the nightmare world or had phone signal there, so he never looked into those organizations or software.

Su Bai even suspected that at the end of the last game, when Qin Ge ran toward him, it was to share contact details for some relevant authorities.

Now that he’d missed that, if Su Bai wanted more information, he’d have to seek it within the nightmare world.

The fastest way was to join the next nightmare game.

Unlike real-world players, those in the nightmare world could sense another game starting soon in a certain direction under the Red Moon, even right after finishing one. This wasn’t a secret to Su Bai with his second life experience, though few willingly joined avoidable games.

But Su Bai had to try.

Preferably, find a game scenario with plenty of evil ghosts or fierce spirits.

×

Not far from the Mist Shop, bathed in Red Moonlight, a vast, empty graveyard stretched out, rows upon rows of tombstones casting long shadows in the crimson light.

Though just a graveyard, the shadows of the tombstones combined to resemble several seven- or eight-story buildings.

As the Red Moonlight brightened, the crooked wooden fences around the graveyard gradually turned into white walls. The dilapidated wooden shed at the entrance became a security booth with wrought-iron gates.

The silhouettes of several buildings materialized in the graveyard, growing solid until they formed actual seven- or eight-story residential buildings, with faint lights flickering on and shadowy figures appearing in the windows.

The wrought-iron gates at the "residential complex" entrance slowly opened, as if welcoming new residents to move in.