Chapter 10

"Are you not concerned about where you are?" Shaking his head, Jiuming took out a resume about some store. The personality of this beautiful young man (??) seemed to be gentle, steady, and slightly a bit naturally clumsy?

In any case, the final conclusion was that he was much easier to deal with compared to the self-centered girl from before!

Not to mention his attire and pet evoked a sense of nostalgia in Jiuming, a feeling that arose involuntarily upon seeing him.

"Hmm, really a store?" Wang Yao muttered as he looked at the provided resume, "But I can't see what there is to sell here."

"Well, for now, this place is just opening, so although it's claimed to be a place where anything can be traded, I actually don't have much to trade right now." Shrugging, Jiuming was quite straightforward. Speaking of which, shouldn't it be a gradual process for him?

Why did he encounter two guests right from the start who were both difficult to handle?

Apart from his fighting skills, he really didn't have much in stock to trade. Hmm... that Life Card could be, but does this person need it?

From the clear eyes of the other party, Jiuming clearly saw a sense of沧桑 (cāngsāng, meaning "the vicissitudes of life") after personally witnessing the changes of the times.

"Oh, young man, time can accumulate a lot of things, no need to rush." Smiling kindly, Wang Yao slightly moved his body, and the sofa made a faint, unpleasant creaking sound, "Is there no tea here?"

"I'll go buy some tea leaves."

Standing up, Jiuming temporarily left the place.

"Hmm, what a strange place, aru~." Petting the little panda by his side, Wang Yao lazily moved his body, and the sofa groaned again, "A good successor, if only my troublesome younger siblings were like this."

"Eh? He just left without a word."

Returning after leaving, Jiuming looked at the now empty sofa that had returned to its original state, threw the tea leaves on a nearby table, and sat down directly. Uh, so hard!

Feeling something he had pressed down, Jiuming squinted his eyes. Was this left by Wang Yao?

Although it seemed to be a good gesture, why this kind of thing...

【Name: 50-Year-Old Century Egg】

【Type: Consumable】

【Attributes: Recovery, Poison】

【Quality: Fine】

【Uses: 1】

【Note: A genuine 50-year-old century egg! Has a strong recovery effect, but will definitely cause food poisoning!】

【Convertible Source Power: 100】

"No need for forced collection, it seems he gave it to me, but can it be eaten?" His lips twitched slightly, and Jiuming placed the item on the coffee table. Upon contact, there was a thud, could this hit someone?

A 100 Source Power item, well, perhaps if someone was about to die, eating this thing could really save them. Of course, compared to food poisoning, it's better than dying.

"This counts as the second item, I guess."

Bored again, Jiuming simply sat there, wondering if another high-level player who could slaughter the newbie village would come soon...

However, the third time probably wouldn't have the good luck to leave a gift, right?

Hmm... it's unlikely.

Thinking this, Jiuming's eye twitched as he pressed the answer button. He was really scared by the other party's persistent spirit. The decision to take him down decisively at the time was absolutely correct!

Otherwise, his place would have been in chaos by now.

"I say, at this point, you should give up."

"How can I! The decision of the leader! Never give up!!"

Listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, Jiuming moved a little away, pondering for a moment, "Alright, if you can 'luckily' find this place again, I'll give you a way to come here freely."

"Really?" In the SOS Club room, Haruhi Suzumiya's face showed a faint doubt, but more importantly, an uncontrollable excitement and anticipation.

"Of course! We'll make a fair deal. If you agree to give me this phone, I'll definitely do what I say, on the condition that you don't harass me again before then."

"OK!!" The drawn-out reply made Jiuming imagine the jubilant expression of the girl on the other side, "Just a phone! Wait for it, I'll definitely find you."

"Is that so?" Jiuming smiled lightly, "I look forward to it."

Sure enough, the moment Haruhi agreed, the forced collection request disappeared. Ending the call, Jiuming shook his head and put the phone aside. There was still some time before a month, so he would keep this thing for now.

Bang!!

Just as Jiuming closed his eyes, the third guest arrived, and the way they entered was quite special, actually slamming the door open. If not for the rules of the Mysterious Store, the door would have shattered instantly upon impact.

A strong smell of blood instantly filled the entire living room. Looking at the huge creature that burst in, Jiuming's eyes twitched. Was this just narrowly escaping death?

This monster wore a pale bone mask and had a round hole in its chest. What the heck is this?

"Soul!!!" The moment the monster saw Jiuming, its eyes lit up like electrified light bulbs, glowing with a piercing red light, and it ran towards him, drooling.

"Don't destroy anything!" Seeing the furniture being knocked away, Jiuming shouted in pain and immediately summoned the panel. The neatly arranged living room instantly turned into a stark, empty space.

"Can we talk properly? I'm here to sell things, not to be a place for venting..."

Dodging the monster's first attack, since it could speak, it was possible to communicate. But why did it clearly see him as a powerful supplement?

"Give me! Let me eat you!!" Even with severe injuries, the monster still showed a ferocious nature, its huge claws constantly scratching at Jiuming, and its large mouth trying to bite him.

Crack—

The moment the monster spoke, it was kicked hard in the face, flying to the side, and the pale bone mask cracked.

So hard.

Steadying himself, Jiuming scratched his head. The frequent change of store managers in the Mysterious Store wasn't without reason. After all, any living being could end up here, and even non-living things could fall into this place, like a stone falling into a pit and then getting lucky enough to end up here... it's not impossible!

This was still okay, but what to do when facing such unreasonable 'guests' like Jiuming? Of course, try to send them away with a friendly attitude, and if that doesn't work...

"Hey, Panel, did I take the initiative just now?"

【Source value is zero, protection mechanism not triggered.】

"Hey, that's not fair, you didn't say there would be a cost for this!"

【The protection mechanism consumes 10 Source Power per second, activating the moment you are attacked.】

Ignoring Jiuming completely, the panel disappeared, probably to avoid being shattered into pieces if it stayed a second longer.

"So, if I had tried to test the strength of the protection mechanism just now, I would have been half drained? I understand why the store managers here change so frequently, it's because of troublesome guests."

"That... if you go back to where you came from now, I'll stop."

Dodging several attacks in a row, Jiuming kept his distance and pointed behind the monster. The door that could bring any guest appeared not far from the monster.

"Damn, damn, I'm a high-level Hollow, what's wrong with becoming my food?!" The monster was clearly driven by a strong desire to eat, completely ignoring Jiuming.

"Hollow... what the heck is that?"

Could it be a monster from another world? It was clear that it wouldn't leave easily unless it ate him. Judging by its injuries, it saw him as a mobile blood bag.

If negotiation failed, then...

"I've dealt with monsters before." Muttering, this time Jiuming didn't continue to dodge. He swatted away the Hollow's claw, and the sudden burst of strength sent it flying to the side again.

Jiuming didn't take the opportunity to attack. Rubbing his arm, even as a soul, his arm was trembling slightly. Not only was the mask hard, but its body was incredibly tough. Two contacts had already given Jiuming a sense of its strength, but that wasn't enough.

He could overpower it in terms of burst strength, but its body was too hard. A punch would hurt him more from the recoil.

"Are you a troublesome Shinigami too? Die!"

The fallen Hollow roared in anger, clearly enraged by being hit twice. It opened its mouth and spat at Jiuming...

Perhaps to them, this was saliva.

A crimson beam of light that easily shattered the air swept towards Jiuming. His pupils contracted, and he instantly disappeared from his spot. When he reappeared, he raised his arm and looked at the half-torn sleeve. How did this go from a physical fight to a laser weapon?

Quickly lowering his body, a huge claw swept over Jiuming's head. Supporting himself with his hands, he used his mental burst strength to kick the Hollow's massive body up. As he flipped up, Jiuming delivered a downward kick to its head.

The Hollow crashed heavily to the ground. Since you have such thick skin, I'll break through from the inside.

Clasping his hands together, Jiuming hammered down on its head. The strong impact spread from the ground, and the Hollow's massive body trembled violently. The bone mask shattered into small pieces under the heavy blow, revealing a twisted face.

This powerful blow brought the already heavily injured Hollow to the brink of death.

"Damn... if I hadn't been severely injured by a Shinigami..."

"Who cares who injured you." Taking a deep breath, Jiuming sat back, his arms trembling. The furniture reappeared as if filling the space, and when Jiuming sat down, he was on the sofa.

"You wouldn't have survived long without this troublesome defense, it really hurts!"

Rubbing his arm, Jiuming grinned. Right, what is a Shinigami? A skeleton in a tattered cloak with a large scythe? Observing closely, the injuries on this self-proclaimed Hollow were all slash wounds.

Then, the dead Hollow's body slowly turned into light points and disappeared.

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