As Tang Sugar stepped through the door, she was taken aback by the sight of dust piled up outside. Her thoughts raced as she contemplated the daunting task of cleaning up the convenience store.
However, to her surprise, the store appeared pristine white and incredibly clean inside.
Directly across from the entrance stood a large cash register, surrounded by thirty neatly arranged white wooden shelves, two beverage freezers, two spacious ice cream display cabinets, and two glass cold cabinets flanking two glass vitrines—all immaculate and free of any dust. Tang Sugar speculated that these items were crafted from interstellar materials with built-in cleaning functions.
Despite the shelves occupying space in the lobby, it remained spacious. Tang Sugar navigated through the lobby to discover a small reddish-brown wooden door tucked away in the back, leading to a vast backyard adorned with three lemon trees sprawling haphazardly amidst dead branches and moss. Twenty-four sizable rooms were constructed around this backyard.
Having gained a rough understanding of her sole possession, Tang Sugar ascended to the second floor, finding herself amidst numerous rooms. She located the room nearest to the stairs and unlocked it with her fingerprint.
Upon opening the door, Tang Sugar was momentarily stunned. Before her, lay a princess's chamber spanning over five meters, complete with a matching cloakroom, dresser, a well-lit bathroom, and a balcony—a dreamy European-style room exuding luxuriousness, albeit still rooted in the twenty-first century.
As she took in the lavish furnishings, Tang Sugar's heart warmed. Despite the challenges posed by her scoundrel father in the original body's life, she felt the love and care from two individuals who held her dear—the original grandfather and mother who had spared no expense to procure these twenty-first-century furnishings and spent five years decorating the room to provide Tang Sugar with a princess-like life in the Homesick City.
Interestingly, Tang Sugar noted the striking resemblance between herself and the original body when she first crossed over, except for the original body's fair and unblemished fingers in contrast to her own calloused hands from years of work. It was as if she had experienced the original body's memories firsthand, momentarily blurring the lines between their identities.
Shaking off these thoughts, Tang Sugar focused on her next steps. Homesick City, despite its renowned name in the empire, was sparsely populated—a remnant of Earth's history mixed with the architecture of twenty-first-century cities.
The empire endured a calamitous period in 2019, marked by an unknown virus invasion, animal mutations, rampant plant growth, and human psychological disturbances. In response, humans developed various abilities, categorized into natural systems, shòu human lines, and plant lines. The invention of mecha eventually quelled the disaster, paving the way for stable divine power and physique levels, although those with E-level abilities were deemed wasteful.
Despite its historical significance, Homesick City was overshadowed by interstellar advancements and the pursuit of planetary expansion for resources, relegating Earth to a nostalgic curiosity rather than a hub of activity.
With over a thousand credit points at her disposal, Tang Sugar pondered how to manage a convenience store in an interstellar era where nutrient solutions reigned supreme and traditional conveniences were obsolete.
Just then, a notification interrupted her thoughts:
[Ding, your adorable child is here to visit~]
With a nonchalant tone, Tang Sugar replied, "Who are you?"
[Sugar Candy, I'm your game system. During your crossing, the three management games you excelled at—Synthetic Farm, Happy Convenience Store, and Sweet Cake Shop—merged to create a new game, giving birth to me. The best part? Game items can manifest in reality.]
Amazed by this turn of events, Tang Sugar eagerly inquired, "How do I enter the game?"
[Meditate in your heart: Xiao Tong, I want to enter the game.]
Suddenly, the scenery shifted before Tang Sugar's eyes—a pale blue swirling pool emitting a faint glow, darkening towards the center into a deep blue hue.
She looked around the curious landscape—a lush acre of grass surrounding the pond, starkly contrasted by the dry, cracked land resembling spider webs. The sky above the cracked land exuded an oppressive darkness, creating an eerie atmosphere.
YOU ARE READING
I run a convenience store in the Empire
FanfictionFOR OFFLINE READING PURPOSE ONLY NOT MY STORY After crossing over, Tang Sugar was ousted by her despicable father, left destitute with only a long-shuttered convenience store. Fortunately, her expertise from managing games like Synthetic Farm, Happ...
