Chapter 279 - 44: That’s Her

Although it was just a name, Jinghong was taking it very seriously.

After all, this shop was the first step in building her business empire in "Abyss." It was the opening shot to make a name for herself, so it had to be perfect.

Therefore, the name had to be simple and elegant. It needed to be catchy and memorable, but also have a viral quality that would leave a lasting impression on people.

So, she decided to call it... "Love Nest"!

Love, as in love for all the world, and Nest, as in a fledgling returning home. The name was simple yet profound. There couldn’t possibly be a better name.

However, when she announced the name, both Duan Fei and Yu Bo looked at her in utter shock.

Yu Bo then checked a list and said to Duan Fei, "The names ’Catchy’ and ’Pick a Catchy Name’ are still available. Why don’t you choose one of those?"

"I think ’Pick a Catchy Name’ sounds decent," Duan Fei added.

"Wait, is there something wrong with the name I came up with?"

Jinghong tilted her head and looked at Duan Fei, her perfectly feigned confusion making her look breathtakingly beautiful. But there was no way Duan Fei was going to agree with her or accept her suggestion.

In the end, they settled on a name.

"The Salty Fish Shop."

The name was quite unremarkable. It sounded like a place that sold actual salted fish, but it was an acceptable, if uninspired, choice.

Jinghong, however, was still a little upset, muttering to herself about what was so wrong with "Love Nest."

Finally, pestered beyond his limit, Duan Fei had no choice but to say, "Jinghong, your naming sense can only be described as a tragedy. In the future, when you have kids, don’t name them yourself. I’ll do it."

His words hit their mark instantly. After a long pause, Jinghong blushed and whispered, "Okay."

Standing to the side, Yu Bo watched this scene, speechless.

’Do you damn couples not care where you show off your affection these days?’

’We should just move the Civil Affairs Bureau here tomorrow!’

After registering the name and going over a few points of notice, Yu Bo left Duan Fei with a forum URL and went back to dealing with the pollution invasion event.

Duan Fei logged onto the website and saw the "Shop Owner’s Guide," written by the administrator, Bai Ze.

"Hello everyone, it’s me, your beloved administrator, Bai Ze.

It’s been a while. Did you miss me?

I’m sure that by the time you’re reading this guide, you’ve already familiarized yourselves with the city’s layout and learned about its many sub-districts.

The Training Grounds, the Commercial Street, the Amusement Park... these are all places you can visit, and places where you can find plenty of fun.

So, stop messing around on the forums! Do you have any idea how much trouble it is to maintain this place?!

I’m begging you, if you have a dispute, find a place to duel it out. If you die, you’ll only pollute the ground a little. Stop polluting the forums, okay?!

Also, if you’re writing erotica, please get the hell out. The forum is part of ’Abyss,’ and it’s a 15+ space, got it?

Okay, I’m getting sidetracked. Let’s get back to opening your shop.

First off, congratulations. You’ve gone through the long exams, finished your time in the factory, and finally earned this rare opportunity to open a shop.

We have a comprehensive recommendation system. The products in your shop will be promoted using a special algorithm, so you absolutely don’t have to worry about the ’good wine fearing a deep alley’ problem.

Furthermore, the quality of the goods produced by the factory is absolutely guaranteed and always consistent. You can rest assured on that point as well.

So, for those of you who want to manipulate the algorithm and spam positive reviews to influence product sales, please kindly go and die. Then die a second time. Because I’m the one who wrote the product recommendation algorithm!

Every time I see you bastards messing around, I want to rip out your intestines, tie you to your computer desk, then recover all your chat logs and post them online, one by one!

And to the fans of certain celebrities, stop spam-buying products for your idols! You’re only going to hurt them, understand?!

I’m begging you, just get it through your heads!

Stop listening to the lunatics from the Madhouse, will you?!

’You can tell from their name they’re no-good troublemakers!’

Sorry, I got sidetracked again. I’ve been so stressed out lately my hormones are all out of whack. I hope you can understand my murderous mood.

The quality of your products depends on your performance in dungeons. Besides your main product, you can also sell other items, but only after you meet sales targets and your shop Level increases.

Although the shop is semi-automated, you still need to handle basic tasks like taking inventory, restocking supplies, and submitting orders to the factory. So, if you have a permanent dungeon instance with people in it, I suggest you recruit some of them to help. After all, no player wants to be stuck minding a shop all day.

I want to add one more thing here: do not hire a Succubus as a shop clerk. If you do, don’t blame me for throttling your traffic.

Once your shop’s sales meet the required targets, it will be promoted. A promoted shop gets a better location and higher daily earnings.

So, strive to reach the highest-tier shop!"

After reading through the shop guide, which was tens of thousands of words long, Duan Fei came to one conclusion: Bai Ze must have been going through hell when she wrote this.

A bunch of trolls were recklessly spreading harmful information on the forums, with the lunatics from the Madhouse adding fuel to the fire, driving Bai Ze’s Spirit to the brink of collapse.

But even so, she still managed to finish writing the guide. Her dedication was something to be admired.

Now that he had the general idea, Duan Fei took the Black Mashed Potatoes out from his inventory. He watched as the goods automatically flew onto the shelves. Before long, a few curious players wandered in.

Seeing the vomit-like substance on the shelves, the customers frowned and left without a second glance.

Watching other people eat "dark cuisine" was one thing, but eating it yourself was another matter entirely.

After several waves of customers fled because of the mashed potatoes’ appearance, Duan Fei felt he had to do something.

Due to the matchmaking algorithm, the Black Mashed Potatoes were categorized as a gourmet food, so most of the visitors were female players.

Noticing this, Duan Fei immediately said, "Jinghong."

"No," Jinghong, who was looking at her phone, immediately replied.

"I haven’t said anything yet."

"It doesn’t matter what you’re going to say, my answer is no. You’re just going to ask me to come over and attract customers, give the female patrons a little ’bonus,’ and fill their minds with images of me. I find that kind of behavior deplorable, so absolutely not."

"What about a maid outf—"

"You mean this?"

With a snap of her fingers, Jinghong’s clothes instantly changed into a maid’s uniform.

The light, airy skirt was full of romantic flair. The delicate outfit made Jinghong look like a shard of ice, so pure it seemed she might melt at any moment.

Her slightly indifferent expression created a sharp contrast with the pink maid uniform, making Duan Fei feel that something so beautiful shouldn’t be so easily shown off to the public.

"Alright, I get it. Change back. We should probably just find some useless sucker to help watch the shop."

Jinghong thought for a moment, then said, "Are you looking for..."

"That’s right. It has to be her."