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"Ah~!" Jiu Ming let out a long yawn and closed the diary in his hands. "Remembering the past once in a while doesn't feel too bad, does it?"

Well, it actually didn't feel that great. The first two days in the labyrinth had been fairly normal, but afterward, just as Jiu Ming had expected, believing the words left inside the labyrinth had been naïve. The labyrinth had indeed been enormous at first, but later, its area had begun to shrink.

Jiu Ming had seen all kinds of reactions from those people when driven into desperate straits. Later, it seemed everyone had ignored the phrase, "It's fine if you die." He had tried to stop them, only to earn their hatred instead. If not for the special nature of his Soul Body, he probably would have been the first one killed.

It was a very peculiar shop. Other than the counter in front of Jiu Ming, the rest resembled a living room, furnished entirely for guests to sit wherever they pleased. Yet it was undoubtedly a shop. Oh, and it also had something of the nature of an agency that accepted commissions.

Since Jiu Ming was sitting here, the outcome of the labyrinth was naturally simple. Come to think of it, he even felt a little sorry for the final survivor. Jiu Ming remembered that man's ecstatic expression clearly when he learned that he was the last one alive. And Jiu Ming did not really count as a person, so that man should have qualified as well. Logically, both of them should have "cleared" it.

If people did not court death, they would not die. Jiu Ming had been a "bug." When new writing appeared on the wall, that person must have felt that some kind of "system" was watching this place, so he maliciously "reported" Jiu Ming.

As a result, the one who should have cleared it did not, while Jiu Ming, the "bug," cleared it instead...

One could imagine how aggrieved that man had been. But that was all in the past. Now, Jiu Ming was the "shopkeeper" here.

As for why he, a "bug," had been accepted while the one who should have passed had failed, there was a reason. This shop had had many shopkeepers, and that sort of selection had been held more than once. Its targets had not been limited to intelligent beings like humans, either. Jiu Ming had been chosen because the Mysterious Shop had taken a liking to his "energy efficiency."

Compared to humans, a Soul Body had far fewer needs. Jiu Ming did not know how this shop measured such needs. As for how to describe it, perhaps No. 8 Pawnshop would serve as a rough reference—except Jiu Ming did not have nearly as many "benefits."

Jiu Ming had no idea how this shop had appeared, why it existed, or how long it had existed. Nor did it have an AI or an intelligent assistant of any sort. Oh, perhaps Panel-kun, which could provide him with information, could be counted as an intelligent assistant?

The world he was currently in was not his original one. It was a world of superpowered people where supernatural forces existed. Well, it was a world with superpowers. In other respects, it felt much like Jiu Ming's original world. What frustrated him most was that once a previous shopkeeper died, all the goods they had accumulated vanished without a trace, reclaimed by the Mysterious Shop.

"Whoever you are, whichever world you come from, when you step inside, your Fate may change. What can you offer?"

That was merely the shop's public declaration... though its meaning was not empty. The declaration was real.

Jiu Ming was also forbidden from revealing the existence of the Mysterious Shop to outsiders, much less bringing anyone here on his own initiative. Those who came here could only rely on fate—or, as it was commonly called, their looks!

Ever since he had somehow become the shopkeeper of this Mysterious Shop, he had not made a single deal!

From the information sent by the Mysterious Shop, Jiu Ming knew there was a reason for that. First, as the shopkeeper here, martial strength... was absolutely indispensable. Everything else could be set aside for now. That was something Jiu Ming needed to adapt to himself. After the Mysterious Shop reclaimed everything left behind by the previous shopkeeper and converted it into power to sustain this place, any surplus would be provided to Jiu Ming for training.

The Mysterious Shop would not consume even a trace more power. Thus, after a previous shopkeeper died, how much "training" the next one received depended entirely on how substantial the previous shopkeeper's legacy was. If there was no family fortune, then they could accumulate it slowly. After all, those eliminated during selection could also be converted into power for the Mysterious Shop. Well, this place could buy souls, too.

The training method provided here was simple, essentially tailored teaching. Every day, Jiu Ming fought opponents that could be considered virtual, progressing from weak to strong. Nor were his opponents limited to humans. There were monsters and beasts of all kinds. Jiu Ming had even fought things like Aliens!

Even though defeat would not truly kill him, experiencing death so realistically was tolerable once or twice. Too many times, and even a ghost like Jiu Ming, who did not count as human, could not bear it! That feeling of truly dying intensified along with Jiu Ming's tolerance, pressing against his limits until, even knowing he would not really die, he no longer wished to experience death.

Likewise, whenever Jiu Ming defeated an opponent the Mysterious Shop had created for him, he grew stronger. It even gave him the illusion that—ah, killing the monster in front of him would grant him xxx experience points... Ahem.

In short, some of those virtual opponents were extremely powerful. When facing them, they were exactly like real people. They could think, scheme, and even interact and communicate.

That was the Mysterious Shop's "tailored teaching" for him. Jiu Ming seemed to possess no other talent. Aside from his innately powerful mental strength, his only gift was this Soul Body that had even caused the Mysterious Shop to misjudge him. Ordinary people found ghosts difficult to see, yet in the labyrinth, everyone had seen Jiu Ming under the Mysterious Shop's influence.

This Soul Body, inclined toward martial combat, gave him the traits of a Soul Body. By focusing his mind on an attack, he could produce tangible damage. His mental strength functioned much like stamina, depleting during battle.

Well, the main point was that he possessed no other special abilities. Whether he would develop any in the future, the Mysterious Shop only looked at the present. Having given Jiu Ming the strength to stand on his own, it left everything else to him.

The Mysterious Shop's universal currency was not exactly currency. It would be more accurate to call it a form of transactional power shared with its customers. In the Mysterious Shop's definition, Origin was a kind of fundamental power. Everyone possessed it, whether it belonged to themselves or to the world they lived in.

Everyone possessed it, whether it belonged to themselves or to the world they lived in.

Jiu Ming's current business volume was naturally zero. There were not even any goods in the entire shop. He was quite curious about what form the Mysterious Shop's goods would take. More importantly, without suppliers for deliveries, he had to collect everything himself.

Nor did he have any long-term goals. All he had to do as shopkeeper was maintain the shop's existence, while he himself gained the right to allocate its resources.

"Huh? Why is there nothing happening today?" He checked the time. This was usually when the Mysterious Shop gave him his daily training. It never asked for his consent, directly dragging him into another space—perhaps a plain, perhaps a desert. Any setting was possible.

Supplementary Origin Power depleted. Training cycle concluded!

Hmm... so that was it? In other words, his training had finally ended! Looking at the words Panel-kun displayed before him, Jiu Ming nodded. He only needed to treat it as an automatic notification or an information log. There was not even such a thing as personal attributes.

"So I finally don't have to fight those increasingly formidable freaks?" He felt a weight lift from his heart. It was not that Jiu Ming was pessimistic; the enemies he had faced recently had simply become harder and harder to defeat. Forget Aliens and dinosaur-like beasts—even beings like Predators had appeared. On several of the most outrageous occasions, Jiu Ming had encountered generals from the Three Kingdoms era... one of them was called Pan Feng... Ahem, it had to be said that the man was genuinely quite formidable.

In short, they had only been normal versions, not the kind from Dynasty Warriors.

There had been figures from wuxia as well. Jiu Ming had no idea how the all-powerful Mysterious Shop had created such a long list of beings. When he encountered characters with forthright personalities, he could chat with them for a while before fighting. Still, being killed by them did not feel good. Chatting was one thing, but once they started fighting, the opponents the Mysterious Shop created for him never held back.

Official operations have begun. The shopkeeper must be prepared to handle all kinds of customers at any time!

After displaying another message for Jiu Ming, Panel-kun concealed itself again. Jiu Ming shrugged. His mental resilience was far greater than it had been at the beginning. As the shopkeeper, he possessed certain privileges. Even if an unpleasant customer appeared whom Jiu Ming could not handle, the Mysterious Shop would grant him a state in which he could ignore them.

Of course, if he could handle them, Jiu Ming could act himself... but if he chose to make a move, the "invincible" state imposed on him by the Mysterious Shop would disappear. In short, even unpleasant customers were still customers!

Other than the shop itself, everything here could be sold as merchandise. That luxurious sofa, for example. That exquisite coffee table. Even the cups placed on it could be sold! Even Jiu Ming, the shopkeeper... uh, at most, he could be rented out. This business was actually the mainstay here. When he had previously studied the shop rules in detail, Jiu Ming had been speechless. This... how could a perfectly good person be rented out?

Renting people out was actually the main line of business! The Mysterious Shop's black hand was not limited to the world before him. Jiu Ming understood Panel-kun's final words before official operations began: the customers who came here were not necessarily human, but whether they were human or not, they were customers here.

"Whatever. I'll go out for a walk."

Leaving the counter, Jiu Ming stretched. The Mysterious Shop did not restrict his freedom. When there were no customers, he could leave whenever he wanted. There was no need to worry about watching the shop. This shop did not exist in this world; it was like a demi-plane drifting everywhere. Aside from those with absurdly good luck who could arrive here, no one else could find it.

There were also many ways to arrive here. Opening the door to go home, stepping through one's front door, going up or down the stairs, falling into a pit, sleeping, being swallowed whole by some inexplicably enormous beast... and so on. Everything depended on fate.

Looking at his still somewhat translucent palm, Jiu Ming grinned. It seemed this form could no longer be changed. Anyone who was not blind could see that something was unusual about him. Although Jiu Ming had grown much stronger, he still could not eliminate this flaw. But being a ghost had its conveniences too. He could easily do things like changing outfits with a single thought...

His clothes were also part of his Soul Body. With a slight exertion of will, he could alter them. His appearance was another matter. The Mysterious Shop had evaluated him as a combat type... not a transformation type.