A Rather Troublesome First Customer

Jiu Ming sat stiffly on the sofa, staring unblinkingly at a door in the room... a very strange door. It should have been an exterior door leading outside, yet it had been awkwardly left indoors...

That was unimportant. What mattered was the "customer" who was about to walk out through that door!

Someone had actually gotten lucky enough to arrive here—and so soon?

Click—

"Ah~ Where is this? A suspicious place for kidnapping high school students... Huh, not some creepy old man!"

"...Oh?" Kidnapping? Raising an eyebrow, Jiu Ming looked over the girl standing in the doorway. She was slender and petite, with bright dark eyes, long lashes, pale peach-pink lips, and a lovely face. In short, she gave off the impression of being a stunning beauty when she walked in, but once she opened her mouth...

Anyway, she seemed like the sort of customer who would be a pain to deal with. Was this what they called a bad start?

For the moment, Jiu Ming subtly decided to conceal the truth about this place. It would be best if he could find a way to send her off first!

"You're trespassing, aren't you? Could you please turn around and take two steps back now?"

"Hm...?" The girl put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, narrowing her eyes as she carefully inspected Jiu Ming several times. Then, as though she had figured something out, she stomped her foot hard. "Are you trying to play some locked-room game!?"

"Come to think of it, how exactly did you bring me here? I think I was just about to go to the restroom..."

Before long, the girl had begun changing the subject as though no one else was around. Jiu Ming quietly summoned Panel-kun and asked it a few questions.

"Fine. The restroom is on the right, so go ahead. Then please go back wherever you came from, okay?"

"Thank you, **sir."

The girl immediately ran toward the direction Jiu Ming had pointed out. Halfway there, she suddenly turned back. "Hey, you're not going to peep, are you?"

"You're questioning my character?!"

"What about hidden cameras?"

"I'm not that bored!" Scratching his head, Jiu Ming wanted nothing more than to get up, grab her by the collar, and throw her back through that door!!

"One last thing!"

"What?" Thinking of Panel-kun's strange behavior, Jiu Ming temporarily restrained the urge to test that idea.

"You... won't suddenly barge in, will you?"

"That's entirely possible. After all, there's a lone man and woman here. If you're scared, just go back through that door and you can return!" His eyes shifted, and Jiu Ming's lips curled into a faint, deeply malicious smile. When it came to matters between men and women, he currently had the desire but not the ability.

"How could I possibly let this go so easily? Just wait."

"Hey! Panel-kun, explain this properly! What the hell is going on? There wasn't even a restroom here when I was around—there wasn't even a bedroom! Why is everything fully furnished now?!"

He tightly grabbed the Panel-kun that had appeared before him. Visible only to Jiu Ming, Panel-kun shook violently, and even the words on it seemed to tremble slightly...

Bang!

Panel-kun turned into fine specks of light, then a new Panel-kun appeared in front of Jiu Ming.

When you were the only one here, there was naturally no need for such useless things to exist. Customers are gods...

"Oh? What about bad customers?"

The Mysterious Shop can specially generate a morgue for you.

"What about her, then?"

The Mysterious Shop can consider selecting its next shopkeeper.

Bang!

The Panel-kun before him once again turned into fragments beneath Jiu Ming's fist!

Damn it, I'm going out myself!

He had not expected Panel-kun to answer like that. Jiu Ming twitched his lips, took out a pen and paper, casually wrote a note, and placed it on the coffee table before quickly standing up and heading outside.

Within Lingquan City, Jiu Ming sat rather inappropriately on a bench. It was currently dusk, and although some young couples came by during that time, they hurriedly left as though they had seen a ghost. This person had no shadow!!

"You finally showed up again." With a cigarette hanging from his lips, the man who had fought Jiu Ming that night frowned in conflicted frustration as he looked at the... ghostly figure before him!

Only now had he realized something was strange about the young man before him. "You... what exactly are you? No, what kind of person are you?"

"Me? Just call me Jiu Ming."

"Is that so? I'm Wang Hai." Captain Wang sat down as well. "Can we talk?"

"Aren't we talking right now?" Jiu Ming yawned, his expression slightly troubled. Did he look like someone who had a home but could not return to it?

He had been out for two hours. That girl should have gotten bored and left by now, right?

"What's with that expression... What, did your family kick you out?" Captain Wang took out a cigarette case, flicked out a cigarette, and tossed it to Jiu Ming.

"You seem experienced. You've been through it too, huh, uncle?" Catching the cigarette, Jiu Ming spun it between his fingers. "You've been looking for me?"

"That's right." Captain Wang nodded, then glanced at Jiu Ming again. From his subtle observations, Jiu Ming's condition did not seem to have been caused by some ability. It seemed more like he had always been this way.

A passive-type supernatural ability?

"Why?"

"You and Zhou Jing shouldn't have known each other before, right? Why did you do that? And you know something about Du Fei's situation, don't you?"

"Oh? Your school is pretty impressive. You actually pay attention to matters involving ordinary students?" Jiu Ming chuckled softly, sounding somewhat teasing.

"I only happened to discover it. What is your purpose?" Since Jiu Ming had not denied it, Captain Wang nodded and took out a lighter, handing it to him.

"Don't worry. What happened to him was merely a fair trade. You don't need to worry about something like that happening again." Jiu Ming lit the cigarette in his hand and let the smoke drift freely. If he dared take a puff, the smoke would dare float right through the top of his head...

Smelling it was enough.

"A fair trade?" Captain Wang frowned. "That kid was bedridden in the hospital for half a month. His body looked like it had been excessively drained."

"Half a month? That brat's constitution was weaker than expected." Jiu Ming shook his head. "Fine, my mistake. Next time, I'll find someone stronger...?"

"There'll be a next time? Explain yourself. What kind of trade could leave someone like that?" Captain Wang's brows rose, his tone turning displeased. Then he noticed something that stunned him.

The faint smoke from that cigarette was slowly drifting through Jiu Ming's body. It was not simply going around him—it was passing directly through him!

What exactly was going on?

"Classified. Anyway, is there anything you can't do and need help with? Of course, you'll have to pay the necessary price. I believe in fair trades here."

"...No!" After struggling with it for a moment, Wang Hai could not help but stare blankly. He already knew that Jiu Ming's so-called trade was what had left Du Fei in that state, yet he still had the nerve to suggest it to him?

He vaguely felt that the matter involving the Campus Belle was connected to Jiu Ming's trade with Du Fei. But forget it. That matter was already over, so there was no need to bring it up again and make trouble for himself.

"Don't worry. Du Fei's matter was merely an example."

"I sincerely hope there won't be any more examples, at least none involving Changhe Academy or its students." Wang Hai's face was stern, as though he would attack immediately if Jiu Ming refused.

"You care a lot about those students, huh?" Jiu Ming smiled faintly and asked.

"That's my duty!"

"Well, I can't guarantee that. But trust me, this sort of thing won't happen again." Jiu Ming shrugged, answering in a rather relaxed tone. "And nothing more outrageous will happen either."

"...Then let's leave it at that for now. Here's my number." Wang Hai stood up and shook his head helplessly. "Can I ask one more question? Are you human?"

"As you can see, I'm a ghost."

"Things like that really exist?" Wang Hai exhaled all the smoke in his mouth and tapped his forehead. "See you next time."

"You made a Beautiful Girl wait this long. Could you possibly be any worse?" Jiu Ming stared dumbfoundedly at the girl before him, who stood with her arms crossed and a face full of complaints. His mouth fell open.

"You still haven't left?"

"Why would I leave? You still haven't answered why you brought me to your home." The girl dashed up to Jiu Ming. "Also, what exactly did you do to bring me here without me noticing at all? And! I'm hungry!"

"If you're hungry, go home and eat. Don't mooch off me. I'm going to sleep." Jiu Ming scratched his messy hair. Since the Mysterious Shop had become fully furnished because of this girl, he was more than happy not to sleep on the sofa.

"You...!" The girl pointed at the counter. "This is a shop? I saw the brochure over there."

"..." Jiu Ming turned around expressionlessly and summoned Panel-kun. "You set me up?"

As the shopkeeper, you should not conceal information about the Mysterious Shop from customers.

"So she knows everything?"

The other party has a special identity. What she knows is limited to superficial information.

Oh~ A special identity, huh? In other words, a distinguished guest? Or a distinguished guest you could not explain properly?

"Fine then. Customer, what do you want to buy? Or do you have some special commission? Of course, payment must be made afterward."

"Hmph, you finally look a little serious." The girl crossed one leg over the other and sat back down. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Suzumiya Haruhi. I have no interest in ordinary humans. Are there aliens, time travelers, people from other worlds, or psychics here? Is there anything to eat?"

"My name is Jiu Ming, the shopkeeper here... What can you pay?" In any case, it would be better to send this rather unfortunate girl away.

"Money?"

"Why does everyone like bringing up money? Talking about money hurts feelings! So if you're hungry, you should just go home and eat!"

"You're really trying to throw me out!! Let's talk about your kidnapping of a female high school student. I'm calling the police." The girl took out her phone, while Jiu Ming remained perfectly calm.

"Oh? I'm so scared. Do you have a signal?" His eyesight was not bad, so he naturally saw the empty signal bars on Suzumiya Haruhi's phone screen.

"If I say there's a signal, there's a signal. Got a problem with that?"

Then, as if God had declared, let there be light, a signal miraculously appeared on the phone!

This... Wearing an expression of reluctant compromise, Jiu Ming walked to the door and pointed at the floor by his feet. "You're looking for nonhuman beings, right? Look at the ground. I don't have a shadow!"