The Gourmet Shop in the Wilderness Zone

Xue Xi leaned powerlessly against a mop she had scavenged from somewhere, staring at the massive hotel she had spent the entire day cleaning, and pursed her lips.

Heaven knows how a homebody from the 21st century like her, whose only hobby was gourmet food, had ended up here; she had been planning to travel across the country, following the footsteps of the A Bite of China production crew to taste every delicacy under the sun.

As it turned out, while reaching for the Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Gourmet Catalog on a high shelf in the library, her height failed her, and she tumbled down along with the book, hitting the back of her head on the floor and blacking out instantly.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a dust-covered hotel, with a red-covered tome resting on her chest—the very same Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Gourmet Catalog.

Confused and wanting to make a call for help, Xue Xi discovered that this godforsaken place had zero signal, and the constant roars of beasts echoed in her ears; pale-faced, she hugged the gourmet catalog to her chest, and suddenly, the entire book erupted in a blinding light.

Xue Xi instinctively squinted, and as the light gradually dimmed, she felt her hands grow light; the gourmet catalog had vanished without a trace.

The next instant, a stream of data flooded her mind, and Xue Xi gradually began to understand everything.

She was no longer in her original world, but had transmigrated into Swallowed Star, her favorite series, and the gourmet catalog had undergone unknown changes during the transition, now resting quietly within her mind.

To her amazement, Xue Xi discovered that she could see the massive book in her mind just by closing her eyes.

Driven by curiosity, she attempted to open the red-covered gourmet catalog, and the first page turned with ease, revealing a line of large text:

Please set a Gourmet Anchor in a clean and tidy restaurant to gain access to the subsequent pages of the catalog!

She tried to flip further, but the pages remained as immovable as if they had been sealed with concrete.

Although Xue Xi was a bit frightened, she kept a clear head; her only reliance in this Wilderness Zone was the catalog that had transmigrated with her, and even if a team of Martial Artists were to pass by, this place was a lawless land!

For the sake of her own life, Xue Xi decided that a clean room was a small price to pay, and she immediately began tidying up the hotel restaurant, which had been abandoned for who knows how long.

The cleaning lasted until the afternoon; Xue Xi tossed the mop aside, rubbed her aching arm muscles, and sat down on a chair.

It was fortunate that although she was a homebody, she hadn't neglected her exercise; otherwise, cleaning such a large room would have been less efficient than just letting the monsters outside finish her off in one bite.

After catching her breath, Xue Xi closed her eyes and returned to the massive book, seeing that the button to set the Gourmet Anchor had changed to an available state.

She pressed it decisively, and the next second, with her eyes closed, Xue Xi found that she could see the scene outside, the view divided into countless grids. The Gourmet Anchor occupied a 4x4 space, shifting position as her field of vision moved, looking exactly like the placement interface of the Serenitea Pot in a certain game.

Xue Xi knew this drill; she moved the Gourmet Anchor to the center of the restaurant, hung it from the ceiling like a chandelier, stopped her vision, and silently chanted, "Place!"

Her eyes snapped open to see a crystalline sphere with countless facets floating where the ceiling had previously been empty, emitting a warm-toned light.

Xue Xi didn't have time to marvel at this magical feat of creation and immediately looked back at the catalog; the text on the first page had vanished, replaced by another message: "Gourmet Anchor placed successfully. Gourmet Restaurant established. You may manage the layout on this page."

The page then displayed the view inside the restaurant, and when Xue Xi tapped the Gourmet Anchor, a note immediately appeared beside it:

[Gourmet Anchor: The symbol of the Gourmet Catalog restaurant. (Immovable)

Functions: ① Allows for restaurant layout management;

② The shopkeeper is protected from external enemies within a 1000-meter radius of the anchor;

③ The shopkeeper can perform a five-second channel from anywhere in the outside world to teleport back to the anchor.]

Xue Xi immediately relaxed; this, too, she was familiar with—management, teleportation, and an invincible domain; it was a classic trope.

However, the "invincible" part remained to be seen; was it like a Master of the Universe who controlled space-time, or just a state of simple invincibility? Xue Xi stood up from her chair to test it out.

She rolled up her sleeves and shouted at the air in front of her, "Control Space-Time!"

The world did not turn dark, nor did the rocks fly—that was impossible; only an incredibly quiet atmosphere enveloped Xue Xi as she pointed a finger at the sky. She felt as if she could hear a few crows cawing as they flew overhead.

Twitching her nose, Xue Xi retracted her chuunibyou pose without a hint of embarrassment and thought to herself: Well, the experiment proves that controlling space-time was just my own wishful thinking; it seems to be just simple invincibility. I suppose I was being greedy.

She continued to browse the catalog; she had a grasp of the management and invincibility functions, and as for the teleportation, there would be plenty of time to test that later. For now, she wanted to see what was on the next page of the gourmet catalog.