The first item

When Su Bai had entered the hospital room earlier, he had not had time to close the door. He closed it first, then used his left hand, which bore the Mist Shop's brand, to open it a crack again.

What appeared through the gap was not the cold white light of the hospital corridor, but a slightly yellow, warm-toned light. It was just as bright, yet easier on the eyes.

Su Bai opened the door. Though it was a hospital room door, opening it produced the sound of wind chimes stirred by a breeze.

Then, right before Su Bai's eyes, a strange doll woven from intertwined cords on the counter inside the Mist Shop slowly transformed into the child who called himself "Xiao Wu," accompanied by the melody of the wind chimes.

"Welcome, madam-no, welcome back to the Mist Shop, boss." Xiao Wu jumped down from the counter and stared at Su Bai with a smile, as though trying to find flowers blooming on his face.

"Xiao Wu, help me." Su Bai had no time for greetings. He immediately explained what had happened at the hospital, then asked for help. "Is there any way to keep protecting my mother while I'm away?"

Now that he had become a player in the Nightmare World ahead of time, Su Bai was bound to be unable to stay by his mother's side day and night. Even if he chose to return to the real world after clearing every game, there were still many things he wanted to do in this second life.

"Madam's mother?"

Xiao Wu tilted his head and thought seriously for a moment before saying with absolute certainty, "Boss, although I can't leave the shop to help, and ordinary humans can't stay too long in a space where time stands still, there really is a very simple way to keep those ghostly things from approaching the hospital room."

As he spoke, Xiao Wu pointed to the two doors beside the counter.

Su Bai remembered Xiao Wu introducing them last time. One led to a storeroom that could produce items from the human world, while the other led to a Rest Room prepared for him, the Mist Shop's new owner.

Xiao Wu walked on his short legs to the Rest Room door and continued, "Boss, only you can open this door. Just use your left hand, the same way you open the storeroom."

Although Su Bai did not understand what the Rest Room had to do with his request, he walked over and opened its door.

Just like the empty shop outside, the first thing Su Bai saw was four white walls. But besides the walls, the Rest Room also contained a comfortable-looking single bed and a matching bedside cabinet. The brand-new mattress and quilt both looked soft, so despite the room's simplicity, Su Bai, who had not slept properly in a bed for over a decade, felt a little moved.

Besides that, there was actually another door beside the bedside cabinet.

Such a small Rest Room, yet it had two doors. If the door Su Bai had opened connected the Mist Shop to the Rest Room, where did the remaining door lead?

"This room looks a little small right now, but once there's more white sand in the jar, it'll grow bigger too." As Xiao Wu spoke, he pointed to the other door. "Boss, you only need to hold the handle with your left hand and concentrate on imagining it. Then you can connect this door to a door in the human world."

"For example, you could connect this door to the hospital room door. That way, no matter where you enter the Mist Shop from, you can go straight back to that hospital room through this door."

"Most importantly, once the two doors are connected, that hospital room will, on some level, become part of the Mist Shop." Xiao Wu looked at Su Bai earnestly. "Not only will those little ghosts be unable to approach it, but even if some relatively powerful ghostly things really do appear nearby, you and I will know immediately."

"If I'm in a Nightmare World game, does that mean I can return to the Mist Shop as long as I find a door with a handle, then use this door to get back to the real world?" Su Bai immediately thought of another possible use for the door.

"That's true in theory, but Master said using it that way would make an already chaotic nightmare even more chaotic." Xiao Wu shook his head regretfully. "So Master told me that whenever you're in a nightmare game, I must lock the Rest Room door."

"I'm very sorry."

Seeing Xiao Wu, who had been so happy to help just moments ago, now looking dejected, Su Bai ruffled the little fellow's soft hair and smiled. "Don't worry. Cheating in a way that has unknown side effects isn't my style anyway."

"Thank you so much, Xiao Wu."

"There's no need for thanks between you and me, boss." The little fellow shook his head with an air of maturity. "Is there anything else you need my help with? When you came in just now, I saw that the white sand in the jar had increased a little. Did you gain something in the nightmare?"

Su Bai entered the Rest Room and connected the door inside to his mother's hospital room door.

Only after confirming that the two doors were connected did Su Bai open the storeroom door beside it and take out an item suitable for housing the White Qipao Paper Figure.

"High heels?"

Xiao Wu saw that Su Bai had taken a pair of white high heels from the storeroom. They were the most ordinary style, and also one of the most classic.

"She is a lady who cares a great deal about her makeup and appearance, after all." Su Bai solemnly placed the high heels on a shelf against the wall as his first item. The shoes he had taken from the storeroom came in a transparent drawer-style shoebox, tied with a pretty bow made of white silk ribbon.

"I promised to give that lady a good place to stay. Since she trusted me without a word, I ought to prepare properly." Su Bai's words were half true and half false.

White Qipao had indeed "trusted" Su Bai without a word. After all, under the circumstances at the time, she had never had the chance to speak.

Su Bai opened the shoebox and touched the white high heels with his left hand.

The brand on his left hand had already told Su Bai how to turn the evil ghosts in the string of beads into merchandise for the Mist Shop. The principles behind it might have been complicated, but the process was simple for the newly appointed shop owner. All he had to do was close his eyes and imagine forcibly stuffing something inside.

When Su Bai opened his eyes again, a small patch of blood mist slipped into the high heels, and their originally black soles turned blood red.

"Anyone wearing them will feel their body become as light as a paper figure." At some point, Xiao Wu had leaned in beside Su Bai. With a single glance at the shoes, he discovered the item's special function. "If you explore them carefully, you should be able to discover more functions."

Xiao Wu's ability might also have come from his role as the shop assistant.

Su Bai could feel it too. The moment this special item came into being, the power he had exhausted during the Nightmare World game began trickling back into his body, leaving him even more replenished than before.

"Boss, although some power will remain in the shop even after an item is sold, your body is still too weak, and there aren't enough special items yet. It's not a good time to open the shop for business."

Su Bai naturally understood this as well. Considering his and his mother's lives in the real world, what he lacked most right now was actually real-world currency. He had originally intended to sell the Mist Shop's merchandise to players who were well-off in the real world, but for now, improving his chances of survival was indeed more important.

Just as Su Bai lowered his head in thought, the child who had stayed beside him suddenly grew very serious. Xiao Wu frowned and tilted his head to listen, as though he had heard something.

"Understood."

"What's wrong?" Su Bai vaguely heard Xiao Wu speaking. When he raised his head, he saw the child with the adorable appearance staring at him.

"Nothing, madam-boss. Perhaps the shop's power is too weak. I need to rest for a while." The child reached out and gripped Su Bai's sleeve. His dark red eyes reflected only Su Bai, and his expression was utterly earnest. "Remember, if you're in danger and can't find a door, you must wake me. Just keep calling my name, and I'll definitely... hear you..."

Xiao Wu's voice faded, and his figure gradually grew transparent. Finally, he turned back into the doll woven from cords and fell to the floor.

Since Xiao Wu had previously said that his power was closely tied to the shop, Su Bai did not find the child's slumber strange. He simply bent down, picked up the doll, and placed it neatly on the counter beside him before continuing to think about making money.

The two nurses in the inpatient ward had not mentioned payment when they saw Su Bai earlier, so at least the hospital bill should not be due yet. His mother would no longer be disturbed by little ghosts either, which meant things could remain stable for the time being.

In other words, what mattered most right now was not enjoying the sunshine of the real world, but stocking up!

He also needed to get to know more players. After all, running a shop required not only suppliers, but customers too.

Neither suppliers nor customers would be easy to find in the real world. In his previous life, Su Bai had heard that some players had formed groups there, and that there were even several apps exclusively for players. But since he had never left the Nightmare World, and real-world phone signals could not reach it, he had never looked into those organizations or apps.

Su Bai even suspected that Qin Ge had run toward him at the end of the last game because he wanted to give him contact information for the Relevant Authorities.

Now that he had missed that opportunity, if Su Bai wanted more information, he would have to search for it in the Nightmare World.

The fastest way was to join the next nightmare game.

Players in the Nightmare World were different from those in the real world. Even if they had just finished a nightmare game, they could sense, beneath the Red Moon, that another game was about to begin in a certain direction. This was no secret to Su Bai, who had lived once before. It was just that few people willingly joined games they could have avoided.

But Su Bai had to give it a try.

Preferably, he could find a game setting with plenty of evil ghosts or vengeful ghosts.

At that moment, not far from the Mist Shop, rows of gravestones cast long shadows beneath the Red Moon in a vast, open graveyard bathed in red moonlight.

It was clearly nothing more than a graveyard, yet the shadows of the gravestones joined together into shapes resembling several buildings seven or eight stories tall.

As the red moonlight gradually brightened, the crooked wooden fence around the graveyard slowly transformed into a white wall. The dilapidated wooden shed at the entrance became a security booth and a wrought-iron gate.

The ghostly outlines of several buildings appeared in the graveyard. They gradually solidified, finally becoming residential buildings seven or eight stories tall. Lights could faintly be seen coming on inside, along with dark figures standing at the windows.

The wrought-iron gate at the entrance to the "residential complex" slowly opened, as though welcoming the new residents who were about to move in.