Was This a Werewolf Village, Too?

"Do you have any other classmates or fellow alumni you could introduce me to? We can negotiate the pay!" Mu You asked, unwilling to give up.

"Well... I'll do my best..."

Too embarrassed to turn him down outright, Zhao Qian left him with those words, waved, and walked away.

"What a shame..."

Mu You knew there wasn't much hope, either. Expecting graduates of prestigious universities like Zhao Qian to lower themselves to working in a pet shop really was a little unrealistic.

"I'll worry about it later..."

He could only put the matter aside for now.

Mu You returned to the shop and helped Xiao Ya attend to the remaining customers.

They stayed busy until they had seen off every customer that afternoon, then both leaned over the computer at the front counter to tally up the day's earnings.

Over the course of the day, the shop had sold twelve hamsters, seven chinchillas, five rabbits, three golden coin turtles, six canaries, and five koi.

In addition, customers had placed reservation tags on a large number of pets, which were awaiting sale.

There were also all the pet supplies and feed customers had bought along with their pets.

Once they finished the tally, the day's sales came to an astounding fifteen thousand yuan or more. Even after deducting costs, their net profit exceeded eight thousand!

"Boss, today's sales almost matched what we used to make in a whole month!" Xiao Ya gazed at the spreadsheet on the computer, her eyes curving into crescents as she grinned from ear to ear.

"Ahem, don't get too excited. This is only the first day. What matters most is finding ways to keep these customers and turn as many of them as possible into regulars."

Mu You let out a breath. Today's explosive sales were mainly due to the impact of the video he had posted.

But videos with that kind of viral potential were something you stumbled upon, not something you could count on.

They were already incredibly lucky to have struck gold once. From now on, they would still have to rely on the quality of their shop itself to retain customers.

With the day's business brought to a successful close, Mu You sent Xiao Ya a five-hundred-yuan cash gift as a reward for her hard work.

"Thanks, boss!"

Standing at the shop entrance, Mu You watched Xiao Ya skip away, then quietly lit a cigarette and thought back over everything that had happened since last night.

In truth, after obtaining the Time Pocket Watch, making money had become effortless for him. He didn't need to go through the trouble of training pets and running the shop every day. All he had to do was make a round of the big casinos abroad, and he could have as much money as he wanted.

Yet Mu You had never considered using that method, for one simple reason: such unconventional ways of making money could all too easily expose him!

After all, he wasn't the only player on Earth, and compared with all the other players, he was merely a rookie who had just started playing. If another player discovered his identity, then...

In short, since he wasn't particularly short of money at the moment, his best option was to keep running the shop as usual and quietly grow stronger under the radar.

"One step at a time..."

After finishing his cigarette, Mu You stubbed it out, flicked the butt into the trash, and headed back into the shop.

He hadn't forgotten that he still had one action point left in the game.

He closed the shop, took out his phone, and launched Fool!

Having just gained a brand-new profession and a house of his own in the game, Mu You was riding high. He eagerly guided his character outside to begin exploring.

[You push open the door, leave the Night Watchman's cottage, and continue exploring deeper into the village.]

[It is getting late, and the road ahead is shrouded in darkness. You have no choice but to light your pumpkin lantern to find your way.]

[The pumpkin lantern's glow stands out on the path beneath the night sky.]

[After walking some distance, you reach the intersection ahead and suddenly spot a Werewolf crouching in the grass nearby.]

[The Werewolf spots you. The Werewolf lunges at you!]

[The Werewolf bites you to death!]

[You have died. Lifespan -1. Remaining lifespan: 54 years.]

Goddammit, another sudden death!

Mu You had thought that once he entered the village, surely he would no longer run into situations where some little animal bit him to death out of nowhere. Instead, the game immediately sprang this surprise on him.

And what the hell was this Werewolf about?

Mu You carefully reread the text several times, confirming that it said Werewolf, not wild wolf.

So this was a damn Werewolf game village, too?

The sudden appearance of this new creature completely disrupted Mu You's earlier plans. Sure enough, the village wasn't safe either!

With his character dead, Mu You was about to press the Pocket Watch and rewind immediately, only to discover that the game hadn't simply ended.

After his character died and returned home, another passage of text actually appeared at the bottom of the screen.

[After the agony of death, you revive in the cottage's basement.]

[Just as you are about to get up, your hand suddenly touches a dust-covered book on the floor.]

[You pick it up and discover that it is a patrol journal left by the previous Night Watchman, recording everything he saw and heard during his nightly rounds. Unfortunately, the journal is written in Star Spirit Language. To understand its contents, you must first learn Star Spirit Language.]

[Perhaps you could visit the owl shopkeeper and buy a "Star Spirit Dictionary" to study Star Spirit Language.]

A night watch journal?

Mu You paused in surprise. Dying and returning home this time seemed to have happened to trigger a new event, giving him a journal.

Judging by its name, it was probably a diary written by a Night Watchman, recording what he experienced during his rounds each night. If Mu You could translate the whole thing, he could indeed glean a great deal of information about the Star Spirit World.

However, to understand the diary, he first had to find the merchant, buy a dictionary, and learn that world's language.

"It'll have to wait until midnight..."

For now, Mu You didn't need to worry about either the Werewolf or the Star Spirit Dictionary.

He had completely exhausted his stamina for the day, and it was only six in the evening, earning him a lovely six-hour lockout.

With nothing else to do in the meantime, and knowing he would have to stay up late to go out and complete his Night Watch Duty, Mu You simply returned to his bedroom to get some sleep in advance.

At 11:30 p.m., his alarm woke him right on schedule.

He dragged his famished body downstairs in search of food.

After finishing dinner, he washed up. When he checked the time again, it was already 11:55 p.m.

"Time for the mission!"

Midnight was approaching. While most people in the city were fast asleep, Mu You was full of energy as he prepared to head out.

Going out in the dead of night to complete his Night Watch Duty for the first time was honestly a little exciting!

Of course, to avoid exposing himself, Mu You didn't swagger out through the front door. Instead, he went to the pet bathing room on the ground floor and climbed out through its rear window.

He had grown up in the pet shop and knew the area inside out. No one knew better than he did where there were cameras and where there weren't.

Keeping to the cameras' blind spots, Mu You made his way to an abandoned alley two streets away.

Hidden in the darkness, he swept a hand across his face and switched to his Night Watchman form.

Only after watching dark red cloth garments appear all over his body did Mu You light the pumpkin lantern and carry it out of the alley.