When they heard what Yun Zhenyue said,
everyone present was completely dumbfounded.
W-work?
Where did she even come up with that idea?
Did she think the shop needed her to work there?
They had never heard anything about the Shadowy Shop hiring.
Besides, this shop was an A-rank dungeon!
It was notorious for devouring people whole.
The goods inside were extremely expensive.
And the cashier's attitude was absolutely abysmal.
They had all learned this information before the Ghost Marriage even began.
Could she really be that clueless?
Still thinking this was like the real world.
Han Sumei went silent when she heard this.
But a vicious glint flickered in her eyes.
Although she didn't get to see Yun Zhenyue beg her for help,
hearing about this foolish plan was the next best thing.
She couldn't wait to watch Yun Zhenyue get killed by a ghost.
The other female players didn't offer any warnings either.
It had nothing to do with them, after all.
They were happy to watch Yun Zhenyue walk to her death.
Outside of Dragon Country,
the audiences from the other countries were gloating.
[HAHAHA, this stupid woman actually wants to go work there?]
[Does she really think working for a little while will be enough to pay for her groceries?]
[This is a suicide mission. Looks like we're about to see the first death of this Ghost Marriage.]
[Hmph. Great Cold Country is still the best. Han Sumei's partner knows the ghost at the shop. Does anyone else have such a valuable connection?]
[I can't believe Piao Dagen was hiding such a trump card. He's a little ugly, but he's strong!]
...
Meanwhile,
the audience in Dragon Country felt their hearts sink, sensing that things were about to go terribly wrong.
They hadn't seen Gu Yuan give Yun Zhenyue any Ghost Coins.
He had only given her a membership card of dubious authenticity.
This meant she wasn't joking; she was actually going to go through with it.
[Oh my god, I knew she was a bit of an airhead, but I didn't think she was *this* dense.]
[Sigh... How could she confuse the real world with the Ghost World? Buying things and then paying it off by working? Is she kidding me?]
[This is bad, this is bad!]
[I can't bear to watch anymore.]
[Didn't Gu Yuan give her a membership card, though?]
[That card is probably only good for propping up a table leg. There's no way it has any money on it.]
...
Dragon Country's Ghost Marriage Research Headquarters.
The expressions of all the staff members present froze.
Minister Wang Xiuwen was especially furious.
"What was she thinking?"
"Without Ghost Coins, how is she supposed to buy groceries?"
"Why did she refuse Gu Yuan's help!"
A staff member said with a pessimistic expression, "The best thing to do now would be for her to go back and ask Gu Yuan for Ghost Coins."
"But it seems that's impossible now."
"The ghost cashier at the Shadowy Shop is a Fierce Ghost. He's killed players from the Ghost Marriage several times before without any mercy."
"After tens of thousands of AI simulations, the probability of Yun Zhenyue being killed is 99.99%."
"If only Han Sumei could put in a good word for her. After all, her husband knows the ghost at the shop."
"That might be her only chance of survival."
They had no way to communicate with the players who had already entered the Ghost Marriage.
Otherwise, they would have definitely persuaded Yun Zhenyue to give up on this idea.
The players from other countries had all brought at least some Ghost Coins with them.
In all the previous rounds of the Ghost Marriage, no player had ever died on the first mission.
Could it be that just when they finally saw a chance of success, it was all going to end in failure on the very first mission?
Hearing this, Wang Xiuwen's eyes filled with despair.
All he could do now was pray silently.
Pray that the cashier would spare Yun Zhenyue's life.
But deep down, he knew it was impossible.
...
「Shadowy Shop」
Everyone filed into the store one by one.
They saw a terrifying ghost cashier.
He stood behind the counter, tall and thin, with deep-set eye sockets embedded in a face as pale as paper.
Under the ghastly white lights, his gaze swept over everyone, revealing a greedy expression.
Like a starving diner staring at a meal, it was utterly horrifying.
No one dared to meet his gaze. They quickly dispersed to pick out their groceries.
Although the ghost cashier was terrifying, the shop had a wide variety of goods.
Not only were there daily necessities, but there was also meat and vegetables.
Yun Zhenyue carefully selected today's groceries.
The food she had brought yesterday was almost gone, so she needed to restock properly.
'I should buy some meat. My husband likes meat.'
'And some more vegetables, and milk... oh, right, we're running out of toilet paper too...'
Yun Zhenyue spent a while shopping and ended up with a pile of goods, though she was careful not to take too much.
After all, she would have to work to pay it all back. She reasoned that since the items had no price tags and were all common goods, they probably wouldn't be very expensive.
It wasn't until she was standing behind the others in line
that she noticed the players from the other countries had chosen very few items.
Some only had a small piece of meat, while others clutched a single green vegetable.
'This isn't nearly enough to eat, is it?'
Yun Zhenyue's eyes were filled with confusion.
When the other women saw how much food she was holding, they couldn't help but give her strange looks.
"She's so dead," one of them whispered.
"Doesn't she know that the food edible for humans is the most expensive?"
"All that stuff... it must be at least fifty or sixty Ghost Coins."
"She even dared to grab toilet paper. How extravagant."
It was time to check out.
The ghost cashier looked at the women who had only grabbed a few things.
A cold, impatient look appeared in his deep-set eye sockets.
But due to the shop's strict rules,
he couldn't harm players who paid.
As the first few female players nervously handed over the Ghost Coins they had,
the ghost cashier let out a cold snort.
"Pathetic rats."
"Next time you buy so little, don't even think about leaving."
Hearing this, the female players paled in terror. Numb with fear, they quickly grabbed their items and left.
Soon, only Yun Zhenyue, Han Sumei from the Great Cold Country, and Yamada Aiko from the Sun Country remained.
Han Sumei had actually picked out several items.
"Seventeen Ghost Coins,"
the ghost cashier said, his cold gaze fixed on her.
"That expensive?"
Han Sumei was startled by the price. She didn't have nearly enough Ghost Coins. Fortunately, her husband had said he knew the cashier, so she put on a fawning expression.
"Sir, my husband lives in the nearby complex, on the fourth floor. His name is Piao Dagen."
"You must know him, right? For his sake, could you give me a small discount?"
The ghost cashier frowned upon hearing this.
"Piao Dagen?"
He did know that ghost. They had chatted a few times when he came to the shop, and he knew Piao Dagen was also a Fierce Ghost.
But—
The Shadowy Shop had branches all over the Ghost World. He, a mere cashier, was already a Fierce Ghost, to say nothing of the beings above him. He didn't need to give 'face' to any ghost.
Besides, the manager was coming for an inspection today.
He couldn't risk being punished just to give a discount.
The ghost cashier sneered impatiently. "Him?"
"Who the hell does he think he is?"
"And you want a discount."
"Not one Ghost Coin less for these items, or else..."
Hearing this,
Han Sumei was scared stiff.
She never expected the ghost cashier to be so merciless.
And she certainly never expected Piao Dagen to have lied to her!
'What happened to 'I know the cashier'?'
In the end, she had only managed to anger him.
Sweat poured from Han Sumei's forehead and her scalp tingled with fear. Without a discount, she couldn't afford any of this.
She had originally planned to pick out more items to raise Piao Dagen's affection for her.
Now, she wanted to kill him!
"Th-this... Sir..."
"How about I put these items back? I promise they're all still clean."
Trapped in an impossible situation, Han Sumei could only beg the ghost cashier to let her go.
But all that awaited her were his drooling eyes.
"Put them back?"
"There's no such rule in this shop."
"If you can't afford it, then you can pay with your body."