Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - chapter 105

The girl wore black shackles around her wrists, ankles, and neck. Strange patterns were etched into the restraints-no keyholes, no seams, no visible joints.

The Oasis Matchmaking Agency sat atop a sheer cliff. Outside, the wind came in bitter gusts, heavy with damp mist.

Seeing how pale the girl looked, Gu Huaiwei invited her in. “It’s cold out there. Come in and sit for a bit.”

“Mm.” The girl followed Gu Huaiwei into the shop.

All the while, she kept sneaking glances at her. Gu Huaiwei had no shackles on her body, and she looked young, with no sign of aging at all.

The girl was baffled. Was this female clerk a human, or a high-ranking Pseudo-Human?

If she was human, then how could she stay young without shackles?

If she was a high-ranking Pseudo-Human, then this Skin Suit was far too perfect!

The shop was heated. The decor was simple and the space was small-barely a dozen square meters-but it felt warm and carefully arranged.

The wooden walls were painted a creamy beige paired with deep red, and under the soft glow of the hanging light, the place carried a faintly festive air.

There was only a single curved desk inside, one that could accommodate only one client at a time.

On one side of the wall hung the pricing list.

The Matchmaking Agency charged by stages.

Registration: 80 Magnetic Value

Successful meeting between both parties: 280 Magnetic Value

Marriage contract reached between both parties: 6800 Magnetic Value

Gu Huaiwei had only just arrived in this world.

The Oasis Matchmaking Agency didn’t have the kind of cleaning robots the Oasis Hotel had. Here, they had to rely on manual labor-sweeping up, clearing cobwebs, cutting down weeds…

On top of that, the Oasis Matchmaking Agency had been built deep in a remote mountain range. Gu Huaiwei hadn’t even had the chance to go out yet. She only knew Magnetic Value could be used as currency for transactions in this world, but she had no idea what Magnetic Value actually was.

The girl walked slowly. Once she was inside and no longer being battered by the cold wind, a little color returned to her face, and her breathing eased.

He Xueyi poured her a steaming cup of green tea.

“Thank you. My name is He Jiarui. An old granny who tells fortunes said your place is really effective, so I trekked all the way here to ask for help finding a match.”

“That must’ve been hard,” He Xueyi interjected at just the right moment.

“Mm…” The girl sounded a little cold. “Ever since the apocalyptic phenomenon, the environment outside has gotten worse and worse. Humans aren’t like you. Going out under these skies makes it easy for us to get sick.”

Gu Huaiwei’s attention, however, landed somewhere else.

She asked, “What fortune-telling granny?”

“Just someone I happened to run into on the roadside. I paid her to do a reading, and she said that as long as I kept heading east, the first person I met would help me find my true destined one.”

In principle, Gu Huaiwei thought fortune-telling was a scam from the bottom of her heart.

But this customer had believed it and delivered herself right to the door.

Gu Huaiwei immediately clasped her hands in front of her chest and said cheerfully, “That granny really is accurate-she’s practically a living immortal. Don’t worry. Since you’ve met me, I’ll definitely help you find the right person.”

He Jiarui’s gaze lingered for a moment on He Xueyi’s retreating back. Holding her tea, she lowered her head to watch the leaves floating on the surface. Her voice turned small. “Miss… before we keep talking, can I ask you something that might be a little rude?”

“You don’t have to call me that. You can just call me Matchmaker Gu or Shopkeeper Gu.” Gu Huaiwei’s attitude was exceptionally friendly. “Go ahead-ask whatever you want.”

Doing business was all about a good start. Closing the first client smoothly meant a good omen.

Gu Huaiwei wanted to make this deal happen and bring some luck to the Oasis Matchmaking Agency.

He Jiarui asked, “I want to ask… are you human, or a Pseudo-Human?”

“Huh?” Gu Huaiwei blinked, the words Pseudo-Human spinning around in her mind.
Gu Huaiwei was in the middle of closing this deal, so of course she couldn’t just ask the client, “What does Pseudo-Human mean?” That would make them look wildly unprofessional.

When you don’t understand something, the best move is to listen more and talk less-keep an air of mystery.

He Jiarui thought Gu Huaiwei had been offended by the question and hurriedly waved her hands to explain. “Don’t get me wrong! It’s not that I have anything against Aliens that disguise themselves as humans. I just think that if I’m hiring a Matchmaker, it’s better to find a human…”

She felt humans understood humans’ needs better.

This plane was a world where humans and Pseudo-Humans coexisted, and its system of love and marriage was completely different from Gu Huaiwei’s traditional understanding.

Pseudo-Humans were essentially Aliens wearing human skin.

Gu Huaiwei said, “I’m human.”

Getting the answer she wanted, He Jiarui let out a long breath. The tension on her face eased a little, and she began to talk about her situation.

“Here’s the thing. I’m about to reach the age for Bonding, but I don’t want to be with the Keeper I was assigned to at birth. I want to Bond with a new Alien.

“My requirements for a partner are simple. I want them to have a human Skin Suit-the higher their Disguise Level, the better. They should be used to living the human way, able to speak human language, and their yearly Magnetic Value output must be no less than sixty thousand points.”

“Hold on. Let me write that down.” Using the Matchmaking Agency’s laptop, Gu Huaiwei typed in He Jiarui’s requirements word for word.

As for what any of it actually meant, Gu Huaiwei didn’t understand a single word.

After saving it, Gu Huaiwei continued, “Now tell me about your own qualifications.”

“Me…” He Jiarui rubbed the rim of her ceramic cup with her index finger, tilting her head as she thought. “I have pure human blood. I’m sixteen this year. My physical fitness score is forty, and my mental state score is seventy. According to the overall assessment, with normal support from a Pseudo-Human, I can live to my eighties.

“As for flaws…” She paused, frowning slightly. “I can understand the Alien language, but I’m not very good at speaking it. I like spending more time around humans and I need to go out and move around, so I can’t accept a Pseudo-Human with too strong a need to control me.”

“Got it. I understand all of your requirements.

“On our side, registering requires an upfront payment of 80 Magnetic Value. Once the fee is paid, we’ll find you a compatible match within a month and arrange a meeting.”

“Mm-hm. The sooner the better.” He Jiarui looked a little anxious.

“Do you want to register right now?” Gu Huaiwei tapped the Enter key and looked up. “Or do you want to go back and think it over?”

“Register.” Making a trip out was a hassle. He Jiarui felt that being able to make it here at all was guidance from heaven, so she paid without hesitation.

“Wait a moment, I’ll take the payment…” Gu Huaiwei pulled out a cash-register scanner that felt strangely unpleasant in her hand and checked the Employee Handbook for instructions.

He Jiarui tugged her collar down, revealing a stretch of pale skin below her neck.

According to the Employee Handbook, Gu Huaiwei needed to place the scanner near He Jiarui’s neck.

“It might hurt a little,” Gu Huaiwei warned in advance. “It’ll feel like having blood drawn at a hospital. If you feel unwell, tell me right away.”

“Mm. It’s fine.” He Jiarui tilted her neck to the side.

Once the scanner detected human body temperature, a sharp fleshy spike extended from its tip. It slid down through the opening of He Jiarui’s collar and, as if alive, stabbed into her chest. Then it drew out a golden, glowing liquid from inside her.

The scene looked bizarre to Gu Huaiwei.

He Jiarui, on the other hand, seemed used to it.

Gu Huaiwei thought to herself: No wonder He Jiarui’s mental state score was seventy.

Getting stabbed by something like that and not making a sound-if her mind were unstable, she’d have been screaming already.