Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - chapter 109

These Pseudo-Humans were all here for Gu Huaiwei.

She was human-unbonded, her Newborn Ring already fallen off, with no Keeper. A free human.

In the eyes of Pseudo-Humans, that was like a delicious cake left out in the open with no one watching.

When Gu Huaiwei glanced toward the shop entrance, one of the Pseudo-Humans stepped forward. He had a high brow ridge, eyes like a hawk’s, and a sharp, prominent nose; his features looked a little fierce.

“Hello. Could you let me in?” He forced a friendly expression, clearly trying to make a good first impression.

“No. We’re not open yet. Come back tomorrow morning.” Standing behind the glass door, Gu Huaiwei flipped the sign to show the business hours.

It displayed:

8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Right now was outside business hours.

“Then sorry to bother you.” The Pseudo-Human seemed used to human coldness and stayed very polite.

Gu Huaiwei watched him walk back to his companions and mutter a few words. Then the group of Pseudo-Humans sat down on a huge stone right in front of the shop and simply waited-refusing to leave.

They were customers, technically. Even if their behavior was strange, Gu Huaiwei didn’t feel right chasing them off, so she let them sit there.

That night, Gu Huaiwei dragged the folding bed behind the office desk and used that spot as cover while she slept.

Before resting, she took her sister’s safe out of the Jade Bracelet and began trying the passcode one attempt after another.

“…The password is the date your favorite virtual character was reborn.”

Gu Huaiwei was stumped. Favorite virtual characters? She had so many she couldn’t count them on fingers and toes.

She tried a few she’d been into recently. Each time, the safe displayed that the password was incorrect.

After several failures in a row, she kept at it until deep into the night before finally giving up. She lay back down on the bed, half-asleep, and hazily recalled the image of her sister keeping watch by a hospital bed when they were kids.

In that daze, she remembered that period when she’d been obsessed with mythology-how she’d brought it up to her sister countless times, the date of Lucifer’s Fall.

She’d told her sister,

“Someone who’s willing to pay a price to take control of their own fate can’t be called a devil.”

Gu Huaiwei’s eyes snapped open.

That was the date.

She got up and tried again-click. The safe opened.

Inside lay an antique-looking mirror.

Gu Huaiwei took it out, and the moment she saw her reflection, she froze. A faint halo of light shimmered around her body.

She couldn’t see it directly. She couldn’t touch it.

Only the mirror could reflect it.

How strange.

Curious, Gu Huaiwei used the mirror to secretly look outside at those Pseudo-Humans.

The Pseudo-Humans wearing Skin Suits revealed their true appearance in the mirror.

Reflected within were writhing, dark-green, soft-bodied worms. They had feelers, and their bellies held varying amounts of golden fluid-something that made her feel like her sanity was dropping just from looking.

This mirror seemed to have a special power: seeing past appearances to the essence underneath.

A treasure.

The next morning, Gu Huaiwei got up with two dark circles under her eyes.

Considering privacy at night, she had Lin She help install new blackout cloth over the doors and windows in the main hall.

Lin She went straight for black curtains.

Gu Huaiwei hurriedly stopped him. “Black feels like a funeral home. It doesn’t match the theme of our Matchmaking Agency. Let’s switch to these floral ones instead-warmer, cozier.”

Lin She stared at the overly flashy floral pattern she’d chosen. After a moment of silence, he said, “You need to consider how the house feels.”

“What feelings could a house possibly have?” Gu Huaiwei just liked all kinds of tiny florals.

Lin She didn’t explain. He installed the floral curtains as she asked.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Gu Huaiwei’s eyes curved with satisfaction as she admired the new curtains.

But her smile didn’t last long. For no reason at all, the curtain ring snapped, leaving the floral fabric hanging half-up, half-down in a way that looked downright ridiculous.
“What’s going on? This quality is awful.”

Gu Huaiwei was baffled. She tried to put the pull ring back on.

The moment her fingers touched the curtain, the seam split with a loud riiip, tearing open a huge gash.

Huh?

She stared at her hand.

She hadn’t even used any force.

The next second, the curtain rod-supposedly fixed in place-came loose and crashed down with a bang. If Gu Huaiwei hadn’t reacted fast, it would’ve smashed her right in the forehead.

“Holy hell.” Gu Huaiwei patted her perfectly intact head, then looked up at the wooden house. “Don’t tell me this place is… alive?”

Lin She nodded.

He actually nodded!

“Let’s use this one.” He Xueyi held up an off-white curtain. “It matches the wall color really well. It’ll look great once it’s hung.”

“Fine. As long as it blocks the view.” Gu Huaiwei decided to give up on aesthetics and stay far away from curtains.

At eight o’clock, the Oasis Matchmaking Agency opened right on time.

Gu Huaiwei pinned her hair up with a wooden hairpin. A red flower-symbolizing her identity as a Matchmaker-was tucked by her temple. She stood at the entrance, keeping order.

“Dear customers, if you’re here looking for a partner, please line up at the door and take a number!”

“Please enter one at a time.”

The Oasis Matchmaking Agency dealt with personal privacy. They couldn’t let it turn into a marketplace with everyone piling in.

First in line was the fierce-looking Pseudo-Human from last night.

“Please have a seat. He Xueyi, make this gentleman a cup of tea.”

The fierce-looking Pseudo-Human didn’t touch the hot tea in front of him.

He stared at Gu Huaiwei with burning eagerness. “I want a human I can Bond with.”

“Sir, don’t rush. We do have a female member who’s looking for a partner, but she does have requirements.

“Please tell me what you’re looking for, and your own situation.”

Gu Huaiwei opened the work computer.

She thought that next time, she should prepare some forms in advance-then people could register their information first and save her time.

“I want someone like you.” The fierce-looking Pseudo-Human said something outrageous.

He gazed at Gu Huaiwei as if he were being deeply affectionate.

“I’m the Matchmaker.” Gu Huaiwei fought down the urge to punch him.

Love at first sight didn’t have to be this ridiculous.

“As long as you’re human, that’s enough.” The Pseudo-Human reached out to grab Gu Huaiwei.

He pulled out a pink Bonding Ring. Liquid shimmered in his black eyes as he spoke: “I’m willing to pay 6,800 Magnetic Value upfront. As long as you’re willing to Bond with me, I’ll give you Magnetic Value every day and keep you young forever.”

“Hey-keep your claws away from me!”

Gu Huaiwei reacted instantly. She kicked the office desk; the wheeled chair she was sitting on shot backward from the force, letting her dodge the Pseudo-Human’s grab.

Why were these Pseudo-Humans so easily in heat?

“I’m willing to pay 8,000 Magnetic Value!”

“I’m willing to pay 10,000 Magnetic Value…”

The people waiting in line at the door started shouting over each other. One after another, they pulled Bonding Rings from their pockets and called out higher prices, terrified that if they were even a step too slow, the human in front of them would be taken by someone else.

Bonding Rings in every color-an alternative kind of shackle after a fresh coat of paint.

These Pseudo-Humans were so desperate to use shackles to bind a human.

This wasn’t looking for a partner. This was looking to tear Gu Huaiwei apart.

“Not for sale, not for sale. The Matchmaker herself is not for sale.”

Seeing things about to spiral out of control, Gu Huaiwei drew her blade. The black dagger spun once through the air and dropped neatly into her palm. She was ready to use force to maintain at least a little order.

The Matchmaking Agency suddenly began to shake. The glass door flew open, and a powerful force hurled every Pseudo-Human who had squeezed into the room straight back outside.