Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 212

Chapter 212

With those words, the two Anomalies collapsed stiffly to the ground, dissolving into clouds of black mist and leaving behind only two yellow safety helmets.

Inside the helmets were two Contracts.

The Anomalies had already signed their names. As long as Gu Huaiwei returned to the entrance of the Mine Tunnel, the Contracts would be finalized, and the family of three would follow her out and head to the Oasis Sanatorium.

“That takes care of the three Anomaly slots for the shop,” Gu Huaiwei said, tucking the Contracts into her Jade Bracelet.

“A Contract only allows you to take an Anomaly out of an Instance. If we want them to stay at the shop as guests, we have to issue an order, and they will charge us Lifespan for that,” He Xueyi noted, feeling that it wasn’t a particularly good deal.

Gu Huaiwei was naturally aware of this.

“That’s why I need to earn some pocket money in this Instance. Since it doesn’t cost much Lifespan to command a Low-level Anomaly, I’ll cover the initial cost with my own funds, then order them to stay at the shop. That way, I can collect Lifespan from them in return.”

As for the initial investment, she considered it a minor loss for the sake of her stage mission – a sort of introductory discount for them.

Bai Yuzhen had been hiding in the cupboard, peeking at the scene outside through a crack.

She watched as Gu Huaiwei effortlessly contracted two Low-level Anomalies without any regard for the cost, feeling somewhat perplexed.

When Trial-takers contracted Anomalies, they usually prioritized quality over quantity. Gu Huaiwei’s approach was the exact opposite.

However, Bai Yuzhen didn’t like meddling in others’ business.

As long as Gu Huaiwei could help her, she would turn a blind eye to all of her irrational behavior.

Just then, an alarm blared outside. The lights in the room flickered a few times before dying out, plunging the room into total darkness. The woman who had been sleeping soundly on the bed suddenly sat up, twisted her head, and lunged forward, reaching out to throttle Gu Huaiwei.

“Die… If you Trial-takers die, those Bandits will finally let me go…” The woman’s voice was raspy, squeezed from her throat with a chilling hatred.

Gu Huaiwei’s senses had been enhanced.

Even with the lights suddenly out, she only needed three seconds to adjust to the dark environment.

Gu Huaiwei caught the woman’s reaching wrist, her lips curling into a teasing smirk. “Miss, don’t go feeling people up in the dark.”

The woman was nothing but skin and bones.

Her wrist felt like a withered branch in Gu Huaiwei’s grip.

However, Gu Huaiwei noticed that the woman’s body temperature was warm.

Standing to the side, He Xueyi frowned slightly and gave a small sniff. “Shop Manager Miss, she is a living human.”

“A living human?” Gu Huaiwei narrowed her eyes, looking at the woman in the darkness.

The woman’s struggling ceased abruptly the moment she heard the words “Shop Manager.”

In the dark room, her eyes suddenly lit up as if she were grasping at a lifeline. Her previous rage vanished, replaced by a frantic, rapid-fire question: “You… you called her Shop Manager? You run a shop too?”

“What? Are you one as well?” Gu Huaiwei released the woman’s hand. This Instance was truly full of surprises.

The woman was so agitated she nearly lunged off the bed, her voice trembling with urgency. “I used to be! I’ve been trapped in this Dimension… Please, I beg you, save me! Take me away from here! I don’t want to die in this place!”
Dimension Operators trapped in small dimensions never seemed to meet a pleasant end.

Gu Huaiwei’s tone was flat. She had long since grown accustomed to seeing these failed Seniors.

“How did you end up like this?”

“I earned a lot of Lifespan, but I failed to meet the business objectives of that dimension. After I was fired, I wanted to find a place without corruption to hide and live a normal life under an assumed name. Gray Mist Town wasn’t an Instance back then. The original residents were few and very simple. If it weren’t for this damned mine, the corruption wouldn’t have gathered here.”

At this point, the woman trembled. She recalled those terrifying, anomalous Bandits. Her mind was filled with horrific scenes of them disemboweling Trial-takers and peeling off their skin to make drums.

“It was only after I lost my status as a Dimension Operator that I realized I would become just like an ordinary person. I no longer had the power to resist Instances. Inside an Instance, I have to follow the Rules just to survive. You’re an Operator, aren’t you? That’s why you didn’t hide in the wardrobe – you don’t have to follow these Rules at all! Take me with you! You must have a way to break the Instance Rules and get me out of here!”

“But I have no reason to help you,” Gu Huaiwei said with a beaming smile as she stood up. “You helped the Anomalies kill Trial-takers. That’s quite wicked of you.”

The woman began to explain, “I did it so I could stay alive. You should understand.”

Gu Huaiwei nodded. “Mhm, I understand.”

“Then save me.”

“No,” Gu Huaiwei replied, blinking innocently. “You should understand me, too. You just tried to reach out and strangle me. If I save you, there’s no benefit for me. Oh dear, I’m afraid I simply don’t have the kind heart required to repay a grudge with kindness.”

The woman bared her pale teeth. “If you don’t save me, I’ll tell those Bandits that your friend is hiding in the wardrobe.”

She was trying to intimidate Gu Huaiwei.

But Gu Huaiwei didn’t fall for it.

Bai Yuzhen was hiding in the wardrobe based on the Rules.

No matter how powerful the Anomalies in an Instance were, they still had to follow the Rules to harm people. As long as Bai Yuzhen didn’t violate the Rules, those Bandits couldn’t do anything to her, even if this woman snitched.

Meanwhile, Bai Yuzhen, hiding inside the wardrobe, looked pale.

She kept her head down, reading the Rules over and over again. She comforted herself mentally, believing that as long as she followed the Rules, she would be safe.

Noisy footsteps echoed from outside.

The Bandit Overseers were back.

The door to the room was kicked open.

The woman on the bed was startled and instantly shrank into the corner, clutching her head. The iron chains around her ankles let out a crisp clinking sound.

The Overseer Chief had a fully human appearance. He had dark skin, but his hair and pupils were silver-white. He was bare-chested, wearing a necklace made of human bone around his neck and a Leather Drum hanging from his waist.

Men and women followed behind him.

To the beat of the Leather Drum, those Bandits twisted their bodies in a wild dance.

When the Overseer Chief saw Gu Huaiwei, the drumming stopped.

The Bandits behind him seemed to have been hit by a pause button, freezing in place while still in their twisted dancing poses.

Only the Overseer Chief stepped forward, grinning. “Another little mouse has broken in. Why aren’t you hiding?”