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as translator, proofreader and editor!
When Jiang Ci left the company, it was already deep into the night. She took out her phone and glanced at the time—11:30 PM.
There was only half an hour left before her birthday would be over.
Originally, she had reserved a hotpot restaurant she had been wanting to try for a long time, along with a large karaoke room, planning to relax with her friends. But just before getting off work, they were called back by their boss for a meeting to revise a proposal, and they had been busy until now.
The birthday celebration was ruined, and her entire birthday was taken over by work. Jiang Ci suddenly felt a bit aggrieved.
Since graduating from university and joining this company, overtime had become the norm. Sometimes, even on her days off, she would receive urgent calls from her boss. Every day was either revising proposals or on the way to revising them. Standing in this big city she once dreamed of staying in, Jiang Ci felt lost for the first time. Is this really what she wanted?
The night breeze brushed past her hair, and Jiang Ci snapped out of her thoughts, turning towards the subway entrance.
The late-night subway was no longer crowded like it was during the day. The cold white lights felt somewhat desolate, and there were plenty of empty seats. Dragging her tired body onto the train, Jiang Ci found a seat near the door and sat down.
After sitting down, she fished her phone out of her pocket, scrolling past the messages from various company group chats. There were a few birthday wishes from friends, which Jiang Ci replied to one by one. Since it was late, she didn’t receive any replies from them immediately.
After exiting the chat app, she habitually opened the folder where she kept her collection of mini-games. This was one of her ways to decompress—mindless games helped her relax after a day of tension.
Opening the folder, Jiang Ci noticed a new orange game icon in the bottom right corner. The app icon was a steaming hotpot, with the game name Opening a Hotpot Restaurant written below.
Jiang Ci was puzzled. When did she download this game? The opening animation of the game was exquisitely crafted. Jiang Ci noticed that the little girl in the animation bore a striking resemblance to her—even the bun hairstyle and the dress shirt she was wearing today were almost identical.
This coincidence delighted Jiang Ci, and she began to watch the story in the animation with great interest. The plotline was similar to most management games: the female protagonist, unable to make it in the big city, decides to return home and inherit a hotpot restaurant.
Jiang Ci gradually became more and more engrossed in the game as she upgraded the shop, unlocked new ingredients, and progressed step by step. By the time she returned home, her hotpot restaurant had already taken shape.
After finishing her nightly routine, Jiang Ci lay in bed and opened the hotpot restaurant app, ready to continue playing. Suddenly, a tremendous force pulled at her from the phone. Before she could react, she vanished from her room.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a small, dilapidated wooden house. The light was dim, and Jiang Ci could only make out two tables and chairs inside. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the floating dust particles in the air.
Both inside and outside, the surroundings were eerily silent.
Suppressing her fear, Jiang Ci observed her surroundings while slowly inching toward the door.
Finally reaching the entrance, she noticed no other movement inside. She placed her hand on the doorknob, pressed down, and pushed outward. Despite her efforts, the door remained firmly shut.
Jiang Ci froze for a moment, a wave of despair washing over her. “What do you want from me?! Where is this place?!” she cried out.
After a while, just as Jiang Ci thought no one would answer, a mechanical voice abruptly echoed in the space.
[Please calm down, host,] the voice said. It sounded faint, accompanied by static, as if a robot were running out of power. [I apologize for bringing you to this parallel world without any prior notice.]
The situation was utterly bizarre. Parallel worlds? Host? These terms felt so far removed from Jiang Ci’s life, as if a novel had suddenly become her reality.
Before Jiang Ci could respond, the mechanical voice spoke again, [This is a small world parallel to your own. I am a system from Planet M660. Our planet is establishing stations in various parallel worlds on the brink of collapse to collect energy. You, host, were carefully selected through rigorous observation as the manager for this station. The station here will take a form that you enjoy and can accept—in this world, it’s a hotpot restaurant.]
Jiang Ci listened and roughly understood. It seemed the issue stemmed from that mysterious app that had suddenly appeared on her phone.
Standing by the door, her entire body radiated wariness. While she did enjoy playing casual games and reading fantastical novels, it didn’t mean she could remain calm when faced with such a situation in reality.
“I don’t want to be a manager candidate. I just want to go home. I’m really tired after a full day of work, and today is my birthday. Although it might already be past midnight now, so could you please choose someone else?” By the end of her speech, Jiang Ci no longer knew what she was saying. Her language capabilities had completely malfunctioned due to fear.
She hadn’t forgotten the system’s earlier mention of being on the brink of collapse, which indicated that this world harbored unknown dangers. She didn’t want to take any risks.
The system paused for a moment, as if understanding Jiang Ci’s concerns, and then continued, [Host, there’s no need to rush to refuse. In this world, ensuring your safety is the most basic requirement. Moreover, in the later stages of the mission, you will be able to own a real-world version of the hotpot restaurant. The system will handle all related matters for you, including obtaining the property and land deeds, and selecting the location in the city and street with the most foot-traffic.]
Hearing this, Jiang Ci’s resistance inexplicably weakened a bit. The idea of owning her own hotpot restaurant was indeed appealing.
But three seconds later, she came to her senses. She had been fed too many empty promises by her company’s leaders and was already full from their nonsense.
She shook her head, her tone firm, “I don’t believe it. Just send me home.”
The system fell silent again. Jiang Ci felt like a long time had passed before the system spoke once more, [Alright, I can give you the property deed and land certificate first. You can consult professionals to verify their authenticity. However, you won’t be able to enter that property until the mission is completed.]
Jiang Ci paused, genuinely tempted.
“How do I know you won’t take these back after I agree, making me work for nothing?” Jiang Ci remained cautious, though less so than before.
[I swear by Planet M660, and we will sign a contract with the host. If we violate it, we will be exiled by the planet’s judgment,] the system stated solemnly once again.
“Why do you insist on me being the manager? Maybe someone else wouldn’t require so much effort,” Jiang Ci voiced her confusion.
[To be honest, as you might have noticed, my energy is running low, and I need to conserve some for protecting the host. So, I’m currently operating in power-saving mode,] the system’s mechanical voice carried a hint of helplessness.
Seeing Jiang Ci still silent, the system directly presented the promised property deed and other documents before her.
The property deed materialized out of thin air in front of Jiang Ci.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Jiang Ci picked up the property deed and flipped through it. The address was in the city center of her current location, a standalone building. The area wasn’t specified; the system said it would be determined based on the hotpot restaurant’s upgrade status in this world.
The property deed bore her name. At this moment, Jiang Ci felt a strange sensation. She had struggled in this city for several years but still didn’t own a single property.
She had to admit, she was swayed.
“How long do I need to stay in this world? Can I go home during that time? Will you take care of my food, clothing, and shelter here? If I stay for ten years, will I have to wait ten years to own my hotpot restaurant? By then, I’ll be thirty-five.”
[The flow of time between the parallel world and the real world is different. One year in the parallel world is equivalent to just one month in the real world. During this period, the host can apply for leave to return home and can communicate with family at any time. We will take care of all living expenses, so the host can rest assured,] the system patiently answered Jiang Ci’s questions one by one.
“I… I want to go back and think about it some more,” Jiang Ci said to the system.
[That’s fine. The host has three days to consider. I hope we can reach a mutually satisfactory answer in the end.]
After the system finished speaking, Jiang Ci felt dizzy again, and the next second, she was back in her own bed.
If it weren’t for the stack of documents and materials still in her hand, Jiang Ci would have almost thought she had just been dreaming.
That night, Jiang Ci tossed and turned in bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep.
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
The next morning, Jiang Ci, with dark circles under her eyes, squeezed into the morning rush hour subway. Her bag still contained the materials given by the system, and she planned to have a lawyer friend look at them during her lunch break.
The morning was still filled with constant busyness. Occasionally, Jiang Ci would zone out, thinking about the property deed in her bag, her feelings indescribable.
Since she had a meeting at 2 o’clock, Jiang Ci didn’t have time for lunch. She bought a sandwich and hurriedly took a taxi to her friend’s law firm.
In the coffee shop downstairs from the law firm, her friend carefully reviewed the documents and the property deed, finally concluding that they were indeed genuine and valid.
The area wasn’t specified, and her friend didn’t ask, presumably because the system had somehow obscured it.
The efficient girl across from her patted Jiang Ci’s shoulder with an envious tone, “Not bad, I haven’t even bought a house yet, and you’ve already bought a shop. This location is really good. It must have cost a lot, right?”
Jiang Ci couldn’t explain properly and only gave vague answers. On her way back, she detoured to the city center, asking around until she finally found the address on the property deed.
The location was indeed excellent, right next to a popular shopping mall, with nearby attractions like a museum.
The hotpot shop in the middle had a great advantage. The shop was surrounded by construction cloth, so the interior wasn’t visible, but judging from the external outline, the area should be quite large.
new novel^^ updates for this one should be faster than retiring to collect rent ◡̈
short note to see if you want to keep reading:
to preface, there is barely any sort of complex plot in this novel. it’s purely a slice of life management novel. it’s an easy read, don’t expect insane narrative and prose from the author bc it’s pretty straightforward, even with me as the editor trying to link it all together TAT. there is romance as well but it happens later around chapter 40-60 iirc. if you’d like a relaxing read, this is a good novel for that! by chapter 20 you should already have a rough idea of whether you like the vibe of the novel or not though! the easiest way to describe this novel is fast-food lmao—it’s quick, easy to read, and nice to pass time if you’re bored
