Suddenly, everyone’s heart skipped a beat as they remembered the rumors outside — that the one opening a shop in the Abyss was likely a demon!
Thinking back to the countless beasts inhabiting the Abyss, it was surprising that although they were there, they hadn’t seen a single monster.
With demon power that could rival gods, mere beasts were certainly no threat.
A chorus of nervous swallowing echoed in the air; the president of the Magic Association had sent them to run errands in the Abyss, thinking it would be a simple task, but it had turned into a matter of life and death!
The scar-faced man forced himself to calm down. He touched the gold coins in his pocket, his voice trembling, losing all previous arrogance: “Sir… no, my lord, we are here to buy things.”
Lusi Nian glanced at the new customer and felt particularly delighted; many people had come in one go.
He casually set down the accounting pen he had been using at the counter, completely unaware that he had nearly scared the customer out of his wits.
“Just taking a look; you can buy all of these.”
The scar-faced man retained some level of rationality and knew not to let the other party discover his true purpose as it would ruin the president’s plan.
He couldn’t see through the strength of the man in front of him and dared not step into this peculiar building, continually repeating, “I want that drink in the red packaging, the one in the red packaging.”
He took out all the gold coins from his pouch. The president had given him a thousand coins for this trip, instructing him to buy as much as possible and to try to bargain.
However, he no longer dared to haggle; surviving this encounter was the main concern, wondering if a thousand coins would be enough and if the demon lord would be angry if it wasn’t.
Lusi Nian observed the customer hesitating to enter the store, pondering that the latter likely had his reasons. He didn’t want to pressure him and accepted the pouch of coins.
Unexpectedly, the pouch looked all right, but when he took it in his hand, it weighed heavily, almost slipping from his grasp due to its weight.
Lusi Nian was astonished; he scanned the pouch on the counter only to discover it contained a full thousand coins!
He quickly calculated in his mind that a thousand coins were equivalent to a universal currency. Over the past couple of days, he had earned only a few hundred and had already spent all of it on inventory.
Yesterday, due to insufficient funds, he had only bought twenty bottles of cola, and today seven bottles had already sold, leaving him with thirteen.
Lusi Nian truly did not expect this day would come; he didn’t have enough stock to sell, helplessly watching coins slip away from his pockets.
For a moment, his heart ached; he stared longingly at the pouch, reluctant to let it go.
“Would you like to buy some other items as well? We’re running low on drinks; everything here totals only one hundred and thirty coins.”
The scar-faced man couldn’t help but tremble, fearing he would anger the demon. However, this money was not his own; it was for buying goods given to him by the president. So he hesitantly pulled out another small pouch — his personal savings.
“Well, let’s just take one of each of the other items.”
Lusi Nian gathered all the colas from the display, along with a durian candy, a pack of chips, and a band-aid, packing them into a large bundle.
He extracted more than a hundred coins from the pouch and handed the remaining coins along with the package to the scar-faced man.
As the scar-faced man prepared to take it, he suddenly felt a strong resistance from the other side, unable to grasp it despite his efforts.
Anxiously, he looked up and found himself captured by the gaze of the man before him.
From a distance, the black eyes appeared like ink, but upon closer inspection, they were actually a shade of gray-brown. When he smiled, his brows were charming, and looking into those eyes only revealed one’s own reflection, mesmerizingly beautiful.
It seemed he could see endless fondness in those depths; the devilishly handsome face was alarmingly close, and the scar-faced man felt an unexpected rush of panic.
Before he could express any opinion, pondering whether to admit he was straight if the demon happened to fancy him, fearing it might provoke the demon’s wrath, his grip faltered, and the package fell into his hands.
He heard the other’s deep, alluring voice reach his ears, captivating and eerie. The man softly spoke, “Will you… come back again?”
The scar-faced man’s ears turned crimson, and his mind muddled; he could barely comprehend what was being said, opening and closing his mouth but unable to formulate a response.
“Forget it…” the demon sighed deeply, the sound lingering.
As Lusi Nian prepared to leave, he glanced back at the scar-faced man, whose peach blossom eyes shimmered with confusion, causing the man to question his own preferences.
He vacantly thought, perhaps … a man isn’t so impossible after all.
After sending these people off, Lusi Nian rested his chin on his hand, sitting quietly for a long time.
Until the system’s voice echoed in his mind, sounding rather anxious.
“Master, how are you…?”
Lusi Nian lifted his face, his eyes dimming as he felt the loss of hope in life, covering his heart in distress, “To think such a big business opportunity… has fallen apart because of insufficient inventory, I feel so terrible, waah.”
The system seemed to stall for a moment but quickly responded, its mechanical voice devoid of emotion offering comfort.
“Master, don’t be sad; there will be plenty of opportunities to make money in the future.”
Lusi Nian sighed and glanced back towards the gateway, almost imagining that he could see the shiny golden coins retreating through the elevator.
*
“Boss… Boss, wake up.” A coarse, duck-like voice ringed in his ears, impossible to ignore, like the reminder of death itself.
The scar-faced man slapped down instinctively, letting out a cry of pain that jolted him awake.
Only then did he remember that he had emerged from the Abyss.
The package he held in his hand confirmed that what had just occurred was indeed real, that mesmerizing and enchanting face lingering in his thoughts.
He dared not dwell on the memories, muttering to himself that demons were too good at bewitching people, even more so than succubi.
Pushing away the companions who leaned in too close, the scar-faced man called to them: “Let’s go, we need to report our task progress to the Magic Association.”
They reentered Vista City, successfully delivering the remaining coins and colas to the president of the Magic Association, Alik.