"Bo... con... own..."

"...ss ...irm... ship."

"...oss ...fir... ership."

Dai slowly starts to wake up. An annoying voice sounded in her ear, disturbing her sleep.

"Um…hmmm." She grunted, and her eyelids fluttered as she was on the verge of awakening.

"Confirmation received. Congratulations Boss. You have become the owner of a Dimensional General Store. Enter a name."

Dai's eyes snapped open as the words penetrated her brain, forcing her to focus.

"What?"

"Enter your Store name." The voice repeated. The voice sounded genderless, feeling like it was coming through a speaker. Dai rubbed her eyes and blinked. She began to look around and realized that she wasn't in her home. It was only about 50 square meters. She was sitting on a wooden floor that was the color of cherry wood. A counter stood next to the large sliding door, and behind it were glass display cases. A few more shelves were hanging on the walls in the room, and two larger shelves stood in the middle. Like the floor, shelves, and ceiling, it was cherry colored.

On the contrary, the walls and shelves in the middle had a dark color; Dai guessed that it was solid wood. The room thus acquired a pleasant contrast between dark and light colors. Everything looked new and sparkling clean. Dai had never seen such well-preserved furniture. At most, she imagined this was how it looked in the shops in the inner circle.

"Oh. That's nice." She assessed the appearance and began to rise. Ignoring the question of how she got here.

"Enter the store name." The voice sounded again, and Dai almost fell to the ground again.

Dai was looking around but saw no one. "Hello?" She called. The room wasn't big, so it didn't occur to her that anyone was hiding there. Unless he was crouching behind a shelf or counter. She flinched as a transparent, pale yellow window appeared before her eyes. She turned her head, but the window shifted with her gaze.

"Um…" She didn't know what to say. What the hell?

"Enter the store name." The written words that had just sounded in her ears appeared in the window. Below that, the keyboard appeared. "Okay. This is weird." She didn't want to do anything with the thing, but a yellow window blocked her view no matter where she moved. She frowned. So annoying. How does she get rid of it? So it's not like she doesn't know how to get rid of the window. All she has to do is enter a name. As it was asked for. But Dai didn't really like the fact that the thing gave her no other choice. She thought momentarily and then poked her finger carefully into the window. The finger went through, but Dai saw that the letter she was trying to press appeared in the window. She clumsily typed for a moment before confirming.

"Inappropriate words are not allowed. Name rejected." A voice answered.

"Oh, you annoying…" Dai snorted in irritation. She stared for a moment before she started typing again.

"Name accepted. Welcome to the Dragons&Fan, boss." The window finally disappeared, and for a moment, an elegantly written scribble that she had just made up flashed before her eyes. The first letter in the word Dragon was depicted as a dragon biting its own tail, and the first letter in the word Fan resembled a half-unfolded Fan. It looked quite stylish. Then that too disappeared, and finally, nothing obstructed Dai's view.

She walked over to the counter and ran her fingers on which no dust had stuck. Was it really new? She recalled yesterday and the mad chase with the vengeful star. Everything seemed so unbelievable. Could she be knocked into a coma? And this is some utopian world of hers? She's indeed dreamed of starting her own business for a long time, but something like that doesn't just fall into her lap. And certainly not for such an opportunity to ride on the tail of a crazy star. She also realized one disturbing thing. The star came from the Purple Rift. And everyone knows that only monsters come from the Rift. The Purple Rift really wasn't just for decorating the sky and irradiating the earth with spiritual energy. Sometimes, even strange monsters come. She had heard of cases where such a beast had suddenly appeared and destroyed some Shelter. Or powerful cultivators killed one and obtained strange resources. But she had never heard of anything else passing through the Rift.

Maybe she's dead, and this is her afterlife? Did she have good enough karma to run her own shop in the afterlife?

Dai was brought out of his thoughts by a sound coming from outside. It sounded like someone was rapidly banging a hammer on wood and sawing with a saw. Dai walked over to the sliding door and looked up, only now noticing a carillon hanging above the door, decorated with dragons and Fan. When did it appear here? Dai grabbed the door and pushed it aside.

The carillon let out a pleasant chime, and sunlight poured in, giving the room a welcoming feel. Dai stepped onto the small stoop in front of the shop and gasped. "Where am I?!" She screamed, and her voice carried across the plain. Exactly. The store was in the middle of nowhere. All around, as far as she could see, was an empty plain with fresh green grass and flat as a tabletop. The sky was azure blue, and the summer sun slowly traveled across it. And no Purple Rift!

Dai stepped onto the grass and began to walk around the building. Nothing. Same everywhere. Grass and endless horizon. Dai made a few laps around the shop, but nothing else was in sight. Not even a single blade of grass was more prolonged than another. Everything looked beautiful and fresh but not natural. There were no trees, no bushes, no birds, no insects, and no air movement. It almost looked painted. She touched the grass, to be sure, but at least it felt natural. That calmed her down a bit. A moment ago, she wondered if she was in the afterlife, but after seeing this, she dismissed it. What afterlife has such a shortage of dead souls? A ridiculous thought occurred to her. Could the grass represent the dead? Was she trampling on some poor dead people now? She shook the thought off immediately. Don't think about stupid things! She sighed. She couldn't really think of any explanation. So she would think of it as an afterlife for now.

She turned to the building to inspect it. Looked pretty good. Not big, but obviously new. The exterior walls are green-colored with dark solid wood trim. The roof was thatched, dark green color. Above the shop was a sign in the same artistic form she had seen before. Dragons&Fan General Store.

Dai jumped as the yellow window reappeared in front of her again, and a genderless, electronic voice sounded in her ear. "Welcome Dragons&Fan Shop Owner. You are currently in your Dimensional Space that connects the Universe and Dimensions. As a newbie to the business, you get 50 Star Coins for your initial setup. Your shop is not ready to accept customers at this time. Please open your shop to purchase items and settings." Dai blinked at the words she not only heard but also saw written.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"What personal shop?" she didn't understand.

Dai didn't know what to do. She had never heard of such a thing. She never played computer games, never heard of systems and such. These were things known in the Old World. In her time, she didn't care about gaming even though there were still reports, evidence, and maybe working computers. People of her time were more interested in useful and practical things. Who cares about how the ancestors wasted their time? Luckily, the system connected to Dai sensed her lack of understanding. A couple of icons appeared at the top of the yellow window. Tasks. Shop. Staff. The Shop icon glowed and pulsed to draw attention to itself. Dai pressed the button carefully, and the window color changed to light blue. A list of items appeared in front of her. The store had a few sections: Interior and Exterior Settings, Pets, Staff, Food, Cultivation, Connections, Weapons, Raw Materials, and Specials. Dai clicked on the Pets section first. She found that there were only three options. But she immediately looked at the first one in confusion. "Worm?"

Dai was looking at a picture of a worm. She had a strange expression on her face. Seriously, can anyone have a worm as a pet?

She looked at two other options. In the following picture was something that looked like a furry soot with two big eyes; the last one was a fairy. Okay, that's an improvement over a worm and a piece of soot. Dai poked her finger at the image of the fairy, which spread across the window; just below it was a description of how much it cost and a button to buy.

Name: Golden Dust Fairy

Description: Fairies are known as excellent housekeepers. This is primarily true for Golden Dust Fairy, who loves cleanliness. If he likes a place, he tries to keep it in perfect condition and make the owner happy. Requiring almost no care, the Golden Dust Fairy feeds on spiritual energy dust in the air. Minor defensive abilities.

Price: 10 Star Coins

She looked at her Star Coin count, and the corner of her lips twitched. She was a businesswoman herself, so she wasn't one to shop without thinking. And her instinct told her that this purchase was a scam. A fairy who likes to clean the dust? Dai didn't know how much one Star coin was in crystals, but she deduced from what she got that it must have been expensive. Even if she were wrong, she wouldn't jump at the fairy's good looks and flattering description. If something sounds too good, always doubt it!

She tapped the screen for a moment before figuring out how to return to the menu, this time opening the description of the soot puff.

Name: Infernal Coal Demon

Description: The Infernal Coal Demon is a subspecies of a true demon. They are considered pests in the demon world but have some growth potential. However, cultivating them is difficult. An excellent aid in cooking, fire control, and warming. Low defense.

Price: 3 Star Coins

Dai was a bit more interested in this. The price seemed decent, and the utility was alright too. She wondered if it would be helpful to her as she looked outside at the sun. Heating probably won't be necessary? This time she looked at the worm.

Name: Space Worm

Description: A worm from space that can be found in meteorites. The Space Worm has been cultivated for many years, and its development depends on the type of meteorite it feeds. It can grow to a considerable size under the right conditions. It does not require any care. He has no defensive abilities.

Price: Free

Dai sat outside on the rafters and folded her arms over her chest. Up until now, she had taken it all relatively calmly. She went through all three options and..... what the hell is this crap!? Fairy? Demon? A space worm?! Transparent flying windows! It seems that it has finally snapped in her. She felt that her understanding of the world had been turned upside down. Shouldn't someone prepare her for this? Where is any of her guides? Is she supposed to get through it all alone?

She pressed her fingers to her temples and massaged them. "This is seriously the strangest thing that has ever happened to me. Even the crazy star made more sense to me!" she said aloud.

After a while, she looked up at the window. She started waving her arms at it to shoo it away. "How do I get this thing off? Shoo! Off with you!" She cursed because she couldn't handle it right now. The window really disappeared. Dai took a breath and stared at the horizon. Weird. It's just weird. Is she really dead? Is this her shop? Where was she? And what were those strange items? She only went through one list but was a little afraid to look at the others.

She sat and thought for a while. Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't have the answers or enough information to come to any conclusions at all.

Suddenly she stood up. "I'll look around a bit." she'd better get moving, and maybe she'll think of something.

Dai decided it would be better to explore this place before doing anything else. She stepped forward and began walking away from the store. Dai walked straight ahead because everything looked the same, so it didn't matter which way Dai went. She walked, ran for a while, then walked again. After some time, Dai looked back and almost didn't see the shop anymore. She was a little afraid to go on. The store was the only point of orientation; if she lost sight of it, would she be able to return? She checked her direction according to the sun, gathered courage, and proceeded. There was no point in returning now that she had decided to try. The store eventually disappeared from her sight.

She kept walking, and finally, after some time, she saw something on the horizon. She cheered up. She ran towards the dark point, getting closer, but as soon as the point became more evident, she slowed down again, and when she was sure, she stopped altogether.

She was going back to the shop. How is it possible? She went straight for the nose! Not once did she change direction. She turned sharply and began to hurry in another direction, away from the store, with the same result. She always came back to the shop. What kind of magic is this?! Is this some small planet that it can pass by in a few minutes? But she didn't notice any curvature of the horizon! Now that she thought about it.... she looked towards the sun.

The sun traveled across the sky. It was definitely in a different place than before. Dai did return to the store after all. She sat down on the porch again and, this time, watched the sun, waiting for the time when it would set. Time went. The sun was moving slowly.

As it got closer and closer to the ground, Dai got more and more excited. It was about as exciting as watching paint dry. But for Dai, this was a chance to confirm at least SOMETHING! She swung her legs impatiently, took a sharp breath when the sun was almost down... and then nothing.

Dai froze as she saw the sun slowly move upwards into the sky again. She seems to be in a world where the sun never sets. But this place certainly did not resemble the Legendary Land of Plenty! She watched the sun rise again. Her mind was chaotic. She didn't know what to think anymore. The world has gone mad. Or is it her?

Dai was not one to enjoy chaos. She liked it when things worked the way they were supposed to. Suddenly this place felt broken.

Somewhere deep in her mind.

System: "..."

System: "Emergency mode activated. Start tasking process."

A new window appeared in front of Dai's eyes, this time in green color. She blinked and focused on the writing.

System: The Task System was started before the appointed time due to Host instability. The Task System is aimed at improving and motivating the Host. New Store Owner, complete the tasks diligently, and you will be rewarded.

First task:

Spend all Star Coins in the personal shop.

Reward: Inventory

Failure: No penalty

Note: You cannot welcome first customers without anything for sale.

Dai looked at it, her mind becoming more active. The dull look slowly faded, and the glow returned to her eyes. Now that she knew what to do, she felt revived. Dai was quite independent, but suddenly she found herself in something she knew nothing about, and the world didn't work as she was used to. She naturally accepted any guidance, like a foolish child finding a respectable master to learn from. "Okay...." She said and blinked. "Um… how do I open that window again?" she asked.