[The boss is blocked at the entrance]

Tong Yu woke up a bit later than yesterday because he was so happy counting money last night.

After washing up, making and enjoying a simple breakfast on his picturesque balcony, and then running five kilometers downstairs, Tong Yu finally returned to his room and put on his virtual helmet.

He left his virtual home and strolled leisurely towards his shop.

Tong Yu had set his shop’s business hours from 10 AM to 12 AM. It was only 9 AM, and he planned to use an hour to adjust the instance content.

As an experienced gamer, Tong Yu always felt that escape room games should offer surprises. Playing with a walkthrough was no fun.

Tong Yu pondered how to modify the instance as he walked towards his shop, but then, all of a sudden, he couldn’t move.

‘Hmm? Why are there so many people?’

Although the virtual world was a network, to achieve realism, character models wouldn’t overlap. This meant that when a place became crowded to a certain extent, it would become congested just like in reality.

And Tong Yu was caught right in that congestion.

‘Is there some event happening?’

Tong Yu was in a hurry to get back to his shop to adjust the instance, so he didn’t linger. He tried to squeeze through where there were fewer people.

“What are you squeezing for? Get out of the way!”

“Move aside!”

“With your small physique, don’t get squashed into paste in a bit. Did you lower the pain setting?”

Tong Yu squeezed for a full ten minutes, even losing a shoe, but he couldn’t even get into the crowd.

It was already 9:30 AM. If he didn’t get through, he wouldn’t be able to open the shop.

Tong Yu began discussing with the people around him: “Excuse me, everyone, could you let me through? I’m the owner of a shop on this street, and I’m rushing to open.”

“You’re a shop owner? Then why don’t you just log in directly at your shop?”

Tong Yu explained, “I haven’t had time to bind it yet.”

“Go on, go on. Everyone else has used that excuse; it’s no good.”

“I really am the shop owner.”

“Are you also going to say you’re the escape room shop owner?”

“You know me?” Tong Yu paused, surprised.

“Pfft!” The person ignored Tong Yu and turned back to continue pushing their way in.

‘What in the world is going on?’

Tong Yu tried for another ten minutes, pushing until he was completely out of patience. He stepped aside to rest. There was also a group of people resting on the roadside, unable to push through, just like him. These few seemed prepared, even bringing snacks.

“Where did you buy that?” Tong Yu was tired from pushing and felt like his breakfast had already digested.

“Over there. They’ve set up a few snack stalls.”

Tong Yu was shocked. ‘Even snack stalls are out here?’ “Is there some event going on? Why are there so many people?”

The person looked at Tong Yu in surprise: “You don’t know?”

Tong Yu shook his head.

“Did you see the top-ranked live stream video on Lan Hai ^[1] Blue Ocean Live?”

‘Live stream?’ The only live stream he had watched since coming to this world was his escape room live stream yesterday, but that one was still ranked in the hundreds by the end.

Tong Yu shook his head: “No, I didn’t. What type of live stream?”

“You actually didn’t see it?! Oh my god, do you know what you missed?”

“What?”

“A live stream that can make your spiritual sea calm. A live stream that can scare you offline with just one sentence.”

‘Hmm? The first half sounds somewhat familiar, and the second half also sounds a bit familiar.’

“The Ghost Bride’s Wedding, Chinese horror that will make your hair stand on end.”

‘What the heck?!!!’

Tong Yu’s eyes widened into perfect circles, staring blankly at the enthusiastic big brother who was introducing the live stream to him.

“Doesn’t that sound a bit exaggerated? Let me tell you, when I first saw the live stream title, I thought it was just a gimmick too. But I saw its live stream ranking was so high, so I decided to give it a try. Who knew… the process was simply marvelous. After watching the entire three-hour live stream, I felt completely elevated, a feeling more exhilarating than… well, you know.”

“Cough… cough cough…”

“Blushing, are we still a virgin, hahaha… Anyway, you definitely need to watch it. Even without the ‘that’ part, you can have a similar feeling.” The person finished, then gave Tong Yu a suggestive wink.

Tong Yu, being a young man raised in a new society with countless viewing experiences, wasn’t actually shy. He was mostly astonished that his “films”… Pfft, his escape room live stream had such an effect.

“So what do these people have to do with that live stream?” Tong Yu had a vague suspicion but still asked.

“That live stream was about a game called Escape Room, and the location is on this very street. These people are all here to play the game,” the person explained.

“But… with so many people, the shop can’t possibly hold them all, can it?” His small, rundown shop felt crowded with just ten people. This many, he estimated thousands.

“Yesterday, the backend reservations exceeded 100,000. We were just thinking…”

“How many?!” Tong Yu’s face turned pale.

“100,000! And that was after the owner closed the reservation channel, otherwise, the number would still be…”

Tong Yu couldn’t hear the rest. He opened the shop’s backend, found the reservation channel, and the string of zeros after “reservation count” simply stunned him.

[Master, when will you be arriving at the shop? The reserved players have already arrived.] The shop assistant sent this message the instant Tong Yu logged in.  

‘I know, I know. They’re already spilling out onto the street.’

Tong Yu didn’t dare to use voice chat. He lowered his head and typed: [Why are there so many reservations?]

[Our shop’s reservation limit is 100,000. It hasn’t exceeded 100,000 people.] the shop assistant replied.

[Who told you to set the limit so high?]

[This is the default value. 00987 did not adjust the limit.]

Tong Yu felt like crying. He had just checked; these 100,000 people had each paid 10,000. ‘How could his small, rundown shop ever accommodate all 100,000 of them?

Heaven help me!!’

[Master, there are five minutes left until business hours. Have you arrived?]

[Your master is stuck at the entrance and can’t get in!!!] Tong Yu replied in resignation.

Meanwhile, inside the shop, the first batch of players who had managed to squeeze in couldn’t see the owner, so they surrounded the spherical shop assistant, asking questions.

“987, where’s your master? When are they coming?”

“Exactly! It’s almost opening time, and they’re still not here.”

“First time I’ve seen a game shop open at ten o’clock.”

If this were an ordinary person, they would already be under immense pressure from these eager players. But 987 was an AI; no matter how impatient you were, it would only answer your questions in a precise, unvarying manner. So, it replied: “My master is stuck at the entrance and cannot get in.”

As soon as this answer was given, both inside and outside the shop fell silent for a moment.

‘What the heck?’

‘The owner is at the door, but can’t get in?’

‘Are we blocking him?’

“Please make way, everyone, and let my master in,” 00987 politely requested.

The shop and its surroundings fell silent again. Finally, some genius, from somewhere, shouted towards the back: “Make way, make way! The escape room boss is stuck outside because of us!”

“Holy crap, what? The boss is stuck outside?”

“Didn’t he bind an online spawn point in the shop?”

“Clearly not!”

“Damn, what the heck? Earning so much money, and he can’t even afford a binding point?”

“Stop rambling, quickly make a path, or none of us will get to play.”

“Quick, those in the back, move to the sides, make a path.”

It’s unclear whether it was the interstellar citizens’ impeccable discipline or their desperate eagerness to play the game—but in under two minutes, a single-file passageway, just wide enough for one person, had formed straight to the escape room’s entrance.

The path was made, but Tong Yu couldn’t move.

‘How the hell am I supposed to walk through that? Thousands of glowing eyes staring at me from both sides of the path are more terrifying than the Ghost Bride going berserk.’

He didn’t want to open the shop anymore. ‘Maybe I should just close for the day?’

“Who’s the boss? Hurry up and get over here; don’t waste time!” After waiting a few seconds with no one appearing, people started shouting.

Tong Yu flinched, even more afraid to move. He didn’t dare to go in, and he didn’t dare to leave.

“Yeah, hurry up, everyone’s waiting!”

“I wonder who this shop owner is. Why aren’t they coming out yet?” The guy sitting next to Tong Yu quietly complained to him, glancing around, trying to spot the escape room boss.

“Maybe the boss got scared by the crowd and decided to take a day off?”

“Online reservations broke 100,000, and now there are millions of people waiting in the live stream. If he dares to ditch us, he’ll face public outrage.”

‘Millions of people waiting in the live stream?’ Tong Yu clicked open the backend for a look. He didn’t know it, but once he saw it, he was shocked. The live stream had 1,239,987 viewers online, and the number was still rising. In the blink of an eye, it was 1.24 million.

Tong Yu tremblingly closed the backend, took a deep breath, and began to take off his shirt. He then swung it over his head, covering it.

“What are you doing?” Tong Yu’s move was bizarre, but the only one who noticed was the buddy who’d been gossiping with him earlier.  

The guy was curious why Tong Yu was covering his head with his shirt when he saw Tong Yu suddenly crouch down, assume a running stance, and then, with a *whoosh,* dash into the narrow human-formed tunnel.

“…” The gossiping brother’s mouth hung open, eyes wide. After a long while, he finally cursed, followed by endless regret.

‘The big boss was right beside me, and I didn’t even latch onto his leg!’

—-

At the Research Institute

Sheng Jing had just left the lab and picked up some breakfast from the cafeteria.

While nutrient solutions could provide all the necessary nutrition for the human body, the research institute still provided natural food ingredients for its scientists. Studies had shown that when humans enjoyed delicious food, their bodies and brains naturally relaxed, and this relaxation could directly benefit the spiritual sea. Although the effect wasn’t huge, every little bit helped.

As soon as Sheng Jing sat down, his light-brain on his wrist beeped.

He clicked it open and saw a spiritual consumption alert. This alert normally wouldn’t sound; it only triggered when a contractor’s spiritual fluctuations were abnormal.

Sheng Jing frowned, glancing at the energy consumption value. In the past three minutes, Tong Yu’s energy consumption was 5,000 R. This wasn’t a high number; in fact, compared to the hundreds of thousands he’d consumed over the past few days, it was a mere fraction. However, the spiritual fluctuation during this 5,000 R consumption was exceptionally intense, indicating that Tong Yu’s emotions were very unstable.

‘Is he having an episode again?!’

Sheng Jing wasn’t actually surprised; every time Tong Yu acted erratically or self-harmed, his spiritual power would fluctuate violently.

Sheng Jing thought of something and sent Tong Yu a message: “[Saturday, I will definitely be back. Any conditions you have, we can discuss.]”

If the previous Tong Yu was simply blackmailing him unconditionally, this current Tong Yu had genuinely consumed hundreds of thousands of R in energy, allowing Sheng Jing’s work to make significant progress recently. Therefore, this time, he would try his best to meet Tong Yu’s conditions.

Except for… sexual intimacy.