Gan Lan pointed at the dilapidated storefront in sheer disbelief. Was this really a shop? Even on the remote poverty star where the original owner of her body had been born, there were no houses this run-down. At the very least, those could shelter people from the wind and rain. This roof, however, was riddled with small holes. Unknown black and yellow liquids stained the walls, and the cold wind howled through from all sides.
"Mr. Liang, are you sure this is the right address?" Gan Lan stared with wide eyes, scanning the desolate street. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. The only sounds were a continuous RUSTLE RUSTLE. Aside from the Red Demon Ugly Shrimp, there were probably other creatures scurrying about—like cockroaches.
At the thought of cockroaches, Gan Lan shuddered. She wasn’t afraid of much, but she was terrified of cockroaches. They were a truly horrifying species. Although she hadn’t actually spotted one yet, she firmly believed that even in the future, cockroaches could never go extinct. For all she knew, they had all mutated into giant, flying roaches. Just thinking about it made her legs turn to jelly. According to the competition rules, she was going to have to live here.
Tilting her head back, Gan Lan stared up at the despair-inducing, dilapidated storefront, utterly at a loss for words.
"This... I remember this street didn’t use to look like this. How did it become so desolate and bleak?" Liang Cong was even more shocked than Gan Lan. With a trembling hand, he pointed at the gloomy, drafty shop and cried out in alarm.
Liang Cong recalled his first visit to the Red Demon Star thirty years ago. He had come to this exact area back then. At the time, these buildings were still new, and the neighborhood was heavily populated. However, the Red Demon Ugly Shrimp hadn’t reached plague proportions back then. The background information they had checked beforehand made no mention of the current state of 44 Red Demon Street. Now, it was clear this detail had been deliberately concealed. This wasn’t some last-minute decision for the finals; it had been premeditated.
Chu Yuanyi also looked at the run-down street. Unlike the other two, he wasn’t shocked. Instead, he burst into loud, hearty laughter.
Gan Lan was currently fretting over the difficult month and eight days ahead of her, so the sudden burst of laughter startled her. She looked toward the source of the sound in bewilderment, only to realize it was coming from the usually stern Dean Chu.
"Dean, what... are you laughing at?" Liang Cong was equally perplexed, voicing the exact question Gan Lan had in mind.
"I’m laughing because the organizers have given you an excellent prompt. This location is fantastic. It used to be incredibly prosperous. Think about it, Gan Lan—if you can really bring this street back to life, wouldn’t that give you a huge sense of accomplishment? It might seem impossible right now, but human effort can achieve anything." After Chu Yuanyi had laughed enough, he began to analyze the situation for her.
"As long as you can turn these Red Demon Ugly Shrimp into a delicacy, why worry about a lack of customers?" The more Chu Yuanyi looked at the place, the more satisfied he became. It might be desolate and run-down, but it was spacious enough. Plus, it was in a central location. It was actually quite nice.
"But Dean, it’s just me and an assistant. How am I supposed to run a shop? They won’t allow advertising on the Star Network, they only gave me ten thousand Credit Points, and they only provided one set of kitchenware. I don’t have anything else." The more Gan Lan spoke, the more hopeless she felt. She even had to catch the shrimp herself, which was manageable, but they had been standing here for so long without seeing a single living soul. Even if she cooked them, who was going to buy them? Who was going to eat them?
The conditions here were far harsher than when she was at school. At least the Food Street had a lot of foot traffic, so she never had to worry about things not selling. And now? Was she supposed to cook Red Demon Shrimp and sell them to other Red Demon Shrimp?
"Don’t worry, people will definitely come. There might not be anyone at first, and the Star Network doesn’t allow advertising, but you can move over there." He pointed toward an area in the distance where flying cars darted back and forth.
Gan Lan looked in the direction the dean was pointing. That was way too far! The various flying cars flashed by like tiny black dots, completely indistinguishable. Moreover, they were flying so high up, and she was down on the ground. The aroma of the Red Demon Shrimp could never travel that distance.
Thinking of this, she instantly felt even more despair. Whoever came up with this competition format must have a screw loose. Shouldn’t they have promoted it heavily? Instead, they made it needlessly complicated. It was definitely intentional.
"Mr. Liang, Dean, do you think the other contestants are dealing with the same thing, or does every participant get different prompts and conditions? Did I end up with the hell-level difficulty mode?" Gan Lan crouched on the ground, hugging her head. She stared blankly at the deserted street, on the verge of a mental breakdown. There were simply too many restrictions in this competition, leaving her completely at a loss on where to even begin.
Chu Yuanyi looked at the crestfallen Gan Lan. He patted her shoulder to comfort her. "I don’t know about the other contestants. Perhaps the prompts are the same, just in different locations. Currently, the prompts for the others haven’t been released either. I reckon they won’t be made public until all the participants have gathered. Or maybe they won’t be revealed until the very last moment of the competition. It’s hard to say."
Since the dean had put it that way, Gan Lan could only force herself to rally. What else could she do? Forfeit the competition?
"Mr. Liang, Dean, I will do my absolute best. You two should head back first, it’s almost time," she said, feigning strength.
In truth, she still felt a bit uneasy. After all, this was a completely unfamiliar place, crawling with Red Demon Shrimp and unidentifiable insects. From the moment she stood here, the goosebumps on her arms hadn’t faded. Her initial excitement at seeing Red Demon Shrimp everywhere had completely devolved into dejection.
Watching the retreating silhouettes of her mentors’ flying car, Gan Lan began to tremble outright. The sky was growing dark, making the desolate street seem even more gloomy and terrifying. The constant RUSTLE RUSTLE sounds, in particular, made her skin crawl.
"Shrimp! Shrimp! Where are you!?"
At her loud shout, the rustling noises in the surroundings suddenly paused, only to resume with even greater intensity. Gan Lan was calling out the name of the robot assistant provided by the competition organizers. She had been told it would be waiting at her destination, yet she still hadn’t seen it. Even if it was just a robot, it could talk. That was better than staying here all alone with no idea what to do.
"I’m over heeeere... eere... eere!"
A brisk, cheerful voice echoed from the depths of the pitch-black storefront.
Gan Lan was speechless. She thought, "I’m not here for a competition. I’m here for a haunted house trial, aren’t I? Why is this so terrifying?"
She waited patiently out on the street. She didn’t dare go inside. At least the street was wide, making it easy to run if necessary.
"Ah...! Why are there so many bugs here?! Ah, you actually dare to step on me?! I’m going to kick you away!"
The voice arrived before the person did. Hearing this lively tone, Gan Lan let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, it wasn’t one of those basic-level robots. Although basic robots were highly efficient at working, their speech patterns were pre-programmed and incredibly rigid.
While Gan Lan was still rejoicing internally, a little girl wearing a student uniform with her hair tied in twin tails suddenly appeared in front of her, tilting her head up to observe her.
On a pitch-black night, on a creepy, gloomy street, a little girl had suddenly appeared...