Chapter 9:
Birthday turns into death anniversary?

After Manman expressed his stance, Manman’s boyfriend typed, [I only saw this happened once and they tried to start a fight… I feel that usually, most people will not be acting mad like that.]

Old Xiao, the -aged man, wiped his sweat. [This k middle ind of thing is actually understandable. No one can stand a double betrayal! ]

Everyone looked at each other in confusion for a while and Jing Qizhen showed everyone what he had just summarized based on what he talked with the Earth before.

[The change in the department store only happened in a moment. I didn’t notice anything abnormal before. After the sudden change, the store seemed to have turned into an independent space abandoned after more than ten years.]

[Let’s call it Store B and the original normal store is Store A. At present, only a few of us and Yun Shuanghua appear in Store B. I guess most of the customers in Store A are still in their original positions.]

[Currently, the products in Store B seems to be based on Store A, and Store B is almost identical to Store A. There are four most obvious differences we can see; first is the passage of time in the store, second is the monster, third is the department store manager who turned into a female ghost, and the fourth is the security guard who just appeared.]

[My personal thought is that our way back lies in the similarities and differences between Store A and Store B. Obviously, the female ghost still has consciousness during her lifetime and she too should be a key point.]

After reading Jing Qizhen’s speculation and analysis, everyone fell into deep thought.

The old lady thought about it for a while, then simply got up and took the duty log from the table in the duty room. Then she turned it over to the back and simply drew two circles with a pen, marking Store A and Store B on them, and a time difference of more than ten years.

After a while, the old lady wrote directly on the paper, [Based to Xiao Jing’s idea, if we are discussing about the similarities and differences between Store A and Store B, we are obviously a big variable within.]

Jing Qizhen nodded and agreed with the grandma’s guess.

In Jing Qizhen’s mind, the Earth praised at the right time, “Cheers, the chosen humans!”

Jing Qizhen asked the Earth, “Have you read too many Chuuni comics?”

Yun Shuanghua was suddenly startled and glanced at Jing Qizhen in surprise. Jing Qizhen, who was arguing with the earth, noticed his gaze and responded with a questioning look, ‘What’s wrong?’

Yun Shuanghua smiled and said nothing.

The Earth was not swayed, “You humans drew those Chuuni cartoons! In other words, you humans are Chuuni!”

Jing Qizhen defended, “There are so many human beings–” …naturally there are many ideas.

The Earth directly interrupted Jing Qizhen, “There is only one Earth. Can’t you take good care of me?”

Jing Qizhen argued, “You said it yourself. Anyway, the ball doesn’t care, the human doesn’t care either!”

Earth: ” …”

Manman and her boyfriend were thinking even more actively and suddenly remembered the foreigner’s original statement. Manman said directly, [Although the 1975 Moscow subway disappearance case was an April Fool’s Day joke, our situation is indeed similar to that joke.]

[We seem to be intruders in another world line. Following this line of thinking, there are only three connection points between the two world lines that I can think of; this department stores itself, ourselves, and the female ghost.]

Manman’s boyfriend also analyzed, [I prefer to think that the day and night changes in the department store are the inherent characteristics of Store B. By the way, have you played the game ‘Silent Hill’?]

Everyone present shook their heads except Manman.

The boyfriend: …this is a bit embarrassing.

The Earth couldn’t help but said again, “He’s so embarrassed. You guys are so uncooperative. Although I haven’t played the game ‘Silent Hill’, I know it very well and have seen others play it.”

Jing Qizhen paused and said, “…I’m sorry, I really don’t understand, so I can’t cooperate. I’ve also heard of ‘Silent Hill’, but I don’t know the details.”

How rare that it didn’t get beaten by Jing Qizhen, and it even heard an apology, the Earth suddenly became excited and said with great interest, “Hey, don’t mention it. The so-called inner and outer world in ‘Silent Hill’ is really a little bit similar to the erosion area.

“It’s just that the characteristics of the erosion area depend on two tangent areas’ inherent characteristics itself, while the internal and external worlds of ‘Silent Hill’ are purely based on you humans using religious concepts to analyze the human subconscious.”

Jing Qizhen said, “In other words, someone pours a basin of ice water on someone else to wake them up from their dreams is the fastest way to escape from the subconscious?”

The Earth was stuck, “Your statement is quite simple and crude.”

After a moment of slight embarrassment, the boyfriend looked to Manman who smiled at him, adjusted her mood quickly, and typed rapidly.

[I will briefly summarize, Store A is the real world and store B is a different world. Store B is divided into two according to the time; Store B1 during the day and Store B2 at night. In Store B1, the female ghosts and security guards seem to follow the rules of the department store.]

[As long as we are customers of the store, we are relatively safe. We only need to be careful about the initial monster in Store B2 at night. In the game, once the identity of the customer disappears, we may be attacked by any ghosts or monsters.]

The boyfriend continued after her, [Based on what usually happened in this kind of game, if we want to return to Store A in the real world, we must survive the most dangerous situation in Store B2, and then we can go back to the relatively safe Store B1. There is no direct way from Store B2 to Store A.]

[Moreover, the female manager existed in Store A during her lifetime while the female ghost existed in Store B1 and Store B2 at the same time. Her time span is consistent with ours. I agree with Xiao Jing’s point of view. Just like the important NPC or big boss in the game, the female ghost definitely plays a key role.]

After hearing this, the old lady wrote another line, [It’s all about the variables! We accidentally broke into another world line and the chance of returning to the real world will most likely be at the same time as before.]

Manman and her boyfriend nodded at the same time.

“Time…” Jing Qizhen’s heart moved and he asked the grandma for the duty log in the duty room just now, and looked through the contents carefully.

After seeing the detailed date, Jing Qizhen’s pupils narrowed for a moment.

The time they were shopping in the supermarket in the real world was February 22, 2020 but the time on the duty log stopped at March 19. Recorded on the page was the security guard calling the police once, and there was even a slight trace of blood on the log book.

Jing Qizhen quickly read through the duty log and there were all blank pages near the end. Then he handed it to others and typed on his mobile phone, [Something must have happened on March 19th in Supermarket B.]

The cashier girl was slightly startled, [March 19th is our manager’s birthday and it’s also her wedding anniversary! Because these two dates are on the same day, I heard my colleagues talking about it before, and they also said it would be nice to celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries together.]

Manman and her boyfriend looked at each other.

There was still confusion in her boyfriend’s eyes but Manman was already keenly aware of the subtleties. Coupled with the blood stains on the duty log book, she typed neatly, [A birthday turned into a death anniversary?]

Jing Qizhen: …

That female ghost died so miserably. According to traditional Chinese thinking, it is indeed easy for her to become a fierce ghost.

Combined with the hatred that the female ghost had towards the monster before, Jing Qizhen got some ideas. Could that humanoid monster be the mistress in the female ghost’s tragedy?

Jing Qizhen was thinking about how that good sister became so angry when she saw her boyfriend cheating with her own eyes and he directly came to the conclusion, [I guess, there may be another one of those monsters. A man.]

For a moment, Manman looked directly at the cashier girl, [Guijuan, have you heard any gossip about your manager’s family problem?]

The cashier girl nodded hesitantly.

All of them sat together directly.

Jing Qizhen, who had just stood up and was looking for other written records in the entire duty room, took out his mobile phone and was ready to read the story while the cashier girl shared.

The big boss’s story was actually very simple.

A strong woman who meticulously worked hard, and her husband who also worked in the supermarket in charge of logistics and warehouse management. He had some power but not as much as the big boss herself.

In the cashier girl’s eyes, the big boss was a good person who was capable and kind, cold on the outside and warm on the inside. However, the cashier girl also heard other colleagues secretly ridiculed that a woman with a bad temper like her must have an unhappy marital life and her husband will cheat sooner or later. Now, it seemed the big boss’s husband was intimidated by her and turned into a coward…

Jing Qizhen recalled, [There was no trace of another person in the female ghost’s office before.]

Manman’s boyfriend did not hesitate, [There is definitely something wrong with their relationship as a couple.]

Everyone looked at Manman’s boyfriend.

The boyfriend stated, [Manman doesn’t go to my office much, only once or twice every month, but I still prepared a water cup only for her, and I keep her favorite coffee or black tea, as well as a shawl or jacket if she needs it in case it gets cold, a pillow for her to take a nap, a Switch to play while waiting for me to get off work, period pads…]

For people who work overtime all year round, the office was basically half a home without a wife! Anyone who went to Manman’s boyfriend’s office can tell that he was definitely not a single man.

My boyfriend was typing smoothly but after sending it out, he realized something was wrong.

Manman: …

She silently stretched out her hand and pinched his waist again.

The boyfriend suddenly gasped.

Jing Qizhen despaired.

Brother, you look quite upright. Why are you so enthusiastic and skilled at killing single dogs?!

Old Xiao was so dumbfounded that he even forgot to wipe his cold sweat off. He thought that he was a good middle-aged man who took the responsibility of caring for his family. However, compared with Manman’s boyfriend… No, he didn’t dare to compare…

The cashier girl was a little bit envious as she looked at the young couple, Manman and her boyfriend.

With that buddy’s self-destruction tendency, the cashier girl suddenly realized that there might indeed be some problems in her manager’s marital relationship.

Jing Qizhen diverged, [Let’s look for other clues to confirm it.]

Gold Chain Brother asked, [That ‘security guard’ outside?]

Jing Qizhen suggested, [Wait until dawn and see what happens.]

Everyone looked at each other and they all nodded.

At this moment, the ‘security guard’ who had been waiting for an opportunity for ambush emerged from the shadows. In just a short while, it had obviously become restless.

Manman’s boyfriend was staring at the surveillance video and was suddenly startled, [The female ghost came out of the supermarket and headed directly this way!]

Jing Qizhen frowned slightly and quickly scanned the surveillance station and found a microphone. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief. [Can we broadcast directly here?]

Manman’s boyfriend also looked at the microphone and hesitated, [I think so.]

Jing Qizhen asked, [Brother, can you help me connect it?]

Manman reacted quickly, [Are you going to broadcast it directly?]

Jing Qizhen shrugged, [It’s safer than talking in person!]

Everyone: …

What you said makes sense!