Chapter 4 Booming Business

• ~ Emerald Kindergarten ~
• When lunchtime came, the children all took out their nutrient shots, and a chubby little boy hurried over to his friend.
• “Look, Asher.” The boy held out his nutrient shot proudly. “My dad bought me a new one! It has lots of sweeteners in it. Hurry up and put away that watery, tasteless one of yours and try mine instead!”
• “Thanks, Ayaan.” Asher hugged a lunch box to his chest and shook his head. Only then did Ayaan notice that, unlike usual, Asher had not taken out a nutrient shot.
• “My sister made lunch for me herself today, so I’m not trading drinks with you this time,” Asher said as he lifted one corner of the lunch box.
• Ayaan immediately saw strips of pink bacon peeking out from soft, fluffy white bread. The lettuce looked like it was dancing in a bright green skirt as it cradled bits of chopped boiled egg. The omelet was soft and golden, almost like the sun they had drawn in art class that morning.
• The chubby boy swallowed hard, and his stomach let out a loud growl. “Oh my gosh, Asher, your sister is amazing!”
• “Do you want to try some of this protein shake?” Asher took out his bottle and poured Ayaan a small cup.
• Ayaan grabbed it fast and took a huge gulp.
• Mmm... Rich and sweet, like a chocolate cloud kissing his cheeks, with the warm fragrance of nuts lingering on his tongue.
• It tasted... unbelievably good!
• Compared to this, sweetened nutrient shots were not even as good as the blandest sugar water.
• Ayaan suddenly felt a little embarrassed. In front of food this incredible, how had he even found the courage to show off that thing?
• Seeing the awkward look on his face, Asher smiled and opened the lunch box all the way, splitting everything neatly into two halves.
• “You always look out for me, so thank you, Ayaan. And thank you for saying nice things about my sister. She’s the best sister in the whole world. Let’s eat this together.”
• To Asher, the biggest reason he wanted to share was that Ayaan had acknowledged his sister, Sylvia.
• The two boys ate happily, but when they turned around, they realized every child in the class had somehow started staring at Asher. Even Calvin, the playground bully who usually looked down on Asher, came over on his own, staring longingly at the food.
• “Asher, I’m sorry for looking down on you and your sister before,” Calvin said eagerly. “Can I please have one bite of the food your sister made?”
• Thanks to Sylvia’s food. Just as Asher was enjoying the kind of star treatment at kindergarten he had never gotten before, Sylvia had just said goodbye to Mike and returned to the Austen villa.
• She found the login pod for the starnet, lay down inside, and closed her eyes.
• In the darkness, an existing virtual avatar slowly appeared before her.
• Sylvia took one look at the original owner’s heavily filtered female avatar. Opps, edited so much it barely looked human anymore.
• Without hesitation, she chose to create a brand-new account and avatar.
• Sylvia had plenty of confidence in her own face, but considering the original Sylvia’s terrible reputation, she decided to change her appearance anyway. She did not want enemies of the old Sylvia swarming her new shop and tearing it apart.
• The starnet had strict rules about user appearances. No one was allowed to look too similar to any real celebrity, or they could be sued for fraud and image-right violations.
• But that was not a problem for Sylvia.
• She let the starnet scan her face, then began adjusting the data point by point over the original facial model.
• At the end, she pressed the button marked Gender Switch.
• “Welcome to Starnet Zone Z.”
• The mechanical voice rang in Sylvia’s ear, and in the blink of an eye, she appeared on a lively commercial street.
• Shopping centers, hair salons, gaming halls, and entertainment venues, bright signs of every color crowded the street, dazzling the eye. People moved from store to store, enjoying themselves.
• It looked almost exactly like the real world.
• Sylvia’s new avatar reflected in the shop windows along the road.
• A handsome black-haired man stood there with his lips slightly pressed together, deep eyes sweeping lazily over the entire street, both hands tucked into his pockets. He wore a stylish casual outfit with his sleeves rolled up, and a khaki coat hung loosely over one arm.
• This virtual image was built from Sylvia’s own face, with subtle changes made to certain features.
• Back in the apocalypse world, soldiers often had to alter their facial features during infiltration missions.
• Sylvia knew exactly how to change the smallest details and completely transform the overall impression of a face. If female Sylvia was a cold, sharp blade, then this male version of Sylvia looked noble and elegant, like a Greek god on vacation.
• Several girls passing by actually blushed when they saw him.
• [Host, Host, I just scanned the general environment of Zone Z, and I found something big.] Susu’s excited voice rose in Sylvia’s mind.
• To match her master’s disguise plan, Susu had adjusted its settings too, and now its voice sounded like a young boy’s.
• Sylvia nodded for it to continue.
• [Zone Z is the lowest-tier district on the starnet,] Susu said. [The cybersecurity here uses the lowest-grade protection technology. But at the same time, Zone Z has the highest population density out of all twenty-six districts on the starnet. People who can’t afford access to the upper zones gather here and spend on the most basic forms of entertainment...]
• “Excellent analysis,” Sylvia said in the same tone she used to praise a partner during missions. “Once the shop starts making money, I’ll reward you with a beast core. Weak security, heavy traffic, dense online activity... this place was practically made for a hacker to take over. Especially since we still haven’t tested your abilities after the upgrade. What do you think, Susu?”
• Susu instantly understood Sylvia’s hint.
• The Host wanted to bring Zone Z’s network under its control, just like all the regions they had once conquered side by side.
• That familiar feeling of fighting together again made Susu thrill with excitement.[Yes, Host! I will now hack into the Zone Z system, select the most cost-effective piece of land, and build the Creamery Creamer shop for you.]
• “Go show the starnet programmers your magic,” Sylvia said with a soft laugh.
• That smile, dazzling on such a handsome face, made the girls on the street keep glancing back.
• Right before their eyes, the gorgeous black-haired man snapped his fingers
• and vanished from where he stood.
• The girls froze, then immediately stopped in their tracks and rushed to post online:
• [HELP! I’ll pay 50 star credits if someone can find this hot guy for me! pic.jpg]
• [Does anyone know who this guy on Maple Street was just now? I want all his info in three minutes! video.mp4]
• Sylvia had no idea what kind of chaos she had caused on that street.
• She just arrived at the address Susu had chosen and found that her thoughtful little system had already finished building the entire store.
• The orange-and-white checkered wallpaper looked fresh and bright. The food display shelves were fully stocked and ready. Cute little potted plants sat on the front counter. Above the entrance hung the store sign: Creamery Creamer, decorated with bear paw pads on the lettering.
• That same adorable bear-paw logo appeared throughout the shop, making the whole place look like the perfect piece of edible art.
• [I’ve already completed all the registration procedures for the brand and the store, Host,] Susu reported proudly.
• “You did well. Now it’s my turn to shine,” Sylvia said.
• After sending the shop coordinates to Uncle Mike, she stepped into the store with satisfaction and activated the robots’ culinary scanning mode.
• If Creamery Creamer was going to move into large-scale, high-quality food production as quickly as possible, then Sylvia first had to personally demonstrate the cooking process so the culinary robots could learn and reproduce her techniques.
• As for the store’s main products, she had already decided on desserts and light meals after observing the foot traffic outside.
• Most people visiting Zone Z were teenagers and students.
• First, she needed food that would attract the biggest possible crowd.
• As for whether she would change the direction later, once the store became famous... Well, that would depend on her mood.
• Sylvia immediately got to work and started making the first batch of desserts.
• Not long after that, the girls who had spontaneously launched the trending tag #MapleStreetHotGuyHunt made a brand-new discovery.
• Someone had filmed the black-haired heartthrob they were all obsessing over.
• He was standing behind the counter of a food shop called Creamery Creamer, wearing an apron with a little bear paw printed on it.
• In the display case beside him were golden, crispy popcorn and tortilla chips, colorful ice cream, cupcakes topped with cherries and apple slices, fluffy cotton candy dusted with rainbow sprinkles like little clouds...
• And the most shocking thing of all—
• Every single item was priced so low it was almost impossible to believe.