44°C.
The blazing sun hung high, its glare piercing.
The boiling heat had baked the air into a shimmer, and the floor-to-ceiling window seemed to warp, swaying faintly under the Poison Sun's scorching.
Zhou Xi heaved a heavy sigh.
Human vision was affected by the refraction of water vapor, making visible objects appear to tremble—when in truth it was the invisible heat waves churning.
It was just too hot outside!
Zhou Xi looked back at the Hover Screen and quietly typed in the inn's new name: Zhenxi.
【Congratulations, you have completed the beginner quest!
[Zhenxi Inn]Grand Opening!
The Newbie Gift Pack has been distributed!】
Outside the two-story building, the ash on the dilapidated signboard was scoured away by the heat, leaving it looking brand new.
Zhenxi Inn's new signboard was officially accepted by the high temperature.
……
A few minutes ago, Zhou Xi was quite certain she'd been having a wonderful dream—
Becoming a Landlady, reaching the peak of life…
Peaked, all right—right off the edge!
Zhou Xi kept opening and closing her eyes, but the unfamiliar world was like a steaming giant bamboo steamer that refused to vanish no matter how many times she blinked.
On the contrary, as the seconds and minutes ticked by, rolling beads of sweat soaked her cheeks.
Zhou Xi remembered that before falling asleep, she'd been working overtime entering cashier journal entries, and had even received a dozen or so PDFs from her psycho boss demanding they be printed and organized before tomorrow's meeting…
Just as her eyelids were about to close, Zhou Xi still made sure to open 《Landlady Simulator》 to collect rent.
And when she opened her eyes again, she was here—a Bizarre Apocalypse hot enough to kill, where it seemed she'd have to fight monsters and level up just to survive.
Zhou Xi sat slumped in bewilderment, finally revealing her true nature as a hopelessly clumsy player.
Mooch, wait for death, let it all burn!
【Inn Management System binding successful!】
【You have obtained a two-story Standard Apartment Building】
【You have obtained ownership of the Inn】
……
Zhou Xi pulled her thoughts back together and sat at the Front Desk, rallying her spirits. Sorry about that—she was back in business.
A Management Player might not be good at fighting, but they definitely had the determination to not close their eyes until the grinding was done.
【You have obtained a Universal Cash Register*1】
【You have obtained a Water and Power Supply Device】
【You have obtained 5000Q in initial startup funds】
New resources came clattering out of the Newbie Gift Pack—undoubtedly the most satisfying moment in any Management Mini-Game.
After all, if business went poorly later on, that would be eternal darkness… forever either on the road to a loan or on the road to repaying one.
Zhou Xi knowingly opened the inn's Backpack interface and tapped 【Universal Cash Register】; a pop-up immediately displayed its description.
【Universal Cash Register: Besides collecting the game's universal currency, perhaps it can also be used to crack walnuts?】
So "universal" refers to its hammer function?
As the saying goes, practice brings true knowledge. Zhou Xi didn't dwell on the dry humor; following the prompt, she raised her right hand and tapped, dragging the Universal Cash Register out of the Hover Screen's frame.
In an instant, a machine with real physical texture was firmly gripped in Zhou Xi's hand.
About palm-sized, with a scanning device on the head and a raised button in the middle.
Zhou Xi placed it at the top right corner of the Front Desk surface for easy access.
Right after, Zhou Xi began searching for the 【Water and Power Supply Device】, but a newly popped-up quest panel blocked her curious gaze.
【Tutorial Quest: New in Town—you need to familiarize yourself with the Inn that will soon be your constant companion.
1. Take a look around the Inn[Front Desk（1/1）; please continue exploring the remaining Facilities, Shopkeeper!]
2. Enter [Construction] view and change a guest room's layout once.
The Management Panel and Employee Panel will soon be unlocked.】
A Beginner Tutorial? Zhou Xi saw the 【Skip Tutorial】 button appear in the top right corner of the Hover Screen and hurriedly restrained her itching fingers.
Everything was too real; Zhou Xi would no longer be like she was before transmigrating, playing games with her hands faster than her eyes, recklessly skipping every pop-up.
Zhou Xi left the Front Desk and looked around.
To the right of the Front Desk was a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, with an Automatic Door set in the middle. She had no idea if it was sturdy; Zhou Xi couldn't help but think of the destructive power of Severe Convective Weather on floor-to-ceiling windows in the Native World, and felt a faint worry.
A few steps forward was presumably the Inn's lobby? Extremely bare—currently, aside from the Front Desk, there was only a single wooden bench, probably for Travelers to rest their feet.
This part of the building was overall done in blue and white tones, looking serene and elegant; combined with the strong daylight from the floor-to-ceiling windows, it was extremely bright, yet it also gave a reassuring sense of Comfort.
Now heading deeper into the minimalist lobby, the first thing in sight was two suites, 101 and 102 respectively; going further would reveal the words 【Not Yet Unlocked】.
Zhou Xi stopped in front of room 101, ready to go in and take a look, but her palm grasped at empty air.
There was actually no door lock? No—there was no place to open the door?
【Biometric door lock; uses an electronic peephole to identify the Traveler's biometric information（such as Iris, face, fingerprint, etc.）to unlock and open the door.】
Oh, so that's how it was. High-tech, and safe too.
Zhou Xi stood before the electronic peephole, and with a "click," the door opened automatically.
A very plain and unadorned standard Single Room: one room and one bathroom, a single bed + squat toilet + shower—not a single highlight to speak of; its only virtue was being clean and tidy.
Room 102 was the same model of Single Room.
Zhou Xi pulled the door shut with mixed feelings.
Starting out with only two Single Rooms was a bit shabby; the Inn's location was remote, and apart from endless grassland and sky-blocking forest, the surroundings held only strange little animals that could stare back at the Shopkeeper.
But looking on the bright side, a Management Mini-Game giving you two rooms at the start! How generous!
Zhou Xi returned to the Front Desk in just a few steps and discovered there was another door to its left. After opening it with her Iris, small text appeared before her eyes: 【Owner's Cabin】.
Mm, three rooms gifted! Who needs a bicycle!
At that moment, a tutorial guide arrow appeared. Following the guide, Zhou Xi opened the 【Construction】 page, where she could see the Inn's overall layout; sliding her thumb and index finger together allowed her to zoom.
Zooming in let her survey each guest room's layout, with a dazzling array of furniture listed to one side.
Building houses! As a Management Mini-Game enthusiast, Zhou Xi was overjoyed.
Except for now, she could only follow the tutorial prompts to install a 【Washbasin】 for free in the two Single Rooms and her own cabin; all other furniture cost extra.
She chose suitable positions, dragged the Washbasin onto the green blank squares, and checked all three rooms for a one-click simultaneous installation.
In the blink of an eye, with no sound effects, no cutscene animation, not even a waiting period, the Washbasins were built!
Zhou Xi finally let out an exclamation: "Th-this this this… this is the Management Mini-Game I've always dreamed of!"
Simple, straightforward, highly efficient! No flashy nonsense whatsoever, and no need to spend your lifespan watching ads!
The Single Room's system price also rose from 40Q to 50Q.
【Congratulations, you have completed all tutorial quests!
Exploration of the Inn's currently visible area successful[Front Desk（1/1）, Reception Hall（1/1）, Single Room（2/2）, My Cabin（1/1）]
Management Panel unlocked! Employee Panel opened!】
By now the Inn's Avatar on the Hover Screen had changed from gray to full color, with a tiny exclamation mark attached.
Zhou Xi, a sufferer of obsessive-compulsive disorder, immediately tapped to enter.
【Zhenxi Inn（a long-distance Avatar）
Prosperity Level: lv1（related to expanding the Inn's area; accumulate experience through management, Infrastructure, and other means.）
Developed Area: Lobby（low completeness）, Standard Apartment Building（unlock rate 16.67%）, Water and Power Supply Device（high durability）
Emotional Value: not yet unlocked
Inn Account: 5000Q
Personal Account: 100Q
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆（0 stars）
Management Tips（collapsible）:
1. Q is the Inn's default currency unit.
2. Transfers between the Inn Account and Personal Account require no handling fee and may be made once per month; if the Shopkeeper does not transfer proactively, the Inn will automatically apply a Fifty-fifty Split at the end of each quarter.
3. In principle, whatever the Shopkeeper earns is what they keep—there is no wage payout—so aside from food and lodging, using any other Facilities requires payment.
4. An account balance of zero means bankruptcy; the Shopkeeper will not receive any punishment.
5. The Inn's safety factor is maxed out; please manage with peace of mind, Shopkeeper, and may everything go smoothly for you!】
It was the first time Zhou Xi had ever read every single word in a Management Mini-Game so earnestly.
The Management Panel's summary was very comprehensive—it even had diagrams for the opened areas. Zhou Xi finally found the location of the Water and Power Supply Device; it turned out to be installed underground.
As for the Management Tips, Zhou Xi guessed they were probably meant to prevent the Shopkeeper from price gouging and losing themselves in idle pleasures.
Though bankruptcy carried no punishment… Zhou Xi glanced out the window with lingering fear. The scorching summer heat, the ever-rising high temperature—compared with the Inn's comfortable temperature, it was simply one a blazing hell, the other paradise.
If she didn't properly Cherish this management opportunity, Zhou Xi found it hard not to suspect she'd ultimately be baked into a dried corpse by the Heat.
Zhou Xi continued to open the Employee Panel; its contents were also very concise—she could set employee salaries, view employee skills, and so on.
Since there were no usable employees yet, there was no need to study it carefully for the time being.
【You bravely planted a seed of hope in the vast frontier; believe that in the near future it will surely bear abundant fruit.
Main Quest: Raise the Inn Star Rating to one star.
One-star Inn rating requirements:
1. Prosperity Level must reach at least lv3;
2. The Inn's daily income must exceed 1000Q;
3. Receive 100 Travelers.
Next, you may choose to complete Side Quests, encounters, hidden quests, and so on, building step by step your own wilderness inn!】
【Side Quest:
1. Post a Rental Advertisement once;
2. Receive 1 Traveler（0/1）】
Zhou Xi returned to the Front Desk and sat down properly. The Main Quest was not the work of a single day, so she'd start with the small, scattered tasks first!
Without pause, she opened the newly appeared 【Promotion】 page. Inside was only one system-gifted 【Small-Range Rental Advertisement】 available for use; all other promotional activities required money and customization.
【Small-Range Rental Advertisement: With the Inn as the center, sends small pop-up ads to people passing by in the surrounding area.】
After tapping to use it, a new icon appeared: 【Map】.
Zhou Xi saw the tiny pixelated Inn placed at the exact center of the Map, surrounded by pitch darkness; under the effect of the 【Small-Range Rental Advertisement】, the darkness was receding bit by bit.
Advertisement countdown: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 43 seconds.
She hoped the effect would be decent—she had no desire whatsoever to step outside the Inn to find people to stay; if she got eaten by a Monster out there, the loss would far outweigh the gain.
Zhou Xi closed the Map, and sure enough, the Rental Advertisement on the Promotion page had returned to its original price; the small, medium, and large range prices were 500, 5000, and 50000 respectively.
Zhou Xi silently closed the Promotion interface.
"Ding-dong!"
With a pleasant sound effect, the Inn's glass Automatic Door opened.
That fast?
Zhou Xi lifted her head and immediately put on her habitual standard professional smile, greeting openly, "Hello."
The one who came was a young girl, who looked even younger than Zhou Xi, not particularly tall. Her eyes were full of surprise, yet faintly revealed desolation—clearly she had just suffered some trauma.
Xuan Ling was like a puppy with its tongue out; amid her shock, she quickly reined in her downcast mood and probed tentatively: "Hello, are—are you a Player?"
"Yes." Zhou Xi answered so frankly—how could a Management Player not count as a Player?
Xuan Ling warily looked around. "How much for one night?"
"Currently only Single Rooms are open, 60Q per night." Zhou Xi had raised the Management Panel's minimum price of 50Q by 10Q, so that there'd be room to lower prices for promotions later.
Xuan Ling felt the Boss's calm, unhurried manner really was like running an inn. She asked again: "Check Out before 12 noon tomorrow, right?"
"Correct." Zhou Xi answered every question with ease, but absolutely never said or asked more—this was her occupational habit from years at the Front Desk.
Even the lodging format was no different from before Doomsday. Xuan Ling also noticed her own low health was recovering at a slow rate of 0.01%, and she immediately set her mind at ease.
Xuan Ling finally showed a smile and asked with earnest hope: "Miss, is there a bed in the room?"
"…There is." Zhou Xi felt slightly puzzled.
"Can I take a shower?"
"Of course."
"Can I use the toilet?"
"Absolutely."
No, wait—these three questions in a row… Zhou Xi thought in confusion, just what kind of world had she been Teleported to?
Why would there be no beds, no showers, and toilets out in the open?!