I'm just an internet cafe owner

What she was really afraid of was that Liu Yuan had a problem with his sexual orientation, and this lump of charcoal...

Kisara subconsciously poked it, and the cracking sound and the girl's gasps of pain shocked her.

At this moment, Jibril curiously came over: "Boss, you don't..."

"Did they say they hired a new employee? Wait, why do I smell barbecue?"

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be not barbecue, but a person who was about to die.

Liu Yuan didn't do anything fancy. He took out an immortal totem, put it on her, and then took out a knife.

At this moment, Ai Mizuno was barely conscious. She didn't know why she was surrounded by a group of strange people, but the pain in her body made her feel only one thing: she wanted to die as soon as possible.

When she saw Liu Yuan raise the knife, fear, terror, and a sense of relief surged within her. She was grateful to Liu Yuan, thankful that he would let her die a quick and painless death.

"Is this... what death feels like?"

Ai Mizuno felt a warm current flow through her body, but she suddenly realized that she wasn't dead. She could feel her own breathing, her heartbeat, and her senses about her surroundings.

She instinctively opened her eyes and saw men and pretty girls surrounding her.

Looking at the girl who had been perfectly revived, Liu Yuan smiled and said, "You're awake! The surgery was a success, and you're a boy now."

"Huh? Huh???"

Chapter 520 The New Internet Cafe Administrator, Ai Mizuno

Ai Mizuno realized that she had not undergone gender reassignment surgery at all, and that the man in front of her had been lying to her.

"Damn it!!!"

Her physical recovery and Liu Yuan's jokes temporarily helped her forget her past experiences, but after calming down, she felt confused. In her memory, she was struck by lightning, so how could she be like this now…

"Don't doubt it, I saved you."

"Thank you, I will..."

Before Mizuno Ai could finish speaking, Liu Yuan spoke up for her, saying, "Don't rush to say thank you yet. I have some good news, some bad news, and some so-so news for you. Which one do you want to hear?"

"Ok."

"The good news is that you can simply turn around and go back to your own world."

"What about the bad ones?"

Liu Yuan produced a document about her: "The bad news is that your identity in your world is that you are dead, and ten years have passed since you 'died'."

Liu Yuan admired the actions of this world, but was also curious whether other worlds had prepared similar backup candidates.

"Ten years? That's neither good nor bad, huh?"

Mizuno Ai felt her mind was in a mess, so she decided to temporarily stop thinking and listen to what the third message was.

"It's neither good nor bad. I saved you but paid a price, and you need to work to repay that price."

"Work?"

"Yes, we are not from your world, so there is a price to pay for resurrecting someone."

Liu Yuan pulled out a calculator and said, "We operate on a fair trade basis here. After your resurrection, it's fifty yuan per minute based on your remaining lifespan. You can live to eighty, so at your current age, you have at least sixty-five years left. 65 * 365 * 24 * 60, let's round it down: you owe me 17 billion yuan. Based on your country of residence, that's roughly 350 billion yen. If you work for me, considering you're a special talent, I'll give you a salary of ten thousand. Including bonuses, if you only work for me, you'll need to work for me for 170,000 years. Congratulations! You've become the second most indebted person in this store!"

Mizuno Ai felt her head buzzing, while Jibril, standing beside her, suddenly asked curiously, "Who's number one? Could it be me?"

Liu Yuan shook his head: "It really isn't you."

Meanwhile, Takashima Yuna, who had been watching the drama unfold, raised her hand and said, "It might be me, because I'm going to keep working until the internet cafe goes out of business..."

"puff!"

This question left Alicia speechless: "How did you end up owing the boss so much money?"

As Yuna Takashima explained, Liu Yuan patted Ai Mizuno on the shoulder: "Don't worry, our shop is a conscientious one. We will still be closed for special holidays in the world you live in, and you are free to do whatever you want after get off work. We won't force you."

Bronya added, "But the second half of the night when a new game is released each month isn't free time; you need to familiarize yourself with the game's content beforehand."

"me…"

Mizuno Ai looked like she was about to cry. Thirty-five hundred billion yen. Even if she could earn one hundred million yen a year, that would still take three thousand five hundred years.

Just as she was feeling lost and dejected, Alicia hugged her and said, "Don't be sad~ Actually, this shop is really great."

Liu Yuan tried to scare people, while Alicia comforted them. She explained the unique nature of this internet cafe, as well as its special time ratio compared to other worlds.

"So, in my spare time, I can go back to my own world and do whatever I want, right?"

"Oh yeah~ but..."

Alicia thought of herself. She used to go to the internet cafe every day, but then she discovered that the games there were really fun. She felt uncomfortable if she didn't play them for a day. No matter how tired she was, playing for a few hours would make her feel refreshed. She just couldn't get into the games if she didn't play them for a day.

After hearing Alicia's explanation, Mizuno Ai's panicked mood calmed down a lot.

"So, I can go back to my world, right?"

"That's right! By the way, what's your name?"

"Mizuno Ai, what about you, sister?"

Alicia spoke softly, "My name is Alicia~ May I call you 'Ai'? In my world, calling someone by their first name is considered polite!"

"Um…"

Looking at these two...

At that moment, Liu Yuan and Mu Geng both took a step back.

"Hey! Boss, what do you mean by this?"

Seeing the two people's behavior, Alicia puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

Kisara shook his head vigorously: "It doesn't mean anything, I'm just a little scared!"

Looking back on the time she worked with Alicia, Mu was genuinely afraid that she would be turned gay. However, as it turned out, not only was she not turned gay, but her relationship with Liu Yuan also grew better and better.

Liu Yuan simply explained, "Don't be afraid, I'm just cooperating with Mu Geng. Ahem, since you're destined to be with the newcomer, then you'll be the one to mentor him!"

"Hehe~ That's awesome!"

Meanwhile, Bronya couldn't help but complain, "Alicia is going to capture the hearts and minds of girls again, boss! Bronya suggests you limit Alicia's behavior, otherwise your shop will become her harem."

"No problem. This store prohibits employees from dating. I reserve the right to final interpretation."

Besides, Liu Yuan wasn't worried about his staff being led astray.

Under Alicia's guidance, Mizuno Ai learned about the shop's magic and realized just how fortunate she was. Working for 170,000 years? In her understanding, if she could gain immense power here, people would be willing to pay anything, not just 1.7 billion yen, but 17 billion, even a trillion.

"Looks like you understand. Don't let the boss's greed for money fool you; he's actually a good person. And once you become an employee, he'll back you up. You can pursue your dreams and any other goals you want to do back in your own world. Hmm~ Based on my understanding of the boss, he won't refuse if you really want to leave."

"really?"

Mizuno Ai's voice was filled with excitement, while Alicia said softly, "Of course it's true. The boss was just trying to scare you. All the staff at this internet cafe stayed voluntarily. If you want to leave, no one will stop you. And someone will pay your debts. But..."

This round, however, made Mizuno Ai's voice rise, while Alicia leaned close to Mizuno Ai and tempted her, "But if you leave, you will miss an opportunity, a chance to spread your idol beliefs to all the worlds."

Hearing Alicia's words, Mizuno Ai's heart raced. She had initially thought it was a shady establishment, but Alicia's explanation made her realize that although it was a shady place, it could fulfill her dreams.

Besides the job content and the unusual time allocation, she was also intrigued, especially when she learned that she could hone her singing and dancing skills at this shop and that her path to becoming an idol could not be limited to her own world. Her heart was set on taking flight.

Rising to prominence during what is known as the Warring States period of idols, this stirred the heart of Mizuno Kaname, who harbored dreams of becoming an idol.

But the thought of her former teammates leaving the team made her feel disheartened.

"Don't be sad~ Just find like-minded teammates again and get back together. Besides, I heard from the boss that your world is very special, with some special beings. So you don't need to worry about age or lifespan. If all else fails, you can recruit teammates from so many worlds. But you also need to work hard, there are many beings in these worlds who are more powerful than you."

Alicia paused for a moment, then looked into Mizuno Ai's eyes: "A nobody? Or someone famous throughout the world?"

"I want to be famous throughout the world."

Upon hearing about idols, Mizuno Ai's fighting spirit was ignited.

As she got fired up, Liu Yuan silently gave Alicia a thumbs up. Sure enough, it's best to let another girl seduce you, especially if you act like a villain to scare her, followed by Alicia's gentle comfort and explanation—the effect is phenomenal!

It's also thanks to Ai Mizuno not playing Cyberpunk 2077 that anyone who has played the game would be wary of this statement.

However, similarly, such temptation is a deadly poison for someone like Mizuno Ai, who is talented, young, ambitious, and full of dreams. According to Alicia's understanding, Liu Yuan used this trick to lure many people into the store.

Especially after Cyberpunk 2077 was released, those who played the game felt cheated.

Chapter 521 New Guests Tachibana Hibiki and Hoshino Ai (Bonus Chapter)

Under Alicia's persuasive words, Mizuno Ai agreed to become an employee of the store.

Just as Alicia said, if Mizuno Ai really didn't want to continue, Liu Yuan wouldn't force her to stay. There was also special compensation for the money she owed; she could go about her business as usual.

But after Alicia's persuasive talk, Mizuno Ai not only stayed, but also fell in love with the place.

"Is this a game? It feels like a whole new world!"

Inside the Tokyo Dome within the game, Ai Mizuno, preparing for her performance, looked at the audience below, her heart pounding with excitement. If it were just a simple computer game, she might not feel much of a sense of reality. But the realism of Audition Online was just too strong.

Standing on the stage, she even felt as if she were truly in the Tokyo Dome. The audience's reactions and the temporary teammates created by the system were exactly the same as in real life.

Standing on the stage to perform, Ai Mizuno personally experienced the charm of this game.

When a performance is excellent, the audience will shout for an encore. If there are consecutive high-intensity performances without any mistakes, the audience will go wild. There may even be some die-hard fans who want to go on stage.

However, this phenomenon was...

The system's security guards stopped them.

The entire process takes about half an hour. During the game, Mizuno Ai felt physically tired, but she thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

When the game ended and she returned to reality, Mizuno Ai was shocked to see the system's evaluation of her concert.

Do I really make that many mistakes?

Mizuno Ai watched the video and seemed to have made no mistakes. However, the game system analyzed her singing, dance, and even potential accidents caused by her improper movements based on her own abilities.

After seeing all this, Ai Mizuno felt terrible.

"No! Do it again!"

Anyone who's ever been on stage knows it's a toxic experience. No one can resist the cheers of the audience, and the game Audition Online in internet cafes provides completely realistic feedback to the audience based on the player's actual skill level. After all, these audience members aren't just ordinary NPCs.

Players like Ai Mizuno, with sufficient talent, will have packed audiences on various large stages. However, if a player lacks skill, sings off-key, or dances poorly, the audience will shrink. Even on national or world-class stages, they might not get a single guest.

Just as Mizuno Ai was about to start another round, her body stopped.

"VOCALOID?"