I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 428

Chapter 428: The Attack of the Dark Forces!

By late July, the data integration work between the café and Tongmeng was nearly complete, making it the only fully developed special zone on Tongmeng besides the game “Age of Aquarius.”

After the mid-July software update, all Tongmeng Network users could use the new app to link their “Age of Aquarius” and “Shangjing Cat Café” mobile accounts.

The “Age of Aquarius” app allowed users to access game information and join forums to share experiences, while the “Shangjing Cat Café” app, named “Shangjing Cat,” featured daily menu introductions, maid schedules, cat mood updates, and more.

Su Yunjin had the mobile app engineers at Tongmeng Network coordinate with me on this app. A team of over ten people discussed it for several days before completing it. I handled the illustrations and part of the UI design, while Xiao Mo provided various illustrations.

When you open the app, the homepage includes sections like “Official Information,” “Café Forum,” “Check-in and Raffle,” and “Coupon Zone.” Users can top up their accounts here, and the next time they visit the café, they just need to open the app and scan a code to check in. After that, all their in-store purchases will be displayed in the app, eliminating the need for extra scans for payment.

Su Yunjin mentioned that we are the first restaurant to accumulate popularity and develop an app in just two months.

Due to Xiao Mo’s excellent drawing skills, many of the app’s anime-style images are exceptionally beautiful. Images of me, Xiao Mo, Fei Luo, and Gabriel as anime girls can be created by Xiao Mo in under half an hour on the computer, each at a quality comparable to character illustrations in large games.

These images, which could sell for thousands of yuans, are updated dozens of times a day in the “Shangjing Cat Cafe” app. The widespread sharing of these images has attracted many hidden customers to the café.

In addition to drawing real people, Xiao Mo often draws various portraits of the café’s cats or anime-style cat girl illustrations. She doesn’t even spare the objects in the café.

For example, the thirty-pound vacuum cleaner that Ouyang Xue bought for several thousand yuan also has an “anime personification” illustration, with the same high level of completion and impeccable art style. In just half a month, nearly a thousand “beautiful girl illustrations” were circulated from our café.

Because of this, Xiao Mo’s public image shifted from “the aloof Miss Grim Reaper” to “the beautiful Grim Reaper artist.”

“Hello, Nuo’er…Nuo’er sister.”

At the end of July, on an ordinary afternoon, after finishing my morning and midday work, I took a nap in the staff lounge during the customer lull around 2-3 PM. When I stepped out, I saw several young women by a table on the second floor approach me.

“Can we take a picture? And update the monthly rewards!” they asked.

“Sure,” I nodded, straightening my clothes a bit. “Have you been waiting long?”

The “daily rewards” they mentioned refer to a mini-game similar to “QQ Pet Brawl,” created by the game engineers of “Age of Aquarius” using leftover game resources. This game can be played directly on Tongmeng Network, where the main gameplay involves having “Tongmeng pets” spar with friends.

The game includes a “support” feature where players can select “wishful support” during battles, randomly drawing from the website’s pool to boost their combat power. Players can also come to the café to take pictures with me, Xiao Mo, or Gabriel once a month, and wish for our support in the game.

In simple terms, it’s like different gacha pools, and it’s also a way to trick players into spending money. Tongmeng Network has its own gacha pool. Each character adds different attributes and bonuses to the game. To draw in Tongmeng Network’s gacha pool, you need to complete their tasks. If you want to draw the “characters” from the cafe, you need to come here and spend money, take photos with me, etc.

It’s said that the “Wish System” drives many people to the café to draw because the illustrations by Xiao Mo are just too exquisite. While the “Support System” doesn’t add many attributes or powerful skills and is more of a decorative feature, the illustrations are different.

Every time a skill is used, an illustration pops up, so naturally, everyone prefers support characters with beautiful illustrations.

Additionally, taking photos with me or the café staff grants daily “lottery chances,” sometimes for a free soda, a small cake, discount coupons, or a buy-one-get-one-free offer for milk tea. This kind of activity is similar to shopping websites’ “spend one yuan to draw a discount coupon,” just with a different twist.

“Not really,” one of the ponytailed young women said.

“We came here to try the new milk tea, Kirara. We thought the online hype was exaggerated, but we were amazed after tasting it.”

“You know, many of your drinks have been recreated by netizens, but the latest ones are impossible to replicate. Are they really made from fruits from another world?”

“Yes,” I said, with a playful smile. “Kirara, Maotiaotiao, and Dalulu are all made from ingredients from another world. They can’t be replicated on Earth.”

I’ve been asked similar questions countless times this month, and we always give the same answer. The key ingredient for Kirara is a coconut-like fruit from the otherworldly “Grandis.” Maotiaotiao contains a white fruit that resembles strawberries, and Dalulu is made from a succulent plant similar to cactus, which only grows in desert areas of the other world.

Every night, Xiao Mo and I transport the juice for Kirara, the fruit pulp for Maotiaotiao, and the juice for Dalulu from the other world, making the base ingredients and storing them in the second-floor warehouse.

Ai Luodi and Lan Jiajia only know that these ingredients are brought by us, without knowing anything about the otherworldly aspect. They don’t seem to care much about such “secret formulas,” assuming that I get the supplies from some business partner.

It’s like the “Papa Rotti” snacks, the café now also sells dried fruits and snacks, and some of them are so visually unidentifiable that Lan Jiajia and Ai Luodi don’t bother to ask about their ingredients. They just know it’s a kind of snack.

Although I told the truth directly, it’s clear that to ordinary people, it sounded like I was just giving a perfunctory answer. Everyone thinks it’s some “family secret recipe,” so they believe I use the term “fruits from another world” as an excuse.

“Alright, I was just asking casually because it really tastes great. This is our first time trying it.”

The girl came closer and took out her phone. “I’ve logged into the app, come on, Nuo’er, let’s take a photo!”

“Click—”

For the rest of the time, it was mostly about taking photos with the girls, then they excitedly checked the app and the Tongmeng Network game interface for coupons and lottery content.

“Look, I’ll do a ten-draw! Wow! A gold one? Last time, I got a Cat-Ear Nuo’er with skills suitable for a healer. What’s this one?”

“Elf Nuo’er? It’s my first time drawing this, what does it add?”

“I told you, don’t draw for Nuo’er. Draw for Gabriel, they’re all angels with high combat skills and great bonuses…”

Seeing that the girls’ attention had shifted from me to their phone screens, I just smiled and walked downstairs.

Fans of the new Tongmeng badges come to the café to pet cats, eat, drink milk tea, and play games to earn various achievements.

Friends who enjoy gaming come to the café to participate in the lottery and check in. Friends who like beautiful girls come simply to spend, relax, and enjoy. Fans of the anime world treat the café as a small comic convention…

In reality, the café’s business expansion has gone beyond just making money. With Tongmeng, the largest long-form video website in the country, strongly promoting the café and collaborating with the Shenzhen City government, the results have been astounding.

During the café’s busiest times, both the first and second floors are packed with people. Initially, the rule that prohibited taking smelly food from the first floor to the second floor was abolished, and even the outdoor space was filled with tables and chairs.

Sometimes, even the basement’s Little Bird Leisure Bar is fully occupied. Some customers, who had to eat downstairs due to the large crowd, see others playing computers in the light-walled rooms, experiencing the cyberpunk vibe, and trying out the amazing VR games, quickly become hooked on “Age of Aquarius,” creating a positive cycle.

It’s clear that Tongmeng Network, Shenzhen City, and the leaders above are genuinely committed to developing this “metaverse,” and we have become a part of it.

For me, this is not a problem. With support from above, I, as the café manager, only need to come in daily, check in, and do my job well.

The café does not plan to open branches or go public. Instead, we plan to “give back to society” with the profits we make. In the initial phase, as it is now, with increased profits, we allocate some to cover the “free parts” of the café, such as the free five-color sticky rice at the entrance, free drinks, free oranges, and free water, as well as no delivery fee within our app.

If this model can continue to develop in the future and we make more and more money, we could consider venturing into public welfare, such as establishing free Primary Schools in Shenzhen City— I remember that Starlight Elementary School is still operating at a loss.

“Nuo’er.”

Descending to the first floor, I found Xiao Mo sitting beside Table No. 1, turning her paintbrush while looking at her laptop with a hesitant expression.

“What’s wrong? No inspiration for drawing?”

I yawned slightly, moved closer, and kissed Xiao Mo’s white face gently. “Good afternoon, dear.”

“Good afternoon.”

Xiao Mo turned her head and kissed me on the cheek. “How was your nap?”

“Quite good.”

I looked at the draft on the computer screen. “Is this a new illustration you’re working on?”

“Yes, it’s Fei Luo’s.”

Xiao Mo turned towards the window. “There’s something that might be a bit troublesome.”

“Eh?”

I sat down next to Xiao Mo. “What’s the trouble?”

“I haven’t taught Vivi and the others how to use spatial forbidden spells, but…”

Xiao Mo gazed towards the direction of Moon Orchid Island.

“It seems that they’ve learned from us transporting fruit back and forth these past few days, and we might have a few more roommates soon.”

“……”

……