Chapter 1: The Restaurant and the Otherworldly Girl

"Is this the restaurant I am about to inherit?" Chen Ze looked at the building in front of him with excitement, feeling a bit of anticipation in his heart.

"Yes, Mr. Chen Ze, according to Elder Wang Qing's will, as long as you sign this agreement, then you will be the owner of this restaurant," the bespectacled lawyer handed over a contract.

The contract wasn't long; Chen Ze quickly read through the three pages and swiftly signed his name, also pressing his thumbprint.

Chen Ze didn't think he would sell the restaurant or rebuild it as another type of store. In the center of the provincial capital city, having a restaurant like this made Chen Ze very content.

After confirming everything was correct, the lawyer handed over the property deeds and other certificates to Chen Ze.

"Congratulations, Mr. Chen Ze, you are now the owner of Dream Restaurant," the lawyer said formally, shaking Chen Ze's hand.

"Additionally, to finalize the entire inheritance process, you need to follow us to take care of some other procedures."

Upon hearing the lawyer's words, Chen Ze quickly nodded.

After being busy all day, Chen Ze finally finished all the procedures. When he once again stood in front of Dream Restaurant, the moon had already climbed up into the sky.

"What a dreamy week this has been..." Chen Ze caressed the front door of the restaurant with a somewhat unreal feeling in his heart.

"I never expected that simply helping an elderly man who had fallen and taking him to the hospital would result in such a big reward," Chen Ze said, looking at the keys in his hand and the property deed in his backpack, and couldn't help but chuckle.

Art comes from life but is higher than life. Chen Ze felt that now he truly understood what this phrase meant; his experience was such that not even a movie would dare to shoot it this way.

This was the city center, where one square meter cost fifty thousand RMB. Chen Ze did the math on his salary; he would have to work hard for a year to afford just two square meters.

"Let's take a look at the interior decoration." Chen Ze unlocked the door and slowly stepped inside.

When he turned on the lights, Chen Ze finally got a clear look at the entire restaurant, which was decorated in a Western-style.

"How strange, the information I saw online seems to be a bit different from reality?" Chen Ze stroked his chin.

According to the online information, this restaurant should have been closed for a year already, yet there wasn't any dust on the tables nor anywhere else, as clean as if it had opened just yesterday.

"Perhaps the old man regularly sent people to clean it?" Chen Ze didn't think too much about it; a clean restaurant was a good thing, especially since he didn't have much money left after paying various fees.

Thinking about the additional cost of hiring chefs and waitstaff, Chen Ze felt like his wallet would be emptied soon.

Chen Ze walked around the restaurant and then headed upstairs. He had learned from the contract that the restaurant had three levels: a basement and a second floor.

The second floor was smaller than the first, but it satisfied Chen Ze because it was a residential area.

"I still have to buy furniture. I'll just make do with my own bedding for now..." Chen Ze quickly finished inspecting the second floor.

"Next is the basement..." Chen Ze slowly made his way down and then saw a pink-haired girl sitting in the restaurant.

"Eh? Miss, we haven't started business yet, please…" Chen Ze's mouth twitched; he remembered that he had hung a 'closed for business' sign at the entrance.

Why were there still customers coming in?

This girl's hair color is also quite unique... Chen Ze inwardly exclaimed.

The pink-haired girl turned around upon hearing him and looked at Chen Ze.

Chen Ze was stunned; the girl in front of him was beautiful, but for someone like Chen Ze, who had seen plenty of internet celebrities, that wasn't enough to shock him.

What stunned Chen Ze were the girl's ears—they were pointed, just like the elves he had seen in movies before.

And her skin color was gray.

"Are you cosplaying? Is there a comic convention nearby?" Chen Ze smiled, thinking he had figured it out.

The girl across from him furrowed her eyebrows, tilted her head as she looked at Chen Ze, and opened her mouth, "@&~."

Chen Ze was completely baffled, not understanding a word the girl had said.

It must not be English, at least English he could still understand a bit.

The other party saw Chen Ze's bewilderment, furrowed her brows, and said something again, but Chen Ze still couldn't understand.

The girl was silent for a while, then slowly raised her hand, and a purple light instantly shot towards Chen Ze's eyes.

"Damn, are you playing with a laser pointer? You got a case of chuunibyo or something? Don't you know that can scare people?" Chen Ze rubbed his eyes in pain, feeling like he was about to go blind.

"Now, can you understand what I'm saying?" The girl's voice came again.

"Heh, you know how to speak Chinese now? Would've been nice if you'd started with that," Chen Ze shook his head, convinced the girl must have escaped from a mental institution.

"Inferior Race, I do not understand the Chinese you speak of. This is Arcane Wisdom, which allows you to understand my words," the girl frowned at Chen Ze, clearly dissatisfied with his attitude.

"Inferior Race? Arcane Wisdom? Lady, you've got a serious case of video game obsession," Chen Ze became even more convinced of his theory.

He then handed the girl two playing cards he had found in the bedroom on the second floor.

The girl looked at the playing cards in front of her with a puzzled face. She touched them gently, and a purple light flashed by.

"What are these?" The girl withdrew her hand, unable to comprehend the characters on them.

"Girl, let's not fool around anymore, okay? These are playing cards. Don't take the act of being a chuuni too far," he said.

"Inferior Race, you should show respect when serving Rose, the Priestess of the Spider Goddess!" Rose frowned, sensing the sarcasm in Chen Ze's words.

"Spider Goddess?" Chen Ze laughed, pulling out his cell phone and shaking his head.

"What is this?" Rose eyed Chen Ze's cell phone warily, picking up the Scepter that was beside her.

"I'd advise you to put down the weapon, and by the way, I'm about to call the police, so you can still leave," Chen Ze yawned unconcernedly.

"Spider silk," Rose raised the Scepter.

"Crazy..." Before he could finish his sentence, Chen Ze found himself bound, white spider silk tightly enveloping his body.

"What the hell?" Chen Ze was stunned.

Rose walked up to him, pressing the Scepter against Chen Ze's head, its cold touch snapping him back to reality.

"I'm going to ask you questions, and you answer me. If you dare lie to me..." the Scepter pressed down a bit more.

Chen Ze swallowed and nodded.

"Where is this place?"

"Dream Restaurant, I just came in today..."

"Who are you?"

"Chen Ze, the restaurant owner."

"Are you a servant of the Necromancer?"

"Necromancer? I don't know who you're talking about."

Rose was silent for a moment, then put away the Scepter and sat back down.

"Aren't you the restaurant owner? Get me something to eat; I'm hungry," Rose waggled her finger, and the spider silk binding Chen Ze disappeared into thin air.

"Huh?" Chen Ze was baffled once again.

"If you can't make food, that proves you're a liar, and I'll kill you and offer you as a sacrifice to the Spider Goddess," Rose's eyes were not friendly.

Chen Ze began to ponder a problem, how to survive when all he ever learned to make was instant noodles and nothing else since he was young.