Building a Shop
In the middle of the forest of Death Valley, a man with gray-white hair and emerald eyes stared at the blinking cursor on his cell phone screen.
[Name : … ]
The phone was waiting for him to immediately give a name to the shop in the game he had just obtained.
The man, Cien, stared at the cursor blankly. In the middle of a deadly forest where monsters could pounce on him at any moment, he had to stand still while confused trying to come up with a name for the shop in the cell phone game.
Faced with a name problem, Cien didn't know what name to type!
Maybe he just could throw any name, but he wasn't comfortable coming up with an arbitrary name, even if it was just for a cell phone game.
In the end, Cien let out a long breath. Suddenly asked to write a name, really makes his mind blank. After a while, Cien finally typed the name on the cellphone screen.
[Name : Kirana]
[Yes/No]
Cien didn't think about it any longer, immediately pressed the word yes.
Ding!
[Starting application preparation, please wait!]
On the phone screen, Cien again saw a bar that seemed to be processing something.
'Kirana…'
His mind then imagined the little girl who owns that name. The girl was his daughter, who had not met for ten years.
Cien remembers his past life while on Earth. However, his age when he died there was only 24 years old. Whereas in this world, he had lived for 43 years.
So actually, right now Cien feels more that his life on Earth is just a momentary dream. And his life here affected him even more, because of that, his longing for his wife and daughter didn't disappear at all even though he knew that he was a reincarnator.
"Sigh~"
Cien took another deep breath, lamenting his life. Although his body condition has returned to its prime. This still wouldn't allow him to get out of this cursed place of Death Valley.
Ding!
The notification sound of the cell phone sounded again. Cien picked up his cell phone, saw that on the main page screen there was only one icon.
An unnamed icon depicting a wooden house.
Cien frowned, his fingers trying to swipe across the screen to see what else was on his phone.
But nothing. There isn't anything!
The phone has a camera, but no app can run it! Even if you want to swipe to the screen settings, there's nothing!
"What kind of cheap cell phone is this?"
Bzzt!
"Agh!"
As if hearing complaints from him, the cell phone suddenly issued a shocking electric current and made Cien drop his cell phone to the ground.
"..."
Cien looked at his electrocuted right hand, his hand felt numb. He then turned his gaze to the cell phone lying on the ground.
After a few seconds of seeing the phone just lying helpless. He took the phone back carefully. Turned it over and saw the screen still lit up, showing the one game app icon he got.
Really, Cien wanted to turn off his cellphone and move from his current place. He was standing in a very dangerous place, very fortunate that during the last ten days there were no monsters eating him.
However, looking at the app on that screen. Curiosity overcame his desire to quickly move to a safe place.
His thumb pressed the game application icon on the screen.
And the first thing that came out after he pressed was a new command.
[Scan one building for your shop!]
"Huh? Scan?"
Underneath the written instructions, there is a camera icon. Cien presses the icon, and the camera starts up.
"Oooo!"
Cien was a bit amazed, because he could actually use the camera on his phone. Camera technology in a fantasy world! Even though he was used to cell phone cameras in the previous world, in this world, he couldn't hide his feeling of being quite proud of technology.
Cien then pointed the camera at a tree not far beside him. After he aimed at the tree, his cellphone automatically scanned that tree.
[Not suitable for a shop building.]
Cien's right eye twitched reading the text on the screen.
'Who wants to make a tree into a shop?!'
Cien complained in his head, then massaged his forehead which was starting to feel dizzy. He tried to reprocess the instructions given by the application on the cellphone.
Scan something that is a building. There was an important point that was only realized after recalling the instructions.
The point where the shop in the mobile game has to scan the building in the real world.
Many things came to Cien's mind at this time. The first possibility is that the in-game shop will use the building design as reference. Then the second possibility, the building he scanned would actually become the shop he would play in the real world.
As a reincarnator, of course Cien has read and watched several stories about characters who are reincarnated in a fantasy world. One thing these characters have in common is that they have extraordinary abilities bestowed by a god or goddess.
"If I'm not mistaken it's called… cheat? Golden finger? Hack?"
Cien then looked back at the phone in his hand. Remembering these fictional stories, he was sure that the cellphone that had been around since he was a baby was the cheat he had.
But…
'Shop owner… seriously?'
Cien shook his head. He still couldn't determine the value and purpose of the cellphone he owned.
For now he had to find a building he could scan in order to complete the application instructions. And for that, he knows a suitable place to scan.
The place he made with his own hands, and became a shelter during his ten years trapped in Death Valley.
Cien decided to immediately return to the hut he made. He then fumbled around the surface of the phone looking for a button to turn off the screen. However, he did not find the button at all.
"How do I turn off this screen?"
Like answering his question, a new small instruction suddenly appeared on the cellphone screen. Instructions that tell him to press the home symbol for three seconds at the bottom of the screen.
Cien did as instructed and the screen went out successfully. He tucked the cell phone into his worn trouser pocket and with renewed vigor, he started walking back to his living quarters.
The area he passed was a familiar area. So Cien can easily determine the direction where his hut is located.
Occasionally when walking, Cien would hide in the bushes, behind rocks, behind trees, even bury himself in the ground, if he heard the sound of a monster that was close enough to him.
Surviving for ten years in that cursed place made Cien a quite reliable forest survival.
He knows when to hide, run, find a safe path from the natural surroundings, and of course look for food and drink in that cursed place. The events ten days ago where he was attacked by a rank five monster could be said to be pure bad luck.
At that time, Cien slipped on a slippery rock and caused him to be unconscious for several minutes. When he opened his eyes, he saw two eyes looking at him as a lunch meal.
Cien was lucky to be able to escape, but at the cost of breaking both his legs from the monster's attack.
It took about two hours before Cien finally arrived at the hut he made. He didn't know the exact location of his hut in Death Valley, even though he had been in that scary place for ten years, Cien had never dared to explore Death Valley in its entirety.
However, Cien knew that in the southeast direction his hut was located. In about three days of travel, he was able to get out of Death Valley. Cien knows because at the beginning of falling here, he tried to find a way out.
He managed to find it, only a layer of barrier stopped him from leaving Death Valley.
For some reason, he couldn't get out of here at all. Like something was blocking him. Not only that, if in two weeks he is far from the location of his hut. A mysterious chain would pull his body and bring him back to where he lived.
Cien felt himself not only trapped, but also imprisoned..
Cien approached his hut which was made purely of an array of logs. The hut was on flat ground covered by shadows of many trees that blocked out the sunlight. Right behind the hut, about a hundred meters away, was a small cave.
Looking at the hut that was getting dilapidated with time, Cien could only smile wryly remembering how hard it was for him to build the place from scratch.
He took his cell phone out of his pocket then turned on the camera and scanned the little shack building he had made.
Ding!
[Building successfully scanned. Turn the building into a shop?]
[Yes/No]
Cien pressed 'Yes' without hesitation.
[Confirmed. Starting shop renovation, please wait a moment!]
Suddenly from the front, a bright light blinded his eyes. He blocked the light with his hand, then peered at the events unfolding from between his fingers. Unfortunately he couldn't see anything. Only a dazzling light was all he could see.
Cien glanced at his cellphone screen, and saw the process bar on the screen was about to finish.
Ding!
[Renovation complete!]
Along with the notification tone from the cellphone, the light dimmed. Cien lowered his hand, and was surprised to see his rickety little hut, now turned into a large building like an expensive cabin with a sign 'Kirana Shop' hanging in front of the cabin.