Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 6 Opening and Going Bankrupt
As for the Spirit Sword Technique...

Chen Xuan walked out of the shop, picked up a fallen leaf from the ground, silently recited an incantation, and forcefully flung it toward a ginkgo tree not far away.

With a soft whooshing sound, the leaf pierced the tree trunk like a flying knife!

He went up to take a closer look and found that the fallen leaves had completely penetrated the bark and were deeply embedded in it, leaving only a two-finger-wide gap on the surface.

The effect is absolutely amazing...

Chen Xuan was secretly amazed. If this leaf hit a person, wouldn't their life be in danger? Even if it avoided vital points, it could still render the target unable to resist instantly.

He knew that cultivators all had some skills, but it was truly frightening that a cultivation technique rated as white grade could have such an effect.

Chen Xuan then tried other uses, such as attaching the spirit sword to his fingertips. It looked like his fingernails had grown longer, yet it could easily cut chopsticks and leave scratches on tiles.

It could probably cut a person's throat without anyone noticing.

Who is this capability suitable to be sold to?

"It seems I'll have to be more careful in choosing my sales targets next time," he muttered to himself. If the Spirit Sword Technique fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions, the consequences would be unimaginable.

After checking his abilities, Chen Xuan thought of his performance points.

The store manager's handbook clearly states that this reward can be redeemed immediately.

He returned to the bar, took out the red notebook, and flipped to the corresponding page. Sure enough, it clearly stated that sales performance could be used to improve the store manager's rating or exchanged for other rewards. But regardless of which option was chosen, a report had to be submitted via email.

So, can the level 1 of color ability be increased?
Chen Xuan immediately opened the "Store Management" section of the Butler APP and found the "Performance Point Rewards" section based on the example rules.

Scrolling down, I found that most of it was blank, with only the first item, "Store Manager Rating," available.

It only takes 4 performance points to upgrade from LV1 to LV2.

This system is practically like a career advancement system... The higher the sales volume, the faster you climb the ranks, and the higher your salary. The problem is, employees' salaries are all paid by the boss. If you're just a branch manager, then the Ability Store must also have an organization similar to the boss or board of directors.

However, the reality is not like that.

Because the manual even explains the criteria for ability rarity, it specifically states that legendary abilities, similar to SSR, are unique abilities with a rarity that is unique in the world.

In other words, the "???th store manager" is unique.

Other levels of abilities can exist in multiples.

The white level is simply referred to as a common ability in the manual, and it doesn't even qualify as an R.

It's impossible to say that everything in the red notebook is made up, right? After experiencing a transaction, Chen Xuan no longer dared to question the authenticity of those contents.

Since thinking about it was pointless, he decided to put the question aside for now and focus on leveling up his store manager rank. Since it was a reward system, climbing higher was definitely not a bad thing.

Clicking on the store manager rating option immediately brings up an email template on the desktop. It doesn't have a recipient; the applicant is required to fill in the reasons for the promotion.

"This is so troublesome... Can't we just calculate performance directly?" Chen Xuan scratched his head helplessly and could only honestly fill out the email. As for his application reason, he naturally gave himself a subtle compliment, just like writing a real job application letter. He didn't choose to be perfunctory because he was worried that there was a reason behind the app's complicated process.

After finishing, I clicked send, and then nothing happened.

This is clearly not a real-time feedback process.

Ding-dong~~
The wind chimes suddenly rang.

"Hey, is the boss there?" someone called out.

Another guest has arrived so soon?

Chen Xuan immediately put on a warm smile, looked up at the other person, and said, "Welcome!"

The newcomer was a middle-aged man, around forty years old, wearing a vest and shorts, and glasses. Chen Xuan quickly made a judgment in his mind: Hmm... he's in his prime, strong and powerful, and although he's dressed simply, he might be someone who prefers to live a quiet life in plain sight. In short, the customers who walk into this shop are not ordinary people.

So... what kind of ability does he yearn to acquire? "Buy a bag of Baisha coffee and a bottle of Tsingtao beer."

"Huh? Oh..."

Do you have mala tang (spicy hot pot)?

"Uh...no."

"Then why do you put up a mala tang sign? Seriously."

"..."

After the uncle left, Chen Xuan finally recovered. It was even more unbelievable than when he was entertaining Liu Shuyue!

—This store is both a convenience store and a department store serving the Tianlu community.

The thought of cultivators and retired aunties shopping together in the future sent chills down his spine.

Wait……

Isn't this terrible?

Chen Xuan suddenly realized that he not only had to be responsible for receiving those capable customers, but also for keeping the shop running like a small supermarket, which made the difficulty several times greater!

The store manager's handbook contains the clauses "all expenses for store operation shall be borne by the store manager" and "the store shall not be allowed to close down under any circumstances," which clearly foreshadowed a trap!

The next day, Chen Xuan didn't go to work; he resigned instead.

They readily agreed, since if he brought it up himself, he could save on his salary for the month.

Now that Chen Xuan is the store manager, he naturally can't continue to waste time for a month's salary. He now has to devote all his energy to the ability store.

After spending the whole morning using a calculator, he finally got a rough idea of ​​the expenses for running the store.

It is mainly divided into two parts: one is the cost of purchasing all goods, such as cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, and snacks, which need to be restocked after they are sold; the other is fixed expenses such as rent, water, electricity, and natural gas.

That's right, this mysterious shop, which operates primarily on the basis of ability trading, still has to pay its water and electricity bills to the State Grid and State Water Corporation. The rent is also deducted regularly each month from a dedicated bank account.

After all the calculations, the store's monthly operating costs are approximately 3 to 4 yuan.

Chen Xuan had assumed the sold goods would be automatically restocked, but the reality was quite different. A whole night passed, and no new cigarettes appeared on the shelves, nor any new drinks in the freezer. Even the rag used to wipe away Liu Shuyue's bloodstains hadn't returned to its pristine state.

Aside from the feature of trading ability, it's no different from a regular neighborhood department store, except that the interior decoration is a bit more exquisite.

Chen Xuan currently has 5 yuan in savings.

This is his remaining savings after his business failed. It's enough to easily cover rent and food, but with the current planned expenses, he can only last a month and a half at most before the shop has to close due to unpaid bills.

The situation is extremely critical!
Performance metrics are no longer the focus; the focus is on real money.

Realizing this situation, Chen Xuan immediately had an idea. With his current income level, he could forget about working to support the shop. The most feasible way was to link his abilities with his skills and monetize them!
“Sell the ability directly…” Chen Xuan pondered silently. He spent the entire night testing it and finally came to a conclusion not mentioned in the manual: losing the ability is not the same as the “Forgetting Curse”, nor will it affect normal life.

For example, even though he used to be a heavy sleeper, he could still fall asleep at night. After trading away his antique collection, he hadn't completely forgotten history; he still remembered the well-known dynasties and famous figures, only the specific events associated with them were completely forgotten. He guessed that these keywords had transcended the realm of history and become part of his self-awareness. And once he opened a webpage and searched for those historical stories, he could recall them again.

This dispelled his last remaining concerns about trading abilities.

Although currently only abilities can be exchanged for abilities, no one has stipulated that he can't charge an extra fee. Take, for example, the gray-area abilities of being able to eat and sleep exceptionally well. Despite their extremely low rarity, they are definitely valuable abilities that wealthy people who can't eat or sleep well are willing to pay a large sum of money for. Add a trivial ability as an add-on, and such a transaction seems quite easy to complete.

The problem is that he doesn't know this kind of boss, and it's difficult for him to find a suitable target in a short period of time using his own connections.

This idea is undoubtedly difficult to implement.

Chen Xuan naturally thought of the second method: to use his abilities to earn his first pot of gold.

(End of this chapter)