Sweet tangy fruit essence, feeling like an apple, a banana, and a coconut, with a faintly cool aftertaste, as if he had just bitten into the heart of a mystical orchard.
A rush of sensation spread through every nerve in his body.
His senses flared. Then, the feeling vanished into thin air.
That was it. Apart from he delightful taste that was unlike anything he had ever tasted in his previous world, it felt as though he had just tasted a normal fruit bar.
Jonathan finished eating the Mystic Energy Bar within several minutes before snapping his fingers. The sash vanished into thin air.
"Time to get some rest."
Jonathan rose, stretched his limbs, and walked toward the counter. He was already exhausted and needed to prepare for tomorrow. Every morning, the system made sure he woke up by 8 a.m. to open the store.
If he didn't, the alarm embedded in his bedroom would release a sound wave that targeted his entire body, making his internal organs feel as if they were being squeezed until he jolted awake.
Jonathan had genuinely thought he would die that first night in the store. Fortunately, everything returned to normal the moment he left his bed and took a shower.
Not wanting to experience that feeling again, he decided it was best to sleep early and wake up early rather than wait for the alarm to remind him with pain that he was late.
Thankfully, his room and bathroom were on par with those of a five-star hotel, so he lacked nothing in comfort.
Jonathan walked behind the counter and switched off the lights.
"Good night," he said softly to his store before stepping through the corridor that led to his bedroom and bathroom.
.....
Morning
Three women stood outside the store.
If Jonathan had been there, he would have immediately recognised two of them: Tiana and Kafla. The third was another young woman dressed in a similar white robe, though her sash differed.
Unlike Tiana and Kafla, whose sashes bore rose-shaped embroidery representing their masters' insignia, the newcomer's sash was embroidered with countless intricately stitched ice phoenixes.
Her name was Nessa, an inner disciple of the Ice Phoenix Sect, and her attire was the standard uniform of the sect's inner members.
The only distinction between them lay in the design of their sashes, which indicated Tiana and Kafla's higher status as personal disciples of an elder.
At that moment, all three of their gazes were fixed on the small store before them. Tiana and Kafla had explained everything that had happened inside the Dimensional Convenience Store to their fellow sect members.
Of course, they had been careful, omitting any mention of Tiana's bloodline awakening and her recent improvements, while emphasising Kafla's experiences instead.
They didn't want to draw unwanted attention from those who might covet Tiana's secret bloodline before they could inform their master about what had transpired. However, the elders didn't believe their words. Instead, they assumed the two were lying to leave the city and return to the sect.
After all, Tiana and Kafla had spent the rest of the previous day inside the store, testing out their newfound abilities after leaving. Because of that, they were punished, assigned to join the group tasked with overseeing the upcoming competition for the Heroic Institute's selection, where those with extraordinary talent who had failed to make it in would be given another chance to join their sect.
Not even their fellow disciples of the sect believed them. Only one person did, and it was only after countless rounds of persuasion that they managed to convince her to come along. They had promised Jonathan to bring new customers to the store, and she would be their first.
The problem was that this person, Nessa, wasn't exactly on good terms with them. The only reason she agreed to come was to expose them —to prove they were lying and shirking the task assigned to them.
Tiana and Kafla felt deeply ashamed. They had boasted that they would bring several of their sisters and sectmates as referrals, yet only one had come, and she was an enemy rather than a friend.
They also felt anxious. The last thing they wanted was to cause trouble for Jonathan, especially after remembering how close they'd come to angering him the day before. All they could do now was hope Nessa didn't cause too much of a scene.
Meanwhile, Nessa wore a deep frown. She recalled all the unbelievable things her sisters had told her the night before, the very stories that had convinced her to come and see this 'miraculous store' for herself.
She had expected grandeur, a majestic shop. Instead, what stood before her was a modest, almost shabby little store. How could this place possibly sell meals that increased one's mana circulation by three years? How could something so extraordinary come from a place that looked so ordinary?
And worse, how could such a meal be priced at only one High-Grade Mana Crystal? How realistic were all these?
Question after question filled Nessa's mind, and all of them led to one conclusion: Tiana and Kafla were lying.
As for Kafla's sudden increase in strength, Nessa could only assume she had been hiding her true power all along and used this opportunity to create the perfect moment to shock them as some sort of joke.
But that also meant every sparring match they'd had, all those duels intended to test their progress, had been one-sided.
The thought burned her pride. The shame of that realisation festered inside her chest, and she couldn't accept it. That was why she had come, to see this so-called 'Dimensional Convenience Store' with her own eyes and prove them wrong.
But now, standing before it, staring at the plain sign and unimpressive walls, Nessa couldn't help but feel her conclusion had already been proven right.
The only thing unique about the store was its polished exterior, so immaculate that not even a speck of dust clung to it when she brushed her fingers along the wall.
...
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