Gift Shop No. 3

[The new novel Please Open Your Eyes When It Gets Dark is underway!]

After a breakup, Shen Yi was feeling down and went drinking with a friend. He grumbled bitterly, "If there's really a place called Gift Shop No. 3 in this world, I'd be the first to send it straight to hell. Cheating, and then acting like it's justified? What kind of person does that..."

As soon as he finished speaking, shadows shifted around Shen Yi and mist surged in like a tide. A cold voice whispered in his ear, "Kill me, and your wish will come true."

Though Shen Yi's head was swimming, his mind was still clear. "Kill? You know murder is illegal, right? I was just talking..."

The voice fell silent for a moment, seemingly unsure how to respond.

Shen Yi raised his glass and leaned closer with a chuckle. "Where did you come from, you poor little thing? Thinking about killing yourself all the time? How about this: I'll save you, and you help me... make one wish. Deal?"

Time passed in silence for a long while.

Then Shen Yi heard a cold, mechanical voice: "The deal is made. The Gift Shop awaits your arrival."

The next day, after sobering up, Shen Yi remembered the night before. News stories about people getting saddled with huge debts after signing contracts while drunk flashed through his mind, and he scrambled to check his assets.

Thankfully, everything was as it had been.

Yet from that day on, Shen Yi's life seemed to enter a parallel track entirely different from before.

He realized the people around him seemed to have changed.

A poor construction-worker couple suddenly became filthy rich. A beggar on the street became a homeowner in his neighborhood. His boss became alluringly feminine after taking a vacation. Even the neighbor's dog started understanding human speech.

Had he just never noticed before? Shen Yi wondered.

He kept thinking that until a week later, when he was having a meal with a friend. An electronic screen suddenly appeared in front of the other man: "A serial killer is about to appear on Yangui Road. Capture him successfully to earn ten points. This mission is expected to be completed within three minutes. Proceed now?"

Shen Yi watched his friend calmly tap "Proceed now," casually say he had something to do and would be back in three minutes, then politely close the door on his way out.

Shen Yi: "?"

**

Gift Shop No. 3 is said to be a place that can grant any wish. It exists in the void, yet often appears in the parts of reality frequented by humans. As long as your wish is strong enough, you can see the shop's entrance.

Shen Yi didn't see the entrance. He saw the shop's only item, with a description beside it.

[Customer ID: ---]

[Wish item: Save a god (an ambitious, unrealistic wish. Good luck!)]

[Points required to redeem: +infinity (Congratulations, you have a chance to spend your entire life in the shop.)]

**

[Coming soon: Please Open Your Eyes When It Gets Dark]

In 2035, tens of thousands of people around the world were repeatedly pulled into an enormous, absurd dream.

The dream contained collapsing ruins, distorted statues of gods, towering mechanical monsters, a vast urban sewer system, and tentacles slithering out from the cracks.

Eventually, these people learned that they had entered another world.

There was magic that could bring the living dead back to life, mysterious springs that could heal wounds, and countless treasures of gold and silver. And if they could survive to the end of the dream, they could bring it all back to reality!

And so the brutal slaughter began.

**

Xie Shen was eighteen and had just received his university admission letter when he was dragged into a dream on the night before his first day of school. He became one of thirty thousand dreamers.

At eighteen, the age when life is in full bloom, he had to compete for the right to survive against monsters who had spent who knows how many years in the real world.

Worse, these uncles, aunties, older brothers, and older sisters were all completely insane. They saw a spring that who knows how many animals had pissed in and wanted to cup some water in their hands and drink it. They saw a vicious dog that was obviously impossible to tame and wanted to catch it as a pet. They saw a house with a coffin inside and wanted to go in, lift the lid, and see a mummy.

Rude, uncivilized, and stupid.

Xie Shen was sick of them. Even worse, when these people mutated, they were a real pain to kill.

He hated entering the dream!

**

What you think enters the dream. The capable claim it.

Only those who laugh last are the winners.

* Xie Shen is the top, the Rain God is the bottom.

* Contains a tiny bit of Lovecraftian horror, but the author has only read the first three stories, so most of it is original worldbuilding.

* The modern world is highly fictionalized.

Theme: Work tirelessly to make your wishes come true.