004 Negative review
Star Network.
As soon as Ji You left the Huatai official store, she immediately returned to her little shop to check the backend. The five Grass Seed Fruit Bracelets that were listed for sale still laid there gleaming, especially conspicuous and glaring.
Ji You then checked the page views: [11]
11!
It's been one week since listing!
It took her half a month of meticulous polishing for these five Grass Seed Fruit Bracelets to make them look more beautiful and radiant, to the point where her fingers were nearly worn out. Yet, after one week of being listed for sale, there were still only 11 views.
11 views.
Ji You felt an instant sense of despair.
It's true—
What Uncle Xie Yi said was correct; nobody appreciates this stuff, okay?
As a top artisan, Ji You felt her dignity was being utterly eroded. In her previous life, she would sometimes livestream bead turning, and each time she was live, numerous fans would gather to watch.
The moment she finished a piece, it would sell out immediately.
She always believed that her craftsmanship would be appreciated in this era, but— reality can be so cold and smack you in the face.
As Ji You lowered her head, she suddenly caught sight of a comment below the bracelet.
Staring at it, she almost couldn't breathe from anger. The comment read: [Selling grass seed? Are you crazy for money?]
Below this comment, there was a one-star rating!
One star!
Ji You was immediately suffocated.
For a newly opened shop, receiving a one-star negative review even before its first sale is a fatal blow. This could drastically reduce the exposure of her new store among the ocean of countless shops.
The one-star negative review not only lowered the store's exposure but would also affect the first impression of new customers entering the shop.
Moreover—
There were—
Such as—
...
Various negative consequences— these were unbearable pains for Ji You.
Her hand trembling, Ji You almost pressed the button to close the shop and delist the bracelets several times, but also hesitated each time. After going back and forth, Ji You clenched her teeth, decided to turn off the backend, and resolved to adopt an "out of sight, out of mind" approach.
As for her shop and the bracelets on the shelf, she would just let them be, leaving them to fate and waiting for someone destined to come along.
...
After leaving the commercial area, Ji You returned to her personal sanctuary.
This brings us to the Star Network.
In contrast to the internet of the 21st century, the Star Network of the interstellar era is a virtual world created by holographic simulation. It is known as the second world of the interstellar era, resembling the real world yet distinct from it.
Every interstellar citizen logs into the Star Network with their identity chip using their spiritual power. This is their unique account. To reduce crime rates, the Star Network enforces a real-name system. Everyone is equipped with a unique account from birth, which is cancelled only upon death. However, the Star Network is very user-friendly; although your account is unique and unchangeable, you can hide your real name and choose an interesting nickname for yourself.
Ji You's nickname is Qingyou, which is adapted from her name.
Once logged into the Star Network, everyone has a personal sanctuary resembling real-world houses and courtyards. You can rest, work, or even raise pets in your sanctuary. Of course, if the rich have money to spare, they can also spend it on decorations to adorn their personal sanctuary.
Personal sanctuaries are private and highly confidential. Unless invited by the host, outsiders may not enter.
Beyond the sanctuary lies the main boulevards of the Star Network, which lead to countless other streets. These streets connect in all directions, leading to the commercial area, wilderness zone, battle zone…
In addition, Star Network has divided the living range of All interstellar people into four major regions: East, South, West, and North.
The region where Ji You is currently located is the East District. The shop she opened is at 188 Commercial Avenue, No. 66, East District—a tiny store less than 10 square meters.
Star Network provides every interstellar citizen with a private personal homestead, but this does not include commercial stores, meaning private homesteads cannot be used for business activities, such as opening stores, selling goods, etc...
Citizens who want to do business must apply to Star Network for permission to open a store. Once successful, they must pay monthly rent and taxes to Star Network. Every citizen can enjoy a preferential policy for opening a store once: newly opened stores can enjoy one year's tax exemption and rent-free service, and also get an additional 10% exposure rate for three months.
This 10% exposure rate is particularly important for new stores. It even relates to whether a new store can survive or perish.
Of course, if a new store violates the laws and regulations of the interstellar community or receives a certain number of bad reviews, its exposure rate will also decrease, and in severe cases, it can be shut down forcibly. This is why Ji You cares so much about that negative review. Because she can't afford a good store, her little shop is opened in a very remote corner. The exposure rate is originally not high, and with the impact of the negative review, it will decrease even more...
The consequences— are a pain that Ji You cannot bear.
Once the year is up and the benefits of tax exemption and rent-free policy end, if Ji You cannot achieve a profit, she can only close the shop reluctantly.
Returning to her personal homestead, affected by the negative review, Ji You squatted in the corner, curling her body up, feeling very down.
Life in this interstellar era is really tough.
Originally, she thought that by crossing over, she would definitely be on the protagonist's script. However — to this day, Ji You has not seen the slightest hint of a Golden Finger appearing. Not only is there no Golden Finger, but to survive, she even has to scavenge through garbage...
Apart from picking up trash, she has exhausted all the skills from her previous life: turning beads, braiding bracelets... And the result? None were effective.
Feeling sad, Ji You felt a faint headache coming on. She pinched her forehead hard to stop the pain and then caught a glimpse of an axe lying upside down in the corner of her homestead from the corner of her eye.
Ji You cheered up a bit, walked over, bent down to pick up the axe, and got ready to start the grueling work on Star Network.
The so-called Star Network grueling work is a job specifically designed and introduced by the Alliance Government for citizens with poor Physical Strength and spiritual power. It does not have any hard requirements for spiritual or Physical Strength, nor does it have any technical content. You only need to invest your time to earn credit points, somewhat similar to a bricklayer in the 21st century.
The grueling work that Ji You does on Star Network is wood splitting. Of course, the axe and the logs are virtual, but every time Ji You swings the axe and splits these logs, the energy generated from a series of her movements is real and the Star Network system has special collectors to gather this energy. For every log split, the system automatically collects energy once. After splitting ten times, a total of 1 point of energy is accumulated.
Ji You can split at least ten logs per minute, work for an hour, and roughly gather 60 points of energy, so her work efficiency is quite good.
Of course, Star Network grueling work isn't just wood splitting; there's also sharpening knives, chopping firewood, bricklaying... all kinds, and although the form is different, the principle of energy collection is the same.
Ji You just prefers simpler methods, so she chose the straightforward and brutal wood splitting.
Star Network System: [Respected Miss Ji: Are you ready to start working now? The hourly wage will be 2 credit points/hour. If it's less than 1 hour and energy collected is below 50 points, it will not be counted.]
Overlord indeed!
Working for less than 1 hour and collecting less than 50 points of energy, and you don't get paid at all—isn't this an overlord clause?
This made Ji You feel very uncomfortable. She remembered a saying she heard in her previous life: the poor spend their time buying money, while the rich spend their money buying time… Now, without any possession, nor a penny to her name, she only has an abundance of time, she can only spend a lot of time earning a meager amount of money.
Sigh~
Ji You helplessly said, "Confirmed."
Star Network System: [Collection will begin in 10 seconds. Have a pleasant work experience!]
Then, [10, 9, 8, 7, 6...] After the countdown ended, Ji You immediately raised her axe and fiercely chopped down on a log, splitting it in two instantly.
Split one, then the second.
Three.
Four.
Five.
...
Get tired from splitting, rest a bit, and then continue.
Cycle and repeat.
Round and round it goes.
Her life is so ordinary, mundane, it seems there's no glimmer of hope for any change.