The First Store System

Chapter 1225: A New Day!

Aakesh looked in surprise at the woman. The woman felt a wave of rage bubbling in her heart as Aakesh still didn't say yes when she offered herself for free. Aakesh looking at her in surprise didn't help either.

Aakesh then took a step forward, and soon he was in front of the woman.

Aakesh believed that even if he were to run at his full speed, the woman would still be able to beat him. To put that to the test, Aakesh rushed right after approaching the woman.

The woman followed behind, and as Aakesh had expected, the woman soon caught up to him and then ahead of him, stopping him.

"Why are you running away from me?" Aakesh's actions seemed to grow the attraction the woman had for him.

As she appeared ahead of Aakesh, she grabbed Aakesh's left hand.

The next moment, her face turned pale from fright, and she reflexively let go of Aakesh's hand when she saw the cold eyes. She felt as if she were being stared at by a beast with no chance of fighting back.

***

"I am sorry for that again." The woman apologized for the umpteenth time.

The cold eyes caused the disappearance of whatever attraction the woman had for Aakesh, and instead, it generated extreme fear. Since the woman didn't want to lose her life over a stupid moment of lust, she apologized and requested that Aakesh have dinner in a great restaurant.

Aakesh nodded in response to the apology and then turned around to leave. Aakesh needed to find that whether the woman was special to have such speed or whether it was due to the city.

***

[Host, it's time for your meditation!]

Aakesh heard the system's alert as he was traveling. Since it was only his first day in the city and there was nothing that needed him to overextend his stay, Aakesh decided to exit.

But before exiting, Aakesh needed to find a safe spot since he couldn't just exit or enter the street. It didn't take long for Aakesh to find an alley, and then he was surprised to find the woman there.

The woman awkwardly smiled when she saw Aakesh. There was a hint of fear in her eyes as well since that terrible feeling was still fresh in her mind.

Since there was already someone, Aakesh couldn't exit Panagea here. He then turned around to leave.

"Wait!"

The woman suddenly called out to Aakesh. He stopped and turned his head to look at the woman.

"I am Diti. If you need my help, call me," The woman said, handing over a small square card to Aakesh.

Aakesh took the card from her hands, and as soon as he saw the content on it, the card exploded into a stream of light particles and disappeared, while at the same time, the content he saw was engraved in his mind.

***

A white light flashed in the store's hall. It disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, and with it, Aakesh also appeared.

What happened in Panagea stayed in Panagea, so Aakesh didn't think about it and sat down on his meditation mat, which was already there for him. He then took a pure lesser Sacred stone out of the system's space and started his meditation.

Time passed like a flash, and soon it was time for the meditation to end as the system informed Aakesh about the near sunrise.

Aakesh opened his eyes and looked to his right. A small blue screen greeted his sight, informing him about the increased absorption rate.

Seeing that, Aakesh nodded in appreciation and then stood up. As Aakesh went to his room, the meditation mat on the store disappeared, turning the store silent.

The silence didn't last long, as only a few minutes later, the door opened, and Aakesh stepped out of it. The sunrise was still a few moments away, so Aakesh sat on his chair and passed that time.

Time was consistently flowing, uncaring of what it brought into the lives of others. Years had passed in the blink of an eye.

As the sun rose, the people standing on the street had their eyes lit up with excitement. They stood in front of the mysterious building that had changed many destinies.

It had been years since the customers started coming to the store, but despite that, they felt excited every day whenever the sun rose and the time for the store to open arrived.

The same was the case that day, as the store's doors opened with a sliding sound not long after the first ray of light pierced through the cover of darkness.

***

When Aakesh opened the doors of the store, a large crowd welcomed him as usual. He didn't let them wait any longer, turned around, and returned to his chair.

The two hundred thousand-plus customers entered the store like a raging tide, wanting to be the first to step inside. Even though everyone wanted to be ahead, none of them pushed each other and steered clear of causing any scene.

In no time, the crowded street had turned empty while the store housed all of them.

The first 13,148 people to step inside the store were shrouded in golden light, causing them to be jubilant. The remaining ones in the crowd had slightly disappointed expressions, but not those, who were covered in black light.

After being doused in black light, they were unable to enter Panagea that day because all of the available slots had already been taken.

Many of the customers covered in black light turned around and left the store since their only purpose for coming to the store was Panagea.

A few of the ones still there in the store had slight hopes, so they stayed back.

The many customers entered the various rooms throughout the store, either to kill time or to make a purchase.

The ones in the first group, who didn't own any of the store cards, went to Aakesh to pay for their entry into Panagea.

Evelyn and William were also in the group to enter Panagea in the first group, and they were second and third in line behind Maria.