In the end, Yun Zhenyue still didn't get to work as she wished.
According to Li, how could a manager like her work alongside mere underlings like them?
Besides, the position of manager could be considered a job in its own right.
If Yun Zhenyue was willing, he could even have the accountant set up a salary for her.
A salary more than ten times his own!
Her job description was simply to inspect the various operations of the Blood Moon Restaurant.
Just by being at the Blood Moon Restaurant, she was technically working.
Wandering around, taking a look.
Offering some guidance to the employees.
Even eating a meal would be considered "inspecting the quality of the dishes."
Resigned, Yun Zhenyue had no choice but to agree.
And so began a three-day period of slacking off.
So as not to hold things up, she had all the employees return to their posts.
...
Seeing this, the viewers from other countries were practically crying with envy and jealousy!
Which of the players who came to the Blood Moon Restaurant wasn't completely exploited?
They earned a meager salary and had to risk their lives to do it.
But Yun Zhenyue?
All the ghosts revolved around her.
Even the Ghost Foreman, who had always been known for her cold and merciless demeanor, had become her personal attendant.
She was serving tea, giving massages, and kneading her back.
Even just strolling around counted as work?
And her salary was unbelievably high!
Dozens of times higher than the ghost manager's!
This wasn't work at all!
This was clearly a vacation!
Meanwhile, look at their own country's players.
Every one of them was swamped with work.
They didn't even have a moment to take a sip of water.
The difference was just too great!
[I'm not having it! Why does she get to enjoy this kind of treatment without doing a thing?]
[This is corruption! How can these ghosts be such blatant bootlickers? It's making me sick!]
[The Dragon Country woman is having the time of her life. You call this 'ghostly matchmaking'?]
[What on earth does Gu Yuan do? Where did he get that property deed?]
[Maybe he just picked it up off the ground? A mere wraith like him could never afford to buy the Blood Moon Restaurant!]
[Even if he did buy the Blood Moon Restaurant, there's no way he could fully control it with his level of power. His actual authority must have been usurped!]
The viewers from other countries were seething with resentment.
They began to bad-mouth Gu Yuan.
Meanwhile, the Dragon Country audience was gloating.
[Not happy about it? Then suck it up!]
[Go on, have your country's player become a manager. I guarantee they'll get the same treatment.]
[Yun Zhenyue is the manager. She can reassign them whenever she wants. Of course they're going to suck up to her.]
['Picked it up off the ground'? Why don't you try picking one up and see how that goes?]
[LMAO, first time I've ever heard of someone just 'finding' a property deed in the Ghost World.]
['Authority usurped'? You mean like that ghost manager? Why don't you go ask him about it?]
...
When the ghost manager, Li, had bowed to Yun Zhenyue, the female players from the other countries were all in the locker room changing into their work uniforms.
As a result, they missed the jaw-dropping spectacle.
They were now swamped with work.
Yamada Aiko, assigned to food prep, was doing relatively okay.
She was just trying to figure out when she could use her position to her advantage.
To help Yun Zhenyue.
And by doing so, improve the other woman's impression of her.
After all, her job was probably the best one among all the female players.
At this thought, Yamada Aiko stole a glance into the kitchen.
Under the dim, yellow light, she saw him.
The ghost chef, weighing hundreds of pounds, was swinging a Bone-Cutting Knife caked in minced meat.
His apron, stretched taut over his bulging gut, was crusted with dark brown bloodstains.
Terrifying scratching sounds emanated from beneath the cutting board.
As a plume of white steam billowed up, a rancid, greasy smell washed over her.
Yamada Aiko fought back her fear and, when the chef wasn't looking, secretly tucked a clean, leftover steamed bun from a customer's plate into her clothes.
As far as she knew, the Blood Moon Restaurant didn't provide staff meals.
With nowhere else to go for now, she had to hoard whatever she could.
Later, she could give some to Yun Zhenyue.
Surely, that would earn her some goodwill.
...
Meanwhile, in the first-floor restroom of the Blood Moon Restaurant.
Han Sumei's eyes were dull and numb.
She held a bucket in one hand and a mop in the other.
The floor was littered with discarded toilet paper, and a sour, foul stench assaulted her nostrils.
"BLECH~"
Han Sumei genuinely felt the urge to vomit. Her face turned green, and the floor felt sticky under her feet.
'How can this restroom be so foul?'
'Did these ghosts eat shit for dinner?'
She wanted to march right up to the Ghost Foreman and ask her.
'Is this filthy work really something a pampered young lady like her should be doing?'
But facing the foreman's tyrannical power, she could only swallow her anger and keep mopping the floor.
According to the Ghost Foreman, if she didn't get it clean by the end of the day, she wouldn't earn a single ghost coin and would be punished on top of that.
To get the bonus ghost coins from the mission reward, she had to earn as much regular pay as possible.
Fortunately...
...when it came to cleaning toilets, she was quite proficient.
She had, after all, been doing it for a long time.
Thinking of this, Han Sumei felt a strange sense of pride.
'The Ghost Foreman probably has no idea how incredibly skilled I am at cleaning toilets, does she?'
Just then, a system notification sounded.
[Ding! You have acquired the Master Level skill: Shit Shoveling]
Han Sumei: "???"
Han Sumei's composure shattered.
For context, player skills were ranked by level: Novice Level, Master Level, Expert Level, Grandmaster Level, and Unrivaled Level.
She had shoveled shit all the way to Master Level?
'Does this mean I have to become an Expert Level shit shoveler next?'
...
"Manager, shouldn't you take a break?"
"You've done a full tour. You must be tired."
Yun Zhenyue had been wandering curiously around the Blood Moon Restaurant.
It was called a restaurant, but its scale was enormous, spanning four floors.
The first floor was the dining area for regular patrons, and the second was for members.
The third floor was a lounge for regular patrons, and the fourth floor was comprised of luxury suites.
'This is basically a hotel, isn't it?'
Yun Zhenyue voiced her confusion.
The Ghost Foreman trailing behind her gave a wry smile. "Over the years, the Blood Moon Restaurant has gone through several upgrades and has grown larger and larger."
"But we couldn't do anything about it. The old manager wasn't here."
"We'd need his permission to change the name."
At this, the Ghost Foreman's eyes lit up. She proposed, "Why don't you change the name, Manager?"
"I... I'd better not,"
Yun Zhenyue shook her head. She didn't want to make a rash decision.
But seeing the disappointment in the Ghost Foreman's eyes, she couldn't help but add, "Don't be upset... I'll ask him for you when I get home."
"Thank you, ma'am!"
The Ghost Foreman was instantly thrilled, bowing repeatedly to Yun Zhenyue.
She praised her benevolence and kindness, declaring her the best manager in the world!
The praise gave Yun Zhenyue goosebumps.
They were both in high spirits.
Yun Zhenyue was realizing that not only was Gu Yuan not poor, but he was likely quite wealthy.
This one property deed was powerful enough on its own.
And she knew for a fact there was a whole stack of them in Gu Yuan's top drawer.
Her only worry was, could he really manage so many properties by himself?
As for the Ghost Foreman, she felt it was the highest honor to be able to personally serve the new manager.
At that moment, the two of them happened to arrive on the fourth floor.
It was lined with dozens of luxury suites.
Just as Yun Zhenyue was about to take a curious peek inside one...
"BANG!"
A sudden, chaotic noise echoed from nearby.
A young woman in a waitress uniform was violently thrown out of a room.
Like a broken doll, her frail body slammed against the wall before thudding to the floor. She lay on the carpet, coughing up blood, her eyes filled with despair.
Yun Zhenyue's brow furrowed tightly at the sight.
The Ghost Foreman, sensing her displeasure, shot a hostile glare toward the suite.
Just then, the near-death woman lifted her head.
Yun Zhenyue's eyes flew wide open.
"Senior?" she gasped in disbelief.
She knew this person.
It was Lin Jiu, an upperclassman from her major, a year ahead of her.
She was someone Yun Zhenyue had deeply admired.
Her senior, Lin Jiu, wasn't just a brilliant talent with the top grades in their entire major!
She was also confident, brave, decisive, and ruthlessly efficient.
Lin Jiu had helped Yun Zhenyue with her studies on many occasions.
She had even taught her principles for how a woman should carry herself.
She said that when she got married, she wouldn't accept a bride price, nor would she require her partner to buy a house or a car. She wanted to rely on her own efforts to build a home together with the person she loved.
She was always polite when rejecting boys who confessed their feelings to her. She was decisive, but if things ever became awkward, she would even apologize to them in public.
This was probably what people meant by a "strong female lead" persona!
However, her senior had disappeared a year ago.
Back then, Yun Zhenyue had tried everything to find her, but to no avail.
And now, she had just seen her in the Blood Moon Restaurant.
Beaten by a customer, no less.