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Chapter 3: The Multiverse Emporium Opens and Owl's Letter
Chapter 3: The Multiverse Emporium Opens and Owl's Letter
A flash of light, and Liam found himself not back in his bedroom but in a room of about twenty square meters. Three walls were lined with shelves, which were mostly empty except for three small pots of Plants on the shelf facing the door. These must be the items he had just acquired. Besides the shelves, the room had only a single light fixture on the ceiling, a counter, and a chair in the center.
Liam walked to the door and opened it, only to find a gray, misty expanse outside. He was about to step out to explore when he realized there seemed to be an invisible Barrier preventing him from leaving.
At that moment, a stream of information flooded his mind. This was the Multiverse Emporium. Items would be placed on the shelves, and the shop owner could freely use self-produced goods, like the Plants that would multiply each week. However, to use items from customer transactions, he would need to pay the appropriate price.
From now on, every trip to another world would start and end here. When customers or quests arrived, he would be notified to enter the shop. Otherwise, as long as he wasn't in combat, he could enter the shop at any time. Currently, the only world he could visit was the Plants vs. Zombies world, and it took ten days to accumulate enough energy for a round trip. He could leave and return to the real world at any time now.
After reading the information, Liam chose to leave the emporium. A flash of light, and he was back in his bedroom. Checking the alarm clock on his desk, he saw that although he had spent five or six hours in the Plants vs. Zombies world, only an hour had passed in the real world. It seemed the time flow in the quest world and the main world was different, which was a good thing to avoid awkward explanations for his frequent disappearances.
Since it was still a long time before dawn, Liam tidied up and went to bed. In his dreams, he imagined acquiring countless wealth and power from the emporium, opening a channel back to his hometown, and living a carefree and happy life.
Just as Liam was dreaming about enjoying the sun on a Hawaiian beach with his parents and adoptive parents, the alarm clock rang. Liam savored the memories of his dream, sighed, and got up to go to the bathroom.
As he stepped out, Liam noticed three or four gift boxes on the corridor by the door. These must be his birthday presents. Flipping over the cards, he read, "Happy Birthday to our son."
Liam smiled and carried the boxes into his room before heading downstairs.
When he reached the ground floor, Mrs. Sally had already prepared breakfast, and Mr. Lambert was slowly descending the stairs. At that moment, the postman's bicycle bell rang outside the door.
"Liam, go get the mail. I think the supermarket's discount flyer might have arrived this month", Sally called from the kitchen.
Liam put on his shoes, opened the front door, and walked to the mailbox on the front lawn.
Opening the mailbox, he found four letters. One was a discount flyer from a nearby supermarket, another was a letter from a publisher's editor to his father, and a third was a postcard from his mother's colleague in Thailand. The last letter was addressed to Liam.
Seeing this letter, Liam's pupils dilated. The envelope was made of rare parchment, had no stamp, and was written in emerald ink: "Mr. Layne Liang, 12 Quebec Street, 2nd Floor, Small Bedroom, Greenwich, London."
With trembling hands, he turned the envelope over. On the back, there was a wax seal with a shield crest, encircled by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake, with a large "H" in the center.
Though he had forgotten many things over the past ten years, he had never forgotten his favorite childhood novel, Harry Potter.
Clearly, this letter was from Hogwarts. The possibility of a prank was out of the question; it was 1991, and J.K. Rowling hadn't written the books yet, so no one could have pulled off such a prank.
As for not realizing he was a Wizard earlier, Liam thought it was likely because his adult soul could control his emotions well, preventing the magical outbursts common among young Wizards.
After obtaining the System, Liam had planned to use it to get rich, strengthen himself, and eventually find a way back home.
But now, with the acceptance letter from Hogwarts, another mysterious door had opened for him. He felt that the major events of the past two days had brought him face to face with all the unexpected situations he might encounter in a lifetime.
It seemed that this world was not the ordinary place he had assumed it to be over the past ten years but a world with magic.
Liam returned to the house and handed the other letters to his parents, then absentmindedly finished his breakfast. He then went back to his own house and used a knife to break the wax seal. Sure enough, inside was the familiar letter.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Head of the International Confederation of Wizards, President of the Wizengamot, Grand Sorcerer of the Order of Merlin, First Class)
Dear Mr. Liam,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment.
The school year will begin on September 1st. We await your response by owl no later than July 31st.
Deputy Headmistress
Minerva Mcgonagall
The letter was followed by a list of required books and a first-year supply list.
Liam took the letter back to the living room, where his father was sitting on the couch watching TV, and his mother was looking at a supermarket discount flyer.
Seeing Liam enter the living room with an opened letter, Mr. Lambert, taking his eyes off the TV screen, asked, "What is it, dear? Did a girl write to you?"
"No, not that", Liam replied, then handed the letter to Mr. Lambert. "I just received a rather unusual acceptance letter."
Mr. Lambert and Mrs. Sally took the letter.
Five minutes later.
"Is this some kind of prank?" Mr. Lambert asked, looking shocked.
"Indeed, magic sounds like something out of a story", Mrs. Sally added.
Liam was about to say something when the doorbell rang.
"Do we have a visitor?" Mr. Lambert stood up and walked to the door, opening it.
Standing at the door was a red-haired middle-aged man with a slight bald spot, dressed in a suit from the 1970s.
"Hello, are you Layne Liang's guardian?" the man asked warmly.
"Hello, I'm his father. Is there something you need?" Mr. Lambert replied.
"I'm Arthur Weasley, a Ministry of Magic employee, here regarding your son's education", the man answered.
"Please, come in", Mr. Lambert stepped aside to let Arthur in, then asked, "May I ask which school my son is supposed to attend?"
"Hogwarts", Arthur said, "I graduated from Hogwarts myself."
Hearing this, Mrs. Sally exclaimed, "So the magic school is real?"
"Of course, Hogwarts is the best magic school in Europe, and almost every British wizard child with magical abilities attends there."
Mr. Lambert looked down at Liam and asked in Chinese, "Do you think you should attend this school?"
Liam replied, "Since I apparently have magical abilities, it's necessary to learn how to use them. After all, having power without knowing how to use it can be dangerous."
After their conversation, Mr. Lambert turned to Arthur and said, "Alright, if this is true, I'll agree to my son attending Hogwarts in principle. But I'd like to confirm something first. Could you tell us where Diagon Alley is, as mentioned in the letter?"
"Of course, you're more open-minded than most Muggle parents. Diagon Alley can be accessed from the Leaky Cauldron's back yard", Arthur explained, then waved his wand. A line of text appeared on a blank piece of paper on the table: 26 Charing Cross Road, London.
"Here is the location of the Leaky Cauldron. Take your child there; he'll be able to see it", Arthur continued, then seemed to remember something. He pulled a train ticket from his pocket and said, "This is the ticket for the Hogwarts Express. Keep it safe and don't lose it. The platform is between platforms nine and ten. Go there early, and you'll see other students heading to Hogwarts. They can show you how to get in."
With that, Arthur waved goodbye to the three of them, walked out the door, and disappeared with a loud crack in the front yard.
It seems not everyone has a Chosen One to accompany them for their shopping, Liam thought.
(End of Chapter)
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