Chapter 031
“An Alien Shopping Mall? What an unusual sense of naming! And is it an on-line shop as well?”
Ah, I’d called out Brown too.
He’d been touched that I’d drawn the curtains to keep things dark for him even during the day, and deeply moved that I’d actually gone and sold that mascot snack for his sake.
His threshold for being touched is really low….
In truth, the snack I’d received from the mascot had come in two bags, and I’d kept one instead of selling it, just in case.
Anyway, to answer the question….
“Yeah. You connect through the internet. You browse the items through a screen that looks like a flyer.”
“Ah-ha! I see.”
Brown’s cheerful voice rang out.
“How exciting. I wonder what the shop my friend uses so often will look li—” <Space Shopping Mall> ※Cool Items from Outer Space※~!! >>I Look at the Items
“……”
“…?!”
“What on earth is this vulgar flyer, in which not a single trace of aesthetic sense can be found anywhere?”
Mm….
“Isn’t what matters not the appearance, but whether it’s useful?”
“Good heavens! Mr. Roe Deer, appearance is an important factor no less than the inner qualities! What moves the viewer’s heart is, first and foremost, visual impact!”
“A flyer that is neither interesting nor shocking, but merely ugly!”
Sure, sure.
Using that as background noise, I clicked the site.
…All right, Mr. Roe Deer, even so, I trust you. Since you said it was fine, surely if I look past the flyer and into what lies beyond, it’ll be all ri….
Items
Blood Bathtub – ₩29,999,999
Mystical Candle Kit – ₩19,999,999
Snow White’s Apple – ₩12,999,999
We Help! – ₩66,666,666
※Discount!※ Vampiric Cutlery – ₩7,999,999
₩14,999,999
“……”
“Brown?”
No response. I think he fainted.
It seemed my Good Friend was the sort of person… no, monster, who could feel a designer’s pain.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ll rest for a bit.”
Please do.
I looked over the items.
First, the entries that hadn’t changed immediately caught my eye.
Right after the still-unpurchasable “We Help!,” there was the one that had, incredibly, even been designated as a discounted item….
It’s still here.
※Discount!※ Vampiric Cutlery – ₩7,999,999
₩14,999,999
I’d thought I’d never see it again, whether someone else bought it or the algorithm removed it from my recommended products list, but here we were again.
Did it calculate that I’d be the one to buy it?
It felt a little strange. Anyway, next.
The most expensive item I could buy was….
Blood Bathtub – ₩29,999,999
This… I saw someone earlier on Salmon Market trying to buy just a fragment of it.
It was a pretty famous item. I even remembered what kind of item it was.
———————=
Darkness Exploration Record / Delusion Home Shopping
/ Item
Blood Bathtub
Today, I stand before you to introduce an astonishing product! The miraculous elixir of rejuvenation that our home shopping proudly presents!
It is none other than the Bath of Youth….
—Item description from “Delusion Home Shopping,” July 7, 20XX
———————=
If you pour another person’s blood into the bathtub, it turns into an extremely fragrant bath additive, and bathing in it has effects such as healing wounds, relieving fatigue, treating arthritis, and improving the skin.
It’s like the modern version of a classic vampire Ghost Story.
And considering the status of this named item, the price was bizarrely reasonable.
Still, whether it turned into bath additive or not, just imagining pouring someone else’s blood into a bathtub and bathing in it made my head spin….
L-let’s move on for now.
Mystical Candle Kit – ₩19,999,999
This was an item I didn’t know.
Still, when I heard “candle,” what came to mind was lighting a flame.
Light was always a symbol of comfort and help in Ghost Stories.
Still, whether it’s worth burning twenty million won on is something I should think more carefully about.
And the last one was….
Snow White’s Apple – ₩11,999,999
Wow. Even if this turned out useless, wouldn’t it be a massive gain if I sold it for forty million won?
Well, of course, I don’t know if they’d count that as food derived from a Ghost Story… but I can at least test the waters.
There was still a post on the site from someone looking for “food derived from paranormal phenomena.”
They’d said it was for research, so there was a good chance they were still looking.
If I put all of that together, then my choice was….
“As expected, it has to be these.”
Mystical Candle Kit – ₩19,999,999
Snow White’s Apple – ₩11,999,999
※Discount!※ Vampiric Cutlery – ₩7,999,999
= ₩39,999,997
As I said earlier, light was fundamentally opposed to Ghost Stories.
But an item that creates candles?
I had a hunch that the candles made from this kit would be items related to defense or protection.
Even if it’s expensive, it’s worth investing in.
Snow White’s Apple was the same kind of case.
When I hear “Snow White’s Apple,” it somehow feels like it would be related to sleep.
I’ve really been desperate for sleep lately.
If that apple happened to be one that let me sleep deeply, then I genuinely needed it. Really. My efficiency would shoot straight up, and my survival rate would skyrocket too….
Please!
Praying desperately, I pressed the purchase button.
Even if it isn’t, I can turn it around and sell it….
That gave me a worst-case fallback too.
And finally.
The Vampiric Cutlery.
With the discount this steep, isn’t it only polite to buy it?
The “Silver Coin Snake” I’d bought earlier as a discounted item had been put to quite good use, from custom equipment to summoning Brown.
For reference, if I lightly pressed the belly of the plush keyring, I could still feel the round metal shape inside, as though the “Silver Coin Snake” were still in there.
Honestly, I still didn’t know whether I’d be able to get that much mileage out of the Vampiric Cutlery….
But I feel like I could at least sell it to employees or use it for trading.
Now, if anyone asked where I’d gotten it, I had Salmon Market as an excuse.
So, those were the three items.
“Good.”
They fit perfectly within my available budget too.
Good, then I’ll go ahead and buy them just like this….
“Mr. Roe Deer.”
Hm?
Out of nowhere, Brown called to me.
“That item called Blood Bathtub.”
What about it?
“I want it.”
“…!?”
W-what?
“Friend, would you not give this Brown a gift?”
Brown’s voice turned slyly plaintive.
“Have I not, as your Good Friend, tried to help you with all sincerity and devotion, in every way I could? And yet I have asked for nothing! Then surely one small compensation from you…”
Silence.
“I’m sorry. I said something far too materialistic…. I tried to convert the value of friendship into money.”
“A Good Friend does not behave this way….”
“……”
The shadow of the plush doll drooped its head as though ashamed, speaking gloomily.
“Please edit out what I said and ignore it….”
Hm.
“Let’s buy it.”
“…Y-yes?!”
“I said, let’s buy the Blood Bathtub.”
“!!”
Honestly, hadn’t I escaped the theme park thanks to this guy?
He’d saved my life, so I could do at least this much.
Besides, money here felt, in practical terms, like game currency, and it seemed there would be quite a few more ways for money to come in later.
And keeping a good relationship with my Good Friend was obviously the wise choice, no matter who looked at it.
That went double when I remembered the bizarre ability this plush keyring had used in the theme park.
And if I’m going to buy it anyway, then it’s better to do it boldly instead of making it look like I’m reluctant…!
“The rest of the money should be deposited soon too. Then I can buy it for you right away.”
“Good heavens.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much, Mr. Roe Deer, my friend…!”
“Yeah. But this isn’t some compensation or anything. I’m just giving it to you as a gift because you’re my friend, Brown.”
“Yes, I know, friend!”
“I’ll buy the Blood Bathtub as soon as the additional allowance comes in. It should only take a few days.”
“Yes!!”
His voice trembled with joy and excitement, as if he were truly overwhelmed, and then steadied again.
“I’m truly looking forward to it, truly… haha!”
Heh. It was nice seeing him so happy.
…Just please don’t ask me to go get fresh blood for you.
“Oh! The items have arrived. Quite fast, too.”
Anyway, the items I’d ordered arrived again immediately in a postal box, and I enjoyed a nice little unboxing time.
The one placed on top was the Vampiric Cutlery I’d bought at a special price.
“Hoh. Isn’t this rather elegant cutlery? It looks suitable for a formal occasion!”
The beautifully crafted small dessert fork and knife were wrapped in leather.
Their silver sheen reflected the flashlight, glittering with graceful delicacy.
But if I wanted to use them, I’d have to make them a bloody mess first… sigh.
Still, let’s carry them around for now.
They weren’t bulky, so they were easy to store, and now that I had custom equipment and had accumulated a fair number of items, they might be worth trying in an emergency.
And the thing placed right beneath the cutlery was….
[Easy and Fast Candle-Making Kit]
It was the box of the “Mystical Candle Kit.”
Colorful and cute-looking, it seemed almost like something for children.
All the better.
If it was for children, then it’d be easy to make!
I wanted to tear it open right away and check the instructions and contents, but the warning stickers plastered all over the front caught my eye first.
[No refunds after opening. The raw ingredients will spoil 12 hours after contact with air, so please use quickly.]
[Recommended number of users: 3]
Mm. In that case, pass for now.
I should prepare everything the night before getting thrown into a Ghost Story and open it then.
Still, I was looking forward to seeing what effect the candle I made would have. It cost twenty million won, so it couldn’t be some ordinary effect.
“Then only the last item remains now!”
“Right.”
At last, I examined what was sitting at the very bottom of the box.
A small, heavy… produce apple box.
“…?”
No, really.
Snow White Mountain Apples
Really delicious! Beauty and nutrition!
“……”
I didn’t accidentally place the order with a real orchard by mistake, did I?
Hm. There’s a letter from the place of origin attached to the box.
Let’s read it….
To all customers who purchased Snow White Apples, we offer our heartfelt thanks.
This agricultural produce is carefully grown and harvested by our own hands, with sweat and dedication, in ■■ using ■■ as fertilizer. It has clear differences in both efficacy and taste from other orchards.^^
How to take: Chew one whole piece thoroughly and swallow it.
Effect: Immediately upon consumption, you will fall into a sleep like death, and all vital activity will cease.
This effect lasts until the sun rises the next day, and when you awaken, great vitality and energy will surge through you and your condition will recover!
※This orchard bears no responsibility for any changes that occur to the body during death-type sleep.
“……”
Definitely a Ghost Story.
So… it was like that potion from Romeo and Juliet that makes you look dead.
All right. Got it.
I opened the apple box. Inside were seven mini apples, round and glossy like something out of a picture.
The apples were small, but perfectly shaped, and bright red.
“As expected, they do look good for your health!”
Are you serious?
Still, it definitely looked useful.
An item that induced suspended animation, and then restored the body when you woke a day later? There’d be somewhere to use that.
And so, my current item inventory looked like this.
—Good Friend
—Vampiric Cutlery
—Mystical Candle Kit
—Snow White’s Apple
—Memorial GripTok
—Smile Sticker 🙂
—Alice Picnic Set
And then my custom equipment, plus the Blue Soda Churros, I guess.
In a few days, the Blood Bathtub will be added too….
Let’s survive by making good use of all of them.
“Then I wish you good dreams, Mr. Roe Deer!”
That day, I fell asleep a little early, and though I had occasional nightmares, I still slept fairly well.
It was probably because the almost-certain prediction that the next few days would at least be peaceful had put my mind at ease.
Let’s recover body and mind while I regroup and wait to get paid.
But a few days later,
I was faced with a shocking reality.
The additional allowance… isn’t getting deposited…!
No, even the manual revision that Group A’s leader had mentioned hadn’t happened. That was what I was supposed to get the bonus for.
W-what is this.
Don’t tell me it was all a bluff? Did I just get cheated out of fifty million won?
I immediately looked into the situation.
And then I heard shocking news.
“…The person in charge is missing?”
“Yeah. They’ve been absent for days.”
A certain employee in the Administrative Support Team who handled manual revision reviews was in a missing-person state.
And for an entire week, at that.
“……”
Wait a second.
“Then what about the manual review….”
“For now, it’s been postponed indefinitely. It’s not urgent or anything… and for a company like this to reassign a new paperwork person like that, it’ll take at least two months.”
Ah, no!
I promised a monster inside a Ghost Story!
