The Status Window's True Form
The sound of items rapidly sorting echoed with a sharp whoosh.
Donghee swallowed hard, hoping desperately for even the smallest hint about other users.
Gulp.
He waited, wondering just how many reviews had been written.
But then—
So far, there are 0 purchase reviews for the Hidden Shop. Therefore, the number of listings available for you to view is 0.
“What kind of scam is this?!”
Donghee was so furious he felt like his skull was about to blow off.
“Hey! If there are zero reviews, you shouldn’t even show the menu in the first place!”
You can write a purchase review yourself. Would you like to write reviews for the items you have purchased so far?
“No way!”
You will receive a small amount of points for writing a review.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Of course I will. Shopping is all about leaving reviews anyway. Open purchase history!”
Would you like to spend Open Points to unlock the purchase history?
He genuinely wanted to hurl every curse word he knew.
Donghee clenched his trembling fist and took a deep breath.
If he could just grab that blue bastard by the collar and shake him, he’d gladly pay 1,000 points. No, even 2,000.
As he imagined slamming the blue status window against the floor, another window flickered into view right in front of him.
Are you serious?
“About what?”
Grabbing by the collar. 2,000 points.
“Is that possible?”
Completely possible.
“Deal!”
After all, it wasn’t like he had any points to begin with.
If he could just grab that smug blue face, wring it like a wet rag, and slam it down like a flipping game piece, 2,000 points seemed like a bargain.
Deducting 2,000 points from your balance.
Enjoy your time!
“Huh?”
Before he could even process what was happening, the status window—which had always been a calm, uniform blue—began to change.
A swirling vortex spun right in the center of the once-placid surface.
“W-wait, what?!”
Startled by the sudden turbulence, Donghee stumbled backward in belated regret.
If he stood too close, he felt like he might get sucked inside.
As if to prove his fear right, the previously still air began rushing rapidly toward the window.
Donghee whipped his head around, desperately searching for somewhere to breathe, but there was nowhere safe.
While he was looking around, the whirlwind suddenly reversed direction. The hair that had been flying toward the window now whipped the other way.
Whooooosh.
The wind only lasted a few seconds, but to Donghee it felt like hours of pure terror.
After the direction flipped, the vortex grew larger and larger.
There was no more room to back up. Eyes wide with dread, he stared at the spinning window as it suddenly spat something out with a loud ptoo!
“Huh?”
What emerged from the status window was the silver-haired man who looked like a giant cutlassfish—the same one he’d seen inside the carriage last time.
Donghee held his breath, unsure what to say, as the man slowly approached, long silver hair fluttering behind him.
He looked like moonlight given human form.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he glowed from head to toe, yet his piercing eyes were as cold as ice. Meeting his gaze felt like you might freeze solid.
The man drew closer and closer.
Hic!
Startled beyond words, Donghee let out an involuntary hiccup. The tall man looked down at him, then slowly bent at the waist until their eyes met.
He smelled like a winter wind.
“Grab it.”
His voice was as chilly as his appearance.
“G-grab what?”
Donghee barely held back the tears threatening to spill from fear and shock.
“My collar.”
“Excuse me?”
When Donghee stared back with his mouth hanging open, the man swept his long silver hair back with a tired sigh.
“You said you wanted to grab me by the collar for 2,000 points.”
“Then… you’re…”
Donghee pointed at him with a dazed expression. The man gave a small, dry laugh and snapped his fingers.
A blue screen floated up behind him like a moon.
Status Window Human Form Activated.
“Understand now?”
Donghee looked back and forth between the man and the window before slowly nodding.
“So the cutlassfish guy…”
“I find that nickname unpleasant.”
“Shut up. So you’re the status window, and the status window is you—the cutlassfish guy?”
The man frowned as if the explanation was beneath him, then nodded in annoyance.
“Not perfectly identical, but close enough.”
“And I paid 2,000 points just to grab you by the collar?”
“As much as I hate to admit it… yes.”
The man wrinkled his handsome brow, clearly wounded in pride.
If Ray was a flower boy, this cutlassfish was an ice sculpture of a man.
Either way, he was handsome—but for some reason, Donghee felt zero attraction.
“Now that you understand, please proceed with the 2,000-point transaction—”
The man was continuing in his cool, elegant voice when Donghee suddenly cut him off.
“You son of a—! Perfect timing!”
Donghee grabbed the man’s collar with both hands and yanked him forward, eyes blazing.
The man’s gray eyes met Donghee’s brown ones at less than a hand’s breadth apart.
“What are you—?!”
The man recoiled in shock at Donghee’s rough behavior, but Donghee was too full of pent-up resentment to hear him.
“With that shiny hair! Stop trying to slip away like you’re polishing fish scales and stay still! I paid 2,000 points, so I have every right to grab this cutlassfish by the collar!”
“Cutlassfish don’t have scales.”
“Shut up! I finally caught you. You must’ve had a great time messing with me all this while! You look perfectly fine, but all you do is hide behind a blue window and toy with innocent, clueless people like me? Huh?”
Donghee shook the man’s collar violently as he shouted.
That was when he noticed the blue window floating behind the man filled with the text “lolololol.”
Donghee released the collar with a slap and reached for the bright blue status window instead.
This time, his hand actually made contact with the cool surface—something that had never happened before.
Without hesitation, he grabbed it tightly and slammed it onto the floor with all his strength.
Smack!
The status window flopped onto the ground exactly like the game piece Donghee had dreamed of. The endless stream of “lol” instantly turned into a flurry of panicked exclamation marks.
It looked utterly shocked.
The silver-haired man’s eyes widened as he watched the status window hit the floor.
Then he grabbed Donghee’s shoulder, spun him around, and demanded, “Who the hell are you?”
“Who am I? I’m Ha Donghee, the guy you dragged here without permission!”
“You… don’t tell me…”
The man stared at him with wide eyes, then snatched Donghee’s hand and examined his palm.
The status window floated up behind him and shone a blue light onto Donghee’s palm.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
The moment Donghee tried to yank his hand free, the man’s body began turning transparent. Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was sucked back into the status window.
Donghee stared blankly at the intense gaze that had never left him until the very last second. Only then did he snap back to his senses.
The status window floated calmly as if nothing had happened and displayed a neat message.
2,000p has been successfully deducted from your Hidden Points as the cost of grabbing the Status Window by the collar.
Your current remaining Hidden Points: 115p.
Just like the part-time job wages that had brushed past his bank account before he came here, the 2,000 points vanished, leaving behind a tingling pressure in his palm.
Donghee blinked rapidly in disbelief and slowly opened his hand, staring at it for a long time.
“So… that cutlassfish guy is the status window, and the status window is that cutlassfish guy?”
But something still felt off.
When he had grabbed the man by the collar and shaken him, the status window had been laughing its head off behind them with “lololol.”
“What the heck?”
Donghee narrowed his eyes and thought hard.
“Oh! Maybe the status window is a subset of the cutlassfish?”
Wrong! That was a decent mathematical approach, but no.
“Then is the status window a subset of the cutlassfish?”
It’s not a set theory thing. (Typical of someone who only studied the beginning of math and only knows sets.)
Donghee flinched and waved his hand, but this time the status window remained transparent and his hand passed right through it.
“Then what is that guy?”
Cutlassfish?
The text crackled and was immediately erased.
Please give that person a name. (Cutlassfish is not allowed. Warning.)
Donghee thought about what “cutlassfish” would be in English and almost went with Silver Fish.
Silver Fish not allowed. Anything containing “silver” is prohibited.
Donghee clicked his tongue in annoyance at the urgently appearing text.
“Then… since he came out of the status window, let’s call him Taechang.”
?
“Taechang. Surname Sang, given name Taechang. Sounds like a proper Korean name, right? Not bad?”
Taechang name registration complete!
Right after the message confirming the name registration, the status window crackled violently for a long time before vanishing from sight.
It felt like a storm had just swept through.
Donghee sat there in a daze for a while before finally standing up.
Somewhere in the distance, he thought he could hear the cutlassfish man’s scream of despair.
