Neighbors and the Ticket Frenzy
The elf who introduced herself as my neighbor and landlord eyed me up and down like she was appraising me.
"I heard you're a Dimensional Transferee. At least that means you won't be late on rent, right?"
"Ah, yes! Looking forward to living here!"
"Well... as long as you pay rent on time, I won't bother you, so no need to be so tense."
In other words, miss a payment and you're out on your ass, no mercy.
"I'm Aisha Lailaris. I work as a researcher in the Shelter. I'm usually out during the day, so if you need anything, come by after 10 PM. Oh, and sometimes I don't come home at all, so for urgent matters, head to the research building and just give my name."
"Got it! I'm Baek Soo-chan! Baek is the family name, Soo-chan's the given name! And this is Kkomangi!"
"Hek hek..."
"Hmm... what an unusual slime. If the world hadn't ended, I'd love to study it myself..."
"Gasp..."
"Just kidding. Have you met the other tenants yet?"
Other tenants... come to think of it, I'd been too busy checking my abilities and browsing the gallery to say hello.
"Well, everyone's busy, so even if you'd gone during the day, no one would have been home. The girl next door in 201 only comes back late from the dungeon, and 101 follows me around for research."
Sounds like there are two more tenants besides me.
"If you feel like it, drop by in the morning to say hi. They'll be too wiped out at night to make a good impression anyway."
"Sure..."
"Alright then, see you around. Take care."
The door closed, and I finally let out a breath. It wasn't social anxiety or anything. Sure, landlord-tenant dynamics made me a bit nervous, but...
"Phew... never thought I'd see tits that huge in real life..."
"Hek hek..."
Time to rest for today and greet the neighbors tomorrow.
"...No rice cakes, huh? Maybe whip up some slime noodles."
And so my first night in this other world passed.
*
The next morning.
"No waaay!!!!!!!!!!"
"Hek hek..."
Kkomangi's poop turned out to be a whopping 5 tickets. Way more than I'd expected.
I'd figured since my field limit increased to 3 at level 1, ticket production would match at 3 per level.
"Woooah~! Jackpot lololol!"
Time to list them on the market right away.
First, I tweaked the ticket settings.
Slime Hill 1 Ticket
Slime Hill 2 Ticket
Slime Hill 3 Ticket
Hmm... including yesterday's, I've got 3 tickets left. Might as well list them all, but then it hit me—memories of asshole players in RPGs stealing my mobs right when they spawned to snag my spot.
'That pissed me off.'
I'd ended up giving up and moving spots back then.
"They're already fighting over single monsters in the Shelter dungeons..."
Five fields, but only three tickets.
My current dungeons suck in terms of mob count and respawn speed.
The community was full of people whining they couldn't even kill one monster, but the Shelter dungeons were on another level compared to mine.
It was just that too many people were crowding them. Respawn rates and numbers were overwhelming.
'Diversity goes without saying.'
Until my dungeons grow a bit, sharing fields among multiple people is premature.
"Just list three."
I put up 3 tickets on the market. 100 coins each, same as before.
Hmm... getting hungry. Time to grab breakfast and say hi to the neighbors.
"Kkomangi, walkies!"
"Woof-!"
*
"Phew... still packed as hell today."
Compared to that slime paradise I'd lucked into yesterday with a ticket, this place was pure hell.
Everyone on edge, lunging at monsters the second they respawned. They kept about 4-5 meters between each other, like invisible territory lines.
An unwritten rule born after the dungeon's leyline energy depleted and production plummeted...
"Figures. Came out early morning for once, but no real difference from other times..."
All you could do was stake your spot and pray for a respawn in your zone. Kill time chatting with nearby folks or scrolling the gallery.
The guy was gallery-surfing but kept dipping into the market, habitually checking if yesterday's ticket had popped up.
'Yeah right... like that luck would strike twice.'
If someone had a ticket like that, they'd use it themselves, not sell it for 100 coins. Logically he knew, but he kept refreshing.
"...Huh?"
*
Using it teleports you to Slime Hill... maybe!!
*
I took Kkomangi out and knocked on the door of 201, right next door.
Knock knock-
"Anyone home?"
No answer?
Knock knock knock-
"I'll come back later if you're out."
Scratch scratch-
"Hey hey, Kkomangi, no scratching the door."
I pulled Kkomangi away, and the door flew open.
Bang-
"Goddamn it, which asshole is it? Let me sleep, for fuck's sake!!"
Unlike the salty old-man cursing, out stepped a disheveled platinum blonde beauty.
"Hi! I just moved in next door yesterday. Here to say hello."
The girl scowled, rubbing her head with one hand.
"...Sigh. I'm Elise. You?"
"Baek Soo-chan! Baek is the family name, Soo-chan is—"
"Yeah, got it, Soo-chan. Nice to meet ya, bye."
Bang-
"Ugh... shoulda brought slime noodles after all?"
I headed to 101 next.
Knock-
Thud thud thud—rushing footsteps, and the door opened.
"P-Professor! Th-the research log, I checked it a million times alr—huh?"
The guy who flung the door open was chubby, with a perpetually aggrieved look.
"Hi, I just moved into 202 yesterday."
"Ah... so you're the one Professor mentioned."
Unlike Elise, we could actually talk. We ended up dropping formalities.
"So you and the landlord knew each other before the Shelter?"
"Yeah... I was an academy assistant. Been with Professor Aisha since then. Thanks to her, even in this ruined world, I get to help with research."
The guy was 34, name Dennis Owen. Ten years ago he was an academy assistant—basically a grad student from what he described.
We chatted a bit, grabbed breakfast nearby, and Dennis had to head out for work.
"Alright, Soo-chan bro, I'm off to work. Catch ya later."
"See ya, hyung."
"Woof-"
"Yeah, see you too, Kkomangi."
Worried everyone here was weird, but glad there's normal folks too.
"Kkomangi, wanna take a short walk?"
"Hek hek...!"
*
Profits hitting all-time highs lately. No side-eye from the family, treating my daughter to yummy food every day—feels like I'm gonna die happy.
I might've met the Dungeon God himself. The one light... the salt... in this shit world.
*
About three days after I arrived in this world, ticket rumors started bubbling up in the community.
Saw some weird ticket in the market for only 100 coins, bought it as a joke.
Turns out it's a consumable, so I used it out of curiosity and teleported to some hill.
But don't freak out!!
Slimes were everywhere!! Like, easily 50+ just at a glance!! Went ham killing them, and after ~30 mins, back to my room lol.
ㄴ(OP) Fuck you.
This is all from today ㅇㅇ