Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Girl from the Prophecy
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I think I've really been scammed after all.
Otherwise, the customer from the prophecy couldn't possibly be a little girl who doesn't even look old enough for elementary school.
"Mister, who are you?"
Right now, in this situation, there were two major problems.
First, a deep distrust of the prophecy was welling up from the bottom of my heart.
And second, whether it was okay to strong-arm this little kid into buying something.
Doubting the prophecy was pretty much pointless anyway.
It was exactly 9:07 as stated, and a customer had indeed shown up.
Besides, even if the prophecy was wrong, what could I do about it?
I had to trust the prophecy that had never failed once in the game.
"Isn't this... the sweet snack shop...?"
"Customer. This is the Tale Shop."
"A Tale Shop? Oh, I must have come to the wrong place. Sorry."
The girl bowed at the waist and turned to leave.
It wasn't long before her face crumpled into tears.
"Mister... wh-where did the door go?"
Was I really supposed to rip off this kid's finger?
When tears like chicken droppings were plopping from her eyes?
It was one thing with adults, but this hit me right in the conscience.
I spoke to the Shop in a small voice.
"Does she absolutely have to buy something to leave?"
That's our contract. Can't you explain what's going on already?
"Seriously, no exceptions, no matter what?"
What are you trying to say? Don't you know I provide this place, power, and goods because of our contract? I recalled the prophecy's contents once more.
It wasn't just a matter of conscience—somehow, it felt like I absolutely shouldn't harm this girl in this way.
Ripping off a kid's finger wasn't going to endear me to the Tale Management Bureau.
I could already picture them coming after me with fire in their eyes.
⚙ PROPHECY LOG ⚙ Tomorrow at 9:07 AM, I connect the door to the sweet snack shop and give my business card to the first customer. The next day at 11:23 AM, yesterday's customer returns. Afterward, another customer buys one item. The day after at 1:47 PM, a Tale Management Bureau employee who obtained the business card will visit. 9:07 AM—meaning right now, I had to give the business card to this little customer.
Then tomorrow at 11:23, she'd return for some reason, and another customer would buy one item.
After a moment's thought, I spotted something odd in the prophecy.
Hold on.
Why does this kid just get the card or visit the shop, while someone else is the one buying the item?
In a normal situation, it might just be omitted, but since it's a prophecy, that changes things.
What is the Label Library's prophecy?
It's a guide to the future I seek.
And that guide only notes the most crucial branch points—meaning everything written there is vital.
Conversely, if it's mentioned for other customers but not this one, there's a reason it's omitted.
"Shop."
Calling again? "I'll tell you what you've been curious about since earlier."
I emphasized the prophecy's contents and relayed what had happened so far.
As I spoke, I saw the kid wiping away tears in confusion, but there was nothing I could do right then.
I was doing this for her sake anyway.
Hm.
A prophecy... Quite impressive.
So, you're saying we should just let this customer go?
"Yeah. Think about it—if my interpretation's right, our future gets a lot more peaceful. If I'm wrong, the loss you see is just that tiny finger."
Hm... "Imagine the steady trade from the Tale Management Bureau. Juicy hearts, moist eyeballs, rich-flavored kidneys. Don't you want to eat them?"
Separate from your hunger, the future you're aiming for does sound ideal.
Fine.
For the future, I suppose I can go along with that much.
That settled the finger issue, more or less.
Now I just had to hand over the business card.
"Sob sob..."
This really had to be the right kid, right?
"Customer, could you tell me your name, by any chance?"
"Y-Yes...? Choi Yu-na..."
A name I'd never heard before.
Probably never even appeared in the game.
"Do you know anyone who works at the Tale Management Bureau?"
"No... I don't."
I had no idea how this girl could bridge me to the Tale Management Bureau, but as I said earlier, doubting the prophecy changed nothing I could do.
I pulled the business card I'd been keeping safe in my pocket.
"Here, this is our shop's business card. It seems you're a bit too young to shop here, so I'll send you on your way. Whenever you want to buy something later, just use this card."
The moment I finished, color returned to the kid's face.
"Thank you!"
She snatched the card and scurried toward the door that had reappeared.
"I hope this works out."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Ding-dong—
The doorbell shattered the quiet morning, and soon the door opened.
Choi Seong-min appeared through the widening gap.
He looked even more haggard than he had last night.
"Mr. Choi Seong-min, as notified last night, we're here to investigate suspicions of illegal possession of tale items. We'll be searching the house first, so please cooperate."
The moment Park Se-jin finished speaking, personnel clad head-to-toe in black hazmat suits, with strange gear strapped to their backs, poured into the house.
They were the search team Se-jin had called, since he and Do-hyun hadn't found anything last night.
Seong-min reached out as if to stop them, then realized it was futile and froze.
Sounds of drawers opening, books pulled from shelves, bags unzipped filled the house.
At the noise, Seong-min's wife and mother emerged from their rooms.
Beep beep beep—
About 20 minutes into the search, a pleasing sound reached Se-jin's ears.
It was the anomaly detector the search team carried reacting to the tale-specific distortion.
In other words, they'd found the candy from the Tale Shop.
Just as the intel suggested, it was an eyeball blinking on its own.
As Se-jin let slip a faint smile, Seong-min's face twisted in despair.
"Mr. Choi Seong-min, you're under arrest."
Seong-min waited silently for the handcuffs.
His wife had a vague idea from last night's talk about what he'd done, but his mother—who'd heard nothing—was too shocked to think straight.
"Seong-min, what on earth is this? Huh? Illegal possession...? Why?"
Seong-min spat out his resentment at his mother's words.
"To find my brother! My brother! You never explained anything to me, Mom. But I had to know!"
"What are you even—"
And at that moment.
Beep beep beep—
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The all-too-familiar sound rang out.
"What? There's another one?"
But the anomaly detector wasn't pointing inside the house.
"I'm home... Huh? Who are you people?"
Se-jin glanced at Seong-min first, but he looked just as baffled, clearly in the dark.
Se-jin quickly approached the girl.
"Are you Yu-na, by any chance?"
"Pardon? Yes..."
"Where were you coming back from?"
"I was going to the sweet snack shop to buy candy for Mom... but I wandered into some weird shop by mistake. It scared me, so I came right back."
"A weird shop...? Was it the Tale Shop, maybe?"
"Huh? Yeah. How did you know?"
The moment he heard "Tale Shop," Se-jin checked Yu-na's fingers.
'They're fine. Or... no way?'
Se-jin swallowed dryly.
A grim thought surfaced: that she'd traded something worse than a finger.
"Okay... Yu-na. Big sis is investigating that shop you went to. Could you tell me if you bought anything there?"
"I didn't buy anything."
"What?"
"He said I was too young, so he gave me a business card instead."
Yu-na pulled the card from her pocket and handed it to Se-jin.
Tale Shop
Business Hours: 9:02 AM ~
It was unmistakably the Tale Shop's business card.
The anomaly detector had definitely picked it up.
And on the back, the shop's location was marked on a rough map.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While the Squad Leader talked with Choi Yu-na, I approached Seong-min.
"Mr. Choi Seong-min, please finish what you were saying earlier."
Seong-min slowly opened his mouth.
"My brother... My missing brother."
"Yeah, I know the gist."
"Not long after he went missing, some men came to me.
They said if I brought them special items, they'd tell me where he was."
"And you believed that?"
"My brother... He was like a father to me. How could I not? At first, I half-doubted it and gave them a family heirloom. In return, they told me what my mom wouldn't—the reason he vanished. It was a tale... because of a tale."
A tale?
How did the group Seong-min mentioned know about that?
"Then why haven't you handed over the candy until now?"
"I don't know the reason... They just told me to keep holding onto it. Later, they'd collect the candy and tell me where my brother is."
My head was spinning.
There were plenty of groups hunting tale items.
But none I'd heard of that made a civilian hold onto them.
There was no reason to.
"..."
Except one: to corrupt a civilian with tales.
And then, Seong-min's voice came.
"...Mom, what's wrong with your face?"
Beep beep beep—