The Shopping Mall (3)
"Hmm, so these are the only things that count as materials."
The mannequin fragments were piled in two separate heaps.
One side was from the ones I’d smashed before closing time, and the other was from the shards I’d broken after they started moving.
And everything that showed up as reinforced plastic belonged to the strange things.
In other words, the byproducts of the strange things were being recognized as materials.
Wait. Does that mean I landed actual hits because they counted as materials?
They’d said everyone had some kind of ability.
Something to help you survive, whether you fought back or ran.
But the strange things were outside common sense, so even with an ability, all you could really do was hang on by your teeth.
So was that why they’d been surprised when I wiped out the mannequin monsters?
Anyway, if this is a material, I can make something out of it.
A weapon that would protect me!
The hammer was nice and all, but the handle was short and the head was huge, so as a weapon it wasn’t exactly efficient.
The problem was that I’d never actually been a blacksmith, so I had no idea what I was doing. Still, I grabbed the hammer and decided to start by pounding on it.
To make something like a sword, did I need to flatten this round forearm first?
Clang, clang, crack-!
"Ah…."
After a few strikes, the forearm section seemed like it was denting a little, then it shattered to pieces.
Was it because I hadn’t heated it properly or something?
But there wasn’t any fire or anvil or anything.
So changing its shape probably wasn’t possible yet.
Though it did seem like it was trying to transform the way I wanted.
Then what about some kind of armor I could wear on my arm in this exact shape?
Something I could make to my image, but without changing the form too much.
I pictured a set of bracers I could strap onto my arm, leaving the original shape mostly intact, and started hammering.
A form split in two, with pieces that could be joined back together.
"Oh... oh?"
The forearm shard slowly split horizontally, as if cracks were running through it.
The more I hit it with the hammer, the more it began to resemble the image in my head.
The split parts meshed like teeth, locking into place.
The ugly broken edges were cleaned up neatly.
Unneeded bits fell away, and raised ridges sprouted from the original shape and settled into place.
It worked. It worked!
Sure, it was barely big enough to cover one forearm, but the important thing was that I could process it the way I wanted!
Excited, I strapped it on right away. It was a little tight, but a pretty solid bracer settled onto my arm and felt reassuringly sturdy.
"Hoo... This is insanely hard work."
I had to control my strength so I wouldn’t break it, and it took dozens of blows before even one ridge would set properly. That was seriously brutal.
There was a reason all blacksmiths were jacked.
Once the dopamine from finishing the bracer wore off, all that was left was a numb arm that didn’t even feel like mine, plus a savage hunger and exhaustion.
♩Thank you for visiting. Enjoy your shopping♪
Ah. I was alive.
The red lighting returned to its normal yellowish glow.
So opening time was 8 a.m.
Since the gimmick was over, I could rest now, right?
It was a little awkward to sleep here, so I grabbed some materials and one outer jacket that looked wearable, then headed out of the store.
I went to a small shop a little distance from the big one, at least one that was walled off instead of being all glass.
First I dumped the materials down somewhere, then dragged over a nearby display rack.
I set it upright, stacked several layers of it flat, and in the end propped it against the opposite wall to throw up a barricade.
If there were any mannequin monsters left, this should hold them off for a bit.
By the time I finished, all the tension that had been holding me together finally drained away, and my eyes started closing.
I spread the clothes on the floor as best I could, shoved my arm into the tiny cardigan by force, and chewed down the last energy bar.
It was my last bit of food, but I was too damn hungry.
I’d figure something out after waking up and looking around again.
It wasn’t like one bar was going to keep me going forever anyway.
After filling my stomach a little and wetting my throat with coconut water, my consciousness sank completely away.
* * *
"Hahh, hahh!"
I’d had a nightmare.
A dream where countless hands held me down and I couldn’t move.
I woke up with a shudder, and thankfully the shopping mall was still glowing in that yellowish light.
Let’s see. It was 6 p.m. now.
It had closed around 10 yesterday, so there was still plenty of time.
8 a.m. opening, 10 p.m. closing. If the gimmick runs for ten hours, then I get fourteen full hours to rest.
Though I’d slept for ten hours because I’d been that wrecked yesterday.
At least I’d taken out all the strange things. Otherwise I’d have had to keep staring down those crazy eyes for ten straight hours.
Anyway, I should head out and scout a little more.
I needed to find food, and there were more places I had to inspect. I should check the gallery too.
The mannequin monsters were all gone, but I had no idea what else might show up, so I put on the bracer, summoned the hammer, and headed outside.
"...Fuck, Ye-eun! Kim Ye-eun! You ran away again?"
It was an infinite loop here too.
There was the place I’d clearly named home, where Ye-eun had been neatly lined up and left under the shop window, showing off fashion like some kind of display.
Good thing I’d come here first, just in case.
Those damn mannequins had all been restored.
No way some employee came by and put them back. They’re probably trapped in a loop like Namgogoedam.
Before closing time, I laid the mannequins out in a line, lined up their heads, and started bringing the hammer down.
They weren’t even that hard, and their posture was comfortable, so this was easy.
Anyone watching would probably think I was a deranged psycho, but so what? It’s not like anyone could see me.
After efficiently dealing with all the mannequins, I searched the place where yesterday’s energy bars had been before turning on the POS system.
If this was an infinite loop, then maybe this would too-
"Woohoo-! Jackpot-! Super lucky!"
Could something as trivial as an energy bar really make me this happy?
Just like yesterday, I found two energy bars and one coconut water, and I tore one open and ate it right there on the spot.
Hoo. I could live a little.
I’d dealt with the mannequins and filled my stomach a bit.
Feeling much more relaxed, I turned on the POS system and checked the gallery.
[Where the hell is KimDaejang???]
[If he’s been gone almost the whole day, he’s probably dead]
[We’re used to newbies dying fast anyway]
[Please accept our condolences]
Hold a funeral already, why don’t you.
[Quit trying to kill me, you idiots]
Author: KimDaejang
I woke up after a long nap and you people were already writing my death certificate.
I told you I’d already taken out all the mannequins.
- Jemmin: So he’s alive?
- Namgogoedam: Oho, oho, I believed in you, good sir
- GuinoogiRighteous: You slept through half a day? Do you think the Backrooms are a joke? What if something else popped out?
- KimDaejang: I put up a barricade before sleeping. I’m good.
- NaneunLegend: Are you brave, or just stupid? A barricade against a strange thing, really?
- KimDaejang: Yeah, if you smash a strange thing’s head, it can’t do jack. Also, the mannequins had been refilled, so I went and played xylophone.
- Namgogoedam: I at least know you’re not in your right mind.
- JinsangCustomerOut: It doesn’t seem like fast adaptation so much as plain insanity... What even is xylophone play?
- KimDaejang: I lined the mannequins up and smashed them while testing their pitch, do-re-mi-fa~
- Namgogoedam: What the fuck, this guy;;
No, why?
I just broke them before they became strange things.
Ah, right. When it was business hours, breaking the mannequins didn’t count as material.
So the formula really was strange thing = material.
- Namgogoedam: Then this bastard KimDaejang is basically a safe zone who can casually warm up once a day and be safe for the full twenty-four hours? Why is that pissing me off? Meanwhile all the veterans above are slogging their asses off and you were just sleeping?
- KimDaejang: You should graduate before you go to the military, kid.
- Namgogoedam: Aaaagh! You damn...! Ah! Fuck!
- KimDaejang: lol, I don’t talk to minors who haven’t even graduated yet. Later.
- Jemmin: At this point, I think KimDaejang might actually be a weirdoshipper.
- GuinoogiRighteous: He does seem a little off.
- KimDaejang: Rude. I’m a person.
What’s the problem with saying that in front of a perfectly normal person?
I’m just riding the high of dopamine and relief right now, so I’m feeling absolutely high!
- KimDaejang: Oh, and I’m also going to make armor out of the mannequin strange things. Right now it’s just one arm bracer, though.
- Jemmin: ?
- Namgogoedam: ?
- GuinoogiRighteous: ?
- JinsangCustomerOut: ??? You’re going to make what out of a strange thing? Armor? Isn’t that basically just wearing a strange thing’s corpse?
- KimDaejang: If you put it that way, yeah? Kind of like leather armor.
- Namgogoedam: Eeeek, a strange thingggg
- NaneunLegend: Ain’t a thing like a strange thing’s heart or mind in there?
- Jemmin: Shouldn’t this get you banned? He really is a weirdoshipper, isn’t he?
- GuinoogiRighteous: Wow... I’ve got nothing to say. I can feel the wall.
What was the problem?
If you can use something, you use it.
Back in the old days, people stripped hides off things and made clothes out of them all the time.
The only difference was that this was a strange thing.
And when you’re trying to survive, do you really have the luxury of being picky?
I was absolutely going to survive and get the hell out of this shitty place.
♪Thank you for using our shopping mall today♬
While I spent the time screwing around in the gallery, before I knew it, it was 10 o’clock.
Along with the closing music, the lights turned red.
Just like yesterday, the mannequins I’d smashed in advance stayed silent, and nothing else appeared.
But I still didn’t have the guts to sleep now... and I wasn’t even that tired, so maybe I should just get back to work?
I brought over the pile of materials and started making armor.
♩Thank you for visiting. Enjoy your shopping♪
After alternating between hammering and resting for a while, morning came again.
I looked down at the partially finished torso armor with satisfaction.
Solid.
This should let me handle zombies at least.
And then one question occurred to me.
Will this actually work properly?
It was meant to counter strange things, so I wondered whether its durability and defense would actually be useful.
Then there’s only one way to find out. Hit it head-on.
[I’m going to sleep. Then I’m going to do another one-on-one with a strange thing.]
I left a goodnight message in the gallery and went to sleep.