The 44-Floor High-Rise Dungeon (2)
Truth be told, deciding to buy clothes had been a pretty impulsive call.
I'd been short on things I could actually wear out lately, and if I could catch a ride in Luce's car, getting there would be easy enough. So I'd figured — as long as I was already out, I might as well knock everything out at once. An efficient choice, or so I'd thought.
What I hadn't known was the murderous price tags at a department store clothing shop.
I should have gone to an outlet. Even a plain cotton tee cost enough to buy dozens of packs of instant ramen. If I boiled one pack per meal, that was a full week's food budget, easy!
And then there were the dungeon sentries of the department store — the sales clerks. Their presence was pretty awkward too.
"I think brighter tones would really suit you…"
"O-oh, really?"
"How about this one? Would you like to hold it up to the mirror?"
She wasn't wrong — draping the clothes over myself, they didn't look bad. Maybe because my frame was small, bright and airy pieces seemed to suit me well enough. That was if you set aside my personal aversion, of course.
More importantly, this was way too expensive. It clearly used less fabric than the one I'd looked at earlier, so why did it cost more?
"Do you have anything else?"
"Ah! Is there something specific you're looking for?"
"Well… pants, preferably. Something a little plain. You know — something I could wear anywhere."
What I wanted was something presentable enough for a formal occasion, or at least something that would leave a neat impression. And I needed long pants, so I wouldn't have to wear a skirt.
The problem was explaining exactly what I was looking for. As I fumbled for the right words, a relief pitcher stepped in.
"Could you show us some slacks? She seems to like neutrals, so black or navy would be nice."
"Of course!"
Luce — that is, Ga-yoon — enjoyed her own shopping, but she still stepped in to help like this every so often. Mostly she just trailed after me, poking around at things nearby. She could have gone off and looked at whatever she wanted, but she didn't seem inclined to.
Thankfully, the clothes Ga-yoon picked out were exactly right. There was a certain femininity in the cut, but overall they were neat and clean-looking pants. Something I could wear without too much resistance.
The price, though… still hurt.
Even so, I had to make a decision.
"I-I'll take these!"
"Wonderful! I'll help you with the checkout."
Beyond the pants, I bought a few more pieces at the department store. I needed tops that matched the new pants, and — just in case, really — I might end up meeting Elderin someday.
Luce had called what she picked out a casual suit? Semi-formal? Something like that, anyway. My spare cash took a serious beating for it… but this should be enough to cover any important days that came up. I'd have to store them carefully in the closet — wearing them too often would ruin them.
After I swiped my card, the clerk went off to wrap my clothes, and Luce was still browsing the store. She'd helped a lot with the measurements and the selections. Not wanting to get in her way, I found a seat on a nearby chair.
I'd been half-terrified that shopping with another woman meant trying clothes on each other left and right. Apparently that was just a fantasy from the media. She glanced over at me now and then, but never forced anything.
Was she waiting to stop shopping the moment I got up? In that case, I'd just sit here and scroll my phone until she was done.
"Miss? We've finished packing everything. Will it take you long to get home?"
"Uh… by bus, maybe an hour? Something like that."
"We can deliver them to your home if you'd like. There's no extra shipping fee, and it usually takes a day, two at most."
"That'd be great. Please do."
I nodded, and the clerk smiled and walked off. Perfect timing. I'd been wondering how I was going to haul all these clothes home. Maybe this kind of thoughtful service was why people came to expensive department stores in the first place.
Well. Next time I was going to an outlet. Expensive was still expensive.
While I browsed the Infinity Black community, Luce wandered the store with a clerk in tow, picking out clothes. The sections she browsed had more floaty, girlish pieces than I'd expected. So that was her taste, apparently. I'd never known — she always wore mature outfits when I saw her. As a fan, discovering a side of her I hadn't known made me happy.
"Sorry, Daeun. You've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"
"Don't worry about it. Did you get everything you wanted?"
"Hmm, for now. I looked at shoes for a bit, but nothing here really caught my eye."
For someone saying that, she'd bought quite a lot. A rich person's shopping trip was clearly beyond a commoner's economic sense. Then again, I couldn't even picture myself trailing a clerk around saying, "This one and this one. That one too, please."
"We finished earlier than I expected. Are you hungry at all?"
I couldn't bring myself to answer right away. This place was expensive. I wouldn't even buy a single roll of kimbap somewhere like this. If we went to a restaurant that suited Luce's tastes, wouldn't my bank account go bankrupt?
If a sparrow tries to keep pace with a stork, its legs will…
"You spent the whole day hanging out with me, so lunch is on me."
"C-can I eat a lot?"
"Of course."
The high-rise dungeon — no, the forty-fourth floor of the shopping mall — was home to restaurants. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls looked out over the city below.
I'd never been in a restaurant this polished, and the disorientation lasted only a moment before fear took over.
I'm going to look like an idiot. What do I do?
The name "Opulence" — I couldn't even tell what language it was from. The murderous prices I'd glimpsed on the menu. I wasn't a complete outsider to this world. I knew places like this had their own etiquette, and failing to observe it could make you look terribly rude or ignorant.
The problem was that I really was ignorant.
Most of the meat I'd ever eaten was pork belly or pork neck. Even beef, I'd only ever had fully cooked through on a grill with the adults. Of course I barely knew the difference between rare and well-done. My whole life had been kendo. There'd been no time for other refinements. Even among other athletes, I'd been on the particularly uncultured side.
"What would you like? The pasta here is pretty good."
"I'll go with whatever you recommend."
"Alright. I'll order the steak I like, then?"
All I could do was nod. While I sat frozen solid, Ga-yoon finished ordering. Her steady gaze made me lower my head.
A brief silence settled. Then her soft voice gently broke it.
"Have I ever told you I used to ride horses?"
"Horses? No. First I'm hearing of it."
"I started when I was very little. I think I really loved it. I even took care of the horses myself, and whenever something hard happened, I'd always go to the riding grounds."
I was a fan of Luce. I'd thought I knew a lot about Ga-yoon. Apparently not.
"You know about my arm injury, right? It was from a riding accident. Bella… ah, that was my horse's name. There was a big accident nearby, and she must have been startled. She fell, and my leg broke. My precious friend left me, and the left side of my body was ruined."
Aside from the horseback riding, this was a story I already knew. Years of rehab. Luce had gotten a nearly immobile foot moving again, and after that she'd discovered Infinity Black. A half-baked player who couldn't even hold a shield. A nobody streamer grinding ranked games every single day. Now she was, without question, the best paladin in the country — acknowledged by everyone.
I'd wanted to follow that success story. That was why I'd become Luce's fan.
"I tried to kill myself five times. It felt like I'd lost the whole world. Like the world had abandoned me. I just couldn't hold on."
"…"
So that was it. Luce had struggled too. Maybe I hadn't broken because I was lacking or weak. That fact was a quiet comfort.
"These days I play the piano. Not well. Honestly, I still don't have full control of my fingers."
"Still? I thought you'd fully recovered."
"Yeah. I can't move them with any real precision. But it's a lot better than it was. I believe you'll get better little by little too, Daeun. Someday."
She'd volunteered at the rehab center for years, she added, and every time she saw me I'd looked so desperately broken. That was why she'd wanted so badly to cheer me on.
"If I work hard… do you think I could become like Luce? I mean, like you, Ga-yoon?"
"Of course. If not today, then tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after. People like us are used to that, right?"
Yeah. I nodded. Someday. It didn't have to be today — as long as I got a little better, bit by bit.
The food we'd ordered arrived. Mine was pasta in a soft cream sauce; Luce's smelled of garlic. I'd seen it done somewhere before, so I pressed my fork against the spoon and twirled. Thankfully, it wasn't much different from what Luce was doing.
I took my first bite while listening to her talk. It was delicious. Good enough to count as a gift.
"Oh, right. You're not thinking this one meal is the gift, are you?"
"…It wasn't?"
"Don't be too surprised tomorrow."
The next day, a mountain of already-paid-for clothes arrived at my house. Everything Ga-yoon had picked out while browsing the mall.