The Bizarre Cash Shop (3)
— Screeech…
— Squirm…
— Splat…
All manner of grotesque and nauseating sounds coiled around my ears as I pressed deeper into the black market.
"Hic— sniff! This place… what even……"
Roella was still trembling from head to toe, choking back sobs. The arm she clung to had gone so tight that the blood could barely circulate. The shock of watching James get swallowed whole by a monster clearly hadn't worn off. Gone without a trace was that prickly, haughty demeanor she usually wore.
Then again, no sane human could look at this place and stay composed.
Countless eyeballs blinked from the walls, tracking our every step. Unidentifiable slime squelched underfoot. Behind every stall, aberrations squatted in forms too hideous for human comprehension, and the malevolent aura rolling off them was thick enough to choke on.
…Honestly, I'm scared too.
I muttered it inwardly. Outwardly I kept a calm face as I led Roella along, but cold sweat had soaked the back of my neck. Having memories of a past life and game knowledge didn't mean I was immune to fear. I'd always been the cowardly type. A place this nightmarish was the furthest thing from my comfort zone.
And yet something was strange.
It was terrifying — no question — but my mind stayed ice-cold. My heart hammered like mad, yet my hands didn't shake.
…Did I pick up some kind of hidden skill?
There was no status window, but that didn't mean I could be sure I had no skills or stats at all. If I'd somehow met a condition and already possessed a skill… it would be a massive help surviving whatever came next.
I'll check later.
First, I had to deal with the situation right in front of me.
I took several deep breaths, steadying myself, then turned to comfort Roella, who was practically wailing beside me.
"Roella. Pull yourself together."
"Hic—?"
"If you let them see you're scared in here, you might end up just like all the merchandise lying around."
Roella sucked in a sharp breath and clamped onto my arm even tighter.
Right. The best way to conquer fear is to face an even greater fear… my ass. The real way to ease the terror was to finish our business and get the hell out of here as fast as possible.
Roella's footsteps quickened.
"Hey… Ian."
Her speaking up caught me off guard.
"Have you… thought about who you're going to recruit at the talent acquisition?"
She was probably grasping for any ordinary topic she could, trying to keep her grip on reality in the middle of absolute horror. Maybe she was tougher inside than I'd given her credit for.
With that thought, I answered.
"Talent acquisition?"
"The professor mentioned it at yesterday's meeting. Tomorrow they're gathering the cadets and setting up a recruitment session."
Ah, right. That event. The one where Territory Management students got to recruit promising talents from the combat departments. In game terms, it was like a hero recruitment event — no gacha involved.
"…Dunno. Not really."
"N-not really?! Everyone else is going all-out for this! If we don't recruit anyone this time, then when the next wave hits—!"
Roella looked genuinely horrified.
"Competition's going to be insane this round. People will even sell off Chaos Crystals if it means snagging someone useful."
"Of course it matters. But not right now."
I met her eyes and explained.
"Think about it. Who's the most valuable commodity at the Academy right now?"
"Well… obviously the top graduating candidates from the Magic Department or the Knight Department."
"Exactly. And their prices are about to skyrocket. Even mediocre fighters will be able to name their own price. A backwater lord like me can't afford that."
So-called inflation. In the aftermath of a catastrophe, the desperate hunger for safety and power inevitably drives the value of combat personnel through the roof. Dive clumsily into a recruitment war and you'd get stripped of everything you owned.
"So… you're just giving up?"
Roella asked, sounding disappointed.
"Not giving up. Strategy."
I smirked.
"While everyone's blood-crazed over hiring soldiers and mages, other things drop in relative value. Things like… technology needed for territory development. Resources. Information."
While everyone else fixated on raw combat power, I intended to shore up my foundations. Growing the territory itself — that was the wiser long-term investment. And coming to this "Bizarre Cash Shop" was part of that plan. Here, I might obtain something unobtainable in the human world — something that could make a territory explode with growth.
"So… while everyone else is buying talent, you're going to buy something different and come out ahead… is that it?"
Roella's eyes lit up. She'd grasped my intent in an instant. A true Territory Management student, through and through.
"Something like that."
I gave a short answer and started walking again.
In that moment, a fierce impulse surged through my mind.
…Yeah. Buy everything. This place is packed with items that hit like real-money cash-shop effects, right? Just buy whatever I can get my hands on.
The craving was intense. Right on cue, a writhing heart caught my eye at the neighboring stall. Wouldn't it be nice to have an extra heart? And that necklace — that necklace looked incredibly useful. It was made from a human skull, after all.
The urge to buy anything.
【Mental Resistance (Lv.1)】 resists the effect!
…And just like that, it cut off.
Goosebumps raced across my entire body. Cold sweat poured down.
…That was close.
This place wasn't just physically dangerous. The space itself preyed on a visitor's mind, inducing irrational decisions and compulsive purchases. The moment you lost your reason here, it was over.
I barely suppressed the buying urge and kept walking.
In the distance, I could see the weapons stall where James had been eaten. The massive multi-armed aberration merchant was still right there. But then…
Splurch…!
A section of the aberration's body swelled outward and spat something out. It had a human shape — but twisted, warped, wrong. Hollow eyes. A mouth split into a grotesque grin… It was James.
No. The thing that had been James.
"Weapons… need any…? Very… fine… weapons…"
The aberration that had been James creaked like a broken doll and began mechanically polishing the weapons on the stall. His voice echoed, utterly lifeless.
"Eek!"
Roella took one look and bolted behind me in pure terror. I covered her eyes and hurried us past. And at last, we arrived at our destination.
Unlike the other stalls, this one was conspicuously shabby and easy to overlook. Behind the counter sat a figure draped in what looked like rags, its form nearly impossible to make out. The face was lost in deep shadow; only two faintly glowing pinpricks of light could be sensed.
I stationed Roella behind me and stepped up to the stall.
This was the shop I'd been looking for.
This aberration was safer than any other. Meaning rational transactions were possible — though "rational," of course, was measured by aberration standards.
I carefully drew out my largest Chaos Crystal and the Nightmare's Eye from my coat and set them on the counter.
"…I want to make a trade."
The aberration wordlessly studied what I'd offered. After a moment, it lifted a skeletal finger and pointed to several items sitting in a corner of the stall.
A small hand mirror webbed with cracks.
A handful of withered seeds.
A little box bound in black cloth.
"…What is all this?"
Roella whispered beside me, but I simply nodded.
This much was satisfactory. No — it had to be satisfactory.
This aberration hands over goods equal to whatever you put forward first.
You paid upfront, then received random items matching the value of your payment. That was precisely why this one was safe. In this deranged marketplace, if you took an interest in something too expensive and couldn't cover the price with what you carried… you yourself became the method of payment.
You're allowed to refuse a proposal up to twice — but I rolled well right from the start.
Especially those seeds. The moment we got out of here, I was heading straight back to the territory to plant them.
I nodded toward the aberration.
"Fine. I'll take those."
The shadow merchant seemed satisfied. It drew the Chaos Crystal and the Nightmare's Eye into its shadows with a soft rustle, then pushed the promised items toward me. I quickly stowed them inside my coat.
That was when the merchant's mouth opened.
It sounded like dry sand scattering on the wind. At the same time came a soft clink as something was held out.
What it offered… was a single rusted key. It looked ordinary enough, but unreadable ancient characters were etched across its surface.
"A freebie?"
The aberration bobbed its head up and down.
I accepted it with thanks. A "freebie" from this place was never anything ordinary.
"Come on. Let's go, Roella."
I took Roella's hand and hurried toward the entrance.
That was when it happened.
"Hey there, customers."
A cracked human male voice drifted over from the neighboring stall. It was the thing that had been James, wearing a twisted smile. Those hollow eyes locked onto us.
Damn it.
Eyes that no longer looked human sent a chill down my spine.
"Just… leaving…? Without… buying… anything…?"
His voice was grotesquely cheerful.
Shit. The black market rules surfaced in my mind.
A "shop employee's" sales pitch must never be ignored. The moment you refuse — or fail to answer…
No.
Get a grip. The solicitation judgment hasn't triggered yet.
"We've already bought everything we came for."
I said it coldly.
"But the young lady over there is empty-handed? Empty-handed. Empty-handed, isn't she. Empty-handed? If she doesn't buy, I get in trouble. That scary thing will eat me a-gain."
Damn it. Shut up. Please shut up, James.
"Rules… have to be followed… right…? If you browsed… you should… buy at least one thing… right…?"
The corners of his mouth split wider.
"Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying? Not buying?"
The question repeated faster and faster, descending into pure madness. His eyes began to fill with a dark crimson light.