Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Special Discount Shop (4)
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Yuri dashed around so frantically that his legs were a blur.
Anyone who saw him would think some emergency had struck in the dead of night, given how desperate he looked.
But despite his frantic movements, his search speed wasn't improving much.
"Damn it, this place is huge!"
His crude curse echoed down the long corridor.
'How many rooms are there, anyway?!'
Tadak-.
Yuri sprinted along the corridor, checking each door as he went.
One by one.
He opened every single door and confirmed what lay beyond, repeating the process endlessly.
It was grueling, repetitive labor that devoured what little time he had.
The only silver lining was the glowing stones embedded in the ceiling, which greatly aided his search.
Bang- Bang- Thud!
Doors opened and slammed shut as the search dragged on.
As time wore on, Yuri's face grew paler and paler.
Finally.
"...Is that the end?"
Yuri reached the end of the first-floor corridor.
Fortunately, stairs led upward, so he headed straight to the second floor.
He let out a sigh at the sight of yet another endless corridor stretching before him.
"Haa...."
Stairs to the next floor at each corridor's end meant no backtracking, which was a relief.
But it wasn't enough to cheer him up, given the ordeal ahead.
'How many were there?'
Even a rough count put the doors at dozens.
There were definitely more, but he'd given up counting after thirty.
'About thirty in the middle stretch, so at least sixty per floor.'
Per floor!
The second-floor corridor looked just as packed, and the others probably were too.
And the number of floors Yuri had to check...
'At least ten, minimum.'
Maybe even twenty.
At that point, Yuri gave up calculating the time.
'I can't check them one by one.'
That would make finding the shop on time impossible.
So he changed tactics.
'If it's a shop... there has to be someone selling there.'
That was who he needed to find.
More precisely, the flow of mana emanating from that person.
[Once you reach a certain level, you start handling domains. There's some variation between people, but usually around Certified Rank 7, you gain your own domain.]
Johan had explained that within a domain, you could sense everything in minute detail.
The blowing wind and pouring rain.
The killing intent approaching silently.
Even the flow of mana in the world.
In a domain, all of it transcended the five senses, imprinting on the brain as entirely new sensory data.
That's why battles between Certified Rank 7 and above hinged on how finely they controlled their domains, Johan had said.
He'd added:
[Domains are hard-won through countless experiences and efforts... but you're different. With magic flow, you can mimic something similar, even if not exactly the same. Maybe about 40%? Hmm... honestly, closer to 30%....]
Magic flow controlled the primal flows of mana, the source of all things.
Johan's point was that Yuri, having mastered it, could enjoy effects akin to a domain.
In fact, Yuri did possess something like a 'magic flow domain,' as Johan described.
It was his unique sensory domain that detected all flows.
Though its range barely filled a one-meter diameter around him.
Now, Yuri planned to expand that 'magic flow domain.'
'Even hugging the walls while running, I'd need to sense inside at least ten meters or more.'
Expanding from one meter to at least ten.
Someone else might scoff at the impossibility.
'Nothing's impossible. I'll make it happen.'
He'd already spent nearly twenty minutes on the first floor.
Without expanding his sensory domain, covering all these floors in time was out of the question.
'No way that's happening!'
After coming this far!
Gritting his teeth, Yuri circulated his mana according to magic flow principles.
Immediately, he began sensing the surrounding flows in detail.
The mana in the glowing stones and the light they emitted.
The air circulating through the corridor.
The waves from beyond the doors.
But the range was still narrow.
Just about one meter.
'I can't expand it dramatically right now.'
Without a sudden enlightenment or major breakthrough, wholesale expansion was impossible.
So...
'Selective focus!'
Yuri focused on his magic flow domain.
If he could concentrate the domain spread across his body into one spot.
If he could focus solely on that...
'It might work.'
Yuri began channeling the sensory awareness from his entire body into his left arm.
Surprisingly, the magic flow domain permeating his flesh surged toward his left arm.
The domains across the rest of his body faded, while the one in his left arm grew larger and sharper.
Concentrating the domain into one point.
Anyone else would gape in shock at how it was possible.
But even Yuri couldn't explain it.
He just 'could do it.'
He didn't know the principles or how.
A bit more time passed.
The 'magic flow domain' coalesced into a fuzzy mass in Yuri's left arm.
Its radius slightly exceeded two meters in diameter.
Even with the plan succeeding, Yuri's face didn't brighten.
'...Not enough.'
Even gathering the domain from his whole body into one spot hit a clear limit.
Because the total amount of domain Yuri could wield was fixed.
He couldn't increase that total now.
Change was needed.
Zzzzt- Zzzzt-.
The gathered domain mass writhed.
Then.
Shwick-!
It extended a thin tendril straight out.
That was the start.
Shwick- Shwick- Shwick-.
The domain mass endlessly sprouted slender threads.
Like spider silk, the domain threads stretched in all directions.
Each one a full twenty meters long.
Even if it was a fake domain, not the real thing.
No one had taught him, yet Yuri had intuitively grasped how to manipulate it arbitrarily.
And he'd succeeded on the first try without practice—pure innate talent.
Yuri smirked as the threads extended everywhere.
'Got it!'
Density might drop, but the search range was overwhelming.
If anything touched the spiderweb threads, he'd feel it instantly.
'With a bit more refinement, this could be something special.'
Desperate straits had sparked innovation.
In overcoming it, Yuri had grown—and gained a clue for further growth.
Meanwhile, the spiderweb domain threads slipped through door cracks and walls, probing inside.
A flood of information hit Yuri's brain.
The shape of the space beyond the doors.
Its approximate size.
What was inside, and so on.
A massive influx of data in an instant.
His eyes gleamed as he rapidly processed and analyzed it.
'Objects and people have distinctly different flows. I just... need to find the human flows.'
That would be the special discount shop.
'Let's go.'
Yuri began walking slowly.
One step, two.
He started at a walk, but as he grew accustomed to processing the info, his pace quickened.
His strides lengthened.
Then his speed exploded exponentially, and soon he was running.
Tadak-.
Faster movement meant more data pouring in.
A veritable waterfall of information.
'No one here. Nothing. Not here either... nothing! Nothing! Nope!'
As he sped past doors.
His face paled while detecting, analyzing, and processing countless flows.
Yet Yuri endured.
Finally, he reached the end of the second-floor corridor.
"Huff huff."
Sweat drenched his forehead as he panted roughly.
Operating magic flow was less taxing than the data overload.
Classifying the info flooding his brain moment by moment, judging if people were present.
To maintain speed, it all had to happen in split seconds.
That process burdened his brain.
Just one floor, and his head already throbbed.
But Yuri smiled.
'At this rate... I can do it!'
It was grueling, but searching a whole floor took only two or three minutes.
About forty minutes left.
Plenty of time.
'Next floor.'
Smiling, Yuri headed to the third.
* * *
The end of the tenth-floor corridor.
Huff- Huff-.
Yuri staggered, breathing raggedly.
He looked unwell.
Then blood began dripping from his nose.
Drip-.
Seeing the nosebleed splatter on the floor, Yuri pinched his nostrils.
"...Damn, buying one item shouldn't be this brutal."
Swimming across a massive lake for hours.
Running all night over land the size of a territory.
Now paying for overworking his brain with a nonstop nosebleed.
"...If the stuff at the special sale turns out lame after all this, Jerry-senpai's in for it."
He had made some progress in handling his magic flow domain from this ordeal.
But that was that.
If the rewards didn't match his effort, he'd track down Jerry-senpai for a reckoning.
Yuri vowed it.
Staggering-.
Leaning on the wall, he climbed to the next floor.
The end of the eleventh-floor corridor.
Somehow he'd made it to eleven, but his throbbing head and churning stomach screamed for rest.
He wanted to pause, but couldn't.
His pace had already slowed drastically.
Even a moment's break might leave him collapsed.
"Hoo... Let's go."
Exhaling deeply, Yuri extended his spiderweb domain and pressed on.
Noticeably slower than at first.
But he didn't give up.
Step by step, he reached about the middle of the eleventh floor.
'Tch, another bust like the last ten.'
Just as he thought this floor would yield nothing.
"......?!"
Something snagged in the web.
A completely different sensation from before.
Yuri froze, focusing intently on that room.
'This is....'
Not an ordinary object—warmth and a mana flow.
No doubt.
'A person!'
Joy lit Yuri's face.
Flick-!
He wiped the blood and slowly pushed the door with trembling hands.
Click- Slide-.
The well-maintained door opened silently.
As it swung wide, Yuri first saw thick darkness.
'Eh... What?'
Illuminated faintly by corridor glowstones, the room resembled a tavern after closing.
Chairs upturned on tables, as if mid-cleaning.
A bar counter and display case where a bartender might stand.
That was the dim outline.
But what threw Yuri was something else.
'What... I definitely sense a person? Why can't I see them?'
He clearly felt someone beyond the darkness.
A human flow caught in his magic flow.
Yet nothing visible?
'Did I sense wrong?'
As Yuri reeled in confusion.
"Who's there?"
A voice came from a corner.
At the same time, stark white teeth floated in the dark like ghosts.
"......?!"
Yuri jolted back a step.
Sizzle-.
A match flared, a red spark igniting.
Whoosh-.
With an exhalelike sound, lights came on inside.
Only then did Yuri understand why he hadn't seen the person.
He muttered softly at the figure revealed in the light.
"...A black person?"
The one emerging from the shadows was a middle-aged black woman.
Deep brown skin and tight, thick curls.
Full lips and narrow, slitted eyes.
A plump body concealed by loose black clothes.
A lit cigar in her mouth.
Whoosh-.
She exhaled a plume of smoke and spoke.
"What, first black person you've seen?"
Yuri, who'd encountered plenty while wandering the continent, shook his head.
"No, not that."
"Then why the surprise?"
"Anyone would jump seeing teeth bobbing like ghosts in the pitch dark."
"Fair enough."
The black woman's slitted eyes crinkled slightly.
Probably smiling.
But only briefly.
Her eyes cracked open, pupils scanning Yuri.
"Hmm, new face... Where's your badge?"
"Didn't get one."
"Didn't get one? What nonsense—huh?"
She realized something and continued hurriedly.
"Don't tell me... you're a first-year? 50th Cohort?"
"Well, not yet, but soon I will be."
"Oh my god!"
So startled, the cigar dropped from her mouth.
But she snatched it midair before it hit the floor.
Popping it back in, she eyed Yuri like a rare specimen.
"No way... a trainee made it here? How?!"
"Figured it out myself. And who are you, ma'am?"
"Me?"
She chuckled at his bold question.
Then walked to a neatly arranged display case.
Shelves of liquor bottles and glasses.
Beside it hung a single ornate golden cord.
The black woman grasped it and turned to Yuri.
"If you're asking about me...."
She tugged the cord.
Creak-.
The display case before them slid back with a eerie groan.
Another rolled forward with a rattle-, taking its place.
The woman placed a hand on the new case and grinned.
"Call me the shopkeeper."
At her introduction, Yuri scanned the fresh display.
Dozens of square compartments divided by transparent glass.
Filled with colorful items.
Ecstasy bloomed on Yuri's face.
"Found it."