The Scammer Goddess and the Shopping App
Approximately three seconds later. 'Ding!'
The notification sound of the smartphone echoed inside Bukjin's head. A new message had arrived.
Bukjin wore a dazed expression. He had already been blocked by Geomseol Mumeong, and his Messenger friend list was completely empty.
'Why did a message suddenly arrive?'
Bukjin pulled out his smartphone to check. A new friend request was waiting on the screen. As he tapped the notification, he was left speechless.
The person who had sent the friend request was none other than Geomseol Mumeong.
"It's that scammer goddess!" Bukjin exclaimed in shock. 'This is the deity who tricked me out of 4,000 nyang! And after blocking me, she has the nerve to show up again? Does she think I'm that easy to fool? I will never forgive her!'
A cold sneer played on Bukjin's lips. 'Hmph! If you thought I'd just let this slide, you've got another thing coming!'
Despite these thoughts, Bukjin's thumb moved on its own and accepted the friend request.
Bukjin sent the message with fierce aggression. Geomseol Mumeong's reply was simple.
Bukjin felt like the world was turning dark. 'This damn goddess! How could she spend 4,000 nyang in just a few days!'
Bukjin sent the message, fuming with rage.
Geomseol Mumeong replied with surprising coolness. Then, a file with an unknown name was transmitted to Bukjin. He asked cautiously.
Geomseol Mumeong sent a follow-up.
'Is it really going to be this easy?' Bukjin found himself re-evaluating Geomseol Mumeong for a moment. To him, this proposal was even more seductive than the long, shapely legs shown in her profile picture. But...
'Wait! I can't let this deity trick me again!' Bukjin asked another question.
'Huh? Is that what happened? So if a deity in the Divine Realm turns off their faith channel, it shows up as being blocked in the Messenger app?' Bukjin had a hunch that this might be the case. It seemed the previous incident might have been a misunderstanding.
Bukjin gradually regained his composure. Regardless of the circumstances, his counterpart was a deity. Even if she was just an apprentice goddess with questionable competence, she was still a member of the divine race. Compared to an ordinary human, she was an incomparably powerful being. And such a being was offering compensation.
After careful consideration, Bukjin decided to open the file sent through the Messenger app. The moment he opened it, a sense of powerlessness washed over him, as if his entire body was being hollowed out.
The water-attribute Hyeongi filling his body was being sucked into the smartphone like water gushing out of a breached dam.
"This is bad. Opening a large file sent through the Messenger app consumes data..."
Bukjin realized something was wrong. Unlike when he downloaded other apps, he hadn't checked how much data this nameless file would consume before starting the download. If the file size exceeded the amount of Hyeongi he possessed, he was in deep trouble.
'I'm not going to be sucked dry and turned into a mummy, am I?' Sensing the danger, Bukjin tried to cancel the download. However...
FAILED TO CANCEL TASK
'What? What does that mean!' Panicking, Bukjin tried to cancel again and again, but only the "Failed to Cancel" notification kept popping up.
"Sinsin! Find a way to stop this file download!" Bukjin called out to the voice-activated AI, Sinsin, in desperation. But Sinsin remained silent, as if fallen into a deep slumber.
Bukjin was utterly frantic. The water-attribute Hyeongi inside him was flowing out uncontrollably, ignoring his will. It was impossible to even cast Suhwan to recover. In the blink of an eye, cold sweat poured from Bukjin's forehead, and his entire body began to tremble violently. He didn't even have the strength to speak, let alone cry out.
"Wow, even his praying posture is so cool!"
The young priestess, Ya Mi-ang, watched Bukjin from afar and marveled. "To pray with such intensity! Such incredible devotion! He must be so focused on his prayer that he's sweating like that."
For Bukjin, every second felt like a thousand years.
"Gah!"
Suddenly, Bukjin let out a loud cry and snapped his eyes open. The drainage of Hyeongi had finally stopped.
Thud!
Bukjin collapsed heavily onto the floor, slumped before the statue of the Sword Lord, gasping for breath.
"Student Im, you truly are a devotee favored by the Sword Lord! To offer such a heartfelt prayer! You look as if you've just fought a fierce battle! I am truly moved by your dedication!" Ya Mi-ang said with a flushed face and a bright smile.
Bukjin didn't even have the strength to reply.
"The two of you, please follow me."
Ya Mi-ang began to lead Bukjin and Ak Hong-hyang toward where Cho Heun and the others were waiting. However, Bukjin's entire mind was focused on his smartphone. The nameless file sent by Geomseol Mumeong had finally finished downloading.
As Bukjin checked the file, his expression went blank. Now that the download was complete, the nameless file finally had a name. The name of the file was...
[Shopping]
Bukjin rubbed his eyes in disbelief. There was no mistake. It was the installation file for a Shopping app.
'What is this...? Is Geomseol Mumeong some kind of app developer? Is this world actually made of complex programming or something?'
"Sinsin."
Yes, Master.
"Where were you until just now?"
The smartphone's system was in an overloaded state, so I couldn't manifest. The [Shopping] app you just downloaded required 100% of the system's processing power to complete the download.
"Fine. Install the [Shopping] app."
Understood, Master.
After about fifteen minutes, the installation was complete. A familiar shopping bag icon appeared on the home screen. Bukjin didn't hesitate to launch the app.
The screen that unfolded was also familiar. However, the categories and types of products displayed on the main screen were much simpler and more concise than the Shopping apps he had seen on Earth. Only a single store page was visible on the main screen.
The name of that store was...
'Geomseol Mumeong's General Store.'
Bukjin's face contorted. It was a shop without even a star-shaped verification mark. Bukjin tapped into Geomseol Mumeong's General Store to browse.
The products in the shop were all "purely natural," "additive-free," "harmless," "side-effect-free," and "unprocessed." For example: dirty pebbles, dried grass, rotten fruit, rusted iron, and torn clothes.
The names Geomseol Mumeong had given these items were even more absurd.
Heaven-Crushing Stone, Dragon-Birth Grass, Heaven and Earth Fruit, Immortal Blood Gold, Rainbow Skirt Immortal Raiment...
'How can every single one of these be so nonsensical?'
Bukjin fell into deep thought for a moment. Having gained some understanding of what kind of deity Geomseol Mumeong was, he could finally reach one conclusion.
'She's a malicious seller just waiting for one sucker to take the bait!'
Bukjin quietly closed the Shopping app and began to hurl insults through the Messenger app.
Geomseol Mumeong sent a quick reply along with a wronged-looking emoticon and began to explain.
'Huh? Is that so?' Bukjin stroked his brow. It did sound somewhat plausible.
Geomseol Mumeong continued to send messages.
Bukjin replied.
Bukjin launched the Shopping app again and entered Geomseol Mumeong's General Store. He began to read through the descriptions of the effects and functions of each product. Soon, however, he realized that there was nothing he actually needed.
Bukjin sent the message. Geomseol Mumeong replied immediately.
After thinking for a moment, Bukjin replied again.
Geomseol Mumeong sent another message along with a shocked emoticon.
Annoyed, Bukjin messaged back.
A wave of deep disappointment washed over Bukjin, and he sent a message without a shred of pretense.
A world with an unknown name. Inside a shabby, crumbling palace.
Geomseol Mumeong was taking a nap, wearing nothing at all. She stretched like a cat that had just woken up and continued to roll around on an old blanket.
Her snow-white, long legs looked as if they were carved from flawless ivory, and her skin seemed to glow. Her figure was exquisitely beautiful by any standard.
Geomseol Mumeong frowned as she peered at the messages appearing on a crystal screen she had bought recently for a massive sum of money.