Chapter 84: Shopping
Chapter 84: Shopping
By the time I'd finished exploring Kim Ha-eun's unconscious, the morning sun was already up.
My Incarnations, every one of their hidden desires thoroughly resolved down in the unconscious, went about their daily routines looking noticeably livelier than usual.
I watched them on the TV for a moment, then moved over to the chair in front of the monitor.
The wooden furniture the Unfading Giant Tree had given me was all top-notch, but having only two chairs was a nuisance.
I'd have to buy a wheeled one later with points and roll around wherever I pleased.
Speaking of which — why not do a little point-shopping right now?
I wasn't after some luxury designer chair. I grabbed one of those PC-café-style wheeled chairs for about 10 points.
With that purchase out of the way, what I had left was points in the millions.
Wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me, I leaned back and stretched as far as the chair would go.
I finished the stretch, sat back up, and the number of digits on the screen hadn't budged.
Had it even been a full day since I started the Dream Therapy?
"A full day" was a stretch. I was still in the preparation phase.
Feeling complicated, I glanced at the monitor. The harbor on the Academy island was bursting at the seams.
People in straitjackets. People leaning on caretakers, hobbling along with drool spilling from their mouths. People being carried piggyback, blindfolded and wearing earplugs to boot.
As the one and only Incarnation-training institution on the planet, the place was swarming with patients of every race from all four continents.
Seeing that flood finally drove home just how clueless I'd been, daydreaming about running some light little massage parlor.
Back in my previous life, people had lined up for psychological counseling that might or might not work. So if a full-fledged Constellation was running the same service — with a 100% success rate and the Academy's official endorsement — how many desperate people were going to come stampeding in?
And every single one flooding in now would become word-of-mouth advertising.
The Incinerating Tyrant's battleship maintenance ran into the hundreds of millions per month, didn't it?
I couldn't remotely compare myself to top-tier Constellations like that, but a tenfold revenue spike was still nothing to complain about.
With this much accumulated, I could afford to spend a little.
For the first time in a long while, I opened the shop window on the monitor.
Either absorbing those Fragments had done something, or the ballooning point balance had unlocked things — the number of items I'd never seen before was staggering.
It wasn't like some game achievement unlocking new shop inventory. I figured it was the same kind of refresh that had happened when I connected to the Unfading Giant Tree.
I had zero intention of hoarding points.
It wasn't as if I'd ever been caught in a situation where I urgently needed them.
Wouldn't spending everything on my Incarnations to strengthen them be far wiser?
My own growth could piggyback on Kim Ha-eun and Lee Ha-rin's Dream Therapy revenues, picking up Magic Power and Nightmare Fragments along the way.
As I scrolled down the list, the expensive equipment started showing up.
The cheapest of the gaudy, multi-million-point items I'd glimpsed before.
I had no idea why a bloodstained rock had to be sold for 1.2 million points under the grandiose title "First Murder Weapon," but there they were — items seemingly connected to Constellations or myth.
'Common Authority, or custom-fitted gear...'
The Dream Therapy income would only keep growing. It wasn't going anywhere.
That meant I could buy gear one piece at a time, like gearing up in an RPG.
Or I could look for a Dream Demon Authority I could learn myself — something that would benefit all three Incarnations.
Mulling it over, I settled on keeping at least 100,000 points in reserve.
What if I hit the jackpot? A pipe dream, sure. But imagine if I stumbled across a Magic Power prodigy like Kim Ha-eun and didn't have the points for a contract. That'd sting.
In a real pinch, I could always borrow from the Unfading Giant Tree, but a man has his pride.
The World Tree branches were for communication, and those points last time came from a full day of over ten rituals — that was fair enough.
But going to a woman and begging for a quick loan because I was short on points?
I'd rather send my Clone to hold things down with bare-handed combat until I earned the contract points myself.
'Gear or Authority. This is giving me a headache.'
Firming up that resolve, I examined the list more closely. Dream Demon equipment was showing a 90% discount, same as the Authorities.
Good old Mister Creator really does love his theming, doesn't he.
The discounted gear made everything even more agonizing. Done right, I could afford two or three pieces.
In my previous life, I'd had a friend obsessed with RPGs. Every time he participated in a game event, he'd whip out Excel spreadsheets and plan his purchases with formula charts, and I'd mocked him for it. Was that karma circling back now?
I didn't want to do headache-inducing math.
This was monthly recurring income anyway. Stop agonizing and just spend it.
I moved the mouse and immediately selected the item I'd been eyeing.
※
The days flew by in a breathless blur.
Ironically, the one with the most relaxed schedule was Han Ye-ji, the one with an actual job. Her shifts were set in stone, so unless a terrorist organization suddenly materialized, her hours were predictable.
Lee Ha-rin and Kim Ha-eun, on the other hand, were scrambling nonstop thanks to the flood of retired soldiers.
Patients streamed into an auditorium covered, floor-to-pillar-to-ceiling, in magic circles. Lee Ha-rin activated the formations, and Kim Ha-eun manipulated the Magic Power. Fifty people at a time.
The problem was that customers were arriving far faster than they could be processed.
The two were worked to the bone all day, yet physically they never flagged. Their cheeks were flushed with color, their complexions bright and clear. Noticeably so.
Obviously, that was thanks to the item I'd bought.
The shop list had too many useful things.
I could've gifted Han Ye-ji a Common Authority sniper set for elite marksmen. I could've bought Lee Ha-rin an artificial spirit to organize her knowledge and data. I could've pushed Kim Ha-eun's already-dominant growth rate even further.
Every option promised a clear benefit, and it was in the middle of that agonizing shopping session that I found it.
- Violet Moon Carving Pendant: Bond [1,200,000pt]
I sank nearly my entire fortune into a single necklace, leaving just 100,000 points to my name.
There were other characters besides "Bond" — maybe there was a set effect — but this was the one I chose after reading the description.
True to the name, it was an item that, when worn by a Constellation, let you share exactly one thing with your Incarnations.
I was worse than my Incarnations at handling Magic Power, worse at knowing this world's ins and outs.
But there was exactly one category where I could confidently say I had the edge over them as a Constellation.
Stamina.
Fundamentally, I never left my Constellation's Space or the Temporary Sanctum. And a Dream Demon was practically invincible inside their own dreams — not in the sense of being able to beat anyone in a fight, but in the sense of never tiring out, physically or sexually.
If I went picking fights with monster-tier Incarnations or point-tycoon Constellations, I'd get devoured by Magic Power inside my own lucid dream and my skull would pop like a grape — but that wasn't going to happen. So I'd share my stamina with my Incarnations.
A whopping 1.2 million points, and the only feature was stamina sharing. But if I framed it as a permanent stamina buff for 400,000 points per Incarnation, it felt reasonable enough.
I kept it on me in the dream, so there was no risk of damage or loss.
If my Incarnations managed to break an item worth over a million points, my stomach would churn pretty hard.
"That doesn't mean you two should be staying up all night to read research papers."
"Cutting back on sleep time just a little..."
"We have so many retired soldiers. If we could shift some hours to dawn..."
"..."
The first order of business was shutting down Lee Ha-rin, who wanted to pull all-nighters on papers, and Kim Ha-eun, who wanted to exploit Nightmares around the clock.
When I explained the item's effect, both of them had immediately, slyly started scheming to shave off sleeping hours for more work.
I fixed them with a look loaded with several emotions, and the two Incarnations fidgeted, unable to meet my eyes.
Cutting sleep meant cutting the time they spent with me, and they couldn't find the nerve to push back hard on that.
They might not tire out anymore, but they still had to manage their own health.
"Understood. I won't cut my sleep time."
"Yes, I suppose we should rest at dawn."
The two of them, who'd come in together awkwardly, left together just as awkwardly.
Was it because of last time, when Lee Ha-rin had gone full steam ahead mid-conversation in classic setting-otaku fashion? Now that they were working together, I'd hoped they'd have gotten a little closer.
Or maybe not? Come to think of it, they both knew what the Dream Demon got up to in their dreams. Was a certain awkwardness inevitable?
After dispensing a little nagging for the sake of their well-being, I returned from the Academy's Temporary Sanctum to the Incarnations' space.
Obviously, to check on Han Ye-ji, who was now benefiting from the Violet Moon Carving's effect.
[The Constellation Lethargic Nightmare advises that sleep should be taken at proper times.]
Sure enough. Han Ye-ji, off work, was wriggling under her blanket and staring at her smartphone.
Fatigue that used to need six hours of sleep to clear now took four. I'd given her a two-hour surplus to rest properly or to train for growth — not so she could browse the internet all night.
I felt a bit like a nagging old man, but after receiving a 400,000-point stamina buff, she'd eaten dinner and immediately flopped into bed. I couldn't hold back the nagging.
The impulse-buy had been all about how important stamina was. Guess I really wanted to get my money's worth.
I sent my Clone directly into Han Ye-ji's room.
"What's so entertaining?"
"Gwah!"
I dispatched the Clone right under her blanket and wrapped my arms around her waist. Someone suddenly hugging her from beneath the covers — Han Ye-ji startled so hard the smartphone slipped from her hands.
I reached out and caught it before her lips and front teeth paid the price.
"C-Constellation?"
She squirmed, and I pinned her down with my left arm around her waist.
Was it because of the phone screen tilted sideways in my right hand? I'd figured she'd be watching game streams, but what I saw was a web novel site.
Made sense. This side of their culture didn't seem all that different from my world.
[Tears Streaming (GLGL), Our Love Story]
[EVENT: GL Theater Open for Only 2 Weeks♥]
"Hmm. Ye-ji. So, what I'm saying is... that can happen."
"No! I wasn't reading it — the site just aggressively spammed ads at me, and I was in the middle of blocking notifications!"
Startled by where my gaze had landed, Han Ye-ji frantically hugged me tight, as if to assert her actual sexual orientation.