Space Shopping Mall.
How much money have I spent there, I wonder.
Even if I don’t rember every single item, it’s easy to calculate that it’s in the hundreds of millions.
I poured enough money into that shopping mall to buy all sorts of items, maybe about as much as the deposit for an apartnt in the Seoul tropolitan area.
And then, one day, what I received was that golden card.
I am a Space Shopping Mall VIP!
~ Special Gratitude Cell Included ~
At the ti, I had no idea what that gratitude cell even ant.
At least, not until this mont today.
“Dear Custor.”
I looked up.
I rember putting the cell under my tongue, but after that, things are a bit hazy.
Did I… doze off for a mont?
“Dear Custor.”
Wait a minute. Section Chief. I need to get a grasp of the situation and… Wait.
Dear Custor?
“Section Chief?!”
“No.”
Only then did I properly register the figure in front of .
A lizard was staring blankly at .
“Section Chief.”
“No. Dear Custor.”
Twice, I heard clear, firm denial.
I looked closely at the reptile in front of . The snout covered in scales and the gleaming vertical pupils were the sa as before.
But the color was different.
‘G-Grey?’
A grey lizard was now sitting where Lee Jaheon had been just monts ago!
The snacks and coffee I’d hurriedly set out on the table had also disappeared.
I swallowed hard.
“Who are you?”
“I am a shopper dispatched to assist VIPs in their personal shopping, and I act as a sales representative on behalf of the Space Shopping Mall.”
Holy shit.
“Would you like to proceed with shopping?”
I stood up from my seat. Right, I was still sitting at the motel room table.
And Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who had been sitting across from , had been replaced by so similar-looking alien… Wait a minute.
Space Shopping Mall’s VIP shopping?
Don’t tell … an employee has co out to do so kind of personal, door-to-door sales for ?
‘…Section Chief!’
Just a mont ago, we were talking about how I was completely contaminated!
Is this so kind of build-up to sell items that are good for contamination? Well, even if that’s the case, if I can get rid of the contamination, I can’t exactly complain!
Barely calming myself, I quickly sat back down and spoke.
“I’d like to talk to Chief Lizard.”
“Are you referring to the being nad Lee Jaheon, who works as a section chief at Daydream Inc.?”
I hesitated.
“Do you require him for psychological stability because he is soone with whom you have built a friendly relationship?”
“What happens if I say yes?”
“I will explain that there is no problem.”
The lizard’s snout opened.
“We know who you are, Mr. Roe Deer, and what we know is exactly the sa as what Section Chief Lee Jaheon knows.”
“……!”
“Additionally, we wish to maintain a friendly relationship with you as well, Dear Custor.”
“……”
It was strange.
Co to think of it, Section Chief Lee Jaheon often started sentences or explained things using ‘we’ as the subject.
And the button I used was called… ‘We Can Help’.
We.
“Who exactly is ‘we’?”
“We are the Coalition. Speaking to Lee Jaheon or to the being in front of you now is the sa as speaking to the Coalition.”
The conversation was getting more and more taphysical.
So… a bizarre collective of alien beings sharing a single mory and emotion…
‘I have heard about urban legends like this before.’
It really was like sothing out of a sci-fi story. I an, of course it would be, since this was an alien shop at the end of the day.
I held my head in my hands as I replied.
“Just… let speak to Section Chief Lee Jaheon. I don’t want to shop right now.”
“Mr. Roe Deer.”
“……!”
I looked up.
But the white lizard was a different entity. It’s not Lee Jaheon.
Yet, it spoke in exactly the sa manner.
“You are in a situation where you need help. If you can receive the proper treatnt in the form of shopping, please accept it.”
“…What kind of treatnt are you talking about?”
“I am here to assist you with your shopping. Would you like to start your VIP shopping at the Space Shopping Mall?”
It was an evasive answer.
But catching on to what the lizard ant, I nodded slowly.
So I can only proceed if I shop, huh.
“…Yes.”
“Understood.”
The grey lizard nodded.
The next mont.
The table began to grow enormous.
“…?!”
On the endlessly stretching table to the left, objects appeared, shrouded in mist. And in front of those objects, tentacles… No, wait. Where am I, exactly?
“We accessed you through the cell you ingested. Through your hopage UI complaints, VIPs are now provided with the most familiar and comfortable environnt for shopping, as a service…”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes. Please sit back and enjoy your shopping.”
The lizard speaks in an extrely professional manner. No, wait, what does it even an that I’ve been accessed through a cell…
“In that case, before proceeding with your shopping, we shall conduct identity verification. In your current state, it is difficult to clearly confirm your intent to purchase, so we will distinguish things to help ensure a comfortable transaction.”
“Distinguish?”
“Yes.”
Entities begin to appear along the endlessly extending seats at the table.
“…!”
They’re hard to see, hidden in fog. But the closer they are, the more their features beco faintly visible.
A supermarket cashier’s uniform, a stylish broadcaster in a luxurious suit and elegant gloves, a kindergarten teacher holding an handbook, a high school student in a school uniform…
The ghost stories I’ve experienced.
, contaminated in those ghost stories.
“……!”
And the two figures sitting closest to are not shrouded in fog, their forms are clear.
I slowly, stiffly turned my head to check.
Yellow mascot.
Black cat.
I t ’ s O k a y
C a l m D o w n
[This way]
They’re even speaking to .
Chills ran all the way up my spine.
In front of each at the table, decorations and colors symbolizing their respective ghost stories have been added. I sprang up from the table, trying to run away…
“Dear Custor. You are currently connected to the Space Shopping Mall through the cell. This imagery is rely a projection of your mind. In reality, your personality and self have not been split.”
“……”
“Please do not be overly wary of yourself.”
T/N: When soleum kept calling for chief lizard, i couldn’t help but substitute ‘Section Chief!’ with ‘Daaaad!!!’ in my head, as if he’d been left alone at a supermarket checkout counter lmao
Anyway, i’m really sorry for the lack of a proper update sched these days i’m in my slump era i fear but still, good timing…? i’ve always planned to keep a respectful distance from the raws’ latest chapters, so im glad part 2 has been launched in kkp now too!
All parts/chapters i’ve managed to put out have been scheduled for the next three days, and i’ll try very hard to post more again before they run out~
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