It appears I’ve genuinely been swindled.
Otherwise, the customer from the prophecy couldn’t possibly be a girl who looks too young to even be in elementary school.
“Who are you, mister?”
At this very moment, two significant problems plague this situation.
Firstly, a profound distrust of the prophecy is stirring deep within my heart.
Secondly, I’m questioning whether it’s permissible to strong-arm this child into a purchase.
For now, doubting the prophecy is, in essence, meaningless.
It’s true that it’s 9:07 AM, just as the prophecy stated, and a customer has indeed arrived.
And what could I possibly do, even if that prophecy were to be proven wrong?
I must trust a prophecy that has never once been incorrect in the game.
“Isn’t this… Dalcomi’s Snack Shop?”
“Customer. This is the Urban Legend Store.”
“The Urban Legend Store? Oh, I seem to have come to the wrong shop. I apologize.”
The girl performed a deep bow, then turned to leave.
It wasn’t long before her expression twisted into a tearful frown.
“Mister… wh-where did the door go?”
Am I truly expected to extort this child’s finger?
Large, glistening tears streamed down her face.
While extorting from an adult was somewhat tolerable, this situation weighed heavily on my conscience.
I spoke to the store in a low voice.
“Does one truly have to buy an item to leave?”
‘That is our contract.’
****
‘Couldn’t you perhaps explain what’s going on?’
“Really, under no circumstances, is it fundamentally impossible?”
‘What exactly are you trying to say?’
‘Do you not realize that I provide you with this place, as well as powers and items, because of our contract?’
I recalled the contents of the prophecy once more.
While my conscience certainly bothered me, beyond that, I felt an inexplicable reluctance to harm the girl in such a manner.
‘Would tearing off a child’s finger really improve my relationship with the Urban Legend Bureau?’
‘I could already envision a future where the Urban Legend Bureau, eyes blazing, would come hunting for me.’
[Yesterday, 9:07 AM, I connected the door to Dalcomi’s Snack Shop and gave a business card to the first customer.
Today, 11:23 AM, yesterday’s customer returns. Afterward, another customer buys an item.
Tomorrow, 1:47 PM, an Urban Legend Bureau agent who obtained a business card will visit.]
9:07 AM. In other words, I need to give a business card to that child customer right now.
And tomorrow at 11:23 AM, the child will return for some reason, and another customer will arrive to purchase an item.
After a brief moment of contemplation, I noticed something peculiar in the prophecy.
‘Wait a moment.’
‘Why does that child only receive a business card or visit the store, while someone else is the one who buys an item?’
In a normal situation, I might assume it was simply omitted, but if this is a prophecy, the circumstances are different.
‘What is the prophecy of Label’s Library?’
‘It is a guide to reach the future I seek.’
‘And that guide only records the most crucial turning points; in simpler terms, everything written there is important.’
‘Conversely, the fact that it’s written for another customer but not for this child customer implies there’s a reason for its omission.’
“Store.”
‘Why are you calling me again?’
“I’ll tell you something you’ve been curious about for a while.”
I emphasized the contents of the prophecy as I relayed the events so far.
As I spoke, I could see the child wiping away tears, unsure of what to do, but there was nothing I could immediately do.
‘In fact, my current actions were, in a way, for this very child.’
‘Hmm.’
‘A prophecy, you say… Quite impressive.’
‘So, what you’re suggesting is that we should just let this customer go?’
“Yes. Think carefully: if my interpretation is correct, our future lives will become much more peaceful. And even if my interpretation is wrong, the only loss you’d incur is just that tiny finger.”
‘Hmm…’
“Imagine what you could gain from regularly trading with the Urban Legend Bureau. Luscious hearts, moist eyeballs, richly flavored kidneys. Don’t you want to devour them?”
‘Regardless of my hunger, the future you envision is certainly ideal.’
‘Very well.’
‘For the sake of that future, I suppose I should concede this much.’
For now, the finger issue seemed to be roughly resolved.
Now, all that remained was to give her the business card.
“Sniffle, sniffle…”
‘This really is the right child, isn’t it?’
“Customer, could you perhaps tell me your name?”
“Huh…? It’s Choi Yu-na…”
It was a name I had never heard before.
She likely never even appeared in the game.
“Do you have any acquaintances who work at the Urban Legend Bureau?”
“No… I don’t.”
Though I had no idea how this girl could become the bridge (TL Note: ‘Ojakgyo’ refers to a legendary bridge built by magpies for separated lovers to meet, symbolizing an intermediary or connection) to the Urban Legend Bureau, as I said before, doubting the prophecy wouldn’t change anything I could do.
I pulled out the business card I had carefully kept in my pocket.
“Here, this is our store’s business card. It seems you are a bit too young to utilize our services, so I will let you go. Later, whenever you wish to make a purchase, please use this card.”
The moment my words concluded, the child’s face lit up with joy.
“Thank you!”
As soon as she received the business card, the child scurried toward the newly materialized door.
“I hope this was the right choice.”
****
Ding-dong—
The doorbell chimed, breaking the quiet morning, and soon after, the door swung open.
As the gap in the door widened, Choi Seong-min appeared.
Choi Seong-min looked even more haggard than he had the previous night.
“Mr. Choi Seong-min, as we informed you last night, we are here to investigate the illegal possession of urban legend items. We will begin by searching your home, so we ask for your cooperation.”
The moment Park Se-jin finished speaking, agents clad in black protective suits, each carrying peculiar equipment strapped to their backs, swarmed into the house.
Unable to find anything with just Park Se-jin and Kim Do-hyun the previous night, Park Se-jin had called in this investigation team.
Seong-min extended his arms as if to stop them, but then, realizing the futility, he ceased his movements.
The sounds of drawers being pulled open, books being removed from shelves, and bags being unzipped filled the entire house.
At the commotion, both Seong-min’s wife and his mother emerged from their rooms.
Beep, beep, beep—
Approximately twenty minutes after the search began, a welcome sound reached Park Se-jin’s ears.
It was the sound emitted by the Anomalous Phenomenon Detector—the equipment the investigation team had brought in—when it discovered the peculiar distortion characteristic of urban legends.
In other words, the investigation team had found the candy from the Urban Legend Store.
Just as the intelligence had described, it was shaped like an eyeball, blinking on its own.
As Park Se-jin allowed a faint smile to cross his lips, Seong-min’s face contorted in despair.
“Mr. Choi Seong-min, you are under arrest.”
Seong-min waited silently as the handcuffs were fastened.
While his wife had a vague understanding of his actions from their conversation the previous night, Seong-min’s mother, who had heard nothing, was utterly stunned by the shock.
“Seong-min, what in the world are they talking about? Huh? Illegal possession… why, for heaven’s sake?”
Seong-min, fueled by his mother’s words, poured out his pent-up resentment.
“I was trying to find my brother! Mom, you never explained anything to me, but I needed to know!”
“What in the world are you—”
And at that very moment.
Beep, beep, beep—
A highly familiar sound echoed through the air.
“What? Was there another one?”
However, the Anomalous Phenomenon Detector wasn’t pointing inside the house.
“I’m home… Oh? Who are you?”
Park Se-jin first looked at Seong-min, but he, too, wore a bewildered expression, seemingly knowing nothing.
Park Se-jin quickly walked toward Yu-na.
“Are you Yu-na, by any chance?”
“Pardon? Yes…”
“Where are you coming from right now?”
“I was going to Dalcomi’s Snack Shop to buy candy for Mom… but I accidentally went into a strange store. It was scary, so I came right back.”
“A strange store… was it perhaps the Urban Legend Store?”
“Huh? Yes, it was. How did you know?”
As soon as he heard “Urban Legend Store,” Park Se-jin checked Yu-na’s fingers.
‘They’re fine. Or could it be?’
Park Se-jin swallowed hard.
A sinister thought had surfaced: perhaps Yu-na had used a more vital body part than a finger in the trade.
“Right… Yu-na. I am investigating that store you visited. Could you tell me if you bought anything there?”
“I didn’t buy anything.”
“What?”
“They said I was too young, and instead, they gave me a business card.”
Yu-na pulled a business card from her pocket and handed it to Park Se-jin.
Urban Legend Store
Operating Hours: 9:02 AM ~
It was unmistakably the Urban Legend Store’s business card.
The Anomalous Phenomenon Detector had clearly detected this.
And on the back, the store’s location was marked with a simple map.
****
While the team leader spoke with Choi Yu-na, I approached Seong-min.
“Mr. Choi Seong-min, please continue what you were saying earlier.”
Seong-min slowly opened his mouth.
“My brother… I have a missing brother.”
“Yes, we are generally aware.”
“Not long after my brother went missing, some men came to find me.
They said they would tell me his whereabouts if I brought them unique items.”
“And you believed them?”
“My brother… he was like a father to me. How could I not believe them? At first, I was skeptical, but I gave them an artifact I had at home. In return, they told me the reason for my brother’s disappearance, something my mother had never revealed. It was because of urban legends… urban legends.”
‘Urban legends, you say?’
‘How did the organization Choi Seong-min mentioned know about that?’
“Then why haven’t you handed over the candy to them until now?”
“I don’t know the reason, but… they just told me to keep it. They said they would tell me where my brother was when they retrieved the candy later.”
My mind became convoluted.
There are quite a few organizations that seek items related to urban legends.
However, I had never heard of an organization that specifically instructed a civilian to hold onto such items.
Because there was no reason to.
…
However, if there was one reason that came to mind, it would be to contaminate civilians with urban legends.
And then, Seong-min’s voice reached my ears.
“…Mom, what’s wrong with your face?”
Beep, beep, beep—
