I carefully opened the window. It was 2:00 a.m. in the morning, and it was very quiet outside in the thick darkness.
"Mmh…"
Kim Woo-jin, who was sleeping on the sofa, tossed and turned. After looking at him for a moment, I turned my head and leaned out the window without hesitation. As I raised my powers and wrapped myself in wind, I could see an empty street beneath my feet.
I closed the window and put the backpack I was holding in my hand on my back. The amount of trouble I was going through for this…
There could've been a watcher sent by Cheon Sa-yeon, so I came out through the window instead of the building entrance. Since people with the ability to fly were very rare, the sky was the only way I could travel safely.
"This should be the right place."
I flew east for about 20 minutes and looked at the surrounding buildings. A large luxury hotel caught my eye. I said I'd wait near that hotel. I'm sure somewhere here…
"Ah."
I found a black sedan parked in the dark alley, just next to the hotel. I flew straight there. I landed onto the ground and knocked on the car window, then opened the car door slightly.
"Long time no see."
As expected, Ha Tae-heon was sitting in the driver's seat. When I greeted him with a smile, he raised his chin and motioned to get on.
"Then excuse me."
I put my buttocks on the passenger seat and closed the car door. Inside the clean car, there was a faintly heavy scent. Was it the cologne Ha Tae-heon used?
"We're setting off now."
"Ah, wait a minute."
As if he had been working until this hour, Ha Tae-heon was still wearing a suit. I took a black hat from my backpack and held it out to him.
"…what are you doing now?"
What do you mean 'what are you doing'? That's unfair.
"We need to stop by somewhere before the gate."
Ha Tae-heon's black eyes, which were looking down at the hat, turned toward me. When I met Ha Tae-heon's stern gaze in the already dark car, my mouth went dry.
"Since you're here, please come with me."
"..."
As I spoke with a clever smile, Ha Tae-heon frowned.
"Ahem. S-class or higher item." Before he could change his mind, I coughed and reminded him of my value once again.
"…put on your seat belt."
Phew.
As soon as I fastened my seat belt, Ha Tae-heon started the car.
* * *
Those with the crafting ability were interested in the materials and items of the monster corpses that could be obtained inside the gate.
They usually produced and studied items in research institutes established in large guilds such as Requiem or Roheon, but there were many who did not.
Red Market.
It was a marketplace for items selling in a space twisted by a space ability user, where producers working in the shadows gathered.
"Let's go."
In an empty subway station. As I spoke while looking at the flat wall, Ha Tae-heon, who was standing behind me, sighed and put on his hat.
"Mh."
Slowly I raised my hand to touch the wall. It rippled like water and swallowed my hand. After confirming that there were no problems, I went through the wall without delay.
As soon as they passed the wall, the first thing I encountered was a red lantern. Under the light purple sky, shops with red cloths stretched out in a row, and various items were displayed on the counter. The market's interior, with colourful lanterns flying like flower petals, was lively as if a festival had been held.
"Let's get this over with and get out." Ha Tae-heon said in a tired voice, as he followed behind me. Although it was a unique outfit that consisted of a black suit and a hat, it matched quite well. As expected of the main character…
"Don't worry. I can get it in no time."
"…get what?" Ha Tae-heon asked in a curious voice.
I didn't feel the need to explain, so I walked ahead and motioned him to follow me.
"Snail fluids, good for your skin!"
"We're selling swords and shields made of Grey Turtle Monster shells!"
"How much for three of these?"
The market was crowded with people buying and selling items. I looked carefully at the store, recalling the contents of the novel.
'It was said that it was in the alley on the right of a store that only sells red fabrics?'
Red, red… Because there were so many people passing by, it was not easy to check the items in the store. As I scrambled to see the inside of the store shrouded in crowds, my feet twisted and my body stumbled.
"Hhgh!"
"Tsk."
Ha Tae-heon quickly grabbed my falling body. I would have rolled the dirt floor if he hadn't.
I smiled awkwardly as I looked up at Ha Tae-heon, who hugged me around my waist.
"Thank y…"
"What are you looking for?" Ha Tae-heon said, as he looked at me with a stern look and let me go.
"If I leave it to you, we'll be wandering around here until morning. Tell me, what are you looking for?"
"No, that's not…"
I didn't know it would be this hard to find…
I didn't have the courage to complain openly, so I answered meekly, "…a store that only sells red fabrics."
Let's see how well you find it. It wasn't easy to find when there were so many people…
"There it is. A store that only sells red fabrics."
"Pardon?"
Was it there…?
Ha Tae-heon pointed to the other side with a sullen expression. There was a store with only red fabrics on display.
'What? The protagonist can even find this sort of thing?'
I couldn't believe it.
Ha Tae-heon looked down at me as I was frustrated. What on earth.
As mentioned in the novel, I entered the alley on the right. As I walked along the narrow and messy alleyway, there was an old and messy store as if it was about to collapse.
"Is anyone here?" I shouted as I moved away the cloth covering the entrance.
The interior, where large pieces of leather were piled up at random, could not be said to be clean. Ha Tae-heon, who liked things to be neat, had a wrinkled brow.
"Who are you?"
Someone walked out from the dark. It was an old man with a very thin body and a grey beard that went down to his chest.
'That's him.'
I smiled and greeted him politely when I saw the round, black sunglasses draped over his nose.
"Hello. We're here to browse your goods."
"Goods?"
The old man raised his long eyebrows that came down to his temples. His eyes were clearly different without the sunglasses.
"As you can see, this old man only has animal skins. Do you want to look at what I have anyway?"
"No." I continued to tap the dusty desk with my fingers. "What I want is an 'inventory' that you've made yourself."
"..."
Ha Tae-heon, who was standing next to me, looked a little surprised. That was understandable. You would never have imagined that such a shabby old man would be an inventory item maker.
"I'm sorry, young man," after a moment of silence, the old man said. "You got the wrong person. I'm just a little old man guarding this old store."
The old man coughed harshly and turned his back away from me. His hand on his bumpy cane trembled thinly.
"If you understand, just go back."
"Then you don't need this either."
I carefully pulled out the items I had in my backpack. The old man's face, who looked back with a puzzled expression, was instantly distorted with astonishment.
"Th-that's…!"
A hazy blue light spread in the dark store. Seeing the item on my palm, Ha Tae-heon murmured, "A sapphire-tailed butterfly?"
Correct. The wings of the sapphire-tailed butterfly, which didn't lose their light no matter how long it's been, sparkled brilliantly.
"W-wait! Show it to me!"
The old man, who'd been acting helplessly like he was going to fall over at any moment, threw his cane aside and ran towards me.
I smiled brightly and swung my hands upwards. Then the old man, who was only half my height, stomped his feet and cried, "Hey, let me see for a second!"
"Haha, what do you want to see?"
"Of course I want to confirm with my own two eyes that it's a real sapphire-tailed butterfly wing…!"
"Unfortunately, I am giving this to the inventory maker. You can't see it."
"Wh-what…!"
At my words, the old man bit his lip and shook.
Li Wei (리웨이), the creator of only 800 inventory items and the first space controller in the world. He was an old man who was crazy about shiny things.
Li Wei, who used his powers to gather shiny objects around the world, had a few favourite items, one of which was a sapphire-tailed butterfly wing.
"I am very sorry, too. I thought he'd be here, so I brought the wings, but it was in vain."
Only a few knew that Li Wei was collecting sapphire-tailed butterfly wings. It also meant that there were very few people who could retrieve them for him.
"I even got four."
"Four!"
The old man, Li Wei, opened his eyes. I smiled with compassion.
There was no way he wouldn't fall for it. The number of sapphire-tailed butterfly wings that Li Wei currently collected—
"I-I'm Li Wei! I'm the inventory maker! Show me right now!"
—was 96.
"What? Are you the old man? But you weren't earlier…" I widened my eyes, pretending to be startled.
"That's because I'm trying to get rid of all the idiots who come visit me all the time! Come on, show me!"
Li Wei stomped on his legs like he was frustrated. Oh my, pardon me*. I grinned and this time hid the wings behind my back.
"This bastard! I asked you to show me, so why are you hiding it?"
"Eh, it's a loss if I show it to you."
"Aren't you a little bastard? Engh!"
Li Wei, who was glaring at me, turned his back and started looking around the corner of the store. I looked at him with joy and my eyes met Ha Tae-heon, who was standing next to me.
"..."
"..."
Ha Tae-heon's eyes on me were uncomfortable. It was like they were saying I was the best scammer in the world… What? What did I say?
"Here, take it!"
After searching for a while, Li Wei threw something at me. It was a small bag made of leather.
"Oh."
When I touched the bag, I felt a unique energy with my fingertips. It was clear it was an inventory item.
"How big is it?"
"100 items of any size."
"Don't you have 200?"
"No!"
You could put 100 things. It would have been better if there were 200, but this was enough.
You could get an inventory item that usually cost at least 700 million won with 4 sapphire-tailed butterfly wings.
"Here you go, the wings."
"Oh oh…!"
I packed the inventory item into my backpack and handed the wings to Li Wei. Li Wei, who carefully picked up the wings with both hands, let out a scream of joy and jumped up and down.
"Finally, I have collected all 100! Hehehehe! Pretty, pretty! Hehe!"
"..."
I got goosebumps as I watched Li Wei stroking the wings with half-crazed eyes. That was real madness…
As I dragged Ha Tae-heon, who had an unpleasant expression on his face, to the door, I shouted, "Then, old man, I'll come again next time."
"Shut up! Don't come again!"
Although Li Wei was a space controller, he was also an outstanding producer.
He was a wasteful person who only made and finished inventory items. I left the store thinking I should come back again later.
"Phew, we've got what we need, so let's go to the gate."
"..."
I easily got the item as planned and a proud smile came out. I smiled brightly and told Ha Tae-heon, but somehow he looked at me with a much more complicated gaze than before.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have anything to say?"
"…no."
Ha Tae-heon, who had been still for a while, turned away from me without saying a word. I tilted my head, looking at Ha Tae-heon's back as he walked ahead.
What was with him?
Even if you asked me, I didn't know the answer. I sighed and followed Ha Tae-heon.