Chapter 28: Exploring the Shop

As he ascended the stairs, he felt an odd sensation, it was almost similar to when you go into a room and you could 'feel' that a t.v was on. However, in this case, it was more than just a mental awareness, it was a physical sensation that spread across his skin. 

Upon reaching the door, he glanced down toward the lobby floor to check on his spider, only to witness it wrapping Phil's body in its webbing, still attached to its rear end. Most likely, it would use its webs to bring the body with it to the next floor.

"Apparently, the spider does possess some intelligence, or perhaps all spiders behave similarly," Noah speculated. He couldn't be certain but preferred to believe it was due to the spider's intellect.

He opened the door, his eyes scanning the area. The floor needed to accommodate a daily influx of students and provide enough items to meet their needs, so it appeared spacious to display its contents, especially with the rising sun aiding visibility.

He felt as though he were playing a game of hot and cold, uncertain where the figure might be. He realized he should have asked for more details, but dealing with Henry's nervousness had been taxing.

Thankfully, as he navigated the counters and aisles, the sensation intensified. His body tensed with instinctual danger. Noah wondered why the previous trio of personalities hadn't attempted to forcefully obtain the items, but as he continued, the menacing aura clarified their restraint. Despite his fear, curiosity about the source's strength overshadowed any other emotion.

Ironically, at the end of the floor near one of the registers, he found the mysterious person. Noah pondered if this encounter was intentional, perhaps one of the figure's quirks. In tales of powerful individuals, people often developed odd hobbies or traits out of sheer boredom.

Approaching the hooded figure cautiously, Noah remained vigilant due to the threatening aura emanating from them.

"You really can't discern what 'he' might be," Noah mused to himself in wonder.

The hood obscured not only the figure's face but also their entire body, including their hands. In the dim light, Noah could discern that the hood was made of some mystical wool, its dark purple hue adorned with runic symbols emitting a faint vapor. Attempting to peer into their face revealed only darkness, briefly convincing Noah that the figure might be spectral. He shook his head to dispel such thoughts. "As long as they don't refuse me service, I don't care what they are."

After approaching the figure, Noah waited patiently for the transaction to begin, but the figure showed no signs of initiating it.

"Coughs* 'Uhh…I'm here to buy things?' " Noah's uncertainty grew in the unsettling atmosphere, but his question seemed to suffice.

The figure inclined its head toward him, giving him a clearer view of its shadowed face, while simultaneously extending its shrouded hand.

Initially confused by the gesture, Noah recalled the need for physical contact to transfer gold, surmising it should be the same to access the shop. He reached out and clasped the figure's hand in return. Before being "pulled" into the shop, he noticed no sensation indicating he held a hand at all; all he felt was the soft robe, inexplicably unmalleable under his touch.

"Isn't this a bit much?" Noah marveled as he scrolled through the various categories, briefly skimming the wares.

The shop had a simple concept, but the plethora of lists made browsing confusing. For example, selecting the armor category led to further subcategories such as headgear, torso gear, leg gear, and jewelry, each branching off into more options. It was a very intricate design, but the abundance of items made browsing challenging, especially when he glimpsed the corner of the shop.

10:42

10:41

"Why does it appear to be counting down? Does that mean the shop will disappear afterward? How can anyone go through everything with a time limit? There has to be a better way…" Noah's mind buzzed with questions as he observed the countdown ticking away. There was now a sense of urgency to uncover the shop's mysteries.

He searched for a mini icon resembling a search bar but didn't find one. His mind raced for a solution, and he thought about the process of trading money: concentrating on the amount of money to give. He considered doing the same here, but instead concentrated on an item or type of item he wanted.

He pondered what would benefit him the most right now. He had weapons now, so he thought about receiving skills, but then he reconsidered and focused on a necessity he truly needed.

"It worked?" He looked on in disbelief as the items and categories disappeared, replaced by another screen filled with different varieties of bags. From pouches to book bags and even bags with space magic. Noah wanted to find a way to carry more items. He didn't want to depend on others for food, and his current bag was mostly filled with weapons, not suitable for holding other essentials.

He had always thought the shop should offer something similar to the dropped chests that could carry way more than their size. To him, it was a must-have, but when he saw the prices, he realized it might not be so easy.

"I knew it was too good to be true. How many zombies would I have to kill to get a decent bag? And how much would the skills cost?" Noah's skepticism grew as he considered the thought of the time and effort required to obtain enough gold to obtain what he needed. Despite the unsettling realization, Noah was resolved to at least gather more information about the shop and what it could offer as he continued to browse. 

The prices varied depending on the size the bag could hold. The cheapest item was a brown sack or pouch that held half a cubic meter of space, priced at 600 gold.

"Wait… I made about 300 on my own, and I killed tons of zombies. Does that mean I have to kill hundreds more just to get a small bag? Or try to fight harder monsters to get more gold and loot? This feels like a pay-to-win system, the only upside to this is that everyone is starting at the same line, or this would be unfair," he thought to himself. 

He moved on to the bag he felt would be right for him, resembling a book bag. They also had purses, satchels, handbags, duffle bags, and more, but he preferred something inconspicuous and easy to carry. He had a disturbing thought that the bag wouldn't negate the weight since it was cheaper than the others. When he looked at some of the more expensive bags, he realized his earlier doubt was correct.

Some of them cost in the millions and came with features like blood recognition, a safety lock, weight negation, and even a time freeze system. He settled on a book bag, choosing the color, and the price came up to 800 gold. He felt himself becoming antsy, realizing all of his hard-earned money would be gone with just one purchase. Before confirming it, he paused, feeling the need to check something else first.

He searched for spells and found another surprise. The cheapest spells there were for 1k gold, and that was with a discount for his class. Otherwise, they would be close to 2k, the amount actually doubled. The spells were the ones he could choose from earlier. Now that he had a tamed creature, almost all of the spells were tempting.

He studied each spell carefully, weighing the benefits and drawbacks between choosing a spell or acquiring something to use as an inventory space.

There were 'bestowal' spells for every stat, which increased the individual stat of his creature for a specific time depending on its level. The analysis skill was there, and more importantly, so was the healing spell that could only be used on his tamed monsters, he noted, feeling conflicted. 

"Sigh… I'll make this my next goal. For now, I'll just get the bag. Hopefully, I can make it back in time to buy it before the timer is up. Who knows when I'll find another shop person?"

He went back to buy a book bag with half a meter of cubic space for 800 gold. It only had one internal compartment and two side pockets not influenced by the space magic jumbo.

After spending most, if not all, of his gold, he finally left the shop to the awkward sight of an empty face "staring" back at him, causing him to flinch and quickly let go of the hooded figure's hand. The figure didn't seem to mind at all, returning to its early position and standing there, waiting for another customer.

"Ok… That's a little bit creepy," Noah mumbled to himself before removing his previous bag and arranging the items into his new one. He didn't doubt that the bag would do what it was described, but he was still pleasantly surprised when he placed the axes into the bag and they seemingly disappeared within it. He noted that he only had four of his protein bars left, a bag of crackers, and two bottles of water. But his bars and crackers were crushed to oblivion, the bars still salvageable but not the crackers, which he had to throw out. He didn't become upset because this was the reason he came to this place in the first place.

His eyes once again roamed around the area before he spotted what he was looking for. The store literally had all their daily necessities, from school supplies to hygienic items and even food. The cafeteria would probably be a better place to check, but it seemed like most of the people were gathered there. He would rather avoid them if he could, but he also needed to find another place to secure for himself. He didn't like the idea of this place becoming a fiesta full of people.

Stuffing his bag with whatever dried goods he could find, he grabbed a few varieties of canned meat, such as corned beef and tuna. Even though he wasn't a fan of seafood, he would force himself to eat it if he had to. He didn't forget to grab any and all energy and protein bars he could find, along with a few more bottles of water and a box of salt. He felt he was ready to move on. He could already feel the weight of the bag weighing him down; he could foresee it being a hindrance if he had to fight with it on.

He started to make his way back to the door leading to the lobby, but on the way, he heard a commotion and a voice he wasn't expecting to hear so soon.

"Oh fuck me…"