/
‘Ha. I should’ve noticed when you spoke so informally even when we’ve just met.’
The shop owner’s smile suddenly turned sinister.
Now that I think about it, that silly joke just now must’ve been a trick to distract me.
Normally, too, I wouldn’t have fallen for it, but I was still in so much shock after being told that I’d be given 1.1 million shillings, so I was led completely by the nose.
Yep. In short, I got blinded by money and I couldn’t see this coming at all.
‘Welp. I’m screwed. A hundred percent screwed.’
By the time I noticed that something was amiss, I was already in too deep.
There were merchants here and there, all looking ever so menacing as they drooled at this fresh new meat that’s come to their den.
“Hey, Young Miss! We’ve got a lot of great items in our store, why don’t you come see them before you go?”
“We have lots of rare jewels in our store… And even imitations that look just like the real thing. Take a look, come come.”
“She’s Boss Charon’s customer! Shoo, go away!”
When the jewel store owner dissuaded them, they soon clicked their tongues in disappointment, as if they’d been given a taste of a meal they couldn’t eat.
‘Who the heck is Charon though.’
The only thing I knew for certain was this: it’s too late to run away.
‘Fine, I’ll just shut up and follow.’
I quickly pulled myself together.
It seemed to me like the man named Charon’s going to rip me off, but I kept my mouth shut anyway because it’s better than dying at the man’s hands.
‘I cursed at Roella before for getting stupidly scammed.’
But look at me, falling for such a trick.
Roella, I’m so sorry!
At this moment, I could only feel apologetic and embarrassed towards the owner of my body.
Still, I wonder how long we walked.
We finally reached the end of the curved alley.
There’s a large building right here.
I looked behind me, and I realized that the entire curved alley felt like the front yard of this building.
“Now, let’s go inside, shall we?”
Staring at the black building, I hesitated for a moment.
It felt like I was walking right into a monster’s mouth with my own two feet.
‘…Is it really just my money that’s going to be taken away here?’
Anxiety surged greatly within me.
* * *
When the large double doors opened, I saw that the building’s interior was just as dark as its interior.
I was busy looking around to see if there’s anything that would stand out to me, but then I made eye contact with a deer…’s magnificently stuffed head that was mounted on the wall.
“Boss Charon, you have a customer.”
The jewel store owner who led me here spoke with a treacherous tone.
With my gaze, I looked towards the direction where the jewel store owner was looking, and I found a man leaning against a wide desk.
“Customer?”
“Yes, sir. Excuse me, if you can lend me your ear for a moment…”
The jewel store owner approached the man quietly and whispered into the man’s ear with a hushed voice.
For some reason, I could somehow pick out the word ‘pushover’ from time to time.
“Kehaha. Alright. A precious customer has come. In this place, there’s nothing that doesn’t exist. Come, take your time, dear customer.”
There was a sticky-looking smile on the lips of the man called Charon as he jumped up from his seat.
“Come, come. Over here.”
The place where the man led me was a display rack full of jewelry.
As if it was there as a bluff, the display stand was entirely filled with gemstones of various colors.
But if there’s a problem that I should point out…
‘The price of each one is just too high.’
Frankly, I didn’t know much about jewelry.
And while I had Roella’s memories, there were a lot of holes here and there. Particularly, the part related to ‘economic value’ was brimming with holes.
However, I still knew that the price of the jewelry in this place was too high for me.
‘That’s five million shillings? And that one’s seven mil?’
Holy hell.
I’ve got the bigger picture now. It’s clear that all the jewelry here was bought from other pushovers—no, I mean, other people like me. They’re bought at a lower price from those people, then sold here at much higher prices.
‘And since I’m brought here, it’s game over.’
If I don’t buy anything, I have a sinking feeling that my life’s going to end here and now.
On the one hand, I felt a bit relieved as I recalled which jewelry I brought with me in my handbag.
Thank goodness I only brought five.
One wrong step and they would have robbed me of all my money in one fell swoop.
“Why have you gone silent, our dear customer? Aren’t you here to sell jewelry? Gosh.”
Towards me, who was shocked speechless, the man started the build-up of what looked to be a scheme to take all my money through dazzling means.
My pupils shook, then I nodded vigorously.
I decided that it’s okay not to cling to material goods.
Five jewelry pieces?
Let’s just pretend I never owned them in the first place.
“Then, the jewelry…”
It was at that moment.
As I was about to reply to the man who was giving me an obsequious smile…
Ding—!
The notification bell, which I was used to now, suddenly echoed in my ears.
‘Here? All of a sudden?’
Surprised, I trailed off mid-sentence and looked into the air.
Sure enough, a translucent status window emerged in the air out of nowhere.