Wilson patrolled inside the shelter.
It was part of his daily routine for shelter inspection and maintaining his stamina.
“Silver, lately I’ve been feeling really good,” Wilson said, glancing to the side.
Silver was busily running around.
“A new friend showed up. A good friend.”
Woof woof—!
“Silver, you’re obviously a good friend too. Don’t be mad, haha.”
Wilson quickened his pace.
“Of course, the new friend isn’t perfect either.”
Suho ran the store.
He had to interact with other races, and he also had the life of a Hunter.
“Even friends have their own lives. I can’t keep asking them to play with me all the time. That’s the biggest regret.”
He had just wiped out the nearby monsters recently, so the tension had eased a bit.
On the other hand, boredom had gotten worse.
“Alright, enough exercise for now. What should I do today?”
After some thought, Wilson decided on what to do.
“Today’s a movie day.”
Wilson operated the screen.
Woof—!
“Boring? No, Silver. You have to learn to appreciate masterpieces like me. A masterpiece reveals new scenes even if you watch it a hundred times.”
Wilson quickly chose the movie.
“Today, it’s you!”
A movie about a magic golem who traveled from the future to wipe out humanity, kidnapping a former killer’s dog, only to be outwitted by the killer.
He’d already seen it a hundred times, but it was fine.
Other movies were pretty much the same anyway.
Soon, the movie began playing.
Wilson focused on the screen.
Woof—
“Silver, be quiet. The best scene is coming up.”
The movie’s greatest scene.
The protagonist responds firmly after receiving a call from the kidnapper golem.
The protagonist on screen put the magical communicator to his ear.
“I don’t know your model name.”
The protagonist said quietly.
At the same time, Wilson’s mouth opened.
“I don’t know your model name.”
As the protagonist spoke again, Wilson repeated the line exactly.
“I will find you.”
Then…
“I will kill you.”
Wilson lowered his voice dramatically to mimic the line.
Woof—!
“Silver! It’s an important scene, so you have to act like that!”
Wilson was completely absorbed in the movie.
***
Suho quietly moved away from TV.
‘He looks pretty lonely.’
“I was going to scold him for mocking the God, but he’s actually a better guy than I thought.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“I will find you. And I will kill you. Someone who can say that seriously can’t be a bad guy.”
This Chunibuyo(8th grade syndrome) patient—what exactly was he obsessed with?
Suho stopped thinking about it.
He had more urgent matters.
“Balryong, keep watch over the house. Won’t take long.”
“I told you not to treat me like a dog.”
“I’ll order chicken for you when I get back, so don’t give me a hard time. Wait, are you doing this on purpose?”
“…..”
Suho hurriedly drove toward the nearby Electronics Market after leaving the store.
***
“Wilson! Wilson!”
At Suho’s shout, Wilson got up from his spot.
By then, the protagonist had dropped the golem’s core into the lava and rescued the kidnapped dog, so there was no regret.
“Suho, what’s going on today?”
“You don’t have to have a reason to talk between friends.”
“That’s true, haha.”
Wilson replied brightly with a smile.
“I’ve got something prepared for you. Not sure if it suits your tastes, though.”
“Tastes?”
“Yeah, here, take a look.”
Several electronic devices appeared before Wilson’s eyes.
“What’s this?”
“Tablet and a power bank. You’ll figure out how to use the tablet by reading it, right? And obviously you know about batteries.”
“Of course. I have similar stuff here too. But you didn’t really have to send me the power bank. Once you know the charger specs, you can make one quickly.”
“Oh, impressive.”
“I’m somewhat of an authority on magic engineering, my friend. Haha. But why did you send this?”
“I put movies from this world on the tablet. The culture is different, so it might be interesting. Give it a try—there might be a unique flavor to it.”
Wilson was silent for a moment.
His heart was unsettled.
‘Suho.’
If the grilled carp reminded him of his childhood dining table, the tablet revived the feeling of the birthday party when he first received a gift from a friend.
“Are you okay, Wilson?” Suho asked.
Wilson nodded.
He kept his head down.
He felt his voice might tremble if he spoke.
Suho didn’t push and waited patiently.
Woof woof—!
Thanks to Silver’s bark a moment later, Wilson was able to regain his composure.
“Suho, really, thank you. I’ll enjoy the movie. I don’t even know how to repay you.”
The new friend’s heart was more touching than the movie on the tablet.
“Split the space barrier we got before. When I level up, I’ll make you anything you want. For now, just watch the movie.”
“…Thanks, really.”
“I have to get ready for opening the store. I’ll go now. Let’s talk again when I’m done.”
Suho stepped back from TV.
[Dimensional Mission [Wilson’s Solitude] Completed]
[Survivor Wilson’s Satisfaction increased by 30.]
The message blurred before his eyes, but his mind was elsewhere.
“I want to…”
Glancing sideways at the restless Balryong, Suho continued.
“I want to bring him here.”
[???] Skill still couldn’t be recognized or used.
There was no proper way.
If he forcibly summoned Balryong like this, who knew what would happen.
At least Balryong could hold his breath, but this time, there could be penalties.
“I can’t experiment with the skill on Wilson.”
Besides, it wasn’t even certain if Wilson had any plans to come to Earth.
“Let’s think about it again later.”
The question mark skill might unlock or another method might appear.
Suho committed this thought to memory and prepared for the store opening.
***
Opening day.
After morning operations, Suho ran the Hunter App.
He wanted to check the reaction, and as expected, reviews had already appeared.
[Love the Machete of Vulguul!]
-Seriously, this is amazing—so lovable. If I hadn’t bought this today, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Haha—Option, aesthetic, weight center, practicality. Not a single flaw. Haha—whatever. Just watch the video! Haha—
ㄴ Didn’t you say opening was at 10? It’s 10:10 now. Look at the speed of these reviews.
ㄴ I saw people lined up while passing by. Must be one of them.
ㄴ That’s not the point. Just look at all the ‘haha’ in the reviews.
ㄴ Tried writing a few words but gave up, probably just uploaded a video but you can hear breathing in the video.
ㄴ Seems totally excited;
ㄴ That means this item is a huge hit? The old items were good, but if this is the reaction, how much better must it be?
ㄴ Is it sold out already?
A comment written a few hours ago worried about it selling out.
Suho was worried too.
‘The sale is almost done. We might have to close for business like this.’
All items sold out.
Both premium and general grades were gone.
‘I feel bad asking the Dwarves to make more.’
Since he used Yang Deok-su’s name, the quality part wasn’t an issue.
But Yang Deok-su was also a famous loner.
He couldn’t just pour out a ton of stock.
ㄴ Sold out too early. Some premium items were gone before the morning shift ended.
ㄴ I need to buy watermelon juice. Is the watermelon juice sold out too?
ㄴ Sold out early as well. But since when did its official name become watermelon juice? It’s carp juice.
ㄴ To me, carp juice is watermelon juice lol. But if this is the state of things, when can we buy premium grade? Doesn’t seem like they’re taking reservations.
ㄴ Maybe the owner will release more stock at some point.
ㄴ Probably not. One blacksmith makes all of them.
ㄴ How’s that possible?
ㄴ The owner told me. Yang Deok-chil or something. Some blacksmith makes them all alone.
ㄴ Yang Deok-chil? Isn’t it Yang Deok-su? That old guy.
ㄴ Crazy blacksmith? That old man made those? Well, the items are good, I’ll give him that.
ㄴ That old man’s personality is rough, but he has skill. Our owner is clever. How did he manage that old man?
ㄴ Even the big guilds couldn’t handle him. Don’t know how the owner handle him.
ㄴ Enough useless talk. At this rate, shouldn’t they start taking reservations? The owner needs to come up with a method.
ㄴ Otherwise the store will explode every morning.
More comments about reservations followed.
“We might have to take reservations.”
They hadn’t expected this level of popularity.
Maybe the store had more recognition than thought, so many people gathered.
“Good call borrowing that old man’s name.”
If they hadn’t, suspicion about big fraud would have arisen.
“I have to think about reservation methods. Hmm. What about afternoon business?”
There was no stock left, so opening would just be a waste.
“Yeah, close the store.”
Suho headed to the door to post the [Business Closed] footnote.
Vroom.
A car stopped in front of the store.
“Hyung! How have you been?”
A familiar face appeared.
***
“Thanks for the wreath. You didn’t have to, just showing up would’ve been enough.”
“No, thanks to you, I’m alive. This is the least I can do.”
Jung Hyunsu parked a wreath at the store entrance and replied.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Yes, hyung. I thought you’d be busy, so I came around lunchtime. Is that okay?”
“Hmm, business is over.”
“Already?”
“All items sold out.”
“Wow—amazing! Congratulations!”
“Yeah, thanks.”
They sat facing each other at the table.
Suho offered a carp juice.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
“But how’s your health?”
“Completely healed. I’m preparing to go to a dungeon soon. I need to get stronger.”
“That’s good.”
“Really, thank you. I’ll never forget your kindness.”
“That’s enough, I’m satisfied. The store is basically yours too. I don’t know what to do now that I suddenly became a building owner.”
“The building was given by my father. Oh, right! Hyung, take this.”
Jung Hyunsu handed over a bottle filled with liquid.
[Upper-grade Healing Potion]
“What’s this?”
“I gave you one last time, but you made me drink it. So I brought another.”
“You didn’t have to go this far.”
“It’s okay. Please take it.”
Suho accepted the potion.
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. But…”
Jung Hyunsu, who had been awkward about Suho’s gratitude, quickly changed the subject.
“When are you going to the Second-Rank Dungeon?”
“I was just about to talk about that. Schedule it as soon as possible. This weekend.”
No time on weekdays because of the store.
“Good timing. I checked before coming here—there’s a vacant Second-Rank Dungeon this weekend.”
“Then schedule it then.”
“Yes, I’ll send the dungeon info by message.”
“Good, that’s settled. We’ll talk more later. Want to eat? Delivery okay?”
“Sounds good.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“Chicken okay?”
“Chicken? Let me see… I should have a coupon somewhere.”
They’d ordered chicken so much, their coupons were stacked.
But Balryong’s voice cut through sharply.
“The moment you touch my coupon, the world will fall into ruin and the prelude to war will begin.”
How did he guess the coupon’s true purpose?
After a moment of thought, Suho gave up looking for the coupon.
***
“Suho, let’s go. No more dithering.”
The weekend for the dungeon run had arrived.
Balryong was restless inside the house, fidgeting.
“Do you really like going to dungeons that much?”
“It’s the only thread left to restore my true self.”
“Yeah.”
“Besides, every time my magical power increases, I get that itchy feeling. I sense something is about to change. The day I reclaim the Seat of the Abyss isn’t far off.”
“Alright then.”
Suho looked around the dimensional gate.
Refrigerator, suitcase, television.
“I hope nothing goes wrong while I’m gone.”
Every time he left the house, he worried, but he couldn’t freeze either.
Leveling up was just as important as good equipment.
“Are you going to keep procrastinating?”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Shaking off his worries, Suho turned around.
“Suho! Suho! You’re leaving already?”
A voice slipped out from TV, catching his steps.
Suho hurried toward TV.
“Wilson, what’s up?”
“Oh! You’re not gone yet. Just in time. Take this. You always feel anxious when you leave the house, right? This should help a bit.”
His new friend’s gift awaited Suho.