Ch.46[Chapter 46] Dimension Shop

Sir Dominic moved his steps toward the entrance of the Market Area.

‘First, visit the dimensional shop. You’re an extraordinary fellow, so you’ll definitely be able to use it.’

‘The dimensional shop is right when you enter the shabby alley on the opposite side of the Market Area entrance, remember that.’

Even with those instructions, Sir Dominic stared at the deep, dark abyss-like alley opposite the Market Area and wondered.

Would his current resources be enough?

Sir Dominic opened his inventory and looked at the Credit and Gacha Stone sections.

His Credits were enough to live comfortably paying rent, but his Gacha Stone balance was nearly depleted after having a set of clothes tailored.

“What to do…”

Sir Dominic stood in front of the alley for a long time, contemplating.

Merchants naturally moved for profit, and especially those selling goods in back alleys like this tended to sell particularly unstable and dangerous items at high prices.

Sir Dominic took out a Credit from his inventory and spent a long time opening and closing his hand around the coin, lost in thought.

But was Sir Dominic the type to avoid or run away from adversity?

Sir Dominic finally decided to face it head-on and entered the alley.

“Welcome.”

As soon as he stepped into the darkness of the alley, the world changed as if he had pressed a stage button in Story Mode lobby.

An old-fashioned tavern. Various people sat drinking, and at the counter, two women with black and white hair were chatting.

The old tavern was filled with vintage charm, decorated with artifact-like objects, yet also maintained a modern feel with simple mini-games for decoration. It was inherently antique but somehow also felt out of place.

“Welcome to the tavern New Te… I mean, the dimensional shop. Are you alone? Or do you have companions?”

Sir Dominic looked at the red octopus covered in tentacles that greeted him with a bright smile.

Goodness, an octopus that talks? Greatly shocked by this fact, Sir Dominic soon rationalized it by considering the atmosphere of Gachaland.

Right. In a world like this, an octopus talking isn’t that strange.

Seeing Sir Dominic’s reaction, the octopus realized it was in a different form.

“I’m sorry. The previous customer was from a foreign realm, so I made a mistake. Just a moment.”

The octopus’s crown split open, emitting a sacred light, and from the gap emerged a person wearing a maid outfit.

The maid still had one arm that remained like an octopus tentacle, and except for pupils that were horizontally stretched, she was a well-figured woman with red hair.

“Is this your first visit to our dimensional shop? Or did you just want to use the tavern?”

The red-haired maid asked Sir Dominic about his purpose with a bright smile.

Sir Dominic simply thought, so this place also serves as a tavern.

“Someone I know told me to visit the dimensional shop. By the way, what is this place?”

Sir Dominic asked straightforwardly and honestly.

The maid, as if this wasn’t her first time dealing with such a situation, kindly explained.

“The dimensional shop mainly handles currency exchange between dimensions. Of course, we sometimes sell limited edition items too. Usually specialties from each dimension.”

The maid waved her tentacle arm, pointing once at the counter and once at a door on the wall.

“If you want to buy specialties, go to the counter; if you want to exchange currency, enter that room.”

“Currency exchange. What’s that?”

Sir Dominic asked.

In the barren Feralant, barter was generally practiced.

At most, copper coins were commonly used as currency, while silver or gold coins were virtually exclusive to nobles and merchants.

Even Sir Dominic had been surprised at how common currency was in Gachaland, as currency was rarely used in Feralant.

In such a place, the concept of currency exchange was unknown, and even if known, it was beyond imagination.

“It’s interesting that you don’t know about currency exchange. Most of our customers are familiar with the concept.”

But it’s not strange that you don’t know, the maid said. Customers come from places where even the concept of buying things with currency is vague.

“Among the people of Gachaland, some are native, but most are invited from external dimensions. Such people often leave behind their achievements and wealth in their external worlds when they come here.”

The maid, twirling the end of her tentacle through her red hair as she considered where to begin her explanation, spoke kindly.

“Above all, those who are recorded in history or passed down as heroes may have offerings made to them or rituals performed for them even after they’re gone, or sometimes regions are named after heroes to preserve their honor. Oh, I’m sorry. ‘Hero’ is like a nickname we use for people of Gachaland. Some people get offended by this title.”

“Anyway, what use is all that wealth if you can’t spend it? That’s why our dimensional shop exists. We exchange the honor, fame, wealth, etc. that were dedicated to you in your dimension for Gachaland’s resources.”

Well, you might know it as ‘in-app purchases’ too, the maid muttered quietly.

“Anyway, welcome. The dimensional shop isn’t just one place. Among the many dimensional shops, finding our New Terra is truly fortunate. Our prophet hardly charges any fees.”

Just a little story in exchange, the maid added before closing her mouth and then smiling brightly.

“I misspoke. The boss. The boss. The boss doesn’t care much about money. After all, he already rules an entire planet.”

Goodness. Sir Dominic, not knowing who the dimensional shop owner was, was speechless at the enormous scale mentioned by the maid.

Having lived only in the barren frontier of Feralant, Sir Dominic couldn’t even grasp how large a planet was.

“So, customer, do you want to exchange currency?”

The maid smiled warmly.

Sir Dominic nodded, recovering from his shock at seeing that smile.

“By the way, I don’t know how much I had in Feralant. Is that okay?”

“Don’t worry. The one who invited you here will check the wealth you accumulated in Feralant and send it to us.”

Any personal information or sensitive content will be destroyed as soon as the transaction is complete, so rest assured, the maid said.

The maid guided Sir Dominic, who wanted to exchange currency, to the back room of the shop.

On the door to the back room were the phrases “No loans” and “We don’t take loans either.”

When the maid raised her tentacle arm to open the door, a slightly dark corridor appeared inside.

When Sir Dominic looked at the maid as if asking if he should enter, the maid nodded and raised her arm, gesturing for him to go inside.

Sir Dominic entered through the door.

The maid standing behind him closed the door.

“K’tua? If you’ve guided the customer, hurry up and serve. Analysis shows 3.3% of customers are about to express dissatisfaction.”

“Yes, yes. I’m coming, Miss Ai.”

He thought he heard such sounds before the door closed.

Sir Dominic walked down the corridor where he could barely make out shapes.

The corridor was a single straight path, with doors only at the entrance he had come through and at the end of the corridor.

There was no worry about getting lost.

Right. It’s about handling money, so the more cautious, the better.

In the dark space, Sir Dominic moved forward, rationalizing this corridor in his own way.

When he opened the door on the opposite side, the first thing he saw was a large iron grating and glass wall blocking the opposite side from where he had entered.

On the other side of the iron grating and glass wall was a middle-aged man smoking a cigar and looking at something, with an ashtray full of cigarette butts as if he had been chain-smoking there.

“Here for currency exchange?”

The man across spoke without looking at Sir Dominic.

One puff, two puffs, three puffs.

After taking three puffs from the cigar in his mouth, the man finally turned his head and looked at Sir Dominic’s single eye.

“Sir Dominic. From Feralant. Correct?”

Sir Dominic couldn’t remember when he had introduced himself, but he simply nodded.

“Quite a heroic life, it seems. Your honor has spread across a region. Your fame isn’t bad either. And your wealth… My goodness. More when you’re gone than when you were there. Interesting.”

The man beyond the iron grating checked Sir Dominic’s assets while looking at something.

After pondering for a moment, he wrote a number on a piece of paper and passed it to Sir Dominic through a gap in the glass window.

“That’s the amount you need. Take it to the bank, and they’ll exchange it for Gacha Stones.”

The man clapped his hands.

“For it is said, blessed are you who have stored up so much treasure in heaven.”

A momentary sense of holiness emanated from the man.

When Sir Dominic, dazed by that holiness, came to his senses, he found himself standing at the entrance of the dimensional shop again, the location having changed without him noticing.

“Looks like you’ve finished your exchange. And it seems you got what you wanted.”

The maid who had guided him to the room earlier approached with a smile.

“Please visit us again. We’ll always be waiting for you.”

With those words, the door of the dimensional shop closed.

Confused, Sir Dominic peered through the gap in the door, but nothing was visible inside.

Sir Dominic, dumbfounded by this absurd situation, just stared at the closed door.

Only a sign saying ‘Please visit again in 6d 23h 59m 59s’ hung on the closed door.