The Jelly Alien Will Save You! Chapter 9

What—what is going on? 

 

I swallowed my saliva with a gulp and whispered to Cha Haeeon.

 

“Cha Haeeon, what is ■■■?”

 

The product name was buried in static, making it hard to hear. Are they trying to sell me something strange? 

 

“It hasn’t been decided yet. Since they’ve set the price at 99%, they’ll probably try to sell you whatever you want.”

 

“I get to choose? Then what happens if I say I won’t buy it?”

 

Cha Haeeon mumbled quietly with a troubled face.

 

“You’ll get eaten by this place. Your face will get hollowed out and you’ll become an employee here.”

 

Holy sh*t! My face must definitely be pale white jelly right now.

 

“Then do I have to buy that to get out of here? Absolutely? Do they usually force sales like this?”

 

“They don’t usually act like this…”

 

“Could it be because of the Purification?”

 

Is it because they need to fill the contamination quota, but I kept making the price tags 0%, so they stepped up directly?

 

If so, doesn’t that mean using Purification recklessly is also troublesome? Because even if I purify the price tags to 0%, they’ll just try to force sales again.

 

Cha Haeeon let out a deep sigh as if it couldn’t be helped.

 

“I’ll buy it.”

 

“What?”

 

Barely suppressing my voice from getting loud, I grabbed him.

 

“What’s your contamination level right now? Won’t you be in big trouble if you buy that? If I buy it and purify it super-super-fast…”

 

To be honest, I wasn’t confident in how much more purification I could handle, but… 

 

At this, Cha Haeeon spoke as if he knew everything.

 

“Forget it. Don’t interfere.” 

 

The expression vanished from Cha Haeeon’s face. He flicked my forehead with his thumb and middle finger.

 

Ouch! As I rubbed my forehead, Cha Hae-eon turned his body toward the employee.

 

“I’ll buy—”

 

“I’ll buy it!”

 

Before Cha Haeeon could step in, I raised my voice loudly.

 

Since I’m the one who sowed this seed, I can’t just leave it be.

 

“Thank you, customer.”

 

“You…!”

 

Just as Cha Haeeon was about to get angry and yell.

 

“Ah, but you know.”

 

I crossed my arms and stood with my weight on one leg. Then, looking the employee up and down, I spoke acting as much like a difficult customer as possible.

 

“Where is the product? Do you sell products without showing them here? Shouldn’t I see with my own eyes if the condition is good, if it’s jumping around alive?”

 

“We apologize. We will guide you to the display shelves.”

 

“Good. I’ll see and decide.”

 

I gestured to Cha Haeeon. It meant for him to push the cart.

 

“What are you doing right now? Do you want to become completely contaminated?”

 

As Cha Haeeon asked with his voice lowered as much as possible, I replied, immersed in the moment.

 

“I wanted to try doing something like this too.”

 

“What?”

 

“Acting like Karen.”

 

Wink. I winked at him as if telling him not to worry.

 

“Customer?”

 

When we didn’t follow, the employee turned around.

 

“Is there some kind of problem?” 

 

“No, nothing like that. We’re coming. You’d better not recommend just anything, because I’m going to be very picky. Show me something that’s actually worth the high price. Got it?”

 

“Ye-yes! Understood.” 

 

At my fierce words, she bowed her head in a flurry and then started walking again.

 

I tapped the cart handle.

 

“Alright, let’s move.”

 

“…”

 

Cha Haeeon, who was lost in thought for a moment, silently pushed the cart.

 

While crossing the mart following the employee, I used Purification with all my might.

 

‘Now the contamination level is 0%.’

 

If I squeeze out my last bit of strength, I might be able to use it about 2 more times.

 

If that happens, I might be able to lower the contamination level from 99% to 79%, but it’s still a number over 70%.

 

Besides, what if the purification doesn’t work as expected? It was a situation where it could even reach 100% if things went wrong.

 

‘Then I’ll become a monster right away…’

 

…I won’t let it come to that.

 

I steeled my resolve once more and clenched my fists. 

 

Cha Haeeon might think I’m jumping in recklessly, but I had a plan in mind too.

 

I let out a shaky breath. 

 

Cha Haeeon met my eyes fiercely at that.

 

When I smiled, baring my teeth, he sharply turned his head away.

 

* * *

 

I sat on the edge of the cart and crossed my legs. Then, letting out a deep sigh, I spoke sharply.

 

“Are you kidding me right now? You’re offering this for me to buy?”

 

“I-I am sorry.” 

 

“We don’t even have electricity at home, so why are you recommending a microwave? Are you making fun of me? Is this how you do sales promotions here?”

 

“No. We are truly sorry, customer.”

 

“I’m telling you to bring out something worth buying, something worth buying!”

 

“Yes, we are truly sorry. We will introduce you to other products. If you just tell us what kind of product you are looking for…”

 

“I told you. Something avant-garde, fresh enough to jump around, analog, and modern.”

 

“Something avant-garde, fresh enough to jump around, analog, and modern…”

 

The employee’s voice trembled slightly.

 

Cha Haeeon silently stared at the alien acting like a Karen to a paranormal entity.

 

What? What? Why? 

 

“It puts me in a difficult position too if you don’t show me a satisfactory product. I can’t just buy anything. Isn’t that right?”

 

Then, the employee fell silent for a moment.

 

“Then, customer, would you please follow me this way?”

 

It was a strangely meaningful question.

 

I nodded my head confidently.

 

“Fine. Lead the way.” 

 

The place the employee soon guided us to was in front of a door with an ‘Employees Only’ sign. Following her inside, it seemed to be a place used as a warehouse.

 

There were display shelves there too, but not only combat rations, but all sorts of items were displayed haphazardly, from old two-way radios to weaponry.

 

“What is this? None of it is fresh at all. It actually looks old, isn’t it second-hand?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct. They are all specialty products found in the Yongsan Station area.”

 

She spoke in a tone filled with pride, as if these second-hand goods were something amazing.

 

How can second-hand goods be specialty products…

 

Just as I was about to grumble, I became dumbfounded the moment I realized the hidden meaning.

 

“Don’t tell me, it means these are things left behind by people who stopped by Yongsan Station…?”

 

“That is correct, customer!”

 

I see.

 

That’s why two-way radios and weapons are displayed.

 

Could people who stopped by the contaminated Yongsan Station possibly have been safe?

 

In the end, these were all belongings of the people who had come in to purify Yongsan.

 

As I chewed my lip, a familiar object suddenly caught my eye.

 

A dagger with a penguin keychain attached to it.

 

‘Bora Unnie…’

 

It belonged to Kwon Bora, a guild member of Quasar.

 

I fiddled with the dagger and caught my trembling breath.

 

I had to be careful not to let my tears fall. Because the employee and Cha Hae-eon would look at me strangely.

 

“Do you like this dagger?”

 

The employee asked kindly.

 

I bit my lower lip. I wanted to nod right away and buy it. Even if it filled my contamination level to 99%.

 

But it was then.

 

A very familiar object in my line of sight caught my attention.

 

Seeing my eyes fixed elsewhere, the employee said.

 

“Ah, the product the customer is looking at is a mobile phone found at Yongsan Station.”

 

Seeing a purple mobile phone with a case covered in cute characters, I felt my breath catch.

 

It felt like memories were pouring down into my head.

 

I had to buy this. No matter what.

 

I hid the welling confusion and sadness and forced myself to raise my voice.

 

“Are you telling me to buy these grubby things? They’re not avant-garde at all!”

 

My voice felt like it would tremble if I wasn’t careful.

 

Because this mobile phone is…

 

None other than mine.

 

“We apologize. If you don’t like it, another product…”

 

“No, there’s no need for that.”

 

“Pardon? Then…”

 

The reason why I acted like a Karen like this.

 

That is…

 

“I’ll buy it. I’ll buy it, so instead, adjust the price.”

 

It was all a buildup to negotiate the price.