I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Raise With In-app Purchases – 24

EP.24 The Saintess Knocks on the General Store’s Door (7)

“I have a proposal.”

“Yes?”

“If you ever find yourself with nowhere to go, come to me.”

“To you, mister?”

“Yes, as I said, I want to make you my wife.”

“You didn’t even touch me last night. I know you’re lying.”

“It’s the opposite, you fool. I refrained because I want you as my wife.”

“!!”

She thought the man had been kind and didn’t touch her last night out of respect.

But hearing him bring up the same topic again made her realize he genuinely wanted to make her his wife.

“I have no intention of getting married…”

Besides, she had to serve in the military for ten years.

Even if she enlisted right now, the man would be quite old by the time she finished her service.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

There was no guarantee she would survive the ten years of military life.

What if she died after he waited all that time?

Who would compensate the man for the years he spent waiting for her?

“Don’t overthink it. Just remember what I said. If you have nowhere to go, knock on the general store’s door. I’ll be there.”

“Knock on the general store’s door…”

She took the man’s words to heart, not just to her ears.

If she ever felt lonely and had nowhere to go, like last night, she would remember what he said at this moment instead of wandering the streets.

“You’ll be there, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hehe, thank you.”

She felt tears welling up.

The fear of being abandoned by the church stemmed from having nowhere to go.

But now, even if the church abandoned her, she had a place to go.

The man said he would take her as his wife.

“I’ll be going now.”

She thanked the man once more and left the general store.

Her mindset was entirely different from when she had entered.

To lead the church on the right path, she had to keep her mind clear.

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Fran eventually returned to the church.

Of course, I could have stopped her from going back.

But no matter what I said, she was destined to return to the church.

That was the essence of Fran’s character.

The church might be able to abandon Fran, but Fran could never abandon the church.

That was the outcome I obtained by intervening in the scenario this time.

‘If I can’t control Fran, the best way is to aim for the true ending.’

In fact, the true ending isn’t bad.

The process is too harrowing, so if there’s a way to change it, I thought it was worth trying.

Since I knew it wasn’t possible, I gave up cleanly.

“In the end, the saint will have no choice but to knock on the general store’s door.”

It’s just a matter of time.

If the scenario unfolds as it should, Fran will soon find out that the church had instructed her to preach through prostitution.

Here, a branching point occurs.

Depending on the player’s choice, Fran can choose one of two paths.

The first choice is to publicly reveal the inappropriate activities happening in the church and point out the issues.

The second choice is to head to the church to meet the ‘High Priest’ without revealing the issues.

The first choice leads to a scenario where the High Priest secretly sends assassins to kill her, and the second choice leads to her narrowly escaping death after meeting the High Priest at the church.

‘Whichever choice she makes, using an item will reduce the severity of her injuries.’

Whether she almost gets killed by assassins or directly by the High Priest.

Fran was inevitably betrayed by the church.

So, she will come looking for me soon.

Injured, betrayed, and exhausted.

I could almost smell the scent of her teary desperation at my doorstep.

“There’s a general store here?”

Some time had passed since Fran returned to the church.

During that time, I had been contemplating how to make contact with Rebecca.

I had been staking out for a few days, figuring out where Rebecca usually appeared and where I could meet her.

“Hey, are you really going in there? It looks too dangerous…”

“Come on! What’s the worst that could happen? Besides, doesn’t it look a bit like a black market shop?”

“Gasp! Shouldn’t we report this?”

“First, we need to go in and find evidence. Move aside. If you’re scared, I’ll go in first.”

“Wait a minute! We might get attacked, so let’s prepare for defense…”

– Slam! –

I had oiled the door again after it made some noise last time, so it opened smoothly.

“Excuse me, sir. Is this the general store?”

The bold youngster 1 who entered asked me.

“It is a general store.”

“Are you selling things legally? You’re not some illegal black market dealer, right?”

The youngster’s audacity to ask such a direct question was astonishing.

Does this kid have no sense of danger?

What if I were really a criminal?

“Over there.”

I clicked my tongue inwardly but pointed to the wall of the store for the kids to see.

Following my hand, youngsters 1 and 2 checked the framed certificate on the wall.

“It’s a merchant license. The date is valid too.”

“Could it be a forgery?”

“Forgery is a big deal. I’ve heard that even black market dealers would rather not have one than forge it.”

“Hmm! It doesn’t seem illegal. So, we can buy things here, right?”

I wanted to give him a light smack on the forehead, but the shiny jewel around his neck caught my eye, and I relaxed my hand.

Looking up, down, and sideways, it was clear that this kid was a noble I couldn’t mess with.

“…As you wish, customer.”

“Hey, he said it’s okay! Let’s look around.”

“Yeah.”

They whispered among themselves, seemingly determined to find something suspicious as they looked around.

But there was nothing in this general store that could be reported.

“Oh? This is the item that was sold out at Ash’s General Store! There’s plenty here?”

“Hey! What if we get scammed buying from here?”

“Wouldn’t that be more reason to buy? We need evidence to report this place. If this item is fake, we can report it.”

The usually timid youngster 2 surprisingly made a smart point.

Youngster 1 seemed to agree with youngster 2’s logic and began greedily picking up items they couldn’t buy elsewhere.

“We need to check, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ash’s General Store is a large general store mostly frequented by academy students.

Due to the high volume of customers, items often went out of stock, leading to situations where people couldn’t buy what they wanted.

It seemed that our youngsters 1 and 2 had experienced such situations because when they came to the counter to pay, they had quite a lot of items.

“Are all these genuine? Why are they so expensive? They’re cheaper at other general stores.”

“They’re genuine, that’s why I’m selling them. And if you think they’re expensive, go buy them there.”

“Tsk, if there’s even one problem with these items, I’ll report you.”

“If you make up a crime just to report me, I’ll sue you for false accusation, so be careful.”

The previously smart youngster 2 clammed up in fear, while the brave youngster 1 finished the transaction and left the store with their friend.

It seemed like it was the first time I had sold items to regular customers in this general store.

Forcing Fran to buy and providing Shine with items before her practicum were my only sources of income until now.

“Not a bad income.”

Those youngsters would probably never think of reporting after using the items.

The scrolls in reality were handcrafted by people, so their power varied.

While handmade scrolls had damage ranging from 5 to 10, the scrolls I sold consistently delivered a damage of 10.

‘It’s not just about averaging out the values; they’re set to the highest value. Once they use them, they’ll never want to buy other scrolls.’

And my prediction was spot on.

The youngsters who had left grumbling returned a few days later, this time with bright, eager eyes, exploring the store.

“Do you think this one is the same?”

“Let’s buy it and see.”

“How about this one?”

“Hmm… You can easily get this at Ash’s General Store.”

“But what if the ones here are better?”

“…There’s no reason to buy from there if these are better. Let’s buy it!”

The youngsters 1 and 2, engaged in a deep conversation, repeatedly placed items on the counter and went back to get more because they couldn’t carry everything at once.

How much money do they have to flex like that?

‘It’s legendary that I have less money than those kids.’

Of course, I don’t plan to live a life poorer than those kids forever.

I hope to earn enough money in the future to run this general store as a hobby.

“Can you even carry all this? We don’t have a delivery service here.”

I would ring up their purchases, but I couldn’t understand how they planned to carry everything home.

The kids burst into laughter as if they had heard a funny joke.

“I thought this old man was a boring boomer, but he has some jokes.”

“Right? Why would we carry this ourselves?”

“…..”

“Sebastian! Come in and take these!”

Youngster 2 called out, and a man in a black suit, who had apparently been waiting outside, came in and started picking up the items.

“This is mine, so take it to our mansion. This is his, so take it to his house.”

“Yes, miss.”

The man took the items and left.

I stood there, dumbfounded, realizing once again that these kids were nobles.

‘Nobles really do live in a different world.’

The world they lived in was not one a commoner like me could intrude upon.

Why did these two kids, who seemed so insignificant, suddenly appear so grand?

Unintentionally, I felt a bit humiliated.

The thought that all the people I would have to deal with in the future would be nobles sent chills down my spine.

‘One wrong move and it could be dangerous.’

Even a tiny noble kid could get a commoner’s head chopped off with just a flick of their finger.

I suddenly felt a surge of resentment about why I was born a commoner and opened the shop window.

‘Is there any new defensive item I can use?’

The shop always focused on character growth.

In a game where the player isn’t in danger, it doesn’t make sense to have items to protect the player, does it?

It was an item I couldn’t expect, and I had to close the shop window in disappointment once again.

“Making money is the best.”

The only thing that provided any comfort was money.

I had been postponing my meeting with Rebecca because of Fran, but I couldn’t delay it any longer.

I planned to sell unique equipment to Rebecca and make a hefty profit.

Knowing Rebecca, she wouldn’t ignore or turn down a way to improve her skills.