Got Dumped and Became a Nerf Ability User

Episode 12: The Cost of Trust

– Ding~

We had lunch and headed to a hunter weapon specialty shop.

Is this the weapon shop she knows well?

As I opened the store’s door, the cool air from the air conditioner chilled the heat from our bodies.

It was hot outside, causing our bodies to heat up.

‘Maybe I heated up from linking arms with Harin…’

The floor was finished with marble that looked clean just by looking at it.

Just bringing my hand close to the marble meant that the coolness would spread through my body, and I impulsively almost placed my hand on the floor.

From looking through the store’s window, it seemed like a narrow shop, but once inside, the interior was quite spacious.

As we went further inside, the area widened, with various equipment displayed on the walls for everyone to see.

“Welcome~”

When I entered the shop lost in thought, a middle-aged woman who seemed to be the owner greeted us.

“What weapon do you have?”

Harin asked me what my main weapon was.

“Um… I just have a one-handed sword?”

“Owner, please give me the most expensive one-handed sword here.”

“Are you referring to the one-handed straight sword? Please wait a moment~”

The owner said and went into a back room that looked like a warehouse.

No matter how rich Harin is, hunter weapons can be extraordinarily expensive, with some costing several million.

“Hey, Harin.”

“What?”

I called out to Harin in a low voice.

To that, she responded bluntly.

“Why do you care… What if the owner brings out an outrageous expensive weapon?”

“Why do you care about what the person receiving the gift thinks?… It’s your weapon, so the price doesn’t really matter.”

Harin, with a flush on her face, seemed unconcerned about the price.

“Well… if you say so, I don’t have much to say…”

Hearing that, I murmured as I had nothing more to add.

“But can’t we just pick one of the equipment over there?”

“This place… the equipment on the wall is just for decoration.”

“Then…?”

“You may have already thought of this, but custom orders are possible here. You can also buy equipment that has already been made if needed.”

“Custom orders would cost more, right?… It feels a bit too much to receive such a gift…”

“My wallet isn’t so thin that you need to worry about it. In fact, I have so much money that if I don’t inject it into the market, the economy won’t be stimulated.”

“Ah… I see…”

Harin certainly didn’t carry a black card without reason.

‘Maybe I should worry about my own wallet…’

Not long after, the owner came back from the storage area with a long rectangular box.

Inside that box must be the most expensive weapon here.

Though the owner’s face looked calm while carrying the box, her arms were trembling slightly.

The weapon must weigh quite a bit.

‘But why keep it stored in such a box?’

I couldn’t figure it out.

– Thud!

The owner placed the box on the counter.

“Come over here.”

The owner beckoned us closer.

We approached the counter in response to her words.

I activated my skill to learn about the contents of the box.

‘King’s Insight activated.’

– Ding!

[Checking the information of the object.]

[Information]

Name: Weapon Packaging Paper Box

Type: Storage

Feature: Infinite magical power is flowing out from inside the box

– Current Status –

Nicely packaged.

==========

‘Ha… I still can’t get useful information…’

Even though the level of my King’s Insight had recently increased from level 1 to level 2, I still couldn’t obtain specific information.

I really need to level up my skills faster.

‘Huh, but what does it mean that infinite magical power is flowing out?’

I wasn’t sure since it was my first time using King’s Insight on an object, but if this feature had been level 1 of King’s Insight, wouldn’t it just have been marked as “unknown”?

‘No matter how you slice it, it feels a bit excessive to keep being given such simplistic information even after leveling up this S-rank skill…’

“Owner, is what’s inside this box the most expensive weapon?”

While I was staring at the system, Harin was gently touching the box with her long, thin fingers against her fair skin as she asked the owner.

“Of course! This one-handed sword is the most expensive and the best among one-handed straight swords.”

“Did you make it yourself?”

Upon hearing this, the owner seemed momentarily at a loss for words.

“Actually… it wasn’t made by me.”

I see. It felt a bit strange.

The information I saw through King’s Insight didn’t mention it was handmade, so I thought it was just not listed.

‘Well, I did see the packaged box…’

“Is it okay for you to sell something like this? This shop specializes in handmade products.”

It seemed only natural to find it odd that there was no mention of it being handmade in the information of a shop that focuses on handmade items.

“Well… still, the quality is guaranteed.”

The owner’s words… in other words, she wasn’t mistaken.

When I saw the information, it said the quality is good.

It was somewhat suspicious, but I still felt like it would be okay.

“Hmm… That’s fine. I’ll take this. How much is it?”

After a moment of contemplation, Harin purchased the weapon that emanated a rather suspicious aura.

“The price is… well, out of conscience, I’ll take 50 million won.”

It felt as if she had roasted her conscience in an air fryer.

Without any suspicion, she paid for that expensive item in one go.

How on earth can these people have such a view of the economy?

I couldn’t figure that out either.

“By the way… who is that young man next to you? Your boyfriend?”

“Huh?”

Harin replied as if her tongue had twisted.

‘How can you pronounce “ne” as if it’s “nye”?’

“No… he’s not my boyfriend…”

“Then who is he?”

“Um… it’s just that…”

She fidgeted with her fingers, unable to sit still.

“He’s just a coworker.”

Seeing Harin getting increasingly restless, I stepped in to mediate the situation.

She had spent quite a considerable amount on getting me a weapon, so I felt it was only right to help her out a bit.

But her expression wasn’t good.

“… Just a colleague…”

“Haha… Goodbye, owner!”

– Ding~

I gathered the frozen Harin and quickly exited the shop.

Once outside, the weather was extremely hot.

The sun was blazing.

But that was the sound of cicadas.

As soon as I felt the heat, I yearned for the air conditioning inside the shop.

To specify how it felt, it was as if I could explain it as, crossing the threshold of the shop, the air was different—like magic.

Perhaps because it was nearing 1 PM, the scorching heat showed no sign of relenting.

The heat was so intense that it felt like heat waves were rising like flames in the distance.

“Why do you think I bought that weapon?”

I ignored the heat haze flickering in front of my eyes and looked at Harin, who was calling me with a strange question.

“Just because it’s expensive?”

“No, that’s incorrect. The reason I bought that weapon isn’t as ordinary as that.”

She grabbed my right hand.

The box was tucked under my left arm, but she missed it and held my right hand instead.

However, this hand-holding was somewhat different.

Her two hands wrapped around my right hand tightly.

In this hot weather, not a single drop of sweat appeared on her hands.

Harin looked serious.

I waited for what she wanted to say, giving her the space to speak.

“The reason I bought a weapon from a shop that specializes in handmade products without custom ordering, despite the fact that it’s suspicious and unclear where it came from…”

I listened to her every word without interrupting.

“Is because this weapon exudes a different aura.”

That’s right. I had vaguely felt the aura of this weapon earlier as well.

“I hope we both work hard from now on… It’s reckless to venture into dungeons without your weapon.”

The lie I told during lunch had been exposed.

“And you.”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t lie to me in the future… I hope the only thing I see in you that’s deceiving is your expression that doesn’t come into my view…”

“Uh…”

For some reason, she spoke in a tone that sounded as if she knew my secret.

‘She’s probably just saying that… Did she notice my disguised face?’

Yet, this assumption couldn’t hold up.

This potion was undoubtedly a masterpiece from the skilled alchemist, Choe Ye-rim, who could be called the best in alchemy.

‘Though having a bit of a loose tongue is a minor flaw…’

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this capitalist society who desires trust without cost.”

Harin looked up at me earnestly as she spoke.

Even with her eyes closed, she was accurately looking at where my face was positioned.

Her eyelashes were visible against her closed eyes.

They were long.

“In that case… I owe you the cost of trust.”

Harin continued speaking.

“So… I’m giving you this weapon.”

“Ah… Thank you.”

This gift… can be seen as an extension of the incident when I thought I was isolated in that dungeon and took down the snake’s leader… perhaps I could view it as an apology gift from then.

Could Harin subconsciously be hoping for that too?

Life is a give-and-take.

‘I won’t forget…’

Certainly.

Certainly………..

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