***
-It is terribly large.
Ashin’s head turned this way and that.
The ceiling was dizzyingly high, and the lights made eyes that could not even ache feel dazzled.
It was so glittering and noisy that one wondered if heaven would be like this.
“······You can say that again.”
From the moment he entered, Noel had been unable to lower his head.
This was a place where things were bought, so why did it look like a temple?
‘No, even a temple wouldn’t be this much.’
His eyes felt dizzy.
And why were there so many people?
Where there were many people, there were also many ghosts, so he narrowed his eyes slightly.
The noise came in twice as loud.
No, more than four times as loud.
Noel’s eyes followed Yeong-hyeon.
He was looking around in wonder.
“Older brother, have you never been here either?”
-I went to large supermarkets a few times, but I’ve never been here. My parents both worked, and my older brother was busy working too.
After finishing his words, Yeong-hyeon looked at Noel and chuckled.
-I never thought I’d come like this.
“Are you enjoying it too?”
-I am.
Yeong-hyeon smiled, then swallowed the words that had almost come out.
He missed his family.
For some reason, it suddenly hit him.
Afraid Noel might notice what he was feeling, Yeong-hyeon changed the subject and asked,
-But Noel. Why did you come here?
“They said this place was newly completed and popular, so I was curious. I earned money, so I should spend it too, right?”
-What do you want to buy?
Ashin asked.
From what she had seen, Noel did not have much material desire.
He only seemed happy when he received payment for what he had done.
“Whatever I see while looking around and want to buy? I’ve always wanted to try something like this. Ah, I want to buy a game console. I wonder if they have one.”
-What did they say you need at times like this?
At Yeong-hyeon’s question, Noel took out his cell phone and shook it lightly.
He had been told to search if he did not know.
At that sight, Ashin’s gaze turned subtle.
She knew there was something between those two that she did not understand.
‘How strange.’
It was as if Yeong-hyeon was teaching Noel things one by one before leaving on a very long journey.
Ashin looked at the two of them, then shifted her gaze.
‘I feel a rather familiar power.’
Perhaps it was not on the current floor, but somewhere higher up.
Ashin, who had been looking upward, saw someone approaching Noel.
They did not seem to have any bad intentions.
“Good day.”
Noel stared for three seconds at the man greeting him warmly, then bowed his head along with him.
He had no idea who the man was.
“I am an employee of this place, sent under Mr. Shin Jang-yul’s instructions.”
The man carefully handed over his business card and mentioned the name.
~My secretary contacted this place, so they will serve you with utmost sincerity.
‘···Ah, so that’s what that meant?’
Noel’s mouth opened slightly.
This kind of treatment was far too unfamiliar.
Had renting the first and second floors of the building for 10,000 won per floor not already been an enormous gain for him?
‘Wasn’t freeing him from the evil spirit the end of it?’
Noel lifted one corner of his eye slightly.
He had received what he had to receive and given what he had to give.
No way.
‘···Damn it, I can’t do fortune readings.’
How would he know the future?
Even other shamans usually did not know the future clearly unless they were fortune-tellers.
When he watched videos, there were cases where they spoke vaguely about this and that.
Rather, they seemed to guess the past better than the future.
‘He shouldn’t expect that part from me.’
Sss.
Noel pursed his lips.
“I ask for your understanding that I am dressed in plain clothes. If I wore an employee uniform and name tag, I thought it might interfere with your shopping.”
He did not bow too deeply, but the employee greeted him politely.
“Please do not mind me and enjoy your shopping comfortably.”
“Are you going to keep following me?”
“I will do my utmost not to bother you.”
Noel was about to add more, then stopped.
The man’s eyes, attitude, and tone were consistently respectful.
If Noel said something to him here, he felt as if he would be the strange one.
Since the man said he would not bother him, Noel decided simply not to mind him.
There was, however, something he was curious about.
“Older brother. People don’t usually follow you around when you shop, right?”
He openly looked at Yeong-hyeon as he asked.
He might look like a madman, but he was simply curious about the employee’s reaction.
-No. They don’t. That Shin Jang-yul person must be really rich. I’ve seen this kind of thing in dramas, but this is my first time seeing it in real life too.
Noel listened to Yeong-hyeon’s answer and looked at the employee.
He was silent.
The employee truly acted as though he were not present, as though he had heard nothing.
Was that not excellent?
“Ah, I need to watch dramas too.”
Noel spoke as if it were nothing and began walking.
Right now, he was focusing on adjusting.
The knowledge of the two worlds often came out almost equally, leaving him confused.
The reason he had asked Yeong-hyeon just now was because while Noel had never experienced it himself, it had been common in his own world.
There was a caste system, and there were slaves.
As long as one had money, people turned a blind eye no matter how many were worked to the bone.
-When we get home, this older brother will make you a whole list of masterpieces.
Yeong-hyeon proudly pointed at himself with his thumb.
“Then let’s watch them with Ashin.”
-I have already been watching them. I shall recommend some to you as well.
At Ashin’s statement, Noel was somewhat shocked.
‘What? So I was the only one who didn’t know civilization···?’
-We watched them together when you slept.
At the words that followed, Noel looked at the two of them with a displeased face.
‘How petty. They should’ve woken me up and watched together.’
When Noel’s steps quickened, Ashin and Yeong-hyeon burst into laughter at the same time.
***
“···Hmm.”
Noel watched a small wooden factory move.
Lights turned on, and it kept repeating the same motions, but it was more than enough to catch his eye.
Yeong-hyeon said it was a wooden puzzle.
It was quite expensive, but that was not important.
Some were shaped like books, with interiors that looked highly three-dimensional, and some had flowers continuously spinning in the center.
Noel briefly shifted his gaze to the left.
Outside the shop, the employee was holding his luggage and pretending to wait for someone.
The way he was quick-witted and naturally took the bags was astonishing.
‘It definitely is convenient.’
It was even more so because one of Noel’s arms was uncomfortable.
‘I should buy only this and go home.’
There was the fact that he could not keep pretending not to see the employee like that, but he had also bought enough.
He had bought a game console and clothes.
He had walked and walked, melting into the peaceful, noisy atmosphere, and the place he had been drawn into was this shop.
-This is quite fascinating.
Ashin also went closer and stared at it.
-Isn’t it?
An old man sitting quietly in the shop smiled with a good-natured face.
-Of course. There are so many truly pretty things here.
Yeong-hyeon smiled along and answered.
After leisurely weaving through the gathered people and looking around, Yeong-hyeon glanced at the price and was startled.
-···Eek!
He had thought it was extremely splendid and pretty, but it was well over 100,000 won.
It was not as if he would be the one buying it, yet somehow, his liver trembled.
‘It’s really expensive.’
-There are many interesting things here.
The old man cautiously approached Noel.
“Is there something you want?”
When Noel asked, the old man shook his head.
-I only intend to stay a little longer before leaving. Before this place became so large, my shop used to be here. I ran a small stationery shop. I liked seeing people look around and smile, so I kept remaining here, and before I knew it, winter had come again.
Was it lingering attachment?
This kind of ghost was the best.
Because he knew he would pass on soon, he was kind and quiet.
-May I recommend something people often buy?
“The price doesn’t matter, so please choose.”
-It has been a long time since I felt this happy. It reminds me of when I was still in my shop.
When the old man moved, Noel followed him.
-Back then, I was not happy. Every moment felt so sad.
“Why?”
At Noel’s question, the old man answered happily.
Had he thought Noel would not ask?
-I could not earn like others, nor was I respectable like others. I kept hating my socks with holes and my worn-out shoes.
-Because it felt like··· your fault, sir?
When Yeong-hyeon asked carefully, the old man nodded.
-All I had in my whole life was one small stationery shop, so the way my wife and children looked at me seemed less than kind.
He could not dress them in nice clothes like others.
He could not even properly take them out to eat like others.
With nothing to give, he simply smiled one more time and hugged them one more time.
-But life was like this puzzle. I came to know that when I died.
The old man pointed at the wooden puzzle.
-That the tiny things given and received, one by one, then another by another, gathered together to form something this wonderful. I was quite an admirable person. Before I died, my wife and children told me so.
At the place where the old man stopped, there was a wooden puzzle in which cats held each other’s hands and spun in circles amid light spreading from behind.
-If I had known that earlier, I should have been sincerely happy back then instead of sad. I should have smiled more.
At the sight of the old man smiling gently, Yeong-hyeon looked at him quietly.
He looked as though he had thrown everything off lightly.
-···Oh dear, I was so happy I talked too much. People buy this and this the most.
The old man pointed at the wooden puzzles.
While Noel took them out one by one, the old man looked at Yeong-hyeon.
He carefully approached and clasped his hand.
-Student, your life must surely have been an admirable one too. Just like spring.
The words came suddenly, but Yeong-hyeon’s eyes reddened.
Spring.
Was it not too beautiful a word to describe a short life?
***
“···Huh?”
He heard a slightly familiar voice, but Noel remained seated and did not look back.
His legs hurt too much, and it was most certainly not the employee he was waiting for.
At times like this, it was right to drink coffee and pretend not to know.
-It was you! No wonder I kept feeling a familiar power lingering here!
Only at Ashin’s delighted voice did Noel turn his head.
‘Huh···?’
He saw a familiar face.
An old woman stood there, looking at him with a noble bearing.
It was the guardian spirit he had met at Sumi’s Side Dish Shop.
Had he not received her help so Ashin could find her sword?
-It is good to see you too, and the child as well.
The guardian spirit responded with a smile.
-I thought the power felt familiar. To think it was you. How long has it been?
Ashin went over, embraced the guardian spirit, and laughed loudly.
‘So she was a guardian spirit Ashin knew?’
Noel smiled along as he looked at Ashin, who seemed happy.
“Excuse me.”
Only then did Noel turn his head and look at the woman calling him.
She was holding a couple of bags.
Noel had even more than that, and the employee had asked him to wait here for a moment while he prepared so that Noel could return home comfortably.
“Yes.”
“You’ve seen me before, at that line-cutting··· no, at Sumi’s Side Dish Shop, right?”
Her words changed midway, but the woman’s expression was bright.
He did not see any other scheme.
Since Ashin liked that guardian spirit as well, would it not be better to get along with the woman than to be on bad terms?
“Yes. It wasn’t line-cutting, but I did tell you to throw away the large mirror at home. Did you throw it away?”
At Noel’s words, the woman quietly sat beside him.
“To be honest, the moment I heard it, I felt extremely uneasy.”
The corners of the woman’s eyes lifted.
“That makes sense.”
“But I threw it away.”
“You did well.”
“Do you know what happened after I threw it away?”
At the woman’s question, instead of answering right away, Noel looked at the guardian spirit.
She looked flustered.
-My apologies, child. That girl has a very impatient personality.
-Not that. Should you not tell him why you told her to throw away the mirror?
-Ah.
At Ashin’s words, the guardian spirit paused for a moment, then nodded and spoke.
-···One day, that child said she had received a gift. The child liked it, but there was an evil thing in the mirror. I do not know whether something went wrong from the time it was made, or whether the one who gave the gift tampered with it.
There were objects like that sometimes.
During delivery, or when they were made, or else, as the guardian spirit said, when they were given as gifts, bad things could cling to them.
Because they could not be seen, they would enter a home and joyfully spread negative things, wrecking the household.
‘If it was intentional, that’s a vicious thing to do.’
Noel clicked his tongue inwardly.
Because it could be a slow murder without a trace.
“I stopped having nightmares. And I stopped suddenly falling, too. Before I fell, it felt like someone was grabbing my ankle.”
“That’s good.”
“By any chance, are you a shaman?”
“Yes.”
Noel answered and briefly looked at the guardian spirit.
She held his hand again.
-Child. Do not speak of me. That child must not know. She absolutely must not.
“You seemed to be in trouble, so I wanted to help.”
Noel smiled with a good-natured face.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry I shouted at you back then. As thanks, I’ll buy you something. It doesn’t matter how much it costs.”
The woman spoke with all her might and waited for Noel’s answer.
But if he wanted something, he could simply buy it himself.
‘More than that, I’m bothered by that guardian spirit.’
It seemed the guardian spirit’s worries had not yet been resolved.
He thought it would not be bad to leave the guardian spirit owing him a favor.
“Then could you tell me who gave you that mirror? You don’t have to tell me right now.”
Thinking of the guardian spirit, Noel took out his cell phone and wrote a number in the memo app.
“This is my number. Please tell me later when you remember.”
The woman blinked for a moment, then belatedly took out her cell phone and entered the number.
-···Child, thank you. Perhaps Heaven helped so that you and I would meet.
The guardian spirit’s voice sounded rather deep.
What he had expected might be right.
-You, prepare something fairly generous, not merely words of thanks. You know there is no child who sees and hears us as clearly as this one.
Ashin spoke confidently to the guardian spirit.
She did want to show off, but she was not saying it for that reason.
It was simply true.
-Of course I know. That is why, when we first met, I spoke to the child even knowing he would be flustered.
Before the guardian spirit even finished speaking, Noel rose from his seat.
The employee was running over in a hurry.
“Well, then.”
Noel followed the employee and walked away.
‘······Wow. What is this? He must be incredibly famous.’
How much money would one have to spend to make this possible?
Otherwise, there was no way one could have an employee accompanying them.
The woman grew dizzy, wondering just how famous he was.
Even the trust she had already built up rose sharply.
The woman immediately saved Noel’s phone number.
「Super-Famous Bodhisattva」
‘I was uneasy because of that mirror too, so this worked out well. Should I ask about a reading too? Would it be a little··· expensive?’
The woman smiled happily.
She could not believe such an opportunity had come to her.