Not Everything That Arrives Is Human

"Do you not care where this is?" Jiu Ming shook his head and pulled out a profile about some sort of shop. As for the personality of the Beautiful Boy (?) before him, he seemed gentle, steady, and perhaps a little airheaded from the heat?

In any case, the final conclusion was that he was far easier to deal with than the previous girl with such a self-centered personality!

Not to mention that his clothes and pet gave Jiu Ming a sense of nostalgia—rather, it was something that arose involuntarily upon seeing him.

"Hmm, it really is a shop?" Looking over the provided profile, Wang Yao muttered, "But I can't see what there is here to sell."

"Well, this place has only just opened, so while it claims that anything can be traded, I really don't have much available for trade yet." Jiu Ming shrugged, being quite straightforward about it. Still, shouldn't things progress step by step for him?

Why had he encountered two customers in a row right from the start, both of whom were difficult for him to handle?

Other than fighting, he truly did not have much stock that could be traded. Hmm... that Life Card could work, but did the person before him need it?

From the clarity in the other man's eyes, Jiu Ming could clearly see the weariness of someone who had personally witnessed the passage of eras.

"Oh, young man, time can accumulate many things. No need to rush." Wang Yao smiled kindly and shifted slightly. The sofa beneath him let out a faint, unpleasant creak. "Is there no tea here?"

"I'll go buy some tea leaves."

Jiu Ming stood and temporarily left the place.

"Mm-hmm, this really is a strange place, aru~." Stroking the red panda beside him, Wang Yao lazily shifted his body, making the sofa let out another mournful groan. "A fine junior. If only that whole bunch of troublesome little brothers and sisters of mine were like this."

"Huh? He just left without saying a word."

When Jiu Ming returned, he found the sofa restored to normal and empty. Tossing the tea leaves in his hand onto the nearby table, he sat down directly. Ow, hard!

Pulling out the thing he had sat on, Jiu Ming narrowed his eyes. Had Wang Yao left this behind?

It felt like a gesture of goodwill, sure, but why would it be this thing...

Name: Fifty-Year Aged Preserved Egg

Type: Consumable

Attributes: Recovery, Poison

Quality: Excellent

Uses: 1

Remarks: A genuine fifty-year-aged preserved egg! Eating it has a powerful restorative effect, but it will definitely give you food poisoning!

Convertible Origin Power: 100

"No forced collection. Looks like he gave it to me, but can this even be eaten?" The corner of Jiu Ming's mouth twitched as he placed the thing on the coffee table. The moment it touched down, it made a thud. Could this be used to smash people?

Something worth 100 Origin Power... well, perhaps someone on the verge of death really could survive by eating it. Compared to something as minor as food poisoning, it was still better than dying.

"This counts as the second product, right?"

With nothing else to do, Jiu Ming simply sat there, wondering whether a third max-level character capable of slaughtering a newbie village might show up soon...

But the third time, there probably would not be such good luck with a parting gift, right?

Heh-heh-heh... that should be impossible.

Thinking that, Jiu Ming twitched at the corner of his eye and pressed the answer button. He was genuinely frightened by the other party's relentless persistence. His decision to decisively wipe her out in one go back then had been absolutely correct!

Otherwise, this place would have been turned upside down by now.

"I'm saying, after things have reached this point, you should be able to give up."

"How could I?! Something this Regiment Leader has decided on! I will never give up!!"

Hearing the voice from the phone, Jiu Ming moved it slightly away from his ear and thought for a moment. "How about this? If you can 'luckily' find this place again, I'll give you a way to come here whenever you want."

"Really?" In the SOS Brigade's clubroom, Suzumiya Haruhi wore a faintly suspicious expression, though there was even more excitement and anticipation she could barely suppress.

"Of course! We conduct fair trades. If you agree to give me the phone in my hand, I'll definitely keep my word. But before then, stop harassing me."

"Okay!!" Her drawn-out reply made Jiu Ming able to imagine exactly how the girl on the other end was cheering. "It's only a phone! Just wait, Regiment Leader here will definitely drag you out!"

"Is that so?" Jiu Ming smiled softly. "Then I'll be looking forward to it."

Sure enough, the moment Suzumiya Haruhi agreed, the forced collection requirement disappeared. Hanging up, Jiu Ming shook his head and set the phone aside. There was still some time before a month passed, so he would keep it for now.

Bang!!

Jiu Ming had only just closed his eyes when the third customer arrived, and their entrance was quite unusual. They had actually rammed the door open. If not for the Mysterious Shop's rules, the door would probably have shattered the instant it was hit.

A thick stench of blood instantly filled the entire living room. Watching the enormous creature charge in, Jiu Ming's eye twitched. Had this thing just escaped death?

The monster wore a pale bone mask and had a round hole in its chest. What the hell was this thing?

"Soul!!!" The moment the monster saw Jiu Ming, its eyes lit up like electrified bulbs, glaring with blinding red light. Drooling heavily, it charged wildly toward him.

"Don't wreck my stuff!" Seeing the furniture sent flying by the impact, Jiu Ming cried out in distress and directly summoned Panel-kun. The neatly arranged living room instantly turned into a pale, empty space.

"Can't we talk this out properly? I sell things here, this isn't a place to vent..." Dodging the monster's first charge, Jiu Ming frowned. Since the thing could speak, it could communicate. But why did it so obviously see him as some powerful supplement?

"Give yourself to me! Let me eat you!!" Even though it was badly injured, the monster still displayed an extremely savage nature. Its huge claws kept swiping at Jiu Ming, while its enormous mouth occasionally tried to bite him.

Crack—

The monster had barely finished speaking when it took a vicious kick to the face and flew sideways. Several cracks appeared along one side of its pale bone mask.

So hard.

After steadying himself, Jiu Ming scratched his hair. It was not without reason that the Mysterious Shop changed shopkeepers so frequently. After all, any living creature might stumble into this place. It could even be said that nonliving things might end up here too. For example, a rock falling into a pit and somehow getting lucky enough to arrive here... that was not impossible!

Those were still manageable. But what was one supposed to do when encountering an unreasonable "customer" like the one Jiu Ming faced? Naturally, send them off with a peaceful and profitable approach. If that did not work...

"Hey, Panel-kun, I attacked first just now, right?"

Origin value is zero. Protection mechanism not activated.

"Hey, that's not fair! You never said there would be consumption involved too!"

Protection mechanism consumes 10 Origin Power per second and activates the instant an attack is received.

Panel-kun ignored Jiu Ming completely. After explaining, it immediately concealed itself again, likely afraid that even a second later, it would be smashed back into fragments of light.

"So if I had wanted to test how strong the protection mechanism here was just now, I would already have been half eaten? I'm starting to understand why the shopkeepers here get replaced so often. Nasty customers really do come knocking."

"Um... if you go back to wherever you came from now, I can stop."

After consecutively dodging several of its attacks and opening up some distance, Jiu Ming pointed behind it. The door that could bring in any customer had appeared not far from the monster.

"Damn it, damn it! I'm an Adjuchas-level Menos! What's wrong with becoming my food?!" The monster was clearly dominated by its intense hunger and did not pay Jiu Ming any attention at all.

"Hollow... what the hell is that?"

Could it be a Monster from another world? He could be certain now: unless it ate him, this thing would not leave easily. Judging by its injuries, it had treated him like a walking health potion.

Negotiations had failed, so then...

"I've dealt with Monsters before." Muttering that, Jiu Ming no longer continued dodging. He swung his arm and knocked aside the Hollow's claw, the instant burst of force sending it flying sideways once more.

Jiu Ming did not take the chance to pursue. He touched his arm. Even though he was a Soul Body, his arm was trembling slightly. Not only was the mask hard, its body was hard as hell too. After two exchanges, Jiu Ming had gained some sense of its strength, but that was still not enough.

He could overpower it in explosive force, but its body was far too hard. Throwing a punch at it made his own body ache from the recoil.

"Are you one of those damned Soul Reapers too? Die!"

The Menos lying on the ground roared. Being sent flying twice in a row had clearly enraged it to the extreme. It opened its mouth and spat at Jiu Ming...

Perhaps it counted as spit to creatures like it.

A crimson beam that easily blasted through the air swept toward Jiu Ming. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he raised his arm and looked at the half of his sleeve that had been scorched away. How had this suddenly gone from hand-to-hand combat to laser weapons?

He quickly lowered his body as a massive claw swept over his head. Bracing both hands against the ground, he kicked the Hollow's enormous body upward with strength amplified by his mental burst. Pushing off with his supporting hands, Jiu Ming flipped back to his feet and brought a downward whip kick crashing onto its head.

The Hollow slammed heavily onto the ground. Since its hide was so tough, he would break through from the inside.

Clasping his hands together, Jiu Ming hammered them down at its head. A violent shockwave spread through the ground, and the Hollow's huge body convulsed fiercely. Its bone mask shattered into fine fragments under the heavy blow, exposing a horribly twisted face.

The violent impact from that strike had completely pushed this already badly injured Hollow to the end of its life.

"Damn it... if I hadn't been seriously wounded by that Soul Reaper..."

"Who cares who wounded you?" Letting out a long breath, Jiu Ming sat back with trembling arms. The furniture concealed around him rapidly reappeared as though filling the space, and when Jiu Ming fully sat down, he was already back on the sofa.

"If you didn't have that annoying defense, you'd have been beaten to death long ago. That hurt!"

Rubbing his arms, Jiu Ming bared his teeth. Right, what exactly was a Soul Reaper? Some skeleton wearing a tattered cloak and carrying a huge scythe? Looking closely, the wounds on this Hollow that called itself a Hollow were all blade wounds.

Afterward, the dead Hollow's body slowly began to dissolve into motes of light.