What? Why Don't You Just Rob Us?

This place didn't seem to be the world she'd originally lived in, and she didn't have to worry about being unable to return. Jiu Ming had assured her several times that all she had to do was walk back through the door she'd entered, and she'd be home!

Besides, in over a thousand years of life as a yokai, she'd never encountered anything like this. She could imagine that once she left, she might never have another chance to come back.

And most importantly, she'd confirmed that traveling between worlds seemed remarkably easy here?

"Since that's settled, I should be going too."

"Want me to see you off?"

"Sure." Yakumo Yukari smiled faintly at Jiu Ming. "Take me home... How about it?"

"How could a girl casually invite a strange man to her home? That's terribly improper!" Jiu Ming paused, his expression grave. "Don't bring that up again!"

"..."

Yakumo Yukari's mouth twitched. He was obviously just scared. Why make up an excuse!?

Talk about asking for trouble!

"Enough talk. Since this is a shop, you must have something that lets customers come back, right?"

"Huh?" Jiu Ming was slightly surprised. How had she figured that out? They did have something like that! But he couldn't just give one to anyone. They took time to generate—one every ten days.

"We do, but they're usually for customers with enormous potential."

"Oh? And I don't qualify?"

Yakumo Yukari glanced at Jiu Ming. Was he really going to get coy with her? If she couldn't threaten him, she wouldn't be wasting time chatting with him.

"Well, of course you qualify. It's just that these things are precious, and with your Gap ability..."

"Impossible." Yakumo Yukari cut him off. "Little shopkeeper, have you thought about the consequences of trying to fool a Great Yokai?"

A Great Yokai...?

Tch. So she wasn't human after all.

"Fine. Anyway, interrupting people is a bad habit, so hear me out!" Jiu Ming gave a light cough. One Invitation Card in exchange for such a powerful ability? Dream on. According to the Mysterious Shop's rules, Invitation Cards were usually given away for free...

The Mysterious Shop even encouraged shopkeepers to hand out Invitation Cards.

Think about it. Anyone who came here had to pay 100 Origin Power. Not many people would want to convert their own power, since the most readily available thing to convert was Life Force. And converting power wasn't much better. Although the amount was small each time, it lowered the upper limit of your strength, not the lower limit.

So the best option was to find something else to trade. But converting items into Origin Power came with a fifty percent discount... That discount... Jiu Ming once again wondered if the Mysterious Shop was skimming off the top. Not everyone could pull a Nagato Yuki and get the goods first, then pay later.

"It doesn't have to be permanent. You can trade it with a limit on the number of uses. As for the cost to you... the number of trades would count as the same number of times you used the ability, so the power consumption would be the same. Fair enough, right?"

"Really? You didn't mention that before, you naughty little shopkeeper."

"...Could you stop calling me 'little'? Did I tell you that before? I might've forgotten."

Name: Gap

Type: Skill

Attribute: Space

Uses: 5

Notes: Avoid frequent use

Remark: Be careful, or the Gap might swallow you~

Convertible Origin Power: 600

As expected, the prices for unlimited and limited-use versions were as different as the moon and a turtle...

Wait! That was actually a great way to sell these! But... Jiu Ming scratched his head. As the shopkeeper, even if he temporarily loaded an ability card, he couldn't trade with himself and make a limited-use version.

He could only get one by trading with someone else.

"You have to know where you're going before using it, right...? Then you can stay inside the Gap and look for the exact spot you want to emerge. Very convenient."

"Of course. But if you travel too far in one go..." Yakumo Yukari smiled slyly. "Be careful your little body can handle it..."

Huh? Why had she explained it in such detail? After finishing, Yakumo Yukari paused in confusion. Was she happy because this way of trading used surprisingly little of her power?

The cost really was small. Five uses cost her as much as opening the Gap ten times, and that didn't even account for the added cost of traveling farther.

Even so, there was no need for her to explain so much...

Yakumo Yukari looked around, but sensed nothing unusual. And Jiu Ming clearly didn't have the power to influence her to this extent. How... strange.

She temporarily pushed the thought aside and examined the transparent card in her hand. She could understand the large Arabic numeral 0 printed on it.

"With this, you'll have to pay some 'Origin Power' whenever you want to come here. Huh? What's Origin Power? Just think of it as the universal currency here. Lots of things can be converted into it: rare treasures and strange items, Life Force, special powers—it's all acceptable. But if you sacrifice those, you can't get back what you lose, so it's best to convert items instead."

"...One thing to keep in mind: if an item is worth too much, this thing can't give you change. If you think that's a bad deal, you can bring other people along. Just think about the method while holding the item. And you can lose this thing, too!"

So the Mysterious Shop really was mired in corruption!

The Sealed Card in Jiu Ming's hand, which had held five uses of the Gap, suddenly split into five cards, each with one use...

It was a simple way to break them down, and it only worked on Sealed Cards for skills. No matter how much you tried to split an item card, you couldn't break it down!

"I've wasted quite a bit of time, but at least I got something out of it. See you next time, little shopkeeper."

Yakumo Yukari waved at Jiu Ming and turned to leave the place that had felt so strange to her. Only after she came to her senses did she realize something—like how easily she'd trusted what Jiu Ming said about the items he'd offered.

She'd simply believed whatever he told her? That was completely unlike her. It was as if she'd been prompted into acting against her usual nature.

Even if everything Jiu Ming had said was true, that inexplicable trust still felt abnormal. As for the rest of their conversation, she'd been entirely herself, saying whatever she wanted.

Now, after walking back to the World Crossing Gate, she paused again and glanced at the card Jiu Ming had called an Invitation Card. Had she really believed without asking a thing that it would let her return here?

She'd already been on guard against this sort of thing, so how had it happened again without her noticing? This was unacceptable!

With that thought, she quickened her pace. The sealed room she'd entered was right in front of her. As soon as she stepped through the door, the surroundings changed in an instant. She was back where she'd opened the Gap and traveled from earlier.

She was back already?

There hadn't even been time for her to examine the process of traveling between worlds. It was unbelievably efficient.

Another world, huh?

She recalled the furniture in the place where Jiu Ming lived. It was obviously nothing like what her own era would have.

Awooo—

A Demon Wolf in Yakumo Yukari's line of sight let out a piercing scream and collapsed.

"Tch, not worth much?"

Looking at the card placed on the Demon Wolf's corpse, where the number had only risen to 23, Yakumo Yukari put away the Invitation Card and turned to leave. It was only a little yokai, after all. It wasn't worth much...

If Jiu Ming had been there, he might have explained that its value could go up if she processed the wolf's hide. That was the only part of the Demon Wolf worth anything. It wasn't some fantasy beast that would leave behind a magic crystal when killed.

"Hey, Wang Hai. I've got something pretty good here. Want to buy it?" With new merchandise in hand, Jiu Ming naturally started contacting people. He didn't know many people, but fortunately Wang Hai had connections.

He could keep one or two of the five Gap uses for himself. The rest could be sold.

"Something pretty good?"

"Did you forget I'm a Mysterious Merchant—self-proclaimed or not?"

"...Really? I feel like you're more of a slacker than a merchant. Same place?" Wang Hai glanced at Li Rui Ming, who was eagerly signaling at him, and twitched the corner of his eye. He motioned for him to calm down. What was he getting so worked up about?

"Sure."

Jiu Ming nodded. After today, he figured he wouldn't have to worry about his sales figures for the rest of the month.

...At the usual place...

"Are you trying to fool me? You're a grown man, and you're still playing with these cards?"

Frowning, Wang Hai looked at the card Jiu Ming had handed him, feeling like he'd been made a fool of.

And the warning on it said "Avoid frequent use" when it was in Jiu Ming's hands, but in his, it had become "You must avoid frequent use." Fine, even "as much as possible" would've been better than "must."

He was clearly being looked down on!

"Tch, I'm a Mysterious Merchant. How could I sell fakes? Check the back. I engraved all the details on it." The outside world didn't have the Mysterious Shop's strict rules, but Jiu Ming could still instantly recall the Sealed Card from within three meters. Of course, against someone like Yakumo Yukari, even thirty meters wouldn't help!

"You're sure this thing works? It feels like some kind of magic scroll."

After reading the detailed information Jiu Ming had engraved on the back using his shopkeeper privileges, Wang Hai hesitated. He couldn't figure out what the card was made of, no matter how long he examined it. And given how little he knew about Jiu Ming, could it actually be real?

"Just think of it as a one-use magic scroll. It definitely works. If you don't believe me, I can demonstrate it for you—but I'll have to charge extra. Let's say seven or eight High-Energy Crystals like the ones you showed me that day."

After all, Changhe Academy really had brought out the good stuff that day to win Jiu Ming over!

But he'd walked off with his own Low-Grade High-Energy Crystals anyway.

As if a few high-value High-Energy Crystals would be enough to buy me off! The super one from the Thunder Snake King was still sitting in his pocket!

"What? Why don't you just rob us!?" Wang Hai's mouth twitched violently. That thing was worth a fortune.