Chapter 3: Inventory

Fortunately, my hand was fine.

If it had been one of those phone explosion accidents you often hear about on the news, my hand would’ve been shredded to bits.

As I tried to calm my startled heart,

Johanna approached me again, this time more aggressively, hanging onto my collar.

So short.

“No, no, Ark! What did you do? Where’s the Tablet of Purification? Where did it go?”

Lines from the game.

But contrary to her pure-looking appearance,

Johanna was quite lively and unpredictable.

“I don’t know either.”

“But Ark, you’re the one who blew it up…!”

I hadn’t touched anything.

I was just watching.

It felt a bit unfair, but…

I couldn’t entirely deny the possibility that it was related to me somehow.

I recalled parts of the message I had just seen:

Unauthorized access.

Account deletion.

The meaning was clear.

…The protagonist was off to the next reset attempt.

And then,

-Nearby device detected. 

-Pairing.

“Kyaaa?!”

“Let me see for a moment.”

Acting on a sudden instinct, I retrieved my smartphone that Johanna had taken earlier.

Luckily, no strange messages appeared on it…

[Installation of the app ‘Last Felix (DEBUG)’ is complete.]

Never mind.

Something had changed.

Right next to the pre-installed ‘Shopkeeper Add-on’ app, there was a new game icon that looked very familiar, but with a slightly suspicious suffix added to it.

However,

[NOW LOADING・・・・・・・ (0%)]

[DEBUG: Data collection required.]

When I tried to run it, there was nothing I could do except stare at a cryptic loading screen.

“What is it? Can you see something? Is it a divine revelation? A revelation?!”

Watching Johanna bounce around excitedly,

she somehow felt like the little sister next door.

“Kyaaa…?!”

Before I realized it, I found myself patting her on the head.

Then, squeezing out the best acting I could muster,

“Ugh, my head hurts after seeing that light…”

I pretended to be in pain.

Whether my acting had worked or her saintly side was showing,

Johanna quickly calmed down.

Though her face was slightly flushed, as if she couldn’t fully contain her excitement.

“…Right. Ark, you must be really confused too.”

And then, she suddenly clapped her hands together.

What now? 

What is it?

“That’s it! The Revelation! The Revelation… Ark, until I say otherwise, don’t tell anyone about what just happened with the Revelation, okay? Especially not the Heroes. Got it? Promise me?”

She rambled at lightning speed, then forcibly grabbed my hand and pressed my thumb down as if making me swear an oath.

And like a storm, Johanna disappeared.

…Was she always like this?

This feels oddly fresh.

Anyway, to clear my head from the confusion, and to deal with an important matter I had been postponing, I braced myself.

And then.

“Status window!”

…But nothing happened!

I felt dejected…

“Status!”

“Information!”

“I have awakened the life of entertainment!”

No response occurred even with the other standard commands.

It seems the only thing I can rely on is my smartphone.

I sighed.

Click.

Just in case another encounter like Johanna happens, I locked the shop door in advance.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Rattle, rattle, rattle~

I summoned every item available for purchase at the Overseer’s Shop and laid them all out on the floor.

Then, I neatly organized them into the empty shelves.

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it.

Experience Potion.

The official name is Elixir of Growth.

What would happen if I drank the potion that characters drink to level up?

If I’m also treated as a character…

Could I conquer the tower with just my fists by drinking the potion alone?

The dream of a man surged within me.

This is destiny.

Without hesitation, I opened one potion and downed it in one shot.

“Urgh.”

Tastes terrible…

Still, it feels like something is happening.

My stomach is churning, and it seems like a sign of growth.

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp…

After about four bottles, noticeable changes began happening to my body.

“Urrrgh…!”

Oh no.

Where’s the bathroom?!

* * *

After enduring a stormy episode, 

I concluded with a pale face.

It had no effect on me…

No beneficial effects at all.

Instead, it gave me severe side effects that tormented me for over an hour.

Operation One Punch Man ends here.

So, it means I’ll eventually have to rely on the characters’ strength to conquer the tower, just like in the original game.

While Johanna might cooperate if I persuade her somehow, she’s just a pure healer without any attack skills. 

She alone can’t break through the tower.

If there’s any clue at all, it’s the “quest log.”

Ignoring whatever debugging this is, there are duties I must fulfill as the shopkeeper.

Even if tower conquest is heavily tied to the conditions, since it’s a power granted to me, 

I should use it and fully understand it.

My muscle memory, trained from working part-time at convenience stores, might help in this bizarre situation.

I opened the shop door I had locked and basked in the radiant sunlight pouring in.

I began preparing to greet customers.

* * *

“Do you have dragon scales? No? Hmm…”

[The customer was not satisfied.]

“I brought slime fluid from the forest!”

“Well, let me see. So, slime fluid is….”

“Argh, you fool! It’s 10 gold!”

“Is it? Here you go.”

“Kuhehe, what an idiot!”

[You were scammed. Reputation increased by 1, but popularity decreased by 1.]

[The customer was satisfied.]

“One piece of lizard skin, please.”

“Luckily, we have it in stock. It’s 50 gold.”

[The customer was satisfied.]

“Sigh…”

Running a shop isn’t easy.

It’s not something you can compare to working part-time at a convenience store.

I miss the POS system…

Customers would bring all sorts of random junk to sell, and they’d go crazy trying to buy items I’d never heard of before.

I relied heavily on a thick book stored under the counter, listing all the materials, their purchase prices, and their selling prices.

Even after hours of this grueling work, I managed to complete all the daily quests.

If there was one aspect of the job that increased my satisfaction, it was that I could freely see the real-life versions of 3-star and 4-star playable characters—heroes.

Thanks to the game’s setting that only women could become heroes, my eyes were delighted.

As expected, it’s a “cute girl zoo” game. Solid performance.

“Excuse me, can I get ten elf arrows?”

“We’re sold out. And we’re closing now.”

After sending off the last customer, I shut the door.

Clang.

Click.

[Shop Overview]

[Total Level: 1]

[Reputation: 12 / 100 (Very Poor)]

[Accumulated Popularity: 7 (★)]

[Number of Workers: 0]

[Unused Shop Experience: 200]

It was a very slight improvement.

At this rate, when will I ever complete the main quest of achieving a reputation of 30 or more?

It felt like something that time could resolve, but the problem was that time wouldn’t wait for me.

Solving problems as a shopkeeper seemed like it would require a more long-term approach.

“Sigh…”

I let out a deep sigh and placed my smartphone on the counter.

At that moment, a white light shimmered, and a gold coin rolling on the counter was suddenly sucked into my smartphone.

“…What?”

Startled, I stared at the smartphone screen.

[NOW LOADING… (5%)]

[DEBUG: Data collection required.]

[LOG: Inventory feature unlocked.]

The debug app, which I hadn’t closed earlier, had its loading bar progressing, and a new button had appeared below it.

Inventory.

When I pressed the button:

[Inventory]

Slime’s Fluid x3

Low-Grade Elixir of Growth x5

Medal of Growth x1

Universal 3-Star Hero Contract x9

Exclusive 5-Star Hero Contract for ‘Revelation’s Saintess’ Yoena x1

Items that seemed to have been left by the protagonist during the tutorial or through gacha pulls were now in the inventory.

Just like when using the Revelation Shop…

Plop.

Flutter.

A single sheet of paper, radiating a dazzling rainbow glow, gently floated down into my hand.

Immediately after.

[LOG: The character information feature has been unlocked.]

[LOG: The compendium feature has been unlocked.]

[DEBUG: Permissions are not perfect. Some features are restricted.]

“Hmm.”

I think I get the gist of it.

In short, the abilities originally possessed by the Revelatorhave exploded like shards of the Shikon Jewel, scattering everywhere.

And it seems my role as a debugger is to retrieve them.

A thrill ran through my brilliant mind.

I saw a breakthrough.

The points gathered through running the shop could be exchanged for various benefits in the ‘Point Shop.’

[Point Shop]

-Reset daily sales quantity for the Revelator’s Shop (100 points)

-Reset weekly sales quantity for the Revelator’s Shop (500 points)

…

Permanently increase customer satisfaction with transactions (2,000 points)

…

-Expand shop premises (5,000 points)

Upgrading my abilities was important, but resetting the sales quantity—

By leveraging that feature, I could duplicate growth resources with a single click, 

Use those to nurture the hero, conquer the tower, solve the ultimate problem, 

And secure a peaceful life where no one rushes me.

A perfect process.

Moreover, I could also collect Divine Stones from the shop and as first-clear rewards when conquering the tower.

That meant I could enthusiastically roll the gacha as well!

“Hehehe.”

My goal became crystal clear:

During the day, a diligent and sincere shop owner.

At night, an Revelator (proxy) conquers the tower.

When one sets their mind to something, they must act immediately.

Clatter.

I swept all the growth resources piled up in the cabinet into my smartphone and into my inventory.

Then, I stepped out of the shop.