72 Invention of the Century

In the end, the navy-blue fabric was chosen just as Ms. Kim intended.

Honestly, I would have preferred black, but since she's an SNS influencer, her sense for trendy stuff is probably better than mine.

‘Meracle, aimed at the younger generation. Nice.’

Though there was one culprit who alone dragged the average age up by a full 1,902 years, people like that are usually left out when you calculate the average.

Once Ms. Kim had decided everything, things moved quickly.

“Yes, then we’ll go ahead with the fitting.”

I had wondered what chaechon was, but it was just taking measurements.

“B-boss. P-put it on camera.”

“Huh? O-oh! Okay.”

What was that supposed to mean?

I took the phone and filmed the fitting. Surprisingly, the thing used to take the measurements was just an ordinary tape measure.

“Please raise your arms.”

With both arms raised, the boss measured my chest, starting from the ribs.

‘……This is really embarrassing.’

I tried to avert my eyes, feeling like I was about to learn an employee’s bust size by accident—.

“H-how much?”

“Huh? Ah—under 75 cm, upper bust 95 cm, so you’re a 75E cup.”

“Hmph.”

I wondered why she was even asking that.

Ms. Kim looked smugly at me through the mirror. She seemed quite confident in herself.

‘Is that much confidence why she’s an influencer?’

Or maybe becoming an influencer is what fills her with so much confidence.

‘Come to think of it, does Ms. Kim work out?’

While her hip circumference was being measured, a question suddenly crossed my mind. Looking at her, it seemed like she just ate whatever she wanted, but her body looked trained.

“W-what are you looking at?”

“Huh? Ah... sorry.”

Without realizing it, I found myself staring at her hips and getting lost in thought.

Ms. Kim glared at me through the mirror.

“S-sexual harassment. I-I’m suing you.”

“The boss will misunderstand you.”

“H-hand over the settlement money.”

Still, the good thing was that the tailor boss laughed it off. I was glad she took it as a joke.

“Yes, the measurements are done. We’ll move on to the next person right away.”

“Y-yes.”

I took off my outer coat and was about to step forward naturally when Ms. Kim had a brief conversation with the boss.

Then Ms. Kim took the tape measure from the boss instead.

“What are you doing?”

“I-I’ll do it.”

“Why?”

“V-vlog. Ah! D-does the boss know SNS?!”

“…….”

Probably not.

The boss kindly explained beside my shrinking self.

She said she wanted to film a video once as if it were a hands-on experience.

“Won’t the measurements come out wrong?”

“I’ll be watching from the side, so you don’t need to worry.”

Well, if that was the case.

As I stood in front of the mirror, Ms. Kim immediately started taking my measurements. Starting with my head circumference—.

“Hey, why are you measuring my head?”

“B-big head.”

“What a load of crap.”

After that she measured my shoulders, chest, and hips in sequence. When she measured my chest, she was in a position like she was hugging me from behind, so I got a little tense.

Maybe because I’d just learned the exact size was 75E, the feel of her back against mine was strangely odd.

“Ahem.”

I coughed awkwardly, and Ms. Kim whispered into my ear.

“P-pervert.”

“Shut up.”

She really didn’t hold back with the boss.

After that, she measured my hip circumference, thighs, calves, and so on, and the fitting was over.

The boss smiled brightly and continued after organizing our size data on a tablet.

“It usually takes about two weeks to tailor, but for this one we’ll speed it up as much as possible and narrow it down to about a week.”

“Thank you.”

“If you edit the video, please send it to us once before uploading. We need to review it too.”

“O-of course.”

Their conversation behind me continued. They talked in detail about how this sponsorship would proceed, the direction for filming the suit at the end of the video, and the greatly changed highlights.

I quietly listened to them talk and looked around.

Then what caught my eye was the shoes.

‘Come to think of it, my shoes are worn out too.’

After a little thought, I butted in.

“Do you also sell shoes separately here?”

“Yes, that’s right. We do sell dress shoes separately. However, they aren’t our brand; we’re collaborating with another—”

After hearing the rough explanation, I tapped Ms. Kim and made a suggestion.

“Pick a pair of shoes. Thanks to you, the suit is free too, so I’ll buy you shoes at least.”

“R-really?”

“Then would I be lying?”

“T-this place is expensive.”

“I’ve got money too.”

When I grinned, Ms. Kim, who had been staring at me, gave a small nod, apparently embarrassed.

“...Thanks.”

* * *

The remodeling work was finished.

I thought it would take quite a while, but when I asked a construction company that brought mages with them, it finished ridiculously fast.

Meracle had definitely changed.

Overall, it was navy blue.

The entrance was still on the second floor, but we got rid of the consultation room altogether and neatly arranged sofas for the lobby and waiting area.

Finally, we put in a TV, water dispenser, flowerpots, and the like so people waiting could stay comfortably.

The most important part was that a small staircase had been added inside, connecting the second and third floors.

Of course, it had been a hassle getting permission from the old lady at the gukbap restaurant, and the construction costs were no joke either.

Still, I felt proud.

Going up to the third floor, you were greeted by a calm, modern navy-blue hallway and three rooms.

Two were consultation rooms.

One was an office.

I wanted to make a boss’s office, but even if I did, there’d be nowhere to rest, so everyone would obviously swarm over it.

That said, it really had cost a ton of money...

If I had to name one advantage I still had, it was that I didn’t have a bank loan.

When I came down from the 7th floor, I dumped all the money they’d given me as so-called settlement support into it and started the business with cash upfront, but.

Now I had a loan.

Which meant I’d be paying the bank every month.

Still, I felt proud that I’d made a proper company.

“W-whoa...!”

Second-floor lobby.

Renea marveled at the changed interior.

“Where do I work now?!”

“In the office—”

“The office! So this one is finally an office lady!?”

“You can do the cleaning.”

“…….”

Unfortunately, her role as the cleaning lady hadn’t changed.

Reichen stood in front of the lobby, already organizing internal documents on the computer.

“Reichen, from now on you can receive customers here. Consultation order, payments, and reservation calls will all come through this side.”

“Understood, boss.”

“Yeah, broadly speaking, the second floor is under your overall supervision.”

So dependable.

As I smiled proudly, Ms. Kim came down the stairs from the third floor.

The navy suit she had tailored at Alromang last time suited her very well.

“B-boss. T-two consultation rooms.”

Ms. Kim, who had come down, tilted her head and asked.

As if asking why it had been built that way when I was the only one who could do consultations—.

I smiled a little and cleared my throat for no reason.

“Ahem, Meracle, line up!”

Reichen alone stood at attention in front of me. Seems he’s used to it; the magic tower is said to be strict about hierarchy.

“Ah! This one has done it often too!”

As expected of a 1,900-year-old old fogey elf.

I could kind of see how she used to boss kids around back in the day.

With those two standing at attention in front of me, Ms. Kim eventually sighed and stood in front too.

“Ahem. Now, Meracle is about to make a new leap forward.”

“Yaaawn.”

Ms. Kim yawned pointedly as if to make sure I heard it.

I kept talking as if I hadn’t heard her.

Since we’re making this leap, we should give everyone a reward so they can diligently carry out their duties, right?

“A reward?!”

Renea beamed happily. Not only that, the other two also looked interested.

“First, Ms. Kim.”

I took a small employee ID card from my pocket and handed it over.

“Promoted from staff to assistant manager! From now on, you won’t just do simple office work; as a manager, you’ll carry out consultation work with me.”

“Clap clap clap clap clap!”

Reichen and Renea clapped enthusiastically.

Ms. Kim looked flustered as if she hadn’t expected it, then carefully accepted the employee ID card.

“T-thank you.”

“Haha! Keep working hard for Meracle from now on.”

“P-promotion means... a s-salary raise?”

“...You could say that.”

“H-how much?”

“Let’s talk about the details later.”

I’m in debt now.

I can’t raise it too much.

Since it looked like the salary talk would keep going, I moved right on to the next person.

“Now, Reichen! Having faithfully carried out your duties as an intern, I appoint you as a full-time employee!”

“Thank you.”

Truthfully, the internship period hadn’t even been that long, but Reichen could be bumped up as much as I wanted.

Anyway, he was free labor.

“You have a suit too, right, Reichen? Wear it to work from now on.”

“Understood.”

As expected, maybe because he has money.

He answered right away.

Then, the last one.

Renea was staring at me with sparkling, expectant eyes.

“Now, Renea!”

“Y-yes! Yes! Me! This one is here!”

Smiling back at the beaming Renea, I took something from behind the counter and handed it over.

“I hereby bestow upon you a cordless vacuum cleaner. Keep cleaning hard for Meracle from now on.”

“…….”

“I was actually going to buy a robot vacuum, but then Ms. Renea would lose her job—w-wait, she’s got a bow! Stop her! Stop her!”

* * *

Parang Pureum Apartments.

One of the apartments on the third floor, just the right size for a middle-class family to live comfortably.

On the weekend, the children’s laughter drifting in from the outdoor playground from early morning showed just how cozy the whole apartment complex was.

“Ah, shit...”

And here.

A woman wearing glasses, with her hair crudely tied up because she hadn’t even washed it.

A once-promising mage from the Abyss Research Society, she had ultimately been reduced by the magic tower’s interference to a third-floor office worker.

Ophelia irritably shut the veranda window, cutting off the children’s laughter.

“And someone is doing overtime on a laptop even on the weekend.”

A white tank top and short shorts.

While irritably checking the laptop with a toothbrush in her mouth, rustling sounds came from the sofa behind her.

“You’re awake? Then let’s eat. What do you want?”

“Mm.”

Pulling back the blanket on the sofa revealed Beloa of the Infinite Library.

After Gellerwind’s funeral, she hadn’t returned to the library and was living as a freeloader at her classmate’s house.

“Anything...”

“You’ll just be picky again after saying that. Sigh, but when are you going back to the library?”

“No idea.”

At the sight of Beloa crawling back under the blanket again, she let out a sigh.

“Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!”

The doorbell was being pressed over and over.

“Which crazy bastard—.”

“Aaaah, so loud.”

Passing by Beloa covering her ears, Ophelia opened the front door.

“Who is it!”

When she yanked the door open irritably, there stood a tall man with spiky hair and especially large eyes.

“Aranchino? Why are you here?”

His name was Aranchino.

He was also from the Abyss Research Society, a classmate who had gone to the funeral with them last time.

“H-here! Be, Beloa! Is, is Beloa here?!”

“Uh... she is.”

A mage called a necromancer.

That is, since he mainly handled necromancy, he never stayed still for even a moment.

Only after coming down to the third floor did Ophelia realize that was a kind of tic disorder.

The moment he heard Beloa was there, Aranchino rushed inside at once.

He was carefully hugging a white bundle, and for a moment Ophelia frowned, thinking maybe he’d had a kid or something.

“What... is it?”

Beloa sat with the blanket wrapped all around her body.

Aranchino sat down in a flurry and unwrapped his bundle on the desk—.

“A radio?”

It was a radio.

The sinister, ominous purple mana rippling over it was visible even to Beloa’s eyes.

“Ugh.”

She pinched her nose at the piercing stench, and Ophelia irritably opened the window again to air the place out.

“I-I did it! I—I fulfilled my wish! I—I saw the truth of the world!”

“A secret?”

“It started with something simple—! I wanted to hear the voices of the corpses I handle! You know?! Whether they remember their previous lives! Huh?! Or whether they just follow what I say now?”

“Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!”

Aranchino tapped the table irritably and blinked over and over.

In fact, this was why Beloa had blocked out the sound with magic even at the funeral hall.

“B-but! But something strange got made! L-look at this! Look at it! Something like this you won’t find even in the library you’re so proud of! Look, look! I said look!”

“What is it...”

Before hearing an answer, Aranchino had already pressed the button with a click.

“Kieeeeeek! Kueeeeeek!”

Something that sounded like cries began to be heard.

“What?”

“…….”

Ophelia frowned, while Beloa quietly began listening.

At that moment—.

“- Kuaaaaaaaagh!”

An old man’s scream rang out.

Clear and distinct.

They knew whose voice this was.

“- Save me! Anyone, please! Pleeease!”

The face in the funeral portrait just a few days ago.

“- This is agony! This is agony! Please! Please, anyone, get me out of here!”

“- Reichen!”

Click!

Aranchino, having pressed the button, gnawed on his fingernails as he looked at Beloa.

“Aranchino, don’t tell me this is.”

“H-hey, hey... t-this is a joke, right? Right?”

Beloa and Ophelia looked at their classmate in disbelief.

But the Aranchino they knew was never the joking type.

“I secretly stole one of Gellerwind’s fountain pens from the funeral hall. B-but I think that became the medium. Th-this! This thing! Beloa-!”

It seems I...

“have discovered the afterlife!”

* * *