Chapter 5
Claw machines.
A game where you stand to lose big if you fail.
A game that lures customers in with prizes as bait.
And yet, their popularity never waned, drawing in plenty of people.
Keys.
Cards.
AirPods.
And so on—expensive prizes tailored to the latest trends became common, too.
“Heh heh. The phantom thief of the claw machine arcade has arrived.”
I was after those.
This place was now my hunting ground!
I was going to clean out all the prizes.
I opened a map app and headed out to scout claw machine arcades with high-value prizes!
Despite the early hour, the downtown area was crowded.
I was one of them, too.
“Hey, hey, look over there.”
“A little kid out at this hour?”
A few people turned their eyes toward me.
“Is that kid alone?”
“They must have someone with them nearby.”
“Aww~ How cute. Looks like they came out for a little stroll.”
Some people looked concerned, but my confident demeanor kept anyone from thinking there was anything strange about me.
I ignored them and checked out the claw machine arcades.
Figure prizes.
AirPods prizes.
There were quite a few prizes that looked worth winning.
I went into an arcade where AirPods were up for grabs.
“It costs five thousand won per try?….”
Tremble, tremble.
The high price per try made me nervous, since the prize was expensive, but I planned to win it on my first try anyway.
No need to hesitate.
I boldly put in ten thousand won!
Bzzzt~ Clack.
I moved the claw toward the AirPods.
After taking a deep breath, I pressed the button and activated my skill.
[Generating telekinesis.]
[100pt of World Power has been consumed.]
Clack!
The machine's claw grabbed the AirPods.
Even though it had grabbed them at an awkward angle, the AirPods clung to the claw as if stuck to it and rose up. They should have fallen, but they stayed put and kept moving.
“It's working! It's working!!….”
They should have fallen, of course.
No, the grab itself should have failed.
But I used telekinesis to correct the crooked angle and support the prize, so it had no choice but to come all the way up.
Plop~
The AirPods finally escaped the machine.
This really was a cheat-level power.
World Power could produce force at the exact point I wanted, from the direction I wanted, and in whatever way I wanted—and it wasn't as weak as I'd expected.
More or less.
1pt had enough force to smash a computer.
10pt had enough force to blow the ceiling off a house.
About that much.
On Earth, it cost a hundred times as much, but claw machines let me get plenty of bang for my buck!
Because this power wasn't limited to a single use.
As you can see.
“Come to me, AirPods!!”
Bzzzt~ Clack!
I won another prize.
Instead of using enough power to send a computer flying all at once, I could use it in several smaller bursts, each with enough force to send a water jug flying.
In other words, I could use smaller amounts of force like this over and over.
And so.
Bzzzt~ Clack!
I went around sweeping up the prizes.
But after winning two prizes at one shop, I moved on to another.
I didn't want to make the shop owner cry.
That was the least I could do for my conscience.
“They got it in one try.”
“That kid's really good at claw machines.”
“Is that the owner's daughter?”
People waiting their turn or just looking around sometimes marveled at my skill.
Whenever that happened, I hurried away.
I couldn't let my ability slip out by drawing too much attention.
I spent a while going around winning prizes.
*
“A mana stone claw machine?”
Just as I was about to wrap things up,
I found a claw machine with an unusual prize.
Mana stones.
They were expensive stones Hunters obtained by killing monsters. I'd heard they could be processed into items or used in other energy devices.
“Even the cheap ones go for at least tens of thousands of won, don't they?”
A small crystal about three fingers wide.
High-quality ones easily surpassed the price of gold, but the mana stone I saw here was clearly the lowest grade. Since it was unprocessed, it was probably worth no more than ten thousand won.
Still, I had some power left.
Plop!
I won one as a souvenir.
That wrapped up today's money-making.
I put all the prizes in a black bag and left the claw machine arcade.
“Huh?”
As I came out of the arcade, I made eye contact with a man sitting on a chair across the street.
When he noticed me, he gave me a look like he was sizing me up… and he had a rather rough appearance.
Why was he staring at me so intently?
It was making me shrink back for no reason.
Shuffle, shuffle.
I hurried on my way.
There was nothing to gain from getting mixed up with him.
His gaze followed me, but there was no other sign of anything.
Let's go home.
*
“About two million won in total, huh?”
After I got home,
I looked up how much the things I'd won were worth.
I didn't plan to use them myself, so I intended to check their prices and sell them right away.
“Carrot, carrot-carrot-carrot~”
I hummed as I opened the marketplace app.
I listed the items one by one.
That should take care of my immediate need for money.
Tap-tap-tap.
After listing them, I sat down at the computer and studied biology. I focused on studying for a while, and once I'd gained a little confidence, I closed my eyes.
It was time to look after Yeoulrim.
*
Once cells have gathered into a colony, the next step is to divide their roles.
Some cells would handle movement.
Others would handle reproduction.
With that in mind.
[Successfully formed a locomotion organ for the colony.]
[Successfully formed a reproductive organ for the colony.]
[Failed to form a visual organ for the colony.]
[The colony lacks enough cells for further division.]
[470pt of World Power has been consumed.]
[Remaining World Power: 5610pt.]
I evolved Little Squirmy step by step.
The time it took to evolve was getting longer and longer, but I could still stay focused.
[Accelerated time by 12 hours.]
[Accelerated time by one day.]
Day and night whirled by.
I stopped the time acceleration every so often to check on Little Squirmy, and helped it grow with World Power whenever necessary.
Check on Yeoulrim.
Study biology.
Compare it with my game knowledge.
Evolve Little Squirmy.
Repeat.
Before I knew it, a whole day had passed,
[I'd like to buy this item.]
Buyers started appearing on the marketplace app.
Since everything was brand-new and I'd listed the items at low prices, quite a few people said they wanted to buy them.
[Could you lower the price any more?]
Some people had no shame, but I firmly turned them down in cases like that.
There were plenty of other people who'd buy them anyway.
Soon, another buyer appeared,
“Hello.”
“Are you the seller?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my~ What a good kid. You must be running an errand. Here, buy yourself some snacks on your way home.”
The first transaction went smoothly.
The buyer was a middle-aged woman. She smiled brightly at me and even gave me an extra thousand won.
That was one advantage of my changed body.
It was easy to win people over.
All I had to do was say hello and answer, “Yes, yes,” and that was it.
That alone was enough to make the other person happy.
Ah, what an easy way to socialize. It might even be better than my old body.
I completed a few more transactions.
The type who looked startled.
The type who looked at me fondly.
And even the type who tried to haggle, then seemed to feel guilty and said, “Never mind,” before completing the transaction.
It went more smoothly than I'd expected.
“Food, clothing, and shelter. I should at least take care of all of them at once so they don't become a hassle later.”
After the transactions, I went shopping online.
First, I ordered a bunch of clothes from a shopping app.
It was tricky to take my measurements, but somehow I managed to order clothes that matched them.
“Women's clothes… They're probably going to be a hundred percent uncomfortable.”
I had no idea what kind of clothes I should wear, so I just bought everything I could find. Once I tried them on, I'd figure out what worked, one piece at a time.
I'll skip the embarrassing details.
I think I spent around five hundred thousand won.
“Next, food….”
Smack.
After my body changed, my appetite had grown considerably.
I felt like anything I ate would taste delicious.
I ordered various ingredients, as well as cleaning supplies and things to decorate the apartment.
If I took the opportunity to clean the room, I could focus on Yeoulrim with a fresh start.
But…
“What should I do with this?”
Plop.
I set the mana stone on the dining table.
The last prize I'd won.
It was an unprocessed raw stone, cheap but mysterious and pretty, so I'd left it sitting there.
Well then.
Should I keep it on display?
Or could it be useful for something else?
“Hmm.”
I held the mana stone and brought it close to my face.
Was there some better use for it?
Ding!
[Would you like to absorb the mana stone?]
[Absorption efficiency is low. You can obtain 0.05pt of World Power.]
“Huh?”
A system message appeared, asking whether I wanted to absorb the mana stone for World Power.
For a moment, I was almost bouncing with excitement, but the words “0.05pt” quickly brought me back down.
“What? It's useless if that's all it gives me.”
That was way too little.
Besides, wasn't 1pt the smallest unit?…
My intuition was telling me something.
Mana stones weren't the main way to obtain World Power. There was probably some other method.
Wait a second.
“Aren't there mana stones in Yeoulrim, too?”
The thought suddenly came to me.
I remembered seeing stones like this on the seabed while raising Little Squirmy.
Mana stones had been an important resource in the game, too.
All right. I had plenty of time anyway.
Fwoosh!-
I clutched the mana stone and closed my eyes.
My thoughts traveled beyond this world and arrived at the seabed of Yeoulrim.
The mana stone was still in my avatar's hand.
It wasn't real; it had been recreated to feel just like the mana stone in my hand in reality. In Yeoulrim, I could project my imagination and experience it as a sensation.
“I saw something similar around here.”
The seabed of Yeoulrim.
I'd seen stones here that looked like mana stones.
They were valuable resources, and if I used them well, they could greatly help the development of civilization in the future.
What did Yeoulrim's mana stones look like?
How were they different from Earth's mana stones?
Could I absorb those mana stones, or perhaps refine them?
Right.
Let's find out.