I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 166: The Hell Merchant's Devilish Gadget (Patreon)

The merchant seemed to exist in a different time and space from everyone else. That was the only conclusion Liam could draw.

Meanwhile, Emil was still pestering the club members.

“Are you buying anything or not? If you aren't, I'm leaving.”

He seized the dirty cloth beneath his goods, preparing to pack up.

At last, the girl couldn't restrain herself any longer. She gritted her teeth.

“I'll take it.”

“Hold on,” Liam suddenly said.

Everyone looked at him, assuming he intended to stop her. Instead, he pulled out a blank sheet of paper, wrote something on it at remarkable speed, and handed it over.

The girl took the paper, stared at it, and instinctively began reading aloud.

“Purchase Agreement?

“The buyer has the right to know all the uses and side effects of the product...”

The agreement went into considerable detail. After reading the opening lines, the girl looked at Liam.

“Will this really work?”

Liam nodded confidently. He'd infused the document with a generous amount of spiritual energy, just to be safe.

After some hesitation, the girl signed her name and handed it to Emil.

The merchant looked genuinely astonished.

“Oh? You've even got something like this? Interesting.”

He readily added his own signature, carefully covering the spot with his other hand as he wrote. The instant he finished, the paper crumbled to ash. Not one of them got a glimpse of his name.

Emil handed the mirror to the girl.

“Under the terms of our agreement, I have to explain the mirror's side effects.

“When you use it to reshape your face, you must be extremely careful. The organs and structures of the human body are very delicate. If you accidentally distort something, setting it back the way it was won't be easy.

“In fact, the changes cannot be reversed at all, and you'll forget what your original face looked like.”

Emil hadn't repeated what the mirror could do. That meant his original description had been truthful.

The mirror really could change someone's face.

The skinny and fat club members immediately asked Liam to draw up agreements for them too. Emil accepted without complaint and explained the drawbacks of their purchases.

“The medicine can cure your illnesses, but its effects last only one month. After that, you'll develop one additional illness.”

He turned to the fat young man.

“The egg will keep growing as it eats the food in your stomach. It will never leave your body.”

Liam found the merchandise fascinating. The drawbacks were serious, but the promised effects were real.

Eric couldn't keep quiet any longer.

“Why does everything you sell have a side effect? You never mentioned anything like that when you sold me the book!”

Emil smiled. “Because you never asked. You'd find out what the spells cost you as soon as you cast them. Judging by your face, though, I take it you haven't tried?”

Eric had no answer.

His three friends, however, had already stepped forward to claim their purchases.

“Guys, you heard what he said,” Eric protested. “Those things have side effects. Are you really going to use them?”

The skinny man clutched his bottle, removed the lid, and discovered dozens of pills inside.

“Boss, you know how much it hurts to be sick all the time. I can't stand it anymore. Even if I only get another ten years to live, it'll be worth it.”

The fat man promptly swallowed the insect egg.

“I've read about people losing weight using parasites before. Those were actual parasites. This one's only going to keep growing until it bursts my body open. I can live with that.”

The girl gazed into her new mirror.

“Don't worry, boss. I'll be careful. I'm sick of having such an ordinary face.”

People reacted to dangerous side effects in different ways. Some believed they could endure the consequences, while others were convinced they could avoid them altogether. But when something promised to satisfy a desperate desire, it could be almost impossible to resist.

Eric paced anxiously, unable to think of a way to change their minds. Then he remembered Liam was standing right beside him.

“Mr. Liam, you know how bad these things are, don't you? Please help me talk them out of it.”

Liam shook his head. “I won't stop them. Everyone has something about themselves they can't accept. Over time, that dissatisfaction can turn into despair. To people in that position, these objects might feel like salvation.”

Then he looked at Eric with renewed curiosity.

“Everything this merchant sells seems designed to fulfill a desire. Yet instead of choosing a cure for your asthma, you wanted a book of spells. Interesting.”

Eric had a very different view of his condition.

“What's wrong with asthma? It's cool! Powerful, dark, but physically frail. That's exactly the kind of person I am.”

He struck a pose that he evidently considered impressive.

Liam found himself gaining a little respect for the young man. Eric might be timid, but he clearly had his own peculiar understanding of darkness.

In the blink of an eye, Emil vanished.

The club members barely seemed to notice. They were too absorbed in their delight at having finally found ways to change themselves.

Liam took out his Events Logbook. Just as he'd suspected, something was very wrong with the merchant.

[Hell]

[Event Level: S]

[Exploration Progress: 10% (Phase 2: 3%)]

[Hell Merchant]

[Event Level: B]

[Exploration Progress: 10%]

So Emil was a Hell Merchant.

That would make everything he sold a devilish item.

Liam considered this as he turned back toward the club members.

The skinny young man had already swallowed a pill. He closed his eyes, eagerly waiting to feel the difference.

Then he abruptly clutched his stomach and vomited.

Fragments of organs spilled out of his mouth. They were grotesquely misshapen, the unmistakable remains of cancer-ridden tissue.

He continued until he'd expelled everything, then straightened up. His complexion had turned rosy, and a look of pure satisfaction spread across his face.

“Boss, I've never felt this good in my entire life.”

Meanwhile, the girl had finished making an adjustment with her mirror. She hurried over until her face was almost touching Eric's.

“Boss, am I prettier now?”

Eric stared at her, but he couldn't make out any difference.

“I'm not sure. You look the same to me.”

“Really? I'll try again.”

She returned to the mirror, making increasingly drastic adjustments.

The truth was, she hadn't been ugly to begin with. But she clearly had serious psychological difficulties. She'd always believed her appearance was hideous, and she'd hidden behind her hair because she couldn't bear to let anyone see her face.

Eric turned toward the fat man.

“What about you? How do you feel?”

The fat man smacked his lips. “That egg didn't taste very good.”

“That's not what I meant! Forget it. I guess it couldn't possibly work that quickly anyway.”

Liam looked at the three smiling faces, each filled with the happiness of a wish granted, then turned to Lily.

“Did you manage to follow that man's movements?”

Lily shook her head. “Little One, I couldn't even see him while he was here. I didn't sense any spiritual energy moving around, either.”

Taylor confirmed that she hadn't seen the merchant. She'd simply kept the camera trained on Liam the entire time.

Liam checked her recording and was astonished by what he found.

Emil wasn't there at all.

On the footage, Liam and the others appeared to be talking to empty air. The mysterious items simply materialized in the students' hands.

It was bizarre and absurd, yet no ordinary special-effects work could have reproduced it so convincingly.

Liam's eyes lit up.

“Fantastic! This footage is going to cause an absolute sensation!”

Lily leaned closer and pointed at the camera's screen.

“Little One, you look so tiny on that little board!”

Eric had been thinking quietly to himself. At last, he worked up the courage to approach Liam.

“Mr. Liam, you seem to know a lot about these dark things. Could you teach me how to help my friends get rid of the side effects?”

Liam looked at him with interest.

“Are you afraid of dying?”

Eric fell silent. Then he gritted his teeth.

“Yes. But I really want to keep them alive.”

“Good. I don't need reckless fools who aren't afraid of death.”

Eric had already been preparing to beg shamelessly for help after Liam refused. He hadn't expected Liam to agree so readily.

Liam explained, “You're ordinary people. When you run into something like this, the most important thing is to protect yourselves and get the information to me as quickly as possible.”

Eric nodded. He couldn't argue with that. He had asthma, after all. Forget fighting someone as strange as Emil. He wasn't even sure he could beat an elementary school student.

Liam continued, “That man is a devil merchant from Hell who specializes in selling these objects. I don't know what he's trying to accomplish, but he can't be operating in this alley alone. He'll almost certainly turn up somewhere else to sell more of them.”

Eric understood what he meant. “You want me to look for him?”

“Exactly. You saw what happened. My companions couldn't see him at all. I suspect only certain people can perceive him, and you're clearly one of them.”

Eric hesitated. Before he could respond, his friends crowded around him.

“Don't worry, boss! We'll help!”

“That's right! You're amazing. You can definitely do this!”

Eric was moved by their heartfelt encouragement.

“You only just made those deals. Are you sure you want to help me?”

“Of course! We know you're trying to protect us. How could we send you off alone?”

“Besides, we know what the side effects are now. When we find that guy again, maybe we can even grab some other items from him.”

Liam looked approvingly at the group. They'd barely finished buying their goods and were already considering robbing the seller.

“Excellent. I'm glad to see you sticking together. But remember to protect yourselves. And, most importantly, make sure you leave that devil for me.”

All four nodded vigorously.

Then Eric asked, “Liam, don't you have anything we could use to defend ourselves?”

Liam thought for a moment. “Actually, I do.”

He pulled the handgun from inside his coat and pressed it into Eric's hand.

“Here. Consider it your commission.”

Eric took the weapon without thinking. The moment he realized what it was, he almost dropped it in fright.

“Careful,” Liam warned. “That thing's old. If it hits the ground, it might go off.”