Chapter 16: Opening a Shop for Second-Hand Junk
It was early morning when Iseul got up, moving quietly before the boys stirred.
She showered quickly, dressed, and silently made her way to the kitchen, drying and wrapping her hair with a towel.
She washed her hands. She grabbed tools, pots, and pans, and laid everything neatly out.
Today she planned to experiment.
She carefully began removing the radiation from the vegetables, fruits, and meat she had bought from the vendors, preparing breakfast for herself and the boys.
It took some time to pull the radiation out. She couldn't remove all of it, but the difference was worlds apart from before.
Once she absorbed the worst of it, she started cutting everything up and cooking.
The moment the food hit the pan, she smelled the difference.
The aroma was rich and fresh. To her surprise, the food cooked faster this time.
High-radiated food always took much longer to heat.
She couldn't wait to try it herself.
"Gruuugg…"
Her stomach growled in agreement.
She chuckled. "I get it, stomach. I'm starving too."
She left the rest of the food warm on the stove for the boys and took her own plate up to the rooftop.
Loadon was waiting for her.
She smiled brightly. "Good morning."
He tilted his head with an innocent, curious look and bowed slightly.
"Good morning."
She shook her head, chuckling at his formal tone.
"Always so serious."
Handing him her belongings, she said, "Grab my things."
Together they entered her Dreamscope, Loadon carrying the butler mech, the clothes, toys, and spare metals she had left over.
Iseul balanced her plate on the workbench and ate as she began to work.
"Oh my scrappers…" Her eyes widened. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted in my life!"
The food was juicy. It had a perfect crunch and no bitter aftertaste. The strange, lingering smell she hated was gone.
Each bite sent subtle energy into her stomach, refreshing her from the inside out.
Before she realized it, the food was gone.
"Aww… I wanted more."
She pouted at the empty plate, sighed, and pushed it aside.
"Forget it. I'll make some later."
Refocusing, she immersed herself in studying and digesting the knowledge flowing into her from salvaged pieces.
Her Infinite Force revealed the way items were built, the intent behind their creation, and the feelings of the ones who had crafted them.
Even so, she made sure to self-study. She layered her own observations with the knowledge she received, deepening her understanding and mastery.
Inside her Dreamscope workshop, she worked tirelessly, forming both creative and practical ideas.
She crafted F- and E-grade radiation absorbers, several sets of clothes, and F-grade radiation suits.
Toys and jewelry she had in abundance, hundreds of them, lined up neatly.
She carefully began constructing the butler mech, planning to sell it for a good price. This time, she worked with extra care, pouring precise intent into her craft.
She refused to let the same accident happen again, like with Loadon.
Still, the mech's legs—scavenged parts from a pleasure bot—were an eyesore that irked her soul.
She frowned. "These legs… ugh. They've got to go."
The thought of a shop came to her again.
Selling crafted items, second-hand junk, and practical tools would be far more sustainable than just scraping by.
It was practical.
Her brothers' upcoming gift tests weighed heavily on her. She wanted them to have a chance to raise their ranks and strengthen their bodies.
She needed more money to pay for radiation treatments, training resources, and body-tempering gravity rooms.
For a moment, she wondered if her own gift could help—if she could draw radiation from their food and bodies for them.
But fear gripped her.
"No… not yet. What if I hurt them?"
Experiments could wait until later.
She worried most about Chang, Beom-seok, Hyun-woo, and Haneul. Out of the four, only Haneul had awakened his gift, and even then, it was weak—low-ranked because they lacked the money for resources and training.
Determined, Iseul officially decided to open her shop in the virtual ZepeNet world.
She muttered as she worked, "I'll create an avatar shopkeeper to run it. Stock it with clothes, trinkets, tools, weapons… radiation absorbers too. Customers can exchange them when full."
Her own training didn't stop either. She had been running laps, exercising, and discovered that her Dreamscope could double as a gravity chamber.
Just a few days ago, she had joked about needing more gravity weight—only to nearly get crushed to death.
That night, she prepared to go to the scrapyard.
This time, Loadon would accompany her. Since no one had ever seen him, and the surveillance drones hadn't detected his smaller form, she kept him compact in public. Only when they were alone would he expand to his full size.
Iseul messaged Unnie Hae-won, asking if she wanted to join her in the higher parts of the scrapyard, though she expected her to refuse.
To her surprise, Hae-won agreed.
Not only that, she asked if Iseul wanted to travel with her brother and his exploration team.
They were D- and C-class Gifted with decent ranks and strong mental strength. They planned to head into Section D, offering to let Iseul tag along.
"If you'd rather not," Hae-won added, "we can just drop you in Section E and pick you up on the way back."
Iseul hesitated, chewing her lip.
"Safety in numbers, huh…"
Rumors said debris and treasure had washed into the upper sections, and people were striking it rich.
The temptation tugged hard.
She worried about her radiation absorption again. She had only just learned to control it without urging her gift, and she still couldn't slow it or stop it freely.
"What if someone notices?" she whispered to herself.
Her ability wasn't common—it wasn't supposed to exist.
Still, the idea wasn't horrible.
Maybe in a group no one would notice.
And if she found something valuable, her gift would feed her the information instantly, even if she couldn't use it openly.
Loadon complicated things. He wouldn't be able to go full-size near others, especially in Section D, where mutated animals and hostile scavvers prowled.
But the potential rewards made her pulse quicken.
If she struck big again, she wouldn't need to return to the scrapyard for a while. With her shop open, she could buy cheap radiated metals, cleanse them, and convert the radiation into Infinita Force.
That would save money and build her strength.
The decision settled in her heart.
She would go with them, keep Loadon by her side, and follow the scrapper's rule: the area you cleared was yours until you left.
No one would dare touch her work.
Before leaving, she recrafted her radiation suit.
Unlike standard suits that repelled radiation, hers worked in reverse.
It absorbed radiation silently, disguised as a normal protective suit.
The alerts weren't warnings—they simply told her the levels in the area.
The mask's tube connected to a hidden vent, feeding radiation directly into her lungs.
Each inhale was like a jolt of adrenaline, a rush that left her dizzy with a strange high.
Her gift flared, converting everything into Infinita Force at incredible speed.
⸻
Early evening came.
Iseul left the apartment with Loadon at her side.
It wasn't long before she met with Unnie Hae-won, her oppa Joon-seok, and his comrades: Jung Yong-joon, Shin Chul-jun, Oh Ji-ho, Han Chang-min, and Lee Choon-hee.
They greeted her warmly, having not seen her in months since their expedition.
"Look who it is! Little Iseul finally crawled out of her workshop," Joon-seok laughed, pulling her into a quick hug.
"Oppa!" She wrinkled her nose, half-smiling. "Don't act like you didn't miss me."
"Of course I missed you," he said with mock seriousness. "No one else nags me about taking proper notes on alien tech."
Yong-joon smirked. "She's taller too. Or is that just the boots?"
"Both," Iseul shot back, planting her hands on her hips. "And sharper than all of you combined, don't forget it."
That made the men laugh, a ripple of camaraderie easing the air.
Hae-won nudged her shoulder. "You've been hiding too long. We thought you forgot about us."
"Please. You guys just travel too much," Iseul replied. "I live through your stories until I can get off this scrapper moon myself."
Her curiosity sparked instantly.
"So? What aliens did you run into this time? What kind of worlds did you see?"
The men exchanged glances, grinning.
"Always straight to the stories, huh?" Joon-seok teased.
"I mean… of course!" Iseul grinned wide. "Do you know how boring it is being stuck here? Spill it!"
Chul-jun stretched his arms and yawned. "Ah, nothing special. Just a few scavenger lizards the size of hovercars."
"Nothing special?" Iseul scoffed. "That's special!"
Ji-ho leaned closer with a conspiratorial smile. "We also saw a merchant ship from the Domination main world. The kind dripping with credits. But they wanted nothing to do with scrappers like us."
"Tch." Iseul clicked her tongue. "Figures. Rich people never look down, do they?"
Chang-min chuckled. "You sound just like your parents used to. They'd talk our ears off about Domination and how expensive everything is."
Lee Choon-hee waved his hand. "At least when you're a soldier fighting in the Cosmosta Realm, life doesn't feel so expensive. Just dangerous."
"Dangerous is an understatement," Joon-seok muttered. "Quickest way to die, too."
"Yeah, but the pay is good," Yong-joon added. "And whatever you find is yours. That part's worth it."
Iseul's grin returned. "See, this is why I ask. You all bring back the best gossip."
She tilted her head. "So… are we ready to go?"
But their attention wasn't on her.
It was on Loadon.
"What's that?" Hae-won stepped past Iseul, circling the mech curiously.
Everyone else's eyes followed.
Iseul quickly moved to block her. "Oh, this?" She gestured behind her.
"What else would I be talking about? There's a mech standing right there."
Hae-won's eyes flickered with amusement and exasperation.
Iseul laughed sheepishly, rubbing her neck. "It's… a droid I built from scraps. Just a project for class." She tried to sound casual, blocking their stares with her body.
She didn't want anyone asking too many questions.
Quickly, she steered the topic away. "So… we're heading into Section D, right? I'll probably stay closer to the entrance, maybe near the appraisal center."
The diversion worked.
The group's curiosity faded, replaced with excited chatter about the scrapyard ahead.
Together, they headed toward the stop where the transport ship would pick them up.