Welcome to the Interdimensional Supermarket - Chapter 1.2
“What are you going to do?”
“Go back to my hometown. Run a small supermarket. It was my childhood dream.”
“Oh! Mine too! I mean, store owners can eat all the snacks and ice cream they want for free!”
That was such a typical Woo Myung Je answer.
“It’s more that I liked the idea of greeting neighbors, chatting, and sharing food. It always looked so warm.”
“Yeah… that suits you.”
“You’ve been there, right? Dalsu Supermarket. Grandpa Dalsu passed away and left it to me. I was too busy to visit much, but I’ll take good care of it now.”
“Hmm… not exactly a booming town. You think you can make money with just a small store?”
“If I earn less, I’ll spend less. Grow some veggies, keep a few hens, it should cover the basic food expenses.”
Truth was, I was tired of the noisy city life.
“Anyway, you should go. The team’s probably waiting. I’ll be in the countryside, so call me after your next dungeon raid.”
I waved goodbye to Myung Je and turned away.
This time, I walked ahead and didn’t look back.
It was like saying farewell to my younger self.
* * *
Late that night, I packed up my things in my apartment and headed back to my hometown.
Pungjeong-ri, Naesu-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do.
Even in 2025, it was all rice fields and mountains.
There was no entertainment, and it takes more than 20 minutes to get to a hospital, just quiet countryside.
I can’t even begin to express how much I missed this place.
As I entered the village, I savored the quiet atmosphere and the charm of the countryside…
Doli came running, somehow sensing my presence, and pressed his face against my feet
“That’s my Doli. Did you miss hyung very much?”
Seeing Doli wag his tail with a wide smile made me smile unconsciously as well.
A former stray, now the village’s unofficial guardian, he was a lot like me.
After all, I too lost my parents at a young age, and was raised by the kindness of the townsfolk.
Following Doli’s lead, I soon reached the one and only store in the village.
[Dalsu Supermarket]
“…Been a while. I haven’t been here since Grandpa Dalsu passed away last spring. I rarely came. I kept on saying I was busy.”
I opened the door and stepped inside and bowed before his memorial tablet.
“Grandpa, I’m home.”
I’m just so grateful to Grandpa Dalsu for everything.
My grandfather raised me like his own grandson. I wasn’t his blood, but he made sure I grew up without worries.
When I graduated elementary, middle and high school.
When I took my first steps into society.
He was always there, taking care of and supporting me.
When I joined the Geoseon Guild, he even slaughtered two pigs for a village feast.
I’d wanted to repay him, even just a little. I wanted to succeed and return home, glorious.
But he passed before he could see that day.
And now, half a year later, I’d come back to my hometown, not as a success, but as an unemployed man.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa. I wanted to be a grandson who could to make you proud… but life doesn’t always go how we want.”
If Grandpa Dalsu were here, he’d probably just pat my shoulder and smile that warm smile of his.
I fought back tears and went to my room.
Lying on the floor with my eyes closed, my mind filled with 50,000 thoughts.
Longing for my late Grandpa, regrets about my past life…
But soon, I pushed them aside.
Grandpa Dalsu would want me to move forward.
“Alright, Grandpa. Since things have turned out this way, I’ll do my best. I’ll make this place lively again, just like when you were here, so you won’t be lonely.”
When I was a kid, the village was different from now. It was always full of people.
Dalsu Supermarket wasn’t just a store, it was the heart of the community.
Kids played marbles and Ddakji [1] and drinking makgeolli[3].
But as people moved away, the village grew quiet.
And after Grandpa passed, the customers stopped coming altogether.
Still, maybe I could bring a bit of that life back, if I try hard enough.
‘The shelves looked empty earlier. I’ll have to do a big clean up and restock tomorrow then.’
While planning for the next day, I drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
It wasn’t until the next morning that I understood what had happened.
[You have awakened.]
The day after I quit my job and returned home… I awakened.
With a power that had never existed before.
[As a class trait, a Hideout has been created.]
* * *
I woke early to the sound of Doli whining outside.
“What’s wrong? Did a wild boar come down from the mountain?”
It was a rural area, so it wasn’t unusual for wild boars or deer to wander into the village.
“Don’t tell me it wrecked the garden…”
I’d planted lettuce and peppers out there.
If a boar had torn it up, that’d be a headache.
Throwing on a long padded coat, I followed Doli, who ran straight to the back room of the store.
He stood by the door, growling softly.
“Huh? Why here?”
A snake? A thief? Not that there was much to steal.
Just in case, I grabbed a baseball bat and opened the door,—then froze.
“…What the hell?”
Before me was a space I’d never seen before.
A softly glowing 355-square-foot room.
In front of me stood a wooden table and chairs, with elegant shelves and cabinets nearby.
It looked like a cross between a hotel lounge and a fantasy guild reception at first glance.
“……”
I blinked several times, even closed my eyes, but nothing changed.
Thud.
I shut the door and opened it again. Still the same.
That door should’ve led to the old, yellow-floored back room of a countryside house.
“Is there some kind of hidden camera prank?”
Like those TV shows where they secretly remodel someone’s house.
But no matter how hard I looked, there were no cameras anywhere.
…Could it be a trap?
I set the bat down and cautiously stepped forward.
My body was sucked into the strange space.
Note/s:
[1] ↩
Janggi is referred to as Korean Chess, while Go is a strategy game using black and white pieces to control territory.
Korean sparkling rice wine.
