79 Chapter 78. (2/2)

After I purchased the goods and left the convenience store I've had this strange chill like something bad was going to happen in the near future. I had my suspicions, but I figured I'd ignore it for now. Right now was my next big hurdle. In front of me was a store that sold smartphones.

I naturally did my research on the convenient device known as a smartphone and I was dying of curiosity towards it. If I had one of these, I could naturally talk with master regardless of where he was.

When I walked into the store, a young, fashionable, female store clerk smiled at me and said, ”Welcome, were you looking to purchase a new phone?”

”Eh? No, I was just here to look for now. I don't have enough money to buy one at the moment.”

”Oh? Were you planning to buy one in the near future?”

”Yes.”

”About how soon were you looking to get one?”

”Hopefully, I'll have enough saved up within the next month.”

”That's pretty soon, but you know, if you really wanted, we can hook you up with a phone right away. Zero down now while on contract. Would you be interested?”

”Contract? What's that? Aren't you supposed to buy them and then sign up for monthly services?”

I had only looked up information on the device itself and its cost. I had never looked into the different types of plans there were when purchasing, so the term contract was a bit foreign to me.

The store clerk looked a bit surprised, but smiled warmly towards the clueless me. I somehow felt like it was the smile of a predator eyeing its prey, but that must have been my imagination. Yeah, the saliva dripping at the side of her mouth and money symbols in her eyes were definitely not there.

”Slurp.”

Yeah, I didn't hear anything. Nor did I see her casually wipe her lips before she continued on like nothing happened.

”Well, little miss, I can definitely explain all about contracts to you, but calling you little miss is a bit awkward. My name is as you can see, Luna.” She said that as she pointed towards the name on her badge around her neck.

”Ah, right, my name is Chu Yue.”

”It's a pleasure to do business with you little miss Chu.”

”Likewise.”

”Anyways a contract will actually work out much better for you in the long run. Don't be an idiot and purchase the phone outright. That's what idiots will tell you to do. It's a mutualistic relationship of trust if you choose to go on the contract route. Only hardcore no life shut ins who never leave the area of their Wifi connection will save money by buying the phone outright, but you don't look like you'd be that type of loser.”

Geh. When I thought back to how I've lived my life, doesn't that more or less summarize it? The majority of my time has been in a cave or the vicinity of my cave cultivating all the time. I only occasionally came out to pursue a certain idiot or mess with little Han.

”What's wrong little miss Chu? Your face looks a bit cramped up.”

”Haha. It's nothing, I just remembered something unpleasant.”

”Oh? An ex boyfriend?”

”No. Anyways, about the contract.”

”Right. So if you choose to go with a contract we can have you pay zero down now and you'll then be able to pay 6500 monthly. This is the best plan we have for the best phone as well, the xPhone Super Plus Plus Extreme Edition. We even have a limited time promotion going on right now for first time customers. Act now and we will actually give you 10000 in store credit which you can use towards any accessories you see on the wall behind me.”

It sounded way too good to be true. There must have been some sort of catch. When she saw I was still skeptical, she kept her professional smile on her face as if she understood my plight.

”It's not a scam, nor is there anything fishy going on. Our store likes to be honest with our customers and we serve with integrity. The way the contract works is, you will be on this contract for two years. During this time you cannot stop services otherwise you will be required to pay off the remaining balance of the phone at that point in time. This sort of contract is a method to keep customers loyal to us. When the contract is over, you can remain at the same plan cost, or you can choose to enter a new contract with us. You can even trade in your old phone, which will belong to you after the contract is over, for a discount on a new plan.”

”It's a win win situation. You get a phone with a reasonable plan and we gain a valued loyal customer. How does it sound?”

When I heard her reasoning, it made sense. This type of contract didn't exist in my realm. Contracts in my realm were typically tied to lives. Contracts like this in my realm had no binding power as only those who had the bigger fist held true power. There were contracts that could destroy a person's soul, however, those were only used on slaves. Contracts dealing with money were useless since they could easily be broken without repercussions in my realm.

When I considered the amount I made through my construction job, I realized it wouldn't be difficult to afford a contract like this. Even working one or two shifts a month was enough to cover the cost.

”Deal. I'll take it.”

”Great. Just fill out this form.”

She handed over a tablet that asked for a bunch of general information such as name, address, date of birth, email address, etc. I filled it all out and used the stylus to electronically sign my name before I handed it back to her. She looked it over and after a few minutes she just nodded and smiled at me.

”I'll be right back, just give me one moment while I get a new phone from the back. In the meantime, feel free to select 10000 worth of accessories from the wall. Oh, by the way, I'd recommend this cute phone case, I'm sure your boyfriend would think it's cute as well. Also, this power bank is an absolute essential for a future idol like you.”

Boyfriend?! Would master think I'm cute if I have such a girly phone case? There were a bunch of pink flowers around a cute pink mascot character that looked like a cat centred on the back of the phone case.

When she saw my slightly flustered appearance the store clerk giggled before she headed to the back of the store. Wait, did I ever mention I was an idol in training to her? Ah. Right, I wrote that down without thinking when filling out the form earlier. It was too humiliating to indicate I was in construction, so I put that down instead.

I looked through the accessories and stuck with her suggestions. In the end I settled on a power bank, a wireless charger, and the phone case she suggested. It's not that I was convinced by her words or anything. I just liked the case a bit was all.

When she came back and saw the items I chose she had a wide knowing smile on her face. Ugh. Please stop looking at me like I'm an open book, I just liked the design a bit, that was all.

The shop clerk helped me set up my phone and showed me how to use it. She also showed me how to add contacts and added her contact information. She claimed it was in case I had any concerns regarding the phone and told me I could contact her any time. I felt a bit thankful, I somewhat appreciated her outgoing personality. It sort of felt like I had made my first female friend since coming to this pocket realm.

Now that I think about it, I don't really have any female friends back in the sect. Ah. It's not just the sect, I've never made a single female friend in my life. Our sect is so dilapidated that barely any females join it. The few that do hole themselves away and keep to themselves to avoid the large male populace in the sect. As there was no easy way to communicate with each other, most of them just hid in their caves without much interaction with one another other.

I felt a bit moved and I wanted to hug the female store clerk, but I held myself back. I didn't want to be seen as some weird girl who gets emotional over getting another girl's phone number.

”I'm surprised though, with how pretty you are, I really didn't expect this was actually your first phone.”

”I thought for sure you'd be recovering your information from an older phone.”

”Where I come from we don't really have smartphones.”

”Really? Are you from the country?”

”No, but it is a rather remote area though.”

”Oh? Are you actually a rich girl who has run away from home and eloped with your boyfriend who your parents don't approve of or something?”

”Hahaha, no way, no way. Nothing like that. Although the circumstances are rather unique.”

”Oh? Boyfriend troubles?”

”Well… I guess you could say it's something like that.”

I was more referring to being from a different realm, but she's right that I'm troubled over my relationship with master.

”Oh? Why don't you tell this big sister of yours?”

”Big sister?”

”Oh sorry, I tend to forget boundaries sometimes when at work. I meant, why don't you share these troubles of yours oh valued customer.”

”No need to be so formal, big sister is fine.”

”Really? Great, I hate all the formalities that come with the job.”

”Well, little sister, I'm all ears.”

As I'd never had a female confident before, this was a really new feeling to me. Even though I just met her, I somehow wanted to vent out a bit of the frustrations that had piled up in my heart recently.

I wasn't sure how to word things because it was a taboo topic, but after organizing my thoughts I decided to just come clean.

”I'm in love with my master who's a married man.”

”What?! Sorry I think I just heard something outrageous. Were you actually an author instead of an idol? Was that the title to a novel you're writing?”

”No. My situation is exactly as I've said.”

”M-m-master?! Are teenagers really getting into that sort of forbidden relationship? How daring! Not only that, your master is married and cheating on his wife with you? A flower in one arm while hiding a rose at his back? Really?! Just dump that loser and find someone who will treat you right!”

Eh? Are we talking about the same thing?

”How about this, I'll introduce you to a few good guys. Don't worry, they're all good guys and they will definitely not make you act out such strange master servant plays.”

”Wait, wait, wait! You're mistaken! It's not that type of master. I'm his disciple, not his slave.”

”Ah. Oh... Hahaha. You scared me just now.”

”I see, I see. So you ended up falling for him after he taught you self defence. How innocent and pure. It's the typical unrequited love towards one's teacher who happens to be married. You've got it tough.”

”Tell me about it. Even when I forced myself on him he ran away.”

”...”