Where am I? I was definitely taking off my shoes at my front door… why am I suddenly outside? And what’s this ragged coat? Where did my coat, bought with my part-time job money, go?

Looking around, I found myself standing in a place I never could have imagined.

Even in land-scarce Seoul, the view was so open that I couldn’t spot a single high-rise building like an apartment, with only low-rise buildings clustered together.

Though individuality is valued in society, the strange outfits here were unlike anything I’d seen even in indie culture… Hey, isn’t that armor?

Countless people on the street with all sorts of hair and skin colors… Green skin? And not performance art?

Where on earth is this? I tried to check my phone to use location services, but it was just a black screen, finally dead. Ah…

In this desperate situation, scenes that I’d only seen in RPG games or movies were playing out right before my eyes. Had my mind also gone haywire along with my phone…?

“What’s this? A customer? …Or get lost and stop interfering with business!”

Oh, I must have been blocking the entrance to a building. A chubby man popped out, scanned me from head to toe, and started shouting while shaking his fist.

Guess some folks never change their temper. Anyway, fearing a hit from that big fist, I quickly moved away. But wherever I went, it was the same.

“No beggars allowed!”

“Do you even know how much it costs to hang around here!”

“Don’t stand in front of our inn! You’ll scare off the customers coming in!”

“You think you can rent a room looking like that?”

The buildings were so densely packed together that as I dodged them, I ended up blocking every entrance, causing what seemed to be the owner inside to burst out immediately.

I’m sorry for blocking the door, but why do you keep treating me like a beggar? It feels like even the last bit of my humanity is fading away. Since when did this country become so cold-hearted, without even a speck of human warmth?

With no choice, I hurriedly fled aimlessly until I found myself standing in a dark alley. Surely they won’t tell me to get lost here too?

Hiding in the darkness, I peeked out at the bright street to assess the situation. On what looked like a movie set, people with unusual clothes and appearances were walking around.

Once I calmed myself and listened closely, what had seemed like mere clamor resolved into distinct voices.

“Cheaper than the market! Low-grade enhancement stones for 10 diamonds!”

“Identify your weapon! Special discount at 3 diamonds!”

“Get your self-made potions! Cheaper than the alchemy tower! Only 5 diamonds per bottle!”

Diamonds? Am I hallucinating because I went crazy over <Infinite Diamond>? Potions and enhancement stones? Why are they talking about terms you’d only hear in games as casually as mackerel in a traditional market?

“No, diamonds are something you’d barely mention when talking about wedding rings…”

[Master!]

“Ah! What?”

Having developed a neurosis from being told to get lost, I jumped as if startled by a voice suddenly right next to me.

There’s no one else around? Where did that voice come from? A ghost?

Startled, my heart pounded wildly.

[Master! Do you need diamonds?]

“Why is even a ghost chanting about diamonds? Where is it coming from?”

[Master! Over here! Here!]

Following the shouts of “here,” I slowly shifted my gaze to the phone delicately held in my hand. The supposedly dead phone was talking.

“…Hello, series…?”

[Master! Do you need diamonds?]

“Huh? Infinite Diamond?”

The phone I thought was dead had come to life, and a very familiar screen appeared. It was the game screen of <Infinite Diamond>. The dwarves, who should have been busy mining with pickaxes, were all looking at me and waving their hands.

Honestly, it was creepy. If it wasn’t for the hope that the phone had come to life, I would have thrown it away long ago.

When I didn’t respond and just stared at the phone with a serious expression from a distance, the dwarves stopped waving.

Then, they crawled onto the diamond cart, picked up one diamond in each hand, and started waving again. What do they want me to do?

“Please give me two potions.”

“Oh, here you go! That’ll be 10 diamonds in total!”

Amid the clamorous soliciting, a merchant finally made a deal. I was so curious whether it was a diamond trade involving several carats of sparkling diamonds that I hurriedly looked over.

What the person carefully holding two bottles of liquid handed over from their pocket was… a blue diamond. So that thing looked exactly like the ones the dwarves in my phone screen were holding and shaking in both hands.

“That… that…”

[Master! Do you need diamonds? There’s a mountain of them on the cart!]

[Master! There’s also a mountain in the underground storage!]

[Master! Even the fountain is covered with a mountain of diamonds instead of gravel!]

I glanced at the blue diamond disappearing into the merchant’s pocket, then at the blue diamonds the dwarves were waving like glow sticks. My dull mind stopped working, and I blinked my eyes…

Hey, since when could you even talk to me? You’re just pixels…

“What am I supposed to do with those diamonds?”

[Take as many as you want! All the diamonds here are yours, Master!]

[Master! Shall I scoop them up with a shovel for you?]

[Master! Shall I scoop them up with a bucket for you?]

Those pixel shits… How am I supposed to use diamonds that are just graphics in common sense…

“What the hell are you? Since when were you artificial intelligence? From your answers, you seem smarter than Siri.”

[This is inside your wallet, Master!]

[You need lots of diamonds to go on adventures! There are plenty of diamonds!]

[Hurry and take the diamonds! Buy clothes, buy weapons, hire mercenaries, and get food and lodging!]

What a fool I am, a fundamentally foolish piece of trash. It wasn’t the diamonds or the possessed phone screen that were the problem now.

“Do you guys even know where this place is?”

Where the hell is this? I can tell it’s not Seoul from the feel of it. But since no foreign language is heard, I can’t definitively say it’s not Korea either.

At my question, the dwarves, who had been chattering like sparrows until a moment ago, fell silent. Then they looked at each other, whispered, shrugged, and shook their heads.

[Master! We don’t know what you’re talking about!]

“Do you know where I am right now?!”

[We’re not sure! We’re just your loyal wallet! Use the diamonds! Solve your curiosity with diamonds too!]

Do you think this world is some kind of <Infinite Diamond>? Do you think we’re in a game where everything is traded with diamonds! I felt like I was dying from frustration. Despite my mood, the dwarves kept singing about using diamonds.

“Fine, okay. So, how do I get diamonds?”

[Take them out!]

If only the phone in my hand weren’t a discontinued series, I would have thrown it away long ago. It’s calmly telling me to take diamonds out of it like pulling bills from a wallet.

Frustrated, I flipped the phone screen and tapped it against my palm; crazy, five or six blue diamonds rolled out like pills spilling.

Not pixel-art diamonds, but real diamonds were rolling on my palm. So shocked, I clenched my hand and felt small, hard, cold icosahedron stones.

[Master! Take more! That’s not enough!]

As a test, I lightly tapped the phone against my palm again, like taking out a piece of xylitol gum, and a couple more diamonds rolled out.

Wow, this is real… too real to be a dream.

The dwarves shook the diamonds in both hands even more vigorously, urging me to take them. I couldn’t snap out of it, staring at the handful of diamonds in my hand.

“Ex-excuse me.”

“Crazy… Is this real? What kind of phone can render graphics in 4D? Did I unknowingly travel to the future?”

“Excuse me…. Sorry to bother you.”

“Wow, so future people all walk around in armor like that, huh?”

“Excuse me! Druid!”

Thinking the dwarves in the phone were just babbling nonsense again, I ignored them, but the feeling was strangely different. Turning my head toward the sound, I saw a small little girl standing at the entrance of the alley.

How long have you been there? Did you see me talking to myself? …She looks unique too.

The child had bright red hair that would require several bleaches to achieve and wore a shabby dress that looked patched together from rough cloth. When I stared at her with full wariness, she looked flustered.

“Hello, Druid. Nice to meet you. I work as a guide in this village. If you’re looking for an inn, I know a good place—would you let me guide you?”

Holding the edges of her skirt, she slightly bent and straightened her knees. That greeting looked familiar from medieval movies. Oh, that’s unique. When I didn’t respond, she must have interpreted it somehow and started adding words hurriedly.

“If you look for an inn around the market at this time, you’ll likely get ripped off! Because many Druids traveling are flocking there. It’s a bit far, but if you go to an inn on the outskirts of the village, you can get lodging at a much cheaper price! I don’t expect much in return! Just, after you buy some food, if you could spare a little for me… even just a loaf of bread….”

“This really feels like that. Like a tutorial at the start of an RPG game. That thing where a fairy says, ‘Hello! Brave warrior!’ when you first begin.”

“An inn?”

“Yes, tomorrow is the day the branches of the World Tree bear fruit, so everyone has gathered not to be late, right? The inns around here are already full, so they’ll charge a lot to take in new guests. If you’re new to this village, you might not know…”

I have no idea what she’s saying, but I’m sure that girl is a hundred or a thousand times more helpful than the dwarves in my phone.

In this completely unfamiliar place, letting my guard down at a young girl who spoke to me, just like me, felt natural. In any other situation, I would have thought, ‘What, is this some scammer?’

“Can I get something else instead of bread?”

“Um… A few sips of clean water would be fine. The village wells are drying up due to the ‘Fire’ influence. Or maybe some fruit…”

“Oh no, big trouble. I don’t have any bread, water, or fruit right now. But wait, isn’t the request for food, not money? Just in case, I pulled out one of the handful of diamonds I was holding and shook it in front of the child.”

“Can you take this?”

The child’s reaction was beyond imagination. Her eyes shook wildly, and she started flapping her hands in panic.

“That’s too much! It’s way too much for me! I just need a little something left over after the druid’s purchase!”

Right, I get that this diamond is definitely valuable. Whether it’s used as currency for buying things or the child’s shocked reaction.

“I’ll give you this. But help me out instead.”

“I wouldn’t even be able to protect it if I got it…”

“Even as she said that, her eyes followed the diamond I was shaking, showing her greed. But all I have is my phone, a strange cheap coat, and diamonds that roll out of the phone.”