Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 12

Episode 12. The Returning Pyeondol

Okay, now it’s time to go home.

But there were two problems. One was that I didn’t know how to get home, and the other was that the store manager didn’t seem to know the exact way either. It was crazy.

Because of this, I could only guess at how I would get home, but fortunately, the store manager said he had something in mind. He said that after hanging up the phone in the early morning, he spent almost half a day just thinking about how to send me home.

“I am deeply moved that you have been thinking about me for over half a day, Manager.”

“I have to get Chan-i off work. Or else he’ll have to stay here?”

I don’t intend to continue living here, and I can’t. How can I survive in this other world without a home of my own?

I have to leave and delete all my internet search history on my laptop. I really have to go home, or I’m going to be in big trouble…

“But how can I help you?”

“First, would you like to write down your home address here?”

As he spoke, the store manager handed him a small notebook. The black notebook had a small design drawn on its cover, and it was exactly the same shape as the designs he had seen near the office CCTV and assumed to be magic circles. I wonder if this was some kind of magic scroll.

After accepting it, writing down the address and handing it over, the store manager tilted his head.

“It’s definitely the first time I’ve seen this address… Is this the right one?”

“Should I write it as the house number instead of the street name?”

“Bungee?”

“I’m kidding. That’s my home address.”

“Don’t confuse me, Chan-ah. I’m serious.”

The store manager speaks with a sharp expression. Just looking at him makes me feel less nervous.

While grumbling, the store manager tore off the piece of paper where I had written my home address, held it in his hand, placed it against his forehead, and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes and opened his hand, the piece of paper he was holding had disappeared without a trace.

“oh….”

“Now that I’ve finished registering the coordinates, I just need to press the button to move… but it probably won’t work properly if I press it.”

“I guess there’s a principle to that too.”

“There are three elements to teleportation. Coordinates, formula, and caster. The coordinates will work normally if this is your home address, and the formula has been used thousands of times, so there shouldn’t be a problem…”

Looking at it through the method of elimination, I thought there was a problem with the caster.

“When a caster casts teleportation, they need clear information about the destination and the will to move there. But, who in this world would know the best about where you live?”

“I guess so.”

“So I think it’s right for you to press the button too.”

The shop manager seemed to have concluded that since I know my world best, I should be the caster. Up to this point, I understood. I understood, but… .

“This… is magic.”

“huh.”

“And I’m the type of person who doesn’t respond to magic. I don’t think it’ll work if I try to do it….”

“I guessed that too, but do you remember when you purified the dragon scales?”

“yes.”

“If Chani had a constitution that was completely immune to magic, it wouldn’t have ended with just purification. The magical power contained in the scales would have evaporated.”

After hearing that, I was momentarily dazed, and then a chill ran down my spine. If I’m not careful, doesn’t that mean all those scales will be useless?

“Manager, what kind of confidence were you having at that time?”

“Yes, there was. A little.”

“Oh my god. How can you burn tens of millions of won with so little confidence?”

“I didn’t care then. It would have been useless if you hadn’t purified it anyway.”

“That’s true too.”

“What I felt at that time was that your constitution might be much more complicated than you or I thought. I thought about it in connection with the fact that you came here to work part-time… .”

The store manager, who had been trailing off for a moment, looked up at me and asked.

“What were you thinking when you came here to work?”

I was just frustrated because I was thinking about finding a part-time job.

My company was ruined by Corona, other companies were ruined, and all the places I had part-time jobs were ruined, so I had no way of making a living, and I was going crazy thinking that I might not be able to pay my rent or insurance.

I had to save on transportation costs, so I tried to find a part-time job near my house, and I think I was just filled with the thought that I had to work, no matter what the job was or how the working hours were. If this is a thought, then it’s a thought.

I answered briefly.

“It was desperate.”

“… I’m sorry for asking such a strange question, but Chan-i came here, and I’m saying that it must have been Chan-i’s will that caused it. It must have been the same for the scales to be purified. What do you think?”

“I was thinking that anything would work out.”

“Right. What I thought about it was that Chan-i’s constitution can be controlled by Chan-i’s will. If Chan-i is thinking about going home, uh… I think his constitution will stay quiet for a while.”

My inner thoughts were, well. It’s not like people with the constitution of the sun or the soyang type can suppress it. I asked because I had concerns.

“What happens if you don’t behave?”

“It won’t work. In the worst case scenario… the device itself will become unusable. The magic will disappear.”

“Do you think this will work out, manager?”

“That’s what I think.”

I wasn’t confident. I was going home and the store manager’s livelihood was ruined.

“… I’ll give it a try anyway. Is that okay?”

“huh.”

The owner of the device gave me permission to do this, so I’ll give it a try. If not, what am I going to do if I can’t go home?

“But how can one have the will?”

“There must be a reason why Chan-i wants to go home. Like good memories or something like that.”

“Is that okay?”

“Well… I don’t need any special reason to go home, right?”

That’s true.

But I don’t really know what kind of place my world is. At least, it’s not a place that a rookie who hasn’t even been in the industry for 30 years can easily define.

So I decided to think in my own way. For a 29-year-old unemployed youth, the world these days is… .

It was a beggarly place.

My job has long since gone out of business, and I’ve become a day laborer who can’t find a job and works 84 hours a week. This damn world doesn’t even let people stab and kill them in the face, so the thorns keep growing day by day and there’s no room to even step.

Since becoming an adult, there have been twice as many hardships as good ones, and it is a vain place where even the sand castles that were built with difficulty are blown away. It is a place where, instead of welcoming you back after a hard day of work, they throw you into a 6-pyeong one-room apartment. In my opinion, the world is such a place.

Still, still.

It was a world where there were definitely happy moments in life.

When I was young, on the day of the summer vacation ceremony at elementary school. I remember going to the stationery store with my friends after the ceremony and buying 200 won ice cream. I hit the jackpot at the medal machine behind the stationery store, and I became a hero.

One day, while walking down a dirt road with a group of friends, holding ice cream, a friend asked me to go hang out at his house, so I went over without thinking much about it.

My friend’s mother treated me to some watermelon, and while eating the watermelon, we talked about whether I should eat the seeds or not, and we even argued about why I insisted on eating the seeds when it was a hassle to just pick them out. But soon after, we would let go and play around kicking the ball.

A day without any purpose or meaning, where I could hear nothing but the cicadas chirping, the fan spinning, and my friend’s mother washing the dishes, and I lay down in the living room to take a nap.

I miss that short day so much.

I might be forcing myself to give it meaning. Some of those friends are already married, and I’ve lost contact with some of them for a long time.

Or maybe it was a punishment. Because I didn’t think much of that moment at the time, it became that much more precious now.

But that day left one thing in my mind. I had moments of happiness, moments I could miss. I’m sure there were.

So I’ll go back.

Because there were definitely happy moments there, it is a place that gives me the belief that if I somehow persevere, happy moments will surely come again, so I go back now.

Right now, the angle isn’t visible at all… but at times like this, there’s something that everyone always says. Life is long, you know, or something.

I agree. Life is long.

So, as we live, a good day will surely come at least once… .

“… … .”

“Are you done?”

“Roughly.”

I thought it was time to think about it and pressed the button.

There was no sound or light, so I looked at the store manager, but he didn’t seem to have any problems. After a dozen more seconds, the store manager slowly opened the blinds at the front door.

The scene that unfolded outside the front gate was… the intersection near my house. Finally.

“how is it?”

“I think it went well.”

“I know two things from this. Chan’s constitution can be controlled by Chan’s will.”

“What about the other one?”

“I won’t become a kidnapper.”

As he spoke, he smiled brightly, so I laughed along with him. As I was about to go out through the door that the store manager had unlocked and opened, a pretty good idea occurred to me and I put it into my mouth.

“Would you like to take a quick look? I think this is your first time in another world, too.”

“Later. It’s been over 30 minutes. If you leave your seat for too long, your credibility will be damaged.”

“That’s true. Oh, and also… .”

“huh.”

“Can I come back here later?”

When asked, the store manager tilted his head.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I should come. It’s a shame to waste a day’s work, and I’m not a conscientious person who would take my daily wage and come back.”

“I think so too.”

“Just how do you get here, right?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t call Chan-i, Chan-i came to me.”

After that, the store manager suddenly seemed to have an idea and told me to wait. He then went to the checkout counter and brought something out. It was a small glass bottle, and the contents were a bit bright in color.

“I forgot to give it to Chan when I told him to send it home. This is a potion.”

“Huh, did you really make this?”

“Then I’ll make it fake. I made it so that it wakes you up automatically when it hears a moderately loud sound, so set an alarm and drink it before going to bed. It’ll be incredibly refreshing.”

“What is the principle?”

“Would you understand if I explained it to you?”

“I wonder if it would work. But I hope it works.”

“Well… at least it’ll taste good. I added some sugar too.”

I decided to assume that was the case. I said my final goodbyes to the store manager.

“I’ll come in the evening.”

I nodded to the still smiling store manager and went out.

* * *

When I got home, I immediately washed up and went to bed.

I set the alarm for 9 p.m., but I couldn’t fall asleep right away. I couldn’t fall asleep at all. I’m so sleepy, but when I close my eyes, I feel more alert. That’s exactly the kind of situation where I’m dying.

I was thinking about looking through job search sites, but I gave up. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to submit my resume right away even if a good job came up.

This part-time job pays well. Most of the customers who come here look like beasts, but the manager is also a nice person.

I won’t be doing this job my whole life, but I think it’s worth doing for now… .

My head wasn’t working well. I thought it was time, so I opened the bottle of potion the store manager had given me.

This is probably also made with magic, so it shouldn’t work on my body originally. But as the store manager said earlier, and as I’ve experienced, my constitution can be controlled to some extent by my will.

I looked at the potion bottle and thought.

I’m so f*cking sleepy right now and I want to sleep soundly. And the store manager said that if I eat this, I’ll be able to sleep soundly, so will you listen to me, my body? Is that okay?

I took a sip, thinking, and didn’t feel anything for a minute.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Well, there’s no way it could be that easy… .

… … .

… … .

[ Ding ding ding~ Good morning~ Ding ding― ]

What… what is it?

[ Bbampappa bbamp, bbamp, bbamp bbamppa – ]

No, why is it 9 o’clock already?