Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 129

Episode 129. Even Chihuahuas Can Roll (1)

* * *

I woke up to the sound of my alarm set for 8pm and my back was aching. I knew this would happen. I’m always like this unless I sleep on the floor under a blanket.

Maybe because I slept with the windows closed, the air inside felt stuffy, so I went out to the veranda to get some fresh air. I stretched and took a quick look around the city.

It was dark. If I were to compare this city to the world I used to live in, it would be the outskirts of Seoul. Half of the buildings in Seoul had their lights turned off in the evening.

This is exactly what it looks like right now. At 8 p.m., the downtown area, which should be dazzling, looks like it’s barely holding its breath, with half of the buildings and structures’ lights out.

The empty road without cars has distinct dotted lines, and the streetlights that are sparsely placed look somehow weak. This is not the night view I had imagined at the counter…

“… Wow.”

I’m going to go to work. I washed up and made up my bed, and left the hanging lightbulb on the ceiling. I wonder how I can clean something that I can’t even reach.

I took my card key and went down to the lobby, where the fox cobalt I had seen this morning was poking its head out from the counter and looking this way. I approached it, held out my card key, and asked.

“If I give you my card key now, will you check me out?”

“No. Just show me your ID when you come back. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Is there a taxi stand nearby?”

He said that if you go outside and go to the street, it will be right there. I nodded, and the fox cobalt greeted me in the same way and spoke to me.

“Please come back later, sir.”

After thinking for a moment, I answered.

“yes.”

After that, I went outside, caught a taxi, and watched the meter unicorn tick by for a while. This time, the taxi driver was a lizardman-looking kobold with a large tail curled up under the seat.

I moved to the side, thinking that I might step on him if I did something wrong, but the lizardman taxi driver spoke to me in a joking tone.

“Thank you, sir. I have to go to the hospital often because of my tail.”

“Uh… what?”

“If you’re bored on the way, should I turn on the radio?”

It felt like he secretly wanted to hear the news, rather than just telling me to listen. When I told him to do so, he immediately turned on the radio and turned up the volume.

Because the first news that came out caught my ears, I just kept listening to the news until I arrived at the convenience store.

[ At 2:00 PM today, the Magical Authority and the Hunter Association officially announced that there is a possibility of a core gate occurring within the city center. ]

[ The period of occurrence is estimated to be approximately 3 days, and residents in the northern part of the city are asked to refrain from outdoor activities as much as possible during this period… ]

* * *

The street in front of the convenience store came into view. I took out two ten-thousand won bills and prepared them in advance, and when the bus stopped in front of the stop, I held them out and received change.

“Thanks to you, we were able to start today. Please be careful on your way home at night, sir.”

“yep.”

I guess I was the first customer today. The taxi fare was 13,600 won, but I wonder if it’ll cost as much as a sugar cube on the meter.

After confirming that the taxi had left, I took a quick look around and entered the store. As usual, the store manager was standing at the counter, and as soon as our eyes met, he waved.

“Hey Chan-ah, hi. How was sleeping outside?”

“My back feels a little sore, maybe because it’s been a while since I slept in bed. How was business today?”

“Yeah, I screwed up today.”

I went straight to the counter and checked the POS machine. Today’s sales were less than 20,000 won.

“The cigarettes are still there, and I didn’t receive any cash. The handover is complete.”

“How many guests did you receive?”

“That one person over there.”

The store manager pointed to a table near the display window. I looked at him and thought, “Maybe he’s a customer who came to have a quick meal,” and then my face naturally frowned.

“Store manager. Could that be…?”

“Is that the person Chan-i was talking about? The Chihuahua customer.”

“uh….”

At first, I was hesitant. This was the first time I saw that gentleman in plain clothes. He couldn’t be the only Chihuahua Kobold in the world, right?

But it’s not common to find a Chihuahua that can type on a laptop keyboard and produce 1,200 keystrokes per minute on the development floor. After a while, a familiar voice said something familiar.

“You f*cking beagle, you piece of shit….”

“That gentleman seems right. But when did he come?”

“An hour after Chan gets off work.”

I got off work at 10 AM, so you said I came at 11 AM, and it’s almost 10 AM now. You’ve been here for 11 hours?

“He said that he wouldn’t interfere with my work, so don’t interfere with his work.”

“What did you call me, store manager? I was renamed a bitch.”

“You said I was a little kid?”

The store manager is estimated to be a little under 160cm tall. With a Chihuahua’s height of around 190cm, he must look like a shorty to me.

“And he bought me a lot of milk. They say that you have to drink a lot of milk when you’re young to grow tall.”

The store manager then showed me the trash can under the counter. He bought black bean milk, banana milk, strawberry milk, and all the milk they had at the convenience store. It was just the kind of idea a Chihuahua would come up with.

“This is really… .”

“Thanks, I feel a little better. I don’t think he’s such a bad person after all.”

I wonder if the reason he speaks so cheerfully is not because he increased sales by buying milk, but because he likes hearing that he looks his age when he drinks milk… .

“Is 18 an age where you can grow tall enough?”

“I didn’t say anything. By the way, are you feeling better?”

A few days ago, I had a conversation about mood. As soon as I spoke, the store manager’s once cheerful expression suddenly became gloomy.

“Actually, I’ve been in a really bad mood since I left for work this morning… .”

The store manager said that when he is in a bad mood, bad things happen around him.

When I first heard about it, I didn’t think much of it. But then, the very evening that the store manager said he was in a bad mood, Tortoise and Steel Piglet destroyed my workplace?

It’s hard to believe that there is a direct proportional relationship between the mood of the store manager and the health of the store, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I asked the question as it came to mind.

“Did you solve the calculation problem well?”

“That’s great. Chan will be able to get off work properly tomorrow, so you don’t have to worry at all.”

“I see. Or is it because you are doing something else?”

“Anything else?”

“You said that when we were talking about the calculation formula. It was originally supposed to take one day, but you took two days just in case.”

I haven’t heard what that is, though. The store manager shook his head at this question.

“No, that’s not it. Wait… I’m just going to talk.”

“Where and with whom?”

“An acquaintance at the Magic Agency.”

The store manager’s expression was very subtle, considering that he was just going to have a quick chat with an acquaintance. It seemed like he was somewhere between being forced to do something he didn’t want to do and being forced to do something he didn’t want to do.

I changed the subject because I thought asking more would make the already depressed manager even more depressed. If it’s neither this nor that, only two things come to mind.

“I saw the news on my way back earlier, store manager. They said the embargo on the key gate was lifted.”

“Yeah. I saw it too.”

“Does that have anything to do with it?”

“… … .”

“Or maybe it’s because of that Chihuahua guy. Every time he comes over, I get really annoyed.”

I said it as a joke, but the manager seemed to have a lot on his mind, so he just stared at the counter without saying anything. He did that for several seconds.

“That could certainly be the case.”

“yes?”

“Chan-ah. Excuse me, but can you change shifts right now?”

“That doesn’t matter, it’s 9:55. But is there something urgent?”

As soon as I said it was okay, the store manager seemed particularly hurried in his actions of packing his bags. He picked up his wallet, stuffed it into his handbag, and slung it over his shoulder as he answered.

“I think I need to meet Yoonha for a bit.”

“Did you get in touch with your sister? Isn’t she really busy?”

“It didn’t go well, but I told you where Yoon-ha was.”

He said that he sent a few text messages while working on his calculations, and received a one-line reply. He said that he was having a blast at the academy district right now and couldn’t contact him.

“I was going to go and find it myself. I’m sorry.”

“What? What’s the big deal about shift change being 5 minutes early?”

There were a few things I wanted to ask the store manager, but I guess I’ll have to take care of them myself. I said, taking out the store manager’s phone from under the counter and handing it to him.

“I almost left my phone behind.”

“ah.”

“Manager, take care of your business. I’ll take care of mine too.”

The moment our eyes met, the store manager’s expression changed to one that seemed to indicate that I had a lot to say. However, she did not put her handbag down again.

“I’ll contact you later, Chan-ah.”

He waved and left work. As soon as he left the main gate, he looked at his phone, as if he was planning to catch a taxi. I looked at the bus stop electronic board right before I came in, but there were no buses at all. Anyway… .

Now, the shift change has been done. There is no change in cigarettes or cash, so there is nothing to inspect. Cleaning does not seem to be an urgent matter, so what do I do?

“Hey, you piece of shit!”

I had something to do. I approached the Chihuahua with my hands in my uniform pockets, and the Chihuahua asked me while sitting upright in the chair.

“What time do you guys close for business today, and why is this asshole putting his hands in his pockets?”

“We’re open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Customers, put your hands in your pockets. It’s convenient.”

“What the f*ck.”

“But why do you ask that? Do you have to take the bus?”

“This little shit, my house is just a stone’s throw away, why am I taking the bus?”

This Chihuahua lived near the store. He has gained a lot of useless knowledge. The Chihuahua glanced at the laptop on the table and continued.

“I’m doing that because I’m not quite finished with my work and I’m going to finish it before I go.”

“No. Are there no guests at home?”

“Didn’t I just say that my house is within walking distance?”

“Then why do you work here?”

“Beagle chewy, you have to do it, and you want to work at this time.”

You didn’t ask me what I do, you asked me why I do it here… No.

“What else is there to do at the Magic Bureau? Is there any work there that requires coding?”

“Then what the f*ck, are those guys all f*cking idiots going to manage their database with a diary and stuff?”

Then, in a voice full of anger, he said that the Magical Agency applied double security using both magical and computer methods.

The advantage of doing this is that wizards can’t hack and thus can’t break through security, and hackers can’t use magic and thus can’t break through security. I interrupted and asked.

“I heard you work in customer security IT. Does that have anything to do with hacking?”

Again, I’m an ignorant person who can’t even print a single sentence when it comes to IT or coding. What the heck is Print f? Print F? Why?

“… … .”

The Chihuahua looked at me with a face that said, ‘What the hell is this crazy person?’, but it was true, so I didn’t bother to argue back. After a while, the Chihuahua spoke with that gritted teeth.

“I hack and personally break security.”

“why?”

“If you do that, you’ll know how to get through and how not to get through, you idiot. Are you deliberately not using your brain right now?”