NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 134. Our store is open for business as usual (1)
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[ I’m using magic right now with permission. Actually, we’re not talking on the phone, I’m just sending something like telepathy to Chan’s phone – ]
On the way to the store, the store manager explained the magic he had used.
Like knowing the phone number, model, and what kind of magic stone was inside, so I could use the magic, or because of my constitution, I couldn’t shoot directly at my head, so I used the phone as a medium.
[ Even though this magic is complicated, it doesn’t use a lot of magic power. So, I use my own magic power… . ]
The store manager, who had been talking up to that point, then started talking more and more and changed the subject altogether.
[ I met Yoonha last night and talked to her, and now I’m at the Magic Office. It’ll probably take two or three hours. I still have some paperwork to fill out. ]
“… … .”
[ If you need to change quickly, just say whatever you want. I can go back right away. ]
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to leave work right away, and I was sure that the store manager wouldn’t do something like that unless the situation was dire.
It’s such an important task that he’s probably trying to finish it up and come back even if it means delaying sending me home. Later, when I’m two hours late, I’ll consider it an early indulgence.
Still, there was something frustrating. Even if it was a one-way call and I couldn’t say what I wanted to say, there was one thing I was curious about after hearing what was just said.
But I can’t ask, because it’ll all be noisy. While I was quietly walking across the crosswalk, the store manager started talking again.
[ I’m thinking about this right now, Chani. You’ve seen me use magic a few times before, so why do you want permission this time? ]
The store manager has a great sense in this area. What kind of tongs are these?
[ The magic that retired wizards can use is extremely limited. It is divided into a 9-grade classification system based on power and purpose, and only 1st grade among them is available, and even that is very limited. Even if you only want to do this much, you have to write a lot of paperwork. ]
In addition to the magic the store manager normally uses to clean the store, there are also magic spells he uses to move between spaces in the store, and one that prevented someone from being ejected into the ceiling while touching the Archmage’s set.
All of them are just a few first-class magics that were finally approved after filling out mountains of paperwork. The store manager took a deep breath as if he had almost forgotten while speaking, and then hurriedly added.
[ I’m not saying I can only use the lowest level magic, Chan-ah! I’m saying I can’t use it because I don’t have permission! ]
I don’t mean to disparage the store manager by calling him a newbie. Since communication is not possible, I guess there’s nothing we can do about it. After saying this, the store manager was silent for a while.
[ … It rains a lot there, Chan-ah. If it rains, just say something. ]
“Yes. A lot of people come.”
[ Same here. I think it’s because of the gate. Does Chan agree? ]
“yes.”
[ I had the same thought after talking to Yoon Ha yesterday. That’s why I’m going to get permission to use magic. I have to protect my own store. ]
I thought it was because of this. Sending me home is sending me home, and the store manager has to take care of his own livelihood. He’s a human being living in this world.
[ So three hours. ]
“… … .”
[ I’ll go as soon as I’m done, Chan-ah. No matter what happens, just hold on a little longer. ]
The store manager is raising the flag. It seems like he thinks something is really going to happen in the store, beyond just the rain.
Even though you couldn’t hear me, I answered by stretching out my words.
“Please take your time, manager. I will also keep my job.”
After a while, the store manager accepted it.
[ huh. ]
Do you know what I said and are you responding?
After hanging up the phone, I walked for about a minute and arrived at the store. First, I put my umbrella in the holder, then took off my shoes and let out some of the rainwater that had filled them.
I checked the time with only my soaking wet socks on. It was exactly 10 o’clock.
Originally, I was going to tell the store manager everything I wanted to say when he arrived at 10 o’clock, and then call the Magic Office right away. I think there’s a gate here.
Now I thought I had some evidence. The Chihuahua had pointed out several locations, and I had roughly identified them, and he had definitely pointed out that one of them was at the bottom of the sewer.
I thought that if I kept whining, I would somehow be able to get it to work, but now I can’t even do that. The call area exit icon that used to pop up and disappear every now and then never disappears at all.
When I made a call, there was no signal at all. Even the Wi-Fi connection was only briefly connected and then stopped, leaving only traces in the chat, and it was like this.
[Something bad happened at the convenience store? Mr. Chan?]
[ Mr. Chani? ]
There are replies to the messages I sent earlier, one by one. These are messages from Elena… .
[ Sir, are you okay? ]
[ Are you not okay? ]
Elder Wolf sent this message:
[ I will contact you later . ]
This was a message from Officer Iruel, but I didn’t really expect to hear from him later. He must be busy providing public support.
[ What the hell is going on you little shit ]
[ What the heck ]
[ The bastard sent me a text message, why isn’t he responding? ]
This is a message that Chihuahua sent with a time difference. I didn’t reply because I knew I’d get cursed at if I did. Lastly, Unnie Yoonha.
[ What’s happening there again ]
[ Hey Lee Chan ]
[Yumma]
[I’ll go as soon as possible, just wait]
Even if I try to jump without waiting, I can’t jump. I tried to reply to this by typing ‘ㅇ’ and sending it, but the resend mark appeared right away.
“Damn, nothing works.”
I put my practically bricked phone back in my pocket and looked up at the sky.
The sky is so dark that it’s almost pitch black. Just an hour ago, there were just a few white clouds visible.
It’s hard to even find a building with lights on around here. It seems like most people didn’t plan on opening after hearing the weather forecast today. Or they closed in the middle of the day and left work, or whatever.
The weather is only going to get worse, and it doesn’t seem like it’ll ever clear up. The radio waves are also going to stop working as time goes on. What should I do then?
“… … .”
No matter how much I think about it, it seems like there’s no other way than waiting for the store manager.
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It’s not like I can use magic. I’d like to prepare in advance for the occasional drizzle, but there aren’t any sandbags in the store…
If you hold out for exactly 3 hours, doing whatever you can in the store, the store manager will come and do something about it. Wouldn’t it be good to do something that you can physically do in the meantime?
For example, storing items for sale separately to prevent them from being damaged.
Even if you can restore a product packaged in a paper box, there’s no way to magically prevent the contents inside from getting wet and spoiling. If you could do something about that, why would there be a concept of an expiration date in this world?
This isn’t the only store that will be in shambles if rainwater seeps in, so they won’t compensate for all the flood damage. The direction has been set, but what can we do about it?
After thinking for a moment, I went into the uniform changing area and took out all the folded ramen boxes I could. I put off throwing them out for almost a week, and now they’re coming back to me like this. How lucky…
I went back and forth like this five or six times, took out all the boxes, spread them out in the lobby, and unfolded them one by one, stuffing the items in the lower shelves into boxes in order of size. As for the small ones, I guess I can use 100L general waste bags somehow.
After about 30 minutes of mindlessly sweeping up the items, the bottom row of all the shelves was left with only the bare bones. Anyone who saw this would think that this place was going out of business.
After that, he took out the pulley from inside, stacked the boxes, and took them inside the office.
In other stores, this would be a method that would be impossible to come up with because there is no place to store it, but this store has something special that no other store has: a basement warehouse.
After opening the iron door of the basement warehouse, I carried all the boxes that had been stacked on the pulley down. This took about 20 minutes and a little bit of my knee cartilage.
“after….”
After finishing everything, I took a short breather in the office. After going up and down the stairs a dozen times, my legs were so sore I thought I was going to die. But I thought it was a good deal…
– Iron Buck.
“?”
Are your feet wet?
I looked down and saw water seeping in through the gap under the office door. I went out to the lobby, wondering if it was true, and saw a shallow pool of water covering the entire lobby.
“no.”
Something is off. This store is structured so that you have to climb a single flight of stairs. It’s about the same height as an apartment staircase.
Before I came in through the main gate, there was only a ripple of water at the bottom of the stairs. In just 20 minutes, the dark clouds doubled in thickness?
I couldn’t understand it, so I tried to go out the front door again, but the moment I saw the sky in front of me, I realized the reason.
Because there were dark clouds right in front of my nose. At a location a little over 10m away, roughly.
Dark clouds hang over the 4th or 5th floor of the building like clouds hanging over a high mountain, and rainwater is pouring down from the dark clouds like someone is squeezing a wet towel.
What was even more frustrating was that the dark clouds didn’t cover the entire street. They only covered the right end of the street, right up to the four-lane intersection where the gate was supposed to be.
“…I….”
I found out when a bunch of real-life people started flocking to this store. They say this store is in a bad location in terms of feng shui.
– Swaaaahh …
What is the sound of water leaking in through the crack in the front door? It feels like I’ve come to a valley for a retreat. Does that make sense?
Whether I’m being ridiculous or not, this damn rainwater keeps pouring down. The first section of the display case, which I thought would last at least half a day, was half submerged in an instant.
Of course, the reason was the damn gate. I went straight to where I had stacked the boxes, picked up the ones that were a little less wet, and stacked them on the counter.
After that, I half-lying down at the checkout counter and clutching my temples, because I was overcome with a serious sense of skepticism about the current situation.
No, even if it rains, it should come slowly so that I can block it or not. When the store manager told me to hold on, was that what he meant? To hold on tight mentally so that I don’t go crazy?
“But this is just too much, all the rain that would fall in a year is falling in one day….”
― ~shio!
“?”
― ~Please!! There’s no one here!!
What is this?
Outside the main gate, a deep, bass-heavy voice is booming. I press up against the shop window and look outside through the gap in the rainwater, and a trash can is floating down from the far right.
As I was watching, I realized that the voice was coming from inside a closed trash can.
“Help me, is there anyone there? There’s a dog trapped in this trash can right now, and it’s floating away!!”