Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 140

Episode 140. Regular Customer Assembly (3)

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It is said that the qualifications required for making magic potions vary depending on the manufacturing process or intended use. Physical recovery, mental recovery, industrial, magic aids, etc.

In terms of cooking, it is similar to the concept of qualifications being divided into Korean, Western, and Japanese cuisine. In addition, it is said that Ms. Elena has acquired most of these.

Even a qualification equivalent to a puffer fish chef, that is… even a qualification for making poison.

“Where did you go to get your poison-making license?”

“I got it to try making an antidote. Admiral, since magic potions with antidote properties can only be used with that license, I did it anyway.”

“Ugh… .”

At this rate, wouldn’t a rainbow burst out the moment you open your wallet? Like a top chef?

“You’re very trustworthy. I’ll tell you a few things from now on, so if there’s anything you can’t do, please let me know in advance. For now.”

My sister started to list the things I needed one by one after she started crying. A rapid cooling potion, a magic neutralizer, and a calming potion, including the potion that allowed me to breathe in water that we had talked about earlier.

“And, do you need magic supplements, Sister?”

“I don’t need to be there. What about Yoon-ha?”

“Me neither. Then I’ll just ask you what I asked you to do first. That’s all for now.”

“Yes. How long can I do it by? How long is the validity period?”

“The validity period is 2 hours, and you need to make it all in under 10 minutes at the most. Is that possible?”

At her sister’s question, Miss Elena picked up a pocket on the table and put her hand inside. I watched to see if there was anything missing, and after a while, she took out a pair of round-framed glasses.

He put on his glasses, looked up at us, clenched his fists and spoke.

“I’ll finish it in 5 minutes!”

Just do it in ten minutes. I tried to speak to her, but Miss Elena had already turned around and was holding the cap of the largest vial with one hand and lighting the lamp with the other.

And then he pours the contents of the opened vial into the flask, filling it halfway. I think that’s the base solution for the magic potion. Like broth.

After that, he would drop a few drops of other reagents into the petri dish or mix them in empty reagent bottles without saying a word, without blinking once during the process.

If I try to talk to him like this, it will only be a nuisance. My older sister, who had been looking at me, looked at the store manager, and finally at the old man, and opened her mouth.

“While you concentrate, Ms. Elena, we will do our work. I, Elder Wolf.”

“Go ahead, Miss Yoon-ha.”

“Have you ever been through a gate?”

It was a direct question. The old man slowly shook his head in response to the older sister’s question and then asked in return.

“Are there any special qualifications required?”

“There are no specific qualifications, but the magical power concentration inside the gate is much higher than outside. It’s going to be even worse now that we’re entering the core gate.”

It is said that when exposed to high concentrations of magic for a long time, symptoms start from the extremities and can lead to paralysis of the whole body, and in severe cases, cardiac arrest.

“If this goes wrong, will it be covered by insurance, sis?”

“Don’t worry about that, it doesn’t apply to you. If it didn’t, I would have told you not to go down when you said you would. Anyway.”

My sister said that she didn’t come to the store knowing that a gate would open right in front of her, and that she didn’t bring any protective gear, let alone any related equipment.

In other words, it’s a situation where you have to hit it with your body. Unless you’re a professionally trained person, 30 minutes is the deadline.

“I’ve experienced this kind of thing so often that I’m used to it, and my sister has been a magician for a long time, so I’m not particularly worried. But as for you, I know you’re not an ordinary person… .”

“I don’t think you have to worry too much either.”

The old man answered briefly and rolled up the sleeves of his suit. He clenched and unclenched his fists, and smiled with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

“I’ve been in similar situations many times.”

“Uh… Are you by any chance a former soldier? During the Great War?”

“Yes. It’s difficult to go into detail.”

Maybe it’s because the fact that he served in the escort unit is a military secret, but he’s a bit cautious about what he says. My older sister didn’t ask me any more questions, as if she had some idea.

“But Miss Yoon-ha, what should I do?”

“I need you to protect this guy from below. I’ll take care of you, sister. We’ll be a group of four.”

It is said that the minimum number of people to be deployed when entering the gate is 4. This is because in case of emergency, the personnel can be split into 2 groups of 2, and if one of the 2 people becomes dangerous, the other one can respond.

And magicians who are always restricted in using magic, or specialists like me who are anti-magic one-tools, always have one hunter accompany them as an escort.

So the personnel composition is roughly like this, and the roles are as follows: the older sister, who is a current hunter, is the leader, and the magician, the store manager, responds to emergencies. The elder is in charge of protecting me from threats within the gate, and I am the great magic tactical weapon…?

“What did I say? Sister?”

“Great Magic Tactical Weapon, Jasha. How can you do physical things with your constitution?”

“Uh… well?”

I’ve never tried it consciously, but I don’t think so. If I had that kind of constitution, I would have done something when my back was torn from carrying a box of soju.

“Right? The gate isn’t dangerous just because it has a high concentration of magical power. There are frequent cases of demons wandering around, and cases of the internal environment collapsing… It’s diverse.”

This is completely unimaginable. It’s like saying that the inside of that sewer, which we don’t even know what it looks like, could be the set of a real-life monster movie. Or a disaster movie…

After a moment of being absent-minded, my older sister smiled bitterly and continued speaking.

“Looking at your reaction, I think it was a good idea to ask Ms. Elena for the magic potion.”

“I know….”

“The three of us can somehow manage to get down there, but you have to do well in front of the gate core. The core has a certain shape, so you might be able to touch it with your hands.”

“If I refuse to come down, what were you going to do then?”

“I was going to move it all, Chan-ah. To a pretty far place.”

This was answered by the store manager. Let’s look at him. He looked up at me and smiled. I asked him right away.

“Where are you talking about?”

“The sky 3km above.”

“Then wouldn’t there be problems under that sky?”

“That’s true, but isn’t it better than having chaos in the middle of the city?”

“That’s true.”

But after hearing this story, I realized once again that if I don’t go down, things won’t work out. The store manager said that he can’t just remove the gate.

“Still, I feel relieved that Chan-i is going with me.”

“I’m glad to hear that you feel relieved….”

“I’m done! Yoon-ha, Chan-i!”

I guess it’s done. Looking at both sides of Elena, I saw her stretching while holding her glasses in her hands.

Five small vials the size of a thumb were placed on the table. They were the four types of potions that my sister had asked for earlier. Water breathing, rapid cooling, neutralizing magic power, and calming magic potions.

I was curious about what the remaining bottle was, so Ms. Elena held the bottle in one hand and handed it to me, explaining it to me first.

“I have a little time left. This is it, it has the effect of clotting wounds, stopping bleeding, and relieving pain―”

“Oh. And?”

“It helps with fractures, and if you drink it, it will help with blood regeneration. The stronger ones have to be boiled for a long time, so it’s only good for simple first aid.”

“… A fracture?”

“Yes. I’ve never been in a gate before, and I don’t know what might happen….”

This seems like too much. No matter what, I don’t think I’ll end up breaking a bone… right?

Still, I agree with the opinion that something can happen. And quite a lot. When I received the medicine, Miss Elena held my hand with both of hers and spoke, her voice shaking slightly.

“You must come back healthy. Definitely.”

I just nodded because I was not confident. I also want to come back healthy. Whether I can do that or not is a secondary issue.

Now that we’re almost done with the preparations, there are two things we need to wrap up quickly.

“Officer. Please make sure the store doesn’t float away.”

“yes.”

After a brief answer, the officer salutes.

“On-site preservation is my specialty, so don’t worry and go.”

“Heh, heh, heh.”

On the way, I saw the puppy come close to my feet and lick my ankle. I thought for a moment and asked my older sister.

“Sister. What do you think about taking him with you?”

“Hey, Lee Chan, he’s a bit…”

“He’s not that special. Do you think he might be able to do something for you?”

“What exactly?”

“I don’t know about that. There might be a lot of rats and bats down there that don’t understand human language…”

The police officer, Miss Elena, and the elders might not understand this conversation, but they still spoke frankly. There was no time to beat around the bush. After all, they would all find out later anyway.

My sister’s expression was like, ‘What are you going to do with a two-year-old puppy?’ but she still had something to say.

“He’s got a strong body, and if something happens, I can do something about it.”

Since I am a spirit, I have magical power and regenerative abilities, so I think I could solve the problem of magical power accumulating in my body.

The biggest reason was that the puppy seemed to want to follow him no matter what. He probably heard everything we were talking about, like something might happen down there, it was dangerous, and yet he was still doing this.

Just in case, I asked one more time.

“If you don’t agree, wag your tail, puppy.”

The dog stood with its tail straight up and not a single hair moved. My sister, who was looking at the dog with a complicated expression, turned her head to the store manager and asked.

“You know him too, Unnie. Puppy. What do you think?”

“I always respect the opinions of the parties involved. Dogs are no exception.”

“… Ah, I don’t know. Put it in your bag and take it with you. But don’t ever lose your bag.”

“uh.”

* * *

I picked up a bag that was floating around the store, put the puppy in it, and went back out.

What I felt when I came out was that the rain was getting heavier. It wasn’t just a feeling. The feeling of the blow hitting my shoulder was different.

I looked around the convenience store window to check the water level, and saw that the water was overflowing slightly above the table where Elena and the Chihuahua were sitting. Just a moment ago, it was just below the table.

Above the wavy rainwater, Ms. Elena is waving her hand incessantly with a worried expression, while the Chihuahua is staring blankly in this direction with an open laptop.

“… … .”

“I know what you’re thinking, but let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

“okay.”

Once we get this damn core gate taken care of, everything will be back to normal. Store sales, the streets, the time I spent talking to customers.

“Are you okay, sir? How are you, sister?”

“It’s okay. Can I hold it for you, sir?”

“No, I think I’ll be fine.”

The old man was already standing above the surface of the rainwater. The store manager, who had been answering with his head bowed down under the heavy rain, raised his arm on the surface of the rainwater and gave a short shout.

“Shut up.”

Then, as if climbing over a wall, he goes up, holding the rainwater with his hand. Standing on the surface of the rainwater, which is lapping at the surface, the store manager taps the soles of his shoes on the rainwater.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I’m a little scared. Elder Wolf, is this the right way to do it?”

“Yes, that’s great, sir.”

“Please take this bag, it’s going to float away.”

I was speechless and had nothing to say, so I just handed the bag I had stuffed in to the store manager. This is called a bag, but it’s no different from a non-woven bag with a zipper and a shoulder strap. It’s not even waterproof.

The store manager took the bag and held it in his hand, looked at the closed zipper of the bag, and spoke.

“Hey, Puppy. I’ll be there soon, so just hold on for a bit, okay?”

“Kkiing… Phew.”

I think I got water in my nose. After that, I followed my sister, holding her hand, while the store manager and the old man walked through the rainwater without saying a word.

I continued walking in silence until I reached the manhole cover. Since the cover was not closed, the inside was still visible. A strangely twisted ladder, a wall made of water that replaced the cover.

My sister stepped on a thick wall of water with her foot and asked me.

“Lee Chan, can you touch this? If possible, with a ladder.”

“I’ll try.”

I put my hand into the manhole cover, feeling around, with only my head sticking out above the rainwater. There was a slight resistance in my hand, then it disappeared. This must have been the disappearance of the water wall… .

Next is something rough and metallic. I think I touched the rusty part of the ladder. If I looked down, my head would be underwater, so I asked my older sister to check for me.

“How are you now? Are you doing well?”

“It’s going well. Just hold on to it and come down at the very end. Got it?”

“uh.”

“I’ll go first.”

The older sister looked up at the old man and the store manager, then immediately grabbed the ladder and started to climb down.

The sound of footsteps on the metal ladder echoed intermittently through the noise of rain, and stopped after less than a few dozen seconds. It didn’t seem to be very deep inside.

“The other two, come down!”

“You’d better give me the bag, sir. It might be inconvenient.”

“yes.”

An elderly man carrying the bag the store manager gave him on his shoulder and holding onto the ladder with one hand begins to climb down. Next, the store manager plunges into the rainwater and tries to climb down the ladder… .

It stopped. The store manager just poked his head out over the lid and gently stroked my hand holding the ladder. I could hear him mumbling across the water.

“I owe Chan-i a favor today.”

“What’s the matter? My workplace is about to flood, so of course I have to act like a dog….”

“Not that kind of thing.”

“Then what do you mean by indebtedness?”

“This city.”

What are you talking about now?

After saying this, before I could ask a question, he went down the ladder with a thud. I waited for the sound of the ladder to stop, and after a while, I heard a loud shout.

“Chan-ah! You can come down now!”

“yes!”

I also immediately immersed myself in the rainwater and put my feet on the bridge. As I went down each step, the sound of the rain gradually grew farther away and quieter.

After counting to twenty in my head, my feet touched the solid ground. I let go of the ladder and looked around, but the scenery around me was quite different from what I had expected.

“… Sister.”

“uh.”

“Why is it so big here?”

For a sewer, the interior was too wide. It was just an estimate, but the drain pipes and pillars seemed to be as wide as the space… .

When I asked, my older sister answered, squeezing the water soaking wet from her head with both hands.

“It’s releasing space. The gate core.”