NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 162. I came to look for a house (4)
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What did you do in the possessed house after that? First, I lay down in the living room and slept.
I woke up and realized that I had done something crazy, but before I fell asleep, I thought it was a pretty good idea. I was going to have to sleep here someday anyway.
There was nothing scary or dangerous that I experienced while I was awake, and I even saw the devil leave the front door open after saying he would stay until dinner.
Everyone left, and I couldn’t help but feel sleepy because the floor was open. The only problem I could call it was the night I woke up. When I checked the time, it was 8:30.
I turned on the water in the bathroom sink because I didn’t have any shampoo or soap or anything, so I thought I’d just wash my face and leave, but the water was all over the place. When I checked the water temperature with my hand, it was warm, right?
But whenever I put my face in the water to wash it, the water turned into ice.
“No, sir.”
When I took my face off the water and adjusted the temperature with the faucet, the water became warm, but when I put my face back to wash it, the water became cold again. After repeating this several times, I wiped my face with my hand and asked the air.
“Is this because you hate me, or is the boiler here just a mess?”
Of course, I didn’t get an answer, so I just cursed a few times and left. I looked at my phone the whole time I was on the subway going back to the store, and there were a few more replies while I was sleeping.
One was Mr. Charlie. It was a beggarly place, so don’t live there. There was a few lines added to the reply.
[Don’t even live near a gym, you piece of shit.]
[ If you don’t want to hear dogs barking in the morning and evening ]
[Avoid areas near schools]
[ If you don’t want to hear dogs barking during lunch time ]
[f*ck]
After reading it, I wondered if this gentleman had no other criteria for finding a house than the sound of a dog barking, but I understood the content itself.
The kobolds’ voices are much louder than those of humans, so I’m not saying you should just keep them in mind, but avoid them altogether.
Since the room I had found was far from the two places I had mentioned, I didn’t respond separately, but just wrote, “If you’re looking for a store, come to the Hakwon District subway station.”
The message said it was read, but the gentleman didn’t reply. When I was about to transfer to the last line to the store, I got a text from the police officer. This is the last one.
[ I just checked. Thanks for letting me know. ]
[ I have something to tell you about the money bag from before. If you tell me where it is, I will go and find it later. ]
The store manager and I have agreed to cooperate as a magician and a half-magician respectively, so it seems like they are saying they will keep coming for that reason. But don’t the police have separate jurisdictions?
After thinking about it for a moment, I asked the police officer for tips on finding a house near the academy district. He said he would take care of the district. He replied right away.
[ If you are concerned about security ]
[Try going inside the local police station or substation near where you plan to live.]
[In areas with poor security, there are cases where magic-related emergencies occur, so magic-related protective clothing and equipment are hung near the reception desk.]
I stared at him intently and ended up sending him a message saying, ‘I’ll try later.’ I’m moving to a neighborhood where my kids go, so do I really have to go this far?
After finishing the reply, I looked around at the few foreign passengers and checked the route a couple of times.
When I checked the time when I arrived, it was 9:40. I went out to the convenience store entrance and looked inside the display window, and there were only two people inside the store. The store manager and the dog.
The store manager was counting cash, probably preparing for a handover, and the puppy was curled up inside a cushion on the counter, not moving at all.
As I entered, the store manager looked at me and waved the hand holding the money.
“Hi, Chan-ah.”
“Yes, sir. But has this puppy been sleeping all this time?”
“Yeah. You were snoring earlier too.”
As the store manager spoke, the puppy started to wiggle its body on the cushion and then completely laid down with its belly exposed. It seemed like it was just tired, but its health was okay.
“The cushion originally belonged to the store manager?”
“No? I opened the package of the one in the store. It was 6,000 won.”
“This guy costs about 2.3 hamburgers.”
“Yes. Since the kid has had a hard time recently, I’m going to round it up especially this time.”
I could tell right away that he was joking because there was a hint of laughter in his words. The store manager, who was watching the dog’s tail wagging, asked me.
“Did you have a nice time at home, Chan-ah?”
“Yes. I found a house I like, but there’s just one problem. It’s a minor thing, but…”
“What problem?”
“I don’t like that house.”
“?”
I explained it in more detail. As you said, I asked my older sister about finding a house, and she recommended a place with a two-room apartment with a monthly rent of 250,000 won and no deposit, so I quickly went to look around.
As the saying goes, cheap things are expensive, so of course there were problems. The house was possessed by a devil. That devil would drop the covers on the ceiling lights and wouldn’t let me wash.
The store manager, who had been nodding along as I spoke, paused for a moment when I mentioned that he didn’t even let me wash, and asked me a question.
“When Chan-i tries to wash, the water gets cold, and when he stops trying to wash, the water gets warm again?”
“That’s right. I think it’s a minor issue compared to the housing conditions, so I’m thinking of trying to resolve it through discussion later.”
I said it half-jokingly, but the store manager agreed with me.
“Then try that, Chan-ah. It seems like a good idea.”
“Huh? Are you talking to the devil?”
“I think so, isn’t that the devil?”
After saying this, he immediately explains that the devil does not have separate organs for hearing or sight.
But the guy who came to my house changed the water temperature according to how I turned on the tap, and he even stopped moving the front door after listening to what I said.
“There are cases where we use electronic devices such as cameras or microphones to replace our senses, but there probably aren’t cameras in the bathroom.”
“I haven’t checked that separately, but… I don’t think so. I think so.”
“Then it’s not a devil, right? If it didn’t do anything until Chan-i went to sleep, then even if we don’t know its true identity, it must be a being with some common sense.”
“For example?”
“Something that can understand speech, can act stealthily enough to avoid being detected by the landlord, can use telekinesis magic, and is relatively young.”
If you look at what happened, it all made sense, except for one thing.
“Why do you think that I’m young?”
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“Well, that’s because it’s childish. If you want to kick someone out of your house, aren’t there more drastic ways than adjusting the water temperature?”
“Ugh… .”
From my perspective of having to live in that house, it was hard for me to relate to that, but from a different perspective, it could certainly be seen that way. If someone were to be kicked out of my house, I would threaten to call the police first…
“But just in case, I should go with Chan as an arbitrator when he talks.”
“I was going to ask you to do that anyway. If this can’t be resolved through conversation, can I… ask you a favor?”
“Yeah. Even though I can’t use magic, I’ll tell you a lot of things that seem useful.”
The premise of ‘going together’ is that the two of us can empty the store at the same time. I’m talking about a convenience store part-time job seeker who hasn’t seen a single person for a month.
I knew that if I brought this up, the store manager would get sullen, so I didn’t say anything. I looked at the dog’s tail that was wagging incessantly, and changed the subject.
“Anyway, I think I’ll be living there, and the store is moving. Manager.”
“Yeah. Did you tell the guests?”
“I think you guys will come and go as you please. Thank you for your consideration.”
Maybe because they are all working people, moving doesn’t seem like a big problem. The police officer and Ms. Elena will probably come by on their own if they have something to do, and the old man seems to be free because he doesn’t have a separate workplace.
As for Charlie, he hasn’t replied yet, so I guess he’s going to take care of it himself. The only thing I was worried about was his dog, and he happens to be here.
“So, you said that it doesn’t matter when you move, Manager.”
“Yeah. When do you think would be a good time, Chani?”
“I think it would be best if I moved right now.”
As I spoke, I quickly checked the POS machine sales. Compared to before I went out to look for a house, sales had increased by exactly 50,000 won. This was even after the office workers had left work.
If I continue to do business here, I will definitely not receive my salary next month. The only problem was that I had no idea how to introduce the dog to the place I was moving to.
“This guy is sleeping right now, so I think it would be a good idea to move him before he wakes up. What do you think, manager?”
“Well… I guess I need to rearrange some of the items on the shelf… .”
Since we have to move to a place where most of the customers are minors, there are a lot of things to clean up and a lot of things to display. The store manager gave an example of TCG cards.
“Do we have to sell TCG cards now, sir?”
“Cards are really popular with elementary school kids, Chan-ah. Of course, I don’t plan on filling up the shelves, I’m just clearing out the ones in the toy section.”
“aha….”
When I went there before, I got the impression that there were quite a few kids there, so I guess the card game is well-known. That is, unless you ask me when the new product pack will come out.
“It’ll take a day or two if you place an order… but even if we just sell what we have here, I think business will go better. Right?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had guests there before.”
“Then let’s go right away, Chan-ah. Could you please draw the curtains?”
“Uh… yes.”
Right now, I didn’t mean 10 seconds after the statement was made, but I did as my boss ordered. I locked the door and closed the curtains.
After that, I lifted the puppy up with the cushion and stood with my back to the window. For a moment, the store seemed to shake, then became quiet, and when I looked back, a completely different scene from the intersection unfolded before me.
It was much brighter than the intersection where I used to do business. Not only was there twice as many streetlights, but there were also many commercial buildings with their lights on.
It wasn’t the school district, but since it was 9:40 at night, most of the school buildings had their lights off, so I couldn’t see anything beyond the entrance. As I was looking outside, the store manager spoke to me in a casual manner.
“Now I have to go at night to see Chan-i.”
“You don’t have to go far, manager. Just pack your bags from where you live, get your deposit back, and that’s it.”
“Have you finished preparing your luggage in advance?”
“Yes. It’ll all fit in one carrier. Probably.”
I can just throw away the few books I have at home, and I don’t have a lot of shoes or clothes. If I were to put in a blanket, it wouldn’t be enough for just one carrier, but I can just throw it away. I’ve used one blanket for almost 10 years.
“But Mr. Manager, how long does it take you to get off work here?”
“It’s less of a hassle than the intersection, Chan-ah. Don’t worry.”
“Yes. Then… would you like to change shifts? It’s almost 10 o’clock.”
“Okay. There’s no separate handover item, Chan-ah.”
Instead, he said that there would be a lot of handover items starting tomorrow, so he asked me to take good care of them. After saying that I understood, I quietly watched as the store manager packed his bags and headed out the front door.
He turns around at the front door and looks at me, then continues speaking as if he had almost forgotten.
“It’ll be a bit crowded with kids going to school in the morning, so prepare yourself mentally. If you have any questions, contact me right away. I’ll wake up a bit early today.”
“I will do that. Thank you for your hard work, store manager.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow, Chan.”
After that, I left work. I blankly watched as it disappeared through the right-hand shop window instead of the left-hand one as usual, and then I looked at the puppy on the cushion and said something.
“Won’t it work out somehow, punk?”
“Zzz… .”
That’s right. After putting the puppy and its cushion under the counter, I sat quietly and just looked out the window. There weren’t any customers until dawn, but it started to get a little crowded in the morning.