Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 178

Episode 178. Don’t Fight, Study, Study (3)

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There were a few more questions and answers after that, but nothing meaningful. I don’t know who or where the person who gave that order is. I don’t know their contact information.

[ As I said before, I didn’t ask any questions and just did what I was told. If I had done that, my body would have been found in a drum at the bottom of the ocean the next morning. Don’t you know better? ]

[ Is there anything else you would like to say? ]

[ I have a feeling. The more this bastard tries to make money easily, the more difficult it becomes to go around in circles. Can I go to sleep now? ]

[Thank you for your hard work.]

[ Good. It’s been a while since I’ve met a nerd I can talk to. ]

And then, the store manager, who had been staring blankly down at the MP3 player that had finished playing, spoke first.

“I don’t think this person is under any kind of brainwashing or hypnosis spell, officer.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Since I have to judge based solely on the content of the conversation, it’s closer to guessing than being certain… .”

After explaining the spell, he said that magic that directly interferes with the mind is difficult to use and difficult to produce the results the caster wants.

This is because it is difficult to judge whether the spell has been applied properly. For example, let’s say you cast a brainwashing spell that says, ‘You will not be able to say that there is a bag of money in the park bathroom.’

This way, you can prevent yourself from saying the sentence itself. But what if you say something indirectly, like, ‘There’s something in the handwashing area in places where people walk a lot’?

“You can go for a walk in the mountains. You can wash your hands at the sink. The categories of ‘something’ are endless.”

This alone greatly narrows the search range, and is not a pleasant situation for the caster who casts brainwashing magic. So, how do you mainly cast brainwashing magic?

“Usually, you can’t say that there’s something somewhere, so you put a big limit on it. Chan-i, would you like to ask a similar question?”

“…Do you have a coffee machine at your house, sir?”

“There’s something I bought a long time ago. But what if I was under a brainwashing spell? Then I wouldn’t have been able to answer that question just now.”

Let’s take this as an everyday conversation. This goblin is hospitalized, so he probably wouldn’t be able to answer even a simple question like, “Where did you throw away the medicine I just took?”

“But this guy said, ‘If I ask anything other than what you tell me, my body will be found in a drum at the bottom of the ocean the next morning.’”

There is something out there, my body will be found in a drum at the bottom of the ocean. It sounds both reasonable and ambiguous…

The magic of this world is so hard to understand. As I was staring down at the MP3 recorder, the store manager asked for my opinion.

“Anyway, this is me, what does Chan-i think?”

If you ask my opinion, I don’t think I’m lying. It’s because every word I say is trampled on my ears. The more a bastard tries to make money easily, the more difficult it becomes to go around in circles.

Judging by the fact that these words came out without hesitation, it must have been something that the goblin had thought about often. After thinking it over in his mind for a while, he glanced at the POS machine and then spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be clearer if we did as he said? Tomorrow night at 12 o’clock, park bathroom.”

Today is Thursday. With so many incidents and accidents happening lately, I think I’ve been living my life wondering what will happen to me today rather than what day it is.

But I know what I’ll be doing the day after tomorrow, said the officer, putting away his recorder and speaking in a slightly embarrassed tone.

“Regardless of the truth, I intended to do so. But, do you plan on taking it with you?”

“Yes. You’re trying to catch the guy who brought the bag of money.”

If the goblin hadn’t been hospitalized, this is how things would have gone. Someone would have found the goblin in the park bathroom at midnight and handed him a bag of money.

The bag of money will still have the same disguise spell as before. What happens then? Even if we catch the guy who took the bag of money at the scene, he’ll just pretend not to know.

“That guy said, ‘This isn’t a bag of money, it’s just a trash bag. Can you still drag me to the police station like this? Officer?”

“It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult.”

I think so too. The only evidence I have now is the few words the goblin said when he was rushed to the emergency room. No matter how strange the law enforcement in this world is, I don’t think they would issue an arrest warrant for this reason.

Then what should I do? If I release the magic spell on the money bag at that scene, it’s over. If I show him the money bag in public, what will he say?

“This is what I think… What do you think?”

Of course, I need permission from both my boss and the person in charge of the case. I glanced at their reactions and saw that the officer was tapping his forehead with a flashlight.

The store manager just stared at me blankly without saying a word. The officer, who seemed to be deep in thought, put the light stick back into his waistband and continued speaking.

“If you bring it with you, I guarantee your safety.”

I don’t try to dissuade him. The police officer must have thought that things would get complicated if I didn’t go with him. Meanwhile, the store manager, who had been silent, suddenly said something unexpected.

“Can I come with you, officer?”

I really didn’t think about it. No, if we both go out, who will look after the store?

“Is that what the owner said?”

“Yes. I also want to see how things turn out.”

I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but the manager’s expression didn’t seem like a joke, so I kept quiet. As we were looking at each other, the officer bit his lip slightly and then answered.

“Can I tell you more about this later?”

“That’s okay. I don’t think your mind will change though.”

“… Okay. Then I will make sure to pass it on to the previous person.”

Normally, this would have been communicated to the department in charge via radio, but since my work location has changed, that won’t be possible this time. The conversation will likely be long as well.

“Well, I guess I should go back now….”

He kept talking and raised his hand as if he was going to salute, then lowered it and bowed his head. I never thought of that either.

“I’m sorry for always causing you trouble.”

“What’s the problem? You kept the store open during the flood last time.”

“If that’s the case, then I—”

“If you’re really feeling uneasy, why don’t you sit down and have a cup of coffee before you go? It seems like all I see is you buying cigarettes every time.”

Since he didn’t seem to be raising his head, I also intervened. After hearing this, he finally raised his head, looked at me blankly, smiled faintly, and answered.

“Yes. Later, let’s have some coffee.”

Then I went out. After the front door bell stopped ringing, I checked the POS machine time and it was 10:10 PM. It was already way past my shift change time.

Still, there was no sign of the store manager leaving. I looked down and asked.

“What should I do now, manager?”

“Somehow, it seemed like you said you wanted to go with the flow.”

“But… I didn’t say anything particularly strange, did I?”

Even if it’s not me, I think it’s right that one anti-magician should go with you. Even though I’m a magic removal tool, I’m pretty good at it, so it would be a good fit.

“But Chan, you’ve never done anything like this before?”

“That’s the problem… .”

Not only do I dive deep into sewers and punch people in the face with a gimbal-sized iris, but now I have to go to crime scenes myself. I guess not everyone in this world lives like this… .

But I’m not as dissatisfied as I was back then. As the store manager said, I got help when the gate was broken before. If I can’t get it back, it’s even more frustrating.

“From what I saw, Chan-i’s liver was a bit swollen after going through the gate thing.”

“It’s swollen, but I’m still okay. I’m more curious about something else.”

“What? You’re following me?”

“Yes. Why are you here?”

“The world knows that Chan is a beginner, and I know that too, but I have to follow him even if it’s just out of concern. Then aren’t you going?”

I think it might be for this reason. Now that I know enough to know that the store manager is an extraordinary person, I think there must be a reason for him to come. Still.

“If we both go out, who will really look after the store? Should I order glass?”

“I guess?”

For a moment, I wondered if this made sense. He learned the job for one day today, and three days in two days… Ah.

“I guess I could do it alone in three days. But what if he can’t work then?”

“I want to ask you the same thing. Chan-i works at 12 o’clock at night. What did he plan to do?”

“I was going to use my annual leave. I’d come back right after work and check the counter. It’s already June.”

Since they were making the store manager work 24 hours a day, I was planning to finish work and come back right away to work at the counter. When I said that, the store manager snickered and poked me in the back with his finger.

“This is nonsense.”

“Does that really sound like something you don’t mean?”

“I know that’s not true. Ask Yuri, and if she says it’s hard, then we can think about it again.”

“yes.”

After the handover was completed, the store manager left work. Nothing much happened during the early morning shift.

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For an experienced salesperson, it takes about three days to figure out the work patterns of the store you’re working at. What kind of customers usually come at what time, what kind of people are likely to cause trouble, etc.

It’s been a little over three days since I moved here, and I’m starting to get used to the patterns here. The mixed race people going to the cram school at 3am, the students arriving at school early at 7am, and… .

“Hey! Let’s bet how many scoops of vanilla ice cream are in here. Call?”

“Hey! Why are you eating that sandwich? I paid for it!”

“Hey! You’re the one who blew up my house on the server yesterday. I saw you plant the bomb!”

Because they all call each other by the same title, “Hey,” elementary school students have become so incompetent that they can’t even tell who is calling who. Wow, is this elementary school life?

8:30 a.m., the time when elementary school students go to school. From around this time, people started to flock to me nonstop by subway, bus, and on foot, and they started to increase my wrinkles in all sorts of mysterious ways.

For example, opening the freezer door wide to choose an ice cream and then walking out, or fighting over a bite of something someone else bought because it looked more delicious and spilling it on the floor, or occupying a table without buying a single item and talking about a game…

There was another variation that could only be experienced in this world, which was that these guys would attempt to cast magic. In the store, that is.

“Hey! I’m going to try using magic with this computer right now.”

In the midst of all the noise and children, I heard this, and when I looked up, I saw a little boy who looked like a werewolf holding an unopened computer marker pen in his hand.

“Look. I learned this in 4th period yesterday―”

A little boy is holding a marker pen tightly with one hand and sprinkling star dust with the other hand, striking a pose. The other guys just watch, wondering what’s so cool about that.

“Customer. You must not play with the products we sell.”

“Oh, why! I’m concentrating!”

“If the packaging gets torn, you’ll have to buy it yourself. One for 400 won.”

Normally, talking about money is a quick fix, so I brought it up. But as soon as I mentioned money, this guy frowned and started waving the marker in his hand and shouting.

“I’m not trying to use some weird magic for just 400 won!”

“Then what are you trying to do?”

“It just makes you disappear from this world for a little while!”

They say it will make you disappear from this world. I’m a little curious about this too.

However, since I was more worried about the damage than curious, I held out one palm in front of the werewolf kid. It was a gesture telling him to put it down if he wanted, since I wouldn’t take it away.

But this guy didn’t put it down, but rather lifted it up high as if to say, “Take it if you want.” As I was looking at the marker pen with the intention of giving it a try, I made eye contact with someone standing behind me.

Before anyone could speak, he snatched the marker pen away and spoke to me while stroking the werewolf’s head.

“My sister told me yesterday, oppa. If someone causes trouble with a product, you should call the police as soon as possible.”

“Hey, police?!”

The little boy, frightened by these words, hurriedly pushed his way through the crowd in the lobby and ran out. Without even looking at the little boy as he left, he calmly handed him a marker pen and asked,

“Should I call the police?”

“No. If you call the police for something like this, it’ll just be more of a hassle for us.”

“why?”

“There is something like that. Anyway, nice to meet you, Yuri.”

“me too.”