Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 34

Episode 34. The mediator

I calmed down and thought about it for a moment. There are two possibilities in this case. Either this automaton really came here to blow up my clothes, or… .

“So… you don’t know Africa?”

Even though I said this, the machine doll seemed to not understand, so I picked it up and showed it to her, and only then did it nod.

“Suyat.”

The reason this happens is because I don’t know the name of the cigarette.

The etymology is not from the hula dance or anything like that, but from the word ‘I don’t know anything’, and the composition of this cigarette is roughly like this. There are 20 cigarettes in total, and there are 4 flavors of cigarettes. Every 5 cigarettes have a different flavor.

But the person who actually smokes can’t know which cigarette tastes which way. It’s because it’s not written down. That’s why they don’t know. The person who smokes doesn’t know what kind of cigarette he’s smoking.

My take on this is, you damn tobacco companies, if you can’t come up with a name, don’t just say you don’t know, have a naming contest among your men. Why are you tormenting the poor idiot?

Also, I have no idea why they made it so you can smoke cigarettes by drawing lots, but after calming down and thinking about it again, I realized that the name was bound to draw a lot of aggro.

This was the first cigarette that came out when I was a private, so I thought it was amazing too… No, it was a time when even seeing fireflies at the guard post was amazing.

Anyway, this machine doll seemed to know the name on the back, but it didn’t know the brand name on the front. Yeah, there’s no rule that says only dwarves don’t have to know the names of cigarettes…

“It’s 4,500 won.”

“And Chief, Sky.”

“Sky?”

“Suyat. Sky.”

“…Uh, Location Sky. Sky blue?”

“Suyat.”

No, sir. There are over 20 kinds of sky blue cigarettes. Which one do you want?

After calming down for a moment, the answer came to me. I found a cigarette with the name Sky on it and handed it to the machine doll, which nodded politely again. I explained it to it while I was at it.

“Customer, if you say you don’t know this, then you really don’t know. You have to tell me the brand name first.”

“Uh. Ah, ssuyat.”

“The same goes for these Sky cigarettes.”

Even among cigarettes, there are some that have the same name but come in separate packs, and there are also cigarettes with exactly the same name. In addition, there are cigarettes that have just one letter different at the end… .

And not all nerds are masters of the 20 questions, so if you’re going to ask for a cigarette, please make sure you say the rest of it clearly. It’s not that hard…

“It’s quiet, sir.”

But even for a automaton like this, it was quite polite. Usually, it would just look at you and say, “You should figure it out on your own.”

After I finished paying and handed over my cigarettes and card, the automaton bowed its head and asked me a question.

“Sir, do you work every day?”

“Well, I work 12 hours every day.”

My body can still handle a half-day shift, but I don’t know if my body will be normal later on. I wish the store manager would find a part-time worker soon… .

“How’s your business?”

“There aren’t many customers today. How is your business going?”

“No. It’s big.”

I’m in big trouble. I was just asking to see how you were doing, but the conversation ended up getting longer.

“We do a good job. But there is no work.”

“Oh, is that so…?”

“Suyat. Porso, I guess you don’t believe me. The boss said we might have to go home.”

This guy seems to be talking about his own boss, not me. It seems like Porsche is using the machine dolls’ native language to call themselves that. I find it amazing that I even managed to figure this out.

After that, the machine doll’s face remained dark and expressionless. It seemed as if it wanted to continue complaining, but it stopped talking when the front door bell rang. It was because its older sister had come in.

He nodded to me again, smiling awkwardly.

“Suyat. I hope you prosper, boss.”

Then he turned around and left, so I spoke to him from behind.

“Yes. I hope everything goes well for you.”

It may be just lip service, but other than that, I don’t really have anything else to say… .

“Hey, Lee Chan. Why are you frowning?”

…is there one?

“Did that customer make a fuss?”

“No, that’s not it… Sister. Is a slaughterhouse also called a workshop?”

“It used to be like that. But why is that?”

That’s because I remembered a business card I had received from those machine doll gentlemen before. I took it out and handed it to my sister. She flipped it over and asked me with a puzzled look on her face.

“Do you know this place?”

“That’s not true, but there was a time a few days ago when dozens of mechanical doll customers came in? I received it then.”

“Business card?”

“Oh. He said he was the president and gave it to me?”

Actually, it wasn’t just a little, it was really hard. But I didn’t want to recall memories that would obviously cause PTSD.

“They say they do their jobs well. But what workplace would say they’re bad at their jobs?”

I suggested it because it seemed like our interests coincided. This place might be a mess like my previous workplace, but I’ll look into it and decide for myself.

When I think about it, it’s a pretty funny situation. I thought my sister would just chuckle, but she had a pretty serious expression on her face.

“… I’ve worked with machine dolls a few times.”

“really?”

“Oh. As a porter when entering and exiting the gate. Everyone did a good job.”

What about porters? Are they Sherpas or something?

“Still, this is my first time seeing machine dolls working in a workshop. Can I have your business card?”

“Take it. I think you can use it better than me.”

I didn’t really think about it. I wasn’t going to ask you to behead the real people, I was just going to get a slaughterhouse business card and use it.

But the older sister who received the business card called me right away.

“No, it’s Sunday today. Don’t text me and call me right away.”

“We can’t work together unless we answer the phone on the weekends anyway… I’m getting a signal. Hey, if you like it here, let’s get some crabs together later.”

It’s good to be given a fortune, but why on earth?

“Oh, right. Kimchi.”

I can’t eat crab because I’m scared of dystoma. I tried to tell her, but my sister had already left with the box of kimchi, and she didn’t come back even after 10 minutes.

How could he have any friends? He runs out like that as soon as he gets work. Judging from the fact that the boss at that workshop answered the phone on the weekend, he must have some really urgent work to do.

More than that, I’m the problem. After living kimchi, now crab?

To be honest, I eat crabs pretty well, but I didn’t think the crabs in this area were all that good. I was really worried, so I called the store manager to ask, but this time the phone was turned off and I had to call the sound source.

I decided to do that. The battery must have died, I guess.

So I was left alone, and no guests came.

I counted the cigarettes twice in case the tobacco fairy was playing a prank again, wiped off all the kimchi juice stains, and filled the counter with empty drinks and snacks. But even at 11 o’clock, there were no customers as if it was natural.

With nothing else to do, I went out the front door to get some fresh air, and saw a woman in a cardigan leaning against a nearby telephone pole.

At first I tried to ignore it, but it had pink hair and palm-sized wings on its back, and it was familiar… .

“What are you doing there?”

It was a succubus.

I instinctively spoke to him because he looked familiar, and he looked at me. As soon as we made eye contact, I felt a surge of regret. His eyes were completely open.

“Uh… Hello… .”

But judging from the way he speaks normally, he doesn’t seem drunk. He lifts his shoulder off the pole as if trying to pull himself together, but immediately stumbles and leans his shoulder against the pole again. I asked to confirm.

“Did you drink today too?”

“No… I didn’t drink… Ugh…”

Then what is it? While I was waiting, the succubus answered slowly.

“At the club….”

What was going on at the club? I waited, but the succubus stopped talking and mumbled. I was thirsty.

“Customer, it seems like it would be a good idea to buy a bottle of fatigue recovery drink.”

“…yes.”

He agreed, took his shoulder off the pole, and somehow managed to enter the front gate with a staggering gait. He did come in, but as soon as he got in, he sat down on the table chair and hunched over.

It looked a little sad, so I brought the recovery drink myself and put it on the table. I asked if she wanted to buy it first, so she’ll figure out how to pay later.

The succubus tried to open it with both hands, but she really had no strength and couldn’t even open the lid.

So I told him to give it to me and I opened it and handed it to him.

“Ah… thank you.”

“But sir, what on earth did you do at the club that made you so worn out?”

I don’t know much about this succubus. From the few times I’ve talked to her, I think she went to the club looking for true love or something and things didn’t go well.

It’s unlikely that this succubus would have gone to the club on her own. That’s not where you go to find true love, is it?

… To be honest, I don’t know because I’ve never been to a club before. I’m single.

Rather, my friends in the world sometimes say that since I’m single, I should go to a club once, but in reality, those guys go there with a lot of money and come out penniless, not to mention no women.

I didn’t want to do something like that, and I didn’t want to get hit with a right hook and a cut in the entrance by the shoulder brothers.

Since I don’t know anything about it, what else can I do but ask what you did after ignoring all the small talk? The succubus blushed at my question, and answered me with her head down, stammering.

“No… that’s… .”

“Or what, did you really go looking for true love? And that didn’t work out?”

“No, not that kind of thing!”

He suddenly raises his head as if he is flustered and spits it out, then begins to speak fluently as if his blocked blood vessels have cleared.

“What is true love? I didn’t even want to go there!”

“No, why are you getting angry and like that…?”

“My seniors at work dragged me there against their will. Well, I said this? I’m sorry, seniors, I’ve never been to a club before… When I said this, they dragged me there, saying they’d let me go!”

“Oh, you didn’t go on your own….”

“They cling to each other, their pelvises pressed together, like this, like this. They dance, they lift their glasses with their chopsticks and pout their lips and tap them! The seniors, after seducing each other, make strange expressions and drink while getting close to the other races, don’t they disappear somewhere―”

“Hmm… I see… .”

What are you telling me not to say?

The succubus continued to talk, occasionally adding explanations with her hands, and this was no joke.

When talking about pelvis, don’t they make an inverted V shape with their hands and clap them together? When talking about glasses, don’t they close their eyes tightly and stick out their lips?

“I can’t even contact you right now. Where on earth are you all and what are you doing?”

When you asked me this, you looked like you had absolutely no idea what was going on, but I know the surprising answer to this question, but I won’t write it down here because of the lack of space.