Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 39

Episode 39. The Investigating Pyeondol

They say that magic becomes stronger the more you use it. It must be something like a pitcher’s shoulder.

It is not certain whether my constitution is actually related to magic, but from the perspective of the fortune teller who has lived as a magician all his life, he says that he cannot help but guess that my constitution is also related to magic.

The inference based on that premise is this. The more I use my anti-magic constitution, the more my anti-magic constitution will develop.

The wallet’s appearance of being distorted may also be a supernatural power derived from the process. I understood it this way, but the store manager who spoke seemed to have no confidence at all.

“Or maybe Chan-i is getting used to his constitution as he lives in this world… Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve been a magician for a long time, but I’ve never seen anyone among the anti-magic experts with the abilities Chan-i mentioned, or even a foreign race…”

“Is that it?”

“Yeah. It’s a research subject. For a few decades.”

“Ooh.”

If I mess this up, I’ll end up living in the basement of the National Intelligence Service, eating seolleongtang.

“It’s been about a week since Chan started working, right?”

“It’s exactly one week after I get off work.”

“Then, um… should I call this growth? Anyway, it’s fast. I don’t know how to countermeasures, but at least I want to know the cause…”

What was a little reassuring was that there was absolutely no sign of self-interest on the manager’s face. He was just looking at me with a worried expression. The manager was such a kind person.

I also told him what I thought, to reassure him.

“Listening to what you say, it seems like I’m not the only anti-magic expert. So, it doesn’t really matter if I gain more abilities in the future, as long as I don’t get caught, right?”

“hmm….”

“I don’t want to be a research subject either, and right now I don’t know anyone besides the store manager and my older sister. It’s not like the store manager is going to draw my blood and conduct research on it… Store manager?”

“… Is that okay?”

“no.”

“huh….”

Judging from the way he hung his head, it seemed like he wasn’t completely thoughtless.

But honestly, I really don’t know.

In my world, I was just one of billions of people who lived ordinary lives, working part-time jobs and having ordinary jobs. I can’t even remember the last time I heard that I was special. Wasn’t it when I got a perfect score on my middle school music performance test?

While I’m at it, I should definitely check this out. Of all those people, I can’t possibly be the only one who can come and go from this world.

“Manager, I have a suggestion.”

“huh.”

“Can’t we go somewhere later, like Yeongdeungpo or Hongdae, by setting some coordinates?”

“Yeongdeungpo? Hongdae? Is it like the name of a magic tool?”

“It’s an address. I don’t know the origin of it, but anyway, there are a ton of people there. No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I’m the only one who can go back and forth between different worlds, so I thought it would be a good idea to check.”

My studio apartment is not popular because there aren’t many people, but in that neighborhood, tens of thousands of people come and go every day, so I think I can use it as a sample. The store manager hesitated for a moment and answered.

“I’m curious about that too.”

“is it so?”

“Yeah. Are there really that many people?”

“To put it simply, you can think of all the different races in this world as having turned into humans.”

“Oh… Can I go there sometime later?”

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t go there. There are a lot of delicious things there. I’ve never been there before, though.”

Of course, there was one condition. There were only two of us working at the convenience store, so if we both went out to eat, who would guard the store? It’s open 24 hours a day.

For this reason, it was decided that the experiment would be done after finding a part-timer and going out for a meal. It wasn’t urgent anyway.

“But is it really true that you don’t get any calls from part-time workers?”

“Yeah. It’s not like the store is haunted, but I just don’t understand why they don’t come… .”

There is a reason why I guess. It is because this place is completely out of luck in terms of feng shui.

It’s located in the middle of a downtown intersection, and there’s an alley lined with fusion food stalls nearby. Which ma*ochist would come here to work part-time? It’s a world where even COVID hasn’t broken out, so there’s no way employment will be that difficult…

Judging by the frequency with which the truth-tellers come to visit, it is clear that there is a water vein flowing underground. However, I, a part-timer, cannot do anything about the personnel matters. At best, I can only refrain from making ominous remarks.

“Well… won’t it come someday?”

“I guess so… Ah, Chan-i, it’s time to get off work.”

“yes.”

And the thing about not having to pay the work fee. As I was about to leave work, I remembered something I had forgotten to mention and asked the store manager.

“Manager, the succubus who came to see me before has come again.”

“huh.”

“I had this conversation with that succubus….”

I tried using a dating app, but it was a mess. After I closed the app, I listened to the succubus’s tastes, and when I was about to leave, the succubus had a really strange expression on her face, as if she had remembered something.

“Then he asked me if I could come again, so I said yes, right, manager?”

“… … .”

“Store manager??”

“uh….”

The store manager, who had been holding his head and talking for a long time, quietly muttered this.

“cheer up.”

What the heck?

* * *

I woke up at home and it was Monday evening. I love Monday.

There’s no day of the week that doesn’t feel like a beggar while working at a convenience store at night, but at least Monday is better than the weekend. That’s because there’s something special about Monday during the week. You know, on Monday nights, you want to give up drinking and eating out and just go home and rest.

Because of this special characteristic that is also applicable in this other world, there weren’t many customers right before the shift change or while working. However, there was one thing that I couldn’t figure out the meaning of.

“Manager, what is this?”

There was a semi-transparent sticker-like thing stuck on the window. At first, I thought it was some kind of bug repellent magic to keep out mayflies, but the store manager gave me a completely unexpected answer.

“The government ordered us to cover the windows.”

“Yes? Why?”

“I told you to make sure the cigarettes aren’t visible.”

What is this?

When I listened closely, it was like this. It was the same in this world as in other countries that recommended smoking cessation, and it is said that the government came up with this bill while they were thinking about smoking cessation policy. ‘If people can’t see cigarettes outside, won’t they think about smoking less?’

I don’t know who proposed this kind of blind-eye bill, but it passed with a majority vote, and this is the effective result. It makes cigarettes less likely to be seen and makes people think of cigarettes less likely. I asked the store manager after he finished speaking.

“Are the higher-ups of this world of that race? Camels?”

When a camel sees a natural enemy, it believes that it will be safe if it puts its head in the sand. Since it cannot see its natural enemies, it thinks that they will not be able to see it either.

How is this different from that? How many times do people who don’t smoke pass by and see a cigarette display and think, “Oh, I’m bored. Should I smoke a cigarette?” and end up smoking? Is it because they met the wrong person?

If this were someone else’s business, I’d say, “That’s the kind of idea a meerkat would come up with, but I don’t know what to do with the idiots who have to work inside. They can’t see outside, outside…

After asking, I looked at the store manager, and it seemed like he wasn’t too pleased with the situation either.

“That’s not true, but… Honestly, I don’t feel very good either. I feel trapped.”

“Can’t I just take this off again?”

“They said it wasn’t allowed. They said I had to pay a fine and have it reattached.”

I guess the store manager already asked.

I thought it would be much more effective to burn down the entire cigarette factory, but what could I do if I had to pay a fine? I put that aside for now and asked the store manager about the handover.

There was one peculiarity.

“Chan-ah, the police will be here later.”

“Oh, you reported it? When will you be here?”

“He said he’d come after 10 o’clock. He said he wanted to hear from the witnesses, so I told him Chan’s work hours and he said he would. Do you think Chan can answer well?”

“Uh… Well, I’ve never done anything like that before.”

I’ve never been in the police’s care, and I’ve never joked around with the police. In this world, I’ve had to listen to things I’ve never been able to do in my own world.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll be by your side.”

“You must be tired. Why don’t you just go in? As long as you don’t lie, that’ll be fine.”

“That’s true, but I’m still worried, so I’ll just stay.”

“I know when the police will come. If they just said after 10 o’clock, I wouldn’t know the exact time.”

“It’s exactly 10 o’clock now, so if you wait a little bit, they won’t come—”

On the way, I heard the sound of a motorcycle engine outside. I looked up and saw a police motorcycle stopped on the shoulder. If that was going to happen, I should have just said I would come at 10 o’clock.

A police officer got off his motorcycle, opened the front door bell, came in, and stood in front of us, with a flashing light stick hanging from his waist.

Then, as I took off my helmet, my blond hair mixed with black flowed down from inside the helmet. My pointed ears popped out as if they were popping out. The officer, who had his helmet tucked to his side, saluted and gave a call.

“This is Police Officer Iruel.”

It was the female elf who had come before. She must have stayed up all night for the past few days that I hadn’t seen her, because the dark circles around her eyes were much darker, and her hair, which used to be half black and half blonde, had much more black hair.

Even now, he looks extremely sleepy. But his voice is clear.

“I’m here to report attempted robbery and assault, and illegal possession and use of magical implements. Is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s right, officer.”

“The person who was at the scene was a staff member.”

He asks me while looking at me. When you say field, I get the feeling that it’s something serious.

“yes.”

“I’d like to hear more details, would that be okay?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The elf nodded in response and took out his notebook.

At first, they asked me trivial questions: about the time of the crime, about the items that were almost stolen, etc.

“The time was around 9:30 in the morning, and most of the things that were almost stolen were daily necessities….”

Maybe it was because I had experienced so many strange things while working in another world for a week. I wasn’t nervous or anything, but rather, I was able to talk very easily. Other questions were about the commonalities between the stolen items, and their appearances. Lastly… .

“What was the situation like when you caught the robber?”

“yes?”

When I asked the question again because it felt ambiguous, the elf seemed to think for a moment, tapped his bangs with the tip of his pen, and then suddenly spoke.

“I’ll look into the details in the book, but… it certainly seems like this wallet has been enchanted with various magics.”

Oh, this.

“But it seems like everything has been lifted now. Do you have any idea about this?”

“hmm….”

I had an answer in mind, but I wasn’t sure if it would work. But I couldn’t lie, so I blurted it out.

“It just blew up on its own as soon as I touched it. I don’t know why.”

“… … .”

“It’s true. You can just watch the CCTV.”