NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 42. One-Language Pyeondol (1)
After that, nothing special happened during the night shift, except for one small incident.
“Boss, this. How much is this?”
A middle-aged balding gentleman wearing glasses and a reddish face came over, put down a bottle of makgeolli, and asked for the price. When I told him it was 1,800 won, the gentleman searched through his pockets for a while, put down a 1,000 won bill and four 100 won coins, and asked in return.
“Why has the price of makgeolli gone up so much?”
Well, I don’t know. I’ve only been working part-time for a week, so how would I know how much makgeolli used to cost and why it went up?
When I said I didn’t know, the nobleman, who had been looking through his back pocket, his chest pocket, and even the inside of his wallet, put his hands on the counter… .
“Me, boss. Me!”
“yes.”
“Can I possibly do you a favor?”
Is this what he’s saying, “I’m going to wash the dishes to make up for the 400 won I’m missing?” When I asked again, he added more in a deaf voice.
“Can I borrow 400 won?”
“Ah… because you don’t have enough money?”
“It’s not that I’m lacking, it’s that I! I’ll be indebted to you, this is it!”
After thinking for a moment, he answered.
“I can’t help but be indebted to you…?”
He cursed at me for about three minutes, saying things like, “What kind of answer is that?” and “You have no manners,” and then he left. It was a useful incident that made me realize once again that there are almost no decent people in this neighborhood.
Since I didn’t have anything else to do, I just sat at the checkout counter and thought. Then morning came…
“Chan-ah, hi.”
“Is the store manager here?”
The store manager came.
I immediately relayed the handover information. Today, there were no thieves, and no employees left their wallets behind. There was no problem with the number of cigarettes, and next… .
“A puppy came and went yesterday.”
“A puppy? … Oh, the Pomeranian I told you about before?”
“yes.”
“How are you? Are you doing well?”
“No, I thought you were going to starve to death.”
“Oh, like that.”
The store manager seemed curious, so I told him everything. He made me realize how that guy lived, and that he was actually a spirit. Then we broke up. But right after we broke up, I think I saw something.
“What did you see that made you do that?”
“When the dog came into the convenience store, there was a wound on its ear, but when I left, it was gone.”
“…oh?”
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I saw anything wrong. Do spirits have that kind of power? And they just regenerate?”
When I asked, the store manager crossed his arms and thought for a moment before answering.
“It’s not that there aren’t any. There are spirits like the Phoenix.”
“Phoenix? Are you talking about the phoenix?”
“Yeah. There’s a zoo about ten bus stops from here, and there’s one there too. It’s popular. It always flies off somewhere, so it’s hard to see it often… .”
“Even if you escape??”
When I asked because I didn’t understand, I was told that the phoenix is particularly intelligent among spirits, and that it knows exactly what position it is in. In addition, it is said that it is characterized by being lazy about hunting.
For that reason, my daily routine is to show my face at the zoo for about 30 minutes a day, eat all the fancy food the zoo gives me, and then fly out when I get bored. What is this? I want to be a phoenix too.
“But even if you just collect the feathers that fall while sitting on the pole, it will be enough for maintenance, so it would be a great symbiotic relationship.”
“What are the feathers used for?”
“Herbs. When making potions, even if you just add a few crumbs, the effect will be better. This one was also made by adding a few crumbs.”
What the store manager took out as he spoke was the small potion he had given me to eat on my first day of work.
“You really made it.”
“I’ll put this under the dairy display, so hand it over to the elf police officer when he comes later tonight.”
“I’ll do that. But, if what you said is true, doesn’t that mean that the puppy was originally a paper phoenix?”
“That could be true. But, that’s not what I think.”
It is said that the Phoenix’s abilities are not limited to regenerative abilities, but it can also create wind or flames by fluttering its feathers, and it also has a strong body that can fly at Mach speeds without wavering.
So, the store manager’s opinion was that the fact that the puppy’s wounds healed in an instant was just one of its abilities, and that it would be premature to infer what its original species was based on that alone.
My thoughts after hearing it are, the more I listen, the less I understand. What on earth is this doggy?
“Have you seen anything else besides that?”
“The other thing… oh. He did try to summon a hamburger.”
“hamburger?”
“Yes. It didn’t go well. Do spirits have that kind of power?”
“No. It’s like creating something out of nothing. Or maybe it’s like teleporting a hamburger that was on display somewhere else, but that’s a crime… But why a hamburger?”
When I told him about the trash can search, the store manager’s face turned half-astonished.
“Ugh… to that extent… .”
“Can’t I leave him at the store manager’s house? I’ll tell him to go out and play at night.”
“… Sorry. I would like to do that if possible, but pets are not allowed in the officetel…”
“Well, then there’s nothing I can do about it. You should be sorry. Oh, and…”
“huh?”
I was about to bring up something that came to mind, but then I changed the subject.
“… No, it’s nothing.”
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
“It’s nothing special, I’m just excited.”
——————
faqwiki.xyz
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
“… .”
The store manager looked at me with a worried look on his face, but he didn’t go back on his words.
As the puppy said, if he had special powers, he would use them to help someone in need.
I couldn’t answer that question because I didn’t think I could. I was just curious about what the store manager would have said in that situation.
* * *
After work, I went to sleep. When I woke up at night, I found a message. The sender was from a job advertisement site.
[ This is a contact from a confectionery factory in Gangwon-do. 3 shifts, 250 per month, accommodation provided, and own commuter bus. Contact information is attached below… ]
I closed the chat right away. How can I, who lives in Gyeonggi-do, ride the commuter bus operated by the Gangwon-do factory? Are you telling me to go to the express bus terminal to catch the commuter bus?
I scrolled all the way up to see the most recent message, and it was three months ago. It was from one of my old friends, and the message read:
[ Lee Chan, how are you? ]
I feel like it’s a bit late to reply to a message that’s been sent for 3 months. I thought about it and wrote briefly.
[ I’m doing well ]
The problem was that my workplace was having a Halloween festival every day, but I wasn’t starving anyway. So I guess I was doing okay, right?
After that, I went to work around 9:50 and changed shifts. The manager still had a worried look on his face as he looked at me, but anyway… .
Work started, and after about 10 minutes these guys came.
Three guests came in, bowing deeply, and, hey, are those gentlemen giants or something?
They were really tall. I would estimate them to be around 3.5 meters. All three of them were wearing T-shirts and shorts, and their arms and legs were either thick or thin, and their joints were strangely bulging… .
What was even more bizarre was the language they were speaking as they entered the store.
“??????????”
“?????? ????????.”
“?????? ??????? ?????”
What the hell does that mean?
It’s common for them to speak in a language that customers can’t understand while they’re at the counter, but it’s usually not a big deal. At least they don’t speak that language to me, who’s standing at the checkout. It’s not like they’re foreigners and they wouldn’t understand me if I spoke to them.
So I use hand gestures and I use English, even though it’s awkward, and I communicate like that. If you want me to do that, I can do it for you.
But these big guys weren’t even like that. They came in with a few bags of nachos and chips and a few cans of coffee, and they were saying things in their own language.
“????? ????”
Is it because I’m hearing such twisted words? My eardrums feel like they’re being twisted. What on earth are these guys talking about?
These giants were so tall that they came in half-bent, and their backs were barely touching the ceiling lights.
Even I, who had to calculate by looking at their faces, had my face raised, and when I looked up, these giants had their backs to the light, so their faces were in shadow. To put it simply, they looked like thugs.
I was nervous, but I still had to do what I had to do.
“I’m really sorry, but I’m only bilingual so I don’t really understand what you’re saying.”
“?????? ??? ?????”
“?????? ???? ??????? ??????? ??????? ?????.”
They were saying something similar to what I was saying, but of course I couldn’t understand what they were saying, and it seemed like the giants were also frustrated that I couldn’t understand them.
“??? ???? ??????? ????? ??????????!”
The gentleman standing on the left of them was originally impatient, so he pointed to the table by the window and shouted this. I couldn’t understand what he was saying either, but at least I could tell what he wanted. He wanted to eat there and leave.
It didn’t really matter, but it did matter to these giants. If these guys sat on the table and chairs, they’d probably break the chairs…
“Okay… Okay, I understand.”
Since I hadn’t heard any instructions from the store manager to discriminate against giant customers, I decided to allow him for now. However, when I took out the ledger I used while staying in the store and handed it to him, he stared at it intently and started yelling again.
“?????? ??? ??????!”
“??? ???????????????? ??????? ??????????”
“Customer. I know your circumstances are difficult, but I can’t help but write this down… .”
“??? ??? ??????? ???????!”
“Oh, what on earth are you talking about…?”
“??????”
They’re swearing and spitting with excited faces. I still don’t know what they’re saying, but I can tell that they’re not listening to me.
“…Just eat it, then.”
Let’s put the list in. Now they finally nodded and went to the table by the window. Two of them sat down at the table, and one of them sat down on the floor.
I looked at it and immediately called the store manager.
[ Yeah, Chan-ah. ]
“Manager, did you get home safely?”
[ No, I’m taking the bus now. Why? ]
“There is a problem.”
As I spoke and waited for a response, the store manager answered in a dying voice.
[ It’s only been 10 minutes since our shift changed… ? ]
“That’s true, but this is nothing special. I was wondering if it was okay because some of the giant guests didn’t write down their contact information in the ledger.”
[ Oh my god, we got a giant guest? ]
He asks back, startled. Aren’t giants a common species?
“Yes. He looks to be about 3.5 meters tall.”
[ Oh, then it’s not a giant . ]
“If that isn’t a giant, then what is it?”
When I asked, the store manager answered innocently.
[ Chinese people ]
“What is that?”