Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 79

Episode 79. This is a mess, not a convenience store (2)

Using a gift card is simple. After purchasing the card, just peel off the sticker on the back, enter the serial number that you see in the input field, and you’re done. Easy, right?

“Input field? Where is that?”

“that is….”

I tried to explain where it was, but I gave up.

It was obvious that this wouldn’t be something that could be solved by explaining it, and it was also because my mentality was slowly cracking. Isn’t this something that should be done by a customer service representative rather than me? Or maybe a gacha game GM?

But I know the method, and if I think about it, it’s not something I can’t do. I thought. After sending all these skeletons away, it’ll be deserted anyway. It’ll be just a matter of keeping up with the old man’s rhythm for a little while.

“I’ll do it for you guys when you leave, so please sit over there for a moment.”

He said this while putting the bolster in the backpack that the skeleton gentleman had placed on top of him. Still, he must have known that he was asking for too much, because he sat down at the table without saying anything.

Back to my main job, I took the note the next skeleton handed me. There was something strange written on the four packs of cigarettes, huh… Maxim?

“Sir, are you talking about something other than coffee?”

“… … .”

He nods silently. I don’t know where or how this skinny gentleman is going to use this…

“We don’t have this in our store. You’ll have to go somewhere else.”

I can’t sell it because it’s not for sale. Even if I had it and sold it, I think I would have had a hard time sleeping tonight.

These guys are returning to their unit on the same bus as the company commander. If they get caught inspecting their purchases, wouldn’t the company commander be very disappointed?

“… … .”

He looks disappointed as he lowers his head slightly with a blank expression. Maybe it’s because he’s been treated so many skeleton gentlemen, but now it seems like he can see some expression on his skull…

Anyway, I only sold cigarettes and sent them, and the note the next skeleton handed me said two cartons of cigarettes.

At the time of selling this, the cigarette stock had dropped to less than half, and I had to change my mind. I can never keep this in stock. I only got half of it, so how can I keep it?

As I let go of my burden, the barcodes on the cigarette packs began to print more clearly, and I opened the inventory to the sixteenth skeleton and said.

“Sorry, sir. I’m out of cigarettes.”

The skeleton who was looking at the empty inventory glanced at the cigarette display case, but this time I shook my head. This really won’t do. Even if the inventory case isn’t visible from the outside, the display case is clearly visible.

If all of these are taken out, it will look like a convenience store on the verge of closing down. That’s why it can’t be sold.

After that, I watched the situation for a while. The skeleton in front of the cash register nodded to the other skeletons standing in line behind him, and they all left.

A moment later, the Death Knight captain came in and asked me this.

“I’m on the right track… I’m going to leave the bus with you, okay? Is that okay…?”

I’m going to send my men to another convenience store, so can you park your car for a bit? It’s like that, but it’s amazing that there is a company commander who does this to his men. The company commander where I served was nothing but disappointing.

By the way, this is something I hadn’t thought about. Are there any other convenience stores around here?

It wasn’t something to think about or do. Of course it would be. It was downtown.

Even customers who were looking for products that weren’t available here would mostly just leave if they were told they couldn’t buy them because they didn’t have them. If this was the only convenience store in the area, they wouldn’t have been able to leave so coolly.

“I don’t think it matters. There are CCTV cameras for parking enforcement, but there have been no cases of anyone being caught there.”

It’s not very pretty to see a 45-seater bus parked right in front of the convenience store’s main entrance, but I guess that’s how it is. The guys who are about to return to their bases will park there for only a few hours at most.

“Okay, okay… .”

After giving a slight nod to my answer, he went outside and nudged a few fingers at a skeleton of the adjutant level. The skeleton who received the order gathered the other skeletons together and led them to the left side of the display window.

Even though the inventory is bare bones, the end is the end. Now… .

“Are you done?”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

I have to sell the card. I answered as I came out of the counter and checked the stock on the gift card display. I took out a 200,000 won bill earlier, so there was only one left, three 150,000 won bills, and the rest were all in small pieces.

After scraping together the cards with relatively high denominations among the small ones, I was able to collect 2 million won worth of notes. When I showed the cards to an elderly person who had come to the checkout counter, the elderly person looked bewildered.

“Why are there so many cards?”

“That’s right… .”

A total of 34 chapters. Mr. Ha, when will you finish scratching all of this… .

I wonder if it will be solved by being confused. Before scanning the barcode, I thought I should first teach the elderly person how to use the card. I handed the elderly person a smartphone, opened the store app, and then handed it back to him.

“You know this, right? You probably came here to download the game.”

“Uh, okay. I know.”

“Next, if you click on the three lines drawn at the top right of the screen… ”

“What? This?”

The old man’s eyes were very dim, so he looked at the search bar and asked if it was the one with three lines drawn on it. It seemed like he had a long way to go.

“Other than that.”

After three attempts at trial and error, he pressed the button with three lines drawn on it, and when he looked at the list that appeared, the item ‘Use Code’ was right there. The old man narrowed his eyes and counted the items from the top, found the button for using the code, and touched it.

“You can just enter the code wherever it comes to mind. The card sticker you just removed.”

“Oh my, I didn’t know this simple thing so I was lost for a while…”

I guess this is why you were looking at your smartphone the whole time after sitting at the table.

I thought you would figure it out now that I told you how to do it, but the old man, who was staring at the back of the card, asked me.

“Uh. Sorry. What does it say on the back?”

“It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just random characters, so just see what you see…”

“That’s not the writing. The writing is so small I can’t read it well.”

So… you want me to read it? All 35 cards, each with a 16-character serial number?

“I have a bit of a hydrophobia, so… I’m sorry.”

It sounds like you’d really appreciate it if I could input it myself. Shouldn’t you be asking your son or grandson to do this for you? Or maybe go to the head office???

“…Please give me a smartphone.”

I said it with a half-hearted feeling. It’s not like this old man is just trying to get me to do it because he doesn’t want to. He can’t see it. His family won’t allow him to spend 2 million on a gacha game…

The old man shyly handed me his smartphone and card, and I entered the information as it appeared. 200,000 won was paid, and now there were 34 cards left.

“This will take a while. I have to accommodate guests along the way. Is that okay?”

“It’s okay. I’m asking you to do something.”

Okay then.

After scanning the next card barcode, I confirmed that the payment was complete, peeled off the back sticker, and re-entered it. After doing this once, I checked the POS machine time, and exactly 1 minute and 30 seconds had passed.

When I looked after everything was done, 50 minutes had passed. This was because several guests came in during the process, interrupting the flow, and also because of the sage time.

Man, I have to work for two weeks to earn this money, but you spend my two weeks buying gacha game jewels… .

“I’m done entering information, sir.”

“Oh, really? What should I do now?”

“You can enter the game and buy whatever you want.”

“Thank you so much. You don’t know how many days I’ve struggled to do this. If I go somewhere else, they’ll just keep telling me they can’t do it for me.”

“Oh, I see… .”

I answered with my eyes tightly shut because they hurt. The cards that have been used for payment are now just plastic waste. I should just throw them away later…

While I was touching my eyelids, the old man started saying something.

“But the young man did it… .”

Then, I heard the sound of someone taking something out, so I opened my eyes slightly in anxiety. The old man was taking something out and handing it to me.

I checked and there are 10 50,000 won bills. What? Are you trying to scratch some more?

“I can’t give you any more payments today, sir. I saw earlier that 2 million is the maximum.”

“No, that’s not it. Accept the young man.”

“yes?”

I was dumbfounded for a moment. What is this?

“Take the money. I’m so grateful to you.”

“…that….”

Even after hearing that, I didn’t understand the situation and didn’t know how to react, so I just stared at the money. The old man asked me back, wondering about my reaction.

“Why are you drawing this? Do you have little money?”

“That’s not it… .”

After thinking for a long time, this is what finally came to mind.

“Money, that… why are you giving it to me?”

“I told you. I’m giving it to you because I’m grateful.”

So, is this world a culture of tipping where people give 500,000 won just to express their gratitude? This is a really great culture. I really want to spread this where I live… .

What the heck, it was clear that as this old man aged, he had developed a tumor growing in his nervous system, especially his sense of money.

“Sir, I understand your gratitude, but please think about it a little more―”

“I think a lot about you and give you what you want.”

“no….”

“I’m telling you, I’m really good at playing Go. I’m so good at it that I’ve never lost to a friend who plays Go at Tapgol Park.”

I let it slide because it didn’t seem like it was very important. This money. Should I be receiving the money or not?

Honestly, I can get it. To earn this 500,000 won, I would have to spend almost 5 days at the cash register. If I get this money, I can save 5 days of my life, right?

The problem is what happens after that. This old man is wearing tracksuits. His shoes are worn-out slippers, and his phone looks like an old model.

This means that he doesn’t seem like the type of person who would normally spend money like this. For example, let’s say this old man has spent all his money and is in urgent need of 500,000 won.

When that situation comes up, wouldn’t the first thing you think about is the money you gave me? I feel bad for giving it to you and then taking it away, but you said you couldn’t help it because I needed the money.

Even if that’s not the case, there’s a possibility that this elderly family is involved in money issues. The daughter-in-law might come looking for the money back, saying, “Oh my, father, why did you give the child’s tuition to a swindler!” No. Is this just speculation… .

It’s confusing. You have to have experienced this situation in your life to know. After thinking about it for a while, I answered as my heart told me.

“I will only accept your heart.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I don’t think I did anything to deserve that money.”

It just bothered me. If I accept it in a flash, I think I’ll think about it today whenever an elderly guest of a similar age comes over. It’s not an amount that I can forget in a day or two.

When people make money easily, they are easily ruined, and I am also a human being. With this in mind, I declined the offer, and the old man muttered as if he was disappointed.

“It’s not that I have any strange intentions, I’m just giving you 500,000 won because I’m really grateful… Are you feeling burdened by it?”

“Yes. It’s true that it’s burdensome. I’m not trying to give it to you with any strange intentions, so you can just use the money to buy meals for your Baduk friends or something…”

“If money is a burden… Hey, could you take a look at my face?”

“What are you looking at?”

“I’ve been learning face reading as a hobby for several years, and I’m absolutely spot-on. I even predicted the birth date of my friend’s grandchild.”

Why does this old man know how to do so many things?

I heard that the average cost of a face reading is 50,000 won. Thinking about that, I didn’t really want to do this, but if I didn’t accept it, I thought he’d ask me what I should give him instead…

“If that’s true… I’d like to ask you a favor.”

Since you said you learned it as a hobby, I guess I should just accept it as something that suits your hobby.

When I asked him to pretend not to win, the old man narrowed his eyes and started staring at my face. Then he said something like this.

“Bonnie, it seems like life hasn’t been easy up until this year… Is that right?”

I didn’t answer, but nodded inwardly. I had been working part-time at various factories and factories for nearly 7 years, and the company I finally got a job at went bankrupt due to COVID-19 in less than 2 years.

“It’s been a lot better this year… I think I’m going to have a few big problems.”

“If it’s serious, are you saying I’m going to get hit by a car or truck?”

“Writing? Anyway, it’s a big deal. Things I can’t do alone.”

Why is someone who learned it as a hobby saying such ominous things? I just had to let my old company go bankrupt and find a job in another world. Why am I going to make my life any more complicated?

“Despite those things, I think everything will be okay.”

“How do you hope it goes well?”

“The young man is so blessed, especially his eyes.”

This is really surprising. I only heard that there is no such thing as a fake news article, so how could my eyes, which had been living without a fake news article, have such a secret?

The old man added, perhaps noticing that I was grumbling inwardly.

“There are two types of fortune. There are those that stick to different races easily and fall off easily, and there are those that stick to different races and last a long time.”

“Which side am I on?”

“Both. They stick well and don’t come off easily. They’re so good, I like them.”

Even if you tell them to like it, I wonder how many people would genuinely like it when an elderly person passing by says, “You’ll be fine.”

“And, cherish the little things, young man. They will all help you later.”

“What about the little things?”

“Would you know? Anyway, that’s what physiognomy says.”

I was about to ask if he was a physiognomist or fortune teller, but I was too lazy to ask. After talking this far, the old man seemed satisfied, so he put his smartphone in his pocket and said.

“Thank you, and sorry for bothering you, young man. I’m going now.”

“Yes. Please take a look.”

You left like this, and it became deserted. Now that I’ve put away the gift cards and thrown away the stickers, I can rest a bit…

I looked down at the counter, thinking, and almost swore.

It’s because the old man didn’t bring the money. What do you want me to do with this?