Mastore 46 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 46 

Convenience Store Worker Upgrade

I hung up the phone there.

After I fixed the front door, customers started coming in one after another. When I said I should probably serve them first, Manager and Noona said let's talk face-to-face in the morning.

It seemed like it would take a few hours just to organize the store, so I agreed. I spent the rest of the night organizing the store, fixing the wrecked chocolate display....

By morning, I handled the rush of office workers, and right after 9 a.m., Noona came through the front door.

“Oi, Lee Chan. Noona's here."

“It’s been two days. Did you come straight from Manager's place?"

"She said she need to finish her makeup first and come 10 minutes before work starts?"

Her hair was a bit messy, like she came straight from crashing at Manager’s, but since her original looks were outstanding, she still looked pretty. She went straight to the beverage display and brought two bottles of energy drinks, placing them on the counter.

Then she grinned and said,

“Lee Chan. That workshop you introduced, they work really well."

"Ah. Really?"

“Yeah. I gave them a trial contract for one magical beast, and they had it done in two hours, no problems at all. After giving them work a couple more times, I ended up signing a contract. A three-year one.

I had given them the business card in an 'if it works out great, if not oh well' kind of way, but it seems it went towards the former. After completing the payment, she handed me one of the two bottles she bought.

"So, like I promised, I want to treat you to some crab. When you can make time?”

“Forget it. I’ll just take this and call it even, okay?”

"Why? I know a great place."

To eat at that delicious place, I would have to go there. And I have no desire to eat crab in this neighborhood. It felt like I would have to get into a fistfight with a crab's front claws.

"Thanks to you, I even had time yesterday without working overtime."

"Isn’t that enough on its own?"

All I did was hand over a business card, so I didn't want to receive any more for it. As I gulped down the energy drink Noona gave me, she shrugged her shoulders and said,

"Well, let's talk about this later. You look extremely exhausted."

“I actually am.”

I wasn't just exhausted, I was disgustingly exhausted. I was exhausted from cleaning up the store, and I was thinking a lot about what we talked about last night. What was all that this license?

When I asked, Noona pointed to a table by the window. Only after we sat down did she start talking.

“I talked with Unni a bit yesterday….”

The content of that conversation was this. My constitution will keep growing, whether it develops through use or over time, so how on earth should we hide this?

Manager proposed plans aimed at hiding my true identity as much as possible. One of them was obtaining a magic tool to suppress my constitution.

"How much does that cost?"

“If you use health insurance, it wouldn’t be too expensive, but the problem is the time. You need records of several months of outpatient treatment while attending the hospital."

It was rejected as it would be like burning down the house to catch a rat. After that, over some beers, they talked about this and that, and eventually, they came to this conclusion.

“In my opinion, you can’t hide it.”

"Haah..."

"It's not like I haven't met anti-magic specialists while working as a hunter. To be frank, those specialists wouldn't even dare present their business cards in front of you—in terms of efficiency or time."

Even if you lift me to cloud nine, I haven't seen other anti-magic ability users so I don't know.

Anyway, because I’m so ridiculously overpowered, hiding it has become nearly impossible, to the point where Manager even questioned if I should keep working here.....

“How much did you drink to come to that conclusion?”

“I’m asking just in case, Lee Chan, but if I told you to quit, would you?”

“No. Not at all.”

I don't want to work anywhere else but here.

Although I'm having an isekai trip like something out of manga, I'm still sane and maintaining my right mind. It’s because I’m confident that as long as I stay here, I can return to my world whenever I want.

I think the reason my origin hasn't been discovered so far is that I don't have to roam around various places in this world. So, no, I won’t quit. I can’t quit.

Noona looked like she had a lot to say after hearing my answer, but soon shrugged as if she understood.

“I bet Unni will be happy hearing your answer.”

“Finish your story, Noona. How is getting a license related to this?"

I asked because it sounded like telling me to stick a note on my forehead saying 'I'm an anti-magic ability user'. When I voiced my thoughts, Noona nodded calmly.

"That's right, but to get to the point... it creates a justification."

“What justification?”

“I heard from Unni that you're a full-time employee now. A general full-time employee."

“Yeah.”

"Instead of that, I’m saying to get a national license and re-sign your contract as a professional. Then, since you're already affiliated somewhere, no matter how great your abilities are, others won't be able to touch you, right?"

I didn't understand for a moment, but then a wave of clarity hit me like I was waking up halfway from a deep sleep.

In short, she was telling me to become someone who can't have dual employment. Then, wouldn’t all my problems be solved…

“That’s actually a clever idea?”

"But when I mentioned this, Unni said that it would have its own problems."

“What kind of issues?”

"In my opinion, there's no problem? You would have to take the test at the academy, but you will easily pass both written and practical... It's something anyone of this world's species can do, so I don't know what the problem is."

There is indeed a problem—especially the part where "anyone of this world's species can do it."

Right now, I've only dipped my toes into this world. There was no need to immerse my whole body.

Even just looking outside, I can see a bus full of different species waiting at the traffic light, but I’ve never even ridden that bus.

I'll have to ride that bus.

I'll have to find the test site too. On my own feet. I'll have to stand among different races holding a number ticket, and when my number is called, I'll have to take the test...

Even if you get lucky and obtain the license and renew my contract, I don't expect everything to go smoothly. Since that way, I’ll probably get involved with a lot of other people...

I don't know what kind of issues might arise. Maybe it's because I'm always such a worrywart.

Living like that might be natural for the different species of this world, but not for me. Ironically, I haven't properly lived in this world yet. Even though I'm standing in this world like this right now.

Can you do that? That's how Noona's suggestion sounded to me. Could I live as an actual member of this world, rather than as someone just drifting along haphazardly like now?

"Unni seems to find it difficult to tell you, so I came to ask instead. Do you have any personal problems that prevent you from getting a license?"

Instead of answering, I asked back.

“Noona. Did Manager worry a lot about me last night?"

"A ton. Last night, she didn't talk about anything else but you."

I decided not to think about it any further.

“No problem. Not at all.”

If Manager is worried about me, what can I do?

Manager is the only person in this world who knows and understands my situation, and I don't want to burden her anymore because of my personal reasons. Let what happens happen.

When I answered, Noona tapped the energy drink bottle with her hand as if puzzled and asked again.

"Really?"

“Yah.”

"Jeez. Then what was Unni worrying about?"

“Isn’t she just afraid I won’t pass the test? Getting a license isn’t exactly easy.”

When I tried to change the subject, Noona immediately habbed me in the side with her finger. It hurt like hell.

"Ah, what’s that for!"

"Did you come straight from the countryside or something? You just don't believe what I say, do you?"

"It's a national license! Isn't it natural to think it's difficult?"

“Whatever. Here, touch this.”

Then she took out a plastic pack from her bosom and held it out to me, and looking inside, there was something like a white molar about 10cm in size.

"What's this now?"

“A dire wolf molar. I got it from the workshop after they finished the job.”

After reptile scales and horse heart, now it's teeth?

Looking at it closely, it doesn't seem to have a single scratch, so I guess that workshop is amazing at extraction. Yunha Noona mutters while taking the molar out of the plastic pack.

"The processing was done neatly; we just need to finish the purification..."

It sounded like Noona was asking me to take care of it. She handed me the tooth, and I held it, but other than its rough texture, I couldn’t sense anything strange about it. Even when I stared at it, there wasn’t anything off about it.

"Noona, this looks fine to me?"

"Oh, really? Are you sure?"

"At least to my eyes."

When I answered, Noona chuckled and asked back.

"Do you know what one of the practical test questions from last year's license exam was?"

“No idea.”

"They gave out an object with no magical power and told the examinees to try purifying it. If you tried to purify it, you failed; if you noticed it had no magic, you passed."

She added that only 5 out of 100 participants got it right. After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that Noona had thrown this out there as a past exam question.

"Seeing how you got it right away, it seems you'll pass the practical test without any problem at least?"

I was about to tease her for making fun of me, but her smiling face was so bright that I couldn't say anything more.

Still smiling, Noona glanced at the clock by slightly turning her body. She stretched in her seat and then stood up.

"...Whew. Now that we've finished talking, I should start preparing for work too."

“What, you're working as a hunter today as well?"

"Of course I am, it's a weekday. When Unni comes, tell her I went to work safely... and have a good talk so she doesn't worry."

That's what I intend to do. As I waved my hand, Noona gave another bright smile and left the convenience store.

After that, there were no customers, and about 30 minutes later, Manager arrived. As soon as she looked at me, she was about to say something, so I beat her to it.

"Manager, I think I know what you're worrying about."

“...Un.”

"Well... whatever, I'll just take the test and get it over with. I mean, what could possibly happen?"

Something will happen, of course. But that's a problem for later. I don't even want to see the manager's worried face anymore.

"So please don't worry about me. It might seem like we're getting ahead of myself when I haven't even taken the test yet."

"...Chan will do well. Because you're the most special person in this world."

"What do you mean, 'kid,' to a 29-year-old guy?"

"To me, you are a kid, so what of it?"

Manager's face brightened a little as she spoke. As expected, her smiling face is the best to see.

“Manager, when can I take that test? It's not only held twice a year or something like that, right?"

"Well, I'm not too sure about the schedule... Just a moment."

The store manager, who had been moving his smartphone around the screen, suddenly stopped and looked at the screen as he recited the contents.

“This year’s anti-magic license tests are in May, July, and September. Since there are few applicants, they are accepting applications up until the day before the exam. When is good for Chan?"

“The sooner the better.”

Since I'm taking this test to ease my mind, I want to take it quickly and feel at ease quickly.

"Then I'll look for the May schedule. It says you have to take the written test first, and May... Um... this. Chan, what's the date today?"

"The 3rd. Why? Don't tell me it's next week?"

“That’s....”

Manager blinked her eyes a couple of times and looked up at me. I’s clearly a flustered expression.

"It says it's on the 4th?"

What, tomorrow?





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