Mastore 50 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 50

Convenience Store Worker Practicing Rehearsal (1)

"Your total is..."

"Ugh. Hic. Ahh..."

It's not like she picked up a lot of things. She brought a tissue. She must have brought it to wipe her tears.

I glanced at her face. It wasn't just tear-streaked; her tears were dripping onto the counter, and where each tear landed, it formed a small patch of ice about 3 cm wide.

"Um, ma'am, please calm down. The tissues are 1,200 won."

"Yes, sorry, hic. I'll give you the money, hic, just a moment, wahhh...."

She rubbed her eyes roughly with the back of her hand, like she was scrubbing out a soy sauce stain, then roughly pulled out 2,000 won from her wallet and placed it on the counter. And then...

“Uhuhuhuk. The changes, hic...”

She couldn't even finish her sentence and went outside, and the checkout counter was already half frozen, but I still thought it was fortunate. I thought I had dodged a bullet, until I saw the snow woman slump against the storefront window and sink to the ground.

I glanced at the old man who was still in the store. He, too, was watching the sobbing snow maiden, as if reflecting on something profound.

"That young lady seems to have quite an unfortunate story."

Well, I just got one too.

Where exactly does the convenience store's responsibility end? For me, the boundary is about 5 meters from the entrance.

For example, if two orcs are playing a game of hand-pushing while ripping off a car door at an intersection in front of a convenience store, that's more than 5 meters away, so it's not an area I should care about. That’s when I would rather grab some popcorn.

But that snow woman is different. She sat slumped against the window for 1 minute, 2 minutes, and showed no sign of getting over her grief.

"Hic..."

Anyone passing by might think there's a ghost bride outside. How can customers come in if they're scared off?

It would be better if she cried somewhere that no one could see, but since she was doing that right in front of my nose, it was a situation perfect for misunderstandings in many ways. They'll think she was kicked out of the convenience store. What should I do with that...

The old man, who was looking at my face, added with even more sorry.

"It seems Boss is in quite a difficult situation too."

"Yes. Anyhow, I don’t think I’ll be able to run the store like this..."

I know in my head what I need to do. I had to send her somewhere, but the problem was that I couldn't bring myself to do it. What if she asks me to listen to her story and get dragged into her drama...

"If you're really having a hard time, I could help you a bit. Boss."

I had a feeling the old man would say that. From the time he knocked out those orcs' teeth, I got the sense that he had a strong sense of chivalry. Or maybe it was just a chaffeur’s sense of duty.

Either way, it felt wrong to ask a customer to do my work...

"Um... could I ask for your help just to talk to her?"

In this situation, I wasn't skilled enough to refuse help. The skill of being handsome, that is.

Of course, I had no intention of asking him to knock her out like he did the orcs. At least if there are two of us, there's no way I'll get slapped for meddling, right?

The old man nodded, and after taking a deep breath, I opened the front door and went outside. After confirming that the old man had risen from his seat, I spoke to the snow woman who was still sitting and crying.

"Um... Customer?"

When I spoke to her, she looks up at me with eyes so white that they seem to have cataracts. I thought she have white eyes.

"Um, excuse me, but if you stay here like this, it'll make it difficult for the store to operate...."

"...Hic. I... Sniff."

In the middle, she sniffed once and then finished speaking.

"Can I just... sniff. Stay here for a little while…?"

"How long is 'a little while'?"

"... About... three minutes..."

What, did she start boiling water for ramen?

Why 3 minutes of all things? I was about to ask, but the old man who followed me asked on my behalf. He knelt on one knee and looked up at the snow woman's face from below, speaking in a generous but polite tone.

"Lady, if you don't mind me asking, could you share what has troubled you so?"

‘Lady,’ huh? This old man might not actually be a chauffeur after all.

Whether it was his convincing demeanor or his kind tone, the snow woman stopped crying for a moment and shared a very brief story of what had happened to her.

Her boyfriend cheated on her. She caught him in the act.

"That... that awful bitch..."

If I had only heard this far, I would have thought it was the filming set for the first episode of a soap opera, but the funny thing is that the woman her boyfriend cheated with is someone she already knew. A colleague, no less, and apparently, they didn’t get along well.

She said that she fought with the female of another species who was the target of the cheating, pulling each other's hair, and ran away because it hurt too much. But as she left, the other woman—her boyfriend’s new lover—called after her, "This man is mine now. If you try anything again, I’ll make your body unable to even think of touching this man again....

“That woman....”

Is this some kind of otherworldly rom-com or what? I was at a loss for words, wondering if they were slapping each other with kimchi, when the old man asked with a sympathetic face.

"Does the Lady still love that man?"

"No. Why would I like such a son of a bitch...."

Her tone lacked conviction. The old man must’ve picked up on it too, because he stared at her for a moment before speaking again.

"It doesn't seem like you're being honest with yourself."

“....”

"I cannot presume to guess what kind of situation the Lady is going through... but holding onto regret in your heart won’t solve anything. If you don’t let it out now, it will only grow, becoming a burden that haunts you for the rest of the Lady’s life. Are you sure you want to live with that?"

He speaks so well. After hearing this, the snow woman sniffled again, curled up, and buried her head in her arms. She seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before she looked up at the old man with tears rolling down her face.

"What... what should I do?"

The old man, stretching out his words, glanced at me. His expression seemed to ask what I, as the store worker, thought about the situation. Before I answered, I glanced around the surroundings.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

There weren’t many stores with lights on. There was a food alley nearby, but with her in high heels, it seemed like three minutes would be cutting it close. It felt like this snow woman was scared of those people chasing her....

"We do need to accommodate customers, but... I think it should be fine for now."

This is the only place lit up around here, so they shouldn't be able to say anything too strongly, at least psychologically. Hearing this, the old man nodded and continued speaking to the snow woman.

"If they happen to come looking for you, then speak the true feelings you've buried in your heart. We'll watch over you from the side."

What, right here?

I thought it would be enough to just monitor from inside the convenience store, but this elder seemed to be absolutely convinced that someone should be next to the snow woman in this situation.

But when the snow woman looked up at me and faintly nodded, I couldn’t bring myself to say, "Can I head back inside now?" Damn, what's the big deal? I just need to stand around like a background prop, right...?

After about 2 minutes passed, a foreign car or something swiftly drove up from far away.

Out stepped a woman with red hair, wearing stylish clothes and sunglasses. No, is she human?

I I thought so, but the tips of her hair were finely burning and scattering ashes. If I had to compare, a 90% human ratio Ifrit? But that's a spirit. Should I call her a flame woman, or a fire woman….

He takes off his sunglasses, folds them, and looks around. An old gentleman, a snow woman, and a convenience store uniformed punk. It must have looked like they were filming a sitcom.

"Who are these other species? Did you come here to ask for help?"

She smirks and continues.

"Or maybe you're just looking for a new target to wag your tail at?"

No, isn't that too much?

I don't know what circumstances there were, but it seemed true that the two didn't get along well, as the snow woman said. Either that, or the fact that this flame woman was fire and the snow woman was ice was reason enough.

Also, it looked like the flame woman’s fighting spirit wasn’t extinguished yet. With a sneer, she started walking toward us, step by step.

"I don’t feel sorry for you. I might be taking something that’s yours, but... that’s how love works, right? You achieve it yourself?"

As she said this, flames ignited in her hand. Hey, shit, isn’t that illegal? Moreover, why the hell are they about to fight right in front of the convenience store? Does she really not care about anything?

Realizing this couldn’t go on, I said,

“Um, excuse me. There’s a CCTV up here....”

It's good to fight for something, really. But can’t you do it in a café over a couple of Americanos and a slice of cream cake? Couldn’t we talk this out more calmly?

“Outsider, back off if you don’t want to end up in a hospital.”

Looks like she really can’t see anything. I was wondering how things had come to this point, but—

The atmosphere around the snow woman wasn’t looking good. The ice stains that had been on her face were long gone, and her pupils had narrowed vertically, filled with a cold gleam.

“He was originally mine.”

Even her murmuring was cold. Matching each syllable of her tone, ice crystals started to form one by one around the snow woman.

“I loved him with everything I had. He’s mine. I’m telling you, he’s mine….”

At the same time, thud. A huge ice crystal was created behind the snow woman's back and....

“So… I can’t let you have him…!”

She raised her hand high. Wait, is this like that thing? You know, where the energy blast flies when she brings her hand down?

“Ice Spear―”

At that exact moment, the old man disappeared.

In an instant, he reappeared behind the snow woman, his hand already at the nape of her neck in a knife-hand position. That was all it took. The snow woman, who had been brimming with killing intent, collapsed forward helplessly….

“Oh dear.”

The old man caught her as she fell and gently propped her up against the convenience store window, before standing up straight again.

“What, shit…”

Puzzlement rose on the face of the flame woman who was watching this scene, but in that moment, the old man was already standing behind the flame woman's back. He lightly tapped her neck with the same knife-hand strike.

The flame woman collapsed just as easily, and the flames that had been blazing behind her fizzled out as if they had never existed.

The old man, carrying her body, calmly walked over and set the flame woman down next to the snow woman before bursting into hearty laughter.

“I was hoping to let them work out their grudges, but….”

“Yeah…”

"I stopped them because the situation seemed to be getting dangerous. These young ladies sure is fesity. Are you alright, Boss?"

“Sir, do you have to be able to do things like that to be a chaffeur?”

“Of course.”

The old man replied with an unusually serious expression and explained,

"As soon as you receive a call, you have to rush to that location, so quick body movements are essential. Otherwise, you can't survive...."

I wasn’t asking about being a chauffeur, though. (기사 /Could also be read as knight.)





|Note