Mastore 57 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 57

Convenience Store Clerk Taking a Practical Exam (2)”

It was exactly around 6:50 when I came out of the subway station exit. Until then, I could still be somewhat optimistic.

“Lee Chan, where's the exam location? Should I just take you all the way there?"

“I’m good. I've been here once before, so."

Even though the sky was getting dark with the sunset almost gone, I still remembered the general layout. As I got near the entrance of the academy, they had kindly put up a sign that said, “Practical Exam 200m ↗.”

“From here, I can manage. What are you going to do in the meantime, Noona?”

“Not much? Honestly, I just came out for a bit to see your face."

"No, seriously, don't you have any friends?"

"Work is my friend but it only hangs out with me on weekdays. Why, got a problem with that?"

She jabbed me playfully in the side, then ducked into a nearby café to pass the time. I was able to remain optimistic until I saw this with my own eyes and received my registration slip at the exam hall.

However, when I stood in front of the classroom door labeled “Exam Room,” I became a little less optimistic. The atmosphere inside was unbearably solemn.

There were about twenty different species seated, each of these yangban must also be the ones who passed the written exam. There was an diverse range - an orc perched on one buttock barely perched on a plastic chair, a fairy sitting on a desk - but they were all immersed in something.

Some had their heads bowed, hands clasped together. Others were mumbling to themselves, though it was so quiet you couldn’t hear a thing. Feeling like I'd be wrapped in colorful gazes if I spoke up to strike up a conversation, I quietly took a seat at the very back.

Five minutes passed. Just as the memory of riding the subway started to feel like a fleeting dream, someone in a suit entered the exam room and closed the door with a bang. It was that vampire rpoctor I saw during the written exam.

"I am Proctor Deckard."

After briefly checking his wristwatch, he snapped his fingers. ThenWithout a sound, a large box—like something you’d see movers use—materialized in the air beside him and dropped lightly to the floor.

“Before we begin, I will collect all personal belongings.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the other species all stood up at once and started taking out their belongings, things like encyclopaedia-thick books, staffs, sledgehammers... Wait, why the hell did someone bring a sledgehammer to an exam?

The one who pulled out the sledgehammer was a dwarf, and surprisingly, none of the other species seemed to find it odd. Even the proctor just asked a couple of formal questions.

“Is that a magic tool?”

“No.”

“For what purpose did you bring it?”

“Psychological stability.”

"Understood. After inspection, if it's judged not to affect the exam process, we'll return it to you. It will take about 5 minutes."

"Inspection? Can I trust this process?”

"Graduate students on standby in the building will handle it, and your equipment won't be damaged."

“Sure.”

After the dwarf who returned the sledgehammer went back to his seat, I also went to hand in my belongings and glanced at the sledgehammer in the box. The handle part was gleaming brightly. Is that sledgehammer like a Thomas and best friend to dwarf races...

When it was my turn, I pulled my wallet and smartphone out of my pocket and placed them on the desk in front of the proctor. It was a bit odd to leave my smartphone in a box with a sledgehammer.

"Hmm."

Our eyes met for a moment, and I noticed one of his eyebrows slightly rise. It seemed like he remembered me, but he didn’t say anything.

As I returned to my seat, the proctor continued speaking.

"This exam will determine whether you examinees have the practical ability to perform duties after acquiring an anti-magic national license."

Even while listening to this, a glimmer of optimism remained. I thought, ‘Anyway, I just need to do well what I'm told to do―’ But as I heard what the proctor said next, even that last bit of optimism completely disappeared.

“That’s why we’ve prepared some practical commisions.”

What?

This time, the surrounding other species had similar reactions to mine. You could feel the tension as if everyone was thinking, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’ But the proctor didn’t bat an eye and simply snapped his fingers.

At the same time, tablet PCs started appearing one by one on top of the twenty desks. They were already powered on, and at the very top of the screen was written: [Which commission will you accept?]

"The total number of examinees for this practical exam is twenty. Therefore, we've prepared 60 requests. You are to accept and complete 3 of these requests, then return here."

“Oh, shit....”

"The range of commission locations is within the academy district. Only the location where the commission is to be completed will be disclosed. The detailed content and difficulty of the commissions are not disclosed until you accept them. This is to prevent disputes among candidates."

It sounded like they were trying to prevent people from grabbing each other by the collar to get the easy ones, but does the proctor know he's saying something that might get him grabbed by the collar right now?

"I'll explain the precautions. During the exam, any action considered a crime, including the use of violence, any contact with other species other than the client—this includes other examinees—use of unauthorized magic tools, cheating, taking the exam on behalf of someone else, or leaving the designated area. If caught, you will be immediately disqualified and lose eligibility for all national license exams for the next 3 years."

As I listened, my mood became increasingly pessimistic.

"Whether you have violated the precautions I mentioned will be determined by the function installed on the distributed tablet PCs... As long as you don't violate the precautions I mentioned, you may use any method you wish to complete the commissions.”

After saying this, the proctor looked around the exam room and asked:

"If there are any other questions, please raise your hand."

It wasn't just me who was dumbfounded after hearing all this, as no one moved. So I raised my hand. Because one thing that someone had to ask came to mind.

“Please speak.”

"These commissions, they're things we can do, right?"

We’re supposed to qualify for the license so we can handle real jobs, but now we’re being told we need to do the real jobs in order to get licensed. Isn’t that backward?

The proctor stared at me with his piercing red eyes, glanced at a nearby tablet, and then spoke again.

“These tasks have been designed with the abilities of the examinee in mind, so you needn’t worry about that.”

Finally, a sense of relief spread throughout the exam room.

“Any further questions?”

“My sledgehammer?”

"You can go to the lounge on the 1st floor lobby to find it. Anything else?"

There is one thing, but I think I should ask about this separately. The other species seemed to be deep in thought, just staring at their tablets without saying a word, as if their minds were now fully focused.

In the silence, the proctor checked his watch and continued.

"Current time is 7:08. The practical exam will proceed until 10:10. Now... you may begin.”

He snapped his fingers again, and a digital clock appeared on the podium, ringing an alarm. At the same time, most of the examinee jumped out of their seats and rushed out, but I stayed seated.

A few moments later, it was just me and the proctor left. The proctor, who was about to sit down in the chair next to the podium, noticed me and spoke in a flat tone. If he hadn't seen me, I was going to speak up.

“Aren’t you going?”

"Um... you asked if there were any questions earlier, right?"

"I did."

“I was about to ask, but then you wrapped things up.”

I had purposely delayed to ask this question, but I didn’t think he could read my mind. The proctor raised his eyebrows slightly, smirked, and asked me:

"Do you have a question?"

"Is this function installed on the PC possibly magic?"

The proctor didn't answer this question. I decided to take this as the answer.

* * *

I came out to the subway station and checked the tablet PC. The time in the upper right corner was 7:12, and there were 47 requests left on the screen.

Requests that have turned gray are numbers 1, 3, 9... scattered here and there. It seemed like the other examinee, who had rushed out earlier, had started selecting their tasks, each with their own criteria.

I had to pick something too, but I had no idea what to choose. Far from setting criteria, even the place names written as request locations were like this:

[Leso Porhe]

It sounds fancy. It overflows, but what kind of shop is it? A jazz cafe? A flower shop?

I can understand why they kept it vague, just listing the locations. If more information was written and people thought, ‘Oh? This looks a bit difficult for me,’ no one would want to do it. Additionally, if the other species of this world could infer a bit just by seeing this, that's probably why they did it this way...

But that’s their problem, not mine. I’m a country bumpkin and don’t know these local names. And even if I wanted to grab a passerby and ask where this place is, I can’t. We’re not allowed to make contact.

So for someone like me lacking common sense, there was only one thing I could do. Pick randomly and pray to the heavens that I get an easy one.

But I won’t do that even if I die. In my 29 years of living, not once has heaven answered my prayers when I begged.

"Let's see..."

Sitting on the pedestrian guardrail, looking at the tablet PC screen, I recalled what the proctor said. Whether or not the precatutions are violated will be judged by the functions installed on the tablet PC.

He also said it doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't violate the precautions. However, I don't remember hearing any precaution about not manipulating this tablet.

If that was something we shouldn't do, they could have just said one more word, there's no reason not to tell people who came to get an anti-magic license. Thinking this, I ran my palm over the back of the tablet PC.

Then, I stared at the tablet intently.

I decided to erase the magic that detects violations of precautions. I’m not sure if there were other spells on the device, but it still looked kind of distorted….

This way, I can't even know if the magic I intended to erase was properly erased. There was only one way to check. I pushed myself off the guardrail and headed to the café where Noona had gone to kill time.

Looking around after entering, I saw Noona sitting by the window, slurping an Americano through a straw. I approached her immediately and spoke.

“Noona.”

"Ah, you startled me... No, why are you back here?”

She was understandably shocked. Who wouldn’t be when someone who’s supposed to be taking a practical exam shows up less than 20 minutes later?

“Don’t tell me you bailed?”

“No, nothing like that. Just take a look at this.”

I said while handing over the tablet. What I was doing was a complete violation of the precaution about not making contact with other species other than the client. If I didn't erase the magic properly, there should be some kind of reaction...

Noona took the tablet, looking puzzled, and no warning message appeared on the screen nor did the tablet explode. Noona, sliding the screen up and down filled with requests, asked:

"Why are you asking me to touch this?"

"...They said the purpose of the practical exam was to assess practical skills..."

“?”

"So I did some practical work."

I sat in the seat across from Noona. Now I can finally do something.









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