Mastore 60 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 60

Convenience Store Clerk Taking a Practical Exam (5)

The receptionist and the director escorted us outside the columbarium.

"Have a safe... journey..."

"I hope... your work... goes well..."

It was a heartwarming send-off, but I couldn't bring myself to respond with a smile. Slowly, we walked out to the street in front of the commercial district, and I took another look at the tablet screen.

Catch the bank ATM robber. Hmm....

"Noona, does this make any sense?"

“What do you think?”

In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense at all.

There aren't even any other details written. Catch the bank ATM robber, that's all. Sure, I guess if there’s a robbery happening at a bank, there’s no time to write out a full report before sending out an SOS. I can understand that much.

But... why are they asking me to do this instead of calling 112?

I get that law enforcement in this world is a bit weird, but you'd think catching a bank robber would be the police's job. Even if I give them a hundred concessions and say the police don't have the luxury of coming out...

No, if a bank is getting robbed, busy or whatever the hell it is, they should rush out throwing away even the jajangmyeon they're eating. Why should I be the one to take care of this? No matter how much I think about it, I can’t make sense of this one-sentence commission and Noona agreed with me on that point too.

"Besides, if a robber hit the bank, I think the robber would have cleaned it out and left by now..."

“Right?”

A bank robber is reported, it's commissioned to the academy's practical exam issuer, and while the examinee who received the request comes, the robber patiently waits? Their home education was really fantasy-like, no. This world is fantasy, but...

"Or maybe they want you to catch the robber that’s already escaped…."

"That still doesn’t sound like something I should be doing…."

"True enough."

With all that in mind, we had no choice but to settle on one conclusion as we headed to the bank: We'll see when we get there.

But... even after arriving, I still didn't understand at all.

As I approached the alley where the bank was, I could see a short, stocky goblin loitering in front of a sign with the bank's name in the distance.

Getting closer, I could see that he was wearing a suit, puffing away on a cigarette with a look that screamed ‘I’m done with life’. This goblin yangban seemed to be the client who made the request.

“Excuse me. Are you the bank employee?”

I approached him first. The goblin, who alternating glances between me and Noona, flicked his cigarette into the gutter and asked in return,

“Are you from the academy?”

“…Yes.”

Even when I dealt with them as customers during my shift, I noticed that these nosy-nosed goblin types really don’t mince their words. Is it okay for a bank employee to be like this?

“I came to ask for a practical exam. The commission details said 'catch the bank ATM robber,' but I wanted to ask for more details-"

"You’ll see once you get inside."

And that was it. It felt pretty insufficient, but then the goblin, who had been eyeing my blank expression, gave a slight chuckle and added,

"It's not that I'm saying this because it's bothersome, you'll really know right away when you go inside and see."

He sounded so confident. So, with a shrug to each other, Noona and I stepped inside the bank. And the moment we took in the scene, we could immediately understand in what sense the goblin had said those words.

[Insert cash or card.]

It was because the situation was somewhat strange.

* * *

First of all, the floor was littered with receipt paper.

There was so much of it that the marble floor underneath was completely covered. While this sight alone was enough to make one feel disturbed, there was a bigger problem.

[Desired service: cash.]

The state of the ATM located at the front was far from normal. No one had even approached it, yet it was repeating a distorted, spliced voice recording, like a broken radio.

[Or insert a bankbook, card.]

[Hurry.]

“No, this is….”

What on earth this?

No matter how much I looked at it, I couldn't make sense of it at all. Meanwhile, Noona, who had been staring at the ATM, suddenly let out a chuckle as if something had clicked.

"Ah, so that’s what they meant.”

"Noona, can you guess? Looking at this?"

“That’s right. Bank, ATM, robber.”

I can see that this is a bank and that's an ATM. But there's no robber, robber...

As I thought about it, something suddenly came to mind. The text on the tablet said, 'Catch the bank ATM robber.' What if it didn’t mean catching someone robbing the ATM, but rather―

"The ATM itself is committing a robbery?"

"Doesn't it look like that based on the circumstances?"

That was a combination of words I have never heard before. Noona looked at me like I was the strange one for being confused.

"Don't tell me this is your first time seeing something like this?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, lucky you. If you worked at company long enough, you’d probably run into it at least once, whether you liked it or not."

Just what kind of black company would you have to work for to deal with something like this…?

No, it's not like I've never seen an ATM in this world. Strictly speaking, I see them every day. There's a blue one in the corner of our convenience store too.

But I’ve never given it much thought because, well, our ATM is quite well-behaved. It doesn't throw a tantrum by floating the trash can around demanding cash or cards and it definitely doesn’t yell at people in rude, clipped sentences.

But I don't know what that ATM is so dissatisfied about to act like that. Did someone pee in the cash slot or something?

[Cash.]

Even as we stood there, the ATM continued to output its distorted voice, and at the same time, the floating trash can slammed down on the floor with a thud before bouncing back up again. I couldn't tell for sure, but it was clear that it was very angry.

"Why the heck is it doing that?"

"It's possessed by a devil or something. I’ve hardly ever seen one myself.”

"Possessed by what?"

“Devil. So….”

Noona gave a brief explanation, which went something like this:

All living things in this world possess magic power, and in the process of living, they release an extremely small amount of magic power. It’s like how people exhale carbon dioxide when they breathe.

Those stray bits of magic power residue can sometimes gather together and form what you see here. Devils. They don't just appear anywhere, but they are usually born through objects that are prone to harboring resentment...

“What, a cursed urn or something like that?”

“Urns doesn’t get possessed. You make those on your own.”

It's not simply created by being old, but objects that as many other species as possible can touch and make them swear after touching. That is, things like rocks sticking out of the road that trip you, or low ceilings on stairways where people keep hitting their heads.

“For the most part, they’re not that dangerous. Just making you trip a bit more easily, or hit your head a bit more often, that kind of thing?"

"But that one is throwing around trash cans?"

"If you handle it badly at first, or leave it alone for too long, it can become like that. Anyway... now you know why you were called here."

I think I roughly understand too. They didn't call me to smash that ATM, but to get rid of the devil inside it, right?

Since they said it's like magic power residue, catching it itself should be simple. I just need to touch the devil that's inside that ATM. The problem is how to do that.

[The valid time has expired.]

That thing now seemed to have half lost its mind.

It's slamming down the receipt shredder weighing dozens of kilograms on the floor, and the dented trash can is spinning around above the ATM's head like an accelerating artificial satellite.

The screen itself flickered occasionally, and when it did, the image seemed to glitch upward like it was rolling its eyes in the back of its head. How can I approach that thing barehanded when it's acting like that?

[Deposit. Cash. Hurry.]

"Does Noona happen to know how to catch that devil?"

"First... as long as you don't get too close, it won't harm you. It can’t move far from whatever it’s possessing. And, the method is... hmm..."

Noona thought for a bit, hand on her chin, then suggested, albeit hesitantly.

"Maybe try talking to it?"

"Talking? You want me to talk to that crazy-eyed thing?"

"It's trying to talk to us, isn't it? Telling us to deposit cash. At the very least, if you go near it without knowing why it's acting like that, won't it cause more of a fuss? I mean, look at it now.”

"That... Is that how it work...?"

"I'm not an expert on devils to begin with. I'm not a devil specialist hunter, I majored in magical beasts and gates—"

"Alright, first thing first."

I didn’t have any better ideas, and the whole "talking it out" plan at least seemed reasonable. First, I need to know if it can communicate...

"Hey!!"

I shouted at the ATM. I don’t know what I’m doing.

"Can you understand me?! If you can, press the star button. If you can't, press the # button—"

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

[Cash.]

After outputting two characters of voice recognition, it slams the trash can down on the floor with a loud thud.

"Is it, uh, tapping out Morse code with that trash can?"

“Hey, Lee Chan, you’re not looking so good."

I'm really not. I had no idea what to say to a crazy ATM. I felt exactly like this on my first day working at the convenience store….

[Or insert bankbook, card. Hurry.]

"...I don't know why it's asking, but anyway, is that enough?"

Noona took out her wallet in response to the ATM's words. Then, the movement of the shredder and trash can that the ATM had been floating became noticeably slower, and the cash input slot started clattering.

[Please insert cash.]

“I don’t have any cash.”

[Insert cash—]

“…From the looks of it, I don’t think it can actually understand us.”

ATMs with voice recognition or cameras are rare. But seeing how it reacted immediately to the wallet, it means it's seeing our appearance through some means.

I glanced up at the ceiling, noticing a loosely dangling security camera staring down at us. It was probably using that as its “eyes.” Things were starting to make a little more sense now.

[Cash. Or bankbook, or card. Hurry.]

“Lee Chan. Do you have a card on you?"

"I don't. I turned in everything, wallet and smartphone, at the exam room earlier."

"I only brought the company card today, man."

A company card can’t be used for deposits. But that wasn’t the immediate issue.

"More than whether we can deposit or withdraw, if we just approach with it, that thing won't attack us, right? Since it needs to accept a deposit."

"...That's true. It won't even know it's a corporate card until we insert it."

“If I can just get close and touch that ATM, that should be enough. How about we give it a shot?”

Up to this point, Noona agreed without much objection. As soon as Noona pulled the company card out of her wallet, the trash can and receipt shredder gently settled down on the floor.

It felt like if we hesitated, it would find out we were up to something, so I walked as confidently as possible with my back straight. Standing side by side with Noona, I slowly placed my hand over the ATM’s keypad.

[Insert the card in the direction of the arrow.]

"Huh?"

[Hurry.]

“Lee Chan, what are you doing? Is it taking long?"

Noona whispered softly, but I was even more flustered.

"No, it's just...."

It doesn't work?





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