Mastore 67 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 67

Convenience Store Clerk and Pollen Warning (2)

Here's my plan: leave exactly two masks on the display, stash the rest in the office, and restock as they’re sold.

This way, no one could hoard them, since, well, out of sight, out of mind.

Not that this kind of extreme hoarding prevention happens often, but I've dealt with these troublemakers too many times to feel at ease without doing something like this.

"This lazy fucking bum, where did he go instead of watching the counter!!"

And, well, that plan went straight to hell thanks to a certain Chihuahua. The moment I dragged myself back from the mask display to the counter and saw this guy's face, my frustration doubled.

"Ah... yes, customer."

"Hey, did your liver pop out of your stomach?"

(The word for liver, gan (간), is often used metaphorically to describe a person's courage or boldness. Above expression depicts extreme recklessness or audacity.)

"Who, me?"

"Who else is here besides you, huh? You, if you leave the counter empty like that and get robbed, you paying for it or what?’

The words themselves were nothing new—same old barking, but there was another reason I was upset.

"Of course, I should reimburse it. It's my fault."

"That's not the point, I'm saying don't make the damn mistakes in the first place?"

"I’ll be careful from now on. By the way, customer, I'm asking this because I'm genuinely curious."

“What.”

"Why on earth are you wearing swimming goggles?"

Below the neck: suit and employee ID, above the neck: small dog head with swimming goggles. Surreal fashion.

I thought maybe I was just out of touch with fashion trends in this world, but one glance outside showed this guy was the only one wearing swim goggles. Whether he was dressed like this because he was a sports equipment salesman, or lost some drinking game punishment...

Even as I asked, I didn’t expect an answer, but as soon as I asked, his face twisted in annoyance as he grumbled.

“It’s ‘cause my eyes hurt, why else?”

"Well, of course your eyes would hurt since you're wearing swimming gogg..."

While I was asking, it suddenly hit me.

"Is it because of the pollen?"

"What do you think, would I’m going swimming or something?"

“Well, that’s what they’re for.”

“Why should I swim?”

Right, there’s no reason you would have to go swimming….

I wished he would just buy two or twenty masks and leave since he didn't need any, but my question must’ve set him off. Because he started muttering to himself in a tone full of resentment.

"Damn it, of all places, why did I have to work at a company in such a hellhole..."

“By that hellhole, do you mean a company near the park, perhaps?”

"Across from it, dumbass."

So he really was an office worker. Even a lunatic like this has a proper office job, while I...

Summarizing his endless muttering, it went something like this. First, he drove his car and parked in the building's underground parking.

And for the few hours he worked in the office, everything was fine, but when his arrived at work at 11 a.m, he suddenly opened the windows saying 'Why is the office air so stuffy?'

Right then, the pollen from outside came rushing in, and due to the highly concentrated pollen, the office turned into a sea of tears. That's understandable, but...

"Did nobody tell the boss not to open the windows?"

"I did tell him. The boss bastard just wouldn't listen for shit."

Didn’t listen, huh? Hearing this gave me a bit of an idea.

"By any chance, what species customer’s boss is?"

"Beagle."

No wonder...

According to research by renowned zoologists, surprisingly, Beagles' IQ is lower than Chihuahuas' You might wonder how a hunting breed could rank so low, but…

Actually, it’s not that beagles are dumb. The problem lies with the way the intelligence tests are measured.

Zoologists classify intelligence based on 'how well they understand and follow human commands', but beagles have this personality. They're strong-willed and have dominant personalities.

In other words, beagles don't fail to understand - they're just too strong-willed to listen even when told.

That’s why they seem “dumb” in our eyes. It's no wonder beagles are known as one of the top three hellhound.

(I don’t know if it’s Korea only or world-wide, but the three breed mentioned is beagle, schnauzer, and cocker spaniel.)

If you want to argue with me saying 'But my Boksil is well-behaved', then take good care of them till their later years since they're good. In any case, this boss, strong-willed and stubborn, had turned the entire office into a pollen-infested mess.

"So, what happened next?"

"What do you think happened, shit went to hell."

Starting with the team leaders working near the windows, all employees ran out with tears streaming down their faces and gathered in the underground parking lot for a meeting, where opinions split into three:

1. Let's use our leave.

2. If we don't finish today's work we'll have to do overtime tomorrow so let's somehow endur... no, we really can't stand this so let's use the leave.

3. If our eyes hurt, why don’t we just wear swim goggles?

The third option was proposed by this Chihuahua himself, and while no one supported him, he didn’t seem to care. And honestly, while chihuahuas might not be 1st-tier hellhounds like beagles, they’re at least a solid 1.5.

So he stayed in the office alone until about 30 minutes ago, and he plans to shower as soon as he gets home. After listening to it all, I had one last question.

"But do you need to wear them even outside?"

"It’s my business, you little punk."

Honestly, as a convenience store clerk, it wasn't my business whether customers came in wearing mascot costumes or just a tank top in winter.

Anyway, what did this guy come to buy this time?

"Got any swim caps?"

“Do we look like we would?”

"Shit. Then masks?"

"Those we have. Over at the mask display..."

“Where’s this ‘over there’?”

I took a deep breath while guiding the chihuahua there. With this guy, I could see him clearing out every last mask in the store.

However, seeing the masks directly, it didn't seem like he would go that far.

The masks were a little unusual in how they were sorted: extra-large for Orcs, Goblin-sized, and other species-specific types. Made sense since they all had different head sizes and ear positions.

The chihuahua picked up a mask designed for kobolds, held it out to me, and asked,

“Hey. Is this one any good?”

"That... I don't know if it's good, but just don't buy it."

"This punk, what?"

"It’s not that I don’t want to sell it to you."

It's because he picked up the small size.

This is one of those items where you really have to pay attention when selling. They say small, but it's so tiny even a freshly graduated middle school kid couldn't wear it.

Some people get blinded by the "3-pack" part and just buy it without knowing, but you absolutely shouldn't. Your ears will hurt like hell. And don't come asking for a refund after opening the package saying you bought the wrong one. How would it make sense to refund an opened pack?

While chihuahuas are technically small dogs, if I sold it just based on that and the size didn't fit, this guy would definitely mark his territory on the freezer radiator.

"Then what should I get?"

"Just give me a second while I check. Let’s see… a one-pack of the large for kobolds…."

Nope, not here. With what feels like about 30% of our customers being kobolds, there’s no way we don’t carry it here.

"Seems we're sold out today. You'll probably have to hit other store."

"Today? So you’re saying you’ll have some tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. Since supplies arrive at midnight today, you can come tomorrow morning—"

This chihuahua usually gives me a headache every time he shows up, but still, he’s always left without complaint when I’ve told him we’re out of something. So, naturally, I thought he would do the same this time.

However, this was me underestimating the chihuahua.

"Midnight today. You're saying supplies arrive in 1 hour and 50 minutes?"

"That’s about right. But why?"

"Gonna sit and wait then."

What on earth? He’s actually going to wait 1 hour and 50 minutes just for a mask?

“Customer. Have you been banned from other stores or something?"

"Why would I be banned?"

"If not that, um... we're not selling some limited first-edition masks or anything?"

"Who said I asked for that crap?"

“No, there’s gotta be a reason you’re doing this, whatever it is.”

“Damn it, here I am about to up your sale, and all this dumbass got is complaints.”

Up sales, my foot. If you were me, would you want to be stuck in the same building as you for 1 hour and 50 minutes?

Plus this chihuahua said he was working at his company until 30 minutes ago. Though I don't believe he did any normal work... but still, shouldn't he be tired?

"You must be exhausted. If you really need the masks, I could set aside a few for you so you can just come by tomorrow morning…."

I tried to gently coax him into leaving since I didn’t have a solid reason to kick him out, but he shut that down in one blunt sentence.

"Don't wanna, fuck."

“No choice then....”

"Ah, shit, talking made me parched. Give me two energy drinks."

"…Go wait by the counter."

I took two energy drinks from the beverage refrigerator and brought them to the counter. After finished the payment, he casually placed one of them right back on the counter.

"Here, you take this one."

Why do you keep giving me stuff?

I was about to ask, but before I could, he walked to a table, took his seat, and pulled out his smartphone. Then he just stared at his phone.

So a single Bacchus was left lonely on the counter. I'll take it since he gave it... but while I've met all sorts of people working at companies, I've never seen such a my-way-or-the-highway bastard in my life.

I was planning to watch the news on my tablet from time to time, but I bet he would make a scene about me slacking off during work...

* * *

In the end, I couldn't move an inch for nearly 2 hours and just served customers.

Maybe because of the pollen, there weren't many customers, and thanks to that, there were no arguments with mask hoarders. Guess it won't last long anyway.

Or maybe people didn't want to make eye contact with that chihuahua. I wouldn't know.

Still, I kept glancing at the chihuahua whenever I served customers, and fortunately, he didn't grab each and every customer and start his nonsense.

Not that he didn’t do that with me.

“Hey, don’t you have anything other than classical here?”

"I can't change the music. The store plays it automatically."

"Damn it. You got earphones here?"

"Let me check. For kobolds..."

Looking around the retail section, there was one earphone labeled for kobolds. An ear-hook style with rather large attachments. Probably to prevent the earphones from falling out.

Maybe because of the attachments, it's a bit pricey at 40,000 won (~28 USD). I thought he might try to haggle, but he just silently held out his card after hearing the price.

After completing the payment and handing him the earphones, he tore open the package on the spot and started gathering the bits of packaging left on the counter.

“Just leave it, I’ll take care of it.”

"What’re you talking about? Why would you throw away my trash?"

While people who eat in the store and leave their mess think 'Why should I throw this trash away?'. He insisted on collecting the trash himself, even separated it for recycling, then went back to his seat without moving a muscle.

Finally, at midnight, Yoonha Noona arrived.

“Hey, Lee Chan! Look at me!”

Right as she came in, she told me to look at her. I saw that half of her body, including the mask over her mouth, had turned a shade of pink. She must’ve been hauling cargo around and got blasted with pollen.

I told her my impression.

"Dope."

"Your Noona works this hard. If you're done looking, give me a broom. Gotta dust myself off."

“Why would you use a floor broom to dust off your body? Hold on a sec.”

Since our store is quite big, there's a sink near the counter for washing hands. With towels too.

I wet the towel and wrung it out before handing it to her. She said she would go dust off outside, then headed out. While wiping the water on my hands on my pants, suddenly the chihuahua was standing at the counter.

"What now?"

"Hey. Did the supplies just arrive?"

"Yes, they did. If you'll wait at your seat, I'll get you the masks..."

Before I could even finish, he took one glance at the front door and went right outside, no?

I hurried out after him, only to see him already talking to Noona.

“Hey.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah, you. Hand over a mask, will ya?”

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|Note

Bokssil could be a slang for ‘Went mad/crazy’. There’s also this funny joke when I search for it

Q: My dog ​​is really disobedient…

A: It will be fine in three years.

Q: Will he be obedient in three years?

A: No. You adapt.

I figure it might just be a random name haha. I’m just sharing a bit of what I find.