Mastore 81 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 81

The drug that carries love (1)

I still remember the Q&A I had with this vampire the day I took the practical exam.

‘Why, of all things, did you make a national license exam about knowing one’s own limits and knowing when to give up?’

When I asked this, he replied, 'If someone can give up on such an important exam, they probably won't act inefficiently in actual work either.'

That's the kind of person he is. The type to design a national exam however he wanted. Sure, I get that having a mentor is part of the deal, but why in the world does it have to be this guy with all that smug self-confidence? What did I do wrong?

"I won't interfere much. I have my own schedule too."

Of course, you do. Being a professor, he has research to manage and probably a whole flock of grad students to herd.

After saying this, the proctor suddenly held out his hand to me.

“May I see your phone?”

I took out my smartphone and handed it over. He took it, fiddled with it briefly, and returned it to me. An app was just opening up on the screen.

Shortly after, something like a simple bulletin board appeared, and the title of the top post...

“Request for Review on the Repulsive Properties Between New Magic Materials? What’s this about?”

"It's a list of contract requests coming to my lab."

After hearing this, I was dumbfounded for a moment, and then I realized. He’s saying that if I couldn’t find work myself, I could take on some of the assignments that came into his lab. In other words, he’s offering me a spot in his Pokéball….

"I'm not forcing you. Consider it a backup plan for when you can't find work."

“Are you serious?”

“I am, and in fact, I prefer it. I think those who have a backup plan are better off than those who only rely on the best-case scenario.”

Sounds like he means he would rather have someone who finds their own way than someone who just latches on for the work.

"Any other questions?"

“About my quota—what exactly is it, and how much do I have to do?”

“At least two cases per month, meeting the standards set by the nation.”

"And who judges those standards..."

“I will.”

I started hearing something like an auditory hallucination. Like the sound of this guy being a pain...

"So whatever work you take on, contact me immediately. If you don't want to face unfair treatment later, that is."

“…Where should I report? Messaging?”

“Just post it on the bulletin board. I’ll see it.”

Looks like there’s no getting around this one. It's probably an issue that can only be resolved once I gain enough experience to meet the standards myself.

"Anything else?"

“What happens if I don’t meet the quota?”

"You're fired. Anything else?"

“...Really?”

"Really. Anything else?"

I didn’t have any, but as soon as he said ‘fired’, they started coming to mind. First of all, since I already have several things on my plate...

“If I meet my quota, can I do other work on the side?”

“Assuming you are not involved in a crime, you're free to do as you please."

"What about work location, method, or set hours..."

"It doesn't matter whether it's here or my lab, doesn't matter what method you use, time? Doesn't matter."

After hearing this, I got a clear picture. Basically, as long as I don’t do anything illegal, anything goes. But, I have to meet the monthly quota. If I don't, they'll take back my license.

“The work I did is recorded separately, right?"

"It will be automatically recorded in the back of your notebook. Anything else?"

“...There isn’t.”

I don't know what else to ask. As soon as I said that, the proctor looked at me for a moment in silence, then stood up, adjusted his coat, and said, as if tossing something out,

“My contact info is there, so reach out if any issues come up. Oh, and I have one question for you.”

“Please ask.”

“Did you turn down my offer for a professorship to work here?”

I was wondering when this would come up.

I was sure this was going to be his number one stubborn point with me, but looking at his face, he didn't seem to be questioning why I would prefer being a convenience store clerk over a professor. He doesn't seem to be asking because he doesn't understand either...

Anyway, it's not stubbornness, but I can't guess his intention. I just answered honestly.

"Yes. Was this something I should have contacted you about later too?"

"...No. It won't be a problem. Just..."

He fell silent, looking like he had a lot more to say, but then just stared silently at the counter.

More precisely, at Manager's face.

"...Surely..."

He muttered this while narrowing his eyes and staring blankly, and only moved after seeing Manager tilt her head in confusion from far away. He headed toward the front door, looked at me, and said,

“I’ll see you later.”

“Yes.”

Then he left, and the time was 10:05. I immediately ran to the storage room to change into my uniform, and asked Manager.

“Is there any handover shift notes?”

“Yoonha came during the day and restocked all cigarettes and gift cards, so Chan don’t need to worry about inventory. That's all."

Glad there’s no need to ration out the cigarettes. No lost items or anything unusual, so the shift change wrapped up fast, and then…

"Manager-nim, could I ask you something I'm curious about?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"It seemed like that person knew Manager-nim’s face."

From our conversation, I'm certain of one thing. That vampire hates inefficiency. From how he only says exactly what he needs to, to his way of speaking.

For such yangban to stop explaining and just stare at Manager’s face, there must be a reason, I thought. However, Manager’s reaction was a bit different from what I expected.

“Um... I felt that too..."

“You don’t know that person, Manager-nim?”

“He does look familiar, but I can’t quite place him. Maybe he was someone I worked with? Back when I was doing magic work?”

If they worked together, wouldn’t he be hard to forget?

Probably not. I don't remember every business contact I met when I was working at the company either. Maybe just major clients, or if the client's CEO had an impressive background?

Though I never met one, I feel like I wouldn't be able to forget even if I wanted to if a client's CEO was a former professor.

"He might not have been a professor in the past."

"Ah... I hadn't thought of that."

"Still, I did work with vampires before. Let's see... how many times was it. Twenty-three? Twenty-five times?"

“If it’s to that extent, it makes sense Manager-nim wouldn’t remember.”

The problem is that the vampire seems to remember Manager. The fact that this guy, now a professor, still recalls her face must mean working with Manager left quite an impression on him....

"You know, I was pretty good at magic work back in the day. Though it feels weird saying it myself."

"Manager-nim can brag about that kind of thing all you want."

"No thanks. Makes me sound old."

“Don’t worry. No matter what Manager-nim says, you’ll always be 17 in my eyes.”

"But I am actually 17?"

If she says so, I’ll take her word for it.

"Anyway, if you tell me what kind of work you did together, you might remember..."

"You don't need to force yourself to remember. I just asked out of curiosity."

Next, I took out my license notebook. The vampire professor had mentioned that any work I did would automatically be recorded in the back.

“Wow, they really went all out with this. And it's not even parchment."

When was parchment even a thing…? Wait, no. Better not say that or I’ll get a flick to the head.

“Manager-nim can see right away how much effort they put into it?”

“Look here, Chan. The magic circle on the cover is gold-plated, and each page has damage prevention magic—"

“Gold-plated?”

"Yep. Pure gold... Ah, sorry. That's not what Chan was asking about."

After saying this, Manager opened the back of the notebook and started drawing something with a pen. She was putting so much effort into it that I thought she might be drawing something like a magic circle....

It was just a doodle. A smiley face.

"I also think it's good to live with a smile. But why draw that in the notebook..."

“Just watch.”

Since she said to watch, I kept looking. After a moment, the smiley face Manager drew gradually faded and disappeared.

“This is linked to the Magic Bureau. If I write anything they consider unnecessary, it’ll get erased like this.”

“So if that’s how it works, does that mean the Bureau saw your doodle and decided to delete it?”

"Yep. That's why I drew it extra nicely."

The people checking must have been like 'What's this?', but it was a well-drawn doodle even to my eyes. So it should be fine.

“On the flip side, any official notes that need to stay here, the Bureau will inscribe directly.”

Seems like it works like this: after I complete a job and report it to the professor, he’ll pass the details to the Bureau, and if they judge it meets the standards, they engrave it here.

“When the back is all filled up, they’ll engrave a star on the cover. For career recognition.”

"They do that remotely too?"

"Probably not? Back in my day, we had to go in person. They would give Chan a certificate and even clap.”

Forget the applause; a pizza would be nice. I’m almost filling up my coupon book anyway.

“When the time comes, I’ll go with Chan. The route’s kind of complicated.”

"Can't we just teleport there..."

"It's difficult. If someone sets coordinates for government offices and tries to teleport, they end up somewhere completely unrelated to the set coordinates."

"Where would we end up?"

"Prison."

For the same reason, setting coordinates for places like bank vaults sends you to the same place, she explained. At some point, it seems I'll need to visit this Magic Bureau at least once. On my own two feet.

“Or Chan might accidentally dispel the magic and have to go get it recast."

“I’ll be careful.”

"Good then. Anything else Chan’s curious about?"

Not right now. But there’s one thing I might need to ask later… Hmm….

"Does Manager-nim have time?"

“The next bus will come in 10 minutes.”

“Then could Manager-nim just help me with one more thing?”

I immediately took out my smartphone and showed her the bulletin board app the proctor had installed. Manager looked at the screen for a second and asked,

"Chan wants me to help choose which one would be good? Like during your practical exam?"

"Yes."

For example, that Review Request for Potential Repulsion Between New Magic Materials? I can't do something that impressive. You need to know the theory to even consider reviewing it.

Honestly, the kind of stuff I can handle is super limited. Things I can tackle with muscle instead of brains, jobs that don’t need travel, anything that’ll take less than a day, and so on….

At the end of the day, my main job is convenience store manager. To customers, a manager and a clerk might seem like the same thing, but either way, this is my main job.

"I know these are tricky conditions... but it’s what I want to try right now.”

More like this is the only way it can work. If I run off for several days doing government-side work, who's going to watch the store? Manager? For how many days?

Sure, she might probably insist she can handle it with her magical power, but I don’t like that idea. My thoughts must have been obvious, as Manager stared at me and said,

"It would be nice if we got a part-timer soon. Right?"

“Have you updated the job advertisement?”

“Yup. Every night when I get home, that’s the first thing I do.”

After answering, Manager took my smartphone and slowly scrolled through. This is exactly why I saved it to ask last. What if she misses her bus?

While Manager silently scrolled, I just watched the bus stop. Ready to shoo her out as soon as the bus comes.

Luckily, she finished just in time. She stopped on one listing, tapped it, and held it up for me to see.

"What about this one?"

“What is it?”

“A pharmaceutical company. A place that makes drugs.”

Pharmaceutical company? Drugs?





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