Mastore 107 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 107

A side job full of innocence (2)

For the next three minutes, I kept my mouth shut and stayed quiet. I had no idea what Manager was thinking.

First, the little girl became excited at being told she would be taken along, then Manager printed out an inspection checklist from the POS machine...

“Little girl, in fairy tales, when heroes go on adventures, they always bring swords or armor, right?”

“Yeah!”

He says ‘Yeah!’ This shy little girl’s eyes and voice are sparkling like she's on a field trip to an amusement park, all because of one word about joining the party.

What am I supposed to say to that? Express regret with 'You cannot come with us'? She would probably launch a dragon punch with tears in her eyes.

I was sure my heart would explode if that happened. While I kept my mouth shut, Manager came back with a mask.

"Today's adventure is super short so we don't need swords and armor, we'll just take simple equipment. Here, a mask."

You would think a kid would refuse to wear a mask out of nowhere, but she nodded eagerly and put it on without hesitation. I did have to adjust it since the straps caught on her horns, but still...

"All set!"

“Good. Lastly, go put your backpack on the table over there and come back.”

“Okay!”

The little girl scampered off to take off her backpack, and Manager glanced at me. A signal that now was the time for questions.

“Manager-nim, are you sure this is okay?"

I asked in a low voice. Last week, we inspected the ‘Hero of Light’ set in the storage room.

While we were checking it, some gloomy ghost popped out of the toy and started spouting lines like, ‘Finally, I’m free!’—the kind of thing a mid-boss would say.

The ghost didn’t actually do anything. It couldn’t, because I turned it into a real ghost before it had the chance.

No one got hurt, but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. The sensation of dismantling that ghost is still vivid in my fists.

If something like that happens again, wouldn't it seriously affect the kid's emotional well-being?

“And there are a lot of cold weapons in the storage room, right? What if the kid wants to touch them—”

"It's fine, I've locked the doors tight. We'll only work right by the entrance."

The first room is filled with the least dangerous items, and today’s work will only take place in that first room. After explaining this, Manager grinned.

The first room is filled with the least dangerous items, and today's work will be done only in that first room. After saying this, the store manager chuckled.

"And besides, the things we’re checking today? That kid’s gonna be a huge help."

"What exactly are we checking?"

“That’s a secret. I’ll tell you later.”

'What's with keeping secrets from me about my own work?' I thought, but let it go. Manager must have her reasons for doing this.

"Alright. Shall we go?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes..."

Anyway, we set off. I kicked open the storage entrance door, but the little girl was a little scared because the stairs were high. Manager and I each held one of her hands and helped her down.

Upon reaching the storage, the little girl's eyes sparkled as if she had never been scared at all.

"Ooh, Mister. Mister."

“What.”

"It's swo big."

“Chan, little girl. Here.”

Still, when Manager called, she gasped and came to her senses, then followed in. Following the little girl, just like before, my eyes fell upon countless objects whose purposes I couldn't even begin to guess.

"Tere's swo many things! Mister, Unnie."

“What does the little girl like best in here?”

"In hewe? Um..."

After repeating Manager’s question, the little girl looked down at the ground for a moment, thinking….

Then she looked up at me.

I corrected her right away.

"I'm not for sale, Hana."

"Not for sale?"

“Unnie was asking which of the things piled up here you like the most.”

"Piled up... Ah. Sowwy."

Finally understanding the question, the little girl looked around before fixing her gaze on one spot. It was a treasure chest the size of a medium refrigerator.

"It's a tweasure chest, Mister!"

"It sure is. Manager-nim, is that a real treasure chest?"

“Not a real one. It’s a mimic. Kids get inside and ride it.”

"They ride that inside?"

I felt like my vocabulary was being tested. A mimic is that thing, right? A monster that disguises itself as a chest and eats anyone who gets too close.

Whether they were thorough with historical accuracy or not, they had carefully drawn teeth patterns where the mimic's mouth should be. Why would anyone make such a terrifying thing into a kids’ toy? And how exactly are you supposed to ride it?

When I asked, Manager explained briefly.

“It’s rarely used at home, but schools and kindergartens rent it out a lot in the fall. For school plays.”

School plays where a hero sets off to defeat the demon lord. Apparently it's a repertoire that's regularly used during this world's performance season.

In those plays, one of the most common scenes is the hero discovering a treasure chest, and this mimic toy is used to surprise the audience during that scene.

“Hearing that, it kind of makes sense….”

"Want to take a look inside if you're curious? Though there's nothing to inspect."

“If it’s not work-related, I’m not really—wait. What do you want to do, Hana?”

"Can I look inside? Mister? Unnie?"

"Of course. It's not like it'll wear out."

We opened it up, and the mimic’s interior looked like this: a small steering wheel in the middle, with an accelerator and brake pedal below. The seat was pink, resembling a tongue….

Safety belt under the seat, and what looks like a battery mechanism in the back. The sides were completely empty. For something that looks terrifying, the inside was surprisingly simple.

The little girl must not have been very interested either, as she backed away slightly from the mimic and muttered her review.

"It's boring. No tweasure..."

Her voice had become so dejected it was painful to hear. Looking at Manager's expression, she seemed to realize the little one's work motivation was fading.

“I think we’re a step too late. Manager-nim, let’s close this and get to work.”

“Okay. Here’s the list.”

I took the inspection list from Manager and started reading it, but my enthusiasm for work began to fade the moment I saw the first item. Because, well, what was written on the first line was...

"A recorder?"

"Yes. A recorder."

“Manager-nim. This isn’t some kind of magic spell, is it?”

“No? It’s just a recorder?”

Why on earth would a convenience store sell recorders?

If you ask, it’s not entirely unheard of. For example, sometimes elementary school or kindergarten kids forget to bring their recorders to music class, right?

Some convenience stores near elementary schools, daycare centers, or kindergartens stock recorders for such occasions. Though they don't usually stash them away in storage like this.

“It has 300 built-in songs, breath correction, automatic cleaning magic, and can adjust up to two octaves. It’s pretty expensive, Chan.”

"Huh..."

"And it's pink."

Now I understand why Manager didn’t want to show me this list in the lobby. He probably wanted to see the look on my face.

“I thought it would be good if the little girl came along because Chan might’ve forgotten how to play the recorder. Or does Chan still remember how to hold it?”

“... Yes, I remember.”

I honestly admitted that I could play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We promised not to lie to each other, after all. But, this. No...

Frankly, there’s no way I can do this. You want me to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a pink recorder in front of a kindergarten kid and my boss, who looks like a high schooler?

It's not something you do sober. Should I go up and grab three bottles of soju, drink them, and leave the aftermath to tonight's me? Patch up the kicked blanket with cotton later?

(D: Really don’t understand what Chan’s saying. It might be a real idiom or just figuratively speaking.)

"I remember, but I..."

This is a situation that requires serious resolve. Looking at Manager in my desperation, she didn't seem entirely serious about this either. Her face full of smiles is slightly annoying today.

“…I pulled an all-nighter, you know. Even if I play now, I won’t be able to put my soul into it.”

"Well, can't be helped then. Soul is a crucial matter."

Lee Chan will remember this. Without fail...

Manager stretched with a satisfied look, then pulled out a pink recorder from a nearby box. Thanks to the cleaning magic, it's clean despite just being taken out of the box.

“Little girl, have you ever played the recorder at kindergarten?”

"Yes. But, I'm not vewy good..."

“That’s okay. This recorder, this will make you play supeeer~ well."

Manager added to her earlier explanation. Out of the 300 built-in songs, the one you want will appear in your mind and as a hologram in front of you. Just by following the music in your head, you can play the recorder better.

"Ooh."

"How about it, little girl. Interested?"

"Yes! Vewy!"

I could guess what the little girl was thinking. If she plays the recorder well, she might get along better with friends at kindergarten. That's probably what she's thinking.

She eagerly took the recorder from the manager and placed it to her lips. The moment she did, her eyes widened in surprise.

I was surprised too. A pale green hologram filled with song titles appeared above the recorder's air hole. Why is such high-tech stuff in a kids’ recorder?

"There's swo many songs! In my head, and in fwont!"

“Yep. If you think about the song you want to play, you’ll hear it in your head. 3, 2, 1, start.”

"Um... there's so many. Which one should I do..."

"One that the little girl likes. Whether you like the title, or like the number."

The little girl tightly closed her eyes at Manager's explanation. Seems the player can choose songs without looking at the hologram. After several seconds of making contemplative ‘ungh’ sounds while choosing music...

The hologram’s titles stopped scrolling, matching the little girl’s choice. Let’s see what she picked….

"...Flight of the Bumblebee. What the, why is this here?"

"The bee goes zoom! It’s so cool!”

"Chan. Isn't this a bit too hard for a child?"

It wasn’t just hard—if she tried to play this, she would probably pass out from lack of oxygen halfway through. The next step would be getting sued by the little girl’s mom….

"Just hold that in your mouth for a moment, little girl."

“Pwhee!”

Instead of answering, the little girl blew into the recorder. Manager and I quickly put our heads together and came to a conclusion.

"Seems like there's a bug in the built-in song magic, Chan. That’s a very condensed way of putting it.”

“Very clear explanation, thanks.”

I now understood what I had to inspect. Somehow, songs that would crush a child’s spirit had ended up in the recorder, and I needed to delete them.

After reaching this conclusion, I walked up to the little girl and swiped my thumb across the hologram. Let’s just delete this one song for now—I thought as I swiped, and it disappeared like erasing chalkboard scribbles.

"Ah. Suddenly can't hear it anymore."

“Oops. Looks like the bumblebee flew away.”

“I guess so….”

“You don’t have to be too sad, Hana. That was a wasp, anyway.”

“Gah.”

Right after I said that, Manager smacked me on the back. It stung.

"Since this song flew away with the bee, let's pick another one."

“Okay.”

The little girl nodded and started choosing another song with eyes tightly shut. The hologram playlist scrolled for a while before stopping, and this time it was a song I didn’t recognize.

"It says Magic Flute! This looks cool too."

“The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night Aria….”

"This is a title I don't know. What song is it?"

"It's an opera song, with lyrics like Death! Despair! You are no daughter of mine! And the singer gets really angry."

“Then it’s probably too hard for the recorder.”

I swiped it away as I spoke. This was the 27th song on the playlist. We still had a long way to go.




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