Mastore 110 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 110

A side job full of innocence (4)

I couldn’t understand why going to kindergarten would be dangerous. Is some life-or-death gang fight about to break out between nearby playground kindergartens?

Or maybe a barbarian is on the loose or something. Since I couldn't think of anything, I asked again, but the little girl didn’t seem to know much either.

"Teacher said, something appeawed, um..."

That was it. I apologized for asking unnecessary questions, then watched her shoot bubbles for about 20 minutes before taking the gun back. Her expression while handing over the gun was that of someone who nearly died of joy.

"Good job, little girl. Wanna have a snack party while we don’t have customers?"

The little girl shook her head at these words. When Manager looked dejected, the kid quickly added,

“Unnie, sowwy. Mommy said to go home..."

"...Ah, yes! That's why! Can't be helped then. Let’s save it for later!”

“Save it?”

"Means we’ll give you snacks next time you come by, Hana."

At this point, it was hard to tell who was the little girl and who was the former great mage. The little girl gets on his training-wheeled bicycle with his bag, waves to us...

About halfway down the road, he stopped, got off, waved again, then got back on. She kept waving until she was completely out of sight.

"I just hope she doesn’t dwell too much on what happened in the storage room. I'm worried..."

“I’m more worried about you dwelling on it, Manager-nim.”

"Ugh. Let's go in, Chan-ah.”

"Yes."

After clocking out, I went home, took a shower, and went straight to bed. Woke up around 9:30 PM, showered again, preparing for work...

When I opened the convenience store’s front door, I saw Manager staring intently at a tablet. I greeted her first.

"Another soft night today, Manag-"

“Chan-ah, Chan-ah. Come look at this news."

She shot up from her seat and shoved the tablet toward me. Up close, I saw the screen was paused on a news video, and the headline caught my eye.

[C-Class Gate appears in Academy District Block 3... First time in 6 years]

I know what a Gate is. It’s a rift where all sorts of monsters throw a wild party inside, and if it’s not dealt with, strange natural disasters occur in the world.

Yoonha Noona often told me about them, and every time she spoke as if it wasn't much of a deal, so I just remembered them as something that exists.

But looking at the headline, it seemed like a bigger deal than Noona made it out to be.

"The Academy District’s where all the student children gather, isn’t it? Is this okay?"

“It’s fine, but you’ll understand when you see it.”

Manager pressed the play button. I had intended to watch it carefully, but the moment the first scene appeared, I found it hard to look away.

"What the?"

First, the night sky. It looked like footage taken not too long ago.

The angle seemed like it was shot from a helicopter, with a clock tower centered in the frame. But something like noise was distorting the top of the tower.

At first I thought the video hadn't fully loaded, but other buildings in the shot were crisp in 1080p quality. This noise, in other words...

[Currently at 9:40, footage captured above Academy District Block 3. As you can see, above the clock tower boasting over 100 years of history...]

Black hole? Worm hole? What is this really?

Something that even a science major or an alien would struggle to identify was floating in mid-air, and the top of the clock tower seemed to bend as if half of it was being sucked into this floating anomaly.

To put it simply, it looked like the clock tower was being sucked into a toilet along with the surrounding space. Why does something like this appear in the world? Did the coding get messed up again?

[Signs were first detected at 4 AM. Authorities initially planned to monitor the situation after advising schools in the area to suspend operations…]

[…Fortunately, since the gate appeared at a height of six floors above ground, there have been no casualties. However, due to concerns about the gate expanding, a no-entry zone has been established within a 500-meter radius—]

Every school and kindergarten in Blocks 2 through 4 had been under emergency closure since morning, and all the non-humans living in nearby shops and residences had already evacuated.

Currently, hunters are searching to determine if any non-humans have been sucked into the gate. With that,

the video ended. I shared my impression.

"This is crazy."

"That much?"

“Not enough to completely lose my mind, but it does feel like another strange thing has popped up today…”

I've caught ATMs committing robbery while getting my license, had staring contests with over a hundred coffins. Just yesterday, my hair was blown by a spring-scented explosion.

Thanks to the mental training I’ve had over the past week or two, while I was dumbfounded watching this, it didn’t escalate to the point of making me want to quit. Or maybe it's because I saw there were no injured non-humans.

"Still, this doesn't seem to happen often. Says here it’s the first time in six years."

“Un. The buildings around here were built because gates rarely open in this area.”

"Really? Why... No. Why do these Gates appear in the first place?"

This gate isn’t exactly terrifying, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried.

This one happened to open at the top of a clock tower far away, which was all well and good, but what if one suddenly popped up right in front of the convenience store entrance?

I can already see my future self crying and causing a scene. Manager thought for a moment before answering my question.

“Well… honestly, even scholars are divided on why gates appear.”

"So, it's still under research."

“Un. You’re better off asking Yoonha about gates. She’s in the industry and hears a lot from non-humans.”

"Come to think of it, you're right."

That definitely sounds like a better idea. Yoonha Noona is an A-rank hunter, after all.

But calling her right now felt kind of wrong. A few days ago, she had mentioned closing two Gates this week alone.

“Speaking of which, Manager-nim, have you talked to Yoonha noona recently? She said she’s been really busy…”

"I haven't really called either, but she did text me early this morning. Look."

When I looked at the phone screen Manager showed me, there were four messages from Noona to Manager. They were sent exactly 14 hours ago.

[Going crazy]

[C block Gate opened]

[I have to go too]

[Will call later, Sis]

"Huh..."

Looks like the Gate that opened in the Academy District fell under her office jurisdiction. You could feel the exhaustion of someone working overtime in every message. It’s really…

"I should at least give her a call to check in, Manager-nim. Or have you already?"

“Not yet. I don’t know how long she’ll be busy.”

“Then I’ll try calling her.”

There were about five minutes left until my shift change. If she's busy, I'll just apologize and hang up, if not, might as well ask what I'm curious about..

I called, but neither happened.

[The person you are calling is currently on another call. Please wait for the beep—]

"She's on another call, Manager-nim."

—drrrr-rung

“She must be on a work call. That’s actually a relief.”

“She’s on a call?”

—phwooo

"Un. Signals don't work inside Gates, so they use radios with magic stones. Yoonha told me before."

“Ah. So she’s not inside the gate but outside, taking a call…”

—drrrr-rung

"…Wait a sec."

What's that strange sound?

Amid the store’s background music, I could hear something like snoring. But it sounded like the snoring was amplified about eight times—

“Guurrkkkk!!”

This time it sounds about twenty times louder. When I looked at Manager, she had her hands halfway up, as if trying to cover her ears.

A moment later, Manager let out a small sigh.

“...Haah.”

"I'll go check it out, Manager-nim."

“No. Let’s go together.”

She seemed to know what was causing it, and I didn’t ask further.

The sound was coming from near the beverage display. When we went over there, sure enough, one of the situations part-timers dread the most was unfolding.

“Mmm… mmm…”

A Minotaur was sprawled out sleeping on the floor.

Its left hoof was resting on the bottom shelf of the daily necessities display, and its right hoof was propped up against the glass of the beverage display.

The daily necessities side was scattered all over the floor, and the beverage side had cracks where the hoof touched. It seemed like this yangban had thrashed around and hit it.

"This crazy..."

I was this close to calling a butcher shop. Are there any that are open at night? Well, this is another world, so maybe there are.

While I hesitated, the Minotaur opened its bleary eyes. He stared at me for a few seconds, then snorted dismissively and started thrashing his body toward the daily necessities side.

In the process, its left hoof slammed down on the second shelf of the daily necessities display, completely destroying it. I'll have to fix that with the phone later or something...

“Puuuu.”

Situations like this happen occasionally, very occasionally. A drunk person sneaks off to a spot where they’re not easily seen and just collapses to sleep.

It's enough to drive a convenience store worker mad. If they just slept quietly, you could wake them up and send them on their way, but every drunkard has their own sleeping habits. They toss and turn, or snore, or sleep-talk, or—

“Mmm…”

Or all three. What makes this situation particularly awful is that as a convenience store clerk, there's almost no way to prevent it.

You can’t follow every drunk customer around, and the process of them collapsing from a standing position to the floor happens in an instant. Would it kill them to sleep like this at their own homes?

Really, if there's any way to prevent it at all, it's keeping a close eye on customers who make you think 'Ah, that person's really drunk—' by their complexion...

“Manager-nim. When did this yangban come in?”

“Right before Chan arrived. He seemed fine when he came in, but I had no idea he was this drunk…”

I can't tell at all even looking right at them. Since Minotaurs are naturally red-haired yangbans, you can't distinguish how drunk they are just by complexion at all.

“…Mmmmuuuuuu!!”

Anyone hearing would think we're slaughtering cattle in the convenience store. I decided to try talking to him first, so I bent down and reached out to touch the Minotaur’s shoulder.

"Customer. You’re gonna get a stiff neck sleeping here."

The moment my hand makes contact, they snap their head up, glare at me, and shout.

"I'm charging forth!"

“Yes? Where to?”

"None shall impede me!!"

Without revealing where he’s charging to, the Minotaur sprawls out again. It must have been sleep-talking. Still bent over, I looked up at Manager and asked,

“Isn’t there a way to handle this with magic, Manager-nim?”

"We could. If we're willing to risk them filing a lawsuit tomorrow..."

Using magic on non-humans for any purpose other than protection is considered a serious crime. I already knew that, so I didn’t ask further.

Instead, I imagined trying to carry the Minotaur’s limbs with Manager. I could clearly picture Manager struggling to lift just one of his arms.

I’d probably throw out my back after just two steps. Minotaurs are muscular, and their average height is just under 2 meters. Maybe we should call the police first, and if that doesn’t work, contact a moving company…

—jjallang

The front door bell. I reflexively stood up straight.

"Manager-nim. I'll receive the customer, tell them to stay away from this area if possible."

“Un.”

After saying this, I quickly walked to the lobby, but oh?

The non-human who just entered wasn’t a customer. They stood at the entrance, scanning the area, and when our eyes met, they immediately took off their police cap and bowed their head.

Then, as always, they delivered their greeting in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Police Officer Iruel reporting."



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