Mastore 145 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 145

Regular customer assembly (8)

I glanced at Manager. Though she was facing forward and I couldn't see her full expression, just her profile told me how deeply this topic weighed on her.

Now that we've gotten to know each other, I wonder if it's appropriate to be talking about this topic when there's less than 15 minutes left until the estimated deadline...

“Is it okay if we keep talking while walking?”

Manager probably knows the current situation better than I do. Besides, it might be a conversation we wouldn’t be able to have later. When I checked for confirmation, she gently nodded and replied.

“Un.”

"I know what you're feeling sorry about."

As I spoke, I examined the path ahead and saw a hill had formed right in front of us, requiring us to lift our feet high just to climb it. I went up first, then grabbed Manager's hand to pull her up as I continued my word.

“The caves in the world I used to live in didn’t twist around or squirm like this. Though this one’s probably unusual even in this world.”

I took quick glances around as I talked. The magic was doing its job.

The upper walls are still constantly twisting, probably because less magic was applied there, but the ground aside from minor irregularities is stable enough. Manager must have made sure of that.

"There's also rarely any chance of being crushed or bitten by an octopus the size of an apartment building or an anglerfish the size of a house. There’s also normally no reason to sneak around behind living rock monsters either.”

“Un....”

“And you don’t usually have to dive straight into the ocean 500 meters deep...”

Listing it all out made me realize: every insane thing possible in this lifetime, I had done in just three hours today. Do I get bonus points if I'm reincarnated?

"And usually, I don't have to eliminate something when I don't even know what it looks like. Typically."

During this short exchange, we had gotten close enough to see inside the entrance. The inner walls were twisting relatively tamely now, so there was no worry about the path. It wouldn't take more than 30 seconds at most.

"So if I said I wasn't scared of what's in there, you wouldn't believe me, Manager-nim. Right?"

“I believe everything Chan says.”

"Why?"

“We promised. No lies between us.”

"...Right. We did."

Hearing that made me realize something. Manager is the only person in this world who knows about my circumstances. Therefore, she's the only one who can say she's sorry to me about this situation.

In other words, Manager is also the only person to whom I can immediately bare my thoughts.

So I'll briefly share just my innermost thoughts. Regarding what exactly scares me, there was something I wanted to say about this topic.

"I'll be honest. That thing is scary. It's scary, but there's something that frightens me even more than what might happen to me in there right now."

"What is it?"

“That if I screw this up, the consequences won’t just affect me alone. That’s what scares me the most.”

I’m used to disappointing people. I came here prepared for that.

But this isn’t something that will be resolved by just curling up alone in my studio apartment or suffering alone. Things have gotten way out of hand.

The Elder, Noona, and Mongmong who came in together. Elena waiting above, the police officer, and the Chihuahua. The kid Hana who must be waiting somewhere for me to find her, and Manager beside me.

If I don't do this properly, everyone's done for. This is what scares me the most.

"To prevent that, I have to do well right now. But I've never really succeeded at anything before."

“....”

"That's why I'm scared. Now that this world is a little more livable, I’ve also come to realize that the other species I’ve met are actually pretty decent people. So....”

“Mhm.”

“…I’m terrified of failing and making everything as if it never happened. Having the experiences I've had in this world turn back into memories I can't grasp, just like before. That's what I fear the most."

I used to do it often in the past. Chatting about trivial things, sometimes having serious conversations, listening when someone shared their worries, and being thanked for listening.

At the time, I couldn't articulate why, but now I can.

I just liked doing it. After hearing a few words of thanks, I felt like I was living right, somehow. Good things are good, right?

So even if it's just a fleeting connection, I want to hold onto it as tightly as possible. Just like the memories of playing with a broken bug net at nine years old, these moments will also disappear like magic someday.

"That's also part of why I decided to come down here. I know it sounds childish for someone my age to say these things, but..."

“If that’s what Chan was worried about....”

“Yes?”

“There’s plenty I can do to help.”

Saying this, Manager grabbed my hand and began gently pulling me forward. Her voice was noticeably brighter compared to when she first apologized.

Following behind her, we walked for about 30 more seconds and reached our destination.

When I first entered and looked around, I thought it was another underwater cave just like before, but upon closer observation, this place isn’t ordinary either.

The walls were contracting. The rocks had been carved into a smooth circular shape. It contracted enough to cover a certain area, paused briefly and then expanded again. The cycle is quite fast. It’s like watching a heart.

To the right of where Manager and I are standing, there is a huge water drop floating just high enough to reach out and touch. It looked large enough to span dozens of floors of a building.

There was something in the middle of that droplet. To be precise, everything around that something was visibly distorted. That thing must be the one that turned our store into a shipwreck.

Manager, who had been staring at the droplet, continued.

“The paths we took today. Most of other species would be extremely scared of such things.”

"I'm sure they would. Naturally."

“I thought it would be especially scary in Chan’s case. Adapting somehow while living in another world or confronting unknown concepts. That's something I find hard to even imagine."

Manager only knows about where I lived from what I've told her. Though things to be cautious about in Korea are mainly dark streets, scams, or investment solicitation spam calls...

They're all things that, if you make one wrong move, will drive an iron stake into your life. Come to think of it, my world is a scary place too.

“That’s what I felt most sorry about. I’m the one who got Chan working in this world, but I didn’t know enough to properly explain things to Chan, or even to properly help Chan.”

"You don't need to feel sorry about that anymore. I signed up for this, didn't I?"

“It’s just hard not to feel sorry, anyway…”

Manager was about to grow gloomy again, but suddenly her eyes narrowed sharply as she looked toward the opposite side from where we stood. A moment later, she slightly pursed her lips and raised her right hand.

Then she snapped her fingers and with an explosive sound, a black cloud appeared in mid-air on the opposite side. The cloud, initially no bigger than cotton candy, quickly expanded to several meters then immediately shot a streak of lightning toward the ground.

- Kieeeeeeeek!!

- Kik, kiiiiik!!

Screams followed immediately. I could hear them, but even when I looked in the direction of the sound, I saw nothing. Some kind of cloaking?

"Manager-nim, is there something over there?"

“Chan doesn’t have to look. They’re not cute.”

“Uh…”

"I’ve really enjoyed this talk. It’s a shame. Right?”

The lightning didn't stop in one line. Moving sluggishly, it was continuously pouring out lightning at intervals of several seconds, and with each lightning sound, screams could be heard in succession.

I guess there wasn’t just one or two of them here. I immediately turned to Manager.

“You only have one magic use left, right, Manager-nim?”

"Un. Should I save it for getting inside that droplet?"

"No. Use it to contact Noona if I fail. I think I can handle that place alone."

Right now, I had to swim upward into the huge droplet floating in midair. In this situation, there's one potion I can use. The rapid freezing agent.

Icebergs float on water, don’t they? I immediately took out the potion from my pocket, placed both hands inside the water droplet, and opened the lid.

Like a time-lapse of a growing tree, a trunk of ice sprouted upward. From the main stem, branches made of ice extended outward, and from every corner of the branches, other branches and frozen leaves blossomed.

My hand holding the bottle was now completely wrapped in ice as if invisible roots were curling around it. It's not cold. I prayed my constitution not to let my hands get frostbite.

Manager, watching me, widened her eyes slightly and spoke as if impressed.

"Chan, your mind works incredibly well."

"I watched a lot of Antarctic documentaries."

“Documentaries?”

"Before the TV in my room broke down. All other channels were static, but for some reason, only that one worked fine. Anyway..."

My body began to gradually rise, pulled by the ice. I'm not sure if the underwater breathing potion's effect is still active. I took a deep breath and bid my farewell to Manager.

"I'll do my best and come back."

“Chan’ll do well. Chan never let me down before.”

I couldn’t respond to those words. Starting from my arms, then my head, torso, legs.

Until the tips of my toes were submerged, and after that, I made my way through the water droplet as if being pulled by the ice. Just like when I dove into the deep sea earlier, I couldn’t see anything.

It was because everything around me appeared distorted. Like on the morning after staying up all night drinking, when I open my eyes and my room is spinning exactly like this...

The nausea is identical too. And the feeling that my head is about to split open. It feels like needles are being driven one by one into my temples.

Clenching my teeth did nothing. I even bit down hard on my lower lip, straining my eyes with all my might. I just have to know that I’m going the right way.

As I concentrated my mind on my eyes, something began to appear faintly. Something that had a smaller black sphere inside a white sphere—

"...A pupil?"

Something that could only be described as a massive, wide-open eye stared back from the distance. Even though it’s just whites and a dark pupil, it’s unmistakably shaped like an eye.

It seems that when magic power is condensed in one point, it appears in such a way. Rather than just shimmering faintly, the magic power itself had taken on an actual form.

The fact that it was growing larger meant I’m being pulled toward it correctly. But for some reason, that eye were glaring straight at me.

I wasn’t sure if it meant, ‘I’m busy having fun, why are you bothering me?’ or if it was just my paranoia talking…

Who cares. I've often received glares like that.

I’m talking about contemptuous gazes, the kind that say, ‘What could a worthless guy without skill like you possibly achieve?’. I always looked down to avoid those gazes, but now I can't do that, nor do I want to.

I thought I'd never be able to live like this again.

Friends, family, acquaintances, all grew distant and disappeared. In my world, the only thing left I owned was my own body.

I thought I would live that way my whole life and then die. I endured twenty years covered only by blind faith that someday things would get better. Someday, good days would surely come.

The past month in this world has been quite good days.

Chatting about trivial things, sometimes having serious conversations, listening when someone shared their worries, and being thanked for listening.

I always wanted to live like this. Only now have I truly understood what it means to live a good life. An hour of drinking with close friends is more valuable to me than months of driving some luxury car.

So I can't back down. I'm not satisfied with just one month. I have to finish this job, even if it means filing an insurance claim and not being able to get out of here.

Right here. This thing in front of me, right now.

“Hey.”

Minutes of being pulled later, I finally stood before this goddamned monstrosity. Its pupil alone was larger than my torso.

Its eye was glaring directly at me. I stared back and asked.

“You feel good about wrecking someone else’s workplace?”

There's no answer. It merely glares at me with an incomplete pupil whose edges are ceaselessly undulating. I shook off the ice that had been holding my hand and let the current take me.

It felt like this thing had been pulling me toward it from earli. Since I won't have to flounder about, this is actually better.

In that brief moment of being drawn forward, I quickly wondered how I could destroy this thing. Manager had said my constitution adapts to what I strongly desire.

Right now, I wish for only one thing. After stepping on the pupil with my foot, I stretched out my hand.

"Let me clock out already. You piece of shit customer."

The instant my palm touched it, magic power of every color began flooding endlessly from the eyeball.

It's as if a dam has burst before my very eyes. Magic power that shouldn’t have been able to harm me was now affecting me. A pressure.

My body is about to be crushed under something invisible. I tried to breathe, but water rushed into my lungs and mouth in an instant. This bastard must have erased even the effects of the breathing potion.

What to do if this happens—The thoughts I had in mind evaporated in an instant. I could barely hold on to just one thought. I need to be thorough.

I couldn't leave a single speck of dust behind. With that thought, I kept my eyes tightly shut and stretched out my arms however I could. Even if my neck bent backward and my waist broke in the torrent, my only thought was that I had to grab onto something.

How long did I stay like that? Something touched my hand. It was small and soft.

A blunt shock hit my knees and toes, and I felt a cool breeze touch the skin of my face. Hesitating briefly, I took a deep breath. I could breathe.

"Kuhak! Guh, keok... keuek!"

"Well done, Chan."

I immediately opened my eyes and looked up in the direction of the voice, but my vision was blurry and I couldn't see what was there. Tears streamed down from my eyes.

I didn’t even have the strength to wipe them away, so I closed my eyes tightly again and just said whatever came to mind.

“Manager-nim. Did I, ugh, did I. Do it?"

"You did amazingly well. Water’s splashing all over the place, and the expanded space is starting to shrink."

"What... what. Cough, is shrinking?"

"The space. Since the core gate is gone, the expanded space is contracting back to its original size."

“If that thing’s gone, then what exactly am I holding right now?”

“My right hand.”

Manager seems to have positioned herself beneath where I would fall to catch me, because I'm not lucky enough to drop exactly where I want.

After coughing up water for a while and letting the tears flow freely, I finally managed to calm down. I knelt and barely opened my eyes to look around. It was a sight to behold.

The underwater cave has disappeared without a trace. The rocky walls and floors had somehow turned to dirt, and the giant water droplet was rapidly disappearing as if seeping into the ground.

And these dirt walls were closing in on us at an alarmingly fast rate. Is this really okay? Is it?

“Chan-ah. The space is contracting from below at the same rate as from above, so we're probably not in the very deep underground of the sewer. Right?"

“That may be true, but isn't this exactly the kind of situation where we shouldn't be chatting right now?"

"I'm thinking about it. Trying to decide how many meters radius I should clear."

"Clear what?"

“The dirt. I doubt Yoonha or the Elder would actually get buried under dirt piles, but if I’m going to use magic anyway, it’s better to use it efficiently.”

I don't know what's good or bad, but I do know one thing. Manager only had exactly one use of magic left. And it isn’t even powerful magic.

How many meters could that possibly clear? I’m somewhat skeptical, but thinking further, I realized something else that didn't add up. How many times had she actually used magic?

"Manager-nim. You said earlier before we came down that you were allowed 10 uses, right?"

“Un. That’s right.”

"And so far you've used 8. Right?"

"Two before coming down, three before diving, one while coming down, two in the underwater cave... Un. Eight times. That's right, Chan."

"Then it’s two left, not one."

In addition, the preparatory movement when Manager uses magic is to snap the fingers of her right hand, and I am currently holding that right hand tightly.

Let's first release this hand. As I tried to loosen my grip, Manager instead tightened hers and answered.

“I was just planning to treat that one use like it didn’t exist.”

“Why?”

"I was saving it as an emergency for an extremely urgent situation. It's quite strong magic, and the way of using it is slightly different."

"Is it very complicated? Does it take a long time?"

I asked this because the dirt walls had come almost right up to us now. We're really about to get crushed to death here. Are we skipping the funeral and going straight to burial?

When I asked, Manager slowly shook her head and answered nonchalantly.

"Not at all. Just need to make a slightly louder sound."

“Huh?”

"I'm actually left-handed, Chan-ah.”

As she spoke, she raised her left hand and touched her thumb and middle finger together a few times, then continued.

“So, like this.”

With those words, Manager snapped her fingers.

Following a sound so clear and pure that it was incomparable to anything I had ever heard before, all the surrounding dirt literally ‘vanished.’

To use an old-fashioned expression, it vanished with a 'poof'. The sound effect was just the snap of Manager’s fingers, and even the clouds of dirt dust that had occasionally drifted down with the shrinking space disappeared without a trace.

The remaining dirt was cleanly cut as if by a knife. The same goes for what's left of the ceiling, the floor, and the walls that remain about 2 meters wide on both sides.

And in one of the places where the dirt disappeared, about a dozen meters away from here, I could see Noona, Mongmong, and the gentleman Elder.

While Mongmong and Noona are sprawled on the ground, the Elder was sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking around. Then he noticed us and greeted happily.

“It seems everything went well for you two.”

“So-so.”

“Yes, so-so. By the way, are you alright, Elder? And how about Mongmong and Noona?"

"Miss Yoonha is taking a short rest. The young boy Mongmong is still sleeping."

He called Mongmong a ‘young boy’. He must have heard from Noona that Mongmong is only two years old.

I wondered how Noona could rest at a time like this, but as I listened carefully, I occasionally heard her groaning softly.

“I’m dying....”

“Yoonha. We’re all done, so I think we can head back now.”

"Yeah. You worked hard, Unnie. Especially you, Lee Chan."

“The hard work ends when we get back to the store, Noona. So, how do we get back now?”

Seeing everyone safe and not buried allowed me to finally relax. As I slumped down onto the dirt floor and asked this, Noona just weakly waved her hand in the air.

"I'll blast through the ceiling in a bit, just wait. Lee Chan, aren't you tired?"

"I'm dead tired."

"Then let's rest five minutes before leaving. Can't remember the last time I got to lie down like this..."



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