Mastore 150 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 150

Everything has a cause and effect (2)

I had various conversations with Manager while putting up the store window shutters.

“I’ve actually been curious, Chan-ahIs there really a world without any other species besides humans? A world with no magic at all? And if there really is none, how do people live without it?"

“Yes.”

"With so many humans, why is it specifically Chan who can see and enter here? Can other people see the store besides Chan? Can they communicate with each other?”

“Huh....”

“And, also....”

In fact, it was more like I was quietly listening to Manager's list of curiosities rather than a conversation. She kept talking nonstop for about three minutes while putting the shutter, and she only finished talking when she went behind the counter.

“It sounds like it would be super fun.”

This much I can say with certainty. It's not fun at all.

The already boring world has become even more dull after COVID forced everyone to cover half their faces. I thought about whether to say this for a moment, but then stopped.

Manager's eyes were sparkling like a child about to ride a rollercoaster. Right, just because a movie is boring doesn't mean I need to go as far as giving spoilers....

"Given the morning news, it’s obvious there won't be any customers today, so now’s the chance."

"Not a crisis?"

"I heard that a great leader turns crisis into opportunity, so I tried saying it differently. I'm going to press the switch now, Chan."

I quickly turned away and stared up at the ceiling. The store’s floor and ceiling trembled faintly before stopping, and seconds later, the sound of shutters rolling up followed.

"The weather is really nice here. There's no fog at all."

“Is that so?”

"Yes. Super sunny."

Turning around, I looked outside the now-open display window. Just as Manager had said, it was sunny even a thin mist. The sky was a crisp blue without a single cloud.

As always, it's a tree-lined street with few people. There is not a single building being built within a 100m radius, and only occasionally do you see a lost car or two wandering around.

To me, it's just an ordinary countryside, but Manager is just staring intently outside with a hand on the front door handle. What's so fascinating?

Then he looked at me and asked.

"Is there anything to be careful about when going outside? Like something I should prepare?”

"Uh… Real estate scams, voice phishing, and invitations from pseudo-religious cult, maybe?"

"Sounds just like where I live. Anything else?"

"Not really. I usually just come and go without thinking much."

"Then I'll try without thinking too much too."

After saying this, Manager who stepped back two steps tried to naturally go outside the store like when commuting. She pulled the door open and tried to leave the store...

“Ouch.”

She bumped her forehead against something invisible.

“Are you okay, Manager-nim?”

"Owww…"

There was no sound of impact, but it must have hurt enough for her to stagger, clutching her forehead with both hands. What on earth is blocking the door?

I stretch my hand out the open door, and my hand goes in and out without any obstruction. Manager approached again with teary eyes, and put her palm below where I had stretched my hand.

Manager's palm stopped exactly at the boundary between inside and outside, unable to proceed further. Even when putting she whole weight into it and pushing her shoulder with all her might, it was the same.

“....”

After struggling for a while, Manager took her hand off, and she spoke with both palms pressed against the boundary.

“...I wonder why?”

"Manager-nim."

Her slightly stiff expression made it clear this wasn’t the time for jokes. Without answering, she crossed her arms and stared outside before suddenly grabbing two sheets of scrap paper from the counter.

"I'll just try this one thing, Chan."

“Yes.”

As soon as I answered, she immediately crumpled one scrap paper and threw it outside the front door. The scrap paper that flew drawing a parabola fell with a thud onto the sidewalk beyond the open front door.

Manager, who had been staring blankly at the scrap paper, crumpled the remaining sheet in the same way and flicked his right fingers toward the ceiling.

Then he threw the paper again, but this time it flew straight in a perfect line rather than a parabola. Then when it reached the boundary line...

It hit an invisible wall and fell with a thud to the floor. After picking up the fallen paper, she ran his fingers along the invisible wall while explaining the test results.

“It seems like anything with magic power can’t pass through."

I see it that way too. While the scrap paper without magic applied went out without any resistance, the scrap paper with magic applied fell abruptly as if blocked by something.

All living beings from the isekai have magical powers within their bodies. I asked Manager.

“Does Manager-nim have any guesses?"

“Well....”

"Is it not possible to temporarily remove the magical power from your body, or something like that?"

"No. I can't do that either."

“Why not?”

“The less magic power you have, the worse it is for your body. If the magic completely disappears, then…”

Manager trailed off. I didn't ask what the rest of her words. At the very least, it seemed I wouldn't be inviting anyone to my place anytime soon.

As I quietly turned to go pick up the paper lying outside, Manager muttered quietly enough to barely hear,

“It’s a shame. I wanted to visit Chan's house once."

I don't know what Manager was expecting from the world I live in. Having experienced it myself for 29 years, I knew it was a world without much to speak of, beyond being ordinary and dull.

But I could tell that Manager was more disappointed than she could express in words. The atmosphere was quite awkward, so I quickly changed the subject.

"Shall we go back?"

"No. Since we're already here, let's stay a bit longer."

She looks at my shoulder as she speaks. Because I had stopped mid-step to pick up the paper outside, half my shoulder was sticking out into my own world.

I am straddling my body half and half between the world with magic and the world without. While trying to pull myself back inside, something suddenly came to mind.

“Um, Manager-nim.”

“Un.”

"May I hold your hand for a moment?"

She reached out her hand without hesitation. I took it and carefully stepped outside the convenience store. Manager's hand I was holding passed through the wall dividing the two worlds...

And came out to the other side.

Leading the manager who now wore a surprised expression, I took a few more steps forward. After walking out onto the sidewalk and turning around, I saw that Manager's entire body was fully outside.

Just in case she let go, I grabbed Manager's other hand too. With both hands held firmly, Manager looked around and uttered just one word.

“Oh.”

The manager's hair fluttered in the breeze. She glanced up at the sky, squinted as if dazzled, then quickly lowered her head again. I tried to explain as clearly as possible why I had attempted this.

“Manager-nim made me some medicine on my first day of work. Medicine to help me sleep well.”

“…Ah. Right. Was the medicine okay?”

"Yes. It worked fine. When I brought it out, I didn't think much of it but..."

After seeing Manager toss the scrap paper and witnessing her hand blocked earlier, a thought occurred to me. Maybe my constitution played its role in some way back then.

“Before I left work, you told me this. Back then too, through some way, my constitution might have done its job.

“I remember that too.”

“So I gave it a try. So, how is it?"

"Here?"

“Yes. Not really much different, is it?”

If you drove an hour away from the isekai, there are plenty of places that look similar to this place. The difference would be that right now that place would be full of dark clouds, but here the weather is clear.

"There's really nothing in this neighborhood. The most exciting place for students is the internet cafe, but even those are so empty now you would only find flies buzzing—"

“It’s okay. The weather is nice. The air is clean too."

“That’s the only advantage. It’s countryside.”

"This is enough for me."

Since she said she like it, I'll take her word for it. Anyway, I didn't let go of her hand.

Even if we somehow managed to get past that barrier, there's no guarantee that things will be the same when I let go. The sleep medicine was just medicine, but Manager is a living person.

So I just held her hand firmly, and quietly waited for Manager to look around to her satisfaction. Only when the sweat on my hand had cooled did Manager open her mouth.

"...In my life."

"Yes?"

“Just once in my life, my wish was to be in another world. Really.”

"Why?"

“Just because. When else would I ever experience something like this?”

If that was her goal, I figured there were surely better guides than me. If I had more control over this body of mine, perhaps I could have taken her further away…

But this is the limit for now. Just four steps out from the convenience store, showing her how deep in the countryside I live.

This is all for now, but later I'll try to come out further. When the boss paying your salary makes a wish, you've got to fulfill it somehow, what can I do?

“Do you still want to go to my house, Manager-nim?”

"Of course I'd like to go. Will you take me?"

“Nope. I'm terrified I might accidentally let go of your hand, so let’s go back inside first, Manager-nim.”

* * *

We returned to the store and re-adjusted the previously agreed plan. Next time, we'll come better prepared at a more proper time.

"Since we can't ride the subway and bus while holding hands, let's come again when you feel more confident. Manager-nim."

“When Chan gets better at handling that constitution?”

"Yes. Though I'm not sure when that will be..."

"Whenever is fine. We'll be seeing each other for a long time anyway."

Saying that, she wiped her sweaty hand on her skirt. Though it was just a three-step outing, the fact that she had actually come outside seemed important enough that her earlier disappointment had completely vanished.

While grabbing the shutter cord to pull it down, she stopped her movement and spoke as if she had just realized something.

"Also, there's one thing I learned from this experience."

“Uh… you mean the invisible barrier out front?”

"Un. Have Chan ever erased anything other than magic in Chan’s life?"

I haven’t. If we count trying to erase my family’s negative bank account, I've tried to erase it like crazy, but regardless of constitution or whatever, it somehow got resolved when I tried grinding away my lifespan in a blender?

“I can’t really think of anything....”

"Then let's assume it's magic. Chan held my hand and helped me pass through that wall. Then couldn’t we also say that this is magic too?”

It was a bit of a leap. To me, it felt more like something stranger than magic, something that knows about the existence of two worlds but has absolutely nothing better to do...

"If you're talking about gods, I don't think that's it."

“You sound pretty certain?”

"If gods were involved in this, they definitely would've made us meet much earlier."

“....”

"If I were a god, that's what I would have done."

She said it as seriously as someone possibly could, but since I hadn’t given this nearly as much serious thought as she had, I couldn’t come up with anything to say. So I just gave a moderate reply.

"Well... it's something that we've met now at least."

“Does Chan believe in god?”

"Half and half. I don't believe unless I've met someone directly, but there are so many people around who say gods exist that I think 'These people can't be saying this without reason—' and respect it to that extent."

“That’s so Chan-like. Anyway…”

Trailing off, she softly murmured while gazing at the invisible barrier by the front door.

"There isn't a single element that's essential to magic, and I don't feel any magical power at all... but there are plenty of ways to hide it."

“For example?”

"I'll tell Chan when Chan come tonight. For now, go inside, Chan."

"Where am I going in, are you telling me to get off work now?"

"Un. If Chan work now, Chan’s biorhythm will get messed up."

I’m more worried about Manager’s biorhythm than mine. I slept straight from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m., and she’s the one who stayed behind, looking after the store that whole time.

"Don't worry about me, quickly... Ah. Right."

While in the middle of pulling down the blinds, the manager returns to the counter and fiddles with my phone. Then her face brightened slightly as she tapped the screen before coming back to hand it to me.

“Deposit went through. Chan’s salary.”

“Yahoooow!!”

Finally! Finally!!

For a whole month I dealt with difficult customers, saw myself slamming ATMs to get license, got swept away by rainwater, explored the ocean depths, and endured the core gate’s judgy gaze, but finally!

My first paycheck has finally arrived. I did it, I really did it!

"How much came in? I worked exactly 30 days and 12 hours, minus 3.3% tax, so roughly—"

"8 of those hours are night shift pay. 4 hours are day shift pay, both with weekly holiday pay calculated in, plus the meals Chan skipped and Chan’s work in the warehouse..."

7,530,000 won.

(D: Around 5.3k usd.)

My account showed 7.53 million won. When I looked at Manager, he smiled faintly and added.

"I sent 30,000 won separately for Chan to order chicken."

“....”

“Thanks for today, Chan. See you tonight.”




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