Mastore 153 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 153

Everything has a cause and effect (4)

Am I interested? No, how could anyone live in a place like that?

"Since the location is sufficient for commuting in just 5 minutes on foot, where else would be better suited for you?"

"It takes 40-50 minutes by subway from the Academy District to here, so how could I commute in 5 minutes on foot?"

“Well, you could always change your workplace.”

"Ah. No way, no way."

I even waved my hand to emphasize refusal. It seems this professor still hasn't given up on his dream of putting me under him and making use of me, but this is all for both our sakes. I'm the kind of person who gets dizzy just reading a single English sentence.

If someone like me got ahold of a thesis from this world, the best I could manage would be drawing some cartoon animations in the margins. He's not someone who wouldn't know this, so why does he keep trying to recruit me as an assistant professor?

While I strongly resisted, the professor showed no change in expression, as if this was exactly what he expected. He stared down at me briefly with sharp eyes and continued calmly.

“Even if it's not a dormitory inside the Academy District, there should still be several places where you can use your license as an entry pass for residence.”

“But those places require group living, don’t they? Other anti-magic specialist would be staying there too.”

"That would be the case."

This doesn't appeal to me either. I can't even imagine a situation where I'm eating breakfast at the same table as orcs and dwarves, or taking turns using the washing machine.

“...I’ll think about it. Thank you.”

Still, it might be an acceptable alternative if I can't find any place to live at all. I might hate communal living, but I can’t exactly crash in a sauna for two or three weeks either.

As I was lost in thought, the phone the professor was holding began to ring. I checked it without thinking much, and it said 'Magic Bureau Deputy Chief'.

The professor stared at the ringing phone screen for a moment, then pressed the reject button and put it back in his pocket. Then he asked me.

“Do you have any other questions?”

"Um... shouldn't you have answered that call just now?"

"I already know what he’s going to say. No point answering."

What a novel way to handle calls. The slight furrow in his brow as he spoke suggested that this deputy chief wasn’t someone the professor particularly liked.

“Is there anything else besides that?”

“Actually, there is one more thing.”

This was a question from the perspective of a convenience store clerk. Right now, there wasn’t a single pedestrian on the street.

This was partly because recent events with the gate had made the different races of this world reluctant to go outside, but honestly, the street itself looked unpleasant to walk on.

It's all muddy, and across the street several stores still have collapsed signboards. The LED advertisement panel at the bus stop is dim, probably because it got wet.

I think the streets will be filled with pedestrians again after these things are cleared away. When I asked, the professor answered without the slightest hesitation.

"It’ll take a while. There are many places to clean up, including government offices, major facilities, and densely populated areas.”

“I guess other places are in similar situations.”

I recalled the news footage I watched with Manager this morning. There had been a chicken the size of a house standing on the roof of a fried-chicken restaurant, crowing loudly enough to burst eardrums.

Just cleaning up all the feathers scattered around from catching that chicken alone would probably take ages, and other places likely weren't any better off. At least there aren’t any wrecked cars here, so I guess that’s something.

“Yes. It will take about two weeks for this place to be cleaned up.”

It seems the hole in our sales will just keep getting bigger for the time being. Manager said that customers come in occasionally, but that’s probably because she hasn’t heard anything about it yet...

“Is there anything else?”

"...No, that’s it."

"Then, let me just ask one thing I'm curious about before I go."

“What is it?”

"You, what kind of relationship do you have with the store owner?"

Right after hearing this, I couldn't answer immediately because I wondered why he would ask such a thing. If it's an owner and employee, they're just an owner and employee, so why specifically ask about this?

“What I mean is, how much do you know about the Owner?”

“Could you be… a bit more specific? Are you curious about her residence, or her age, or…?”

“…Hmm.”

Given his lack of response even when I gave specific examples, it seemed he had something else he was curious about. But I needed to know exactly what that something was in order to decide whether or not to answer… Ah.

I recall the scene I witnessed earlier. How a yangban who seemed allergic to bowing had treated Manager with utmost formality.

Since the professor certainly wouldn't show that kind of formality toward every convenience-store clerk he encountered, he must have had some particular reason. After carefully choosing my words, I answered.

"I haven't asked separately. I only know that she’s a good person."

“Do you know nothing else?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be better to ask Manager-nim directly? Maybe buy some kimbap while you’re at it."

This was his second time visiting, and each time he would just come to say whatever he wanted without buying a thing. This is a convenience store, not a social gathering place.

Might as well boost sales while we’re at it. When I suggested it, the professor stared holes into the store. Manager at the register happened to be looking our way too.

Manager tilted her head after locking eye with the professor. After staring at Manager for what felt like about ten seconds, the professor gave a slight nod and said.

"I'll contact you later."

Then he got into his car and drove away, but I can't even guess what he was curious about. Something he was dying to find out but couldn't bring himself to ask the person directly?

As I watched the car disappear, a humid gust of wind sent a shiver down my spine. As soon as I entered the store, Manager asked.

“Did Chan’s talk go well?”

"Fine on my end, but... I heard some bad news for the store."

"Huh?"

After telling the confused Manager everything about me and about housing, I finally mentioned that it seems this street won't be cleaned up for another 2 weeks. The dark cloud hanging over our store’s sales would probably lift around that time, too.

I had saved this potentially depressing news for last, but when Manager heard it, they just fell deep into thought without much reaction. Feeling awkward for no reason, I called out to her.

“Manager-nim?”

“…Ah, un. Anything else?”

"This seemed like the most important information so I didn't ask about anything else. Then he said he was busy and just drove away. Why?”

“Well, the professor was staring at me pretty intensely. Just wondering if something was up."

It certainly seemed like he had a lot of questions about Manager. But was it really my place to say anything? It felt like he was asking me things he couldn’t bring himself to ask Manager directly.

After contemplating, I spoke just as I experienced it without adding my personal opinions. Since Manager is the person involved, she should at least know.

"Yes. He did seem curious."

“What is it?”

"He didn't say specifically. Things like what kind of relationship Manager-nim and I have, or how much I know about Manager-nim."

"Hmm...."

Manager, arms folded, didn’t change her expression. She still looked puzzled, but having known her for so long, I could tell something was off.

It wasn't that she didn’t know what he was curious about, but rather...

“…Why would he ask Chan something like that?”

Her face showed she was now curious about why the professor would even want to know. I was convinced after hearing that just now. It was the slightly subdued tone in Manager's voice when she changed the subject.

I immediately changed the subject too.

"Even if Manager-nim don't remember, couldn't it be that the professor remembers separately? Manager-nim must’ve done a lot before retiring—"

"Chan."

"...Yes."

“Is there anything Chan curious about me?”

A mountain of things. One of them is the reason why Manager runs a convenience store.

Other things too, like the reason for retirement, the reason for not having a single wrinkle on her face despite being able to do so much, and her real age rather than her appearance.

And, Manager's name. I've come to know the names of all the customers I've met here, but I don't know the name of the person I've seen the most. If I ask this now, will she answer?

I looked into her eyes. At this moment, I had absolutely no idea what she was thinking. I thought about it for a moment and came up with an alternative.

“For example?”

I know Manager doesn't like talking about herself. I've indirectly asked about reasons for running the convenience store or her age several times, and always received roundabout answers.

So I don’t intend to force her. I’ll just ask for an example. As I spoke, Manager’s lips parted for a moment...

She lowered her gaze slightly. The voice answering me was gloomy.

“Just, things like why I don’t talk about this stuff."

It seemed there wasn’t anything she could tell me. I didn’t particularly mind.

“When the professor asked me about Manager-nim, I just said this one thing: She’s a good person.”

"...Un."

"That's enough for me, so please don't worry too much."

Even I don't particularly like talking about myself right now. My life as an adult, the things I've worked hard to death for, and some of the things I've experienced along the way.

It all boils down to one thing: 'I just worked.'

Ten years of living like an old-fashioned machine gets reduced to a mere second, to just three short words. That’s why I hate it. And because I hate it, I have no intention of forcing someone else to do something I hate.

So I’ll wait quietly. Until she want to tell me. By then, there’ll probably be some squid legs and a pitcher of beer with two glasses on the table.

Still, since the gloomy expression hadn’t left Manager’s face, I secretly checked the time. It was now 9:30 p.m.

"Let's switch shifts a bit early today, Manager-nim. You've been working for a really long time."

Perhaps deep in thought from our conversation just now, she just nods her head slightly. As for the handover shift notes; Slow day, June’s new product labels arriving soon.

After wrapping up briefly, while I was counting the cigarettes, Manager spoke from behind me.

“Chan know I’m retired, right? As a magician.”

“Yes, I know.”

“I retired because I just wanted to live quietly. There were quite a few people who came to dislike me because of the work I did.”

Yet Manager is by no means someone who would be disliked anywhere. I wonder why.

After scratching my head to shake off the questions that were about to arise, I returned as much as I received.

“Thank you for your answer, Manager-nim.”

"Yes. Good work, Chan."

* * *

From 9:30 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., I made 200,000 won. Not even half of what we normally make.

It was a vivid reminder of how much impact the core gate had left on this world. There were various other examples besides sales, for instance...

"I don't see it on the display, but do you have any ramyun left?"

"It all sold out as soon as the sun rose this morning, so you'll have to come back tomorrow."

Ramyun was selling like hotcakes, and I could guess why. People who lived in lower-lying areas compared to this street would have had their homes completely flooded. Same with their rice stocks.

Because there was nothing to eat right away, there were quite a few customers looking for easy-to-cook ramyun. The customers' appearances were in terrible shape, so I felt unnecessarily sorry for having to turn them away.

Other than that, there were office workers who seemed to live in higher altitudes. They also came looking for food out of necessity, but some of the things they muttered under their breath lingered oddly in my ears.

“Damn it, I liked not having to work all this time…”

“Seriously. Wish it would keep raining.”

Two goblins in suits, perhaps disappointed that they could no longer suck honey from legal paid leave, muttered such words as they left with a pack of cigarettes each.

I wondered how they could say such things when there were customers coming to buy ramyun because their homes were submerged, but if I tried to understand forcibly, I could. Because it would be a story unrelated to them.

Similarly, whether they got lynched by a mob for saying such inappropriate things or not was also unrelated to me. In any case, while listening to words that sometimes cooled my chest and sometimes made it itch with frustration…

It became 9 o'clock, and the fairly frequent pedestrians vanished like ghosts.

It must have been the result of a collective mindset of only going outside as much as absolutely necessary. Going to work is mandatory, but going out is optional. And the weather is still gloomy.

Cigarettes didn’t sell much either, so after counting them and wiping the mud off the floor, I ran out of things to do. Just as I was thinking about sitting at the counter and looking at the news.

—Ding.

The bell rang, and one welcome customer came in.

"Welco... Wow, it's been really long time, Hana."

“Hewo, Mister.”



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