Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 162
I came to look for a home (4)
What did I do in the possessed home after that? First, I laid down
in the living room and took a nap.
Only after waking up did I realize
I had done something crazy, but until the moment before falling asleep, I
thought this was a decent idea. I mean, I’d have to sleep there at some point
anyway, right?
None of the phenomena I experienced while awake had
been particularly scary or dangerous, and after I said to the demon that I would
only stay until evening, I even saw it quietly leave the front door alone.
Besides
all that, perhaps because the floor was warm, I couldn't resist the drowsiness.
The only problem I could have was when I woke up at the night. When I checked
the time, it was 8:30.
Since there was no shampoo or soap or
anything, I turned on the bathroom sink water thinking I would just wash my face
before leaving, but the water was acting weird. When I checked the water
temperature with my hand, it was warm, right?
But the water turned
ice-cold the moment I brought my face close to wash.
"No, damn
it."
I pulled back and adjusted the faucet to warm again. But as soon
as I leaned in to wash, it went freezing cold. After repeating this a few times,
I wiped my face with my hands and asked into the air.
“Are you doing
this because you hate me, or is the boiler in this place just garbage?”
Of
course, I didn't get an answer, so I just cursed a few times and left. I looked
at my phone the whole time I was on the subway going back to the store, and
there were a few more replies while I was sleeping.
One was from
Charlie. After that message telling me not to live in that godforsaken place, he
had added a few more lines.
[Don't live near a gym either, you
shithead]
[Unless you wanna hear dogs barking morning and night.]
[Avoid near schools too]
[Unless you wanna hear barking
during lunch too]
[Fuck]
After reading it, I wondered if
this yangban had any standards for finding a place besides ‘no dog barking’, but
I understood his intention.
Since kobolds' vocal cords are much more
powerful compared to the humans where I live, he's probably saying not just to
keep it in mind but to avoid those places altogether.
Since the place
I found was far from both of the mentioned locations, I didn’t respond, but just
wrote, ‘If you ever need to visit the store, come to Academy District subway
station.’
It showed he read it, but that yangban didn’t reply. When I
was transferring to the final line to the store, a message came from the
officer. This is the last one.
[I just checked now. Thank you for
letting me know.]
[I have something to tell you about the previous
money bag case. If you could tell me the location, I will visit later.]
Since
Manager and I both agreed to cooperate as a magician and a anti-magic specialist
respectively, I guess it means she’ll keep dropping by because of that. But
don't the police have separate jurisdictions?
After a brief thought,
I asked the office for tips on finding a place in Academy District.
Jurisdiction’s her own business. She replied right away.
[If you are
concerned about the security]
[Visit the district police box or
substation near where you plan to live]
[In areas with poor
security, there are cases where magic-related emergencies occur, so
magic-related protective clothing and equipment are hung near the reception
desk.]
I stared at the message a intently and ended up sending her a
message saying, 'I'll try later’. I'm moving to a neighborhood where my kids
come and go, do I really have to go this far...?
After finishing the
reply, I looked around at the few other species passengers and checked the route
a couple of times.
It was 9:40 when I arrived. I came out through the
convenience store front door and peered into the show window, seeing only two
inside the store. Manager and Mongmong.
Manager was counting cash,
maybe to prepare for the handover shift, and Mongmong was curled up inside the
cushion on the counter, not even twitching.
As I stepped inside,
Manager looked at me and waved the hand still holding the cash.
“Hi,
Chan-ah.”
“Yes, Manager-nim. But has this Mongmong been sleeping the
whole time?”
"Un. He was even snoring earlier."
As Manager
spoke, Mongmong started to wiggle his body on the cushion and then completely
laid down with its belly exposed. He must just be tired, but seems to be in good
condition otherwise.
“Was the cushion originally yours,
Manager-nim?”
“No? I just unwrapped one that was lying around in the
store. 6,000 won.”
“This guy’s worth about 2.3 hamburgers.”
"That's
right. Since the child had a hard time recently, I'm planning to round it up
specially this time."
The hint of laughter in her voice made it clear
she was joking. While watching Mongmong’s tail sway gently, Manager asked me,
"Did
you look at places well? Chan?"
"Yes. I found one place I like, but
there's one problem. It's small though..."
“What problem is it?”
"The
house doesn't like me."
“?”
I explained in a bit more
detail. As she said, I asked Noona for help finding a place, and she recommended
a two-room lease with no deposit for 250,000 won a month, so I rushed over to
check it out.
As the saying goes, ‘You get what you pay for’, there
was naturally a problem. The house was possessed by a demon. That demon knocked
off the ceiling light cover and wouldn’t even let me wash up.
Manager
nodded her head while listening to me, but when I mentioned not being able to
wash up, she interrupted briefly and asked.
"The water got cold when
Chan tried to wash, and became warm again when Chan weren't going to wash?"
“That’s
right. I think it’s a small issue compared to the housing conditions, so I’m
thinking of trying to resolve it through discussion later.”
I said it
half-jokingly, but Manager agreed with me.
"Then try that, Chan.
Sounds like a good idea."
“Huh? You mean talking with the demon?"
“My
guess is, that’s probably not a demon?”
She started with that and
immediately explained that a demon does not have separate organs for hearing or
sight.
But the thing in my house adjusted the water temperature when
I turned the faucet and stopped moving the front door when I spoke to it.
“There are times when iy possesses home electronics like cameras or
mics to substitute senses, but there wouldn’t be a camera in the bathroom,
right?”
"I didn't specifically check for that, but... I guess not.
All things considered."
"Then it’s not a demon. If it didn’t do
anything while Chan were sleeping or leaving, it’s probably something with basic
common sense, even if we don’t know what exactly."
“For example?”
"It
can understand Chan's words, can act discreetly enough not to be detected by the
landlord, can use telekinesis-type magic, and is probably quite young in
age."
Looking just at what happened, all of that did make sense.
Except for one thing.
“Why do you think it’s young?”
“Well,
because what it does is childish. If you were trying to kick someone out of a
house, wouldn’t there be more aggressive ways than adjusting the water
temperature?”
“Huh…”
It was difficult for me to sympathize
from my position as someone who has to live in that house, but I could see how
it might look that way to an outsider. If I were trying to kick someone out of
my place, I’d probably start by threatening to call the cops…
“But
just in case, I should go with Chan as an mediator when Chan talks with it.”
"I
was actually going to ask Manager-nim about that. If this can't be resolved
through conversation, could I... ask for Manager-nim’s help?"
“Sure.
I can’t use magic for Chan, but I can say plenty of impressive-sounding
things."
The premise of 'going together' is based on the assumption
that we can both leave the store at the same time. And that hinges on the
non-existent convenience store part-timer who hasn’t shown their face once in a
whole month.
Pointing that out would’ve just made her sulky, so I
kept quiet and watched the dog’s tail wag nonstop instead, then changing the
subject.
"Anyway, I’ll probably end up living there. About the
store’s move, Manager-nim."
"Un. Did you tell the customers?"
“I
think they’ll come and go on their own. Thank you for the concern.”
Most
were working adults, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. The police officer and Miss
Elena seem like they'll find their way due to work reasons, and the Elder seems
free since he doesn’t really draw a line between work and private life.
As
for Charlie, he hasn't replied yet, so I guess he’s going to figure things out
on his own. The only one I was worried about was Mongmong, but he happens to be
right here.
"So about that, you said it wouldn't matter when we move,
Manager-nim."
"Un. When do you think would be good, Chan?"
“I
think… it would be best if we moved right now.”
As I said that, I
subtly checked the POS sales. Sales had gone up by exactly 50,000 won since I
left to apartment hunt. And this is after office workers' commuting hours.
At
this rate, I wouldn’t get paid next month either. If there was just one problem,
it was that I was at a loss for how to introduce the geography of where we're
moving to Mongmong.
"Since this guy is sleeping now, I think it would
be good to move before he wakes up. What do you think, Manager-nim?"
“Hmm…
I’ll have to change up the display shelves a bit…”
Since we're moving
to a place where most customers will be minors, there's a lot to remove and a
lot to display, she says. As an example, Manager brought up TCG cards.
"Do
we have to sell TCG cards now too, Manager-nim?"
"Cards are super
popular with elementary school kids, Chan. Of course, I’m not saying we’re gonna
fill the shelves with them, I’m just clearing out the ones in the toy
section.”
"Aha...."
When I had been over there before, my
impression was that there were quite a lot of little kids, so card games
probably have some recognition. As long as they don't ask me when new card packs
are coming out, that is.
"If we place an order, it'll take a day or
two... but even just selling what we have here, business should do better.
Right?"
"I wouldn't know. Since I've never served customers
there."
"Then let's go right now, Chan. Can you draw the
curtains?"
“Uh... yes.”
I didn't mean ‘right now’ as in 10
seconds after bringing it up, but I did as my boss ordered. I locked the door,
drew the curtain.
After that, I picked up Mongmong together with his
cushion and stood facing away from the storefront window. The store seemed to
shake briefly before settling down, and when I turned around, a completely
different scenery from the intersection was spread out before us.
It
was much brighter than the intersection where we had been doing business until
now. The number of streetlights was at least double, and there were many
commercial buildings with their lights on.
It wasn’t in the Academy
District, though. Maybe because it was 9:40 at night, most of the academy
buildings had their lights off, so nothing could be seen past the entrance. As I
was looking outside, Manager spoke to me casually.
“Now, if Chan
wants to go home, Chan’ll have to go at night.”
“I don’t have to go
that often, Manager-nim. I just need to grab my stuff and get my deposit back,
and that’ll be it.”
"Chan already packed your things?"
"Yes. It will all fit in one suitcase. Probably."
I can
just throw away the few books I have at home, and I don't have many shoes or
clothes. Though fitting the blanket in might be too much for one suitcase, but I
can just discard it. I've used the same blanket for nearly ten years anyway.
"But
what about Manager-nim? How long will it take you to get home from here?"
“Less time than from the intersection, Chan. Don't worry about
it."
"Yes. Then... would you like to switch shifts? It's almost 10
o'clock."
“Un. There are no specific handover notes, Chan."
But
from tomorrow on, there’ll probably be a lot of handover items, so she asks me
to handle them well. After acknowledging, I quietly watched as Manager gathered
his things to leave through the front door.
At the door, she suddenly
turned to look at me and spoke as if he had almost forgotten.
“It’ll
be a bit crowded with kids coming to school in the morning, so be mentally
prepared, and if Chan have any questions, just contact me right away. I’ll wake
up a bit early today.”
"I'll do that. Thank you for your hard work,
Manager.-nim"
“Un. See you tomorrow, Chan.”
With that, she
left work. I blankly watched as he disappeared through the right storfront
window instead of the usual left one, then turned to the dog on the cushion and
said.
"Things will work out somehow, right, Mongmong?"
“Zzz....”
So he says. I placed Mongmong, cushion and all,
under the counter, then sat quietly and just stared out the window. There were
no customers until dawn, and it started to get a bit crowded from the
morning.
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