Mastore 166 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 166

Contrary to expectations (4)

I checked them one by one. The smell that Mongmong said was coming from was actually the smell of gas.

The water trickling down the stairs was leaking from the gap under the front door of the place I was going to live in. The front doors of the 1st floor, the room opposite mine, and the 3rd and 4th floors were all perfectly fine. Only my place was leaking water.

"Hmm...."

At this point, I can only exclaim in admiration. It's not like there are no empty rooms in the building, so why did this demon bastard turn only my room into an incontinence patient?

Maybe not to the same level as me, but apparently Noona was just as baffled. She looked down at the soles of her shoes getting soaked and asked me,

“Hey. Lee Chan, how did you sleep in a place like this?"

“It wasn’t like this when I slept. I was fine when I leave last night.”

What the hell got into that demon overnight to wreck the place like this? And just how much water had it let loose? After a brief hesitation, I crouched and peeked through the milk delivery slot under the door.

The place wasn’t completely submerged. From the shoe cabinet in front of the entrance to the living room, just enough to ripple above the soles of shoes. I don't know whether to call this fortunate or maddening, but...

At the very least, I didn’t have to worry about being swept away the moment I opened the door. I stood up and entered the door lock password, then opened the front door. As soon as I opened the door, a gas smell came rushing out.

Besides smell, all sorts of sounds were stimulating my hearing, mostly from the shower, sink, washbasin, and veranda faucet. They were all leaking water.

It looked like the demon bastard had turned on every water source available inside the place. As I mentally calculated the average water bill for a single-person household, Mongmong spoke up cautiously.

"Boss. Boss."

"Yeah."

"From inside the apartment. Besides the gas smell, there's some other smell wafting out."

"What kind of smell. Like a broken drain?”

“It’s not that kind of foul stench, more like… something familiar, but… unsettling…”

Even while sniffing, he kept wrinkling his nose, so it definitely didn’t seem like a good smell. Still in Noona’s arms, he looked around, then fixed his gaze on the bathroom and continued.

"The smell is coming from inside there."

After hearing that, I briefly made eye contact with Noona, then immediately went into the bathroom. The shower and washbasin faucet were indeed running water, but that wasn't all.

The faucet handles were twisting left and right on their own. In real time. As it moved, the water pressure would weaken, steam would rise, and then it would go cold again.

"Why is that thing doing that again?"

I muttered in disbelief. But as if responding to this single mutter, the moving faucet suddenly stopped.

Right after, I got this strong feeling that something was making eye contact with me. I couldn’t see anything, of course, but a chill ran down my spine.

Could it be that the demon bastard is in here? I tried to concentrate, but Noona grabbed my collar and suddenly spoke to me.

“Hey, Lee Chan.”

"What."

“Do you remember what I told you about the demon before?”

If she’s talking about back when I was taking the license exam, of course I remember. It’s not every day you get mugged by an ATM and beat it to a pulp, you know?

But why is she suddenly asking about that? I opened my mouth to ask back, but couldn't get the words out. The situation was becoming even more bizarre.

The showerhead was floating mid-air. So were the bathroom slippers, and the soap next to the sink. The slippers and soap that were floating lying down gradually began to turn their ends toward us—

I didn’t see what happened next. I was already bolting out of the bathroom.

The soap and slippers shot out right after us, slamming into the wall of the kitchen sink just outside the bathroom and embedding themselves upright. Then came the sounds of something breaking, snapping, and my repair bill skyrocketing in real time...

"Hey shit, hey!! Let's resolve this through dialogue!!"

Stop wrecking my bathroom. I screamed until my throat nearly burst, but instead of answering, the bastard flung a toilet lid onto the floor in front of the sink

Above the clattering lid, a shower head appeared as if it were some kind of final boss, and I don't know how water is coming out when the hose is severed. What is it, Bluetooth?

With the showerhead’s nozzle now aimed straight at us, I didn’t get a chance to solve that mystery before we bolted all the way to the living room. Not that it helped.

Because the ceiling sprinkler had started spraying water. Whatever the identity of that demon bastard is, it's certain that he's going crazy wanting feed us water.

"I can't live like this, this is my house that I'm paying for with my own money!! Get out right now!!"

“Boss. If you haven’t paid for it yet, doesn’t that mean it’s not technically your house?”

"I'm the only person in the world who would live in a place like this, so it's my house, damn it. But why are you so calm?"

"Well... are we sure what just came out was a demon?"

What else could pull this shit besides a demon? I was about to ask, but hastily changed my question. What came out?

“That familiar smell I mentioned earlier, Boss. It’s coming from above the sink now.”

“What kind of smell is it, exactly?”

“It’s a smell I’ve often picked up on the street. I can’t say exactly what it is, but…”

His tone carried more confusion than fear. The guy who was trembling when the demon topic came up has become noticeably calm now that his fur is thoroughly soaked.

Likewise, Noona, who was also completely soaked, swept her bangs to the side and spoke flatly.

“I was about to say the same thing, Lee Chan. I don’t think that thing is a demon.”

"Then what the hell is that thing turning my house into an aquarium?"

"I don't know that yet, but anyway it's not a demon. I'll go deal with that shower head for a bit."

She shoved Mongmong into my arms and strode toward the floating showerhead. I thought brushing away the fur on Mongmong's face. Demon, a mass of dark energy that mainly clings to objects where resentment easily accumulates.

Desk corners, bricks protruding from the street, ATMs with poor card recognition, and such fall into this category. If I apply this to this house, it means there are elements in this house that could incur a tenant's resentment, but...

"...Are there any?"

This is the second floor, so it’s not like water’s leaking from the ceiling. It was quiet even while I was sleeping last night, so it’s probably not outside noise. I already confirmed the boiler works fine too.

The only possible variable would be a conflict with the landlord, but even this is ambiguous. If demons were created from interpersonal troubles, the store where I work would have long become a demon production factory.

After excluding reasons one by one, only the fact that a demon cannot exist in this house remained. Around the time I was thinking this far, Noona came back.

The shower head was half-broken, and the water hose was coiled around Noona's forearm like a snake. She yanked it off and threw it to the floor, then asked me,

“It’s not a demon, but it really, really doesn’t like having other people live in this house.”

"Hmm. It didn't bother me while I slept though..."

"Including that, isn't there anything that comes to mind? You’re always so clever at times like this.”

I didn’t see what this had to do with being clever, but I didn’t ask. Something was vaguely coming to mind. I asked Mongmongi to confirm.

"Mongmong. Exactly what kind of smell is it?"

“It smells like a trash can... I suppose.”

"Why would you know what a trash can smells like?"

"Because it's a matter of this dog's livelihood. Just by smelling for a very brief moment, I can figure out what kind of food is inside!"

“No... Anyway, I understand.”

Having gotten confirmation from the street-life specialist, I tried putting everything together.

That thing supposedly smells like a trash can. Additionally, it's a guy who uses his powerful ability to stick soap to walls for the purpose of spraying water, and who terribly hates outsiders entering his house.

It can move around stealthily enough to go unnoticed for months, and… it seems to be able to sense people via magic. That’s the only explanation that fits the situation.

After making these assumptions, one shabby method for identifying this guy's identity did occur to me. I immediately told Noona.

"Noona. Stand outside the entrance for a moment. Mongmong, you stay here."

“Why Mongmong? What are you trying to do?”

“I’ll explain after I try it. It won’t take long.”

Noona looked at me for a moment, then shrugged and stepped outside the front door. After confirming, I put Mongmong down on the floor and whispered in his ear.

"Your role is big here, Mongmong. Wag your tail for a moment. As irregularly as possible."

“My tail, you say? This dog is so soaked it’s become a skewer…”

"There's no substitute, man. Just try it anyway."

Mongmong looked puzzled, but slowly began to wag his tail. Soaked through and stuck together, his tail whipped around in all directions without any consistency.

Meanwhile, I waited while keeping both hands continuously touching Mongmong. If I was right, something should respond. I held my breath and stayed perfectly still for several minutes.

-Tuk

A reaction came. Small ripples appeared on the floor near Mongmong's tail, and then Doggy's tail was suddenly swept to the side. It looked like something had brushed it from the side.

“Ouch! Boss, something hit the tail of this dog!”

Well, of course it would. I raised just one hand toward the tail area and grabbed what would be the head part with my fingers.

As soon as I lifted it up, exactly the sound I had expected came from my hand.

"Meow?"

The strongest invisible cat among cats meowed.

* * *

The invisible cat was hella strong and was the most powerful of all cats. I can't be certain, but if all the cats in this world were like this, this world would have long become a catball paradise.

On top of that, this thing could sense magical energy. It had stayed relatively calm when it was just me around, but the moment I showed up with Noona and Mongmong, it started going wild.

Perhaps it distinguishes danger levels through magical power. I'll need to find out more details going forward, but...

“So what you’re saying is, you’re holding an invisible cat by the scruff right now?”

“I don’t know if it’s the scruff or not, but listen to the sound. Doesn't anyone think that's a cat meowing?"

Still, no matter how invisible and ridiculously strong it is, a cat’s still a cat. It hates water, treasures its territory terribly, and is skilled at hiding somewhere, but it can't move when held by the scruff.

I shook my hand this way and that to show her, and this guy struggled in accordance with my hand movements.

"Nyaaaang!! Hissss, nyayong!!"

I was starting to get scratch and bite marks on the hand holding it, but it didn’t hurt that much. Based on my pet shop part-time experience, this one was probably less than four months old.

"Exactly when did talk about this house being possessed by a demon start, Noona?"

"I only heard it was a few months ago. Going by your logic, maybe three?"

“Nyaaaooong…”

The invisible cat that had collapsed after struggling for a long time, probably exhausted. I couldn't see this either, but just from the crying sound I could immediately tell it was tired.

"And since Noona saw it too, you know this guy uses magic."

"So the reason it can't use magic now is because you're restraining it? Did you know you could do that too?”

"Yeah. Happened once before."

It's a bit of an old story, but there was once when two female customers were about to get into a fight inside the store. From the moment I grabbed their hands, they complained to me that their magic wasn't working.

I'm applying that experience now, and it seems to be going well so far. If let go of this cat now, it's clear that it won't end with just a toilet and a sprinkler going off.

"What do you think would be good to do with this guy, Noona?"

"That's up to you. It’s not like anyone else can handle it anyway.”

“What, I can't handle it either..."

I can’t exactly keep a thing that throws soap at people just for entering its territory as a pet in my house, and on top of that, I still can’t even see the damn thing. Even though I'm directly touching him. What the hell is this guy's identity?

But if I let it loose outside, it would clearly throw tantrums demanding its home back. While I was thinking that, a growl came from the hand holding the cat.

For quite a long time.

After watching, I said to Noona.

"Let's feed it first. Don't we sell cat food at the store?"




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