Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 172
If You Don't Know, Just Learn It (2)
Among Nooan's personalities, there is one aspect that always makes me wonder how that is possible. She never acts awkward, even when talking to someone she just met for the first time.
In other words, she's the most socially adept person I've ever encountered. As soon as she heard about the new part-timer, her eyes went round, and she spoke to the kid Yuri with a bright smile.
"Part-timer? You're starting part-time work here from today?"
“Yes.”
"Wow, now I guess I won't have to see Unnie worrying anymore..... Ah, I'm Seo Yoonha. The logistics work here is a side job; my main job is a Hunter."
She extended her hand, and Yuri immediately grabbed it with both of her, shaking it vigorously like a new employee greeting a client CEO.
“?”
Maybe because it wasn’t a normal reaction, Noona looked slightly confused too. Searching for something to say, I landed on the most plausible explanation.
"She's working for the first time out in society with this job, Noona."
And probably one of her first handshakes too. At those words, my older sister looked down at her hand that was being held, smiled faintly as if something came to mind, and continued speaking.
"You don't have to be nervous. It's better if you just think of me as a friendly neighborhood unnie."
“Friendly neighborhood unnie?”
“Yes. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty years old.”
"Envious, I'm in my thirties now. Since we'll be seeing each other often, let's speak casually to each other. Is that okay?"
At her words, Yuri nodded. Then as if something else had popped into her head, she stared hard down at Noona’s feet. After a moment, she said.
"If you’re thirty, you’re only 1.5 times my age, Noona."
“No.”
Seems this is what came to mind when told to speak comfortably. If I had said something like that, I would’ve gotten a low kick to the shin, splitting my leg in two right there…
“…Yuri, your turn will come soon too. You think you won’t get older like I did?”
Whether she found this adorable or not, she just laughed it off. Why’s the reaction so different from when I mention age? How can I live with this injustice?
"By my age standard, it's 1.03 times, Noona."
"You want to get hit?"
"If my shin breaks, who's going to work? Are you going to eat your ramen and head right back, Noona?"
"I was gonna drop off the container and visit your place. But now that I think about it, that cat of yours would just cause chaos again..."
She stroked her chin, pretending to think deeply, then looked down at Yuri and finished her sentence.
“Maybe I’ll just stick around and watch you teach her the ropes. That sounds like more fun than just hanging out alone.”
"Do that then."
It's 8:20 now. Assuming the school start times in this world are similar to the one I lived in, a whole bunch of elementary schoolers should be flocking in around 8:40 or 8:50. Their school day will probably start at 8:50.
I have to finish checking the delivery before then. As I untied the knot that tied the bundle, the piled up things like ramen boxes and toys came pouring out.
Luckily, no alcohol came in today. The logistic invoice didn’t list any either. Grabbing a pen from the counter, I held up the slip and started explaining.
"Yuri, I’ll teach you how to handle logistic supplies first. Watch."
"Yes, Oppa."
How does convenience store logistics work?
It's simple in words. You check the item counts and names of the delivered goods, and then confirm they match what's written on the invoice. That's it.
It sounds simple, but this work is not only tedious, but also has many variables. When the volume is high, just digging through the stock to check it is a pain in itself...
One of the most annoying variables is when the product name on the slip and the actual product name are different. And right on cue, a perfect example showed up.
"Most things you just do as I've explained so far, but look at this now. This... magma flavor potato chips?"
I almost had a brain freeze midway. How do you make magma flavor with potato chips, and what the hell kind of flavor is magma flavor in the first place? Is it a flavor in complete hierarchy with flame flavor?
As I was staring at the potato chip bag in disbelief, I saw that it was written: spiciness is 5 times that of 'flame flavor'. The invoice just said ‘FlamingHot5xPotatoChips’ with no spaces.
“Oppa?”
"...Uh, sometimes they write the product names however they want. In cases like this, it's easy to get confused by just looking at the name, so you have to identify it by looking at something else."
In this case, the barcode number. After checking the barcode number of a product you think 'isn't this roughly it?' and if it's the same as what's written on the invoice, it's the same product.
“Yes. 88006....”
"You don't need to look at the first few digits. For products in the same category, the first few digits are all the same. You just need to look at the last few digits."
“Same category?”
"It means snacks are the same among snacks, and toys are the same among toys."
Once you get used to it, you’ll ignore names and just scan barcodes. There are way too many products with names shortened because they’re too long.
“And here’s a tip, if it can be called that. For products that look identical but have slightly different weights. For example, abalone porridge is 288g, and beef porridge is 289g.”
“Yes.”
"For things like this, it's also convenient to find them by looking at the weight. The font size is bigger than the barcode number, and for most products, the weight is written in the bottom-left corner."
After explaining up to this point, I glanced sideways at Yuri’s face. She blinked once or twice, and her eyes looked pretty strained. Well, the print is tiny as hell, so of course her eyes would hurt.
Her mouth firmly shut seems like she has another curious point too. When I waited quietly, Yuri carefully grabbed the edge of the invoice and muttered.
"After snacks comes porridge, after porridge comes candy, after candy comes ramen."
"I have a complaint about that too. For things like snacks and ramen especially, they write them down as if they're hopping across stepping stones. I don't know why they do that."
"There are things even Oppa don’t know?"
“There’s a ton of stuff I don’t know. But I’ve made guesses.”
For example, light things are easy to carry so they register them as they grab them, and beverages are heavy so they register them later.
Of course, only the folks who register the logistics know the real story, but as a part-timer, it's honestly frustrating. Wouldn’t it be nice if they organized each page of the invoice neatly into snacks, ramen, candy?
“But cigarettes and drinks are properly written.”
"Right. Anyway, if the items match what's on the invoice, just check them off like this."
As I spoke, I circled the item name for the Magma-flavored Potato Chip I'd seen earlier. Curious about the reason for this too, she glanced at the area to the right and then asked me.
"There's a remarks column at the right end, Oppa.”
"If you check there, later when you want to confirm, you have to keep rolling your eyeballs left and right. If you circle near the product name, you can immediately know 'oh I already saw this one—'."
“Aha.”
"Honestly, it's something you can do however's comfortable for you. Since it's work with nothing specifically set."
All roads lead to Seoul. When I casually handed her the pen, she alternated between checking the piled products and the invoice, then picked up a packet of ramen.
Then she stared intently at the invoice, found the matching product name, drew a small circle next to it, and clicked the pen closed. Looks like she’s trying to do it just as I showed her.
“All done, Oppa.”
“Now do that 47 more times.”
“47 times?”
"Today's logistic supplies is on the small side. You'll freak out when you see a container later, you will."
The biggest reason logistics is such a pain is that you have to deal with customers while doing all this. And since this store is big, the logistics volume coming in at once is also high.
I said it intending to tease, but after saying it, I wondered if I had scared someone just starting work before they even began. But after a moment, this creature answered in a slightly excited voice.
“I think it will be fun.”
Right. Everything feels fun when you’re just starting out. Anyway, this should be enough about how to handle logistics. So, what comes next for a convenience store clerk after finishing the logistics?
Stocking. So I have to teach her this too, but looking at the invoice, it seems I can't teach her right now.
This is because all the products that came in this time were new items. It might not be impossible if I somehow rearranged the currently filled shelves, but...
"No. Never mind."
It seems impossible. Checking the invoice again, the new items came in as single units, not in bulk. Why did the manager place the order like this?
When I asked this, Noona shrugged her shoulders and answered.
"Unnie said that when placing orders. She wants to make a whole display shelf near the front door and watch a bit to see which products sell well."
"Uh... do we have a portable display shelf?"
"Should be in the basement storage? If you're not sure, just wait until unnie comes."
It seems I'll have to. Even if I assemble the display rack myself, arranging new products is a matter that depends on commercial sense. I've never run my own store.
So I tied the bundle back up tightly and asked Noona I to stash it over by the ramen storage, then came back. On the way back, Yuri kept muttering with the invoice and pen still in her hands.
“Barcode number, weight, and....”
"You don’t need to memorize it all right now. You’ll get the hang of it after doing it a few times."
"Will I really?"
"You really will, so you can trust me. I only taught you this now because the logistic just happened to come... Actually, there's something else you really need to be good at."
“What is it?”
Handling customers. Honestly, this is what worries me the most.
The process itself is simple. When a customer comes, you scan the barcode, take their payment method—like a card or cash—complete the payment, and send them off. But this store isn’t just any ordinary store, is it?
It’s a place built on a ley line that attracts all kinds of lunatics from underground, and from the month of torment I’ve gone through, I’m pretty sure that ley line has clinged to this relocated spot just as persistently.
Can this kid who's never worked before endure those troublemakers, or not? Enduring this isn't something that can be taught. It's a matter of personality.
I thought about it for a moment, then gave up. This is also something she'll have to experience to find out.
Still, I can at least teach him the basics of handling customers now. Before coming back, I grabbed one of the new ramyung flavors Noona mentioned.
"This is the new ramyung Noona was talking about, right?"
“Anything new works, really. But when did you grab that?”
"Took it out for noona to buy. Yuri, I'll show you how to process payment, so come in and watch."
“Yes.”
At my words, she scurried over and stood next to me, staring intently at the ramyung. While watching Yuri, Noona gave a little chuckle and pulled a card out of her wallet then handing it over to me.
“Lee Chan. This girl listens to you really well, man.”
"She's learning so she should listen well. 1,800 won, Noona."
“Yeah.”
Scan the ramyun barcode, press 'card' among the payment method options on the POS screen, insert the card into the reader and wait a moment, transaction complete. I gave the card back to Noona and spoke to Yuri.
"You’ll be doing this all day. There are other payment methods too, but..."
“I’m more worried about something else, Lee Chan. She looks so innocent, do you think she’ll be able to deal with the troublemakers?”
Noona worked at this store for a while. She helped Manager for a while and then quit. She said the reason she quit was that she got fed up with dealing with the troublesome customers.
Maybe that’s why she’s sharing the same worry as me. But this isn’t something we can do anything about right away. If troublemakers listened well enough to come when called, they wouldn't be troublemakers in the first place—
—Jingle.
The entrance bell rang. I looked up and… Oh god.
“Hey, you shithead.”
8:20 a.m., Academy District. Charlie the Chihuahua came. His eyes were so red that the blood vessels looked like they were going to burst.
He approached just like that and asked point-blank.
“You sell poison here? The kind that leaves no traces.”
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