Mastore 173 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 173

If You Don't Know, Just Learn It (3)

For a moment, I doubted my eyes. Charlie, that yangban lives five minutes away from where he used to do business before we teleportated, but not once had he ever shown up in the morning. So why is he here now?

"Hey Customer, what brings you here at this hour?"

"What the fuck is it to you where I am at this time, you shithead."

"Then what were you doing before coming here?"

"Getting off work."

Now I doubted my ears. ‘Getting off work’ isn't a phrase you expect to hear from an office worker at 8:20 a.m.. I blinked and waited, and the man answered me once more in a hoarse voice.

"I said I'm getting off work. Fuck."

"Wow..."

Finally, I began to doubt the labor conditions at this guy's company. It's not like this yangban the only person who can work at his company, so why do I only ever see this yangban working late day after day...

"Oppa. Do we sell poison, too?"

In the midst of this, Yuri suddenly looked up at me and asked. Our store strictly complies with pharmaceutical regulations regarding the sale of emergency medicines. As if we would sell poison.

I was about to explain this when the chihuahua finally seemed to notice his surroundings, looking between me, Noona, and Yuri. Then he suddenly spoke to Noona.

“Why are you here? Did you get fired?”

"It's my day off. And since I helped you out before, I won't speak harshly to you..."

"No. What kind of bullshit are you trying to spout now?"

"I'm telling you to speak more nicely. If you ask nicely, won't this kid obviously not give you what you want?"

“Are you crazy? Does poison just appear in a convenience store if you ask nicely?"

“I’m not talking about just this one time… Ah, forget it. No point talking.”

Before and now alike, Noona and this Charlie guy are polar opposites. Even now, I can clearly see that Noona's about to explode with anger after just three exchanges.

Noona must have realized this too, because without saying anything, she pulled out an e-cigarette from her front pocket and said to me.

“Lee Chan, I’m going first.”

"Noona, you said you were going to eat ramyun. You're just leaving?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it, I don't like being a distraction on the side while you're teaching..."

She trailed off, then glanced at the Chihuahua and said boldly.

"Being near this Chihuahua makes my neck tense up. I'm out."

"If the back of your neck is tense, you should put on a pain relief patch, why are you lighting up a cigarette? Is that folk remedy?"

"And whose fault is this?"

"Noona, is there a place to smoke cigarette outside? This is the kids' route to school."

“There’s a smoking area inside the Academy District. The university kids smoke, don’t they?”

“Aha. Then contact me later or something."

“Sure.”

With that, she twirled her vape between her fingers and left, leaving someone else to deal with this Chihuahua. I struck first while the Chihuahua was looking at the medicine cabinet.

“Yuri.”

“Yes, Oppa.”

"What you're seeing right now is a troublemaker. Not something you see often, so watch carefully.”

“I'll keep that in mind.”

“This shithead, seriously?”

I've been dealing with this Chihuahua for just over a month now, and I've figured out his personality to some extent. Even though this guy has a foul mouth, he's not hypocritical at all.

It means he has the type of personality where, just as he speaks harshly to others, he doesn't mind when others speak harshly to him. Even with what I just said, he might find it absurd, but he doesn't show any signs of being offended.

“Fuck, why the hell am I the troublemaker? Want me to smash a bottle?”

“It’s 1,800 won per bottle.”

"Why would I do some stupid shit like that and waste money. But why is that pale-faced kid standing there?"

"She's a new part-timer who just started. This is her first time ever working."

Plus, he's also someone who's genuinely sincere about work. It's likely thanks to this that he's surviving at his company despite having a manner of speaking perfectly suited for someone targeted for 'recommended resignation'.

So since this is his first time, maybe he'll cut us some slack if we warn him in advance. I said it with that thought in mind, and it actually had some effect.

"Hey, female part-timer."

Because his tone became so gentle it was striking to the ears. It felt like he was saying he would go along with it, so I quietly encouraged Yuri.

"Wanna give it a try? I'll teach you how to use the POS machine while we ring him up."

“Yes.”

She gave a short answer and stood in front of the register, and her posture as she got ready was oddly shy. Even when she spoke a greeting afterward, her voice was trembling so slightly it was barely noticeable.

"Wel...come. Customer."

“Female clerk, do you really not sell poison that leaves no trace here? I'm in a fucking hurry."

“Ah, if you’re going to help, then help properly. And why do you keep looking for damn poison anyway?”

"It's because I'm going to kill that beagle bastard before I die, you little shit."

Forget training, I think we need to stop this guy from asking for poison first. When he mention beagle bastard, I guess he mean his boss at work....

He said he worked until 8 a.m. and is just now getting off, so that beagle must be related somehow. After listening to the rest of what he had to say, it wasn't just somehow related, that beagle was the cause of his overtime.

"The gate that burst open recently. Because of that, the security of the companies I was in charge of got completely smashed."

"What the hell, that affects the digital world too?"

"Digital world my ass, the server room froze and fucking exploded. Froze and explode in fucking May?”

I'm someone who doesn't know jack shit about IT, but seeing this guy repeat himself like never before, the situation must be really serious. So I listened quietly. So I just listened quietly. Anyway.

He said that because the servers were physically damaged, they were in a situation where they had to redo the work they had done from the very beginning, and by the Chihuahua's calculations, that workload would take at least a month and a half.

"That beagle boss asked for 3 weeks."

“Damn....”

"That rabid piece of shit cut two months down to three weeks. And then you know what the fucker said next? He said it's possible if we just increase our workload to 2.8 times the usual."

The legal limit for working hours is 40 hours, plus 12 hours of overtime, for a total of 52 hours. If you multiply this by 2.8, it becomes about 145.6 hours. And a week is 144 hours.

Even the most optimistic "anything-is-possible" type would shake their head saying this alone is impossible. Yuri, who had been listening to me up to this point, looked up at me with a slightly impressed voice and spoke.

"Wow. That's more than the age difference between Yoonha Unnie and me, Oppa."

“Right….”

"So hurry up and tell me. Do you have poison that leaves no trace or not?"

As unfortunate as the situation is, if convenience stores sold poison to meet this demand, the concept of a 'boss' would disappear from this world. Though cemetery plots would probably multiply instead.

"Would we have that?"

"Fuck, then just give me coffee. Strong stuff."

"If you're looking for a high-caffeine drink, you should buy an energy drink instead of coffee. That'll be much more effective."

“Where’s that?”

"Second row from the top on the beverage display shelf."

"How am I supposed to know if you just say it like that?"

I wondered how I could possibly explain it better, but this time I decided to stay silent. Probably too exhausted to even walk to the drinks section.

Thanks to that, another thing to teach her came to mind. I gestured to Yuri and walked out of the register, then headed to the drink shelf while explaining briefly.

“Sometimes, there are customers who ask about the location of items like that. Some ask because they’re too lazy, others ask because they really can’t find it no matter how hard they try.”

"Then I'll have to memorize the item locations, too."

"You'll end up memorizing the locations whether you want to or not. You get to know the item locations anyway when you organize logistics and stock the shelves."

“Aha. What about fetching items for them?"

"Even if they ask you to bring it to them, if possible, don't bring it and just tell them verbally. It means leaving the register empty in the meantime, and it'll be tiring for you if you fetch everything for everyone."

This is mild, but when it gets really bad, like when someone buys a whole box of beer and parks on the side of the road, then asks you to carry it to their car. I don't know why they ask convenience store clerks to do such things.

"Then what about Oppa bringing it to him now?"

"This is because that guy's a regular, so I'm helping him out. Once you get used to the work, you can do whatever is comfortable for you then."

“Yes.”

While talking, I came back holding four energy drinks and Yuri holding two. My judgment was that since he worked all night, he would need to drink at least this much to feel any effect.

As we set them on the register, the guy immediately pulled out his card, clearly prepared. Taking it, I pointed at the barcode scanner and began explaining to Yuri.

“You saw when Noona bought ramen earlier, right? This time, you try it yourself.”

“Yes, Oppa.”

"There's a button under that barcode scanner, right? Press that and scan the drink can here. Try scanning it once."

She picked it up as instructed and scanned the barcode. At first, thinking it would scan well if she held it close, she pressed the barcode scanner's screen right up against the can.

When there was no reaction even after pressing the button in that state, she glanced at me, then created some distance before pressing the button again. A beep sounded as the POS screen updated.

“Aha. So it doesn't work if it's too close."

“Our store’s machine works like that. You can see the screen changed after scanning the barcode like that, right? It's been registered. There's something to be careful about when doing this too."

“What is it?”

"Checking if you've scanned the amount you intended to. If you press this multiple times, it keeps scanning. If we send a customer off with a duplicate payment, it becomes a hassle for us later."

The in-store inventory and actual inventory get misaligned, and from the moment you make a mistake calculating other products while they're misaligned, the work becomes more than just annoying.

For example, 'Huh? I definitely sold one less pack of cigarettes earlier, but the sales adjustment isn't -4,500 won, it's -2,000 won. Ah shit, I need to match the inventory...'

"Gasp."

"It's a mistake you won't make if you're just careful. I've never messed this up so far."

As long as you avoid that mistake, it’s way easier to just scan identical items multiple times instead of one by one. Though, you still have to check if it's the exact same product or a different one with a similar appearance.

After hearing my words, she scanned a can once more, and after the beep had sounded a total of six times, she put the scanner down and stared intently at the POS machine. It seemed she was checking if the count was correct, just as I had said.

"...It scanned correctly, Oppa."

"Yeah. See the payment options on the right? Card, transit card, etc. We got a card right now. Try pressing that.”

"Okay. I just pressed it, ah. The screen changed."

“You see the ‘Pay’ button on the lower-left corner of the new screen? Press that, and the reader down below will light up. Plug the card in and wait, and payment’s done.”

Since she's doing work for the very first time, she seems to listen more earnestly than kids who've come from doing other jobs. It's kind of fun watching her do things exactly as I tell her.

This girl who inserted the card stared blankly at the reader, then as soon as the payment completed screen appeared, she quickly looked up at me again.

"What's next?"

"From here on, just watch since you didn't see this part earlier. Customer, do you need a bag?"

“Yeah.”

I tore off a bag from right below and opened it, then put the 6 cans inside and handed it to him. The Chihuahua, staring at the bag of drinks, took two out and set them down next to him. That usual pattern of his.

“Hey, female clerk.”

“Yes, Customer.”

"Is being a female clerk manageable?"

I had been asked the same question once and shook my head in response. I don't remember the entire situation, but I do remember that the Chihuahua had just come from working overtime.

A whole month has passed since then, but it seems not a single thing has changed about this guy's working environment. Overtime, night shifts, and more night shifts. Yuri answered while I was thinking this and that.

"Yes. It's manageable."

“Why?”

“Actually, I’m enjoying it.”

Her voice sounded as if it were very slightly excited. She’s not one to show much emotion, so maybe I was just imagining it…

Perhaps it sounded similar to the Chihuahua's ears too, as he stared intently at Yuri's face. Then he muttered in a hoarse tone.

“Fuck, when was the last time I enjoyed my work?"

"I wonder."

“I didn’t ask you, female clerk. I'm leaving, damn it."

Then he left, leaving two cans of soda on the register, with dew starting to form. Yuri picked up one of the cans and asked me.

“Should I put this back on the shelf?”

"No. Since they're already paid for, returning them would mess up the inventory."

“What happens if the inventory gets messed up?”

"You won't be able to enjoy your work for that day. I'll tell you why later, so that's enough for now. Go sit over there or something."

"Can't I do more?"

"It's about time for the elementary school kids to come. The lobby's going to be packed with customers, so it wouldn't be great if the inside of the register gets packed too, would it?"

* * *

Around 8:30, the other species elementary school students swarmed in and left just before 9:00, and I immediately erased the memory of this period from my mind.

All that remained was the aftermath 30 minutes later. The entire process was erased, and only the『results』that the store was on the verge of collapse remained.

"Wow. I had no idea there were this many kids in the Academy District."

“.......”

"Oppa, are you okay?"

"...I'll let you know when I am okay."

The only things I remember are that the front door didn't close once for 20 minutes, and that there was a loud noise from the toy display area once Looking over, I saw that the toy display was wrecked.

Perhaps feeling sorry for me slumped over the register, she got up and started tidying up the mess in front of the trash can. I watched her and asked.

“Who told you to do that?”

"Someone I know taught me."

"Who do you know?"

“Someone with a similar personality to me.”

That's what she said, but I was too tired to ask more. What she's doing now won't be included in her work pay, so I guess I'll have to personally buy her a lunchbox or something later.

From then until about 9:30, there were no customers, then I came to my senses a little bit by this time and finished cleaning the store. There were sandwich wrappers scattered in the corner of the store. Who the hell walked around eating inside the store?

By the time I finished cleaning, it was 9:50. I was thinking I should fix the toy display and was rummaging under the register when Manager arrived.

“Chan-ah, Yuri-ya. Hel―”

Manager, who had been speaking brightly up to that point, saw the toy display rack and her expression sank two levels. A moment later, she finished her greeting in a slightly dejected voice.

“...lo. The display shelf has become 'the thing that was once a display shelf'...."

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect it, Unnie.”

"Why are you apologizing? I'll fix this right away, Manager-nim."

“No, I’ll fix it. But let’s finish this quickly first.”

I wondered what she meant by finish, but Manager took out a notebook and sat at the table. As soon as we followed and sat down, Manager looked at us and asked.

“Let’s decide our working hours.”

“Aha.”

“When do Chan like it? And Yuri?”

---

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