Backroom Maintenance
It started without a doubt from Kim Gichan.
After the logistics deliveries ended, there was a fairly relaxed window of time before the large dimensional gates opened up.
Even so, there was never a lack of customers, but once you’d experienced the customer rush, you’d realize just how peaceful it felt now.
“Ugh… there’s something off about this.”
Kim Gichan frowned at the counter while fiddling with the machine.
“Why?”“Some items seem to have a mismatch between the registered quantity and the actual stock in the Backroom. I’ll have to check.”
Normally that meant a stock check.
But our Backroom wasn’t on a scale where a stock check was even possible.
“Do I really have to search item by item?”“Of course not… if I had to, I’d already be long retired.”
Saying that, Kim Gichan shoved the manual into my hand.
“I’ll pull up a list of the items to check. Go ahead.”
“What about you, senior?”“Senior, I have to guard the convenience store.”
When I glared at him with murderous intent, Kim Gichan flinched.
“Ah, got it! Just kidding—my stomach’s been acting up lately! I’ll just go confirm, then swing by the bathroom and head back….”“You looked like you were alone in the dorm eating something weird before the logistics arrived.”“Following the manual exactly is all it takes. It’s not that hard.”
I checked the clock. 7:20 PM.
Nine o’clock was when customers would start piling in. If I had to do it anyway, it was better to knock it out quickly so I didn’t overlap with rush hour.
“Hah… I’ll be waiting. Hurry up.”
“Thanks! I’ll be back in three minutes!”
That was a lie.
I slammed the dorm room door shut behind Kim Gichan and flipped him off with my middle finger.
***
I grabbed the manual and the item list, then opened the door leading to the Backroom.
It was the same spot I’d gone in with the angel earlier, but it felt far too high and vast to be just a convenience store inventory warehouse.
A slight chill ran through my body.
Thinking about it, back when my sister was little she loved a game that had something exactly like this in it.
I opened the manual I’d been given and flipped to the table of contents to find the Backroom section.
LT__strong>[CS25 Work Manual]
LT__strong>[1.5. How to Use the Backroom]
The Backroom is a vital space where the convenience store’s logistics enter and missing stock is located.
The wording had an oddly cheerful tone.
Therefore, employees must fully understand the Backroom usage rules and always accompany a dedicated cart to prevent any safety accidents!
The moment I heard the word “safety accident,” a strange feeling came over me.
In a regular Earth convenience store, you could mostly gloss over it, but here it was a place where actual human lives could come and go.
I’d already been through it once before.
But Kim Gichan and the angel had said it was enough to just follow the guidelines properly.
The first thing at the top was the [How to Put Logistics into the Backroom] that the angel had explained earlier. Not something I needed right now, so I skipped it.
“Found it. [How to Retrieve Stock].”
LT__strong>[How to Retrieve Stock]
Because the Backroom is an enormously vast space, going aisle by aisle to put stock into the cart one by one is inefficient for both employer and employee.
That was true—the space was too wide.
So let’s use the inventory search panel attached to the right wall!
It seemed to be referring to the monitor attached to the wall next to the door.
Select the classification for the item you’re looking for on the panel, and the main sector’s product display shelves for that category will appear. Shanks High-Tech at its finest!
I touched the screen of the monitor, and a blue light began to flicker.
LT__strong>[Shanks Dimensional Cargo Management System]
» Product Category Search __PIPE
The interface was extremely simple. I tapped the empty search box against the blue background, and a flood of keyword suggestions made up of various main tags and sub-tags appeared.
Snacks, candies, household items… I found the category I needed among dozens of main tags.
“First, [Snacks]… is it [World Tree] tag?”“I pressed the tag for World Tree Flavor Potato Chips and hit the [Move] button.”
LT__strong>[Shanks Dimensional Cargo Management System]
» Moving categories … …
Clang!
“Wh-what?”“A metallic sound came from the main sector.”“I shook off the sudden movement and turned my head.”“The front of the display racks closed one by one.”“Then, after about ten seconds of sounds coming from inside the racks, they opened again.”“World Tree Flavor Potato Chips”
“World Tree Flavor Chewy Sticks”
“World Tree Flavor Mini World Tree (Limited Edition)”
All kinds of World Tree flavored items from every dimension were neatly arranged on the display shelves like they’d been collected from somewhere.
“… … Shucks.”“Press a button, wait ten seconds, and the desired category appears in the main sector.”“Shanks High-Tech… I really can’t praise the technology of Sanctum City enough.”“Speaking of which, they told me to bring a cart… is this it?”“A folding cart with a compass in the handle center stood near the door.”“I pulled the cart into the main sector. Even if the main sector received the goods, each sector was still enormous.”“***”
I went back and changed the panel, continuing the stock check. After repeating it a few times, the unfamiliar task became bearable. It was basically simple repetitive labor anyway.
“It’s definitely off.”“World Tree Potato Chips were two short on quantity, just like Kim Gichan said.”“The same went for other items. The shortages varied but were all under the registered amount.”“The list was about half finished.”“Is there more about the Backroom in here?”“I searched the monitor for items and opened the manual again. After flipping to the next page after [How to Retrieve Stock], new content appeared.”“[When You Get Lost in the Backroom]
Normally following the manual means you won’t get lost, but there are occasional employees who wander around unable to find the exit anyway.”“But don’t worry. There are two correct ways out!”“One. Find the bell attached to a specific pillar and press it hard.”“This is the button to call for a manager level. When pressed, the manager or management system will locate the employee’s position.”“Though rescue may take some time, keep that in mind.”“Next to this sentence was scribbled in cursive: ‘Just don’t write this, or it won’t come out properly.’ Must have been Kim Gichan’s handwriting.”“Two. Follow the compass on the cart.”“The most commonly used method by most employees.”“The cart’s compass always points toward the exit, so following the direction it points will take you to the exit.”“‘So I was supposed to always carry the cart?’”“I looked at the compass on the cart. Sure enough, the red needle was fixed pointing at the Backroom exit.”“Three. Find the Task Manager.”“… Huh?”“I flipped another page of the manual.”“But there was no content after three, and the Backroom manual ended there.”“Was it missing a section…? Who is the Task Manager?”“It didn’t sound like a manager. Kim Gichan was really sloppy about documenting things until the end. Once I retired, I wouldn’t be able to ask.”“I thought I’d ask when I got back from the bathroom later, so I checked the stock for Hair Loss Prevention Cream (Dwarf Facial Hair Version).”“The rest of the Backroom-related manual seemed to be content Kim Gichan had added later.”“[Things Not to Do]
While organizing stock there are dark areas, especially in dark spaces. It could be the entire sector or just one area of it.”“Those are the cleaning zones, so don’t enter.”“… Is there a cleaning zone?”“Who does the cleaning?”“Suddenly, the conversation with the angel popped into my head.”“‘Like this! Leave it here and press the bell, and they’ll take it over there to sort it automatically.’”“‘They?’”“‘They? What are they?’”“‘Uhm~ You don’t need to know as a part-timer!’”“‘But still… ’”“‘You don’t need to know!’”“Didn’t the Task Manager refer to whatever it was that sorted stock in the Backroom?”“The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I turned around, but no one else was in sight.”“It had been a long time since I’d wanted to see Kim Gichan at all. I looked around, but I didn’t see any areas that were dark or messy.”“If you ignore the manual and wander around and something happens, you can’t blame the junior.”“Have fun with your part-time job~ I’ll get the sweet job right away~^^”“— Kim Gichan”“Probably when he wrote this manual, he never imagined he’d have to stay another week under the guise of transfer.”“How long does he love the bathroom to not show up even now…?”
While cursing Kim Gichan, my gaze dropped to the text written under his name.”“It seemed like a short note left behind.”“— Ah, postscript.”“Every other Wednesday at 8 PM is the regular Backroom inspection, right?”“… Wednesday 8 PM?”“I started working on Monday, so today was day three.”“It’s Wednesday.”“When I entered, the entrance was locked, and I couldn’t open it since I wasn’t a manager. It was best not to go in anyway.”“If I accidentally go in and get locked in, I’ll be trapped until the inspection ends~”“I tried to recall.”“The angel arrived with the logistics at 5 PM.”“And the stocking ended around 6 PM.”“And Kim Gichan went to the bathroom at… 7:20 PM.”“…….”“My neck suddenly felt cold.”“Cold sweat ran down my back.”“‘No way…’”“But unease gripped me anyway.”“Then let’s just go around and relax^^”“Could it be that every other Wednesday meant today?”“Then this could be… a dangerous situation?”“Before I could even think about how long I’d been stock checking, my feet and eyes moved first. I roughly pulled the cart in the direction the compass on it pointed.”“Fortunately, it was a not-too-distant area from the door. After passing a couple pillars, I saw the open warehouse door and the wall. It was still before 8 o’clock.”“I should go out, wait for 8 o’clock, then check.”“Thinking that, I was almost at the last pillar of the main sector.”“~~~”
Suddenly my vision turned red.
~~~“~”
Tinnitus.
The entire Backroom lights turned red like a siren, flooding the vast space with an ominous crimson.
Startled by the sudden light shift, I stopped walking altogether.
~~~“~”
Even the voice was drowned out by the tinnitus.
In the meantime, my gaze fixed on a single change.
The only entrance connecting the Backroom and the store.
~~~“~”
— The entrance closed.
I immediately pushed the cart toward the safety zone near the entrance, but even if belatedly.
The scene in front of me vanished in an instant.
No, it wasn’t that the entrance disappeared.”“~~~”
My sector had moved.”“~~~”
I looked around.”“Beyond the last pillar I had tried to cross. The edge of one sector.”“The scenery beyond shifted periodically.”“~~~”
Day three, Wednesday 8 PM.”“Regular Backroom inspection.”“~~~”
Kim Gichan.”“Yu Jinho.”“Same, part-time work day three.”“~~~”
You crazy bastards are locking me in the Backroom!