Beyond the Door, the Demon King Speaks
The Demon King spoke to me from beyond the door.
Why is the Demon King back at the convenience store again? No, that wasn’t important right now.
I glanced behind me once more. The cluster of thin tentacles that had appeared in the main sector.
“Ugh…”
The spot where I’d been pierced earlier throbbed again. Ever since then, a metallic stench kept stabbing at my nose. It was the smell of blood coming from my own clothes.
Nausea kept rising in my throat.
Your soul appears to be trembling.
The Demon King’s voice drifted through the door.
Could she even sense something like that?
Are you afraid?
“…Yes. Very much so.”
It had only been moments ago that those tentacles punched holes all over my body and crushed my head to pulp.
Even now, if I let my gaze drift even slightly, the massive shadow I’d seen in the darkness replayed vividly in my mind.
“Senior or the Store Manager—anyone, please just call them over.”
Unfortunately, there is no one here at present.
Damn it. Kim Gichan really was useless.
And there was no telling when this would end.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
When I kept trying to open the door with a look of utter despair, the Demon King’s voice came again.
Do you wish to come out?
“Obviously. That’s why I’m stuck here trying to get out right now.”
But there was no way for a human body to force its way out.
That was when the Demon King spoke.
With your feeble strength, you cannot open it. However, this girl can rescue you.
I lifted my head and looked at the Demon King through the window.
She wore an expression full of confidence.
She might look like a little kid, but her power was the real deal. After all, I had experienced it firsthand.
She could kill a person with a single flick of her finger. Opening one door should be nothing.
“R-really?”
If this girl saves you, will you apologize to her?
“…Apologize for what?”
Hmph! For what happened yesterday, of course!
The Demon King pouted as she answered.
I searched my memory of yesterday. What exactly…
“…Ah.”
She must have been talking about what I said at the counter yesterday.
She was still upset about it.
This girl graciously followed the human rules exactly as you instructed, yet still!
“F-fine. I’ll apologize, so…”
This really felt like trying to coax and soothe a ten-year-old child.
First, I just needed to get out of here. Even if what I’d said wasn’t exactly wrong, I had still rattled off a machine-gun burst of words at her.
Upon hearing my promise, the Demon King looked rather satisfied.
Hmph. Since it seems you have realized your wrongdoing, this girl shall forgive you this once.
Then the Demon King’s figure disappeared downward. Her secretary must have lowered her.
But how exactly was she going to open the door?
Having snapped out of my panic after seeing the Demon King, I began thinking rationally again.
And unconsciously, I took several steps backward.
It had been an action born of unease, but it turned out to be the correct one.
Crack.
“…Crack?”
Crack. Snap. Creeeeak.
I blinked.
The iron door of the Backroom began to shudder from the center, then warped outward on both sides as if being pushed open by two giant hands.
Crunch. Crack.
In less than a few seconds, the iron door had a hole punched clean through its middle like a broken latch, and beyond it, the Demon King came into view.
I staggered through the doorway and escaped into the store. The sales floor was shockingly peaceful.
Of course it was. All that had happened was that I’d died once….
“…I’m out.”
I collapsed right where I stood.
“I made it out…”
The Backroom had truly been hell.
I had finally escaped.
“Did you die in there?”
“Yes… something like that.”
The Demon King tilted her head as she looked at me.
“This girl has visited this convenience store several times before you arrived, yet among those who work here, you seem to die particularly often.”
I stared at the Demon King with a slightly sour expression, unsure what to say.
The Demon King before my eyes was overlooking one crucial fact.
That she herself was the major shareholder responsible for exactly half of all Yu Jinho’s death records to date.
While I was catching my breath outside the Backroom, the door on the counter side opened and I heard someone rushing out. I wondered who was sprinting toward us—it was Kim Gichan.
“What the— what happened…”
Kim Gichan scanned my bloodied state, the destroyed Backroom door, and the sight of me slumped in front of the Demon King. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly as realization dawned.
“How long were you in the bathroom, exactly?”
“No, I ate some expired disposal stock and my stomach hurt way more than I expected… then the alarm went off, so I cut it short and came running, but…”
“…Never mind. Where’s the Store Manager?”
I didn’t want to hear any more. In response to my question, Kim Gichan scratched his head.
“She’s on a business trip to another dimension…. Wait, did you actually die…? Why is the Backroom door…”
“It was the Demon King.”
I pointed at the door.
Upon seeing the door that had been ripped open in the middle and left looking like a rag, Kim Gichan once again found himself at a loss for words. He simply looked back and forth between me, the Demon King, and the door.
“Y-Your Majesty, if you enter the Backroom…”
“This girl did not enter. She merely opened the door for him.”
It was a semantic quibble, but Kim Gichan couldn’t argue.
“Well, that’s basically the same thing, but…”
“I don’t know anything. Call whoever handles facility repairs or whatever. Haaaa…”
I finally lay flat on the floor.
I didn’t care anymore. Kim Gichan could deal with it.
“You there. Stand up. Today this girl shall buy snacks with your money.”
“I thought you brought your card.”
“Yuria caught me yesterday and forbade it.”
Having her card confiscated by her secretary. Seeing things like this, she really was just a kid.
I got to my feet. Then I glanced at the secretary standing behind her.
I could feel her sharp gaze, but a promise was a promise.
“You can pick… two snacks.”
“Two whole ones? Truly?”
Ugh.
I could feel the secretary behind the wide-eyed Demon King silently cursing me with her eyes.
I really hoped that after escaping the Backroom, I wouldn’t meet my end at the secretary’s hands.
“This girl also wishes to eat ice cream.”
“Fine. Pick some ice cream too…”
“Hee hee hee~”
“Hey, newbie…? How am I supposed to clean this mess up…”
I turned to look at Kim Gichan. Of course I’d have to take responsibility for the broken door, but I still wanted to say one thing.
“…Please write down important information in advance from now on.”
“What? What are you talking about…”
It was payback for the crime of not explaining anything properly and then telling me to bring out inventory while he went to the bathroom.
“I have to buy snacks for Her Majesty, so I’m done here.”
“Lately, this girl has taken a liking to spicy things.”
“I know. You ate spicy stuff last time too.”
“Hmm. You seem to have quite a good memory.”
“The first death event is something I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to.”
The Demon King and I continued our small talk, completely ignoring Kim Gichan.
When I glanced back, it looked like Kim Gichan was desperately trying to share the blame with the Demon King’s secretary.
“Perhaps Her Majesty bears some liability for damages…”
“She does not.”
“But still, the one who broke it was—”
“She does not.”
He seemed to have neatly given up.
Annoying.
I’d have to leave him alone for two hours.
Two hours later.
I had washed the blood off my body until it was clean. The metallic smell still seemed to linger, but at least nothing remained on my skin.
“Still, did she really have to smash the Backroom door to pieces?”
When I changed clothes and came out to the counter, Kim Gichan grumbled.
“This is what happens when a senior doesn’t properly hand over the job to his junior.”
“Ugh. To think my last week would be with a junior like this… Sob sob, the junior is bullying his senior~”
Despite the whining, Kim Gichan seemed more startled by the unexpected situation than worried about his own position.
That made sense. In the end, I would be the one taking responsibility.
“But you really died in there?”
I glared at Kim Gichan, and he waved his hands as if wronged.
“I’m not teasing you, I’m genuinely impressed. Normally revival shouldn’t happen this quickly.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Usually it takes about a week after dying once. That’s how it was for my predecessor too.”
“Please stop saying such horrifying things. You’re telling me I’d have to stay dead for a whole week?”
“I’m serious…”
As I listened to Kim Gichan’s incredulous tone, I thought back to the times I had died.
When the Demon King had squeezed my heart until it burst.
When the giant tentacle monster had crushed my entire body under its leg.
Both times, hadn’t I come back to life within a few minutes to a dozen or so minutes at most?
“I don’t know. It’s not like I want to die.”
“That’s true. Even Jesus had a three-day cooldown on his resurrection, but you’ve already died twice—wait, gulp?!”
“Stop teasing me already.”
Hmm. So that’s what hitting Kim Gichan’s solar plexus feels like.
I’ll have to remember that.
“Ugh… Anyway, your fists are spicy.”
Kim Gichan rubbed his stomach and shot me a look.
“But… you said you were killed by the Task Manager, right?”
“Task Manager?”
“Those tentacles you mentioned? That’s the Task Manager.”
My body shuddered.
That thing that had pierced me and mercilessly crushed me was the Task Manager?
“Why is the Task Manager a bunch of tentacles?”
“It probably came from another dimension too. It’s not classified as a convenience store employee. Just think of it as the thing that manages the Backroom facilities.”
“And I died to that facility manager…?”
“Hmm… this is a bit ambiguous. You said you died in a section that was being cleaned, right?”
Kim Gichan narrowed his eyes, looking deep in thought as he paused.
“In my opinion, the manager was simply doing its job—cleaning the area that was scheduled for cleaning.”
“And then?”
“But then, after it finished disposing of the impurities, another impurity suddenly popped out from behind it.”
“…And then?”
Kim Gichan gave me a thumbs-up.
“Startled, it swatted you along with the bug it was trying to catch…”
“How does that even make sense?!”
“No, I’m telling you, it normally recognizes employees and doesn’t kill them!”
I let go of Kim Gichan’s collar.
“…Then what about the rats? Why the hell were those things living in there?!”
“That’s… just your bad luck…”
“Aaaargh!”
I clutched my head and pulled at my hair.
“Still, the Demon King saved you, right? Let’s have a drink.”
Was that supposed to be comforting?
“Hee hee. Praise this girl more.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you…”
I expressed my gratitude to the Demon King, who was sitting beside the counter munching on snacks.
I had no idea why she had come over to my side. But she didn’t look like she planned to leave until she finished eating.
I sent a pleading look toward the secretary standing outside, but she completely ignored me, so I gave up.
She was definitely mad that I had bought snacks for the Demon King.
“How fascinating.”
“…Why?”
I looked at Kim Gichan.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen the Demon King stick to someone like that.”
Still, she becomes docile as long as you give her snacks.
Wasn’t it just like coaxing a little kid?
“The way everyone brings you snacks and goods is quite similar to how tribute is offered to this girl from other territories in her nation.”
“Is that really similar…?”
I replied while scanning the next customer’s items. Tribute was literally an offering, whereas this was a transaction where one paid for desired goods. They were clearly different.
However, the Demon King didn’t seem to care about such minor distinctions. She popped another snack from her finger into her mouth and swung her legs.
“This spot is rather pleasing as well.”
At that moment, the Demon King uttered something ominous.
“From now on, this girl shall sit here as well.”
“Your Majesty, that’s a bit…”
“And this girl wishes to operate that beeping machine too.”
After I had finally started calling her “Your Majesty,” it seemed she wanted to revert to being the little Demon King brat. I answered calmly without panicking.
“Your Majesty, this isn’t a toy.”
“This girl can do it well.”
“That’s why I’m saying this isn’t something for children to play with—”
…Gasp.
I slowly turned my stiff neck and glanced at the Demon King.
Hilde Bryant was looking up at me with a bright smile, showing no sign of anger.
Scary.
Her smiling instead of getting angry is even scarier….
Kim Gichan had already fled to the far end of the neighboring POS machine.
That bastard really has an excellent danger detection sensor…
“You there.”
“Yes…”
“Let this girl handle that machine.”
With those words, the Demon King stretched out her right hand as if demanding the barcode scanner. There was nothing else I could do in that situation.
“…I-I will give it to you.”
“Good. You are quite obedient, aren’t you?”
The Demon King chuckled with delight.
I shouldn’t have slipped up like that.
But by the time I regretted it, the water had already been spilled.