The Convenience Store Villain Log: A High-Paying Offer in the Backroom

They say once you sign, it's over.

In 2026, South Korea's minimum hourly wage was 10,320 won.

Eight hours a day, five days a week, including weekly holiday pay, came to roughly 209 hours a month.

After taxes, the actual take-home pay was about 1.9 million won.

Minimum living expenses for a single-person household ranged from 1.3 million to 1.6 million won.

If you had no illness. No debt.

No car.

And no luxuries or overconsumption.

In South Korea, you could more or less get by on part-time work alone.

Of course, saving anything was difficult.

But you could endure.

If your situation was bad, there were government subsidies or local assistance programs.

These days the systems for monthly rent support and youth housing were pretty solid.

Still, the thought would always creep back in.

How long do I have to live like this?

Especially if the life I had to take responsibility for with a 10,320-won hourly wage wasn't only my own.

The faint white vapor of my breath told me the weather was still cold.

When I inhaled, the air that entered was cold, mixing with breath that had only just begun to warm.

The feeling of chill seeping into every corner of my lungs was now on its fifth repetition. I stood before a single door, unable to bring myself to step inside.

It was an old iron door, rust eating away at spots here and there, oxidized to a dull red.

What drew the eye even more were the decorations surrounding the door itself.

A golden rope nailed across the top. Crosses, talismans, and several other religious items that were difficult to view favorably hung around the frame.

The person standing in front of it was me.

Yu Jinho, twenty-five, military veteran and college student on leave.

In my relatively short life I could proudly claim there was no part-time job I hadn't tried, yet even so this gloomy interview location was a first.

“……”

I shifted my gaze to the right.

At the far end of the long alley, the two o'clock winter sunlight kept the shadows from escaping onto the street.

“……Hmm.”

To the left, in contrast, stood a wall roughly twice my height.

The fact that there was only one possible escape route was exactly why I kept hesitating instead of going in.

“Is this really the place?”

I double-checked the paper in my right hand.

It was nothing more than a scrap of paper with a short notice and a single phone number beneath it.

The piece had been torn from a flyer stuck brazenly to the door of my studio apartment.

There were two reasons I hadn't simply thrown away a paper that screamed scam at first glance.

The bizarre detail that it had only been posted on my door.

And… the hourly wage at a level that was hard to believe.

Five times the minimum wage!

Fifty thousand won for a single hour.

Four hundred thousand won for a full eight-hour shift.

A convenience store part-time job that paid four hundred thousand won a day.

“...Maybe I should have looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up the going rate for a kidney before making up my mind.”

Even while suspicion gnawed at me, there was a reason I had no choice but to come.

Setting aside next month's rent, the money I had saved for my sister's hospital bills was running dry.

With only three million won left, I could hold out for a month or two at most.

If it weren't for the non-covered medical costs, I wouldn't have paid any attention to such a shady ad.

Hell, if my parents didn't have debt, I could have at least taken out a youth loan or something.

In reality I had no luxury to weigh those options.

Half in doubt, I had ultimately been lured by the pay, made the call, and ended up standing in front of this back-alley iron door.

I glanced once more at the notice attached to the iron door.

A convenience store part-time job.

It would not be an exaggeration to call it the starting point of every part-time worker alongside the food service industry.

Countless young people in South Korea had spent their nights beside a convenience store POS system. I was one of them.

By the end of my second year, even though I was still part-time, I had learned how to place orders on my own.

That was why I applied.

Someone who had already swallowed lye would know how to swallow it more skillfully.

“So… it really means I’m supposed to go in here?”

The iron door standing in the middle of the alley still radiated an eerie atmosphere.

...And why the hell was there a mounted goat head on the wall above it?

This looked less like a part-time interview and more like a recruitment session for some insane cult.

“Hah…”

Still, standing here forever wouldn’t put the fivefold wage in my hand.

Knock knock knock.

I rapped on the iron door.

“……”

No response. Did I knock too softly?

I raised my right hand.

Bang bang bang—

“What the.”

He had definitely texted me to come today.

Was my 51,600-won hourly wage a scam?

Just as I lifted my hand to hammer on the door again.

Clunk. Bang.

“Aigoo~ Sorry, sorry! I was in the bathroom!”

Through the opened door appeared a middle-aged man in sloppy clothes, wearing a bright business smile that was clearly for customers.

“You’re the student who came for the interview today, right?”

I rubbed my forehead, which had slammed into the suddenly opened door, and examined the man.

Slicked-back blond hair.

Tanned skin noticeable even in the shade.

And… a Hawaiian shirt that absolutely did not belong in a Korean winter.

A suspicious part-time ad paired with an uncle who looked like he had sold his share of used cars.

“Traffic wasn’t bad on the way? Did you take the bus? Wow, you’re handsome. You’ll be popular with the customers! Come in, come in! The door’s a bit messy, right? Don’t mind it, haha!”

…Should I run away right now?

No. It was actually a relief that he didn’t look like a cult leader with half-rolled eyes.

“Yes. Hello!”

I bowed at a perfect ninety degrees and spoke clearly.

Remember. The man ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in front of me might be the one who would pay me fifty thousand won an hour.

With this type, it was better to answer politely.

“Ah~ yes, yes. It’s cold, so come inside and we’ll talk. Student? How old are you?”

“Twenty-five!”

“Finished your military service?”

“Yes!”

“Good answers!”

Even if the other party looked like a blond tanned punk, a job interview was eighty percent first impression.

The remaining twenty percent was improvisation.

“Then the country won’t come looking for you. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hmm, hmm.”

“Sorry?”

“Never mind, never mind~”

The iron door creaked shut just as I was about to ask what that meant.

The bizarre iron door in the alley was, in fact, the back entrance leading to the convenience store’s backroom.

Moreover, the backroom was wider than I had expected.

Perhaps because the store itself was fairly large, snack shelves stood neatly arranged along the partition walls.

There was also a small table, drawers, a camping chair one could lie down on, and even a blanket….

This guy seemed to be using the entire backroom as a break room.

“Let’s see~”

While I glanced around, the gold-tanned manager pushed his sunglasses up onto his head, sat on the camping chair, and began rummaging through a stack of documents.

“Sit, sit. What’s your name?”

“Yu Jinho!”

“Nice clear voice. Good. Speak comfortably. First of all, I’m the manager here. The manager.”

The gold-tanned manager laughed and waved his hands.

Suddenly the scar over his left eye caught my attention.

Could this convenience store be… connected to the underworld?

“You said you’ve worked at a convenience store, so there’s not much to explain.”

“Yes. I worked for about two years.”

“Convenience stores are basically the same everywhere. Serve the customers well. Manage the store. Right? You won’t need to handle logistics right away, so don’t worry. You saw that you’ll be working somewhere else, not here?”

“Ah, yes. So…”

Sanctum City—or whatever the name of that new city apartment complex was—flashed through my mind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the posting.

The condition was a one-year dispatch contract.

A separate sleeping room would be provided inside the store.

On paper it was eight hours on weekdays, but I figured it meant I would need to respond whenever special incidents occurred.

“There are senior staff members too, so don’t worry~! A lot of the kids who came for interviews got scared and backed out, so I’ve been pretty troubled!”

I could somehow understand why the previous applicants had run away.

Even so, I had planned to bolt before signing the contract if things felt off.

“But the pay is split between hourly wage and living expenses…”

“Ah, that.”

The manager shrugged as if it were nothing.

“The workload and the business trips aren’t exactly ordinary, so we’re raising the hourly wage to match. However, if someone quits midway and leaves the position vacant, it causes all sorts of problems. That’s why the payment comes upon resignation. And since you’ll be staying in another place for a full year, we’re also providing separate living expenses for your off-duty time. You need to rest and enjoy yourself when you’re not working so you don’t burn out, right?”

“How much is the living allowance?”

If I played my cards right I might be able to build up some savings.

“One and a half million won per month.”

“Does a convenience store even have that much left over?”

If they paid that much in labor costs, would any net profit remain?

At my question the manager narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“What would be left? Obviously our precious, hard-working employee would be left, no?”

It was starting to feel scary.

Just how much of a hellhole was this Sanctum City?

“Anyway, there aren’t many part-time jobs that pay fifty thousand won an hour. You’ve done all kinds of part-time work, right, Jinho?”

The uncle looked at me and smiled.

It wasn’t a bright smile. It was the smile of someone who saw straight through me—You need the money, don’t you.

“It’s not only the hourly wage and weekly holiday pay. Overtime gets overtime pay, night shifts get night pay. We’ll give you everything we can. Even if I look sloppy, I’m pretty precise when it comes to calculating money and reading people. And it’s definitely not illegal work. Even when I say that, some kids still can’t be persuaded. Besides, this isn’t an opportunity that comes to just anyone.”

“Haha…”

After that I had to listen for about ten minutes to the usual complaints older men made—“Young people these days have it tough,” “Bosses have no sympathy for part-timers,” and so on.

Of course, every useless word went in one ear and out the other.

51,600 won per hour.

Two million eight hundred thousand in a week.

Twelve million in a month.

“……”

Gulp.

It was an amount that made me swallow dry saliva without thinking.

A convenience store’s weekly pay equaling an office worker’s monthly salary?

At this point I was genuinely curious.

Just what kind of horrific new-city convenience store would offer this kind of wage just to lure people in?

There would obviously be plenty of nightmare customers.

Would I be the one paying for damages?

Or was there some political entanglement…?

“We currently have no other applicants, so if you’re fine with it, Jinho, we can sign the contract right away.”

“Right now?”

No matter how you looked at it, signing on the spot carried huge risks, didn’t it?

Risk, risk… He said it wasn’t illegal, so at least my kidney was safe…?

Could emotional labor intense enough to kill you really happen at a new-city convenience store?

I spun my thoughts rapidly.

But…

The figure burned into my brain was so intense that nothing else would come to mind…!

“Ah, right. And one more thing.”

Around then another remark slipped from the manager.

“The hourly wage. Since it’s paid as actual take-home upon resignation, it should come to around one hundred fifty million won.”

One hundred fifty million won in actual take-home!

I shot to my feet.

“Please take care of me.”

“Uhahaha, I like how quick you are! We can actually communicate!”

Once I had stepped inside, there had never been a way out anyway.

I was the one who needed to earn money.

Rent, hospital bills, tuition… living expenses on top of that.

Well.

Human work was all pretty much the same, wasn’t it?

I just had to endure for one year.

“Good spirit~ Then here’s the contract. Sign here and here…”

The sleazy-looking manager quickly produced the contract and filled in the hourly wage and work dates.

After receiving and checking it, there seemed to be no particular problems.

It wasn’t written that I would be responsible for damages.

Once I finished confirming, I took the fountain pen and signed.

Writing my name in blue ink that held a strange luster left me feeling strangely refreshed.

Had I ever signed a contract with such a luxurious pen before?

As expected, a rich convenience store manager differed even in the details.

While thinking that, the signature seemed to glitter oddly, so I tilted my head and squinted, but the manager snatched the contract away in an instant.

“Good, good. Having a fresh, energetic new hire makes me feel at ease!”

“Then when do I start work?”

I needed to know the workplace and pack my luggage. Even at the earliest, maybe the day after tomorrow?

“Work? Hold on… what time is it now.”

The manager checked his wristwatch at my question.

I had come for the interview around two o’clock, so no matter how much time had passed it couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes.

“Well, we can start right now.”

“…Right now?”

I was thinking they must conduct new-employee training here when—

“Ah. And. There are many customers who aren’t human, so make sure to serve them properly.”

“Pardon?”

The manager nodded and clapped once.

And then the chair’s center of gravity flipped.

No. That wasn’t it.

It had clearly been solid floor a second ago.

Before I could even answer, the wide-open floor swallowed both the chair and me whole. I was falling. I stretched out my arm toward the edge of the desk—

But my fingers only grazed it.

“You crazy—!”

At the end of my inverted vision I saw the manager smiling with satisfaction and waving.

“Hmm, excellent spirit too~ You’ll do great!”

His widely smiling mouth revealed unusually white teeth, but my body was already plummeting into the abyss and he vanished from sight in an instant.

Like an echo, only the manager’s single shout remained.

“Then work hard!”

—You.

You crazy bastard!