Welcome to Sanctum City
Welcome to Sanctum City.
So.
I signed the contract, completely hooked by the promise of five times the normal hourly wage.
And then that store manager bastard shoved me straight into a dark abyss. Literally.
If you grabbed any random person on the street and asked, you’d get the same answer.
A crazy customer and fifty thousand won an hour versus a crazy customer and ten thousand won an hour.
Normally you don’t even get a choice. You just end up with the latter.
But the lesson is that when an opportunity comes, you have to grab it.
The black space swallowed my falling vision. A full minute must have passed.
What’s going to happen to me now? Will the cause of death be a stroke?
Or a warm new organ donor?
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my head.
Then—
Thump.
“Ugh?!”
The unexpected soft impact hit the back of my head. I let out a groan.
“A… bed…?”
I shot upright in confusion.
I was inside a room. A neatly organized office-style space with ivory wallpaper.
Light from the lamp illuminated the wardrobe, sofa, and desk.
The whole room felt compact and lived-in.
“A basement? What the hell?”
Why would there be a space like this under a convenience store?
This was no time to stand around.
“I need to get out of here.”
I still had no idea what their intentions were, but I couldn’t die in a place like this.
If I died, there’d be no one left to work.
Which meant no one to pay my sister’s hospital bills.
I opened the door.
The moment I stepped into the hallway, my mind raced as I half-ran.
Until just moments ago I’d been drunk on the thought of one hundred fifty million won and couldn’t think straight.
I had to remember this.
No matter where you look in South Korea!
There is no such thing as a normal part-time job that pays fifty thousand won an hour!
Damn it, this has to be some kind of illegal operation.
Is it even legal to drop a person several meters underground?
Whether this was a basement or whatever, if I didn’t escape right now I might actually—
“…Heh.”
I stepped out of the relatively short hallway and froze again.
The place I had emerged into was the space behind the counter. And spread out in front of me was a completely ordinary convenience store. A bit on the large side, sure.
If not for the bizarre creature standing right beside the register, staring directly at me.
“Hic.”
What the hell is that?
It wasn’t human. Well, it was standing like a person, but it had pitch-black skin and eyes even darker than that. Its head was the size of mine, and there were tentacles wriggling on top of it. Oh god the tentacles are coming closer they’re going to stick to my forehead—
"Checkout."
⟨ Telepathic Command ⟩
“Huk, hek. Y-yes…?”
The tentacle… dropped.
…
What the hell just happened?
Wasn’t I about to get eaten?
I was sure this was the route where I’d get mentally dominated by something that looked like it had invaded Earth from Mars.
I felt cold sweat running down my back. Even so, my thoughts kept flowing.
It felt like that tentacle had just hit me with something directly.
“Ch-checkout…?”
“Oh! Sorry, sorry about that!”
A new voice came from right beside me. Someone brushed past and rushed to the register.
It was a man with short brown hair. He wore the usual convenience store vest and began scanning the items on the counter one by one while making excuses.
“Had to run to the bathroom real quick. My bad, haha.”
The strange creature did the exact same thing it had done to me, pressing a tentacle to the man’s forehead.
But the man’s expression remained completely calm.
No, he was actually chatting and cracking jokes.
“Ma’am, you’re not buying your usual today. Oh, this guy? He’s the new hire. Started today and I haven’t trained him yet. As expected of you, ma’am. So generous. Yep. I’ll be heading home soon too. Don’t be too sad. Yes~ Take care~”
Watching that bizarre scene, I suddenly realized something from the man’s face.
That wasn’t calmness. It was the expression of someone who had long since grown completely used to this.
The creature extended its tentacle, picked up a paper bag, turned around, and left the store.
Even after the chime above the door faded, I couldn’t say a word.
So… what was I trying to do again?
Right. I fell into the basement and was trying to run away…
And then this convenience store suddenly appeared.
“Th-thank you.”
I spoke awkwardly to the man who had apparently saved me.
He turned, looked at me, then walked over and grabbed my hand firmly.
Up close, he didn’t seem much older than me.
…But isn’t this guy also one of that crazy manager’s subordinates?
Why is he staring at me like that?
Still, in this space, he was the only person I could communicate with on a human level. Unless I wanted to ask that tentacle monster from earlier.
I tried to sound as calm as possible despite my stuttering.
“Um. I don’t know what’s going on, but I just fell here. Could you tell me how to get back up… or outside… whatever it is…”
“You’re the new convenience store part-timer, right?”
“…Excuse me?”
When I asked again in a daze, the man repeated himself with a serious expression.
“Sanctum City. One-year store management position.”
What he said matched the contract details. The recent shocking events had pushed it to the back of my mind, but I slowly pieced the words together.
“Y-yeah. That’s true, but. Wait, that’s not the point.”
The man’s hand, still gripping mine tightly, began to tremble.
“…It’s over.”
“Hey, stop muttering to yourself and explain—”
“It’s finally over! One year! Wahahaha!”
What the hell.
Is this guy insane?
…So this really is the workplace?
“Ah. Sorry. Got a bit too excited. Ahem.”
Watching the man struggle to contain his emotions, I vaguely recalled what the store manager had said.
“…Don’t tell me. You’re the senior he mentioned.”
“That’s right. I’ve been working here longer than you. Name’s Kim Gichan.”
“I’m Yu Jinho…”
We suddenly ended up introducing ourselves.
The employee who called himself Kim Gichan shifted into a completely different atmosphere from before. He patted my shoulder encouragingly.
“Yeah, it’s your first time so it’s probably confusing. You’ll get used to it in a day or two. Got any convenience store experience?”
“Yes. About two years…”
“Two years? Nice. You’ll adapt quickly.”
Kim Gichan started taking off his vest while continuing the conversation.
…No, that’s not what we should be doing right now!
“Wait, what was that thing earlier? That was a ‘customer’?”
It looked like some black clay monster and shot a direct message into my head asking me to ring it up.
Where the hell do customers like that exist!
“The new kid’s got quite the mouth. Calling the lady ‘that thing.’”
“No, it’s not that it has gender or— I mean, I’m not being rude, it’s just—!”
This is driving me crazy.
When Kim Gichan looked at me with that calm, pitying expression, I felt like the one asking questions was the idiot.
“So is this place… some kind of underground convenience store?”
I gave up on asking about the unidentified customer and tried a different question.
“Underground? Ah. You fell here on the way in? That wasn’t an underground passage. It’s more like a warp… Never mind. Come with me. It’ll be faster if I just show you.”
I followed Kim Gichan out from behind the counter, past the shelves, and through the glass door of the convenience store.
The moment I stepped outside, what greeted me was… loud chatter and a massive fountain.
“This… this is…”
Centered around the fountain, various shops formed concentric circles along the curved walls. It reminded me of a huge department store or hotel lobby, but on a far grander scale.
What truly captured my attention wasn’t the majestic exterior, but the people filling the space.
First of all, there were almost no black-haired humans. Beings that looked human and those that clearly didn’t mingled naturally as they walked around the plaza.
Non-humans were everywhere. For example… I could see the strange alien that Kim Gichan had called “ma’am” mixed into the crowd, heading to the other side.
“This is Sanctum City. Not the convenience store you were in. A completely different place.”
“What is this place? Wasn’t it supposed to be a convenience store in a new apartment complex? Is this some kind of special effects district?”
“New apartment complex? What are you talking about?”
His face said he had no idea what I was saying, but I was the one who understood absolutely nothing.
“Basically… an inter-dimensional exchange singularity… Uh. It’s like another world. …You really don’t know? Never heard of it?”
Another world… I think I heard about it in one of the books my sister liked.
But it had nothing to do with me directly. I was too busy trying to make money.
I did remember her explaining it with an example once. What was it? Multiverse? Something about a world like Dormammu?
I only came here to get one hundred fifty million won…
Seeing my reaction, Kim Gichan must have decided there was no hope. He scratched his head and waved his hands dismissively.
“Doesn’t matter. Just feel it out.”
“Feel what out…”
Kim Gichan shrugged.
“Anyway, for the next year, your job will basically just be working the register. Treat everyone who comes into the store the same—as customers. That’s all.”
I followed Kim Gichan back into the convenience store and sat down at the counter.
As I drank the water he handed me, the chaotic events slowly started to organize themselves in my head.
No.
The more I organized it, the less it made sense…
I signed the contract to easily earn one hundred fifty million won for my sister’s hospital bills and my parents’ debt, but it turned out to be a one-year slave contract at a convenience store where otherworldly races come shopping, and now I have to work here for a year.
Dealing with tentacle alien creatures like that one!
“You organize your thoughts pretty well. Smart kid, huh?”
Yeah, sure.
If my head was just a little smarter, I wouldn’t have ended up in a place like this.
“You can sleep in the staff room you came out of earlier. I added some stuff to the original store manual, so if you read that and follow it, you should be fine.”
“You’re telling me to work here? Right now?”
I got kidnapped by the manager and attacked… or at least approached by some alien tentacle monster. Whatever. And now they want me to work in this environment?
“You signed the contract, didn’t you?”
“I did, but…”
“You came here to make money, right?”
“…Yes, but.”
“Then you have to do it, newbie.”
Kim Gichan grinned and patted my shoulder again.
“One hundred fifty million won in your pocket doesn’t just fall from the sky.”
The mismatch between his encouraging words and the relieved, overjoyed expression on his face was ridiculous. It strangely reminded me of the manager’s bright smile when I fell, which made me feel even worse.
“…Sigh.”
I gathered my thoughts. Let’s review my current situation again.
Q. Why did Yu Jinho come here?
A. Lured by the fifty thousand won hourly wage, one hundred fifty million won after one year, and other living expenses.
Q. Why does he need the money?
A. Because of his sister’s hospital bills, his own tuition, and his parents’ debt.
Q. Can he endure it?
…I have to.
That’s right. If nothing else, I have two years of convenience store experience. I’ve handled most tasks and difficult customers well, and there was a senior who would be working with me, even if only for a short time.
During the handover period, I just need to note down everything different from a normal store, ask questions, and adjust.
So, I’ll do it.
Still, I feel like I need to give the manager a piece of my mind before I can feel satisfied.
“Yeah. If you want to earn money, that’s the kind of look you need.”
Kim Gichan took my sigh as agreement and nodded as he carefully removed his convenience store vest and folded it neatly.
“Then I’ll be on my way. Good luck.”
“…Where are you going?”
At my question, Kim Gichan, who had already stepped out from behind the counter, turned his head and smiled warmly.
“Quitting.”
“…What about the handover?”
Instead of answering, Kim Gichan smiled and pointed at the work manual sitting in the corner of the counter.
And then.
“Ha! Haha! Wahahaha! Suffer for me, successor! Beautiful mortal world! I’m free! I’m going home rich!”
He let out cheers so loud it seemed like he might run out of breath, then turned around and strode triumphantly toward the store exit.
Watching Kim Gichan, I felt the exact same emotion I used to feel back in the military whenever I looked at that useless senior who forgot two shell casings every single operation.
“…Fuck.”
Yes. It was something close to pure murderous intent. That was it.