Chapter 5
**BACKTICK**CHAPTER_TITLE: The First Customer and the Demon King
Ten minutes after I met him, the senior quit his job.
All we did for handoff was point out where the employee manual was.
No matter how easy it should be to learn convenience store work, this was straight-up neglecting duties.
I had somehow accepted that Sanctum City wasn’t a normal place, and I understood I just had to do the store’s usual tasks.
But when a customer walked in, was the one grabbing snacks the newbie alien who wanted to eat, or the lady alien staying in the Royal Layer of Sanctum City? How was I supposed to tell?
I clutched my throbbing head and opened the employee manual anyway. There had to be something useful in there.
Hello, my junior~ When you’re reading this, I’ll either have just quit or already left.~
I closed the manual.
The hell…?
Was every word supposed to be this tone?
Deep breath. Deep breath.
After a couple of breaths, I reopened the manual.
By skipping the four pages of resignation whining I’d just read, the table of contents finally appeared.
CS25 Employee Manual
1. Regular Operations (Earth standard)
2. Special Inventory Management
3. Cautions
4. Dimensional Stock Lists
I quickly skimmed the rest following the index.
Regular operations seemed no different from normal convenience store work: cleaning, opening and closing tables, throwing away trash, taking inventory… of course logistics and item types would vary, but it didn’t seem to stray far from basics.
The manual was surprisingly well-organized, so I felt a flicker of relief. After all, everyone who came to the store was a customer.
Oh, and be polite to customers~ That was the last line.
Of course I’d be polite to customers.
I just wasn’t sure if I had to be polite to actual villains too.
“As long as I have the POS, I can work.”
I looked at the POS at the counter. It had fancy silver accents, which felt off, but after tapping the screen a couple times, the basic transaction functions were the same.
The only thing that bothered me was a single glowing panel.
Trial Mode
“…Trial mode?”
Some kind of demo game? The words “Trial Mode” glowed green and caught my eye. When I touched it, it flashed and the screen turned green.
Then it showed…
Employee Info
Kim Gichan: 180,000,000 / 150,000,000 won
Yu Jinho: 0 / 150,000,000 won
“What is this…”
The names and the numbers next to them made it clear.
The amounts in the contract.
Senior Kim Gichan had three million more than me.
“He actually earned one hundred eighty thousand and quit.”
I felt a pang of envy for the senior who’d opened the door and left.
Even in this weird place, one year was doable.
“There are other functions, but they don’t open.”
Clicking my name didn’t take me to another page either.
Plus, several options under Employee Info were locked. Tapping them only showed “Trial mode not available” and nothing worked.
Only the manager could use those management features?
DING
Just as my curiosity peaked, the store door opened.
Someone had come in.
I froze, staring at the door. What if that damn lady alien was back and tried to attach tentacles to me? What if she wanted a refund?
But the person who stepped through was a girl who looked like she was just past elementary school.
Her red bob and dress in a matching shade stood out way too much in the convenience store. The high-quality fabric made the fabric sway with her movements.
The outfit looked like something from a school festival or stage performance. Yet the girl carried herself like she owned the place, clear and sharp.
She looked just like a child actress.
The red-haired girl scanned the store, noticed me, and walked straight over.
Even while walking to the counter, she kept her eyes on me. Her amethyst irises, reminding me of jade, combined with the red hair to heighten the exotic vibe.
She was tiny, not reaching my chest. But those black horns sticking up from her head might just fit right at chest level.
Horns.
“Welcome.”
Those horns were definitely there on the girl, glowing with presence on both sides of her head.
I frowned and looked closer, but I couldn’t see any strings or accessories.
I suddenly remembered what the senior said.
Inter-dimensional anomaly, right? So maybe those really were horns.
Then the kid in front of me… was she some little demon?
“You.”
Just as I was staring at her horns in confusion, the girl spoke up.
Calling a ten-year-older girl “you” on the first meeting was ridiculous.
The land of courtesy was officially closed.
“Who are you?”
“I’m a convenience store employee. A customer.”
“Originally it wasn’t you. It was someone else.”
Was she talking about the senior who left me behind?
“Did the original attendant die?”
“I don’t know if he was an attendant or what, but the original person finished their contract and went back.”
The girl tilted her head.
“Went back? Where?”
“Well, home, I suppose.”
“That’s ridiculous. I promised to be your eternal jester.”
I had no idea what she was saying.
“Hmm… I guess written contracts weren’t enough after all.”
The girl stared at me intently.
“Do you have something you’re looking for?”
“Yes, but will you do it for me?”
“Do what?”
“Be my jester.”
Wow, what a demand.
I looked at the little girl with half-closed eyes.
Cute, pretty, high nose—everything else was fine? But her personality screamed demon.
The girl raised her hand and pointed her finger at me.
Suddenly a stinging pain hit my forehead like I’d been slapped.
“Ow, what the…?”
“Hmmm?”
The girl pouted and lowered her hand, muttering.
“This space has too many things I can’t do. It’s annoying.”
She lost interest and shuffled off to the snack corner.
What was she trying to do to me just now?
Still rubbing my forehead, I suddenly noticed the girl had snacks—spicy shrimp chips, vanilla ice cream, and nacho sticks—clutched in her arms.
She sat on the chair at the table with the bag.
Then she opened it.
“Mmmph.”
She started eating the shrimp chips one by one, swinging her legs back and forth as if completely at ease.
“Hehe.”
Whoa, this convenience store was cash-only.
“Our little young lady.”
No way.
I walked over to the table and called out to the rude little gremlin.
The last sentence of the manual flashed in my mind.
Oh, and be polite to customers~
But the person in front of me wasn’t a normal customer anymore.
Annoyed by the fake courtesy, the little girl stopped eating shrimp chips and glared at me.
“Is that statement directed at the girl?”
“Well, who else would it be… no.”
I took a deep breath.
I looked at her again with a smile and explained calmly.
She was already standing up and crossing her arms to stare down at me.
“The girl needs a reasonable reason to stop her tea time.”
“Tea time or whatever. You have to pay for the items you buy, little lady.”
I was an adult.
An adult who didn’t fight back seriously against kids.
The girl tilted her head and countered.
“It says everything here is free to eat!”
“Who says that?”
“Your predecessor.”
How had that guy handled the workload?
I thought he’d made the manual and done everything properly. But he’d just neglected his duties.
I couldn’t drag the person who already left and tell them to fix it themselves.
“As I said earlier, the person in charge changed. Now you have to pay.”
The best way to deal with kids’ stubbornness is to flip the script.
The old rules with the predecessor didn’t matter now that the store manager had changed.
So, lady, pay up or bring your guardian.
“Huh… I see. So the person in charge missed the deadline.”
The little girl narrowed her eyes and nodded.
“Yes… whatever. I suppose that works.”
I half-agreed with the word she sounded like she’d picked up somewhere.
“Here. Take it.”
Suddenly a ring appeared in my hand.
A white metal band delicately wrapped around a blue gem. I stared at the ring dumbly. It looked expensive.
“Isn’t this enough?”
The girl said with a smile, pulling the ring from her own finger.
“For the snack money. Ah, I’ll pay for your existence duration too. No change needed.”
I finally understood.
This little girl had the same mind as the rich girl next door.
I put the ring on the table.
“…Kid, you can’t do bartering at the convenience store.”
The raw truth slipped out.
If you want to buy, use cash or card, pay properly, and eat. Or call your parents.
When it comes to kids, you deal with kids.
So I decided to be childish too.
I picked up the untouched snacks and ice cream.
“Ah! What are you doing?!”
The girl shouted in surprise, but convenience stores don’t serve kids who don’t pay. I’d received an expensive ring, but I couldn’t exchange something of unknown origin, and I wasn’t taking on the risk of trading in cursed inventory.
“Pay. The money.”
I turned to carry the two snacks to the counter. Then I’d call the parents—
“You.”
A strange voice echoed in my ears.
“Wh-what…”
My body wouldn’t move.
Unlike the last time, the voice sent a chill down my spine.
I rolled my only movable eye.
Thud. CRACK. SNAP.
Where the girl had been sitting was now… the girl. No, the woman.
“So, the girl…”
Her purple irises stared at me.
“I’m releasing the pressure of this space’s rules.”
An odd sound came from the air around the girl.
Something cracking.
The sound of old radiators or refrigerators shrinking plastic and twisting everything out of alignment.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
“No one can claim ownership of something touched by the girl’s hand.”
In the convenience store.
No, the space behind the girl was cracking open.
Through the gap… something was trying to come out.
I needed to say something.
But nothing came out.
I froze.
The alien from earlier was lightly ignored, but this pressure hit my blood directly.
“Kuh… kulk…”
N-now.
She’s eating the food I stole?
No! It wasn’t originally mine—
“Shut up.”
A long, long, long, long arm came out.
“Cugh, u, uek…”
My stomach flipped.
From the torn space, a ridiculously long arm reached past the girl and pointed at me.
“Record the divine punishment of Demon King Hilde Bryant.”
“Aah!? Kuaaak!?”
That voice started a pain like needles stabbing straight into my heart.
I stood there shaking, unable to fall even when grabbed.
“This is a sin and evil summoned from your arrogance.”
I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. Please die for me, please, please, please, please, please, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, save me, die, die, die, die, die, die, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, please, die, die, die, die, die, please die for me.
“Receive the mercy of death and atone.”
Ah. This. Definitely. Definitely, I’m going to die.
The pain pierced my heart,
The breath I had to exhale was swallowed inside,
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, you crazy woman, please save me—”
Truly pathetic, but with those words, I died.