Chapter 12: Troublemakers Need a Proper Lesson
She was a woman in a trendy office look with a pretty decent face, but the moment I saw her, my expression hardened.
As I mentioned before, this convenience store gig was what you'd call a sweet deal for a part-time job, but it had one major downside.
"Welcome."
"Hey, part-timer, where's the Hot Chicken Ramen?"
Troublemakers.
"It's down there in the ramen aisle, bottom shelf."
"Can't find it, so come get it for me."
'Can't find my ass.'
The troublemaker hadn't even bothered going over to the ramen section and was just standing there. My blood was boiling.
"Sure thing. One moment, please."
I kept my cool, headed to the ramen aisle, and grabbed a Hot Chicken Ramen. Reacting to these types just eggs them on more.
"Here you go, ma'am."
She stared blankly at the ramen for a second before chucking it onto the counter.
"You know what? Now I want Shin Ramen. Go grab it."
I glared at the fallen ramen pack in my mind. 'Should I turn on the nude filter and apply it to reality?'
If I did, she'd have to walk home in the dead of night completely naked. For all the aggravation she was dishing out, wouldn't that be fair payback?
'Nah, hold it together.'
Something that surreal happening out of nowhere would drag me, the part-timer, into the mess too. Anger fades quick, but this job doesn't. So I quietly fetched the Shin Ramen.
She slapped her card down. Even though I'd seen this pattern coming, irritation surged anyway.
And right then, a popup appeared in my vision.
Troublemaker Customer Discipline
📍 Target: Make troublemaker woman Kim Soyeon regret her actions.
🎁 Reward:60 GP
💡 Tutorial Tip: Refer to the target's peculiarities.
Peculiarities:
• Suffers stress from being a troublemaker at her job where service manners matter; vents by causing scenes at other service spots like convenience stores.
• Recently developed kleptomania due to extreme stress, escalating beyond just troublemaking to stealing items.
I hadn't even finished reading the peculiarities when an angry voice snapped in my ear.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?"
I snapped back to reality. The troublemaker woman was glaring at me with a scowl.
"Oh, sorry about that."
"Sorry? You think sorry fixes everything?"
Kim Soyeon smirked like she'd hooked a fish.
A moment later.
Ding-a-ling.
Once Kim Soyeon left and the door shut, curses spilled out.
She'd vented on me for a solid five minutes before finally leaving the store.
"Pretty face, but personality from hell."
Thanks to her, I was dying to clear this new quest like crazy. At the same time, a sigh escaped me.
Even with these supernatural powers, I was still just a pathetic punching bag for others.
'If only I had money, I wouldn't deal with this crap.'
The urge to make money was growing stronger by the second.
The Desire Fulfillment App has detected the user's new desire.
With the alert, my mind slipped free from my body. In a trance, my spirit observed my soul.
Black currents of curse binding the soul. The wish-granting power dwelling in me interfered with the curse.
A chunk of the curse broke off and morphed into blazing flames.
New desire 'Greed for Money' registered.
'So that's the mechanism.'
The Desire Fulfillment App's power came from burning away the curse embedded in me.
A Cool 100 Million
📍 Objective: Earn 100 million won or more using WeLike's features.
🎁 Reward:300 GP
'I can make money with WeLike??'
The app's mechanics didn't matter right now. What mattered was the gold.
A few days later, as I was prepping for my shift, I got a call from the store manager grandpa.
I didn't have anything else going on, and more money was always good, so I agreed.
Slurp.
After midnight, I scarfed down the discarded bento and cup ramen headed for the trash. Filling my gut with this stuff only made me crave wealth even more.
"Ahh, I want a steak. How the hell do I make money? Slurp."
I'd racked my brain for ways to use WeLike for the quest, but nothing came up.
Slurp.
I sucked in the noodles too hard, and red broth splattered on my shirt, leaving a stain.
"Damn it, gross."
I pulled out my smartphone and snapped a pic of the stained spot. Applied WeLike - Reality Correction and hit reality apply. GP drained, and like magic, the stain vanished.
"Reality correction works for restoration too, huh. But how do I turn that into cash?"
Artifact restoration crossed my mind, but without expertise or connections, it was a no-go.
All the ideas popping up needed extra knowledge or infrastructure—businesses that weren't quick cash.
No immediate money-makers came to mind. Right as I finished the ramen and bento, the bell rang.
Ding-a-ling.
"Welcome, sir."
It was prime troublemaker hours, so I tensed up a bit, but luckily a middle-aged guy walked in.
Even as I handled the customer, my head was full of money-making schemes.
'Can I really make money with WeLike?'
"One pack of Möbius Yellow cigarettes, please."
"Coming right up, Möbius Yellow."
Beep. I grabbed it from the rack and scanned the barcode.
'No matter how I think about it, quick cash seems impossible. Nah, the Desire Fulfillment App wouldn't give an impossible quest.'
"Oh, and ten 1,000-won Spit tickets too."
"Sure."
'Erase and restore? That could be money somehow. But what exactly?'
I mechanically responded and grabbed ten scratch-off tickets from the counter corner.
"Here’s your ten Spit tickets..."
Then it hit me.
"Wait, what'd you say?"
The customer looked flustered at my question.
"Huh? Spit. Oh, you're new, huh? Scratch-offs. Ten, please."
"Yes!"
"Gah!"
The customer freaked as I jumped up roaring.
I didn't care. I yelled anyway.
"Found it! The way! Sir, these ten Spits are on me!"
I shoved the cigarettes and tickets into his hands and shooed him out.
A grin wouldn't leave my face.
"I was thinking short-form platforms or some straight-laced crap. Heh heh heh."
I'd gotten otherworldly powers but boxed my money-making into real-world logic.
The convenience store stocked about 300 scratch-offs. I pulled out my phone, set one front and center, and snapped a photo.
Then I activated the see-through filter in the enhancement editor.
Spit—scratch-off lottery tickets. You scrape the hidden part with a coin, and if the numbers match the winning ones, you get the prize. Instant win.
I touched the scratch sticker over the numbers, and it peeled off like scraped with a coin, revealing the digits.
"First one's a dud, as expected."
Instead of disappointment, I touched the ticket again. It vanished, revealing the one behind it.
They came in stacks of 100, so one photo let me X-ray through by touching sequentially.
Touch. "Dud."
Touch. "Oh, 2,000 won."
Touch. Dud.
Touch. Dud.
Touch. Dud.
Touch. Dud.
Touch. 5,000 won.
Touch. Dud.
Touch. Dud.
Touch. Dud.
Touch. Dud.
...This gonna make money for real?
Finally, I'd X-rayed them all. Like scraping 300 tickets, total winnings: 102,000 won.
The lottery's brutal odds hit home. But I grinned.
I pulled out a 100,000-won winner, swiped my card at the register.
"100k for a bit of work. Total honey pot."
I texted the manager: I'll finish the month then quit, so find a replacement.
Soon as I quit, I'd hit every store hunting top-prize tickets.
Spit's max win: 2 billion won. More than enough to escape part-time hell.
The laughter wouldn't stop.
"Should've given that customer a drink too on his way out?"
That's when it happened. The door opened.
Ding-a-ling.
The customer who walked in had the power to wipe my smile away.
'Back again, troublemaker.'
Pretty face, but her antics screamed for a beatdown. Yesterday I'd held back for the job, but today? No need.
I vowed to swing if she started shit and glared.
But unlike usual, she didn't bark orders—just headed to the shelves.
'Huh?'
Her behavior was off. I scanned her profile.
'That?'
Only then did I catch on to Kim Soyeon's intent and watched her closely.
She wandered the aisles, glancing around.
Seemed like she was hunting for an item, but...
'She's scoping CCTV spots.'
The woman who never went to the shelves and just bossed me around was now browsing herself—and suspiciously eyeing her surroundings.
'Jackpot.'
Slowly, my lips curled up.
Kim Soyeon slipped between shelves, out of sight.
Instead of craning my neck, I grabbed my phone and fired up WeLike's camera.
Applied see-through filter, touched the shelf—there she was.
Her peculiarities noted she'd evolved from troublemaker to thief. Caught red-handed slipping a small item into her pocket.
'Got the proof on video. Now what?'
She'd stressed me out plenty with her antics. With the discipline quest up, letting her go would make me a total pushover.
In this harsh world, getting played as a sucker? That was the old dumb me.
Kim Soyeon approached the counter.
"Ring me up."
"Look at this first."
I shoved my phone with the theft footage in her face.
Her face went ghost white.