Prologue: The Commander Who Works at a Convenience Store

I was 22 years old, a South Korean who had completed military service.

I worked five days a week at the CS25 Incheon Nobel Branch.

I was the commander, teacher, captain, and wanderer who protected four worlds in total.

That was the sentence that described my current self.

My hobby was one thing: I indulged in cosplay.

Just like how an idol fan indulges in idols, or a VTuber fan indulges in VTubers.

I indulged in cosplayers who cosplayed.

Previously, the target of cosplay was limited to animation characters, but now with the expansion of the subculture market, it has broadened to include Vocaloid characters, subculture mobile games, and more.

So various cosplayers appeared, and I was deeply immersed in indulging in those cosplayers these days.

“Ah, I'm so bored... Is there no event today...”

But this cosplay indulgence had one unique disadvantage.

The only unique disadvantage to indulging in cosplayers was that events didn't happen as often as I wanted.

Subculture events in South Korea revolved around two main subculture events.

One was the Comic World in Ilsan, modeled after Japan's Comiket.

The other was the Animation Festival, shortened to Aniphe.

At these events, cosplayers showed off themselves and the characters they cosplayed.

Photographers captured the appearances of these cosplayers with their cameras.

Yuksu would request photos of the cosplayers they liked or the characters they cosplayed, and take duo shots to create memories.

Events were important in the cosplay scene, but due to the weather or something, the events hadn't been held for two months.

As a fan of cosplayers, these two months felt incredibly long.

Although cosplayers upload their photos to SNS every day, it only gives a dopamine hit for a day or two.

Now, without meeting cosplayers directly at events, no real dopamine rush.

“Maybe it's time to quit this...”

I sighed deeply while looking at the background with my favorite character Ebrina.

Initially, I started cosplay because I wanted to see the real appearance of my favorite character Ebrina.

But, because Ebrina's body conditions were so perfect, no cosplayer has cosplayed her yet that I've seen.

I hadn't achieved my goal of entering cosplay and getting dopamine, so why continue?

Thinking that there's no need to stubbornly continue when I can't achieve the purpose I entered cosplay for and don't get much dopamine, I habitually opened the gallery.

With no events, and normal people being in the afternoon after work, perhaps?

The gallery was filled with off-topic poop.

“These guys must be bored too.”

There was no desired dopamine, but there were a few funny posts, so I scrolled down while chuckling.

At that moment.

-Ding.

The bell installed at the convenience store door rang.

Before anyone could find a reason to complain, I hurriedly put my smartphone in my pocket and looked towards the door.

The customer who came in was an old man who looked to be in his 70s.

Perhaps he had been drinking since the afternoon, his face flushed as he staggered into the convenience store.

While working part-time at the convenience store, my honed senses warned me fiercely that this was a suspicious customer.

'Please don't throw up...'

I pleaded earnestly in my mind while giving a capitalist smile and bowing my head.

“Welcome.”

The old man glanced at my greeting.

The old man stared for a moment, then strode towards the liquor section.

And picked up a bottle of soju with a red cap and slammed it down in front of me.

“This.”

“Yes, it's 2,200 won.”

“What? It's not 2,000 won?”

The old man, who had already prepared the money, frowned with two 1,000 won blue bills in hand.

I felt stress building and said.

“Grandpa, the soju price has risen a lot.”

“No, why is soju so expensive! It's just cheap factory alcohol!”

I sympathized internally, but I was in the position to receive the money.

“Still, no.”

I firmly stated my refusal.

“Kkung...”

Perhaps realizing that I wouldn't give in easily?

The old man desperately thought, then.

“Eh? You can't drink that!”

He opened the soju cap in place and started chugging it.

“Kru...”

And surprisingly, after chugging the entire bottle of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soju, he handed me the empty bottle.

“Here, the empty bottle. That way, the empty bottle fee is 100 won, right?”

“...”

I was speechless at the old man's unconventional behavior.

“Then... it's short 100 won... hmm...”

The old man rummaging through his pocket, which had become quite full from how long he'd been wearing it.

He soon took out a bottle from his pocket and handed it over.

“Here, vitamin drink. I'll give you this, so pay 100 won with student money.”

“...”

Normally, I wouldn't accept any words from a customer.

But, sensing that this customer was real, I judged that it was urgent to get this customer out of the convenience store as quickly as possible.

“Sure, I'll pay the 100 won. Goodbye.”

“Yeah, okay.”

The old ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠man opened the convenience ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠store door with a good mood.

While pretending not to notice him waving his hand, I looked at the vitamin drink bottle in my hand.

It wasn't a drink made by a famous large corporation, and it was a product with a label I had never seen before.

“Ha...”

Normally, I wouldn't have drunk this suspicious drink, but for some reason, I felt a strange pull and opened the vitamin's cap.

Fortunately, the new product opened with a pop, along with a resistance.

“Kru kru...”

Since the quantity was so small, I chugged it all at once.

“It tastes good.”

And at that moment, feeling a slight good mood from the surprisingly okay taste.

“Ah...”

A sharp ringing sound started in my ears.

I even felt as if the convenience store was spinning.

“This fucking old man...”

The culprit was clear.

It was this crazy old man who gave me a drink with strange medicine.

Feeling a strange pull, I also drank the drink in gulps, and I was an idiot.

“F... fuck...”

I lost consciousness like that.

“Excuse me...”

“Uum...”

“Excuse me... are you okay?”

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor.

And a pretty noona who appeared to be a customer was looking at me worriedly.

'At least I didn't die.'

I felt relieved that I hadn't died, but at the same time.

'How embarrassing.'

Feeling embarrassed, I hurriedly got up from my seat.

For some reason, the world seemed bigger than usual.

But now that it was urgent to deal with the customer, I stood in front of the counter hurriedly.

“Yes, what are you looking for?”

“50L general trash bags, 10 of them please.”

“Sure.”

Perhaps she was running a restaurant or something, the pretty noona ordering large quantities.

I felt sorry for making her wait and finished the calculation as quickly as possible.

“Ah, and thank you.”

And bowing my head, I apologized, but.

“Oh, I was so surprised that such a pretty person fell! Be careful with anemia.”

“Yes...?”

“Then, good luck~”

An incomprehensible word “pretty person” came back.

Moreover, the voice seemed to have become inexplicably thinner and higher...

'What...?'

I stood there blankly for a while, then suddenly recalled the web novels I had seen before.

I had definitely seen this situation a few times...

I hurriedly took out the smartphone I had connected to the charger and checked the camera app.

And the moment I checked my appearance in selfie mode.

“Eh...?”

I froze in place.

Originally, there should have been a man with messy black hair and dark circles.

But instead, the phone screen showed not a man, but a beautiful beautiful girl with enormous breasts, making a slightly ridiculous expression.

“Is this... me?”