Happy Convenience Store (1)

It's 10 PM now.

The children of the new country are just about to head out to play with their friends, and the adults are heading home after work, time to crack open a beer.

What do the anomalies of the new country do?

Well, most of them probably don't work at all.

Actually, human psychology being what it is, seeing anomalies or paranormal phenomena in the bright light of day doesn't evoke as much fear as seeing something scary in the pitch-black night.

So, anomalies can be viewed as a full-time 3D job without any overtime pay, working the night shift.

What about me? What am I doing?

While everyone else is working, I'm gallery browsing in my 'UnemployedAnomaly' state.

I have to go to the Happy Convenience Store in two hours, but when I checked, it was an hour away from here.

So, the remaining hour is free time, right?

Well, since anomalies don't sleep, it means I can really be a gallery stalker in another sense.

I opened the gallery and started browsing.

At first glance, it was a sad post, but I couldn't help but laugh from the bottom of my heart.

I had never actually seen that ghost in person, but I could instinctively be sure it looked like a clown.

'Ah, so this is the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gallery I knew. By the way, do anomalies even invest in stocks?'

Since anomalies probably don't have bank accounts, I searched how to invest in stocks and found out they trade in real estate physical and futures contracts.

Getting famous on YouTube or paranormal spots makes your house price soar, while frequent visits from hunters or shamans make it crash.

Wait, so if redevelopment is confirmed and the wrecking ball comes through?

Damn it~

Ten minutes before midnight, I took the subway, passed through a quiet alley, and arrived at the convenience store tucked away in some dark corner.

Although there are quite a few commercial buildings around, I don't know how they operate the convenience store without being noticed by humans.

'If there are so few people around, maybe the surrounding area is actually empty offices, but only visible to anomaly eyes?'

Whatever, doesn't matter. The important thing is that I have come to the place where I promised to do part-time work. Plus, I've arrived ten minutes early, showing my social skills.

'By the way, what was that subway earlier? When I took the subway at night, it was packed with anomalies, right?'

The office workers couldn't understand what 'hell opens on the commute to work every morning' meant, but today I learned it the hard way.

After a moment of breathing, I decided to quickly forget the terrifying anomaly subway hell from earlier and opened the door and entered.

ding-a-ling-

There was a woman sitting in front of the convenience store shelves, looking exactly like the classic virgin ghost of Korea. Of course, she wasn't in a white mourning dress, but in a convenience store uniform.

"Um, are you the new part-timer who was supposed to come today..?"

"Ah, yes, hello. I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sang-hyun, Lee Sang-hyun."

"N-ne, hello. Um, I'm Yeon-hwa, Park Yeon-hwa."

'Um, why has she been stuttering since earlier? Is she shy?'

Her complex might be the reason, so I didn't ask and instead said, "By the way, is there any handover content or precautions I should know?"

"Ah... um... wait a sec? Uuuh, I put it somewhere... ah! Found it."

She rummaged through the space under the POS for a moment, then pulled out a sheet of paper coated in glossy plastic and handed it to me.

"Here it is! The things you need to know are here. Ah, and this..."

What is this? Suddenly, she took out a small spring note from the pocket on her uniform.

"This is a note where I write down the tips for dealing with perverts and business tips. Y-you have to write everything and put it under the counter!"

The most energetic she had been.

'By the way, I can't even hear my own voice properly right now, how is she understanding so well.'

"The work or logistics is written on that paper, so I'll be going now..."

"Yes, thank you."

I thought I should earn points quickly and change my voice. The eerie voices of anomalies I had seen in creative works probably weren't because they didn't have money to use cheap mics, right?

I went to the warehouse, put on the uniform vest, and was about to leave saying 'D-did I finally get off work..' when she stopped me.

"Hey, wait a minute.."

"W-what? Why?!"

"Um, what's your gallery nickname?"

"W-what.."

It wasn't like I was trying to do anything bad. I just asked because I didn't know what to do if an emergency happened.

"Ah, I didn't mean anything like that. I just wanted to ask how to handle it if an emergency happens."

Her face was red and she couldn't look at me, muttering in a small voice.

"..C-class."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"..M-year."

".. A little louder.."

"'50 Years Solo' !!!!"

Nice! She's lively!

That 'nickname' of hers..

Wait, where have I heard that nickname before?

'Ah, the nickname from last time when I gave the tip.'

While feeling guilty for doing something bad to a benefactor, the 50 year solo anomaly covered her face and quickly left outside.

When the clock struck 12, I decided to apologize later via message, and went to the counter to read the paper.

1. When a customer comes, greet them happily: "Welcome to the Happy Convenience Store full of happiness!"

2. For intangible products like curses, place them on the 'Spiritual Scale' in the upper right of the POS and calculate by weight.

3. Payment is made through anomaly pay via the gallery.

3-1. Occasionally, low-level anomalies try to pay by tearing off a part of their body, but our store only accepts point payments. Firmly refuse.

4. For sticky or liquid anomalies that get embedded, once hardened, it's very hard to clean. When the customer leaves, immediately wipe with the salt mop under the counter. (If left, the floor discolors, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will be deducted from part-time pay.)

5. Maintain the store's indoor temperature at 15 degrees. If it starts to drop below zero or rises above 30 degrees, the customers are probably taking off their jackets in the store, so give them a hint to hurry up and buy something and leave.

6. Fresh foods (guts, ampoules, etc.) must be displayed following the first-in first-out principle.

7. When organizing the [Cursed Items] shelves, always wear the provided red rubber gloves. Even if you touch it with bare hands and get cursed and quit, we won't forgive you.

8. Around 2 AM, a black delivery truck arrives. The delivery driver might just throw the boxes and leave saying he's busy, but grab it and check the quantity on the spot and stamp the receipt.

Hmm, what can I say? It really feels like a convenience store, unexpectedly.

I expected some bizarre rules like in the Naples ghost story if it's an anomaly convenience store, but what was written was just the normal convenience store precautions translated into anomaly terms.

'By the way, the motto is Happy Convenience Store but the guidelines are very FM, is this the one-way happiness?'

Well, this was simple enough.

Read the work guidelines, ready to greet customers.

Now, shall we start the work?

The first customer was a ghost with his neck cut off and a knife stuck in the neck area, wearing plate armor instead.

"Welcome to the Happy Convenience Store full of happiness!"

It was a knight concept, so he bowed looking at me and went to the daily necessities corner to get a whetstone.

'Why sell a whetstone in a convenience store, is it still a knight concept? Very polite, though. By the way, how does anomaly pay work?'

Then, the customer placed the item, POS beeped.

"300 points."

Then the customer looked at the air, manipulated something, then "Thank you, see you again!"

'Is this overtechnology? Or, by the way, there's a gallery store, why come to the convenience store?'

Then bowed again and left.

I opened the gallery to check the store.

Ah, so that's how it is.

When he went into the store category to buy clothes, he thought there would be at least market clothes shop level, but the reason there were few items was here.

'By the way, that customer spent 300 points, what is he going to use it for~' while thinking that, the second customer came in.

"Welcome to the Happy Convenience Store full of happiness!"

The second customer was, how should I put it, a confident spirit slayer.

Naturally, skipping the greeting, slightly bald head, face that looks angry somewhere.

'Still, you can't judge an anomaly just by their face.'

While making that internal vow, the customer brought two bottles of soul slayer to the counter.

"10 points."

"10 points."

After calculation, waiting for payment, the customer looked at him without saying anything about payment.

"C-customer. Is there something you need?"

"Hey! No envelope?"

Casual language, and envelopes were hanging on the shelf in front of the POS.

"Hah, I have to endure this."

"Customer, the envelopes are right in front of you."

"Do I look blind? When buying something, you have to give an envelope too! This part-time education isn't working?"

A

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