The realization that dawned on me after hearing the talk about magic was that the manager's youthful appearance despite her age must be thanks to her magical powers.
Of course, the feeling of amazement at this revelation disappeared in 2 seconds, and I just felt irritated instead.
I came here thinking it was a convenience store, but it turned out to be Freddy's Pizza place.
What am I supposed to do now?
I decided to first try to align the conversation.
"Manager, you mentioned something about magic."
[Yes.]
"But I'm sorry, I've never seen any magic before."
[...What?]
"I've never even seen vampires or goblins. It seemed like you thought I was familiar with those... uh, other races, but I'm just a regular civilian."
I've never been hit by a truck, never delved deep into some crappy game to reach the ending, and never sent a lengthy note complaining about the content of a novel.
Judging from the manager's long silence, I seemed to have hit the nail on her head.
[Then how did you end up here?]
"How else would I come here, I just walked in when I saw it."
[Does that make any sense?]
If she's asking whether it makes sense to walk into a convenience store job posting, then I don't see why not.
What is this place?
If it's not some Halloween party venue filled with things I've never seen before.
The manager started agonizing over the situation, which was way beyond her expectations, and in the meantime, a few more customers came in.
Cutting the thought process short, they were centaurs wearing delivery service uniforms.
In this world, deer-faced creatures were walking cheerfully, wearing rider's jackets, clattering as they walked.
"Boss, can I get a Seven?"
Well, if they're asking, I guess I should just give it to them.
"Would you like that in a pack or a can?"
"Can, please. And can I get a lighter too?"
"The lighters are over here."
I pointed to the shelf under the counter on the left side.
Meanwhile, the other centaurs were chattering behind them.
"Hey kid, go get a banana milk. I'll buy you one."
"Okay. Boss, where's the banana milk?"
"The dairy section, second shelf from the top."
By the way, I expected these creatures to be giggling and laughing, but their voices sounded perfectly normal... no, I'm not being a racist, these are really creatures that may or may not be speaking human language, and they're chattering away.
"Hey, do you guys sell horseshoes in this convenience store?"
"Yeah, they have them here. Not the disposable kind, but the proper ones."
"Really? Excuse me, boss, where are the horseshoes?"
Is this a stable or something?
But listening to their conversation, it does seem like they're actually selling those items here, so I asked the hesitant-looking manager.
"Manager, where are the horseshoes?"
[Ah, on the very bottom left of the third aisle.]
"Could you please check over there on the bottom left corner?"
I pointed, still unsure, but the departing centaur did indeed return shortly with three horseshoes, clanking them down on the counter. Why on earth are they selling horseshoes in a convenience store?
And they even have barcodes, ringing up at 10,950 won each.
And a "two plus one" deal.
"That'll be 21,900 won."
"For three?"
"No, two. One is the two plus one deal."
"Oh, sweet. Wait, here's 22,000 won... you don't have to give me the change, I've got a bunch of coins already."
"Okay."
They also bought banana milk and cigarettes, and the manager, who had been agonizing, now seemed to have found the words to say.
[This place... people from other worlds can't come here.]
"It's the same in my world, too."
[Is that so? Hmm... by the way, do you know anything, Chan?]
"The only thing I know is the trick to holding a drill when drilling holes in concrete ceilings. That's about it."
[Oh? How do you do that?]
"You brace the drill handle part against your shoulder and push up to drill. The drill motor does wear out, but that's the only way to get it done."
But why am I even telling her this?
The manager seemed to make a small sound of admiration, then snapped out of it and began explaining the situation I found myself in.
This convenience store actually travels around to different locations in this world, moving its position.
As a result, the convenience store changes locations—sometimes it's in front of a school district, sometimes at an urban intersection, and on rare occasions, it even does business in front of the Demon King's castle.
I was about to ask if running a convenience store right in front of the Demon King's castle wouldn't cause problems for maintaining world peace but decided against it.
I don't care if the hero gets his head smashed by a soju bottle sold at our convenience store.
The only thing I was really curious about was why and how I, a person from another world, ended up here.
[To be honest... I'm not sure. This is the first time a case like this has happened to me.]
Hearing this, I slightly redirected my question.
Why did this happen to me of all people?
[...There's no particular reason why it happened with you.]
"How can there be no reason? I've seen people with animal heads, but I'm seeing people heads on animals for the first time in my life. And they're not even just masks, they're actually speaking the human language..."
[It seems like centaurs don't exist in your world, Chae...]
"And I guess 29-year-old NEETs like myself don't exist in your world either, judging by how unusual I seem to be."
I couldn't help my voice getting a bit gruff as we conversed.
I came here for a convenience store part-time job, not to board some fantasy express.
I didn't think the manager intentionally dumped me in this store, but even if the punch that knocked me here wasn't a deliberate one, it still hurts and feels unpleasant.
The manager replied in a dispirited tone.
[I see. Well then... I'll cancel the contract.]
"Huh?"
[This seems to be an accident. Can't be helped, I guess...]
Cancel contract.
The moment I heard those two words, my scattered thoughts snapped back into focus.
Let's think about this realistically.
At the very least, the pay is solid here.
12 hours a day for 120,000 won, and I'd work weekends too, so a simple calculation shows 3.6 million won per month.
Whether I can actually handle that is another matter, but the pay amount is acceptable.
And transportation.
This is an important factor when looking for a part-time job.
If I had to take the bus, the daily transportation cost would be close to 3,000 won, adding up to 90,000 won per month.
That's almost a full day's minimum wage pay gone.
But here, it's just a 3-minute walk, so that's not an issue.
The problem is that the convenience store has somehow flung me into this other world, but the commute itself isn't difficult.
And most importantly, will I be in mortal danger from those other races?
That's the biggest concern.
"Manager, will I be in any risk of getting drained of 3,000 ml of blood by vampires, or getting beaten up by a mob of goblins, or getting trampled by those people-headed animals?"
"That will never happen! Maybe in the old days, but not now."
"What was it like back in the old days?"
[Blood got spilled from draining, and clubs and horseshoe hooves were flying all over the place. But the laws are much better now, so that kind of thing doesn't happen anymore.]
Anyway, since she's saying it's safe now, I'll let that slide.
But what if I just quit this place?
I spent a month looking for a job, and two weeks looking for a part-time gig.
That's a total of one and a half months of not working.
If I hadn't started this job here, it would've taken me even longer, at least two months.
Compared to that, this high paying, conveniently located part-time job seems better, as crazy as that sounds.
I'm not even sure if I can find another job as good as this one.
It's not just the pay - even the manager's personality doesn't seem too bad from our conversation.
After much deliberation, I finally reached a conclusion.
"...Manager, let's not cancel the contract."
[Huh? Are you sure?]
"Yes, let's give it a try."
I don't even know anymore. How can a person just have an easy life?
[Are you really okay with this?]
"I said I want to try it because I don't know. Or am I in such a dangerous situation right now that I should stop immediately, even with the protection spell."
[No, the protection magic is definitely in place, so you won't be in any danger.]
To be honest, I haven't felt any immediate danger so far either.
The blonde twin-tailed vampire just looked young, the goblins were just rude, and the centaurs were just noisy, but they didn't really act up or anything.
And I've learned two things in my 29 years of life:
Firstly, making money off others is never easy.
And secondly, money is more important than life.
Otherwise, why would people devote precious decades of their lives to earning money?
When I weigh the value of my life against this job's wages, I don't think I can find another opportunity this good.
Otherwise, I would have to join some zoo to clean the lion's mouth.
"Still, please don't hang up the phone. I know you must be tired, but..."
[It's fine, I'm not tired. It's been a while since I got to rest, so I'm actually enjoying this.]
"How long has it been since you last rested?"
[Hmm... A few months, I think?]
You worked full-time for several months straight? Is that some kind of magical power?
I was going to ask about the lack of customers as well, but just then a customer came in.
And this customer was certainly no gentleman.
I mean, he was a human, but with a Sapsali dog's head.
His face was completely obscured by the shaggy fur, and his hand wielding the card which clearly had six digits.
I wondered why he was shoving the card at me right away, but I understood as soon as he spoke.
"Ple-ease check the balance on my T-money card."
"...Ah, yes, of course. Let me do that for you."
The Sapsali dog's voice sounded like an old man's, which surprised me a bit.
I snapped out and operated the POS to check the balance - 1,880 won, just enough for a single bus fare.
"You have 1,880 won left, sir."
"Is that so."
He turned to leave, but suddenly spun back around and asked, "So you're saying there's 1,880 won left on this card?"
"Yes, that's what it says on the machine."
"On this card?"
"Yes, on this card."
"Why?"
Why is he asking me why there's 1,880 won left?
I couldn't come up with a proper response, hoping he'd just leave.
But the Sapsali dog didn't budge, no matter how long I waited, so I eventually spoke up.
"Uhh, the 80 won left is probably from the 20 won bag fee. You know, from previous purchases."
"But I didn't buy a bag just now."
"I mean from before, from the past."
"Then why is there 1,880 won left on this card?"
"I really don't know. Your previous charging and usage history is in your customer records, not mine."
"Young man doesn't know, huh?"
I just told you I don't know, didn't I?
This old Sapsali dog interrogated me for a good 5 minutes.
If another customer comes, I need to serve them, but of course no one else showed up during that time.
"Strange, why would there be 1,880 won left..."
After pondering for a few more minutes, the Sapsali dog finally left, and I immediately told the manager.
"Just now, a person with a Sapsali dog head came in."
[That was a Kobold.]
"Their memory is a bit... lacking, huh?"
[It varies by race. The Retriever-headed ones are better, but the Chihuahua-headed ones can be a bit... sensitive.]
Right then, a Chihuahua-headed customer walked in.
"Welcome, si-"
"Fuck, where's the toothbrush?!"