Chapter 1
-Closed Down-
A single sign hung on the factory door.
The small letters saying it was no longer in operation didn't even register.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from those two words: the factory was closed.
“Fuck.”
The curse slipped out on its own.
I couldn't hold it in.
Several coworkers beside me wailed and pounded on the door.
“You bastard of an owner! Get out here right now!”
“You said we wouldn't go under! You fucking bastard!”
“Hey!!!!”
The company I worked for had gone under.
There had been signs.
For several months, our paychecks had been delayed by a month at a time.
The owner said business was bad.
I'd let it slide back then.
The orders had gradually started drying up.
Several employees quit.
They left, saying it would go under soon and they were going to find other work.
Just as they'd said, the work began to dry up.
Surely not.
There was no way it would go under, right?
And then that surely-not became reality.
When they'd held back two months' pay last month, I should've demanded it and gotten paid.
I should've quit then.
“I'm screwed.”
The factory, which we'd forced open, was a wreck.
There was nothing left.
As if the owner had fled under cover of night.
“Looks like we're not getting a cent.”
“You bastards! You worked us like dogs when you needed us!”
“Fuuuuuck!!”
The employees' wails tore at my ears.
“Haaaaah…….”
Tomorrow was rent day.
I'd gone two months without pay, so I didn't even have the money to pay rent tomorrow.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
It wasn't like I could find the owner right away.
I wanted to track the bastard down and strip him of everything he had, but I had no way of knowing where he'd gone, so there was nothing I could do.
In the end, I turned on my phone and opened Alba X.
A desperate man digs his own well.
-[Conversion to Full-Time/Entry-Level Applicants Welcome]
-[Hiring in Bulk/Newly Built Factory/Top Pay]
-[High Income Guaranteed]
-[High-Paying Part-Time Job]
The app displayed countless part-time openings.
They looked good on the surface, but a closer look revealed jobs that were little better than labor exploitation.
No matter how desperate I was, I'd get burned if I took one of these jobs by mistake.
Jobs I would've never even looked at if I had time to spare.
I hesitated because these positions were even shoddier than the factory job I'd had.
And even those jobs...
-I'm sorry. The position has already been filled.
-You're 28? Hmm... That's older than I expected. Sorry.
-Oh, we've already found someone, but we forgot to take down the posting. Sorry.
They all turned me down, saying the positions were filled.
The few positions that were still open...
-It's a factory in Jeolla-do, and lodging is provided? Oh dear, we can't do that.
-If it's farm work in Gangwon-do, you can start right away. Lodging is provided, but in that case, it'll be deducted from your hourly wage...
They were jobs that made my blood boil just listening to the terms.
Fuck.
Not only did they not provide lodging, but the places that did deducted it from the hourly wage.
That meant the job didn't even pay minimum wage.
How was it acceptable to pay less than minimum wage for backbreaking work?
“Can't anything in my life go right?”
Twenty-eight wasn't even that old, so why the hell...?
That's when I spotted an ad.
-[High Pay/Day Shift/Urgent Hiring] Hiring a worker for Taepyeong City Hunter Tower branch.
“Taepyeong City?”
It was a part-time job posting with a place name I'd never seen before.
-Hourly wage: 25,000 won.
“The hourly wage is 25,000 won?”
More than double the hourly wage at an ordinary convenience store immediately caught my eye.
It was even far more than what the factory had paid me.
I wondered if it was a scam.
But then.
-Because this convenience store tends to attract a lot of troublesome customers due to its location, we pay a higher hourly wage. We'd prefer someone we can trust.
-Room and board provided.
-Bonus points if you're human.
A bonus if you're human?
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Normally, I would've dismissed an ad like this as a joke.
It looked like something a strange cult had posted to lure in a victim.
But right now, with no company to work for and no money to pay the rent, I couldn't easily dismiss it.
Hadn't every other part-time job rejected me, too?
Gulp.
“I can just call and check.”
If it seemed weird, I could just hang up.
I called immediately.
뚜르르르-.
After the standard ringing tone sounded several times...
-Hellooo~?
A woman's voice, drawn out and languid, came through the phone.
She sounded like she'd just woken up.
“I'm calling about the part-time job posting.”
-Mmmm... Wait a moment...
I heard rustling from the other end of the line.
She was sleeping even though it was broad daylight?
Was she really okay?
The rustle of clothes.
Then I heard something being swallowed.
-Mmmm... That drink brought me back to life. Say that again. Why did you contact Jinjo?
“I'm calling about the part-time job posting.”
-...It seems Jinjo must be sleep-deprived. A call about a part-time job? That can't be right.
“I said, 'I'm calling about the part-time job posting.'”
Silence and stillness.
-Seriously!?
I thought my eardrums were going to burst.
-A part-timer finally called! I can't tell you how long I've been waiting! Hahaha! Jinjo's patience paid off! I knew it would turn out this way! I even had a good horoscope today.
“Excuse me?”
She didn't seem like a scammer.
-Ahem, sorry. I got too excited. Part-timers have been practically extinct lately.
I was uneasy.
Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run.
Then I saw the 25,000-won hourly wage.
“The hourly wage really is 25,000 won, right?”
-Of course! Jinjo never lies! Like I said in the posting, there are so many troublesome customers that we can't survive unless we pay a hefty hourly wage.
“…Then when can I come in for an interview? If possible, I'd like to start as early as tomorrow.”
-Ahh, I feel like I'm going to cry. Such a passionate part-timer. You are more than worthy to become my trusted right hand.
She was a strange person.
What kind of act was she putting on?
No, why was a convenience store manager acting like this...?
-I forgot to ask the most important question. What is your race?
Race?
She seemed like a woman who was deeply immersed in her bizarre role-play.
Was this that 'minefield' type or whatever people called it?
If I wanted to make money, I had no choice.
I had to play along.
I couldn't pass up a part-time job this sweet.
“…I'm human.”
-Thud!
Something fell on the other end of the phone.
-H-human? Are you really human?
“…Yes.”
-H-how could a human... Don't tell me you're a catkin or a wolkin claiming to be human?
“What exactly are you talking about?”
-N-never mind! Human is even better!
Oh, shit.
Should I not go?
-If you're human, I'll raise your hourly wage to 30,000 won! I'll provide room and board, too! All of it free!
An hourly wage of 30,000 won.
Even working just seven hours a day, that was 210,000 won a day.
At 25 days a month, that came to a monthly salary of 5.25 million won.
A convenience store clerk could make 5.25 million won?
And room and board were free?
Never mind.
I'm going.
There was no way I wasn't taking this job.
“Would it be all right if I started work tomorrow?”
-Hehe, of course! Jinjo shall await her trusted right hand's arrival tomorrow.
She was a strange woman.
But it was far too much money to turn down just because of that.
“If it's a weird place, I can always run away as soon as I get there.”
I wasn't exactly lacking physically, either.
The stamina I'd built up working at the factory meant I could at least run away well.
I'd better wear light sneakers tomorrow.
***
During the crowded morning rush hour.
“So I just go this way?”
I searched for Taepyeong City.
But no matter how much I searched, there was no such place as Taepyeong City.
-This place name could not be found. Did you mean to search for 'Pyeongtaek City'?
-Taepyeong City (太平市) refers to an era of great peace, when a wise ruler governed the country well and the people lived in peace...
The results were nothing but bizarre.
I wondered if the posting had been a prank.
-You need only come here.
The address the manager sent clearly showed the location.
It looked like I was supposed to go down this alley.
“But this is Seoul...”
Why was this alley supposedly Taepyeong City?
So I turned the corner at the entrance to the alley and followed the map.
“……Huh?”
It felt like something around me had changed.
Just moments ago, this had definitely been a street where ordinary office workers passed by.
A middle-aged man in a suit, staring at his smartphone through his glasses.
A schoolgirl with a handbag slung over her shoulder, wearing revealing clothes.
High schoolers chattering among themselves,
And office workers worn down by fatigue.
Until just a moment ago, they had all definitely been human.
“What the hell?”
That thing...
Isn't that an orc?
A muscular man with hideous tusks walked down the street, wiping sweat from his brow.
A short goblin with blue skin was talking to someone on the phone in a suit,
while a lamia with a snake's lower body smoked a cigarette in a revealing outfit.
I rubbed my eyes without thinking.
I rubbed them and looked again.
It was the same.
The people passing by...
They'd become a little—no, a lot—weirder.
‘Am I finally losing my mind?’
Had the factory going under and the relentless rent demands finally driven me insane?
They say things like that happen sometimes.
That when a person experiences a sudden, overwhelming shock, they go crazy.
Right.
That must be it.
Let's not worry about it.
Following the map the manager had sent, I spotted a convenience store.
-24-Hour Convenience Store. Hunter Tower Branch.
This was it.
I'd finally arrived.
딸랑-.
“Welcome.”
When I opened the door and stepped inside, I heard a familiar voice.
“I'm here about the part-time job posting.”
I saw her.
A silver-haired, red-eyed woman wearing a huge white hoodie.
Her skin was so white, as if she never saw sunlight, and her beauty was dazzling.
She was the kind of beauty I would've stared at for a long time if I'd met her on the street.
Even in her shabby clothes, her beauty was impossible to hide; the moment she saw me, her eyes widened.
Her mouth hanging stupidly open, she gulped.
“A-a real human...”
Excuse me. Why are you smacking your lips?
Huh? What's with that look in your eyes?
Should I run?
“You're hired!!!”
And at that moment...
띠링-.
[Congratulations. You have been hired at a convenience store in Taepyeong City.]
[You have obtained a qualification.]
[Entering the Convenience Store Gallery.]
Huh?
What was this supposed to...
A translucent window, just like something ripped from an online community, appeared before my eyes.
[You are a special species—human—who has been hired at a convenience store.]
[You gain an additional ability.]
[You can grant additional effects to convenience store products.]
My head couldn't keep up with the situation.
As I blinked blankly, one of the gallery's posts caught my eye.
[Title: Fuck, can someone do something about these damn elves?]
Author: ㅇㅇ(118.235)
(A screenshot of an elf in a dirt-stained safety vest, pointing and making a scene while holding a bottle of soju at the counter)
Drinking his ass off and making a scene again today, fuck.
If he just got back from a construction job, he should wash up and go to sleep quietly. Why the hell is he giving the convenience store clerk a hard time?
He's been tossing one-hundred-won coins and throwing a fit, demanding 'real Elven ale.' I'm seriously itching to smash his skull in.
You can't understand a damn word he says.
If I call the Tower Guard, will they haul him away for disturbing business? Ugh, I seriously feel like making a run for it.
[26 comments]
ㅇㅇ(223.39) : Average elf, LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅇㅇ(14.52) : 'Elven ale,' my ass, LOLㅋㅋㅋ. Is this a pub? It's a convenience store. Tell him to drink Tess or something.
ㅇㅇ(118.235) : └ I gave him Tess earlier, and he spat it onto the counter, saying it was piss water. Fuck.
뉴비절단기 : Just endure it. Elves are strong, so you'll die if you provoke them. Just scan the barcode.
ㅇㅇ(37.49) : I don't know why you always swear at elves.
뉴비절단기 :└ Granny, go inside and get some sleep.
ㅇㅇ(37.49) :└ ?? How old do you think I am to call me Granny? I may look like this, but I'm still in the bloom of youth.
ㅇㅇ(59.10) : That expression in the screenshot is so realistic LOLㅋㅋㅋ. Saving it.
ㅇㅇ(118.235) :└ You bastard, don't laugh. I'm serious. I think I'm screwed. He just broke a bottle.
ㅇㅇ(118.235) : └ Uh? This bastard's puking. S-save me, p-please...
What the hell.
This.