Chapter 4
Being bitten by a vampire wasn't exactly pleasant.
No, it was pleasant.
The eerie thrill when the manager's lips drew close and touched the nape of my neck.
The warm breath I felt every time she drank my blood.
The sensation of having my blood sucked was melancholy in its own way, too.
It was a strange, ticklish feeling that drove a person mad.
I could almost understand why victims in vampire novels and movies always tried to get bitten again.
The problem was the exhaustion that came after being drained.
“Whew……”
After finishing her meal, the manager closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
“This is the finest taste Jinjo has ever experienced. How long has it been since Jinjo last drank human blood? The purity is so wonderfully clean. It feels different from the blood of animals or other races……”
She savored the flavor with an ecstatic expression, then wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing her lick the blood from her finger as if reluctant to waste even a drop made my legs feel weak.
When she saw me like that, she grinned and supported me.
“A little tired? That's because I drank your blood. You know how you suddenly feel exhausted when you donate blood? You'll be severely fatigued from the anemia, so eat a hearty meal and get plenty of rest.”
“Understood.”
“I'll show you your lodgings. Come with me.”
“What about the convenience store?”
“You can say you stepped away for a moment.”
The manager led the way toward the stairs beside the convenience store's storage room.
Before going up the stairs, she pulled two crisp bills from her pocket and held them out to me.
“Here you are.”
“What's this……?”
“The blood-drinking bonus I promised earlier. Jinjo does not lie. I'm paying you in cash, so keep it safe. Good work.”
Two fifty-thousand-won bills.
Cash in hand.
My mind, still a little hazy from being bitten, snapped wide awake at the benevolent smiles of two Shin Saimdangs.
She'd really given me 100,000 won. And she hadn't even deducted taxes!
‘Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to ask her to draw blood every day.’
This was the sweetness of capitalism.
Sweet, so sweet.
Humming to myself, I followed the manager upstairs.
“This is where you shall stay from now on.”
Click.
The door opened, revealing the interior.
“Wow……”
I let out a short exclamation.
Honestly, I hadn't expected much from employee housing.
I'd imagined a cramped gosiwon room, or at best a slightly roomier studio.
A moldy little one-room attached to a storage building was the absolute maximum I'd expected.
But then.
There was clean wallpaper and a spacious double bed.
It was a fully furnished studio, complete with a TV and even a PC.
It was much better than the rented room I'd lived in before—no, it wasn't even in the same league.
“This is my lodging?”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, it's incredible. Am I really allowed to live here?”
“Of course. A trusted subordinate's resting place is no different from Jinjo's own territory. It ought to be at least this good.”
The manager gave a proud little cough.
“I am not taking such good care of you because you are human. Nor is it because your blood tasted good, so do not worry about such things. B-but it would be even better if you ate plenty of salmon or meat that is good for your blood. Ahem.”
Apparently, my blood had tasted pretty good.
“Now, let me help you unpack.”
“Ah, it's all right! I only have one backpack, and you don't need to do it yourself……”
“Tsk, are you refusing the mercy Jinjo is offering? Hand it over.”
After getting hired, I'd moved all my things here.
I hadn't owned much at my old place anyway, so there was hardly anything to bring.
Besides, I could do it myself.
‘And there are some things I don't want other people to see.’
Everyone has secrets they don't want discovered.
So I'd rather unpack by myself if possible.
But then.
Thud.
“Huh?”
“Ah.”
As the manager and I tugged back and forth over the backpack, I heard something fall between us.
Along with my clothes, an item carefully wrapped in bubble wrap fell to the floor.
‘No.’
She couldn't find out about that.
Seriously, no.
It was the only luxury item I'd brought with me, even when I'd been evicted for falling behind on my rent because I couldn't bring myself to sell it.
It was a limited-edition figure from the mobile collectible RPG Stellar Echo.
A limited-edition figure modeled after the limited-time pickup character released for the game's second-anniversary event.
They'd said only ten would be given away through a raffle to players who had spent truckloads of money.
It was the only luxury item I owned, and I'd gotten it by sheer luck after spending on two trucks' worth of pulls.
I hurried to pick it up, but I couldn't beat Jinjo's speed.
“You dropped this. Sorry…… huh?”
The manager's movement stopped dead as she picked up the figure.
Her gaze locked onto the figure, and she didn't move an inch.
‘I'm screwed. Is she laughing at me inwardly for being an otaku?’
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I couldn't even imagine how a centuries-old vampire would view a figure of a beautiful girl like that.
I anxiously watched the manager's reaction.
“Th-this is……!”
The manager's lips began to tremble.
A strange light flickered in her red eyes. Then she whipped around to face me and shouted.
“You—you know that game too?!”
“…Yes?”
“Th-this! Isn't this ‘Asteria of the Heavens,’ the second-anniversary limited pickup character from Stellar Echo?! And this is the limited-edition figure released alongside Asteria! It was distributed through a raffle, so Jinjo couldn't get one, but how in the world do you have this……?!”
The manager excitedly rattled off the name of a game I knew and a detailed breakdown of the character's backstory.
Wait, hold on.
She was Jinjo.
She was a nonhuman.
How did she know this game?
“M-Manager? You know this game?”
“Of course! Do you know how much Jinjo spent last week trying to max out that damn Asteria?! And you actually have the raffle ticket for this figure……!”
The manager was panting with excitement, gazing at the figure as reverently as if it were a sacred relic.
“How could you wrap such an important item in nothing but bubble wrap and leave it at that?! Something like this absolutely has to be displayed in an acrylic case and treated with the utmost care! What if it got scratched?!”
“……”
“I'm so jealous! So incredibly jealous! If this had belonged to Jinjo, I would have cherished it with all my heart.”
Her eyes turned toward me.
“Jinjo was just about to make you a very good offer……”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“You were going to ask me to sell it, weren't you? Absolutely not.”
“H-how did you know? Do you possess a mind-reading eye like Jinjo does……?”
“It's nothing like that. Your expression gave it away.”
“Ah.”
“No matter what else, this is one thing I absolutely cannot sell.”
It was a figure I hadn't sold even when the factory went under and I had no income.
It was from the only collectible RPG I played, and the character was the one I was most attached to and raised with care.
It was no exaggeration to say I played the game solely because of her.
Her glittering pink hair and mecha-style accessories.
There was something about those blue eyes that truly tugged at an otaku's heartstrings.
“Ugh……”
The manager flinched, apparently flustered by my firm refusal.
“Uuugh……. I really wanted this……. To see the real thing and still not be able to have it……”
She admired the figure while biting her lower lip, then her eyes flashed as she spoke.
“Then Jinjo shall help you store it. We can display it without damaging it as much as possible. I'll use something far better than this bubble wrap!”
“If that's all……”
“Haaah, haaah…! This beautiful sculpt! These dazzling colors! To think the item Jinjo desired so desperately was in your hands!”
Her eyes gleamed far more greedily as she stared at the figure than they had when she'd been drinking my blood.
“Manager.”
“What is it?”
“How much did you spend trying to get that?”
“…Don't ask. I don't even want to remember. It was the worst day of Jinjo's vampire life.”
“Did you spend on ten trucks or more?”
“……”
“Don't tell me it was more than that?”
“It…… was.”
“Then, perhaps……”
“D-don't ask! Jinjo has nothing more to say! Th-that day does not exist in Jinjo's life!”
This woman.
‘She was a gacha addict.’
Was that really okay for a vampire?
***
After work.
I looked at the gallery floating in midair.
Should I call it a new power I'd gained after getting hired here?
A new ability: the gallery.
Even though it was late, the gallery was bustling with posts from its users.
They were chatting about all sorts of things.
Or discussing the problem customers they'd encountered that day.
‘Come to think of it, I've only been lurking and never posted anything.’
This was a gallery I'd been able to see ever since I came here, ever since I started working at the convenience store.
As long as I continued working here, I'd be relying on it for a long time to come.
‘I should at least leave an introduction.’
[Otherworld Convenience Store Minor Gallery]
[Title: Hi, I'm a brand-new newbie here. Please teach me lots.]
Author: ㅇㅇ
I just got a new job and started working.
There are so many fascinating races here that it's been quite a surprise.
If there's any useful convenience store advice I should know, I'll gladly pick it upㅇㅇ
After posting, I stretched, but before even a minute had passed, the comment notifications began ringing like crazy.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Comments]
-Hi, newbie.
-Welcome, newbie!
-Hey, didn't you know it's proper etiquette for a newbie to buy everyone a burger?
-└ You just want a burger.
-└ Gasp!
-So what race is this newbie? Personally, I hope they're beastfolk.
-If you're undead, just go somewhere else. Nobody here likes undead.
- └ Still better than elves.
-Newbie, you're not an elf, are you?
- └ What's wrong with elves?!
- └ Old man, go inside and get some rest.
It was absolute chaos.
As expected, cheering for newbies was what the hardcore veterans did best.
This was great.
Very nice.
By the way, why were they so curious about my race?
‘Don't tell me there's racial discrimination here?’
Aside from disliking elves, the races didn't seem to discriminate against one another that much.
-Are you human, by any chance?
Some users were asking if I was human.
I suddenly remembered the manager's reaction when she'd heard that I was human.
‘Human? Hired!’
The memory of my first day, when I'd been hired simply because I was human.
Even the elf had been incredibly surprised when she heard I was human.
The fact that humans were practically an endangered species.
‘I probably shouldn't go out of my way to reveal that I'm human.’
How should I put it?
I couldn't shake the feeling that it would be like stirring up a hornet's nest.
So, in response to the question about my race, I said:
-Please respect my privacy.
That was my answer.
-Tsk, you're too finicky.
-It is sensitive personal information, after all.
-Honestly, your race isn't important, is it?
-That is true.
Fortunately, it seemed I didn't have to reveal that information, and everyone let the matter fade away.
It was strange.
This city, too.
And this community that had suddenly appeared before my eyes.
Everything that happened was beyond common sense.
What kind of city was Taepyeong City, anyway?
‘I don't know.’
Let's not try to understand it.
I'd come to a world like this in the first place, so there was no reason for my old common sense to keep working.
“I found a job that pays well by the hour. That's all that matters.”
I tossed a casual reply to the veterans welcoming the newbie.
-Looking forward to getting along with you guys, yeah.
-└ Which convenience store?
-└ What race are you? What race are you? What race are you? What race are you?
-Everyone's making such a fuss because a newbie showed up.
-Lick.
Just then, a new notification popped up.
It wasn't a comment, but a private message.
-Have you ever encountered a problem customer while working?
Friella suddenly came to mind.
The one who'd brought in a World Tree branch and tried to barter with it.
Could I really call her a problem customer?
She had been a little troublesome, but it felt somewhat unfair to call her a full-blown problem customer.
I replied that I'd seen something similar.
-LOL, figures. There are different ways to deal with problem customers depending on their race.
-This is where we share that kind of thing.
-Want me to tell you a pro tip for getting rid of problem customers?
A pro tip for getting rid of problem customers?