Chapter 5
Problem customer.
It was an essential element that no convenience store could do without.
If convenience stores had existed in primordial times,
problem customers would have existed alongside them.
If convenience stores had history books, wouldn't they begin with something like that?
That's how inseparable problem customers were from convenience stores.
Even before I started working at this convenience store, I'd encountered every kind of person imaginable.
An old man vomiting on the shelves because he was drunk.
A student spewing abuse because I asked to see his ID.
Even a middle-aged woman who threw ten-won coins at the register when asked to pay the 50-won bag fee.
The spectrum of problem customers was as broad and deep as the universe.
And the problem customers of Taepyeong City were no different.
‘There were races that were impossible to communicate with, like elves, but most of them were easy enough to handle.’
-Problem customers have levels, too. Anyone who can be handled just by smiling and humoring them is a Level 1 problem customer.
-Level 1 is debatable as a problem customer at all.
Problem customers have levels?
The anonymous user who offered to share pro tips for dealing with problem customers said they had levels.
-Honestly, you only need a guide for Level 2 problem customers and up.
-Kobolds—especially the miners who carry lamps on their heads—are extremely greedy, so they often covet things even when they don't belong to them.
-If about five of them show up together, you can assume with absolute certainty that they'll steal something.
-Keep your attention focused on them. If you warn them before they steal something from the shelves, you can usually drive them off.
-Of course, if you're busy, you'll lose track of them. When that happens, just consider your hourly wage gone.
-Among minotaurs, the tattooed ones are the biggest gym bros of all. They're insanely short-tempered, so they have a fit if things take even a little too long. Compliment their muscles whenever that happens and they'll calm down. But if they have three or more fits, they'll cause a riot, so get help from the other customers then.
-If there's a carnivorous beastfolk in the store, they'll calm down faster than you'd expect. They might not even cause a scene.
-A lot of dwarves talk down to part-timers and order them around. Most of them come in already drunk regardless of the time, so watch out.
-Sometimes, if they start vomiting, they level up to Level 3……
-Ah, just thinking about it pisses me off. Fucking bastards.
-Sorry, I got a little worked up. Anyway, that's about the level of Level 2, and there are separate guides for Levels 3 and 4 in the strategy tab, so read them at your leisure.
I let out a hollow laugh at the anger radiating from the post.
It was like sharing strategies for defeating a boss in an RPG.
Apparently, this community shared ways to deal with problem customers.
‘I suppose that's only natural, seeing as half the posts are about problem customers.’
The concentration of problem customers seemed even denser than at convenience stores on Earth.
I sent a reply to the anonymous user.
-What level are elves?
-Elves? Those guys are Level 3 or 4 by default. They're insanely stubborn and insist they're always right. And it's not like you can force them out—come on, they're hundreds of years old. There's no way they're weak.
I thought of Friella, who had visited our store.
The woman who had wailed for me to barter with her.
‘She was supposedly a queen, so she must be incredibly strong.’
She probably was.
And I'd calmed down an elf queen for 1,500 won.
Maybe I'd gotten off cheap?
-And then there's the grand finale: Level 5 problem customers.
-These aren't entire races. They're famous named individuals.
-Avoid these customers at all costs. Just do what they ask. It's fine to accommodate them as long as it doesn't involve a refund or anything like that.
-If possible, call the Taepyeong City police. Those guys are insanely strong and stubborn, but they tend to back down when faced with law enforcement.
I replied to thank the anonymous user who had sent me the problem-customer list.
-We've got to help each other out and survive together. The descriptions of Level 5 problem customers are in the post, so read them in advance.
‘This place is more useful than I expected.’
Not only did they share everyday life, but they also shared lists of problem customers.
I had a feeling I'd be relying heavily on this place from now on.
Lying in bed, I carefully read through the list of problem customers shared in the gallery, along with the cases categorized by level.
***
A dwarf with a brown beard trudged inside.
His face was bright red; it seemed he'd already had a drink despite it being morning.
“Do you have beer?”
“Yes. If you go to the refrigerated section over there……”
“Not ale. Lager.”
“Right, if you go to the refrigerated section, you'll find all the varieties.”
“I don't even want to look at ale's packaging. You go get it.”
A drunk dwarf.
A Level 2 problem customer.
At first, I wondered why anyone called this the easy stuff.
Just listening to him made my blood boil, and it felt like my breath was being squeezed out of me.
“Then go to the far corner of the refrigerated section. The lagers and ales are separated completely, so it'll be easy to find.”
“……Fine.”
Still, when I followed the guide's advice, he listened without much fuss.
So this was why they called him Level 2, I thought.
And just as the dwarf was heading toward the corner of the refrigerated section,
“Excuse meee~~.”
A thoroughly drunk succubus approached the counter, swishing her tail back and forth.
The smell of alcohol was overpowering, as if she'd been drinking all night.
“Is there something you're looking for?”
“Oh my, you're a male employee? There was always a female manager here beforeee~.”
Reeking of alcohol, she sidled up to the counter.
“Hey, handsome, if you have time, would you like to go out for a drink with me?”
“Sorry, I'm working right now. Do you have anything to buy?”
“Tch. What a shameee.”
You mustn't let yourself be lured away just because someone calls you handsome.
I'd already heard what happened to men who fell for the allure of succubi, a race whose very nature made them beautiful.
[Title : Don't let a pretty succubus lure you away.]
The morning-shift employee, who regularly competed in triathlons and worked out consistently, fell for a succubus's temptation, touched her breasts, and died right before my eyes.
He disappeared after having all his vitality drained, leaving behind only a single scream. I still haven't forgotten it.
In particular, a drunk succubus doesn't stop after draining you once; she'll keep sucking until you die, so don't touch her unless you want to die of sexual exhaustion.
A drunk succubus was a Level 3 problem customer to beware.
The guide said the way to deal with her was to pretend not to be interested, ignore her, and just ring up her purchase.
If I accidentally looked at her breasts even once,
“Hehe, my breasts really are pretty, though…….”
I kept the warning that she'd really drag me away in mind.
It was just when this lewd succubus began lazily swishing her tail and flirting with me.
Thud.
“Hey, ring me up.”
The dwarf spoke indifferently as he set his shopping basket on the counter.
As the slightly drunk dwarf cut in line and inserted himself into the conversation, I faintly heard the succubus click her tongue.
Nice one, dwarf customer.
Was this what they called using one problem customer to deal with another?
Driving away a problem customer with another problem customer.
“Cash?”
“Card. I don't have cash.”
“Understood.”
I took his card and finished the transaction.
“Quit trying to pick up men in a place like this and go to a bar, you bitch.”
The dwarf glared at the succubus and berated her while I rang him up.
“One Esse, please.”
Perhaps her mood had soured; all the coquettishness had vanished from the succubus's voice.
“That'll be 4,500 won.”
“Hmph!”
Apparently annoyed that her seduction hadn't worked, she snorted, snatched the pack, and left the convenience store.
“Whew, that was close.”
If that old dwarf hadn't been there, I might not have been able to resist the temptation of those breasts.
What a rack.
They really were huge……
Smack!
Get a grip, you lunatic.
Even after I almost got done in like that, I still hadn't come to my senses.
Just as the customers left and things quieted down.
Clink, clink.
A large man clad in black full plate armor from head to toe entered.
Black aura dripped onto the floor with every step; he looked dangerous by anyone's standards.
‘Isn't he hot?’
Full plate armor and a helmet in this weather.
I couldn't even see his face through the armor.
After scanning the shelves with his imposing bulk, he headed for the bread section and swept armful after armful of bread bags into his arms.
‘Oh, shit.’
I knew that face.
I'd seen him in the gallery.
One of the Level 5 villains.
A famous named individual.
A crazy Demon King fanatic who buys Demon King Bread in bulk and throws a fit if he doesn't get a Demon King Army Commander sticker.
The only strategy for dealing with him was to hope a Demon King Army Commander sticker came out of the Demon King Bread, and if it didn't…
‘Calming him down somehow has to be my top priority.’
-The Demon King Bread is supposed to be restocked tomorrow, so try using that as an excuse, or use an item with holy power.
Keeping the warnings from the gallery in mind, I waited.
The Death Knight on the blacklist approached the counter.
-Ring it up, human.
Twenty Demon King Breads tumbled out along with his ominous, echoing voice.
Beep, beep, beep.
Once I'd scanned and finished ringing them up, the Death Knight began savagely tearing open the bags of bread right there.
Riiip!
-Grr…… Another slime? Worthless trash.
He plucked out only the stickers inside the bread to check them, then casually tossed the perfectly good bread onto the counter.
Twenty bread bags were ripped to shreds in this fashion, and red eyes blazed with rage through the gaps in the Death Knight's helmet.
Of course.
Every single one had been a sticker of some random low-level monster.
From a convenience store clerk's perspective, I was screwed.
-Why did seven slimes come out? Part-timer, isn't this a scam?
“Um, we're just given whatever products are delivered, so I wouldn't know.”
-Refund requested.
“Huh? You just opened all of them.”
-Not one of the ‘Demon King Army Commander stickers’ I wanted came out! Therefore, these breads are defective! Give me my money back at once!
Bread scraps and plastic wrappers lay strewn across the counter.
And the Death Knight stubbornly making unreasonable demands.
I flinched at the blade-sharp killing intent, but I couldn't back down.
If I refunded those, it would definitely come out of my hourly wage.
“Sir, opened products can't be refunded just because you changed your mind. Demon King Bread will be restocked tomorrow, so if you wait until then……”
-How dare you mock me? You scam me and then have the nerve to act shamelessly!
Shing-!
The Death Knight drew a greatsword from his waist, blue-black demonic energy spewing from it.
The lights inside the store flickered, and the refrigerator glass rattled violently.
“How am I supposed to know that? We just sell whatever gets delivered to us.”
-Enough talk!
Fuck.
I was completely screwed.
That was when.
“Part-timer, I came to repay the kindness you showed me yesterday, but……”
A familiar voice reached my ears.
“Huh? What's going on here?”
It was Friella.
My first problem customer, the self-proclaimed Elf Queen.
Ah.
Things were already hard enough.
And now there were two troublesome customers.
When she saw the Death Knight threatening me with his sword drawn, she frowned.
“Hey, why don't you put that sword away?”
Killing intent seeped into her voice.