When Hyejin told Asha she wanted to buy things for a break room, she had pictured a huge warehouse-style store.
The kind where dust floated in the air, at least a thousand pyeong wide, with dozens of sofas, side tables, chairs, and bookshelves lined up in endless rows.
But this place was nothing like her imagination.
“You can go in and look around. I’ll head back down now. I hope to see you again soon, Lady Asha.”
“Yes, see you next time.”
The reply was quite businesslike.
Hyejin glanced at Asha.
As soon as the staff member took the elevator back down, Hyejin spoke.
“How can a store even look like this? This isn’t some dusty warehouse. This is basically a department store! No, the luxury hall of a department store!”
To describe the scene before her, it was closer to the exclusive luxury section that only VIPs could enter.
The furniture was self-cleaning so no dust ever settled, and glass display cases filled with items for hunters were placed all around the hall.
There was even a rest area for visitors stocked with drinks, simple cookies, and sandwiches.
Soon, employees dressed in sharp suits with ear microphones approached and greeted Hyejin and Asha.
“Welcome. Please feel free to browse, and let us know if there’s anything you’d like.”
Asha gave the employee a small nod and began walking gracefully on all fours.
Hyejin followed behind in a daze, then her eyes landed on a two-seater sofa.
I still have to shop, after all.
It was a sofa wrapped in grey fabric. Hyejin stepped closer and reached out to check the material.
It felt firm yet soft.
She liked the texture already.
To test how comfortable it was to sit on, she sat down, and immediately a mechanical voice rang out from the sofa.
<Current user stamina: 50. Activating system for stamina recovery. Full stamina recovery will take approximately 10 minutes. If you wish to activate the system, please press the YES button.>
First the elevator, now even the sofa talked.
Startled, Hyejin stood up and checked the button panel.
There were only three buttons: power, YES, and NO.
If it weren’t for those buttons, it would look no different from a normal sofa.
“You like this sofa?”
Asha had come over without her noticing. Hyejin nodded.
The staff room in the convenience store didn’t need huge, expensive furniture.
They needed things you could sit on for five or ten minutes to rest.
Even convenience stores that provided meal allowances rarely had proper places for employees to actually eat.
Come to think of it…
Hyejin suddenly remembered the part-timers’ meals.
Part-timers usually ate convenience-store lunch boxes or gimbap, but you couldn’t eat only triangle kimbap and bento every day.
When Hyejin had worked at convenience stores, she got sick of that food in less than a month.
Eventually she couldn’t even look at it.
Having worked almost two years eating every kind of cup ramen and gimbap imaginable, she wanted the people working with her to be able to eat warm soup or proper home-cooked meals instead.
Since she had lived alone after turning twenty, Hyejin was actually pretty good at cooking, but that alone wasn’t enough.
Then a lightning-fast thought struck her.
I need a chef. A Cooking Master.
“Asha, I know this sounds crazy, but now that I think about it, it would be great to have a part-timer with Cooking Master qualifications.We could cook together, and make things like corn soup or doenjang stew for the hunters who can’t eat proper meals while wandering the dungeon.
Oh, and I think there was a ‘Pot That Can Cook Anything’ in the manager shop, right?”
“You’re right. But to use that, you need a hunter with the Chef class.”
“If this store is going to succeed, good food is important, but more than that, we need something we can make and sell ourselves. When I was a civilian, I saw regular convenience stores frying chicken or baking pizza.”
“Convenience-store coffee machines are common now.I want to cook real food for hunters inside the dungeon.”
One of Asha’s round eyes twitched with interest.
“Not a bad idea. The first actually good idea you’ve had. To think you’d come up with it before I even gave you a hint. Don’t worry, I’ve already found a Cooking Master hunter.”
“Seriously?!”
“Stock only comes once a week, and no matter how much we bring in, it won’t be enough.
Hunters inside the dungeon are always starving. Their stamina drops fast.”
“Exactly! So… who is it? Please tell me it’s not another overwhelming person. I told you, Lee Suho is more than enough. I’m not hiring any more super-amazing hunters.”
“SS-rank hunter Cha Seojun.”
“What? Cha Seojun? The Cha Seojun I know?”
Hyejin had no choice but to be shocked again. Another SS-rank.
For a Cooking Master, she didn’t need SS-rank; she would have been perfectly happy with A, B, or even C.
“Isn’t Cha Seojun the famous head chef of the SATURN Hotel? The one who appeared on TV?
I heard he quit the hotel after awakening as a hunter.”
“You know him very well.”
“Of course! I’ve always wanted to try his food!
My dad used to love… anyway, are you really talking about that Cha Seojun?”
“Yes, that Cha Seojun. Like you said, he had nowhere to go after leaving the hotel, so I recruited him for our store. It’ll be good for him too, he’ll regain the pride he lost.”
“Even if no one needs him outside the dungeon, inside this dungeon he can be the best chef there is.”
“If he makes and sells food inside the convenience store, it’ll be great for the hunters and for Cha Seojun, who always wanted to put his name on the food he cooked.”
Hyejin listened to Asha, then looked around the hall again.
She had shouted that she didn’t want any more SS-ranks, but if a chef that amazing was coming, she could leave the cooking to him without worry.
If Seojun was really coming to the dungeon convenience store, he would need his own space too.
At the very least a small sink, cutting boards, knives, plate racks, an oven or gas range… the list was endless.
You can’t even make a sandwich with your bare hands.
Just then, an employee approached the still-dazed Hyejin.
“Customer, you have excellent taste! This is our newest sofa model. Allow me to explain—”
“No, more than the sofa, I need kitchen fixtures that an SS-rank Cooking Master could use.
I can’t carry them myself, so I’d like delivery.”
“I won’t buy anything too expensive, just in case we end up not using it.So, to sum up, please show me reasonably priced, practical kitchen items that a Cooking Master would need.”
Excited at the prospect of finally buying proper fixtures, Hyejin rattled off her words quickly.
The momentarily flustered employee put on a professional smile and nodded.
“Understood. I’ll show you items within a reasonable price range. Would you like me to prepare the receipt in advance, or should I tell you the price of each item as we go?”
Hyejin thought for a second and answered.
“Actually, may I ask something first? After purchase, if there’s a problem or we don’t need it, is returning possible?”
It was a little embarrassing to ask that in a place that felt like a luxury hall, but it was important to her.
She could only buy what was truly necessary; she couldn’t waste money.
She had to save steadily so the store could grow. She needed emergency funds for unexpected situations.
“Just a moment!”
Hyejin opened her status window to check her remaining gold.
1,000,000 gold had become 200,000 gold.
She could only spend 200,000 gold right now.
200,000 gold was roughly 200,000 won in real money, about a week’s living expenses.
Hyejin fell into thought.
A sofa, lockers for part-timers, and kitchen fixtures for Hunter Cha Seojun… it was nowhere near enough money.
She let out a deep sigh and looked at Asha.
“Hey, Asha…”
“Don’t worry about money. I’ll cover this. I made a deposit here when we signed the contract.”
“A deposit?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The employee, who had been watching the two of them, stepped forward with a perfect sales smile.
“Even if you buy everything you inquired about plus this sofa, Lady Asha’s pre-deposited funds are more than sufficient, so please don’t worry.
I’ll make sure to send only sturdy, high-quality items that aren’t overly expensive.”
Only then did a big smile appear on Hyejin’s face.
Without thinking, she pulled Asha into a tight hug.
As expected of my guardian spirit!
“You’re suffocating me. I told you not to treat me like a real cat.”
“I’m just so grateful! Once the sofa and kitchen stuff arrive tomorrow, we can put them in the staff room. This is perfect.”
The employee, watching the scene with wide eyes, asked Hyejin again.
“May I know the approximate size of the staff area?”
Asha answered faster than Hyejin.
“It’s about ten pyeong. But since it’s a convenience store, we can expand the space as much as we want. It’s like a growing item.”
“Ah, then there will be no problem at all. I was worried there might not be enough room.
We’ll deliver everything to Lady Asha’s location by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Thank you.”
“…satisfied.”
“Should we send it to the same address you gave last time? Thank you again for your continued patronage.”
“Yes, please send it to the same place. Looking forward to working with you again.”
After finishing the conversation with the employee, Asha turned to Hyejin.
“Tomorrow your second part-timer is coming for an interview. You can hold the interview while Lee Suho works, so the store will be fine. Just like last time, your attitude during the interview can affect your Manager title level.”
“Got it, Asha. Wow, I’m so nervous about meeting Cha Seojun.”
“You weren’t nervous working with me, I see.”
“You’re a cat.”
“Whatever. Let’s go back now. We have to reopen the store.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.