Hyejin hesitated for a moment before answering.
Instead of replying to Eunwoo, she spoke to Asha.
“Asha, is there any way we can get more new products from Mr. Lee Seungseok?”
At her words, Asha seemed to ponder something before opening her mouth.
“I can ask Induk Trading to supply more goods. But this convenience store is just starting out, and we can’t stock every item just because a customer complains.”
“That’s true, but I also think we’re short on drinks.”
Hyejin carefully inspected the drink refrigerator once more.
“Hmm, still, we probably need a few more drinks. The biggest problem is that there are none specifically for hunters. What Seojun said earlier wasn’t wrong either.”
Hyejin recalled the past situation.
When the dungeon gate exploded in the middle of Gangnam, Seoul, people were divided into two groups.
One group believed that since the world had changed, society should adapt to hunters.
The other insisted that even with dungeons appearing, they would eventually disappear, so the old social system should be maintained.
Among them, the most noticeable were those creating stores for hunters.
Clothing and equipment to wear inside dungeons, lunchbox shops for guild association hunters running group raids, insurance companies for accidents in dungeons, mutual aid companies for when hunters died in dungeons—countless businesses sprang up like mushrooms.
Watching that, Hyejin had snorted.
What’s the point of all that?
High-rank hunters must have it so good.
Everything’s taken care of for them.
And that thought wasn’t wrong.
Even among hunters, E-rank or F-rank ones were the top targets to avoid at hunter-oriented businesses.
Especially insurance companies sensitive to hunters’ deaths—they outright refused low-rank hunters from the start.
Because you never know when they’ll die.
That was their common thinking.
But a convenience store was a place that didn’t discriminate against hunters.
Or rather, it was a space for all hunters.
If there was one more thing missing in this dungeon, it was a cafe.
Hyejin wanted to make this a convenience store for all hunters by creating drinks tailored to them.
Since they now had Eunwoo, a healer, collaborating with Seojun, the cooking master, shouldn’t be difficult.
Finishing her thoughts, Hyejin smiled brightly and spoke to Asha.
“We should make and sell drinks.”
“What?”
“Yes. Manager. That’s a great idea. If Chef Seojun makes the drinks and I infuse heal into them, we’ll have blockbuster beverages.”
“If it’s drinks, what do you plan to sell? Like Americano or vanilla latte?”
“Those would be good too, but what if we add heal to an ade made by mixing sparkling water and fruit? For the iced coffee-loving hunters, we’ll sell iced Americano of course. For MP potions, make them like blue lemonade or non-alcoholic mojito, and for HP potions, use grapefruit, strawberry, or apple syrup to make them red. Since we can’t sell alcohol in the dungeon, mixing in cool sparkling water should be fine.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. Ade can be bought by anyone regardless of age.”
At Eunwoo’s words, Hyejin nodded and said.
“While working as a part-timer, I’d like you to help with drink production.”
“Great, great.”
“But.”
“But?”
“I want you to use heal only to a degree that’s not dangerous for you, Mr. Yoon Eunwoo. Using too much heal will definitely tire you out. Please use it moderately every day.”
“Okay. That way, my mana won’t erode me anymore. And actually, I have a request too.”
“What request?”
“What request?”
Asha and Hyejin simultaneously leaned toward Eunwoo.
“If I’m working and using heal, you’ll add a bonus on top of my hourly wage, right?”
“Huh? Ah, I hadn’t thought of that. Then I need to consider how much to give.”
Eunwoo, who had been grinning, chuckled at Hyejin’s serious expression and waved his hands.
“Hahaha, just kidding. I came here because I wanted to work with someone, not because I desperately wanted to make crazy money. You can pay me the same salary as the other part-timers.”
Hyejin, who had genuinely been worrying about giving Eunwoo more pay, reluctantly nodded when he firmly refused.
Then, approaching Asha so Eunwoo wouldn’t hear, she whispered.
“I’m still a bit worried, but he seems like a good person. Maybe I’ve misunderstood Mr. Yoon Eunwoo. And I want to verify if he really qualifies as a healer. It might be presumptuous.”
“Do you have to keep him close to check that? It’s not like a test.”
“It’s definitely presumptuous for someone like me to test an SS-rank healer like Mr. Eunwoo, but still, as the manager here, I want to see his qualifications as a part-timer. Since his wish was to use heal for others, I want to grant that wish too.”
“Are you running a convenience store or a charity?”
“Still, Asha. It would be nice if our part-timers are happy too. Anyway, I’ll handle the main work.”
Hyejin stroked Asha’s head and then spoke to Eunwoo.
“For now, since Seojun has gone home, shall we properly learn the convenience store work until we start making drinks?”
This is too fun—what do I do?
***
Arranging by expiration date in a line—lining things up in a row is my specialty.
Mopping takes this much strength… It’s quite advanced.
Eunwoo kept voicing his impressions every time Hyejin taught him a task.
Because he came in a suit, he rolled up his shirt sleeves to the elbows and wore the employee vest—his appearance didn’t quite match the convenience store, but his expression looked free.
“What a guy.”
Asha seemed thoroughly displeased.
Shaking her head, Asha said she was going to rest and disappeared.
Eunwoo, who had been diligently mopping the floor, wiped his flowing sweat and muttered to himself.
“For something harder than this, I could just call the people employed at our house…”
Oh?
“Mr. Eunwoo. You shouldn’t pass work off to others.”
“Gah. Did the manager hear that?”
Hyejin smiled at him and beckoned him to the register.
She had now taught him pretty much all the convenience store tasks.
She started with easy ones like organizing refrigerated foods, mopping, and stocking shelves—and fortunately, Eunwoo handled everything without much difficulty, rather enjoying it.
“Now I’ll teach you how to use the register. Anyway, the hours you work—from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.—seem quiet but are actually subtly busy times.”
“Hey, busy is fine. But I’ve been thinking, and there’s one thing I’m worried about.”
“What is it?”
“I’m worried people might recognize my face—can I wear sunglasses while working?”
Hyejin firmly shook her head at Eunwoo’s absurd question.
As if expecting that reaction, Eunwoo quickly continued.
“Right? I knew it. Well, what’s wrong with people recognizing my face? It’s not like my handsome face will wear out. Soon the hunter community will be buzzing about me anyway, and I like that kind of reaction.”
“Wearing sunglasses would make the store look dark, and more importantly, it’s bad for your eyes, Mr. Yoon Eunwoo.”
“Hahaha, yeah, that’s true. It was all a joke, a joke.”
“Okay, then try scanning this. You don’t scan the barcode scanner anywhere—there’s a barcode on the top or bottom of the product. Align it there, and it goes beep right away.”
“It’s so easy I could do it lying down.”
Eunwoo took the product from Hyejin and carefully held it to the barcode scanner.
He probably thought he was being bold, but the product in his hand was trembling slightly.
“Don’t be too nervous. There haven’t been any really bad customers yet. Working at a convenience store, I’ve noticed customers mostly fall into two types. Those who talk and those who don’t. Same for part-timers.”
“Hahaha, what’s that?”
Eunwoo laughed as if it was ridiculous at Hyejin’s words.
But Hyejin, as if not joking, spoke again with a blank face.
“Usually, people coming to convenience stores are on their way to work, leaving work, or going to school, so they don’t feel like talking much. They’re mentally and physically exhausted…? Because of that, sometimes they don’t respond even to greetings.”
“Mr. Yoon Eunwoo probably goes to places like department store VIP rooms and gets the best service, but part-timers get really worn out after dealing with weird troublesome customers and stop talking from then on.”
“Really? Well, I’ve never been in the position of a part-timer before.”
“Exactly. Here, the positions are reversed, so you can’t act with a chaebol mindset. Don’t talk too much to this customer or that.And very occasionally, there are customers who do talk—usually they’re looking for something, so you need to know the locations of products in the store well. I just gave an example of non-talkative part-timers, but I hope there are none like that in this convenience store.”
Catching her breath, Hyejin continued.
“It might be my greed, but this is a place where hunters who constantly face life and death come. I want it to always be remembered as a warm space for them.”
“Okay. Got it. I understand everything.”
“Are you really going to be okay?”
“Manager, do you think second-generation chaebols just eat, play, and can’t work properly? I’ll show you how well I can do it, so don’t worry.”
Beep.
Eunwoo scanned the product’s barcode and proudly showed the screen with the amount.
“See?”
At that sight, Hyejin let out a small laugh mixed with a sigh.