“Heave-ho, am I getting old? I used to lift these things with ease.”
Having barely moved the plastic box full of kimbap into the convenience store, Seungseok wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He’d already made three trips back and forth.
Since there were so many items to deliver, there were still four plastic boxes left in the truck.
The plastic boxes that Suho and Eunwoo had carried were filling up the inside of the convenience store, and Seojun, who had just arrived for work, was helping Hyejin check the count of the delivered goods.
Hyejin looked at them and said cautiously.
“There’s quite a lot, right?”
“Yeah, a bit. But when there were no part-timers, did you organize all this by yourself, Manager?”
As Eunwoo looked at Hyejin with admiration, Seojun added.
“This amount would be pretty heavy and quite tiring.”
Hyejin was about to say she used the time machine device on her wrist but firmly closed her mouth.
She knew how big the repercussions of that one word could be.
Instead, Hyejin smiled and said to them.
“I’ve worked at convenience stores before, and done a lot of part-time jobs, so this much isn’t that hard.”
“Still, it’s impressive.”
“Be honest, Manager. You’re not SS-rank, but at least S-rank hunter, right?”
At Eunwoo’s words, Seojun and Suho exchanged glances simultaneously.
They had come in before Eunwoo, but they hadn’t shown any curiosity about the manager.
It wasn’t just that they weren’t close yet; they thought prying too much was rude.
Hyejin smiled awkwardly and shook her head.
“I’m just a convenience store manager, not an amazing being like you all.”
When Hyejin showed a slight discomfort, Seojun stood up from his seat and naturally changed the topic.
“There’s still a lot left to organize, so how about you carry more boxes instead of the manager, Eunwoo? The delivery person is struggling to move them alone.”
“Aw, hyung. I told you to drop the formal speech.”
“Haha, alright. Then since I’ll drop it, can I ask you a favor?”
“Yep! I’ll go help right away.”
Eunwoo’s bold friendliness was something else. Clearly, it was their first meeting, and due to the situation, Hyejin hadn’t even introduced them, but they had already exchanged names and were speaking casually.
Eunwoo ran out of the convenience store again and brought in the last remaining plastic box, placing it inside the staff room.
That plastic box contained fairly expensive products, so he deliberately put it further in.
“Looks like it’s almost done now. Three part-timers in just a week. Hold on. Huh? The one at the far left, aren’t you Chef Cha Seojun by any chance?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Wow, I never thought I’d see the famous Chef Cha Seojun in person. What an honor! Originally, our Induk Trading was thinking about collaborating with famous chefs. That’s popular these days, right? Chefs and companies teaming up to make things like pork cutlets or meal kits.”
“I’m not amazing enough to do collaborations like that.”
As Seojun scratched his head and spoke, Seungseok laughed heartily and replied.
“That’s right. I know. You’re famous in the industry for not being greedy for money. Anyway, hang in there. Rumors always follow people at the top.”
At Seungseok’s unexpected consolation, Seojun, who had widened his eyes, soon smiled brightly.
“Thank you for saying that. Manager. Then, I’ll prepare the omelets for morning sales first. I gauged it a bit yesterday, but after selling today’s portion, we’ll need to buy more ingredients.”
“Ah, Seojun. I’ll handle the shopping today.”
“You don’t have to…….”
“It’s fine. And I’m going to redo the convenience store interior. Instead of bustling around selling food inside, I plan to use the outdoor space.”
Seungseok, who had been quietly listening to Hyejin and Seojun’s conversation, let out a small exclamation.
“Young people are different, alright. Who would think of cooking and selling food in a convenience store? Well, these days they even fry chicken, but omelets? I hear it’s already getting rave reviews for being delicious. I’ll cheer you on, hope it goes well. Show me a taste next time I come.”
“Of course. I’ll definitely let you try it next time.”
“Great! Alright, looks like all the goods are unloaded, so we should slowly talk about what we need to, right?”
At Seungseok’s sly words, Hyejin nodded vigorously and looked at the part-timers.
“Um, sorry, but.”
It was then. Without even hearing all of Hyejin’s words, Eunwoo nodded with an expression like he knew everything.
“We’ll handle organizing the goods ourselves, so go talk with ahjussi, Manager. Right, hyung?”
“Of course.”
Suho also nodded at Eunwoo’s words. Seeing that, Hyejin winked her eyes as if to say thanks, then turned around to look at Seungseok.
“Shall we go outside to talk?”
***
“First, have this while it’s warm. You worked hard today too.”
Hyejin brought a honey yuzu tea from the convenience store products, poured hot water, and handed it to him. Seungseok took it and blew on it.
“Thanks. Ah, refreshing. Feels like it’s clearing my insides.”
Hyejin, who had been glancing at Seungseok’s expression, cleared her throat with a hem, hem, and slowly opened her mouth.
“Um, while running the convenience store for two weeks, I realized there’s a concerning point in terms of sales. At this rate, the convenience store might go bankrupt.”
“Pfft, what? Go bankrupt?”
When Seungseok spurted out the yuzu tea he had in his mouth, Hyejin quickly brought tissues and handed them to him. Since they were sitting at the parasol table outside the convenience store, Hyejin had to wipe up all the yuzu tea Seungseok had sprayed with the tissues. As she wiped the table, Hyejin continued.
“I can’t tell you why I’m working here, but I have to pay the part-timers’ salaries, and the money needed to run the convenience store isn’t small. That’s why I ended up making and selling omelets too.”
“Really? I heard the convenience store in the dungeon is raking in money by selling all sorts of things, but I guess not? Outside, people say the convenience store is sweeping up hunters’ money.”
Hyejin made a troubled expression at Lee Seungseok’s words.
Lately, she hadn’t been checking hunter communities or general communities much, so she hadn’t heard the rumors about the convenience store.
She’d only seen the content Eunwoo showed her related to Baektae Confectionery, and otherwise lived with her eyes and ears closed.
She hadn’t even had the leisure to hear what people outside were buzzing about.
Well, since it’s a monopoly convenience store in the dungeon, it’s not strange for such rumors to spread.
Hyejin smiled awkwardly.
“Being a monopoly isn’t all good.”
After exhaling once, Hyejin said toward Seungseok.
“The convenience store’s situation is completely different from the rumors, ahjussi. The products are all good. Thanks to Induk Trading making them so well. Hunters who buy miscellaneous items once come back looking for the same products again.”
“Hahaha, of course! It’s only natural since our Induk Trading supplies them. I put so much effort into placing orders. I don’t know about other things, but my belief is that food, clothing, and daily items shouldn’t be made cheaply by cutting corners. So the factory workers complain sometimes. They say I nag too much. Even though they work hard on their own, they say I hound them.”
“That’s right. The items are really good, so I keep buying and using things like socks myself.”
Hyejin subtly showed Seungseok the socks she was wearing.
Since she couldn’t properly do laundry or had no socks while at the convenience store, she had no choice but to buy and use the products in the store, and Induk Trading’s hair ties and socks were really durable.
“Heh heh, knowing the manager uses them too makes me even prouder.”
“Haha. Um, so what I wanted to say today is…… I’d like you to deliver more goods.”
At Hyejin’s words, Seungseok nodded.
“I saw that already. You placed an order today. I checked on my way here.”
“Ah, you checked. The supercomputer was set up today. So I ordered with that, and I’m going to run a promotion with those products. Buy one item and get another as a bonus, so I’ll reprice them too.”
“You’re good at business, alright. But I hope you don’t sell them too cheaply.”
“Huh? Ah, yes. Of course.”
“Since the items are so good, if you put them out at rock-bottom prices, it’d hurt my heart. And…… you want more deliveries? Even though I bring this much once a week, you need more?”
“Yes. For miscellaneous items, I think I can order as needed through the system, but for foods, like instant cooked foods such as tteokbokki or rabokki, sundae bokkeum or kimbap types, frozen foods good for late-night snacks, it’d be great if more food items came in. And I’ve been thinking, what about selling bentos too? What do you think?”
“Bentos?”
“Yes. Even though it’s inside the dungeon, this is the entrance, so some people eat before going in. So everyone regrets that there’s no bento even though it’s a convenience store.”
“Hm, bentos…….”
“I hope the price isn’t too expensive. Around 4,000 to 5,000 gold? Lower-rank hunters don’t have great finances, so above that would be burdensome…….”
It was true.
Even though she was a hunter, as an F-rank, it was too hard for Hyejin to earn gold.
You had to earn gold by hunting monsters, joining a guild, or working for a company that hires hunters, but with Hyejin’s abilities, she couldn’t choose any of those.
So, even if not as much as Hyejin, lower-rank hunters were all the same, right?
But if convenience store bentos were over 7,000 or 8,000 gold, they’d be in the pitiful position of not being able to comfortably eat even convenience store bentos.
Hyejin hoped there wouldn’t be any customers who couldn’t buy bentos because of the price.
The convenience store was a place to make money, but it was also a space that had to coexist with hunters, that is, customers.
You had to think of the customers first to make money at the convenience store too.
Hyejin looked at Seungseok with a serious face.
“So, my request ultimately is this. Ahjussi, couldn’t you deliver a bit more frequently? There won’t be any delays in payment or anything like that. I’ll make sure not to leave any inventory somehow.”
“Well, if it’s hard, you could delay…… But I have something I want to ask. Do hunters really like our Induk Trading food?”
Seungseok had a fairly calm face. No sign of difficulty.
After he completely emptied the remaining yuzu tea into his mouth and asked curiously, Hyejin answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Of course. We can’t sell them because they’re out of stock. That’s why I’m asking like this, ahjussi.”
When Hyejin asked again, Seungseok nodded and stood up from his seat. Then he said to her.
“I get the gist. I’ll go and discuss it. Should take about two days. Since there’s a company structure, I can’t decide alone. I have to talk to the department heads, deputy heads, MDs, and factory workers. Especially for things like bentos, we’d have to develop new products.”
Seungseok looked at Hyejin with a quite serious face.
“It’s not a definite yes, so don’t get your hopes up too much. It’s not easy for me to come into the dungeon either.”
Knowing it wasn’t something he could decide right away, Hyejin couldn’t hold him back.
When Hyejin smiled faintly, Seungseok got back into the truck without hesitation and waved his hand.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.