The customer kept wandering around the shelves, picking up items to check the expiration dates, and then putting them back in their original places multiple times.
He seems like a cautious customer.
The system had given hints about their characteristics, but it was still too early to confidently determine which hint this customer matched.
Even before the dungeon gate burst open, when she worked at a regular convenience store, she’d seen plenty of customers who took their time selecting items, so his careful manner of choosing didn’t stress her out.
The only worry was that this was a quest situation.
She couldn’t afford to dissatisfy even one.
For now, Hyejin decided to watch from a distance.
If she approached too hastily and spoke to him, it might make the customer uncomfortable.
A moment later, the customer, who had been taking his time selecting items, glanced at Hyejin standing at the counter.
A brief silence followed.
Setting aside Eunwoo, who was looking at the customer strangely, Hyejin smiled at him.
He appeared to be just over 40, but there was something clumsy about him.
The glasses perched on his nose, the constant scratching of his head.
Above all, the way he kept glancing toward the counter.
After a short deliberation, Hyejin stepped out from behind the counter and cautiously approached the customer.
“There are so many items in the convenience store that it’s hard to find what you’re looking for, right? We’re constantly stocking new products. If there’s something specific you’re searching for, please tell me. I’ll find it for you.”
The hunter then scratched the back of his head with his right hand and replied.
“Um……, you know. I have a problem…….”
Hyejin nodded repeatedly at the customer’s words, as if to say, feel free, tell me anything.
“I’m trying to choose a cup ramen……. But I’m having trouble deciding what to eat. Actually, when I go out to eat with friends, I’m the type who takes forever to choose…….”
The customer kept mumbling and trailing off. It was hard to make out unless you focused closely.
But Hyejin nodded with a face full of an ‘I empathize with you’ aura, without showing any panic.
“I see. There are so many kinds of ramen, it’s hard to decide. I always stand in front of the shelf for a while too.”
He looked clumsy, but his kind face didn’t make him seem like a troublemaker.
While working at convenience stores, the only time she’d actively recommended and sold products to customers was with the omelets, which was her first and last.
Convenience stores often had customers who found such service intrusive.
Hyejin looked at the products with a nervous heart.
I can’t approach in a way that feels burdensome.
Hyejin pondered carefully.
When she worked with Asha, the one they ate and liked the most was the cup ramen with whole sesame seeds, green onions, minced garlic, dried onion slices, and Cheongyang pepper toppings.
Unlike other products, this cup ramen had fresh noodles, and you poured hot water up to the line and microwaved it for 3 minutes.
“How about this Beef Whole Sesame Ramen?”
“Beef Whole Sesame?”
After hearing Hyejin’s words, he slowly pushed up his slipping glasses with his hand.
It was still hard to pinpoint the customer’s type for sure.
He was the slow-moving style, taking forever to make the next move.
A few years ago, when she worked at a convenience store, she and her part-time coworkers had chatted about the ‘most legendary customers’ each had seen.
The top one was a customer who stood in the store for over an hour pondering what to buy. When she told her friends, they called it a lie and didn’t believe her.
There were even more extreme customers.
That day’s legendary one was just that person.
Like the drunk who came in, chugged unpaid milk, and passed out on the floor, or the intoxicated one who yelled curses demanding alcohol, or the one who berated her about family upbringing just for asking for bag fees.
Working at a convenience store, you encountered all types of customers.
But when she told her parents or friends about such cases, they all said not to exaggerate and didn’t believe her.
Those unbelievable incidents were Hyejin’s stark reality.
“If you like chewy noodle texture, you’ll fall for the fresh noodles. It’s my favorite ramen too!”
“Ah, I see.. Sorry, but are there other ramens besides this? I don’t like the design.”
Not the taste, but the design?
Hyejin was momentarily flustered but soon nodded.
That could happen.
Cup ramen was still a product, and when selecting products, people did look at the design.
“Then how about this one?”
After a brief thought, Hyejin picked up another ramen.
It was a hunter favorite, the Gopchang Hot Pot flavor ramen.
It came with separate soups: perilla powder, dried vegetables, red pepper powder, seasoning paste, and mushroom broth.
Plus, it had pre-cooked gopchang inside, and when microwaved, it had no smell and a savory taste that was top-notch.
Induk Trading had even said this Gopchang Hot Pot ramen was their flagship product.
It was a cup ramen she was confident in.
“Gopchang Hot Pot ramen? Ah……, I don’t like gopchang. I have a gopchang allergy.”
Gopchang allergy?
In all her life, Hyejin had never heard of a gopchang allergy.
There’s such a thing as gopchang allergy, I didn’t know.
As Hyejin’s expression grew serious, the customer, glancing at her face, awkwardly laughed hehe.
“Hahaha, just kidding……. I don’t like gopchang. I mean, I dislike it enough to be allergic.”
Hyejin laughed hehe along with the customer. In her mind, Is this supposed to be a joke right now?
Irritation surged, but she forced herself to act as if it was truly a funny joke.
“Ah, haha. Hahaha. I see.”
“Yeah, ah. Maybe I shouldn’t eat cup ramen and have a bento instead. Do you sell bentos here?”
“Bentos, you say.”
It was a disaster.
Hyejin looked at the empty spot at the very bottom of the refrigerated section where kimbap and triangle kimbap were displayed, with just one bento placed there.
It was incredibly delicious, and more test-sale bentos were scheduled to arrive soon, but selling that bento to this customer right now was difficult.
She didn’t know when they’d arrive, and waiting might make him angry.
Also, even though Hyejin had taste-tested it herself, she hesitated to serve it to a quest customer.
Of course, she had some trust in it. It was a menu that Seungseok and his factory workers had worked hard to come up with.
“Um, I’m sorry, customer. We don’t sell bentos at our convenience store yet. We’re preparing to sell them soon, so when you come next time, you’ll be able to try various bentos!”
Hyejin replied with a bright smile. Now, she planned to naturally recommend kimbap or triangle kimbap.
There were plenty of menus she wanted to recommend.
“Ah, but I want a bento right now.”
However, at the customer’s somewhat displeased response that followed, she could only stop without saying anything.
How was she supposed to satisfy a customer demanding something that wasn’t there?
As Hyejin pondered, the delivery machine flashed with light.
Would you like to receive the ‘bento’ delivery from ‘Induk Trading’?
It arrived already!
The deliberation was short, and the action was quick.
“Can you wait just a moment? I think I can present a bento. Just a sec!”
Hyejin practically ran to the delivery machine and pressed the receive button.
Then, just like before, a yellow light emanated from the bottom of the scale, and in the blink of an eye, the light that had engulfed the convenience store disappeared.
What remained was a meticulously packed bento.
Hyejin quickly unpacked it and presented the appetizing bento to the customer.
“This is the convenience store bento we’re making. This is our Bento No. 1, a fresh and warm Korean meal bento for those looking for ordinary Korean food.”
The customer, who looked at the bento once and Hyejin once, swallowed at Hyejin’s confident expression that hid her worries.
“Can I trust and eat that bento?”
“Of course.”
Despite Hyejin’s worry-free, energetic reply, the customer alternated glances between Hyejin and the bento with eyes full of suspicion.
“Well, I did ask for a bento, but can I really trust and eat a convenience store bento? Right? It seems like there might be hygiene issues. And anyway, if you keep rice in the fridge for so long, won’t it spoil?”
Only then did Hyejin find the keyword that matched this customer from the hints the system had given.
‘Nitpicker’
Just from the way he stared blankly at the customer without a word, and how he busily spouted excuses that weren’t really excuses as if feeling guilty, it was clear.
Hyejin had to swallow a sigh inwardly without showing it.
Even if it’s a quest, come on. Who nitpicks convenience store bentos these days.
The type who loved finding faults, saying this product has this flaw and that product has that, without any real interest in the items.
The customer who brought perfectly fine products and spewed complaints.
That was exactly this type of customer.
The clumsy appearance was a fake to hide that tendency.
Hyejin took a short deep breath.