“Well, I know that nowadays convenience stores make bentos hygienically. I’ve eaten a lot of convenience store bentos too, but this is inside a dungeon, right? Humid and dirty……. Honestly, convenience store bentos taste a bit off.”
“The chicken or meat is too tough, and there’s that peculiar refrigerated taste, you know? Anyway, it has an unpleasant flavor that I don’t like. It seems like it’s been made a long time ago…….”
Hyejin didn’t fail to understand his words, but what he said was clearly different from the facts.
Hyejin had once worked part-time briefly at a food company that supplied convenience stores, and the factory where they made the food strictly guarded hygiene and fresh ingredients.
“I’ve worked at a food company that supplies convenience stores, and they didn’t use old ingredients, nor did they supply products that had been made long ago.”
“That sounds like you’re biased because it’s where you worked. Who would speak badly about the place they worked at? Right?”
It felt like a clang sound rang out as if she was being hit on the head repeatedly.
This is too much from the start! There’s nitpicking and then there’s this!
Suppressing the urge to scream out argh, Hyejin maintained her composure as much as possible and looked at him.
Just then, Eunwoo, who had been watching Hyejin and the customer from behind the counter, approached with a hardened expression as if angry, but Hyejin extended her hand to stop him.
She absolutely had to handle this customer herself and satisfy him.
“Of course, it’s hard to speak badly about the place I work. But even as the manager, if the convenience store products aren’t good, I don’t sell them to customers. I don’t want to do business without a conscience.”
At Hyejin’s serious reply, the surprised customer rolled his eyes around and then giggled.
“Hehe, it’s a joke. A joke. You take jokes seriously, Manager. You must hear that you’re no fun a lot.”
It would be great if she could just press his mouth shut with her finger.
Unlike his earlier clumsy appearance of scratching his head, he seemed to be testing Hyejin.
Hyejin even looked around, wondering if this quest was actually a hidden camera prank set up by Asha and the system.
Of course, there was nothing around.
How should I respond to someone like this?
Hyejin, who had become quite serious, had to ponder deeply.
Maybe for someone like this, the answer was an honest response without any pretense?
Exhausted from the argument that wasn’t quite an argument with the customer, Hyejin finally made up her mind and boldly tore open the bento’s packaging she was holding.
“!”
This startled both Eunwoo and the customer who were watching Hyejin.
“Wh-what are you doing right now?”
“Just a moment, customer.”
Hyejin soon handed the part of the torn packaging with the barcode to Eunwoo and said to him.
“I’ll pay for it, so please ring it up. Press the add product button and scan the barcode, then you can enter the price. Put it in as 5,000 gold.”
“Huh? Yes. Manager. I’ll try.”
When the flustered customer showed an offended expression, Hyejin turned back, met his eyes, and smiled brightly.
“Rather than explaining it multiple times with words, I thought it would be better for you to try a sample. I know very well that it might be rude to the customer, but don’t you feel like buying after tasting convenience store food, just like at a mart? At marts, you can sample various foods and choose.”
“Well, that’s true, but…… If you do business like that, you won’t have anything left, Manager.”
“It’s fine.”
Acting like he was considering it now, of all times.
The customer’s words and actions were annoying, but she had to recommend this bento to someone anyway.
Just like she had recommended Seojun’s omelets.
It’s all or nothing anyway.
With the first customer, Hyejin decided on a big gamble.
It was something she absolutely couldn’t do if she thought the money was a waste.
But a cheap bento could raise suspicions that it tasted bad or had some issue.
It seemed better to let him taste it for free first to prevent such comments and make him feel at ease.
A free bento tasting at a convenience store. It really didn’t fit, but Hyejin decided to try it.
As the convenience store manager.
This bento would become the pride of the convenience store.
Hyejin put the bento in the microwave and heated it for 2 minutes as per the instructions. Exactly 2 minutes later.
Ding.
The microwave notification sounded that it was done, and as soon as the sound rang, Hyejin took the warmly heated bento and guided the customer to the staff room.
“Come this way and try it. If it doesn’t suit your taste, I’ll recommend another product. Satisfying you is the most important. If by any chance you get sick from eating this bento, we’ll cover the hospital bills, of course, and provide compensation from the convenience store itself.”
His expression wasn’t crumpled as if offended, but it was still subtly ambiguous.
“You seem to be taking a risk, Manager. How tasty can a convenience store bento be, anyway…….”
It wasn’t wrong.
After all, convenience store food was convenience store food.
It would be on a different level from freshly cooked rice made by mom.
Still.
“As I said, if it doesn’t suit your taste, I’ll recommend another product. It might be a risk, but I want to promote the good products at our convenience store a lot.”
Hyejin carefully placed the soup bowl she had set aside earlier on the table.
“Ah, and there’s even soup.”
“Warm soup, modest rice, and side dishes. A simple but hearty meal before entering the dungeon. That’s the main message of this bento.”
Despite Hyejin’s words, the hunter tilted his head skeptically and slowly walked over to sit at the table.
Then, he soon began eating the bento with a spoon and chopsticks.
One bite, two bites.
The customer’s expression, who had been slowly pushing the food into his mouth and savoring it, gradually brightened.
Just like the sun rising.
“Is this bento really 5,000 gold?”
His eyes, which at first seemed to say he couldn’t believe the quality of the bento, now changed to eyes that couldn’t believe the price.
However, his sharp tone and gaze didn’t seem completely unguarded.
Of course, his face was still bright.
“Yes, it’s 5,000 gold. How does it taste?”
Hyejin asked him cautiously.
“Let me eat a bit more.”
The hunter kept shoveling rice and side dishes into his mouth.
Then, as if thirsty, he said to Hyejin.
“Water, please bring me a glass of water. This seaweed soup is good, but I inherently don’t like seaweed much. I hate the slippery texture of seaweed. Well, today it’s tolerable, though.”
For someone saying that, the soup bowl in front of the customer was cleanly empty of seaweed.
Seeing Hyejin’s gaze go to the soup bowl, the customer awkwardly added words as if embarrassed, and Hyejin smiled faintly.
The system was truly amazing.
Where did it find a customer like this?
However, Hyejin didn’t lose her service smile and handed him the water and cup placed on one side of the staff room.
As if waiting, the customer took the cup, downed the water in one shot, wiped his mouth with his hand, and said.
“Hmm, well, I can somewhat understand why you spoke so confidently.”
“I’m glad it seems to suit your taste. Our bentos are made by Induk Trading and are products sold only at our convenience store.”
“Induk Trading. I saw it. The logo is on the bottom of the bento.”
“The president of Induk Trading and the employees worked hard to create this bento. They have that much pride in it.”
“I see. Ah, I’m full. Thanks for the meal. But what should I have for dessert?”
At this point, he hadn’t come to the convenience store to buy items, but clearly to be treated to a meal.
It was then.
The customer suddenly stood up from his seat, went out of the staff room, and slowly looked around the convenience store as if it were his own living room. Then, he said to Hyejin.
“Here, please bring me one basket.”
“Huh?”
Before Hyejin could bring it, as he was looking for a shopping basket for dessert, Eunwoo handed him a basket.
He seemed worried that Hyejin was still struggling with him.
“Thanks, Eunwoo.”
Eunwoo, who was quite perceptive, hesitated for a moment but didn’t add any more words to the customer and returned to the counter.
His expression seemed tinged with dissatisfaction, but he was trying not to show it as much as possible.
“Let’s see……. Chocolate, and lately I’ve been craving corn snacks, so this too, and for ice cream, the soft cone one.”
Unlike before, he was filling the basket to the brim with items. Seeing that, Hyejin tensed up slightly.
He wasn’t planning to nitpick each and every one of those items, was he?
Was the quest difficulty that high?
But he had a remarkably peaceful expression. Clearly, it didn’t look like an expression for finding faults.
He was even humming a tune as if he really liked the items.
With such a different appearance from the beginning, Hyejin could only stand there dumbfounded.
“Banana milk too, and cereal milk……. If I buy this much, I can’t go straight into the dungeon, so I’ll have to use an artifact. Oh well.”
Unable to understand his incomprehensible behavior anymore, Hyejin said to him.
“You seem to be putting quite a lot of items in, are you okay?”
Without realizing it, she ended up saying he wasn’t buying too much.
Then the customer looked at Hyejin with a face full of questions and soon burst into laughter.