“Come back tomorrow at this time. I’ll slowly teach you the job then.”
With that, the short interview ended.
Suho gave Hyejin a light bow and left the store.
Only after he had completely disappeared did Hyejin open the system window to check her rewards.
Quest “Hire a Part-Timer!” completed!
Congratulations! Lee Suho has been hired as a part-timer at the convenience store.
As a reward, your Business Ability has risen from Level 0 to Level 1.
That wasn’t all.
A new window appeared in celebration of her first quest completion.
Special reward for first quest completion:
Ultra-Powerful Convenience Store Guardian Security Device
“Ultra-Powerful Security Device?”
Hyejin tilted her head.
Ultra-Powerful Security Device:
Automatically expels any customer attempting theft, causing fights inside the store, or harassing the manager and part-timers.
“This is exactly what I needed. When I’m working alone, dangerous situations are bound to happen. Even you can’t help all the time, right? This will be super useful.”
Hyejin shot Asha a playful glare, as if saying isn’t this supposed to be your job?, then shrugged.
“Well, back when I worked at regular convenience stores, shoplifters were a huge headache. There’s no police station here, so yeah, this’ll come in handy.”
You may control the Ultra-Powerful Security Device every 12 hours.
Activate now?
YES / NO
Hyejin tapped YES.
Immediately, there was a clunk as something attached itself to the outside of the store, followed by a loud siren.
Security system activated.
Settings can be changed again after 12 hours.
Please reboot the device when changing settings.
“If they keep giving me items like this, I could hire as many part-timers as I want.”
“I told you you’d need them. By the way, did you forget something?”
“Forget something?”
Hyejin blinked innocently at Asha.
Asha shook her head.
“Fine, pretend you don’t know. I’ll let it slide this once. But if it happens again, you really will have to bow to me.”
“Haha, just this once, please, Asha.”
Hyejin grinned brightly. Asha shook her head again.
“Working with Suho-ssi feels a little daunting, but it’s still better than doing everything alone, right?”
“Of course. Teach him well tomorrow. He doesn’t seem greedy for money, so make sure to drill exact change into him.”
“Come on, look at his résumé. He’ll be fine.”
“Whatever. First quest done—so shall we get back to work?”
While no customers were around, Hyejin tidied the store.
She noticed the front row of the milk section was empty and pulled the cartons forward so there were no gaps.
She checked expiration dates on ready-to-eat foods in the fridge and made sure no expired kimbap or rice items were left for sale.
After working here for a week, she realized one thing: everything inside the store was exactly like a normal convenience store.
That had puzzled her at first.
How on earth were all these products delivered inside a dungeon?
When she first arrived, every shelf was perfectly stocked.
Some sections were empty in the middle, but aside from a few spots, it was shockingly identical to any regular store.
Cup ramen that needed hot water, retort pouches for the microwave—everything.
There were even daily necessities: women’s and men’s toiletries, socks, paper cups, cotton swabs.
“So… how do all these products get delivered here?”
“You’re quick to ask.”
Hyejin gave an embarrassed shrug and continued.
“I couldn’t help it. At first I was too overwhelmed to even think about it. But after working a few days, I started noticing the outside too. There’s so much that needs fixing. Weeds everywhere, rocks behind the store that look like trolls could pop out any second, and that tacky sign—I hate it. But anyway.”
“Now that I’ve somewhat adapted, I finally have the mental space to ask,” is what you mean.
“Pretty much.”
Right at that moment—
Headlights flashed from outside, followed by loud BEEP BEEP.
“Wh-what the—? That light… Don’t tell me that truck…?”
“Looks like the person who can answer for me has arrived.”
Hyejin gaped at the truck parked outside, then snapped out of it and turned to Asha.
“So that truck delivers the store’s supplies?”
“When dungeons appeared, there were ordinary people who didn’t awaken as hunters. People who couldn’t even become F-rank—just eat, wash, sleep. I found one of those civilians who had a good business sense and made a deal.”
“A civilian? But I’ve never seen him before.”
“Of course not. He only comes once a week.”
As Hyejin stared at the truck again, the door opened and a cheerful voice rang out.
“Hahaha, hellooo!”
“Ah—hello! I’m the manager, Cha Hyejin.”
A burly man in his late fifties with a thick beard strode over with big steps and spoke again.
“So this is the manager I finally get to meet! Opening a convenience store inside a dungeon—genius move. Well, it’s great for people like me. Means I can make bank.”
“…Ah, yes.”
“Name’s Lee Seungseok. I used to deliver to tons of convenience stores, but once dungeons showed up, monsters smashed them all to bits. Nowhere left to deliver, so my warehouse just kept piling up with stock. Couldn’t even pay the factory workers—nearly went bankrupt.”
“I… lost my job the same way. Well, ended up working here instead.”
“You too, Manager? Some guy contacted me saying he wanted all the stock piling up in my warehouse. I was dying to know where the hell this store was—never guessed it’d be inside a dungeon. First time I came, I nearly had a heart attack. Hahaha!”
Seungseok laughed heartily at Hyejin.
She forced a smile and glanced at Asha.
But Asha just lay there with a perfectly blank face, pretending she heard nothing.
“H-ha, I see…”
Hyejin barely registered his words.
How could a civilian deliver inside a dungeon?
Instead of questioning the pretending-to-sleep Asha, she cautiously asked Seungseok.
“Um, I have a question. You’re a civilian, right? How can you enter the dungeon? The store is close to the entrance, but monsters could appear any second. I thought civilians literally can’t come in…”
Seungseok stared at her for a moment, then burst into his signature hearty laugh.
“Well, I’m still amazed myself. After that ‘boss’ called me, he immediately mailed me an item. Turns out it’s an artifact even civilians can use. Originally made for hunters to protect themselves, but S-rank crafters modified it so non-awakened people could use it too. This is it.”
He showed her the silver ring on his finger.
A mysterious rainbow shimmer danced across it—she couldn’t look away.
Seungseok continued.
“When I wear this ring, the truck and I become one, and we can drive insanely fast. The truck itself gets defensive power too. We see everything clearly, but to monsters the truck is invisible—or something like that. Anyway, thanks to this, I just drive happily inside the dungeon. Making money in times like these? Pure luck.”
“Ah, I see… By the way, that ‘boss’—was it a person? Not a cat?”
“A cat?”
At Hyejin’s question, Seungseok tilted his head, confused.
“What cat? The boss was a tall, young guy. Super handsome too. Kids these days call rich young people ‘young & rich,’ right? Total young & rich vibe. Made me jealous. Hahaha!”
“…Huh? That can’t be right.”
Hyejin muttered suspiciously and glared at Asha as if demanding an explanation, but Asha was already sprawled on the counter, fast asleep.
“Anyway, nice to meet you! You’ll make tons of money here. Though I guess once you’re SS-rank you won’t care about money anyway. We’ll see each other every week from now on—take care of me! Oh, right, you’re young & rich too, Manager.”
“Ah—haha, yes.”
“Now, let’s unload the goods. Check them carefully.”
With that, Seungseok headed outside and began pulling boxes from the truck.