Chapter 80 Convenience Store 3 Chaos
"Would you like some more dessert?" The shop manager smiled and opened a few more boxes of pastries, carefully arranging them on small plates and pushing them in front of you with a crisp sound.
"That's fine then," you said softly, looking at the cookies that had just been taken off the shelf, with normal dates and intact packaging. You relaxed a little, but still politely declined, "I've already eaten, thank you for the treat."
The shop manager's eyes curved into crescents: "You're welcome."
Judging from her attitude and tone, you think this matter should just be left like this.
You patiently wait for the manager and another employee to finish the remaining food. Seeing that you are alright and nothing bad has happened, you quickly start clearing the dishes to keep yourself busy.
Being polite and attentive to tasks is always a safe bet in Dongya Culture. Besides, it's more reassuring to take action; you're afraid that if you're idle and daydreaming, the store manager will find another excuse to assign you work, and who knows what kind of "task" it will be?
That's how you're planning it.
But just as you picked up your bowl and turned around, the manager followed closely behind you, saying with obvious satisfaction, "Wow, students from Japan are really different. Young people in Japan these days are all so 'lazy'—you know what that means, right? Lazy."
"Haha, you still need to learn more Japanese."
The store manager became very talkative, acting like he'd been drinking fake alcohol.
You respond with an awkward laugh, and since you already don't quite understand what the other person is saying, your thoughts drift even further away.
The warehouse is all set up, and the store's customer traffic isn't much anymore, so there shouldn't be anything else to do. I wonder when I'll be able to get off work. Getting home as soon as possible is the most important thing; this day has been truly exhausting…
That said, what exactly is this store manager up to, and why hasn't he left yet?
"...You're very efficient." The store manager spoke slowly and deliberately, "With your efficiency, you could do many other things. How about you do me a favor?"
Stop it! You quickly snapped back to reality, silently screaming in your mind.
He turned to look at her, a shy smile on his face masking his inner resistance: "Ah, well... it's getting dark, and I still need to organize the warehouse..."
"No rush, no rush, we can deal with the warehouse stuff later." Her tone was so gentle it was almost relaxing, and her smile widened. "It's just temporarily working as a cashier. There aren't many customers in the store during the day, as you saw, so it's not difficult. After all, I've already treated you to some pastries."
She said it so casually, leaving you standing there dumbfounded.
You've taken every precaution, comparing and contrasting everything to find the "problem" in the food, thinking you've escaped unscathed, only to discover that the crucial point wasn't even there!
So this is a trap? If you eat here, you'll have to do some work for the manager that's likely beyond your job description?
Cashier…
In a place like this?
No matter how strange the things in the warehouse are, at least there are some clues. The cashier, on the other hand, has to deal with "customers" whose origins are completely unknown.
Can I refuse? How can I refuse her?
"I...can't...I can't speak Japanese...I can't do this." That's true, if you can't even speak the language fluently and understand it, how are you going to work as a cashier? "You'll mess it up."
Your excuses didn't work on her. The shop manager just blinked, clapped her hands together in front of her face in a coquettish manner, and said in a soft tone, "Your Japanese is very good, and—" her eyes shone brightly, "language is not a problem at all, because the customers before nightfall, they... they don't talk to you."
This sentence may sound like it's trying to comfort you, but honestly, it instantly makes your hands and feet feel cold.
What does it mean that they won't speak to you before nightfall? What kind of things would be silenced like this? Is it that they can't speak, or that you can't speak to them? Is "not being able to speak" a constraint or a reminder of a certain state?
Just thinking about it makes your brain feel overloaded and you start to get a headache.
Today has been a very long day for you.
The sensation of tiny insects crawling around you rises from the soles of your feet and rushes to the top of your head. Looking at the shopkeeper's smiling face that defies age, you have no doubt that if you insist on refusing, you will anger her, and the consequences will be unpredictable.
"Uh... should I go to the cashier now?" you asked cautiously, sounding resigned.
The store manager nodded: "Yes, it's just a short stand before dark, an easy job." She said it so casually, as if she were just asking you to take out the trash or tidy up the shelves.
“Evening is a special time, which is why we need to keep hiring student workers to help us,” she said. “However, most student workers are simply not qualified to do this; they are not as meticulous or as quick-witted as you.” She was implying something.
"Do a good job, believe in yourself, we'll go and take care of other things now." The store manager said, leading the cashier out through the back door.
You're leaving already? I haven't even taught you how to use the cash register yet.
In an instant, you were the only one left in the convenience store, which wasn't too big or too small. It wasn't exactly quiet, but apart from your own loud heartbeat, the only sounds were the hum of various electrical appliances and the whooshing of the wind against the glass walls.
You withdrew your hand, which was raised in mid-air and extended towards the two people who had already left, and stood behind the cashier, at a loss.
Your thoughts slowly turn, your fingers tap on the table, and you start to worry as you look at the many buttons on the cash register.
Fortunately, after ten or twenty minutes, there was still no sign of guests.
You rubbed your legs, which were a little numb from standing, looked around the store, picked up the mop in the corner, and like every convenience store clerk you've ever seen—when there were customers, you went back to the checkout counter and stood there; when there were no customers, you cleaned the store—and then took the opportunity to patrol the entire store.
The store manager didn't say that cashiers must stay at the checkout counter, so what you did isn't considered unauthorized absence. You'd better find out the "rules" here as soon as possible.
—If it exists.
This convenience store looks completely ordinary, with shelves filled with local specialties from the hot spring area—small souvenirs, bottled water, hot spring eggs, and various common snacks and drinks.
Your gaze falls on the shelf to your left, the area filled with bottled water. The bottles are neatly stacked on the shelf, but the few on the bottom shelf seem a little different.
Crouching down to examine them, I noticed that the labels on the bottles were blurry, and I could even vaguely see the yellowed plastic bottles underneath, as if these water bottles had been forgotten in a corner for a long time.
On a whim, you pick up one of the bottles and turn it around to find the production date. Sure enough, the expired mineral water in the warehouse was no coincidence; they were actually selling products that were many years past their expiration date—in fact, the dates might have been printed on haphazardly.
Could this be some important clue? A sudden tightness gripped your heart, and you quickly put the bottle back in its place.
Apart from that, there was nothing else unusual.
You took the mop and wiped every nook and cranny, leaving no corner untouched, until you finally pulled out a tattered piece of paper from under the refrigerator.
The paper has yellowed, the edges are torn, and the handwritten words on it have faded.
"rule:
1. Do not stare into the customer's eyes; respond to the customer's needs politely.
2. Do not go near the empty space on the right rear of the shelf.
3. If the wind chimes ring three times, hide immediately.
4. Please ensure that the number of drinks around the cashier is even.
Your right eyelid twitched.
You know it's caused by muscle fatigue, but the folk saying that a twitching left eye means good fortune and a twitching right eye means bad luck still makes you feel uneasy.
This is the first time you've seen clearly defined rules since arriving in the Japan instance, which seems particularly "abnormal" in the entire instance.
Moreover, this first rule contradicts what the store manager told you: "Customers won't talk back to you," which gives you a real headache.
Is the store manager good or evil? Are the rules on this note real, or is what the store manager says true? What is the store manager's purpose? What makes you special to this convenience store?
You take a picture of the note with your phone, then put it back. One question after another keeps swirling in your mind.
The quiet in the shop amplified all the noise, making you feel incredibly uncomfortable. The bubbling oden machine emitted a sulfurous smell, and after fiddling with it for a while to turn it off, you finally gave up.
You feel like a lab rat thrown into a testing chamber, facing the unknown, where your reaction seems more important than whether it's right or wrong. And under these circumstances, your death is hardly surprising.
You try to find a new note, but after several searches you still find nothing. You have no choice but to do as the note says for the time being.
You start to notice the wind chimes by the door.
It remains still for now, but it makes a soft tinkling sound whenever a breeze blows outside the door. Sometimes its sound seems far away, and sometimes it suddenly rings in your ear.
This shouldn't be considered a trigger for the wind chimes—you're watching the automatic door, and the wind chimes only ring when a customer arrives.
Soon, evening arrived. The sky outside wasn't completely dark yet, but the lights inside the store had already come on early. The dim yellow light cast blurry shadows on the shelves, some white, some gray. You've been standing here for over an hour or two, and you're starting to feel numb.
Because you have neither a goal nor any idea of what the right thing to do is. You're just waiting, waiting without any agency. You need a customer, someone to come so you know what you're supposed to do.
The wind chimes at the door finally rang.
The crisp ringing of the bell echoed in the quiet convenience store. You looked up, feeling rather excited.
You know that people coming means trouble, but just sitting there in the store with nothing to do and not being able to use your phone, the boredom and endless speculation about the unknown are even more exhausting.
An elderly man dressed in a bathrobe slowly walked in. His steps were light, dragging a cane, each step making a slight scraping sound.
His clothes were ridiculously old, the fabric yellowed, the edges worn, and there were faint, blurry water stains. He looked like a disheveled old drunkard you'd see anywhere.
He slowly approached the cashier, carrying a small plastic bag. You lowered your eyes, maintaining a polite and courteous expression, ready to make eye contact with him or avoid it altogether, while also stealing a glance at the few soft-boiled eggs in his bag.
The old man stood at the counter, saying nothing, but gently placed the bag on the counter. Then, he looked up and stared at you with his cloudy eyes. A slight smile played on his lips.
“Little girl,” he began, his voice a dirty, smelly murmur from someone who’d smoked his whole life, “wasn’t the onsen egg delicious today?”
His question left you momentarily at a loss.
What happened to the promise that customers wouldn't talk to you?
So, is what the store manager said wrong?
Your eyes darted around, but you still didn't speak. You simply remained silent, tapping the table lightly with your fingers, trying to appear calm.
However, the old man didn't seem to need your answer. His voice trailed off, like a thin thread being drawn through the air: "The one you just ate, was it the last one? It was delicious, wasn't it?"
The words "soft-boiled egg" immediately trigger your thoughts. Your first reaction is, "Did I make a mistake?" Your second reaction is, "Wait, how did he know what you ate?"
You were so shocked that you finally looked up at him.
When your eyes meet his, the light cuts deep lines into every wrinkle on his face, and the turbidity in his eyes gradually fades, revealing an unusual radiance.
In that instant, alarm bells rang in your mind—
The note is wrong! Don't look at each other, just ignore it!
It's too late!
The older man, as if he had gotten away with something, pushed the bag toward you, his hoarse voice full of smugness: "Can't you hear me? Are all young people these days so arrogant and rude?"
what to do?
You don't know what you're thinking, you just stubbornly refuse to speak, and shrink further inside the cashier's counter, but you still manage to take his plastic bag from him.
She completely ignored him, but still did what she was supposed to do. The old man couldn't do anything about her; he only seemed lively for a few seconds before quickly returning to his lifeless state.
His attitude softened: "Help me pay the bill, good boy, please pay the bill."
You did the right thing by not speaking, but how are you going to pay him if you don't even know how to use a radio?
If he doesn't pay, he'll stay here indefinitely. Could this escalate into a bigger conflict?
What exactly is the store manager supposed to do?
—If the store manager hints that you shouldn't speak, it means that she at least doesn't want you to die directly; if she doesn't have any ill intentions towards you, then she wouldn't need to deliberately not teach you how to use the cash register, thus eliminating you from the business.
Perhaps you don't need to use a cash register at all.
How do I pay the bill?
Even though you still can't figure it out, you casually grab the bag and pretend to proceed with the next step.
However, the moment your fingers touch the bag, a cold, damp sensation suddenly washes over you, as if your hand has reached into something damp and dark.
Looking down, you see a puddle of black water seeping from the bottom of the bag, spreading rapidly across the counter. The water flows very slowly, yet it seems to have a mind of its own, finding a crack and seeping under the counter.
The old man's voice rang out again, lower and closer to your ear than before: "Don't you need to wipe it clean?"
You look up and see that stiff smile still lingers on his lips, his face appearing even paler and more eerie under the light. You don't respond, nor do you show any change in emotion. You simply put down the bag slowly, turn around, pick up the tissues beside you, and prepare to clean the table.
Clutching the tissue in your hand, you can feel your palms are slightly damp, but that's just your own cold sweat. Your eardrums are throbbing painfully, but you can only endure it. You brainwash yourself, telling yourself that this is just an ordinary customer, perhaps an elderly person in the hot spring area, or just someone behaving strangely. It'll be alright, everything will be alright…
After you finally managed to clean it up, you turned around, and the old man was gone.
His figure vanished completely, like a wisp of steam in the air.
The bag containing the soft-boiled eggs was still lying quietly on the counter. You poked it with a pen; it was just an ordinary plastic bag, nothing wrong with it.
You blinked and glanced around again; the convenience store was completely silent.
You slowly put down the tissue, your eyes fixed on the bag of soft-boiled eggs.
Your mind is a jumbled mess, your thoughts racing but unable to grasp any answers. The convenience store light flickers slightly, like a brief electrical tremor. You look up at the light bulb and see it's still burning steadily, but that fleeting darkness makes you feel as if you've seen something that shouldn't be there.
The wind chimes rang again.
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Author's Note: It's time for Tiger to start afresh! New year, new look! Daily updates begin today! TT
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