Magic Store 33



Not wanting to discuss this matter in front of the person sending the package, I stepped outside to the front of the store.

I then explained the entire situation to Yoon-Ha Noona, including why that toad lady was acting the way she was.

Noona listened to my detailed explanation with a look that was half sympathetic, half amused.

Eventually, she chuckled, took out a herbal cigarette, and asked,

"So, Lee Chan, you even packed the kimchi for her?"

"Yeah."

"Unbelievable. Do these kinds of difficult customers come often?"

"Normally, the ones who aren't like that don't come at all."

"Wow, you really have a tough job."

I think so too, but what can I do when I can't say no to that toad-lady?

She looks like the type who would go to a neighborhood meeting and gossip, "You know, the young man at the convenience store at the intersection..."

"Anyway, do you deliver packages on weekends, Noona?"

I need to know how this convenience store's parcel service operates.

When I asked, Yoon-Ha Noona took another drag from her herbal cigarette, exhaled, and said,

"Well, you did me a favor, so I guess I can return the favor."

"I wasn't asking as a favor, I was just asking if you do it."

"Same thing, isn't it? So, where is that kimchi going?"

I had no idea.

I went back inside and asked the toad-lady, who answered,

"I'm planning to send it to Yggdrasil Complex 2, young man."

Sounds like the tap water there would be crystal clear.

And the rent is probably expensive too.

"Got it."

"Is that young lady a delivery driver? Oh my, such a lovely young lady. Working hard even on weekends."

I hadn't actually told her we'd deliver it yet.

After I informed her, Yoon-Ha Noona shrugged and said,

"That's right on my way home. Tell her I'll do it later."

"Really? Oh, thank you, young lady. Thank you too, young man."

Turning around, I saw that the toad-lady had come running out, unable to contain her excitement, and had overheard Yoon-Ha Noona.

She immediately grabbed Noona's hand, shaking it vigorously, then did the same to mine.

She told us to wait a moment and rummaged through a black plastic bag she had in her other hand.

After some rustling, she pulled out another batch of kimchi.

This time, the kimchi wasn't just wriggling—it was thrashing around.

Its leaves were waving violently, expressing clear displeasure at being torn apart.

I wouldn't be able to look at kimchi stew for a while.

"This is good for your health, young man. It's made with mandrake. Don't refuse it."

"What's it made with?"

"Mandrake. Why, young man, are you allergic to it?"

"Uh..."

I looked at Yoon-Ha Noona, puzzled.

Upon hearing "mandrake," Yoon-Ha Noona's eyes widened in curiosity.

She took a piece of the kimchi from the toad-lady, chewed it, and said,

"It's fine, ma'am. A bit salty, though."

"Kimchi should be salty to taste good."

"True, but just so you know, we normally don't do deliveries on weekends, so please don't bring it on weekends next time."

"Got it. Thanks, young lady."

Yoon-Ha Noona has a gift for handling people.

She dealt with the toad-lady without a hitch.

"Thanks to you too, young man. I'll come back with my friends from the women's association later."

"I appreciate the thought."

"You're such a sweet boy. Here, take this. Quickly."

With a look of distaste, I finally accepted the two kimchi stalks the toad-lady insisted on giving me.

She then waved her arms dramatically and walked off toward the intersection.

So here I was, standing with kimchi in my hand.

Even though it was a calm day without a hint of wind, these kimchi stalks were writhing wildly.

"It's good for your health, just like the lady said. You're looking scrawny, Chani."

"Why don't you eat it then?"

"I'm fine with this. The aftertaste is a bit spicy."

I had always imagined I might eat something fantastical one day, but I never thought it would happen like this.

Why did it have to be kimchi, and why did it have to be living kimchi made with mandrake?

Telling someone who can't even eat live octopus because it clings to his throat that something is healthy isn't very convincing...

"So, what exactly is this good for?"

"Your back."

Well, that changes things.

I've had back pain from sitting around all night.

Resolving to endure the bitterness of good medicine, I took a bite.

I tried to ignore the squirming in my mouth as I chewed and swallowed.

Then I finally tasted it.

And how did it taste?

"Noona, doesn't it taste like there's anchovy sauce in this?"

"You can tell just by tasting it?"

The flavor was surprisingly decent, which somehow made me feel worse.

But shortly after swallowing, my mouth started to feel numb.

The aftertaste made me crave something sweet.

"Yoon-Ha Noona, don't you want something sweet?"

"Oh, I was just about to say that. Do we have anything left?"

"Wait a minute. I'll check."

I decided to rummage through the disposal basket.

Most of the food that gets discarded consists of short-shelf-life items like lunch boxes, sandwiches, and triangular kimbap.

Other than that, there's usually some milk.

Occasionally, though, desserts like macarons or mini cakes end up being discarded and become a great source of sugar for a convenience store worker with a sweet tooth.

Some might ask, "How can you eat something past its expiration date?"

But an expiration date literally just means the deadline for selling it, and the actual consumption period extends a few days beyond that.

At least, that's what the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety says.

So it's safe to eat, and honestly, what's the big deal about eating something a few hours past its expiration date?

It’s not like you're spending money on it.

However, rummaging through the disposal basket didn’t yield any suitable desserts, but instead, I found this:

"...Mint chocolate almond?"

Is it mint chocolate or chocolate almond?

What on earth is mint chocolate almond?

Since this was the only thing left, I took it out to show Yoon-Ha Noona, who had a similar reaction.

"What is this hybrid?"

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before."

Even with almonds alone, there are various flavors like seaweed or wasabi almonds.

But usually, I only find out about them when customers bring them to the register, not before they’re stocked.

It means I’ve never sold this one before.

There was an even bigger problem: I had never tasted mint chocolate before.

People around me always said it tasted like toothpaste, so I thought, "If you want to eat toothpaste, why not just squeeze some at home? Why buy something else?"

So, I deliberately avoided it.

I asked Yoon-Ha Noona if she had tried it, and she shook her head.

So, eating this would be an unexplored adventure for both of us.

An unexplored adventure... but still, it's an almond. I like almonds.

Still, I didn’t want to eat it alone, so I tried to persuade Yoon-Ha Noona.

"Noona, if you break it down into three words—mint, chocolate, and almond—if you think of it as chocolate almond, it might be somewhat tolerable, right?"

"What kind of logic is that?"

"It's not logical at all. If I were to be logical, I'd say there's no harm in trying it. It’s free, after all."

The allure of those two words—“free of charge”—was irresistible, even for an A-rank hunter.

“Well then... might as well try it.”

Yoon-Ha Noona joined my adventure party as I unwrapped the package, handed her one piece, and took one for myself.

We both popped them into our mouths at the same time.

Two seconds later, she immediately spat it out, threw it away, and shouted, “What a rip-off, you idiot!”

I couldn't help but agree.

It became abundantly clear why this product had been discontinued.

They called it “mint chocolate,” so it should have both mint and chocolate flavors, right?

But this... this was just mint.

Where the hell was the chocolate?

To make matters worse, it wasn’t a subtle mint either; it was like a full 100% cacao mint.

The more I rolled it around in my mouth, the more it felt like I was chewing on a surfactant, not an almond or anything remotely edible.

In the end, I couldn’t bear it and spat it out too.

Yoon-Ha Noona, clearly still irritated, pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and took a drag, even though she had only just finished one five minutes earlier.

She didn’t seem to be in the best of moods.

I stayed silent, sensing that if I spoke first, I’d probably get whacked.

After a moment, she turned to me and asked, “Hey. Why do people even eat this stuff?”

“Maybe it’s for people who want to eat something but don’t want to bother brushing their teeth afterward?”

“Either way, I can’t eat this.”

Honestly, I’d rather eat Mandrake kimchi than this.

I don’t know who came up with the idea of mint chocolate, but they must’ve been British, no doubt about it.

Feeling a bit guilty and wanting to change the subject, I brought up something else.

“Hey, remember yesterday when you mentioned breaking ties with the workshop after I gave you the magic beast core?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“So, did everything go well?”

She grinned and answered, “I smashed everything to bits.”

"What?"

I couldn’t quite tell if she was using a figure of speech or if she really went in there with a bat and smashed everything up, so I looked over at her.

That’s when I noticed the scabbard of the sword at her side had some visible wear and tear.

“Did you actually break everything?”

“Well, not everything—only about half of it. But I told them to file for damages later. Said I'd throw it on top of the contract termination fee.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly she said to make her sword dance the way it did.

Apparently, it went something like this: She’d asked for a refund of the advance payment since there was a problem with the goods they had been handling.

They replied that there was nothing wrong with their work and hinted it was her fault.

That’s when she cooled her temper and told them, as politely as possible, that she found them so unpleasant she wouldn’t be doing business with them anymore.

They responded just as politely but with a demand of roughly three million won.

"Sounds about right."

“I think I smashed everything except anything with two legs... Ah, who cares? The guild will handle it. Anyway, it was cathartic.”

I didn’t know exactly what this guild was, but I realized if I ever gave her something like mint chocolate again, I might not live to tell the tale.

I had one last question.

“What kind of creatures worked at that workshop?”

“Goblins.”

Ah, those pesky green menaces again...

“Anyway, I’m too tired to find a new place right now, so I’ll start looking tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. But why were you working with them in the first place?”

“They used to take jobs over the weekend. At first—”

“Boss.”

Someone interrupted us at that moment.

The voice carried a hint of familiarity, so I looked up and realized it was one of the mechanical dolls that had shown up before.

I recognized it mainly by its work uniform.

“Oh, hello there.”

“Su-yaat.”

“I’ll be back after dealing with a customer real quick.”

“Sure. I’ll head in after I finish this.”

As I walked inside, I asked the mechanical doll, “Yes, what can I get you?”

“Cigarettes, please.”

“Sure. Which kind would you like?”

“I don’t know.”

There was no smell of alcohol, so what’s going on?

I went behind the counter and asked again, “Which cigarettes?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“...Sir, if you say that, I can’t give you any cigarettes...”

The manager had mentioned that these mechanical dolls have their own way of speaking, which is why they sometimes struggle with communication.

So, it’s possible they don’t know the names of the cigarettes.

But this situation felt different.

The doll’s expression was unusually serene.

It seemed more puzzling than anything as it stared blankly at me before repeating itself.

“I… don’t know.”

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