Magic Store 36


We tried the automatic matching feature of the app a few more times, but none of the candidates seemed quite right.

"What do you think of this one?"

The succubus showed me the screen with someone who had messy hair and purple skin.

He looked somewhat human, but his forehead was shaded by his bangs, making it impossible to guess their appearance.

Simply put, he looked like a protagonist from a visual novel.

"Pass on this one too."

"This one is also not good?"

"Very much so. This one looks like he messes around with multiple people, leaving them all heartbroken. Or he'll end up with a knife in their back, headed to hell, or something like that..."

The next profile that came up was an orc.

More than anything, the introduction text caught my eye, saying [Seeking those with 3 reps of 1000 or more].

"Does this person have a thing for muscular women?"

"Not exactly. I think they just need a friend to help them with their barbell lifting."

Other profiles included a goblin with mousse in its hair, a werewolf with five gold-plated claws, and more.

Is this some sort of isekai-style flex or what?

The more profiles we swiped through, the less hopeful and more skeptical I became.

This app didn't seem legitimate at all...

As I was thinking this, an ad screen popped up with a message:

[This app is currently in beta. Please forgive any shortcomings!]

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Do your senior colleagues often play pranks on you?"

"Oh... how did you know?"

I had a feeling.

After taking the smartphone from the succubus and trying to close the app, a rating screen popped up.

I pressed one star, typed "Is this even an app?" and hit the confirm button.

Then, the app's overall rating appeared.

The app had a rating of 2.0 out of 5 stars.

I was right.

The review comments were filled with nothing but anger.

[Recommended by a friend and almost ripped off his horns, does the creator even know their ancestors?]

[An app only a gargoyle at the entrance of the Demon King's castle would use.]

[I got a 2.9 score and couldn't even use it; creator show your face first ♥.]

[Seeing the profile pic, 2.9 seems accurate.]

[The creator must be your ancestor.]

These enlightening reviews showed that in this world, insulting ancestors is more common than insulting parents.

After turning off the app store and deleting the app, I handed the phone back to the succubus and said,

"It seems your senior colleagues were playing a prank on you with this app."

"...I had a feeling. Their expressions were kind of telling...."

There's nothing more entertaining than meddling in someone else's love life.

I remember messing with a friend who was about to confess, telling him, "If you draw a heart with candles at the playground, she'll definitely fall for you."

I used to tease him so much.

...Now that I think about it, maybe I was serious.

It was just unfortunate timing since it was July; if the temperature hadn't hit 32 degrees, it would have worked.

It's not that I was wrong, really.

But the succubus seemed so dejected that it didn't feel like the right time for jokes.

She leaned on her chin, looking sad for over a minute without saying a word.

To lighten the mood, I tried to break the silence.

"Let's think positively. Could you have found true love through an app that rates people based on their looks?"

"Yeah..."

"Besides, it would be tough to find a species that matches your personality. Preferences and such are just as difficult..."

As I spoke, I realized something.

Before even considering true love, I didn't know what kind of guys this succubus was into.

"By the way, what kind of man do you like?"

"Uh... my type?"

"Yes. You know, like not liking men under 180cm, or preferring someone with an eight-head proportion."

"Well, I'm not really concerned about those things…."

She trailed off, crossing her arms, as if she knew what she wanted to say but couldn't quite put it into words.

She stayed in that pose for a while, pondering, then answered in a hesitant voice, as if she wasn’t sure at all.

"Uh... someone kind?"

"That's a bit vague."

"So, um… someone I can comfortably share my thoughts with."

"Even vaguer?"

"And someone who would be understanding if I make a mistake, someone I can rely on, who would listen to even the most absurd stories?"

In other words, someone who wouldn't mind cleaning up if she threw up after drinking, or who would listen to her talking nonsense about true love and such…

Wait, isn't that exactly me?

I almost burst out laughing as the thought crossed MY mind, realizing how flawed the premise was.

After all, I wasn't exactly the kind type.

I cleaned up the vomit because he wouldn’t get paid if he didn’t, and I listened to her love stories because I had nothing else to do at night.

She could easily find someone who fit the bill at any local government office's counseling center, right?

Still, since the conversation had started, I didn't want to come across as rude, even if I couldn't be the kind one, she described.

So, I asked the succubus:

"Am I doing okay so far?"

"Sorry?"

"Listening to you, I mean. I’m not exactly a trained counselor, so I can’t say I’m doing a great job, but—"

"No!"

She suddenly raised her voice.

Did I say something wrong?

"You listening to me really helps a lot. Today, I felt like my coworkers were just teasing me, and my friends just laughed—"

"And I cleaned up the mess. So, I’ve been a big help, haven’t I?"

"Oh, come on, that’s…."

As her voice trailed off into a whisper, saying, "Please don’t mention that…"

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud this time.

Now I understand why her coworkers teased her.

"...Anyway! You've been really understanding, and it’s been easy to open up to you, and I’m really glad you're listening to me, so you don’t have to worry about that at all…."

She trailed off again, and when I looked over at her, I found the succubus staring intently at my face.

"Uh… um…."

"What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

I asked, but she didn’t answer.

She just kept staring at my face with a blank expression, and then, as if something dawned on her, she tilted her head slightly and uttered a single word.

"Oh."

Oh?

What "oh"?

Did she leave the gas on at home or something?

I glanced at the time and saw that it was just past midnight.

I needed to swap out the May event signs, and if this succubus lingered any longer, she’d miss the last train and have to take a taxi again.

I pointed to the clock and said,

"Customer, it looks like you’re going to miss the last train. Don’t you think you should head home?"

"Uh…."

"The last train is leaving soon."

"...Oh. Yes."

The succubus grabbed her handbag and slowly headed towards the front door, but she kept her eyes on me the whole time.

It made me wonder if there was something on my face, so I checked the mirror, but nothing seemed out of place.

What’s up with her all of a sudden?

Then, she suddenly turned around and asked,

"Sir."

"What is it?"

"Uh… can I come back later?"

"I don’t turn away customers."

When I replied, she nodded, then dashed out the front door and ran off somewhere in a hurry.

I just stared after her, lost in thought for a moment.

She had that look, like she’d realized something but wasn’t sure if what she realized was right.

But I have no idea what that could be.

What do I know about the mind of a woman, let alone a succubus?

I considered calling the manager to ask if he might know something, but there were things I needed to take care of first.

I peeled off the plastic wrapping from the event product labels and walked out to the lobby, giving the display shelves a quick once-over.

"When am I going to finish all this…."

Not like anyone else is going to do it for me.

I pulled the first label off and headed to the dairy section to start the work.

I finally finished around dawn.

Fortunately, no customers came in during that time.

____

And so, the weekend shift ended, and Monday morning arrived.

What does that mean?

It means hordes of office workers with Monday blues start flooding in.

Before 8 a.m., it was as quiet as could be, but just after 8:30, the rush began, and soon enough, it was chaos.

"Excuse me, this soda is part of a buy-one-get-one deal, but the other items are…."

"I’ll just go, I’m in a hurry!"

"Alright. Your change, sir—"

"Keep it!"

At this point, I just decided to go with the flow.

I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with every little thing when there were six other people lined up behind this customer.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

One customer left their entire wallet behind.

Another handed me a crumpled 5,000 won note along with a sandwich, and after I scanned the sandwich, they just stood there, waiting.

When I finally asked about the payment, they asked me,

"Aren't you going to give me my change?"

"Uh… you haven’t paid yet, sir."

"What? I thought I left the money here on the counter… oh, where did it go?"

"It looks like you're holding it in your hand, sir."

I pointed out, and the customer looked down at his right hand, suddenly embarrassed, and handed me the money.

Customers this absent-minded are easy to deal with, but then there are those who show up completely unprepared.

For instance, some people hand me a credit card and ask me to top up their transportation card with it.

"Sorry, sir, you can only recharge with cash."

"What? Why?"

Here’s the deal: You can’t withdraw cash from a credit card without hitting the limit.

But if you could recharge a transportation card with a credit card, you could then refund the balance, effectively turning the credit into cash.

In short, it’s a potential loophole for illegal cash advances, so it’s simply not allowed.

I tried explaining it, but before I could even get halfway through, the customer gave me a quick "Got it" and dashed out the door.

Through that same open door, three more customers walked in, followed by the little dragon girl.

She was carrying a red school bag and clutching a rolled-up sheet of drawing paper.

"Hi, mister…."

She suddenly stopped in the middle of the lobby.

I decided to acknowledge her greeting.

"Hey there, little kid. You're here early today."

"Hey…"

"Sorry, I'm usually really busy around this time."

I was so busy that I didn't even have time to pay attention.

These office workers—when you send one off after checking them out, two more come in.

Are they dividing like cells or something?

"Just sit over there for a bit and kill some time…"

I said as I pointed to a table right after finishing the checkout, but there wasn't a single empty seat because the office workers had completely filled the place.

I glanced at the kid as I finished checking out each customer, and they were clearly at a loss for what to do.

"Ugh…"

Even in this world, the manager had said that pure-blooded dragons are an extremely rare species.

Maybe that's why the customers standing in line were occasionally glancing down at the kid in curiosity.

The customers probably just thought the kid was cute, but there's no way that shy kid could understand that...

It must've been overwhelming because the kid spoke to me in a trembling voice.

"Mister, I'll just wait outside…"

Go outside? In a street packed with people?

"Boss, can I get a lighter—"

"No, wait a second."

"Huh? Me?"

"Oh, no, I wasn't talking to you, sir. Sorry, could you please wait just a moment?"

He looked at me like I was crazy, but do I care?

I stepped out from behind the counter, took the kid's hand, and led her to the checkout counter.

"Kiddo, put your backpack over there and give me your drawing paper. Sit on the chair for a bit."

"But is that okay…?"

"It's okay. Are you over your cold? Want some honey water?"

"I'm okay, I think it's all better…"

"I wasn't asking for your opinion."

I pulled out a honey water bottle from the hot storage and handed it over, finally feeling relieved.

Then I turned to the customer and asked, "Sorry about that, you asked for a lighter, right?"

I scanned the barcode and handed it to him, but the customer just looked back and forth between the kid and me with a baffled expression.

He seemed upset.

At least, that's what I thought, but then he suddenly chuckled and asked, "You seem like a dad or something, boss."

A dad? I haven't even gotten married yet.

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