WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Convenience Store Clerk the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 12: Lava Fruit Challenge
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When I planted the World Tree branch in the pot and watered it, a soft, pale green light spilled from its tender leaves.
“It really is different from an ordinary plant.”
Even after I turned off the light and lay down, the room stayed softly lit.
A holy energy filled the room. It almost felt as though it was washing away my exhaustion.
The light was still there when I came out of the shower, filling the room.
“Now I get why she said it was expensive.”
All I’d done was plant this tiny branch, and I could already feel its energy.
People went crazy for anything that boosted their health.
Tell them something was good for them, and they’d try anything, from snakes to hornets.
The people of Taepyeong City probably weren’t any different.
A tree that gave off pleasant energy just by being planted?
They’d gladly pay extra for it.
“This city really is something.”
Nothing like this could ever happen in Korea.
A plant might give off a bit of that fresh forest scent.
But having the power to wash away someone’s exhaustion just by being planted?
“I could at least give Friella another bag of snacks for this.”
The tree was worth that much.
I gazed at it in wonder for a long while. Then, soothed by its pleasant scent, I fell onto the bed and drifted into a deep sleep.
The next day, it was time for work.
“Good morning!”
As I entered the store, a familiar sound effect rang out from behind the counter.
Fwoooosh~!!!
“G-grrr! Why won’t it come?! You said this was a featured character rate-up event!!”
The manager was glaring daggers at her phone screen and raging.
Apparently, her gacha pulls had gone horribly wrong.
Nothing but three-star characters sat on the screen.
“Boss, did your pulls go badly?”
“S-silence! It isn’t that the True Progenitor has bad luck! This game’s pity system is simply cruel! I’ve merely fallen victim to the game company’s wicked scheme to drain the True Progenitor’s money!”
“I told you to leave it to me next time. I’ll do your pulls for you.”
Whatever else I lacked, I had good luck with gacha pulls.
The kind of luck that got me the featured character in a single pull.
I’d once posted about it on the forum and gotten banned.
Ah, this was why humblebragging was so much fun.
“N-no! The joy lies in personally pulling the characters you love. If I leave it to someone else, it won’t feel the same!”
She shouted while hugging her phone to her chest.
The joy of personally pulling a character you loved.
That was why people played anime-style RPGs.
They played for those characters.
“That’s a shame. I really am lucky.”
She bit her lip and stole a glance at me.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
“Don’t try to tempt the True Progenitor! My mind is made up!”
Maybe because her pulls had gone badly, the manager angrily shoved her phone into her pocket.
“There’s little to hand over! Oh, right. The goods I ordered are supposed to arrive this afternoon. Just make sure you take care of those.”
“Understood.”
“I’m in a terrible mood today, so I shall admire the Asteria figurine in my loyal servant’s room before going to bed! Don’t worry, I won’t make a mess of your home! Now then, my loyal servant, look after the store!”
I gave a small shrug as I watched her storm out.
When the owner suffered from bad gacha pulls, some nice anime merchandise was just the thing to soothe her pain.
The corners of her mouth were already turning up.
I put on my apron and started tidying the shelves.
But just as I was peacefully arranging the products...
Bang!
The door flew open, and the manager, who had only just finished her shift, rushed back into the store.
“MY LOYAL SERVAAAANT!!!”
Her shout practically shook the store.
I nearly dropped the tuna mayo triangle rice ball I was holding.
“You scared me! What’s wrong?”
“My loyal servant! Did you plant the World Tree yesterday?!”
The manager pointed at me and demanded an answer.
“Huh? Yes, I did. Why?”
“I knew it! W-why would you do such a thing?!”
For a moment, I panicked.
What?
Was I not supposed to?
Was the World Tree some kind of illegal plant you couldn’t just grow wherever you wanted?
Or did it violate Taepyeong City’s environmental protection laws?
Hold on, Your Majesty. You said it was okay to plant it!
“Was I not supposed to do that? Is it some kind of taboo?”
“That’s not it!”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Thump, thump! The manager beat her chest as though she’d been wronged.
“The problem is that I can’t fully appreciate the physical form of our sacred Asteria!”
“Sorry?”
I asked again, wondering what she was talking about. The manager frowned and grumbled.
“How am I supposed to focus on the figurine with all that holy energy coming from the World Tree?! It’s soaked into every corner of your room!”
“...”
All the tension drained out of me.
And here I’d thought something serious had happened.
“Oh. So that’s what this is about.”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s what this is about’?! This is a serious matter for the True Progenitor!”
She was saying that the World Tree’s holy power was the natural enemy of vampires, who belonged to the undead category.
Now that I thought about it, that made sense.
“So there are only two solutions.”
Ahem, ahem. The manager cleared her throat, then offered a solution with a very serious expression.
“Either remove the World Tree at once, or bring the figurine to my home for safekeeping!”
In short, she wanted to take the limited-edition figurine from my home to hers.
I narrowed my eyes and studied her face.
For someone making such a fuss about not being able to breathe, she looked perfectly healthy. Her skin was as fair and smooth as ever.
“...Boss. You’re actually fine right now, aren’t you?”
“Eh?”
“You’re fine, but you’re using this as an excuse to sneak the figurine into your own home, aren’t you?”
“N-no, I’m not! The World Tree’s power is causing the True Progenitor such terrible suffering that I can barely breathe...!”
The manager quietly avoided my eyes and stared into space.
‘Called it. Her pulls went badly, and now she wants to take the figurine home to cheer herself up.’
“But Boss, would a True Progenitor really be affected by such a tiny World Tree branch? If a True Progenitor with such amazing power can’t even handle a little branch like that, maybe the True Progenitor isn’t really all that...”
“N-no!!! The True Progenitor is strong! Why would I ever lose to a mere World Tree branch?!”
I folded my arms and smiled at her answer. The manager bristled and raised her voice.
“Y-you tricked the True Progenitor!”
“You tried to trick me first, Boss.”
“Ugh. B-but it really is u-uncomfortable! I want to appreciate Asteria of the Firmament’s beauty with my refined eye. Surely you wouldn’t enjoy a foul smell drifting around while you did that!”
“Not today.”
The manager’s eyes widened at my refusal.
“Th-then another day would be fine?”
That was how she took it?
I’d meant no.
But those bright red eyes gazing at me weakened my resolve.
“I’ll think about it.”
The manager clenched her fists and trembled.
I could feel her fierce determination to get that figurine.
“Wait...!”
Her eyes suddenly shifted to my hands.
“Look! You’ve got some on your hands too! That World Tree powder!”
“Powder?”
I looked down at both hands, but I couldn’t see anything.
“What powder?”
“Can’t you feel it, my loyal servant? There’s World Tree pollen on your hands. Even elves, who are highly compatible with the World Tree, don’t get its pollen on them...”
She studied my hands in wonder, then frowned slightly.
“Ugh, that power is unpleasant no matter how I look at it. Urrgh, no wonder something felt strange today!”
The manager pinched her nose and jumped back.
“Anyway! When you said you’d consider moving it to my room, you weren’t just lying to brush me off, were you?”
She was pretty sharp when it came to things like this.
“...”
“Don’t think you can brush me off with a lie! I’ll retreat for today, but next time, I’ll be seriously considering moving it!”
After that final shout, the manager finally left through the staff-only door again.
Seeing her put on a mask as she left, I could feel her determination to admire the figurine even if she had to wear one.
Bang. I stared blankly at the closed door and scratched my head.
“Does she hate the World Tree that much?”
I looked at the pale green powder that was supposedly on my fingertips.
“I can’t see anything.”
The manager wasn’t an ordinary human, so she must have seen something I couldn’t.
“Won’t it be fine for anyone other than the manager?”
From what I could tell, the World Tree’s power wasn’t bad for me.
Once I finished tidying the store, checking the gallery during quiet periods without customers was part of my routine.
It was the best place to find useful tips and get a feel for Taepyeong City.
[Title: A streamer I watch got carted off after doing the lava fruit challenge lol]
Every time I think people have forgotten about it, hunters and U-Tubers start doing the lava fruit challenge again lmaooo
They can’t even finish one and end up throwing away the bubbling lava fruit. Funny as hell
[12 Comments]
ExcommunicatedPaladin: That’s seriously insane. It actually felt like lava was boiling in my stomach.
StoreGalleryRegular: └ You’ve tried it?
Anon: There are always problem customers who eat those at night and come charging into the convenience store.
Anon(223.39): └ Fuck... That brings back memories. They cleared out all our water and ice, then rolled around on the floor.
MagicTowerNightShift: Medicine doesn’t work on it either. Even a burn-healing potion only restores your stomach lining. The pain stays. You just have to put up with it for a few days until it cools down on its own.
LuvYoo: If one of those idiots shows up during your shift, just give them some indigestion medicine and get them out fast. There’s a 99% chance they’ll go wild.
MushroomFarm: I wish they’d stop doing that shit. Fuck fuck fuck
“Lava challenge?”
What was this now?
It sounded a bit like those spicy food challenges people did in Korea...
‘Even medicine doesn’t work?’
Clicking my tongue as I read the comments, I took out my phone.
I wanted to look up this supposedly famous challenge.
Ever since I’d arrived in Taepyeong City, my phone had been giving me news about the city as though it had always belonged to this world.
U-Tube’s recommendations were full of Taepyeong City influencers and U-Tubers.
Even the web portal and email service I often used had changed in subtle ways.
A world where other races were normal.
Where hunters existed.
Where using magic wasn’t strange.
That was why I could contact the manager by phone too.
The strange thing was...
‘None of my old contacts in Korea can be reached...’
It was as though they were out of signal range.
It wasn’t causing me any trouble right now, but...
‘I can go back, right?’
That thought began creeping into my mind.
Let’s stay positive.
If I started thinking negatively, there’d be no end to it.
I shook my head to chase those thoughts away, then watched a lava fruit challenge video.
White smoke rose from the mouth of someone making a huge fuss about their mouth being on fire.
It was a spicy fruit sold with the promise that it would let you experience breathing fire like a dragon.
Why would anyone eat something like that?
Probably because it all turned into views and money.
‘I could never do that.’
I wouldn’t be able to take it. I’d collapse right away.
Just as I was thinking that...
BANG!!
The store door flew open so hard it nearly broke. A huge minotaur with skin flushed bright red rushed inside, panting.
“GRAAAH! I-ice!! Something cold!!!”
He charged at the freezer, grabbed ice cream and cups of ice at random, and poured them into his mouth.
As he swallowed cold water and ice, white smoke rose from his mouth.
“S-sir?”
“It’s hot! I feel like I’m burning! AAAAAH!!!”
Each time he did it, he howled as though the pain had gotten worse.
He was clearly a victim of the lava fruit challenge.
He held a selfie stick with a phone attached.
The phone showed a video of his face, with chat messages appearing in real time.
Apparently, he was a streamer who’d done the challenge for content.
“Is there anythin’ that’ll calm it down? Please...”
With tears and snot streaming down his face, he desperately begged me.
I mean, even if you asked me...
Something to neutralize the heat, huh?
It wasn’t as though there was no way at all.
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