WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Convenience Store Clerk the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 18: My Treat!
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“That’s an unbelievable record! The fastest clear of the Tower’s 73rd floor!”
“Is it true you made it through the cursed zone without using a single bottle of elixir?”
“Kuroaki! Could you say a few words?”
Camera flashes and microphones crowded in front of Sonya.
The reporters had come looking for her as soon as she broke the speed record for floor 73.
The previous record had been set a year ago by Yoo Sera, the Hero.
Sonya had broken the record held by the Hero, the strongest hunter in Taepyeong City. Any reporter who didn’t cover that would have to be out of their mind.
Surrounded by praise from her guildmates and staff, Sonya gave a small wave, doing her best to hide her exhaustion.
“I was just lucky. I happened to get an item that was perfect for the raid. I’ll arrange a formal interview through my guild later.”
“Sonya! Just a moment!”
“Kuroaki, please give us a short interview!”
“Some are saying this could finally change the order at the top of the rankings...”
Leaving the stream of questions behind, she escaped into the hunters’ lounge, dropped onto a sofa, and let out a long breath.
Psshh!
As she removed the purification mask that filtered out floor 73’s poisonous air, her black wolf ears sprang upright with the sound of escaping air.
It had been so stuffy.
She knew it was necessary for the raid, but a mask that covered the ears on top of her head?
“This is a problem. It’s supposed to be a mask made specifically for beastfolk.”
She could still hear her surroundings through the mask, but having her ears covered made it harder to judge what was going on around her.
That was especially true for Wolfkin like Sonya, who sensed nearby presences through the flow of air.
Small equipment issues like this were one reason she had always considered floor 73 a difficult challenge.
Sonya loosened the tie of her trademark black suit, sighed, and turned on her smartphone.
The moment she did, she found that the internet was already flooded with stories about her.
Sonya was already a popular star, but her new speed record on floor 73 had made a different kind of impact.
She had broken the records for both floor 72 and floor 73.
People were even saying she might have grown strong enough to threaten the Hero’s firm hold on first place.
-This is insane. She cleared floor 73 without an elixir? And just one day after entering? Isn’t Kuroaki Sonya the strongest of the Seven Heroes now? Is she stronger than the Hero?
-The Hero’s still stronger. Yoo Sera’s challenging floor 80 right now.
-The Hero does hold all the speed records for the floors above that, too.
-But wasn’t floor 73 the worst possible terrain for a Wolfkin like Sonya? If she set a speed record there, who says she can’t break the next floor’s record too?
-Kuroaki’s definitely in the best form right now.
-Doesn’t this make 21 fastest-clear records for her?
-└Our girl the Hero has 33 clear records, you wolf stans. And it’s not even close when you count first clears. Quit jerking off over speed records.
-└That damn Light cultist’s back. Why come to an article about Sonya just to stir shit?
-Kuroaki, queen, you’re killing me!!
-└Wolf stans getting carried away again.
Post after post praised her.
Normally, she would have avoided even looking at them.
The public’s expectations, cheers, and praise had always weighed heavily on Sonya.
The burden of having to be perfect.
The pressure to improve so she could meet their expectations.
Those expectations drove her to push herself to her limits. They felt so heavy that she usually hurried to close even the most flattering comments.
But today was different.
A soft smile spread across Sonya’s face as she read.
She even chuckled while watching her fans wage fierce keyboard battles. Then her gaze drifted down to her hands.
The clerk’s hands had held hers to pass the World Tree pollen to her.
They had felt rough, but gentle.
Who would even dare imagine it?
Holding Kuroaki Sonya’s hands.
She was everyone’s hero, someone they dreamed of becoming.
A star people were desperate to take pictures with, someone they lined up to get an autograph from.
But that clerk hadn’t looked at her as a star.
His face had made it clear he genuinely had no idea who she was.
Did he never watch the news or read the papers?
She found it surprising that he didn’t know her. And amusing.
And comfortable.
She didn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances.
That put her at ease.
-“I thought touching you directly might work.”
-“If shaking it off doesn’t work, rubbing it onto you is another option.”
Remembering that moment, she felt as though he were holding her hands again. Without realizing it, she closed them into fists.
Imagining herself squeezing the hands that held hers...
‘Wh-what am I thinking?’
She must have lost her mind.
Sonya shook her head, flexing fingers that still seemed to hold that burning warmth.
Just then...
Clunk!
“Wow! Sonya, have you seen the articles? Everyone’s going wild!”
The lounge door opened, and a bright, cheerful voice rang out.
A blue-eyed woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail walked inside.
Dressed in a lightly modified suit of paladin armor, she was Yoo Sera, the Hero, one of the Seven Heroes and the very person the comments had been comparing Sonya to a moment ago.
One of the strongest hunters in Taepyeong City.
A hero many considered the strongest of all, judging by her records.
Always spreading cheerful energy with her bright smile, she grinned and sat down beside Sonya.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Hm? Balty told me.”
She had barely finished speaking when...
Thud.
A heavy thud shook the lounge floor.
-“You’re being noisy. I believe I told you to open doors gently, Hero.”
An enormous body made entirely of hard minerals.
Heavy grinding sounds came from every moving joint. This was Balthazar, the Fist King, another of the Seven Heroes.
The atmosphere changed as the golem, over three meters tall, entered.
Emotionless eyes, typical of the golem race, turned toward Sonya.
-“Congratulations. You set a new speed record.”
“I got lucky. Won’t you break it as soon as you start your floor 73 raid anyway, Fist King?”
-“This unit is not completely immune to poison either.”
Thud!
Balthazar closed the lounge door and came farther inside.
“Aren’t you both busy? What brings you here?”
“What do you think? We came to congratulate our strongest wolf girl, of course!”
Yoo Sera smiled sweetly and pressed close to Sonya’s side.
“Honestly, I had a hard time on floor 73 too. I practically lived on elixirs because of the poison... Then I heard you cleared it in two days, so I came straight over to find out how. Maybe you’re stronger than me now!”
Sonya was just about to clear her throat in embarrassment at Yoo Sera’s fussing when the Fist King folded both arms and cut in.
-“An examination of the residual Mana on Kuroaki’s body revealed a large amount of nature-type Mana. You did not consume any elixirs, and there are only a limited number of nature-type Mana sources and techniques that can counter poisonous energy. Taking these facts into account, I estimate that Kuroaki used World Tree pollen. Am I wrong?”
Yoo Sera’s eyes went wide.
“What?! World Tree pollen? You used that stuff that’s become so rare even the elves can’t get it these days? You must’ve needed quite a lot to clear that floor! Where did you get it?”
Yoo Sera grabbed Sonya’s shoulders and shook her.
Looking dizzy, Sonya shook her head and pulled Yoo Sera’s hands away.
Sera’s question immediately brought the convenience store clerk’s face to mind.
Would either of them believe that World Tree pollen, something even elves now struggled to obtain, had come from the fingertips of a mere convenience store clerk?
“...I just got lucky and met someone who helped me.”
Dodging the question, Sonya glanced at Yoo Sera.
Come to think of it, Yoo Sera was the only human among the Seven Heroes.
One of the very few humans in Taepyeong City.
Maybe she would know.
What male humans liked.
“Um, Sera.”
“Yeah?”
“What kind of gifts do humans like getting?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
When Yoo Sera tilted her head, Sonya glanced away and fiddled with her mask.
Her black tail swayed anxiously.
“W-well, human males, I mean, men. I was wondering if there were any gifts they especially liked.”
Silence.
An odd hush settled over the lounge.
As Yoo Sera took in what Sonya had said, her eyes widened as if they might pop out. Even the Fist King, a golem, stopped moving and stared at Sonya.
“Don’t tell me.”
Mouth hanging open, Yoo Sera pointed at Sonya with a trembling hand.
“S-Sonya, are you... dating someone?!”
“N-no!! It’s nothing like that!”
Flustered, Sonya sprang to her feet and waved her hands.
Her face turned bright red, and her ears and tail stood stiffly upright.
Dating?
It was absolutely nothing like that.
She just...
“H-he helped me with something. I wanted to at least thank him, but I don’t know wh-what he likes...”
It would have been easy if he were another Wolfkin.
They would be happy with a slab of meat.
But she knew nothing about humans.
In Taepyeong City, humans were rarer than dragons.
Despite Sonya’s explanation, Yoo Sera and the Fist King were still stunned.
Whenever people discussed which of the Seven Heroes had the fewest personal relationships, Sonya’s name always came up.
Aside from work-related interviews, she hardly ever appeared in public.
Yet there was a human who could make that Sonya care this much.
And from the sound of it, this human man was the one who had given her the World Tree pollen.
‘There’s a human in Taepyeong City powerful enough to give World Tree pollen as a gift?’
Curiosity about the person Sonya had feelings for began to grow in Yoo Sera’s mind.
But she would put that aside for now.
Sonya herself didn’t seem to like being questioned about it.
“Hmm, things human men like... It’s been so long since I met one that my memory’s a little fuzzy, but if I had to recommend something...”
Sonya listened closely, her ears standing straight up.
It was nice to see her like this again after so long.
Meanwhile, Kim Mincheol, the man in question...
“Hunters who cause trouble... What a fucking nightmare.”
...was suffering at the hands of problem customers.
* * *
Watch out for hunters who cause trouble.
The users of the Convenience Store Gallery had stressed that point over and over.
Honestly, it had never really felt relevant to me.
I’d never met one.
But now I thought I understood why they all dreaded them so much.
“Excuse me! This isn’t a proper coin! Excuse meee!”
One villain had slipped an unknown silver coin among their 500-won coins when paying, then disappeared as if fleeing the scene.
They were a hunter, so I gave up. There was no way I could catch them on my ordinary human legs.
“Just put it on my guild’s tab! I said, put it on the tab!”
“If you keep making unreasonable demands like that...”
“Ah, fuck! Do you even know what guild I’m in?”
Another villain claimed to be an officer of some guild and made a scene, demanding I let them buy on credit.
At least that one was easy to deal with. I just had to call the police.
You could at least talk to a person, right?
The truly difficult problem customer was someone else.
“Oh, my baby doesn’t bite people. It’s fine.”
A tamer came in carrying a huge magical beast cat, without so much as a leash.
This cat mom even stood by and let her leopard-sized pet wreck the shelves.
“Oh my, so full of energy! Did you want to play?”
“Um, ma’am? You’ll have to pay for the damaged goods...”
“Oh, are you really going to make a fuss over my baby playing around? My baby was just playing!”
“...”
That little game tore open the bags of snacks on the shelves, though?
I called the police again.
I’d wanted to add another word, but...
Grrr.
I felt like the magical beast cat would bite me if I did.
The golem police officer who arrived subdued the cat and its owner in an instant, preventing any further damage.
“Cat moms in Taepyeong City are way too violent.”
It was the first time I’d been more scared of the cat than the cat mom.
I’d heard a lot of hunters were mentally shaken after the failed floor 67 raid.
Who would have thought the effects would reach a convenience store?
“They wouldn’t dare make a peep if the store manager were here...”
Being human was miserable.
If I were a little stronger, this wouldn’t have happened.
“Should I take up boxing or something?”
I soon dropped the idea. Even if I trained under a world champion, I doubted I could beat that magical beast cat.
Sometimes it was better to accept reality quickly.
While checking the cash in the register, I looked at the unknown silver coin the problem customer had mixed in with the others and let out a short sigh.
“I guess I’ll cover it myself.”
All I could do was get into the habit of checking carefully before completing a sale.
I opened my wallet, put a 500-won coin into the register to make up the difference, and shoved the silver coin into my pocket.
If I sold it at the black market or a pawnshop later, surely I’d get more than 500 won for it.
For now, I decided to take comfort in that.
I was starting to feel worn out after dealing with one problem customer after another when...
Ding.
Someone entered the store with a cheerful chime.
It was a familiar face.
“Welco... Oh, you’re here.”
Today, she wore a cap pulled low and her familiar, dusty work clothes.
It was Friella, the elf construction worker who had given me the World Tree branch.
“Hello, Mincheol.”
Looking more relaxed than usual, she approached the counter.
“You seem to be in a good mood today. Did something happen?”
At my question, Friella chuckled and leaned against the counter with her basket.
“It’s payday.”
“Oh, congratulations. You finally got paid.”
“Today, it’s my treat.”
“Sorry?”
“You bought me Elven Chips last time and threw in a few expired lunch boxes too. Elves don’t forget a kindness.”
A pleasant grassy scent drifted from her.
“I’ll treat our hardworking clerk to whatever he wants! Pick anything you’d like to eat!”
Was it because I’d spent the day dealing with so many problem customers?
Friella’s offer couldn’t have felt more reassuring.
“Then may I take you up on that?”
“Of course!”
Footnotes:
“Light cultist” mocks the Hero's fans with a Korean nickname combining “light” and Shincheonji, the name of a religious group.
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