Ch.219214 – Convenience Store Goddess

“Time is given equally to everyone? Yeah, right. Don’t give me that bullshit.”

Kim Ji-woo, the convenience store part-timer, closed the self-help book.

He’d seen countless books spewing sweet lies like “It’s not your fault, society is to blame,” but this was the first time he’d felt so irritated while reading one.

5 PM. Five more hours until he could hand over to that damn night shift worker who was always late.

Working at a convenience store near a university campus had its own set of challenges.

Already drained from dealing with young know-it-alls, Ji-woo sat at the counter, zoning out while analyzing the floor tile patterns.

That’s when he heard the bell.

Like Pavlov’s dog, the well-trained Ji-woo reflexively opened his mouth.

“Welcome to CU!”

He’d lost count of how many times he’d repeated this today. Even NPCs in virtual reality games probably had more varied dialogue.

“I’ll ring this up for you.”

With an extreme sense of existential dread, Ji-woo scanned the “Triangle Kimbap (Small)” the customer handed him.

He extended his hand to receive a card, but the woman gave him coins with her fair, delicate hand.

Coins in this day and age?

When Ji-woo instinctively looked up, he felt his breath stop.

A goddess stood before him.

Simple white tee and high-waisted jeans.

Long limbs and skin as white and clear as jade.

Though both were black, her eyes were exceptionally beautiful. Ji-woo couldn’t tear his gaze away from her doe-like, sparkling eyes.

A beige eco-bag instead of a luxury crossbody, and a fresh soap scent that tickled his nose instead of heavy perfume emphasized her modest charm.

‘Should I ask for her number? Though with looks like that, she probably has a boyfriend…’

Ji-woo was fairly confident about his appearance, but he felt embarrassed in his convenience store uniform.

As his hesitation dragged on, the woman spoke first in a curt tone.

“Are you… going to ring me up?”

“Oh, yes! By the way, this is buy-one-get-one-free. Would you like to grab another of the same item?”

“Really? That’s great.”

The woman clapped her hands once and turned 90, then 180 degrees, heading back to the triangle kimbap display.

The moment Ji-woo’s eyes caught the goddess’s side and back profile, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

Moreover, her voice was youthful and gentle, like that of an innocent child.

‘Some people really do have it all. I’m jealous…’

Unlike himself, trapped in this small rectangular building, people his age were out enjoying their youth, roaming the streets.

Ji-woo’s reflection in the glass window looked somewhat pitiful.

At that moment, a commotion erupted outside.

Well, busy streets were always noisy, so more accurately, a crowd was suddenly gathering.

‘Could that woman actually be a celebrity?’

His question didn’t last long.

It was a woman, but not the one he thought.

A small child with twin tails leaning against the convenience store window outside.

As if sensing Ji-woo’s gaze, the girl slightly turned her head to look inside the store.

“Holy shit! That’s NoName!”

The convenience store guy jumped up from his seat.

He was a 5+ month subscriber to NoName, one of the few such dedicated fans in Korea.

This was a great achievement that could only be unlocked by subscribing before Name hit Master rank in League and gained mainstream popularity.

Kim Ji-woo, assistant manager of NoName’s fan cafe with the username “MultiCoreUltraCuteAI,” burst out from behind the counter.

“Excuse me, it seems like there are no triangle kimbaps left…”

“Just a moment, goddess! I’ll get some from the storage later! Please wait a bit!”

“Pardon?”

What did a goddess appearing in the convenience store matter now?

A person of even greater, creator-like importance was right before his eyes.

Ji-woo grabbed a permanent marker and dashed out of the convenience store so quickly that it wasn’t clear who he was asking to wait.

The bewildered woman could only stare blankly at the now-empty counter.

“Excuse me…?”

Grumble-

The sound from the woman’s stomach quietly echoed.

* * *

The herd mentality is truly frightening.

Until now, no one had given her a second glance when she walked alone, so she felt comfortable venturing into the busy district.

That was natural. In this modern age where people are indifferent to others, it’s not easy to attract attention unless you’re a fairly famous celebrity.

Besides, she was small in height and build, making her relatively less noticeable.

Still, she felt like more people were stealing glances at her than before.

But suddenly, a couple of people rushed up to her asking for photos and autographs, which she happily obliged.

Whether they took this as implicit permission, or someone was pretending to be a fan and others just assumed she was famous and joined in, she couldn’t tell what was going on in people’s minds.

Of course, among them were genuine fans and viewers.

“You really want me to sign this?”

She had signed papers, notebooks, and even textbooks before, but this was the first time someone had asked her to sign the white shirt they were wearing.

She held the permanent marker and quickly scrawled “NoName” in cursive on the man’s back.

“Thank you! I’ll treasure this as a family heirloom forever!”

After finishing signing for Kim Ji-woo, she and Daniel, whom she had coincidentally met in front of the convenience store, pushed through the crowd and hurried away.

Turning into a quieter alley lined with meat restaurants and bars, Daniel spoke first.

“What brings you here, Name?”

“Dayeon unnie invited me. She said she’d treat me to nakgobsae if I came to Building 28 before 6, so I rushed right over.”

Today, an unusually large number of professors had participated in the Q&A session. Was it because they were covering the famous Goldbach Conjecture?

What should have been a one-hour schedule extended to two and a half hours.

Having eaten nothing since morning, I couldn’t refuse Woo Da-yeon’s offer.

Nakgobsae—a dish I’d never tried in this life or my previous ones.

So the place Daniel and I escaped to was in front of the nakgobsae restaurant where Da-yeon’s liberal arts class group was supposed to meet.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you in the same Human Relations group as Dayeon unnie? But where are the other members, and why were you alone at the convenience store earlier?”

According to Daniel, “Psychology of Human Relationships” was a class that was more about hanging out with group members than actual studying.

Did the group meeting fall apart?

“Well…”

Daniel had been holding the uneaten triangle kimbaps in both hands all this time.

Before her dry, cracked pink lips could finish speaking, Woo Da-yeon opened the door and came out of the restaurant.

“Name, why are you so late! We’ve been waiting for so long! And next to you is… Daniel…?”

“Sorry, I’ll go.”

“Wait, Daniel!”

As Daniel quickly turned to leave, Da-yeon grabbed her wrist with lightning-fast reflexes.

The kimbap fell from Daniel’s weakened grip onto the stone pavement, completely squashed.

As if it wasn’t intentional, Da-yeon hurriedly picked up the kimbap and dusted it off.

No matter how she turned it over and examined it, it was no longer edible.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I’ll buy you a new one.”

“Just give it back.”

“No, I’ll buy you one from right over there.”

“I said GIVE IT BACK!”

Daniel, who had been speaking calmly, suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Uh… okay…”

The mangled dinner was returned to Daniel’s hands.

Thinking about it again, Da-yeon blocked Daniel’s path as she tried to leave, finding the situation ridiculous.

“Look, I know things aren’t great between Hicks Studio and Bark, but you’re not even an official PD there, right? You’re just a freshman enjoying it like a club activity? You only joined two months ago. Why are you so invested in this?”

“…”

“You might have personal reasons to dislike me, fine. But you still need to participate in group meetings. If you don’t want to have dinner together, couldn’t you at least show your face so we can take pictures for the report? Is it that hard to just pretend to attend?”

Woo Da-yeon demanded an explanation, breathing heavily.

A man, presumably part of their group, witnessed the women arguing at the entrance of the restaurant.

“Dayeon, why aren’t you coming in… Oh, Daniel! Welcome! Why are you so late?”

He pretended not to know what had just happened, trying to ease the awkwardness.

“Tell me. If you hated team project classes, you should have dropped it. Are you aware that your selfish behavior is hurting others? Why should we have to deal with stress in this otherwise good class just because of you!”

“Group leader, please go back inside. I’ll talk to Daniel alone.”

The man quickly separated the two women, putting on a smile to prevent the situation from escalating into an emotional fight.

Daniel, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up.

“Why doesn’t anyone understand my situation? Why do I always have to be the one to accommodate…?”

Tears began to well up and stream down Daniel’s doe-like eyes.

I clearly saw Da-yeon almost call her a “fox bitch” but stopping at just mouthing the words, provoked by this display that seemed designed to appeal to male sympathy.

The effect on the man trying to restrain Da-yeon, however, was tremendous.

He held Da-yeon back even more firmly, preventing her from approaching Daniel.

“So what exactly is this situation? Tell us so we can accommodate you!”

“…”

“Ugh, this is so frustrating! I don’t know, do whatever you want… I don’t want to be the group leader anymore.”

After beating her chest in frustration, Woo Da-yeon finally threw in the towel.

The two women went their separate ways.

While the man and I were wondering who to follow, Daniel provided the answer.

“Don’t follow me.”

It seemed like eating nakgobsae now would only give me indigestion.

* * *

“You’re eating well, Name! Good thing I ordered an extra portion—it could have been a disaster otherwise…!”

“Wow, how can even your eating be this cute…? You’re a total angel!”

“But is it really okay not to follow Daniel?”

I ate well without any indigestion at all.

Da-yeon asked as she wiped the red nakgobsae broth from the corner of my mouth with a napkin.

“She said not to follow her. Besides, I’ve been starving all day.”

“Yes, yes, eat plenty!”

Da-yeon generously treated me, seemingly trying to make up for her earlier mistake.

I smacked my lips at the alcohol scent coming from the not-yet-cleared glasses on the table.

Why aren’t there any countries that allow children to drink?

“Were you busy today? Is it okay for them to keep someone as young as you for so long?”

“I know, right? I’m thinking of just abandoning all those proofs and running off to Switzerland.”

“Switzerland? What do you mean, Name?”

“The day before yesterday, I got a call from the Swiss Embassy. I thought it was a scam at first.”

Coincidentally, related news was being reported on TV.

[As the global talent drain toward Switzerland accelerates, the recent online leak of a Swiss government confidential document called ‘The Great Generation List’ has caused quite a stir. Behind young talents abandoning their nationalities to immigrate lies the Swiss government’s massive plan to recruit 100 core talents from around the world.]

That’s right, they also mentioned “The Great Generation” during our phone call.

[The budget scale is substantial, offering individuals anywhere from 500 million to 10 billion won. South Korea was no exception. The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately expressed its protest, calling it ‘an act that breaks trust relationships with key partner countries,’ and the White House also—]

“The news got it a bit wrong.”

“Huh?”

“They offered me 100 billion, not 10 billion.”

The reporter must have tripped and dropped a zero.

I scooped up the last shrimp with the red broth and popped it into my mouth.

I wonder if they sell nakgobsae in Switzerland?