Convenience Store 24: The Tower of the End 1st - Chapter 102



Only Krnovel

Episode 102 Don’t worry! Don’t worry!

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Crackle, crackle-

Two men walk down a snowy night street.

“Hey, but are you sure about this?”

“I told you I’m sure. I checked everything. There are no surveillance cameras around. I’ve already come here several times to check. I’m sure it’s more comfortable in a place like this than in a rich neighborhood.”

“……okay?”

Breath rises from between the gaps in the mask that reveal only the mouth.

Eventually, the two men arrived in front of a single-family home.

“Look at this? Is it real?”

The man who was inspecting the fence speaks in a low, mocking voice.

“The guy who lives here must be quite strong-willed. He didn’t even put a single piece of glass in the wall.”

“There’s no private security system, right? They’re just telling us to take this.”

“But isn’t there someone inside?”

“I checked that too. It looks like a young couple with a dog. They go out a lot. They’re not around at this time.”

“okay?”

The two men look at each other and snicker.

This year-end period is also a golden opportunity for thieves.

It was also a time when people were more lax than ever about crime prevention as they were intoxicated by the winter atmosphere.

“Are you ready?”

“of course.”

Once you break into a house, the first thing you do is take away any valuables.

Then you can just grab all the cash and get out.

There are already more than five houses that have turned like this.

The men’s confidence was through the roof.

“Okay, let’s get started.”

The two men naturally put on their gloves and reached over the fence.

The wall wasn’t that high, so getting over it was a piece of cake.

“Ugh!”

The moment the two thieves grabbed the wall with both hands and tried to pull themselves over the wall.

Wheeing-

A sharp wind blew from somewhere.

“Ugh!”

A thief rolled on the floor with his back bent in an awkward position.

“You… …what are you doing?”

“I, I don’t know, X-pal… … . What the… … all of a sudden.”

The thief, clutching his waist and groaning, discovers something fallen on the ground.

“Eww, hey, look at this.”

“Isn’t it a stone?”

“Yeah, it looks like someone threw a rock at me.”

The two thieves looked around hurriedly.

There wasn’t a single person, not even a single ant, in the alley.

Then one of the thieves asks anxiously.

“… … Do you just want to withdraw?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Aren’t you going to make any money?”

“That’s not it, but the fact that a rock suddenly flew… … makes me feel uneasy.”

“Oh, you little coward. Just sit there and watch.”

Another thief would laugh at his cowardly colleague.

Just then, I was about to climb over the wall again.

Slippery-

“Huh?”

The body of the man holding onto the wall spun 360 degrees and flew through the air.

Quadduk-

“Eww!”

“What, what are you doing, you punk!”

“I, I don’t know… … Ugh… … .”

The thief was really wronged.

How many walls has he climbed over so far!

Who would have thought that a self-proclaimed veteran thief would find himself in such a pitiful situation?

“are you okay?”

“Ugh… … My arm, I think it’s broken… … .”

“It’s broken?”

When his colleague kicked his arm.

“Keuuuuuuuuuuuup!”

The thief, who was groaning while holding his arm, glared at his colleague with his lips tightly shut as if he was going to kill him.

“Oh, I guess it’s true.”

“Please… help me up.”

“Oh my, you rice cooker. You should have held it well.”

“Ugh… … I think I grabbed the wrong spot… … .”

The confident look was nowhere to be found.

Two thieves who were left in a pitiful state with their eyes covered in blood.

“Let’s go to the hospital first.”

“Ugh, I guess so… … .”

Soon the two thieves disappeared into the alley.

“Ugh!”

A swan pokes its head over the fence.

“Pheh heh!”

A satisfied smile appears on the corner of Baekgu’s mouth as he watches the backs of the departing intruders.

[Valina, listen especially to Baekgu. Anything that comes over the wall is an enemy, so don’t show mercy and step on them. But don’t use your abilities openly.]

As much as I faithfully carried out the orders my master gave me.

The swan jumped down the stairs from the fence in high spirits.

“Ugh!”

Then the swan looks at the basement where the master went down.

The pure white tail sways from side to side.

Since you have carried out your mission perfectly, your master will reward you accordingly.

“Pheh heh!”

Baekgu recalled a program he had seen on TV.

[Oh my, look here! There are so many puppies, aren’t there?]

[Everyone is taking a nap!]

If you’re going to get a reward, it might be a good idea to go to a puppy kindergarten where there are lots of pretty female dogs.

At that moment, a sinister smile appeared on the corner of Baekgu’s mouth.

Rattling-

Finally the owner came out of the basement.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“What? Really? A thief broke in?”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

The owner looked down at him with gloomy eyes.

“Yeah, I did well, but… … puppy kindergarten?”

“Woof, woof!”

“Hmm, yeah. I guess it’s not like I can’t go. I don’t really think so, but you seem to be a bit more open lately? I’m just asking just in case, but do you have any plans to give up peanuts… .”

“Arrrrrrrrr… … .”

“Poohahaha! Just kidding, just kidding. Anyway, you did a good job. You know that thanks to you, I can go out and do things comfortably, right?”

The master continued speaking, patting his head a few times.

“I’ll tell my cousin about puppy kindergarten separately, and I’ll grill some Korean beef as a reward later.”

Sometimes he says nonsense like “peeling peanuts” or something.

Still, he is a good owner.

“Woof, woof!”

* * *

3 days later.

‘Ehhhhh… … .’

Snow fell on the underground fields.

I raised the corners of my mouth as I looked at the krmils showing off their white branches.

‘You’re growing up so quickly.’

The biggest one is probably the effect of fertilizer.

The size of a fully grown Krumil was not very large.

Because when it was fully grown, it was barely tall enough to reach my waist.

‘Okay, let’s get started.’

Today I was planning to extract Lamode from Krumil.

I left a pipe with an entrance at the bottom of each krmil, and walked around the krmil, shaking the branches.

Okay then.

Whew Whew Whew-

A translucent liquid flowed out from under the branches, emitting a dazzling light and dripping into the pipe.

‘Ugh, this is it!’

Honestly, when I first saw that liquid, ‘Lamode’.

I just thought it was sap from a tree.

‘But who would have guessed that this would be such a delicacy?’

Soon, the tube filled with white liquid.

I smiled faintly.

‘With this amount, there shouldn’t be any major problems in making a new menu.’

Chin, chin-

I put a special stamp on each letter and sent the letter to my clone.

Then he went outside and shouted.

“Clone! Did you have a good trip?”

A clone waves from inside a truck parked in the yard.

“Cleaning up!”

“okay!”

‘It’s convenient because there are special stamps.’

This means that you can move your luggage comfortably without having to exert yourself too much.

Of course, I have also thought about receiving items from the cafe using special stamps.

It’s just that I didn’t try it because there was a chance of being caught by people.

‘What would the raiders say if they saw this?’

He might have sworn at me for using such hard-to-find special stamps.

But so what?

I am the maker of the special stamps.

‘Okay, let’s go.’

I left the house driving the truck as usual.

As soon as I arrived at Insung Cafe, I put the maltongs straight into the refrigerator.

‘Hehehe… … .’

Then, I hung the banner I made at home above the cafe.

[Enjoy the renewed cafe latte and cappuccino! We hope you enjoy them a lot!]

‘Okay, this should be enough. I wonder how many lattes and cappuccinos will be sold.’

Actually, there was also cafe latte and cappuccino.

They sold a variety of coffees, such as caramel macchiato and cafe mocha.

However, with the emergence of stellar new products such as the scent of the sea, mixed herbal tea, human coffee, potap-ade, and apple tea.

Some menus gradually lost their position.

‘In the end, I ended up throwing away everything except the cafe latte and cappuccino.’

Even lattes and cappuccinos had poor sales because people couldn’t taste the original coffee flavor because of the milk.

I was wondering if I should even get rid of these.

actually.

“Renewed Caffe Latte? What does that mean?”

“It seems like the boss changed something. He said it was a renewal, um… …like he changed the milk?”

“Then there’s no difference?”

“……I know?”

Customers waiting in line looked at the banner with questioning eyes.

But today will be different.

I confidently looked at the customers and entered the cafe.

“Hello, boss!”

“hello!”

“Hey, guys. Hi!”

Seon-ah and Su-jeong, who had already arrived at work, greeted me happily.

Meanwhile, Soo-Jung naturally approaches the Bluetooth speaker.

“Boss! Until the opening, is it okay if I play pop music instead of classical music?”

“Okay.”

It wasn’t exactly an unreasonable request, and listening to pop music actually helped me a lot.

‘It’s good to know what kids like these days.’

Sometimes, singing a song isn’t bad.

Soon a song begins to flow out of the speakers.

[My burning heart-]

I don’t know the singer’s name, but I think I’ve heard this song before while passing by on the street.

“Boss, how about this song?”

“It doesn’t seem bad, but are songs like that trendy these days?”

“Oh my, boss… … You don’t know RB… …?”

“I think I’ve heard the name before… … .”

Soo-Jung, who had been looking at me like I was an alien, took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“Um… … Actually, it’s an old song. But it’s a song that even reached number one on Melon! It’s a song called ‘Not Today’ sung by a super awesome idol group called RB. Anyway! RB is just so amazing! They can dance, sing, and look good, and they even compose their own songs, and they’re openly promoting the concept of genius idols who compose, and no one can deny it, but among them, my friend Maren, Maren is in charge of composing songs? Maren is a real, real genius… … .”

Stories about idols flow out of Soo-Jung’s mouth like a machine gun.

‘Hmm, kids these days like that kind of thing.’

There was a time when I was interested in idols too.

However, interest also waned along with his discharge from the military.

“Okay, Soo-jung. Can you take a breath and talk to me?”

“… … So, when you have time, you should definitely listen to the 31 songs I just mentioned. Gasp, gasp… … For RB, it’s okay to not breathe… … .”

“Yeah, yeah… … .”

Seon-ah tilts her head as she listens to Soo-jung’s crazy conversation.

“But seriously, why haven’t RB songs come out in the last few years? They usually release an album around this time.”

“Oh, she’ll come out. Maren is a bit busy these days.”

“Right? If you’re that famous, you’ll be incredibly busy.”

Seon-ah nodded and asked me this time.

“Boss, there are a lot of containers in the refrigerator. What are they?”

“Oh, that?”

Because I couldn’t say that it was a lamothra extract from krmil.

I said with a smile.

“I got it from a friend who runs a small ranch. He told me to try it out and use it if I like it.”

“Wow, is that ranch milk? I’ve never seen ranch milk like that before!”

“Is this your first time seeing this? The only difference is the label. Even famous brand milk is made on farms.”

“Anyway!”

Seon-ah and Soo-jeong ask with sparkling eyes.

“Can I try a drink?”

“Okay. Oh, while you’re at it, try making it into a latte and give me your opinion.”

“yes!”

Seon-ah takes a shot from the coffee machine.

I poured the concentrate into a glass full of Lamode.

And then the women slowly bring the glass to their lips.

“……uh?”

* * *

“So, you think you’re experiencing burnout?”

“uh.”

“Burnout is when everything is burned out and there is nothing left.”

“yes.”

“So this is your 365th burnout this year? Did you even have anything to burn out on in the first place?”

“Oh, already?”

“Oh, already?!” I fell asleep. Why, let’s have a Burnout 1-year anniversary party or something.”

“oh.”

“ha…….”

A black-haired young man with a neat Ivy League cut grabbed the back of his neck as if he had a headache.

The culprit who gave him a headache.

A young man with curly brown hair.

My colleague opened his mouth from lying on the sofa blankly staring at his phone, whether he had a headache or not.

“But the group schedule is still running. Is there a problem?”

“Of course! You were the one who initially suggested that the group’s identity be defined as a ‘composing genius idol group’! But you haven’t been composing your own songs yet. It’s already been two years since you released your regular album. Don’t you know that the fandom keeps talking about it these days?”

“I know.”

A vein stood out above the black-haired man’s eyebrow.

“I knew it, but now… … . Ha, that’s enough. Anyway, you’re our group’s composer after all. Now, you should at least come out with one song.”

“Yeah, but what do I do if the song doesn’t come out?”

The black-haired man sighed deeply, hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“First of all, this is not my decision, it’s the decision of my superiors, so don’t yell at me.”

Road Rock-

Brown eyes, the same color as her hair, roll towards the man.

The man, who was finally able to make eye contact and speak, swept back his black hair.

He sighed again and spoke.

“Two weeks. He said that if I don’t get a song out within two weeks, he’ll use Shadow Writer to make a song and release it under your name.”

“What the f*ck?”

The brown-haired man jumped up.

After a while.

bang!

“X foot X foot X foot X foot X foot X foot.”

A man roughly slamming a high-quality wooden door.

He muttered the six-letter words incessantly.

You want to get a good song from a shadow composer and release it under your own name?

Maren could never agree.

‘You want me to sing and dance to a song written by someone else?’

Even Maren had to put her name on a song she didn’t even like.

Just thinking about it makes me sick and makes me want to throw up.

Maren ended up vomiting.

But Maren remembered the conversation beyond the door.

‘I’ve held out on not releasing a new album all this time because I trusted you and waited for you. Isn’t this a lot of waiting?’

‘If you reject this offer… … I will make a unit with the remaining four members without you and debut it as a unit. I can’t keep teasing the other members of the group because of you.’

“Damn… … .”

Marendo knew the group’s situation.

But no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get the same inspiration I used to.

“Damn it!”

Maren, who had been pulling out her hair, picked up her phone again.

It was a habitual SNS check.

Maren was absentmindedly scanning the numerous posts on Nursta.

Among them, there were some photos that particularly caught his eye today.

[Finally succeeded in the Inseong Cafe Challenge!]

[A place you must visit at least once in your life!]

The lips of the people who took pictures with a cafe in the background.

They all have bright smiles on their faces.

“… … .”

A situation where you are under unprecedented pressure to produce a song within two weeks.

But… … it’s strange.

I have a strange feeling.

Maren thought about it for a moment.

I took out some tacky clothes, put on a hat, put on dark sunglasses and a mask, and went outside.