Convenience Store 24: The Tower of the End 1st - Chapter 115



Only Krnovel

Episode 115: The Scales of Balance (2)

Could it be that this is all a dream?

If only I could wake up from this nightmare right now.

You will see his familiar office.

‘Okay. Then, as usual, the secretary will come in to report my schedule.’

This is all clearly a dream.

It has to be that way.

however.

[Hooooom! Worker #470! What are you doing sitting still? It’s work time! Get back to your position! Hooooom!]

The screams of the Ents, the smell of fertilizer that is so strong it stings your nose.

All of these things make you realize that this place is real.

“Wow!”

Alves eventually couldn’t stand the smell of fertilizer and started vomiting.

[Huh?]

Ent crouched down in front of him and asked in a kind voice.

[No. 470! Are you feeling unwell? You’ll feel better if you go into the fertilizer room.]

“Ugh… … Rain, fertilizer room? Okay, okay… … Uweeek… … .”

Alves waved his hands stubbornly, even though he felt nauseous.

‘I don’t know about other places, but the ‘fertilizer room’ is absolutely not allowed!’

Just the day before yesterday, the Brain Emperor, who had attempted to escape from the Ent Forest, was captured by the elves and returned.

The price of escape was catastrophic.

The brainwasher was immediately dragged into the fertilizer room.

The next day when he came out of the fertilizer room.

“Ugh… … Heh heh… … .”

I could see the brain dead, half-souled, with fertilizer all over their bodies.

“I’m okay… … Ugh… … Ah… … .”

[Hooooom! Then hurry up and go dig the ground!]

“Ugh… … .”

* * *

“Phew… … .”

I came back home.

I thought as I took out the cash I had put in my subspace pocket.

‘You’ve had a hard time this time.’

The Ent Forest was originally used for various purposes, including agriculture and various gathering activities.

To quickly transform the place into a prison.

Because I spent a few days in Elasium.

“Oh, master! You’re here? You’ve been here a little longer this time?”

Is it because I came back from the tower after a few days?

My clone welcomed me back with open arms.

“There was quite a bit of work to do.”

I had a quick meal and told my clone what had happened up at the tower.

“So, if we sum it up… … it’s like the scales of balance or something attacked the owner?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“But Master, weren’t you acquainted with those guys?”

“It was almost at a non-existent level.”

That’s the only thing I’ve encountered directly.

Because the knight and Jade were everything.

“But why that deal?”

“When questioned, he said his eyes were turned upside down by the special stamps and [Convenience Store★24] items.”

“Ah, so you’re saying that you tried to eat the owner’s patented item by force and got beat up?”

“… … Patent? Rather than the concept of a patent… … Well, it’s similar.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the words my clone had chosen.

“Now you’re a total outsider.”

“Humans are creatures of adaptation, right? More importantly, what happened to those guys?”

“I bet you’re working hard on your farm in prison.”

The Ent Forest, no, was completed in no time thanks to the cooperation of Prisia and the Millennium Tree.

I burst out laughing as I thought about them serving their time in Ent’s prison.

“But what if they can escape? I recently watched a drama about escaping from prison on Nutflick, and well, these guys… … .”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”

Using the target’s abilities and the golden contract.

A ban was placed on their abilities.

In addition, elf spirits watch over the area around the high walls.

The Ents serve as watchtowers, keeping a close watch over the inside of the prison, making it nearly impossible for them to escape.

Didn’t they already achieve the feat of catching the brain emperor who was trying to escape from prison?

‘What would it be like to live inside and just farm?’

The sentence that Prisia sentenced Alves to was 30 years.

In addition, the leaders were sentenced to a whopping 20 years in prison.

To be honest, it’s been a long time.

“Then, from now on, anyone who attacks the owner will be thrown in there… … .”

The clone suddenly flared its nose.

He runs into the kitchen with his face turned white.

“Ah, bacon! Aaaah!”

It definitely smells a little burnt.

I chuckled and turned my head away.

‘By the way, did you come up?’

I quickly went to YouTube and looked at the video.

[Scales of Balance VS Shopkeeper of Fantasy, I drew aggro to show this.]

[The scales of balance are literally shattered!]

[A man who was a target in another world, but worker number 470 in the Ent Forest?]

.

.

.

‘woah…….’

Could it be because I stayed in Elasium for a few days?

There were already mainstream videos on YouTube about me and the balance scales.

I pressed on one of the videos.

‘I already know the content, so I’ll just read the comments.’

It’s nice to see public sentiment like this.

Because it was also one of my little hobbies.

[Hasangin: Hahahahaha, wow, this is fucking ridiculous. They were merchants and production-related raiders, and they just sucked all the blood out of me and got screwed.]

[└Brain Crime: Seriously ㅋㅋ On top of that, that kid not only controls the dungeon, but also raises the price of items like crazy, and sends good raiders to his production site as slaves. That guy deserves to be treated worse.]

[Patriotic Martyr: The Fantastic Shop Owner! It’s You Again?! I’m Proud! K-Shop Owner!]

[Rational Inference: It feels refreshing, but I’m a little worried. Even though the balance of the scales is so dirty, I honestly think that it was an organization that was necessary for the top. The distribution network and branches they created also made transactions much easier.]

[└Reply AI: I agree with this. It was a necessary evil.]

[└└Rational Reasoning: Well, the store owner did a good job, but I don’t know what will happen in the future.]

[└└└Reply AI: I think it’s okay though. It’ll just take some time, but eventually someone will take their place. That’s how the market has always been, right?]

[└└└└YouTube Official: Your mother, who went to the market, is also crying.]

The public opinion in the comments mostly applauded the downfall of the scales of balance.

At the same time, there were quite a few people who anticipated what would happen next due to their absence.

‘There are people who specialize in analyzing these things… … Ah, they’re here.’

I looked through the videos posted by YouTubers who specialize in analyzing the inside of towers.

[On the impact of the fall of the Scales of Balance on the Tower of Doom.]

[The fall of the scales of balance? There will always be substitutes anyway.]

[Galidur, the de facto number two of the Scales of Balance. What choice will he make as his clan falls apart?]

[Here are the 12 clans most likely to replace the Scales of Balance.]

.

.

.

I nodded after looking through the video.

‘Everyone thinks similarly to me.’

This is the conclusion most analysts reached:

[It may be chaotic at the moment, but there are plenty of clans that can replace the scales of balance. It is the law of the world that hyenas will swarm in the place where lions leave, and many forces will rise up to take advantage of the gap in the scales of balance, causing positive competition.]

‘Yeah, that’s right.’

Where money flows, people tend to flock.

So I slowly browsed through the videos.

* * *

It’s been three weeks since I started my battle with the scales of balance.

“Tteokbokki for two from the giant!”

“Yes, I checked for two servings!”

“We’ve got an order for 3 glasses of Scent of the Sea!”

A kitchen that is always busy.

Seon-ah, Soo-jeong, and the two newly hired employees are moving busily.

‘Everyone is working hard.’

I also like the fact that the two newly selected friends are very diligent and work hard.

If you do that, I should give you a bonus later.

After a while.

“The 5th diffuser time has ended. We would like to thank those who used our service today, and we look forward to welcoming our guests again with better food and service.”

“Haha, this is… … It’s better than fine dining? This chewy chocolate and this deeply flavored coffee are really… … .”

“See? I told you so, didn’t I?

Customers leaving the cafe with happy smiles and joyful laughter.

“Boss, the food was really delicious!”

“The diffuser time was just as rumored. It was truly a magical time. I’ll come again next time!”

Some guests expressed deep satisfaction and gave me a thumbs up.

“Thank you! Come again!”

‘Ehhhhh… … This is the taste that makes me a business.’

When my guests are happy, I am happy too.

No matter what hardships and adversities they have experienced outside.

I just hope that you will return home with joy and happiness from this ‘Inseong Cafe’.

‘Now let’s take a short break and then start the next diffuser time… … .’

Just as I was clearing away all the empty tables and about to sit back down at the counter.

“president!”

Seon-ah approaches me and speaks to me quietly.

“Huh? Why?”

“I’m talking about our cafe. You said you were going to remodel it. I was wondering if you had an exact date.”

“Oh, that? It’s not out yet. I’m just finishing up the organization, but I’ll tell you when I get more certainty.”

This time, Soo-Jung raises her hand in response to my answer.

“But boss! What will happen to us if you remodel the cafe?”

I chuckled and shook my head.

“Operations will continue. The first floor will remain, and only the upper floors will be renovated.”

“Oh, is that so? I thought we had to take a few months off too.”

“Haha, I did think about that, but I’m just going to leave the first floor alone.”

Originally, we were planning to remodel the first floor as well.

I couldn’t possibly remodel this first floor, which held so many memories with my parents.

“But it’ll be a bit noisy during the construction period. So, during that time, we’ll only be taking takeout orders.”

I would have liked to have had customers in the store during that period as well.

For guests who want to enjoy the scent of the diffuser and food in a relaxed atmosphere, the noise from the construction will be bad news.

“Anyway, once the schedule is set, I’ll let you know… … .”

Whew Whew Whew-

Suddenly the cell phone rings.

[Donghyun]

I chuckled as I saw my friend’s name clearly appearing on the screen.

‘Did you call to meet again?’

“Sorry, guys. I need to take a call.”

I put the phone to my ear.

After a while.

‘Hmm, what should I do… … .’

After finishing the call with Dong-Hyeon, I was about to lose myself in thought.

Seon-ah looks at me and asks quietly.

“Boss, are you going to the class reunion?”

“Hmm? Oh, my friend asked me. So I’m still thinking about it.”

I continued talking while shaking my phone.

“I contacted a few of my close friends. Since they’re attending, I’m thinking of going too.”

“Are they all high school friends?”

“Right. I once ran away from homeroom with my friends and got beaten up by our homeroom teacher… … .”

Let me talk to Soo-Jung about her school days.

“It was a co-ed school?”

Seon-ah also sneaks into the conversation.

That’s when we were talking about our high school days.

Rattling-

Someone comes into the cafe.

‘There’s still some time left until diffuser time.’

I turned my gaze toward the door.

Three men dressed in neat suits caught my eye.

I gave him my usual sales smile.

“Hello, is there anything you need?”

“Hello. My name is Kim Heo-su, head of the Gourmet Guide Public Relations Department.”

A middle-aged man politely hands over his business card.

‘… … It’s from a gourmet guide?’

Are you here to give me one more star after giving me two stars?

No, that won’t be it.

When it comes to restaurant ratings and stars, we have a more objective and cool-headed evaluation system than anyone else.

Because it was a gourmet guide.

“I see. But wasn’t it originally the rule for gourmet guide evaluators not to reveal information?”

“Ah, haha. Our work is a bit different from yours.”

“Really? What’s going on?”

Manager Kim coughs a few times and then starts talking.

“This time, our Gourmet Guide will hold an awards ceremony called the ‘Gourmet Festival’. It is an event where chefs from restaurants that have received stars can attend and shine. Unfortunately, Insung Cafe will not be able to attend because it has not even been a year since it received a star.”

“okay.”

‘You didn’t come here in person to say that it was difficult for you to attend, so you must have something else to say, right?’

It seems my prediction was correct.

Manager Kim smiles meaningfully.

“But! I can say for sure that Insung Cafe’s popularity is explosive enough to deserve an award.”

“It really was like that.”

“I really didn’t know I would get this busy.”

The staff of the other two gourmet guides next to them, Seon-ah and Soo-jeong also nodded.

“We are also watching with interest… … Not only us, but there are many eyes watching Inseong Cafe. Please do this.”

Manager Kim nodded to the man next to him.

The man carefully hands me a black box the size of a fist.

“What is this?”

“Hmm… … Should I say that this is a gift from companies that are looking at Inseong Cafe?”

Looking at Manager Kim who was smiling brightly.

I took the ship carefully.

Crunch.

When I opened the box, there was a watch inside.

‘Why are there so many needles? Are these… the sun and the moon?’

There were a lot of different things attached to the watch.

Since I don’t know much about watches, it was difficult to figure out what it was.

“This is an unofficial special award from our Gourmet Guide and our sponsors to the rising star of the year. We will definitely invite you to the awards ceremony next year.”

“thank you.”

As Manager Kim and the other gourmet guide staff bowed their heads, I hurriedly bowed my head in return.

So they leave.

“Boss, can we take a look too… … ?”

“Okay. Wow, I get to receive things like this too.”

Seon-ah and Soo-jeong cautiously approach, glance at the watch, and carefully touch it.

A crystal that turns a watch over and examines its back.

“Jaeger-LeCool… … No, what kind of company name is this difficult. Seeing that it says Jaeger Merci X Gourmet, I guess this company is a sponsor of the Gourmet Guide.”

“The spelling is… … Jaeger… … .”

Seon-ah, who was searching for something diligently next to the grumbling Soo-jung, suddenly turned pale.

“S, boss… … !”

“Huh? Why?”

“This watch… … It’s from a company called Jaeger-Lecourt… … It costs 3, 38 million won?”