Chapter 6 · 8 min
Chapter 6
Raid
“That will be 10g of mana stone.”
“Thank you!”
The hunter who had brought two bottles of cola to the checkout counter returned to the table with a grin.
After adding cola, the convenience store’s sales rose even higher.
In particular, more hunters than expected bought kimbap and cola together.
‘At this rate, I could easily make a few hundred million won, including enough to pay for an escort out of the Tower.’
When he had first been absorbed into the Tower, he had wondered what he was going to do, but who would have thought it would turn out to be a blessing in disguise?
“B-Big trouble!”
At that moment, a hunter rushed into the convenience store.
The hunters who had been enjoying their rest inside the convenience store frowned and turned at the sudden shout, but the hunter paid them no attention and yelled.
“Th-The Black Guild! The Black Guild bastards are coming with weapons!”
“What? The Black Guild?”
“Why are those guys coming here...?”
Dohyeon tilted his head.
‘The Black Guild? Are they those people who came in a group last time?’
Dohyeon had overheard enough from the hunters around him to know what kind of place the Black Guild was.
‘They’re the guild in charge of supplying the supply base on the 10th floor. They’re especially notorious for price gouging.’
Why would a guild like that come to the convenience store carrying weapons?
Dohyeon had a feeling their intentions were not good.
Looking out the window, he saw hunters coming from the far side of the forest with weapons at the ready, giving off an aggressive air.
The hunters began murmuring.
“W-What do we do?”
“Don’t tell me those Black Guild bastards are planning to get rid of the convenience store because it’s getting in their way?”
“Should we fight them?”
“You fight them. Everyone knows that if you get on the Black Guild’s bad side, they’ll cut off your supplies.”
The Black Guild members approaching from the far side of the forest could hardly be said to outnumber the hunters inside and outside the convenience store.
If everyone resisted together, they could easily overpower them.
However, the hunters were merely customers who had come to buy products, and there was no sense of solidarity among them.
They merely watched the reactions of those around them, and not a single hunter stepped forward.
The Black Guild member walking at the very front pushed aside the hunters outside the convenience store and approached.
He was the hunter who had bought cola last time.
‘His name was Park Junhyeok, wasn’t it? He was definitely the guild master of the Black Guild...’
Park Junhyeok entered the convenience store with his guild members.
“Everyone out! If you don’t leave, you’ll regret it!”
“Gah!”
“Wait, we’re still eating...”
The Black Guild members shoved aside the tables inside the convenience store and drove out the hunters.
The kimchi stew and instant rice that had been sitting on the tables fell to the floor.
After quickly driving every hunter except Kim Dohyeon out of the convenience store, Park Junhyeok stood behind the convenience store door like Zhang Fei at Changban Bridge and looked outside.
The Black Guild members held their weapons and prepared to barricade themselves inside the convenience store.
The hunters outside began murmuring.
“What the hell are those bastards doing here...”
“More importantly, what’s with those numbers? Did they bring everyone who was guarding the supply base too?”
“Crazy bastard. What are they going to do if magical beasts destroy the supply base...”
“Everyone, listen carefully!”
Junhyeok shouted.
“This convenience store has been operating without the Black Guild’s permission and has caused enormous damage to the Black Guild’s source of income. Therefore, from this moment on, this convenience store will be confiscated by the Black Guild.”
“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that...!”
One hunter muttered in complaint, but when Junhyeok glared at him, he flinched and shut his mouth.
“What should we do, Captain?”
“Hmm... If we had attacked before they entered the convenience store, maybe, but now that they’ve barricaded themselves inside like that, there’s no way we can win...”
Some of the hunters tried to gauge whether they could defeat the Black Guild, but they soon shook their heads.
Outside the convenience store, they might have been able to use their numerical advantage to overpower them, but now that the Black Guild had barricaded themselves inside, winning would be difficult.
The hunters’ expressions darkened.
“After all the trouble we went through to find our oasis...”
“Damn Black Guild bastards. They’re always price gouging, and now they’re even taking the convenience store...”
Complaints rang out, but Junhyeok paid them no attention.
Instead, he turned to Dohyeon and said,
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you getting out?”
Behind the counter, Dohyeon blinked.
In short, it seemed this Black Guild was trying to take his convenience store away from him.
But they were gravely mistaken.
“Sorry, but I think you’re the ones who need to leave.”
“What did you say, you bastard? You little—!”
Just as Junhyeok pointed the weapon in his hand at Dohyeon...
[Forces hostile to the Convenience Store Owner cannot enter the convenience store!]
“Ugh!”
The convenience store door opened automatically, and Junhyeok was instantly flung outside.
Junhyeok rolled across the ground and came to a stop at the feet of the hunters outside the convenience store.
“C-Captain!? Ugh!”
“Urgh!”
At the same time, the Black Guild members began getting flung out of the convenience store one after another.
Dohyeon was genuinely surprised.
‘I knew hostile people couldn’t enter the convenience store, but if they become hostile while they’re already inside, this happens?’
“Ugh...”
“Ow...”
While the Black Guild members were getting back up while clutching their injured bodies...
Someone surrounded them.
“...”
The hunters silently looked down at the Black Guild members.
Junhyeok, who had instinctively risen halfway, looked up at the hunter standing in front of him.
He cautiously looked around, but his weapon had flown far away when he had been hurled out earlier.
“Um, excuse me...”
“...”
Cold sweat ran down Park Junhyeok’s face.
“How about we call this one a draw...?”
“Shut up, you bastard!”
Whack!
A club slammed into Junhyeok’s back.
“Argh!”
“Aaagh!”
The Black Guild members were beaten mercilessly.
Dohyeon watched the scene and thought.
‘I heard the hunters held a deep grudge against the Black Guild. Looks like it was true.’
It seemed the daytime raid had come to a rather anticlimactic end.
Dohyeon almost began to feel sorry for the Black Guild members being beaten outside, but then he saw the kimchi stew and instant rice scattered across the floor and changed his mind.
‘Since ancient times, the best medicine for bastards who don’t value food has always been a good beating.’
At that moment.
[You have defended the convenience store from enemies targeting it!]
[As a reward, your trait will be strengthened.]
[You can now establish convenience store branches.]
“...Huh?”
Dohyeon’s eyes widened at the message that appeared before him.
‘...Branches?’
Did that mean he was not limited to operating just one convenience store?
As the bewildered Dohyeon stared, more messages continued to appear before him.
[You can establish branches on other floors.]
[Available Floors: 9th Floor, 11th Floor]
[Would you like to establish a branch?]
‘Other floors...’
Dohyeon spoke experimentally.
“Establish a branch on the 9th floor.”
[A branch will be established on the 9th floor.]
In an instant, Dohyeon’s entire field of vision changed.
“Where is this...?”
The scenery before Dohyeon could hardly be called the forest of the 10th floor.
“A desert...?”
Thud!
A loud noise came from behind him, startling Dohyeon into turning around.
[Tower Convenience Store - 9th Floor Branch]
“9th floor? Then does that mean this really is the 9th floor?”
Dohyeon’s eyes widened.
He had been wondering where he had seen this scenery before, and then remembered seeing it in a NewTube video introducing the 9th floor.
Dohyeon remembered it because the intricately drawn images had left a strong impression on him.
‘Oh, right. This isn’t the time for that.’
The sound of the convenience store being installed just now would soon attract magical beasts.
Dohyeon hurriedly tried to enter the convenience store.
[The branch will not open until an employee is appointed as store manager.]
“W-What?”
But the message that appeared before him made his mouth fall open in surprise.
‘An employee? I haven’t hired anyone like that yet.’
Apparently, before establishing a branch, he needed to hire an employee he could appoint as store manager.
‘W-What do I do? Then do I have no choice but to run away like this?’
While Dohyeon was fidgeting anxiously...
[The Convenience Store Owner can rapidly travel between convenience stores.]
The moment the message appeared before him, Dohyeon hurriedly shouted.
“R-Return to the main branch on the 10th floor.”
Dohyeon’s field of vision changed once more, and the dense forest of the 10th floor appeared.
At the same time, the hunters who had subdued the Black Guild members cheered.
“Ohhh, it’s open again!”
“Whew. Thank goodness. It suddenly closed, so I thought it had shut down for good.”
Confused, Dohyeon asked,
“What do you mean, it’s open again? Did the convenience store close while I was gone?”
“Yes. That’s right. It suddenly closed, so we were surprised too.”
At those words, Dohyeon understood how the convenience store’s system worked.
‘Apparently, the convenience store automatically closes whenever the store manager isn’t present.’
If that was the case, opening the 9th floor branch would be impossible for the time being until he found a trustworthy employee.
“Um...”
At that moment, the hunters cautiously spoke up.
Dohyeon nodded.
“Go inside and finish your meals. Thank you all very much for protecting the convenience store.”
“...! Not at all, Store Manager!”
After bowing at a perfect right angle, the hunters ran back into the convenience store.
Dohyeon followed behind them and returned to the convenience store.