I Run a Convenience Store in the Martial Arts World

“Phew. Finally.”

I was standing in front of the convenience store POS terminal with the debt repayment button right before my eyes.
My heart was trembling on its own.

The day I paid off all of Baek Jin-yong’s debt,
so many things happened.

To summarize, Cheon-hyang’s expression completely hardened, and she returned to her carriage without a word.

Was I sorry?
No, why?

I don’t like walking.
I do like alcohol, but what if customers come?
Besides, martial arts world alcohol is famous for being strong, and if I drink it and get attacked while I can’t get my senses together, I’ll be the only one to die.

So when I declined, she returned with a gloomy expression.

I don’t know why she had a gloomy expression though.
Maybe she was bored and had no one to play with?

…Hmm. If that’s the case, that’s a bit pitiful.

Anyway, I promised to play with Cheon-hyang next time, and I looked down at the lacquered box containing 40 gold ingots received from Baek Jin-yong.

A thrilling feeling rose from within.

On the day he was released, Baek Jin-yong used martial footwork and rushed to the convenience store in one breath.

‘Thank you! Great hero! Thanks to you, I was able to clear my debts and become free! I only need 50 gold ingots. With 50 ingots, I can buy it sufficiently. The rest I’ll give to you entirely as a token of gratitude! You don’t need to decline. It’s money I no longer need!’

After saying that, he set off on a long journey still wearing his feces-stained clothes.

By the way, he said he could buy it. What is that?
A luxury item?
Was the reason he desperately scratched lottery tickets, wanting to win so badly, because he wanted to buy something?

Hmm, it’s a bit deflating.

Still, he didn’t say he would gamble again, so I suppose that’s fortunate.

Well, let’s leave those who have left behind.

With trembling hands, I pressed the shining debt repayment button.

Ding-!

The cash drawer opened by itself.

On the screen,

[Please insert 2 gold ingots.]

was displayed.

I placed two gold ingots, resembling gold currency notes, into the open cash drawer and pushed it closed.

[Debt repayment complete!]

“Whew! That’s a relief.”

Since they said they would blow up the convenience store if I didn’t pay by the end of this month, this was a good thing.
I managed to pay just three days before the debt payment deadline.

As I let out a sigh of relief,
suddenly I felt someone approaching awkwardly from the side.

“What’s up?”

It was Yu Hwa-yeon.

She was blushing deeply, keeping her head down low, and mumbling something inaudibly.

What?
Is she reciting some kind of spell?

“M…”
“What?”
“…y”
“What are you saying? I can’t hear well.”

Yu Hwa-yeon let out a deep sigh.
I looked at her face with puzzled eyes.

A flushed face.
Restless eyes that couldn’t stay still.
Her fingers were fidgeting, with her left and right index fingers fighting back and forth,
and her feet were stomping as if standing on hot coals.

Ah.
Could it be.
Is it that?

Hehe.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been told I’m quite perceptive.
Meaning I can figure this out with my intuition!

“Yu Hwa-yeon, you’re not…”

Her rabbit-like eyes turn towards me.

“Do you need to poop? Go use the convenience store bathroom.”

Whack-!

I took a direct hit to the nose from Yu Hwa-yeon’s fist that came flying out of nowhere.

“Aaaaah!! My nose!!”
“Y-yikes!! Master chef is really…”

A contemptuous expression was directed at me as I fell.

This is ridiculous!
She was stomping her feet like a puppy that needs to poop, so I perceptively tried to help her out!

“Then say something!”
“W-well, that’s…”

What? It’s not poop?
Then urine?

“What? Are you embarrassed about that? Then pee…”

Smack!!!

Ack! Shit!
Hit in the same spot again!

“Aaaaah!! Yu Hwa-yeon, you really…!!”
“Huh? Master chef, blood.”
“What?”

When I looked down, large drops of blood, like watermelon juice, were dripping.

“Ah, ahhh.”

I.
I’m fine with everything else.
But I faint at the sight of my own nosebleed.

Thud-!

“Ah, ahhh! Master chef!!!”

With Yu Hwa-yeon’s scream-like voice as the last thing I heard, my consciousness snapped off.

I had a dream.
It wasn’t a particularly good memory.
Roughly a dream of people pointing fingers.
I could endure all that.
But what was hardest to bear was.

‘I’m sorry. I raised my son wrong. I’ll take all the punishment…’

The distrust towards me from the people I trusted the most.

I didn’t care if strangers pointed fingers, kicked me, knocked me down, spat at me, or cursed me.
But it mattered when my parents didn’t believe me.

I was sitting by a riverbank.
The rain that had fallen all summer broke through the dam in the middle of the river and poured out as if to engulf the world.

I was beneath that dam.
The dam couldn’t protect me,
and the finger-pointing from people I didn’t care about finally pierced my heart sharply.

The world collapsed.

The only places where I could be safe were my room and the night convenience store without customers.

I had decided never to get close to people again.
But.

“…chef! Master chef!!”

I hear a voice calling me.
Opening my eyes, there was Yu Hwa-yeon looking down at me with a worried expression.

“Ah. Thank goodness. I thought you had died!!!”

Whack!

“Ugh… If I die, it’s all your fault.”
“Ah, ahhh. Sorry. I have a habit of hitting first.”

I managed to raise my upper body while rubbing my chest where Yu Hwa-yeon had hit me.
The bleeding from my nose seemed to have stopped.

“I pressed the vital points, Jeongmyeonghyeol and Yeonghanghyeol, to stop the bleeding. It won’t bleed anymore.”

It’s really helpful for stopping bleeding, isn’t it?

I stood up, shaking my dizzy head.
Yu Hwa-yeon, who continued to support me, had a worried expression on her face.

“I’m fine.”
“Why did you faint?”
“Just. I faint whenever I see a nosebleed.”

Maybe it’s because bad thoughts come to mind.

“Hey, master chef, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“You fainted because of me.”

Ah.
I thought it was something else.

It wasn’t because of Hwa-yeon.
It was just because of my weak personality that faints at the sight of a nosebleed.

Well, hitting me was a problem too, but I deserved it for mentioning poop and pee to a woman.

“No. It’s fine.”
“And!”
“Yes?”
“I-I was sorry for that time too.”

That time?

“The day we found the lottery ticket. I didn’t trust you. I didn’t know that was your plan.”

My heart suddenly felt guilty.
Truthfully, I didn’t plan to help Baek Jin-yong from the beginning.
As I had poured out to Yu Hwa-yeon, I was planning to take all 100 gold ingots for myself.

Thinking about it, I went to find him because I thought it would be better to receive a reward rather than taking all 100 ingots and facing trouble later, and Baek Jin-yong generously gave me 40 gold ingots as a reward.
In the end, it was profitable.

But she’s sorry for not trusting me.
That’s why my heart felt guilty.

“Huh? Ahem, it’s fine.”
“I saw you in a new light, master chef. Rejecting the temptation of 100 gold ingots and trying to return it to its original owner. You’re truly a great person and hero who knows righteousness and justice.”

And Yu Hwa-yeon performed the cupped-hands salute.

“I’ve learned a lot. To the point where I’m ashamed of my past days. I truly respect you.”

No.
Please don’t respect me.
I’m not that kind of person.

“I’ll learn a lot from being by your side and put it into practice.”

No.
Please don’t do this.
It’s too burdensome.

“D-do you want to eat some jjapaguri?”

I quickly changed the subject.
Sure enough, Yu Hwa-yeon’s eyes lit up.

“Chapa…guri…?”
“It’s called jjapaguri, where you mix two types of ramen. It tastes incredible.”

Saying it tastes incredible to a martial artist is quite a violent taste evaluation,
but Yu Hwa-yeon was already immune to it.

“Yes!”

Her cheeks flushed red.

As I was about to head towards the ramen corner with an awkward smile,

“Is it here?”
“I think it’s here.”
“Oh, how scary. Why is it in a place like this?”
“But they say it’s delicious. Let’s check it out.”

Suddenly, I heard bustling, chattering sounds.

Wondering what was happening, I looked outside,

“Huh!”
“What’s wrong, master ch… Huh!!”

We couldn’t help but be surprised.
It was definitely.
I mean.
It was an enormous crowd comparable to a splash show.

“Innkeeper! Give me the most delicious dish here!”
“I want alcohol too!”
“Wow, what’s that? Isn’t that a night-luminous pearl?”
“I heard it’s an inn run by an unknown wealthy merchant guild, and that was true!”
“Servant! Give me one chicken!”

I was dumbfounded by the order volume, difficult to remember all at once, and the booming voices of people.
However, Yu Hwa-yeon seemed to find this situation secretly amusing.
She adjusted the convenience store vest I had given her firmly and tugged at my collar.

“Master chef! Customers have arrived! We need to work!”
“Huh? Ah, but why suddenly so many…”
“Is that important right now? What’s important is serving the customers, right?”

That’s true.

I’ve paid off all the debt.
I have 38 gold ingots too.
I only need to earn enough money to live on.

While thinking that internally, my body moved busily.
Adding water to ramen, heating chicken legs in the microwave, taking water out of the refrigerator.

As coins piled up neatly in the POS cash drawer, I let out a satisfied sigh.
Why do the coins received from customers look more satisfying than shining gold ingots?

Perhaps it’s because I’m looking at the results achieved through hard work.

Thinking that, I shouted again today.

“Welcome! This is the Martial Arts Convenience Store!!”

Manyokru Mistress Cheon-hyang sat at the table in her room, sipping black tea.
Apparently satisfied with the flavor, she let out a satisfied moan of “Hmm,” and slowly raised her head.

Across the table sat Hyeok, the martial artist who guarded Cheon-hyang.

“Hyeok.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve told all the people in Hubei Province about me, right?”
“That’s right.”

Cheon-hyang showed a satisfied smile and sipped her black tea again.
Hyeok tilted his head and asked.

“But why are you trying to help a man who rejected you…”
“Hyeok.”
“Yes.”
“How many men do you think have rejected me in my life so far?”

Hyeok paused and thought repeatedly.
He was a guard martial artist so he was just enduring, but if Cheon-hyang, who boasted beauty among the top five in the Central Plains, approached him, he wouldn’t have the confidence to reject her.
All men would be the same.
That was the weapon that a woman like Cheon-hyang possessed.

“I think none.”
“Exactly. None. Until now, I’ve been the one rejecting everyone. I’ve never given anyone my body or heart.”
“Could it be…?”
“This is the first man who has rejected me in my life. Is this what it feels like for men to be rejected? It’s thrilling. How could he do that?”

Cheon-hyang laughed softly.

Alright.
Let’s see how long you can keep rejecting.
I am Cheon-hyang.
There’s no man who doesn’t know the Manyokru Mistress, not just in Hubei Province but throughout the Central Plains.

Cheon-hyang had rejected all the men who approached her, wanting to sleep with the courtesan Cheon-hyang even once.
Perhaps that had been a factor.
A phenomenon emerged where the entire Central Plains would die at the mention of Cheon-hyang.
Cheon-hyang herself knew this, so it was natural for her to be full of confidence.

“I need to let it seep in slowly.”

Her pink tongue slowly traced her bright red lips.