Chapter 1 – The Clerk Dies

 

AN: This is my first written work. I think I might make some small changes here and there.

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That day too I was working my part-time job in order to gain my income. It was a late night job working at a convenience store by a station. Work began at 22:00 and my responsibilities were exceedingly simple. I would of course occasionally bring goods to a customer, but other than that my job was primarily cleaning. The floor and shelves, the toilet, as well as various machines. After repeating the task long enough, my body remembers those simple actions and finishes them fairly quickly.

 

That day was the same as usual.

 

The sound in front of the station disappears at night. There’s just the three colours of light given off by the traffic signals, and sometimes a car passing by with a little too much speed. I finished cleaning to some extent and used some fire tongs to pick up the visible garbage in the storefront parking lot, repeatedly putting the pieces of garbage into a garbage bag as I wandered around.

 

Is the inside of the store still fine?

 

No problems. No customers. At 3:00 at night there really aren’t very many people passing through. Sometimes we get some people in at around 2:00 who stand and read weekly publications, but today is Tuesday. That means there’s nothing for sale that’s exciting enough for people to read.

I picked up most of the garbage, stretched out my bent waist, and looked up to the sky. Somehow it looked like the stars of the Summer Triangle were shining. Fine weather today… though the sun’s not out. I return my gaze away from the sunless sky and look around for anything that I missed.

 

Then out from the corner of my eye, under the shadow of the telephone pole, there was a human figure standing in the streetlights glow.

 

Scary……!! Eh, I didn’t mis-see that right……?

I look back over my shoulder as I head back inside the store. I looked around 3 times, but there was no human out there. That scared me a little too much.

 

I entered the shop and made a straight line to the space behind the cash register, before entering a position to watch the security camera footage from before. I operate the mouse to bring the footage of the parking lot to full screen. It shows me from before doing a beautiful job of cleaning. Not one piece of trash left.

 

While I was cleaning the trash, a human figure starts to walk down the sidewalk.

My eyes freeze with understanding. It’s that guy from before. He’s on a course to enter the store. I change the view on the monitor to show 4 partitions, and after all, see that figure displayed entering the store. No matter the guy, a customer is a customer.

 

「Welcomeー good eveningー」

 

My legs tremble as I give my usual greeting. There are many people late at night who get irritated when their drowsiness is at MAX. The trick is that giving a prompt greeting will give those people stimulation, preventing them from appearing stupid. There are some people who don’t like that. However, having the experience to serve the type of people who tend to flip out by giving a loose greeting is something that our company finds effective.

Such an out of place thought went through my head as I stood behind the register. In a typical manner, the frightening customer comes straight to the cash register without stopping. In that case, from numerous possibilities I could narrow this situation down to a single pattern. Someone who is looking for something. Someone who wants something from behind the cash register. Then,

 

「If you don’t want to die then be quiet. Inside the register, take out all the money inside the register」

 

It’s a convenience store robbery.

My mind stops. A short. Eh? What?

 

「Did you not hear me? Take out the money」

 

My throat was blocked preventing my voice from coming out. Since some time ago my legs were trembling, then up through my back, my arms, hands, and finally my head.

 

「U…..m….., wha, eh?」

「The money. From the register and back counter, bring it to me. If you don’t want to be hurt then bring it to me quickly.」

 

Even if you tell me that customer, or not, dude your hand. Grasped in his hand was a massive knife. If he had a gun I wouldn’t have felt a firm sense of reality, and would have been able to laugh and pat the shoulder of the man without trembling. But the knife was shining under the dull store lighting setting off my warning bells. That this was neither dream nor imagination was something I could clearly understand.

There’s nothing to be done. There’s no way to go against him. I open the cash register with my shaking hands. I take out three types of bills and present them to the man.

 

「There’s a safe in the back right? That too.」

 

But the vault’s password is something that the manager has. I don’t know it.

 

「The, mana…ger, has the password. I, don’t know it.」

「Tch… Move.」

 

I’m pushed to the side by the robber. With the momentum from his push I hit the cigarette shelves and scatter the new merchandise.

The robber invades behind the counter, and roughly opens the sliding door into the neighboring room before spreading out files around the safe in search of something. Probably, he’s looking through the files hoping to find the passcode written down somewhere, or something like that. I watch this scene while standing stock still behind the cash register along with the scattered cigarettes.

It probably won’t be long. The robber looks at me with eyes filled with the intent to kill. Scary, scary, scary!

 

「You piece of… that’s enough. I have no more business with you. Now die.」

 

At that moment, I didn’t know what had happened. The first thing I noticed was the fever. My stomach became incredibly hot. My field of vision became neither white nor black, the world changing into a negative image, with the only thing before my eyes being the face of the robber before me. Eyes filled with powerful killing intent and laughter. I lower my vision as quickly as possible.

 

The heat source from before was a knife sticking out of my abdomen.

 

「Ah…., gu, a……a……lie……」

「It’s a lie. You saw my face, so you have to die. 」

 

My uniform was covered in blood. The robber’s face drew back in a grin, before he hit me with a sharp kick.

 

「Gyaaa!!」

 

I reflexively let out my voice. You little…. Kicking the handle of the knife….

I fall to the floor at my wits end. In that case, I grab some cigarettes and throw them.

 

「Tch……Be a hindrance will you.」

 

The robber steps on me and escapes to in front of the register. With no strength to follow, I slowly move my arms while covered in cigarettes to touch the handle of the knife. Down by my stomach I couldn’t feel that hilt, or guard portion that I had seen earlier. It seems like it was entirely embedded in my stomach.

 

This is it……No help can save me now…….

Feelings of resignation begin to take over my body. If that happens then it’s already over. I don’t have motivation to do anything.

I close my eyelids and my vision turns black.

 

Ah……This, is this the end…… to take out lots of money for post secondary school, to get a job working in a good position, giving it my best to support that through this late night part time work. Sleeping through the day, day after day trying to pay off my scholarship. How pathetic……more……I wanted to do lots of things, but like this……this and that, just cut into dust.

 

I thought I would have had a better life…….

 

Gradually my consciousness faded. My limbs felt incredibly hot.

 

『The wish to be summoned has been confirmed. Granting Unique Skill 《Jack of all Trades, Master of None》』

 

What was that……? Just now was someone saying some incredibly rude words…?

Ahh……mou, it’s useless……my consciousness……

 

Someone……

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