I Run a Convenience Store in the Martial Arts World

“Um, customer? I need to close the convenience store now.”
In the dimming night.
Baek Jin-yong, who was sitting in the chair outside the convenience store, jerked his head up.
“Aaaah!! How could this be!! Why! Why on earth!!”
I sighed and looked at the pile of paper stacked beside him.
He had already bought and scratched two hundred tickets.
He had crumpled the lottery tickets in anger so much that the high stack was uneven.
The scraps from scratching the lottery were occasionally scattered by the blowing wind.
“If they don’t come out, maybe you should stop…”
“But I clearly won five silver coins!”
“Yes. And you spent it all buying more and lost it all again.”
“How could this happen? How on earth!!”
How would I know?
You’re just unlucky.
Baek Jin-yong, almost on the verge of tears, grabbed my arm strongly.
I pulled my arm away with an awkward smile.
“Instead of that, just ten more. Yeah. Sell me just ten more. I’m sure I can win this time!!”
Haah.
How is this a Wudang Sect disciple?
Is this really the Wudang Sect that practices the Way by enduring the constantly incoming desires to become an immortal?
Maybe it’s not Wudang Sect but “Wubang Sect” or some fake sect? Is that why the martial clothes are similar?
I really hope that’s the case.
My favorite Wudang Sect being like this.
It felt like my world was crashing down.
“Customer. I’ve closed shop for today. Come back tomorrow, and I’ll sell you some then.”
“T-this can’t be! What kind of gambling den tells a customer to leave?”
This isn’t a gambling den, though.
“What kind of gambling den in the world does this!”
I’m telling you, it’s not a gambling den, you fool.
As I was feeling awkward, Yu Hwa-yeon, who had finished cleaning, approached and began tapping the table with her sword sheath.
She was threatening him.
After giving me a wink as if to say she wouldn’t fight, she glared at Baek Jin-yong with a completely different expression.
“Hey, Wudang Sect nobody.”
“My name is not ‘nobody,’ it’s Baek…”
“If you keep causing trouble here, I might just report to Wudang Sect? Do you want to train facing a wall for days while holding in your piss and shit? Or do you want to be locked in a punishment room, chewing on fasting pills?”
When Yu Hwa-yeon growled, Baek Jin-yong cowered like a puppy checking the mood.
“Haha… Young lady, you really have a rough mouth.”
“Want me to treat you roughly? Whatever a Wudang Sect disciple does outside isn’t my business, but causing trouble sitting firmly in someone else’s inn isn’t right. Get up before I run to Wudang Sect and tell them everything.”
Baek Jin-yong seemed to fear that the most, as he nodded and stood up as if he had no choice.
“Alright! Alright! I’ll go! Geez.”
“Take care on your way home! Customer.”
“I’ll come back tomorrow to get my money back!”
Baek Jin-yong muttered, “Ah, I was going to quit, tsk. Once I recover this, then I’ll really quit,” as he walked away.
“Let’s clean up too.”
“I did well, didn’t I, master chef?”
Yu Hwa-yeon looked at me with sparkling eyes.
She looked just like a child waiting for praise.
She was small and looked young.
She could only eat limited things due to her sensitive palate, and she said she was even abandoned by her family.
I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.
But I didn’t show it on my face.
There’s no greater disrespect than looking at someone with a pitying expression.
“You did well.”
I patted her head.
It seemed like her first time experiencing this, as her eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks slightly reddened.
But I didn’t think much of it and moved on.
The next day.
“Innkeeper! Today, give me a hundred! Quick!”
As I was dusting off the items, a loud voice was heard.
That guy really seems to be addicted to gambling.
Seeing him appear with an excited expression early in the morning.
He took a hundred tickets to the table, rubbed his hands together to psyche himself up, and immediately began scratching the lottery tickets.
*
Baek Jin-yong’s heart is racing right now.
‘Today, I will definitely win the 100 gold ingots!’
Yesterday, truly regrettable situations piled up.
He won five silver coins and exchanged them all for lottery tickets.
It was a tremendous profit to win silver coins by betting copper coins, but nonetheless, he reinvested.
Reinvestment to win 100 gold ingots.
‘Why did the image have to have one more line? I thought they were the same images.’
Although it wasn’t the first prize, after briefly tasting the flavor of first prize, he became even more addicted.
Baek Jin-yong stopped scratching and looked at the lottery ticket.
‘Master!’
‘Jin-yong!’
‘Baek Jin-yong!’
The voices of his master, fellow disciples, and junior disciples echo in his ears.
It had already been over ten months since he descended the mountain and wandered the Central Plains.
Being in a position where he couldn’t see them even if he wanted to, Jin-yong often focused on these emerging voices and memories.
‘If they saw me like this…’
A Wudang Sect disciple deeply immersed in gambling.
Jin-yong knew very well that it was something even a passing dog would laugh at.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t quit.
He shouldn’t quit.
Because he needed to earn money.
Baek Jin-yong began scratching the lottery tickets with coins again.
‘I will definitely win 100 gold ingots and return home in glory.’
It was a determination far too resolute for a gambler.
“Phew. Finally, the first prize section.”
Jin-yong slowly brought the coin close.
He always felt tense and his heart raced before scratching the section with the first prize image.
Just in case he might win.
Gulp.
After swallowing once, Baek Jin-yong slowly began applying pressure to the coin.
First, one treasure chest image.
And next to it?
As the last scraps were scratched off, the image was revealed.
“…?”
Baek Jin-yong blinked both eyes.
The images are the same, but why?
No.
There’s a line here.
This means different images…
No, wait a moment.
There should be a line?
But there’s no line?
“Eh?”
It’s not there.
It’s not!
There’s no line!
“Ehhhhhhhh!!!”
At the sudden strange cry, Jung-hyun and Hwa-yeon, who were working inside the convenience store, also rushed out.
“What’s wrong! What happened?”
“What is it!”
Baek Jin-yong covered his mouth with his hands and slowly showed the lottery ticket.
Jung-hyun frowned and began examining the revealed images closely.
“…Huh? This is a winning ticket, isn’t it?”
Hwa-yeon’s mouth gaped wide.
“What?”
Looking at it, Hwa-yeon also saw that the images were completely identical.
Two shining treasure chest images next to the words “First Prize!”
A winner.
It’s a winner!!
100 gold ingots winner!!
“Arrrrggghhhh!!!”
Baek Jin-yong let out a strange roar.
“I did it!! I did it!! My life is set!! Hahaha!!”
“Wow, how…”
“Innkeeper! Exchange this for 100 gold ingots right now! Quickly!!”
“Ah, alright. Just a moment.”
Just as Jung-hyun was so surprised he forgot how to walk,
Step- Step-
Neat and graceful footsteps were heard.
“There you are.”
An elegant and neat voice.
A woman wearing a tight qipao that revealed her curved body.
Jung-hyun thought she was undoubtedly worthy of being called a beauty that could topple a nation without any deficiency.
But in contrast, her eyes were filled with contempt.
An overtly displayed displeasure.
Even though it wasn’t directed at him, just seeing it sent chills down his spine.
They say when a woman harbors resentment, frost falls even in the heat of summer.
Jung-hyun shuddered, thinking this scene might be the embodiment of that saying.
On the other hand,
Baek Jin-yong trembled for a different reason.
“M-mistress, how did you personally…”
“I came to get my money that you ran off with.”
“W-what do you mean ran off? Didn’t I say I’d definitely pay you back?”
The woman called Mistress, Manyokru Mistress Cheon-hyang, began pacing around the convenience store’s front yard while twirling the jade ring on her finger.
“There are three types of people I don’t trust. First, handsome men. Second, gamblers. Third.”
Cheon-hyang raised her finger and pointed at Baek Jin-yong.
“Debtors.”
Oh damn, that scared me.
Debtors, she says.
Jung-hyun unconsciously smoothed his startled heart.
It was because he had a pile of convenience store debt.
“M-mistress. Don’t be like that and listen to me. With this one piece of paper, I can repay your debt and have some left over.”
Baek Jin-yong looked at the martial artists standing behind Cheon-hyang and broke into a cold sweat.
Even as the top disciple of Wudang Sect, a disciple is still a disciple.
The depth of their training was extraordinary.
He couldn’t defeat four strong men alone.
“Paper?”
“Y-yes. This is a winning first prize lottery ticket, and I can soon receive 100 gold ingots. Isn’t that right, innkeeper?”
Jung-hyun nodded vigorously.
Then, Manyokru Mistress Cheon-hyang bowed her head deeply.
“Kuk, kuhuk!”
Just as it sounded like air was deflating,
“Puhahaha! Ah, this is really funny.”
She burst into loud laughter.
No one was laughing except Cheon-hyang.
“What did I say earlier? First, handsome men. I said I don’t trust them, right?”
As she said this, Cheon-hyang looked Jung-hyun up and down.
“You’re going to repay my debt with a mere piece of paper?”
“B-but Mistress! This is really…”
“Men!”
“Yes!”
“Tie up Baek Jin-yong. Since he has no money, he’ll have to pay with his body.”
The four strong men began to move.
“Ah, no! Wait! It’s really worth 100 gold ingots… Innkeeper! Say something quickly! Ah, really!!”
Baek Jin-yong was tightly bound with ropes and tied to a long line behind a horse.
“S-save me! I really have money! I have money!!”
“Let’s go.”
Cheon-hyang left the Ghost Bamboo Forest without looking back even once.
“Innkeeper! Help me! Innkeeper!!!”
Along with Baek Jin-yong’s pitiful voice echoing,
Only the first prize winning lottery ticket remained at Jung-hyun’s feet.