Midas with Absolute Glasses - Episode 1
Ding~!
"Welco~me! Is the boss here?"
"Yeah! Business doing all right today?"
"No! It's just so-so!"
"That's worrying! For now, clean up the front of the store too! If it's clean, customers will come in more, won't they?"
Yuhan was nagged by the convenience store owner again today.
Yuhan was thirty years old now.
After graduating high school and being discharged from the army, he had thought about learning a trade and had tried working here and there at small factories and companies.
But wherever he went, things were either difficult or they went bankrupt.
His only family was his father, an elderly day-labor construction worker with a kind and pure heart.
His mother had passed away in a traffic accident while Yuhan was in the military.
After his mother passed, his father's motivation had dropped precipitously.
Perhaps because of that, his health had declined, making it harder for him to work than before.
Of course, they weren't suffering to the point of struggling to survive.
Their circumstances had simply become a little more difficult than before.
That was why he had started this convenience store part-time job.
"I think I'll be about an hour late tomorrow morning, so watch the store and see you tomorrow. Also, there's a lot to discard, so fill up on that and I'll deduct it from your meal pay. Keep that in mind!"
"Huh?"
"What? You don't like it?"
Truthfully, Yuhan hated it immensely.
But he couldn't help but force down the urge to say, "I hate it!"
"No! You know I like convenience store food, right? He~ he!"
"Yeah, it's for your own good! Don't just eat anything; they make convenience store food well, so eat what passes its expiration date."
"Yes, thank you, Boss."
He truly was the worst of the worst among wicked employers.
He left work two hours earlier than the scheduled time he was supposed to share with Yuhan.
He never kept promises and was always like that.
Yuhan cleaned alone, and the owner arriving one or two hours late for shift changes was an everyday occurrence.
Stocking the shelves was also almost entirely Yuhan's job.
Setting aside whether he even paid the proper hourly wage, there had rarely been a time when he paid the monthly salary on time.
*Sigh~ That's just my life.*
Still, there was a reason Yuhan endured here.
It was very close to home.
Thanks to that, there were no transportation costs.
Moreover, in a situation where he couldn't find a real job, a part-time job with these conditions was hard to come by.
*I might as well enjoy my hobby.*
After the owner left, Yuhan secretly turned on his phone and logged into the game he often played.
He had worked at this convenience store for about two years now.
He placed his phone in a blind spot the CCTV couldn't catch.
His Raniji Two character began moving busily.
"Ah!"
His eyes suddenly hurt.
His vision seemed to blur as well.
So he brought both hands up before his eyes.
"Is it because I've been gaming too much?"
Ding~!
A customer visited after a long time at this late hour.
"A pack of Malboros, please."
"Yes! I received 5,000 won."
He handed over the change and greeted her kindly.
"Please come again."
As it grew late, fatigue washed over Yuhan.
"Ugh~ I need to get some fresh air."
He thought he should sit on the parasol chair in front of the convenience store, have a cigarette, and then go back in.
"Huh! What's this on the chair?"
Yuhan picked up the object on the chair and examined it closely.
"An eyeglass case?"
It was a commonly seen eyeglass case.
When he opened the lid, a pair of glasses that looked luxurious was inside.
"Did someone leave it behind?"
He examined the case carefully, took them out, and looked at the glasses.
"Wow~ These look expensive! I'll have to return them if someone comes for them."
The moment Yuhan put a cigarette in his mouth to light it, his phone rang.
[Caller: Convenience Store Geezer]
It was the convenience store owner.
"Hello?"
"You! Where did you go leaving the store?"
"I stepped out front for a quick smoke."
"Do you smoke all day? Why aren't you coming in?"
"Yes! I'm going in."
Yuhan hung up and immediately came back inside the store.
He often monitored the store with CCTV and called like this.
*Ugh, he's so dirty and petty. If I make a lot of money, I won't be like that.*
But he wondered when he would ever make a lot of money.
He was worried about how to survive right now, so he let out a hollow laugh at his own thoughts.
"Man~ Should I try buying a lottery ticket?"
It was just something he said.
For someone who usually saved his money so diligently, it was unimaginable.
"Huh!"
His eyes hurt again.
He felt like he should visit an eye doctor when his shift ended.
Ding~!
"Welcome."
"Hi there! Lil' bro~ Good morning~!"
"Hi! Noona."
Idahee, a shaman who ran a fortune-telling shop next to the convenience store, had come by.
She was famous in the neighborhood by the nickname "Beauty Shaman."
She was Yuhan's only friend who would occasionally have a drink with him after his day shift ended.
"Did the new triangle kimbap come in?"
"They came in exactly at nine last night."
"Okey, very good!"
"Filling up on triangles again today?"
"Well~ yeah, this is perfect for maintaining my figure!"
Perhaps because she was right next door, they saw each other at least once a day.
"Ah!"
"What's wrong?"
"My eyes keep hurting!"
"Go to the hospital first! You'll go blind at this rate."
"Got it! Thanks for worrying about me, noona!"
Idahee went back.
A few hours later, shift change time came.
But today too, the boss only came to relieve him after being an hour late.
"Hey!"
"...Yes?"
"You're switching to the day shift tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Be on time for the shift change."
"Yes!"
Normally too, the boss was at least an hour late, and sometimes two to three hours late.
Yet he would constantly nag Yuhan, saying part-timers should come at least 30 minutes early.
Because of that, Yuhan left the convenience store thinking, someone should just take that damn boss away.
* * *
Yuhan visited the hospital because of his eyes.
He came to the eye doctor and got examined.
Now he was listening to the doctor's explanation.
"I'm healthy?"
"Yes. Far from any illness, there's nothing abnormal at all. Your vision is just a little poor, that's all."
"Is it to the point where I need glasses?"
"Your vision is 0.9, so think about that as well."
Yuhan was worried about the money he would have to spend on glasses.
"Wouldn't it cost quite a bit to buy glasses?"
"Still, I recommend wearing them! Try taking supplements too. I'll recommend some good ones."
The doctor suddenly recommended medication.
"Where do they sell them?"
"Ah! They don't sell them well elsewhere, but the pharmacy downstairs sells them. Hehe!"
"Yes, I understand. Thank you for your hard work!"
* * *
A week later, it was evening shift again.
Today too, the boring and tedious work hours arrived without fail.
So he was secretly enjoying Raniji Two while working.
"Ah!"
Yuhan's vision suddenly blurred again and his eyes hurt.
*Should I try wearing those glasses from before?*
The chances were high that the prescription wouldn't match, but a "what if" feeling came over him.
So Yuhan opened the golden case, took out the glasses, and put them on.
He didn't know why, but the pain disappeared and his vision brightened.
Rather, it felt clearer than ever before.
"Oh~ nice."
Ding~!
The door opened and a female customer entered.
*Wow~ what does that woman do to have such a killer figure?*
[Pilates Instructor 34-23-35 168cm 50kg.]
"Huh?"
Something appeared before his eyes.
The letters reflected on the glasses' lenses were clear.
Surprised, he took them off and put them on again to check.
The female customer who was a Pilates instructor was extremely beautiful.
And the letters continued to float beyond the glasses.
*No way~! Could it be! Can the glasses show me what I want?*
Having composed himself from his panic, Yuhan came to his senses.
To test whether what the glasses showed was correct, he asked the woman who had come to pay.
"E-excuse me. Do you happen to work out?"
"That's right! How did you know? I'm a Pilates instructor."
"You just seem to have such great balance in your body!"
"Thank you! We just opened up ahead, so please come by. A lot of men do it these days too."
Perhaps pleased with Yuhan's question, she showed off her business skills with a slight wink.
"If I find the time to exercise, I'll stop by!"
The female customer left, and Yuhan stood frozen for a moment, his eyes wide with surprise.
*I want to exercise with the beautiful instructor, but I don't have the money.*
"No, that's not the important thing!"
He examined the glasses this way and that, even flipping them over.
Even after scrutinizing them, they were no different from ordinary glasses.
*If these show me what I want? This isn't some fantasy novel...!*
If this worked on everyone, it would mean an incredible ability had come to him.
"I need to test this properly."
Wondering if they might tell him what he wanted to know about objects too, he looked at the convenience store items through the glasses.
But no letters appeared.
They only seemed to serve as ordinary glasses, merely making things clear.
Ding~!
"Welcome."
Another female customer entered, just like before.
She walked right up to Yuhan and ordered cigarettes.
"One pack of Ette, please."
*She looks young, but she can't be a minor, right?*
Yuhan was about to ask her for ID.
"Excuse me, your ID... huh?"
[High school senior.]
'Oh! It appeared.'
Just like before, her information appeared through the glasses.
Yuhan thought in his mind about what else he wanted to know to see if it would work.
'What's her name and where does she live?'
[Gang Nahee, Dongtan 10-dong, Duyeong Villa, Unit 302.]
'Oh~! It appeared again!'
Yuhan was convinced.
He realized the glasses' ability only applied to people.
"Aren't you going to give me my cigarettes?"
"Huh? Please wait a moment."
Yuhan decided to test one more time.
'What school?'
[Dongtan Girls' High School.]
"Damn~! I said hurry up with the cigarettes!"
"Excuse me, miss! Please show me your ID."
The woman glared at Yuhan slightly, then confidently took out her ID from her wallet and showed it to him.
Yuhan took the ID.
Checking it, the woman in the photo looked very much like her.
"Satisfied? Hurry up and give me the cigarettes!"
"No. Please wait a moment."
Yuhan looked at her through the glasses once more.
'Is the woman in this photo really her?'
[Her older sister who looks exactly like her with a two-year age difference!]