Han woke up with a headache.
'Ugh... Is it going to fuck with my head every single time there's a quest?' he thought to himself, slowly opening his eyes.
After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he got to his feet. "Where am I this time?" he whispered, taking in the scene in front of him.
It seemed he was still in the convenience store, standing behind the checkout counter.
However...
'What in the..'
The scene was completely different from before, with the shelves now fully stocked, the floor and walls sparkling clean, and people walking in between aisles, shopping.
"Hello, can I please pay for this?" a voice called out to him, snapping him out of his daze.
It was a blonde-haired woman, smiling at him as she held up a 6-pack of beer.
Han just stared at her for a moment. She was beautiful... no, not just that, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, in real life or otherwise. She had sharp, angular features, extremely pale and supple skin, and a cheekbone structure that would make even a supermodel envious.
Han looked around, and it seemed it was the same for every single person in the store. It was as if a modelling agency had just dropped them off for a shoot or something.
"Hello? You listening?" she asked, voice smooth like silk.
However, Han was still trying to process everything. Despite her beauty... and everyone else's, what really got his attention were their eyes.
They glistened crimson, like ruby gemstones embedded in their irises.
"Should I call a manager?" the woman asked, her smile slowly fading.
Han just nodded, grabbing her 6-pack and scanning it.
'I don't know where I am, but doing this is likely part of the quest,' he thought to himself.
As he was scanning the rest of the woman's groceries, he noticed that he was wearing a 7/11 worker uniform and had an employee card with keys around his neck.
'How did they even get me into this?' Han thought. But this just proved his point. Everything here was probably fake... well, as fake as magic could be.
"That'll be 23," Han said, pulling down his cap.
The woman flashed a smile and handed over a stack of black bills.
Han inspected them as she left the counter. He had never seen dollar bills like this before. Instead of the president, there was a depiction of a skull with massive fangs where its canines should've been.
『A customer has been served!』
『+10% completion for current task.』
'Hmm... so I'm just supposed to serve them? That's awfully... tame. I expected more killing and monsters.' Han thought to himself as a man pulled up to the counter.
"Are you new here?" the man asked.
Something about the man rubbed Han the wrong way. Like if satan existed, which Han doubted, he no doubt would've chosen a form like this.
"My first day here," Han replied, studying the man's features.
'Are these people even human?'
"Word of advice, my love. You might want to start working a little bit faster," the man said with a smile, placing his groceries on the counter. "These children are quite hungry, you see."
Han froze. 'Children?'
『2 minutes remaining...』
'2 minutes until what?'
Just then, at the exact same moment, everyone in the store froze, turning to look at him.
Han took a step back. "What the fuck?"
Then they gave the most bone-chilling smile he had ever seen. Every single one of them stretching all the way back to their ears.
"No... fuck this," Han whispered, before trying to jump over the counter.
However, a strange force pulled him back behind the till...
"Come now. There are rules for a reason...," the devilish man said, laughing at the look on Han's face.
Han took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
He wasn't certain what freaky shit was going on, but right now, completing the quest seemed like the only logical route to take.
So he slapped himself across the face and began scanning.
"Wonderful," the devlish man said. "Hopefully I'll be seeing you later, my dearest Han."
Before Han could say anything else, the man disappeared. As if he'd never even been there to begin with.
『A customer has been served!』
『+10% completion for current task.』
'Who the hell was that guy?' Han thought to himself, eyeing the quest timer. 'Doesn't matter. I'm running out of time,' he realised.
He had just under two minutes left, and at the rate he was going, he would need to serve 8 more customers. He did a quick head count of the number of people left in the store, and they fit the number perfectly. 'Of course they do,' he thought to himself, gesturing for the next 'freaky' customer to step forward.
...
For the next 2 minutes, he scanned items like a madman. His hands never pausing for even a moment.
『A customer has been served!』
'I need to move faster!'
『A customer has been served!』
『A customer has been served!』
'Fuck. I need more. More'
『A customer has been served!』
『A customer has been served!』
『A customer has been served!』
『A customer has been served!』
By the time he was on his last customer - a black-haired woman, unnaturally tall and slender- he heard a soft chime go off.
『Primary Quest Failed!』
Han stepped back, and the woman smiled.
『New Quest...』
『Survive.』
The woman's smile grew to her ears, right before the flesh around her mouth tore, causing the smile to stretch all the way to the back of her head.
Han was frozen in pure terror.
And the woman began laughing, a shrill ear-piercing thing like a banshee.
That's when it started...
A black hand reached out of her deformed mouth, then another... forcing her jaw to open wide, before eventually tearing her mouth off.
A sewer-like odour filled the air, and Han had to fight to keep himself from vomiting.
Something was trying to climb out of her.
"Fuck all this. I need to get out of here," he whispered, bolting over the counter. Just as expected, the barrier had been removed with the change in quest.
He instantly went for the door.
But of course it wasn't going to be so easy. That strange invisible force field pushed him back.
He did a quick sweep of the store before locking eyes on the door that led to the backroom. 'The keys!' he realised, looking down at the card and keys around his neck.
"This has to work," he whispered, before bolting for it.
As he made a beeline for the back door, the woman stopped screaming...
And a moment later, he heard several quick footsteps approaching behind him.
He looked up at the mirror at the corner of the store, and a... demon was chasing him down. Skin black and skeletal, running on all four like a rabid hound.
He began tumbling shelves over as he passed them, attempting to slow it down. However the thing moved like a machine, perfectly dodging the obstacles.
At this point, he was just three steps away from the back door, and the demon would catch up in five.
But could he place the key in the hole and open the door in the span of two steps?
'No. I won't make it,' he realised. Two seconds simply weren't enough.
However, it seemed he wouldn't even get that...
The demon's spine contorted in its back like writhing worms, before ripping out and forming a set of bony wings. It shot forward with a gust, and in mere seconds, it was right behind him.
'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!'
He'd been hoping to save this in case he needed it later, but it seemed he had no other options.
So Han turned around mid run, locking eyes with the creature.
And with a nervous smile. "Queen's Gaze!"