Chapter 4

This is a translation of the provided Korean text:

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**Isekai Pian Doli - Chapter 3 (4/331)**

**Chapter 3. The Adapting Pian Doli (3)**

There's a misconception about Chihuahuas having a bad temper. Chihuahuas have a hole in their skull called a "fontanelle," and it's believed that this hole causes constant headaches, leading to their bad temper. The reason for the fontanelle is that if the skull were fully formed during birth, the mother would die, so the hole evolved to ease the process. Normally, this hole should close as the dog grows, but in Chihuahuas, it remains open—this is the case.

In short, the misconception is correct. Chihuahuas have a bad temper not because of headaches, but because they are inherently a bad-tempered breed. For this reason, I never really liked Chihuahuas. How can you like a dog that barks like it's been stepped on just by making eye contact, no matter how cute it is?

Moreover, the one that just came in wasn't even cute.

This one had a Chihuahua's head, but it was at least 190 cm tall. It was wearing a suit, and its eyes were severely bloodshot.

"Where's the toothbrush?"

If it's a small dog toothbrush, it's the kind that fits on your finger for the owner to brush. But it didn't seem like he wanted that. I recalled something from the morning.

"Would you like to check behind the fourth corner?"

"How am I supposed to know which one is the fourth corner?"

The fourth corner, right?

Judging by his expression, if I tried to explain, he would have bitten my finger off. So, I went with him to where the toothbrush was. The smell of alcohol was strong from his suit. If he was drunk, he should have gone home to sleep, not look for a toothbrush.

"Is there a better one?"

"That's all the toothbrushes we have."

"Maybe there's one in the warehouse."

"The warehouse only has alcohol and instant noodles. Toothbrushes are usually restocked the day after they sell out, or the day after that, because they don't sell well."

Additionally, we don't stock things like triangle rice rolls, sandwiches, or bento boxes in the warehouse. If someone asks if we have anything other than bento boxes, and I say no, they should believe me. There's no reason to stock items with a 3-4 day shelf life in the warehouse.

The Chihuahua took a toothbrush and handed me a 10,000 won bill, then tried to leave.

"I'm leaving."

"Sir, you need your change."

"What do I care, you piece of shit? Are you going to keep bothering me?"

Fine, just go...

The Chihuahua really left, and 7,900 won in change was left floating. It's nice to have extra money, but thinking about the emotional labor, it didn't feel entirely good.

After putting the change in my back pocket and looking at the front door, I had a question.

"Manager, haven't you hung up the phone yet?"

"You said this convenience store moves around to different locations. Where are we now?"

I wondered why a centaur delivery rider or a Chihuahua who just finished a drinking session would come. Since I finally had a moment to spare, I stared blankly at the outside of the convenience store.

It looked like a typical urban area.

The streets were brightly lit with neon signs and lights, and the clothing and buildings looked similar to where I used to live.

Of course, it's not exactly the same. For example, centaurs walk on paths similar to bike lanes, and women with wings instead of arms fly around half-naked. What are they called again? Harpies?

So, this is another world, but it doesn't seem to be too different from the time period I lived in. I should have guessed from the moment they asked for Plus and Seven...

"Manager, how do I get to that house...?"

"Me?"

"What species are you?"

There are humans in this neighborhood, it seems.

"War?"

"Something similar happened. It was called World War."

It ended with a big bomb in Japan's Meiji and Satsuma regions. In my world, after two such events, only humans remained, and they were in chaos. But this is another world, so it didn't go that way.

The intelligent beings here don't seem much different from humans. Whether it's an 18-head-tall bipedal Chihuahua or a goblin with a prominent nose, the troublemakers are still troublemakers.

"Out of the four groups of customers I've had, two were troublemakers. Is this the usual frequency?"

"No, how did you manage that?"

"How old are you to be able to handle that?"

He said I should be able to handle it too. I don't think I can, but whatever.

Anyway, since the manager seems to handle troublemakers well, I felt I should too. The time on the POS system showed 10:40 PM. Only 40 minutes have passed. Is the clock broken?

As I was thinking, the next customer came in.

A dwarf with a beard braided into two strands and extremely messy hair came to the counter and looked at me sternly.

"Give me a cigarette."

"Which one? We have many kinds."

"A thin one."

"There are many types of thin cigarettes."

"A yellow one."

Are we playing twenty questions?

"There are several types of thin and yellow cigarettes... How about Super Slim?"

"No."

"Then... Special Gold?"

"Maybe."

"You're not the one smoking, are you?"

"Mine."

Why don't you know the name of the cigarette you smoke?

Frustrated, I showed him all the thin and yellow cigarettes on the display. The dwarf picked up Special Gold from the stack of about six. Oh well.

"But the picture is a bit... Is there another one?"

He asked me while I handed him the cigarette. The picture on the pack showed a gory scene of a throat with a hole. It was a bit much, even for me.

But every time I see it, I wonder why it's there.

Smokers either ignore it completely or ask for a different picture, like this one.

Moreover, convenience stores aren't just for people immune to gore; kids come here too. I've seen kids frown at the pictures on the counter.

There's no better example of a poorly thought-out policy aimed at quitting smoking. So, I easily agreed to his request.

"I'll look for one."

But no matter how I searched, I only found pictures of throats with holes, split lips, or purple hearts. Even in the drawer, it was the same.

"Right now... Uh, there's nothing suitable. The least disturbing one is a picture of a funeral."

"Is there anything else?"

"Other than that, they're all organ displays."

"Then I won't buy it. I'll go somewhere else."

Fine, whatever.

If he had just left, it would have been fine. But just as the dwarf was about to leave, another customer opened the door and came in. This one was also a dwarf, and they seemed to know each other.

"What are you doing?"

"Buying cigarettes."

"Which one?"

"A blue one."

The moment I heard the last three words, a chill ran down my spine, and it became reality. The new dwarf approached and said,

"Give me a cigarette."

"Which one?"

"A blue one."

It seemed like these dwarves had a disease that made them unable to speak in full sentences.

Moreover, this dwarf also didn't know the name of his cigarette, so I showed him all the blue ones. For reference, there were four times as many blue cigarettes as thin yellow ones.

Among them, he found his cigarette and, like the previous one, asked for a different picture. This time, I found a less disturbing one: a child wrinkling their nose at the smell of cigarettes.

The dwarf, holding the cigarette, asked,

"Do you have wax?"

"Yes, we have several types."

"For beards."

"...Manager, the dwarf customer is looking for beard wax."

"Third corner, middle row."

"Where?"

"I'll show you."

I felt like a guide at a large supermarket.

I led the dwarf to the third corner and pointed to the middle row. The dwarf stared at the various types of wax. I followed his gaze, and the effects of the waxes were outrageous.

One wax, with concentrated slime solution, made hair feel moist. Another, with sap from the World Tree's bark, claimed to be four times as refreshing. I wondered who made these and how.

Moreover, when I came in the morning, I didn't see these on display. I think there were potato chips here.

As I stared blankly, I heard a call from the counter.

"Manager..."

It was a slurred, drunk woman's voice. At the counter, a customer with pink hair and a suit was leaning on the counter, swaying.

"Um... Did you call me?"

I asked, but she didn't answer. She tilted her head slightly to look at me, and her pupils were vertically slit. It was the same as the vampire earlier, but her skin was pale, so she didn't seem to be one...

"...Guh..."

The swaying woman couldn't hold it in and vomited on the counter. At the same time, a pair of wings burst out from her shoulder area and flapped.

Seeing the wings, I thought it must be a succubus or something. I have no idea why she vomited on the counter...