An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror. - 49

Chapter 49: Impossible for Regular People

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I started receiving a few applications from the people interested in applying right after I posted a job notice at the entrance of my restaurant. I decided to have them come to the restaurant for interviews after closing time or on my days off. 

“I’ve never interviewed people before, so I’m a bit nervous.”

The first interview was scheduled for 10 AM on my day off. I arrived at the restaurant a little earlier to wait for the applicant to come. The application came through email and judging from the name alone, I guessed the applicant was probably a young man. 

“It’s already 10 o’clock now.”

Expecting the applicant would arrive soon, I prepared some tea and waited for him. 

“Hm…? Maybe he’s running a bit late…?”

However, even after I waited for another 10 minutes, no one showed up. I checked my emails, but there was no message from the applicant. Another 20 minutes passed. I looked at the clock. It was already 10:30 AM.

“No sign of the applicant… I guess I should try to contact the applicant first.”

Maybe the applicant had forgotten about the interview, so I decided to send an email. But… There was no reply. I decided to do other stuff and I finally received a reply when it was already well past noon.

〈Sorry, I was sleeping. I’m on my way now.〉

〈My apologies, but I have another interview at 1 PM. Could you come at 2 PM instead?〉

〈Yeah… I can’t. I definitely can’t come at 2. Hahahaha!〉

〈Then what time would work for you?〉

〈Actually, when’s good for you?〉

〈How about 10 AM next week?〉

〈Ah, I’m hanging out with my friends next week.〉

“REJECTED!!!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs. Yeah. I didn’t even need to interview this person. I definitely wouldn’t hire this person.

〈With deep regret, I have to inform you that I can’t proceed with your application.〉

〈What? I haven’t even had the interview yet.〉

〈It means you’re rejected without any interview.〉

〈Seriously? LMAOO I was just a bit late though?? LOLL You’re being way too picky! Lmaoo! You’re so cocky even though you’re younger than me!〉

I didn’t expect the applicant to be older than me. I mean, it was pretty pathetic for someone in their 40s to be flexing their age like that… 

“Alright. Let’s forget about this guy. Weirdos are everywhere anyway. I better focus on the next interview.”

The next applicant was a girl. She was a university student, so she was definitely younger than me. 

“…And she’s late too..?”

1 PM passed by and there was no sign of her. Just when I was wondering what was going on, my phone rang. 

“Helloooo!~ Is this Ken-chan?~”

“Ye-Yes. This is Ken-chan’s Restaurant… May I know who’s calling?”

“Who’s calling? Of course it’s me, Kaori! I’m the one scheduled for an interview! Don’t tell me, you forgot about the interview? Hahaha! Hilarious!!”

She was definitely a gyaru. With a name like Kaori Shiratori, I was expecting a proper and prim young lady. Not a gyaru like this. Unfortunately, I would need to reject her as well.

“So you see, I kinda overslept a bit, but I’m in super rush mode right now!  I’ll be there in like, five minutes tops!”

Oh. She was almost here.

“I understand. I will wait for you, but… If you feel like changing your mind, please do not hesitate to withdraw your application.”

“Hahahahahaha! Old Man, you’re so funny!”

And just as I expected. Kaori was a total gyaru. I had to reject her. It wasn’t because she didn’t seem fit to be working in the kitchen, but she insisted on keeping her 10 cm nails while working in the food business. There was no way I could accept her. 

I continued conducting interviews whenever I could. I had to use my precious free time in between my busy work, but… 

“I’m a huge fan of Miku-chan… Haah… Haah… If I work here, could I get closer to Miku-chan too…? Haah…. Haaah…”

“Ah. Pervert-san, please get out of this establishment.”

A bald and overweight guy around my age who claimed to be a fan of Miku Kanamoto came. He was really creepy, so of course I had to reject her. 

“Umm… Would it be okay if I only come in when I feel like it? No, I mean, just giving a notice a day in advance is a bit hard for me… I would like to show up whenever I want without any strings attached, you know?”

“Are you even taking this job seriously?”

There was a young man who seemed to be treating not this job, but her whole life entirely so lightly. 

“I received a divine message from God to come to this interview.”

“Ah, I see. Unfortunately, I’m not cut out for that kind of thing.”

A middle aged woman came. She seemed to be trying to make me join some sketchy cult. 

“I’ve discovered a way to boost your sales even higher!!”

“With all due respect, what I need is more staff, not more sales.”

There was a young man who was trying to sell me suspicious business schemes.

“GIVE ME BACK MY PRECIOUS FREE TIMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!”

I couldn’t stop myself from screaming out loud. 

“Haah… Who knew hiring part-timers would be this hard… Does everyone need to go through this too? Or is it because the hourly wage I offered is way too low? Maybe that’s why I keep getting weirdos… Yeah, that might be why…”

And so, I decided to raise the wage. I doubled my initial offer to 2000 yen an hour. And so, I was able to get some decent people coming in for interviews. I hired five part-timers, but…

“I’m sorry, but I will need to quit.”

“I’m sorry, but I’d like to quit too…”

“Uh, actually, me as well…”

“Sorry, but I think today’s my last day…”

“I’m really sorry for the sudden notice, but I want to quit too…”

To my surprise, all five of them wanted to quit after working just for a few days. 

“Wh-Why? Is it because the hourly wage is still too low? Or maybe the staff meals aren’t good…?”

I asked, feeling really anxious. 

“””IT’S BECAUSE THE WORK IS TOO HARD!!!”””

All five of them gave me the same answer. 

“I mean, what’s up with the size of this place and the number of customers?! I’ve worked part-time at other restaurants, but there’s no way a restaurant this big can be run with one owner and five part-time workers!!”

“Normally speaking, there’s no way the kitchen can pull up the food that fast! I mean, the food is getting done within seconds! Literally seconds! Sometimes ten or twenty at a time even! This is absolutely ridiculous!”

“To begin with, the heck with this place?! How can the place look like a regular place on the outside, but the inside is as big as a school gymnasium?! Is it the result of a space-time distortion or something?!”

“To be fair, the meals are incredibly delicious, but it all boils down to nothing if I’m going to die from overwork!”

And so, they all came to the same conclusion. 

“””IT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR REGULAR PEOPLE TO WORK PART-TIME HERE!”””

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