Endurance System

A Belief

"I don't think I can," Elric replied.

Elric thought for a moment before continuing with confidence. "I can handle it. This is just a misunderstanding. I did nothing wrong, and this has nothing to do with me, so you guys can relax."

Ting!

[Synchronization +5%]

[You did not run away from other people's anger]

[You did not defend yourself with violence]

[You chose to stay and stand your ground]

[Master, congratulations. The foundation of your life is growing stronger.

[From today onward, your life will not collapse back to zero]

The series of messages from the system left Elric speechless for a few seconds.

Shortly after, his face relaxed.

“But. Elric, Amaris is gone. I don’t want you to get into more trouble,” Theo said worriedly.

His words snapped Elric out of his reverie, but at that moment, his gaze was fixed on a customer entering the store.

He said as he hurried away. "You guys go home. I'm fine."

**

The minimarket was so crowded that there was a long line to pay. Everyone was busy, and Elric didn't even have time to take a break.

"Just total it up. I'm in a hurry," said a woman with shoulder-length hair.

"Okay." Elric did it quickly. He had completely adapted to his new job.

When the woman saw the cashier's front screen showing the names of the items and the total, she frowned and moved closer. "Did you enter it wrong?"

Elric was surprised and confused, but then smiled. "No. Everything is correct."

"Recheck it. It seems wrong," said the woman without looking away.

Elric did so, but his answer remained the same. "Everything is correct, ma'am. What's wrong?"

"Why is this dish soap so expensive? On the shelf over there, there's a promotional label that says' Buy 2, Get 1 Free. I looked at it carefully, but I don't understand why the price changed when I arrived." At this point, the woman looked so annoyed that her gaze at Elric was no longer friendly. "You should give me an explanation, not just say there's no mistake."

"If you don't believe me, we can check it out there," she continued emotionally.

Lucan, Elric's coworker, realized the awkward situation and immediately walked towards the shelf the woman was referring to.

Of course, the woman followed hastily.

"You see. It's clearly displayed here. Is this correct for this dish soap? I can't be wrong," said the woman, pointing to the price tag attached there.

She stared at Lucan, who took the price tag without saying anything. Immediately, she became agitated. "Why did this happen? Did you guys do it on purpose?”

"That's impossible, ma'am. We have contracts and rules; we can't do anything that would harm consumers and ruin our reputation," replied Lucan, who was almost carried away by his emotions.

He then walked over to Elric, who was waiting, and showed him the price tag. "Looks like they missed this."

Elric pursed his lips, thinking about how to solve this problem.

When he looked up, the woman was standing in front of him with wide eyes, waiting for an explanation. 

Elric immediately felt his throat go dry. He swallowed and tried to explain calmly. "I'm sorry, ma'am. It's our mistake. The promotion period is over, but we forgot to remove it. I'm sorry."

"What?" However, the woman became even more emotional upon hearing this. "You said you work according to the contract and the rules, but how could something like this happen? This is very important, you know. It may seem trivial to you, just a label, but it affects consumer trust."

Elric could only listen carefully to everything without any intention of interrupting, let alone responding with the same emotion.

"If you can still get away with this, it means your work isn't as serious as it seems. That means you need to be reevaluated. Or do you always need to be supervised by your superiors to be serious?" The woman slammed her fist on the cash register with a sharp frown. "What happened here is the same as you playing with consumers!"

As this complaint erupted, the queue behind began to grow restless from waiting too long. Whispers began to be heard.

Lucan stood up straight to respond, but Elric nudged him gently and replied to the woman in a soft tone. "I understand, ma'am. This is purely our mistake. We were too careless. But we promise not to let this happen again."

"The promotion is no longer active in the system, but since the information is still displayed, I will adjust the price as stated," he continued.

Lucan immediately looked at him in disbelief and whispered, "Are you crazy? You could get in trouble with the boss. Just adjust it to the system. If you really don't want to, then leave it. Look at the queue. Everyone is getting noisy."

However, Elric was completely unfazed.

"Do you still want to continue with the transaction?" asked Elric with a slight smile.

Elric's attitude immediately calmed the woman down. She became calm and nodded slowly.

Then Elric took a piece of paper and a pen and began to write things down manually.

"Once again, I apologize, ma'am," he said as he handed the woman her shopping bag.

"I'm the one who should apologize. I'm sorry for causing a commotion," replied the woman, feeling uncomfortable.

"It's okay. It was our mistake." Elric still smiled slightly.

After that, everything went smoothly again. Elric even continued to apologize to other customers who had been waiting for a long time.

Lucan, who saw this, fell silent immediately.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, the system beeped softly.

[System synchronization + 7%]

[You chose to take the risk for the sake of a small justice]

[System has saved it in the database]

When Elric's shift ended, the manager called him over. "Are you aware that it violates the procedure?"

Elric nodded, not defending himself or making excuses.

"Then why did you still do it?" the manager snapped.

"The promotion was still posted on the shelf, and the customer came with that information. Even though the price in the system had returned to normal, the information error was in the store," explained Elric, lowering his gaze.

"Elric, you just started working, but you're already acting like a hero." The manager slammed the table in annoyance. "Whatever happens, follow the system. That's your rule. You must follow the system completely."

Elric didn't respond, but he stepped forward and placed the manual receipt he had written earlier on the table. "I'll pay for it with my salary."

The manager was silent for a moment. He looked at the paper and then at Elric. "Really?”

"Yes. This is my decision, so I will take full responsibility," replied Elric.

There was a moment of silence.

The manager sighed softly and said, "Many people in your position choose not to care about customer complaints. They never want to take risks like this."

"Why did you do it?"

"I just didn't want to make things worse." Elric continued to answer firmly, leaving the manager stunned time and time again.

"And what if other customers demand the same thing?" asked the manager again.

"I'll explain the facts." Elric looked up for a moment and smiled. "I just don't want to blame others for my mistakes. Because consumer trust is crucial."

The manager stared at him for a long time, then nodded slightly with a smile. He then grabbed the paper and said, "The difference isn't that big, I'll report it to headquarters." 

Of course, Elric was surprised.

"But from now on, if something like this happens again, report it to me first. Do you understand?"

Elric, still in shock, could only nod stiffly.

"Keep working the way you are. Maybe everyone can be a cashier, but not everyone is suited for more responsibility," the manager continued with a smile.

Ting!

[Trust has been established]