SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

The shelter was more comfortable than I expected. It’s quite spacious inside, surrounded by solid walls. The place was shaped like an auditorium, but the walls were partitioned to give us a bit of privacy. A large screen on the wall showed news and other information.

The officials managing the shelter were busy distributing relief supplies and calming people down. As a result, people’s moods were brighter than expected. They seemed to believe that the situation would soon be under control and life would return to normal.

After receiving the relief supplies, I took a seat inside one of the temporary rooms and spoke quietly to Ash next to me, “Ash, I know this is uncomfortable, but please bear with it for a while.”

“I’m fine.” His tone was firm. There was no hint of discomfort in his voice.

I studied him for a moment. He’s grown a little taller and his eyes have turned violet, but that’s about it. At first glance, he doesn’t look any different than before. However, there was one significant difference.

‘As expected, he has become more mature…….’

Was it because he had been volunteering with the people of the Demon Worshipping Cult of Twilight? Or was it because he now had good friends his own age?

In any case, now that I left Mieum and Lime behind, I felt very relieved to have Ash with me. I would have been anxious if I was alone.

I sat down in a suitable spot and pulled out my phone first. There were a bunch of notifications, but there was nothing special. Just a steady stream of rifts and records of Hunters on the defense. At times like this, no news is good news, and at least I was fortunate not to be receiving any bad news from anyone close to me.

But when I checked the notifications all at once, I felt strange again.

It’s as if the rifts are happening with such intensity that almost can’t be handled.

‘It seems like there is some other purpose to this situation.…’

At times like this, I wish I could meet the Saintess again, but she didn’t respond to me at all, as if it was true that she couldn’t speak to me at will.

She just doesn’t show up when I need her…….

I deleted the notification and opened my contacts list. The first thing I saw was Kwon Jiwoon’s name. Such simultaneous and widespread rifts inevitably result in many injuries. Naturally, the demand for healers would skyrocket, keeping him extremely busy.

‘I hope he’s not drinking only potions again…….’

I thought about calling Kwon Jiwoon, but stopped when I realized he probably wouldn’t pick up anyway. Instead, I left him a message on KakaoTalk telling him not to worry, that I was in the shelter.

Next…….

I was about to flip through my contacts list with my finger.

“Excuse me, miss, I have a request for you…” A woman knocked on the wall with her hand and called out to me. It was the evacuee on the other room.

“Yes, what can I do for you?”

She held an electrical port in one hand and pointed to an outlet on the wall with the other, “Can I borrow an outlet? We don’t have any.”

Apparently, depending on the section of the shelter, there are not enough outlets in some areas. Since I had no immediate plans to use them, I was happy to comply.

“Sure, of course.”

“Thank you. It’s not much, but I’ll get you a drink too.”

She started to boil water with an electric kettle to make a batch of coffee. When she heard the water boil, she took out a paper cup and a bag of coffee mix. Seeing that, I blurted out.

“Do you want me to brew that?”

“Oh my. You don’t have to.”

“I’ll do it. Even though I looked like this, if it’s coffee …… I’m good at making them.”

I accepted the coffee mix from the lady’s hand and used the skill ‘Cafe in My Hand‘ to make the coffee. The ‘Cafe in My Hand’ skill increases perfection when making drinks in the store. Since I’m not inside the store right now, I was worried that the skill wouldn’t be applied…..

Tiling!

[Item: Coffee Mix (★★★☆☆)

Status: Very Good (Time Remaining: 00:03:00)

Effect: Recovery speed is increased by 100%.]

I’ve just gotten my proper three-stars coffee mix.

[The cafe is where you are.]

[The system applies the skill in a flexible way.]

No, that’s … it’s nice that you applied the skill, but you should use the correct Korean¹.

[The system applies the skill in a flexible way.]

The system window immediately updated and changed to the correct wording. It was ridiculous that they were so quick to honor this request, but had no update on the current situation.

“Here, try it.”

“Thank you. I owe you.” The lady took a sip of the coffee mix. Then she opened her eyes wide and took another sip, then tilted her head, “This is weird. It’s just the coffee mix I had in my suitcase … did you put something in it?”

“No, I don’t put anything in it.”

“How is it so delicious? It’s strange … you’re not lying when you said you are good at making coffee.”

Then she jumped to her feet, went to the next cubicle, and called out to her companions. “Honey, you’ve got to try this!” wa heard over the wall. I quickly made another couple of cups of coffee mixes with the rest of the water and handed one to each of the lady’s companions.

“Uh, uh, woah!”

“……Wow. It’s delicious!”

Wide-eyed, disbelieving expressions. With each sip of coffee, a look of admiration and pure joy lingered on their faces.

Their reactions were very refreshing to me. Of course, the customers I met at Cafe Rieul also sincerely enjoyed the coffee. However, as the cafe became more famous, most of the customers naturally already knew the taste and the effects of my coffee.

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I was happy to see the response from the regulars.

However, this lady’s surprise and admiration at the unexpected flavor brought me a new realization.

I’m embarrassed to admit it this late, but I realized that I love making coffee. It was surreal. I realized this feeling when I left the store, albeit temporarily.

“Thank you so much. It’s delicious, and I somehow feel energized after drinking it.”

“Ahaha ……. I’m glad you’re feeling energized.”

The smell of the sweet coffee mix wafted through the slightly cool shelter. I even borrowed the electric kettle to make coffee for the people who stopped by to ask if I had an extra cup. When I ran out of the few remaining coffee packets, someone donated a box of 100 coffee mix packets and paper cups. I graciously agreed to serve the people who were waiting.

As I was doing this, I was reminded of the old days. It was when I awakened after the regression and received the quest to make 100 coffee mixes.

Maybe it was because a lot of things had happened since then, but it seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it was only a few months ago. I sincerely miss the days of wondering how I could complete the quest as quickly as possible.

‘The last hundredth cup of coffee was taken by Yoohyun-ssi…….’

I didn’t realize then how close he would become to me.

It wasn’t long before I was able to distribute the coffee mix to everyone who was waiting. After making the last one, which was mine and Ash’s, we sat down on the floor.

It’s just a small amount of instant coffee in a paper cup, but at times like this, it’s somehow comforting. I took a sip of the coffee mix. The sweet flavor lingered in my mouth. The warmth and sweetness of the coffee washed away the cloudy anxiety and despair.

The woman who had initially brought me the coffee and the electric kettle spoke next to me. Her face was bright, as if the coffee had given her some strength.

“Did you come in with your younger brother? I know it’s hard, but you’ll be home soon, so cheer up.”

“Brother…… No, it’s not…….”

“Aww, your younger brother is so sweet. Listen to what your sister saying and don’t give her hard time.”

“…….”

Ah. I know what that pouty look on his face means. He wanted to say that he’s not childish enough to throw a tantrum, but he’s worried that saying so would make him sound like a child. I suppressed a laugh.

The lady added, as if to praise Ash, “I have siblings in my house too, but somehow the younger one is more mature.”

“Did you come in with your kids separately?”

“No. They have to work, so I’m the only one here, and the second one is a public official, so she doesn’t have any free time these days.” The woman’s face showed concern and a hint of pride, “Meanwhile my oldest is … haaa…..”

The pride quickly turned to frustration.

“Although he does seem to have come to his senses these days … ah yes, you’re an Awakened too, aren’t you?”

“Wow, how did you know?”

“I know it when I see it. If you look closely, Awakened people keep staring off into the air a little bit.”

Did I do that…….

“Anyway, if you’re an Awakened, is there such a law? That you can’t keep your real name and use weird name…..”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Thud! Boom!

“Aaah!”

The floor vibrated with a heavy impact.

Weeeeeeee, weeeee━ A ringing notification rang out, mixed with the sound of a siren and someone screaming. Several Awakeneds in the hall stared into air, their expressions hardened. It seemed like everyone was seeing the same message.

[1, 5, 10, 20, 50…… 100.

End of test. Data collection is complete.]

There were no windows in the shelter, so I couldn’t see the outside. I pushed myself up and headed toward the screen on the wall. The screen projected the sky above Seoul. I could see small gates forming around a gate that emitted red light.

“……! That’s…….”

And from those gates, countless monsters began to pour out. Unlike the “somewhat manageable” rifts so far, there were tons of them.

The system window continued to update the information.

[Congratulations!

Finally, the Gate of The Demon God ████ has been activated.

If you do not clear the quest within the time limit, He will be summoned.]

[Gate of The Demon God ████

Time Remaining until Full Summoning 72:00:00]

Thud! I heard the impact sound again. There’s something …… on the ceiling. No, not just the ceiling. The sound of a huge monster slamming into the barrier continued.

“Aaaah!”

“Everyone, please calm down and follow the instructions!”

“Calm down! Please stay calm!”

It’ is’s a shelter located within a powerful barrier. An area that would normally be safe from the rift. There were only minimal guards, so we were no match for the monsters.

With a crack, the monster poked its head through the gap in the wall. The temporary wall crumpled like a sheet of paper.

“Uh … aaaaaaaahhhhh!”

It didn’t take long for the shelter to turn into chaos. Officials decided to quickly escape from here and led the confused people to the emergency exit.

Then, the system notification came up again.

[Common Quest: Stop the resurrection of Demon God ████

Wake up, warrior!

The resurrection of the Demon God ████ is imminent.

Let’s reach the “Ultimate Gate” through the Gate and seal the Demon God.

Upon success: the world is preserved

In case of failure: the annihilation of the world]

[The quest participants have been selected after rigorous testing.

First participant: Ki Yoohyun (S)

……(Now Loading)]

Even in the midst of the urgency, small cheers erupted.

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Translator’s Corner:

1. The previous sentence that I tled as “in a flexible way” actually used the word 유도리, it comes Japanese word (ゆとり) meaning ‘leisure (of time, money, etc.)’. In the workplace, the usage is slightly different. Depending on the industry, it may be ‘flexibility‘ in dealing with people, or in the construction and manufacturing industries, it may mean ‘let’s move on’ since even minor errors will not cause major problems. So it’s like … with flexibility and understanding but in ambiguous way. In the next sentence, the system used the proper Korean word 융통성. ↩︎

HERE WE GO THE START OF THE REAL FINAL skjhdshjkhfdkjsasdhjf i need to stay alive to see this scene got a manhwa adaption someday