SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-163

He knew that Rieul wasn’t that kind of person.

But when he looked at his left hand that had been wiped clean of the markings, it was hard to escape the thought.

He hadn’t done well in the Sephiroth branch incident last time, even losing consciousness in front of Aeon. At the thought of his poor performance, the self-hatred that he had swallowed tightly rose to the surface.

“….Ash? What’s wrong?”

“…….”

Ash stroked the edge of his glass with his fingertips. Suddenly, the question he hadn’t intended to ask was out of his mouth.

“What happened with that man?”

Despite his best efforts, his voice sounded grumpy.

“That man? Ah, you mean Yoohyun-ssi? The article…….”

“……I know the article is a lie. It’s actually …. what do you think about him?”

“Umh, well….”

Kriek. Rieul pushed herself up from her chair and headed to the counter to make herself a cup of coffee. The soft fragrant smell of coffee wafted out. How come the smell of the coffee she makes touched his heart so deeply?

Instead of drinking the coffee straight away, Rieul fiddled with the handle of the porcelain cup before answered his question.

“Ahaha, I’m not sure.”

There she goes again, avoiding the answer. Ash thought he was going to be left with the bitterness feeling again, but Rieul soon continued. Her calm expression, once the smile had faded, was genuine.

“It’s true that I have feelings for Yoohyun-ssi in some way. He’s a good person. What my feelings will become in the future and what kind of relationship we will have … I’m not sure yet.”

“….I see.”

“One thing’s for sure…….”

Rieul gazed off into the distance for a moment. When she turned her gaze back to him, there was a clear sadness and affection in her eyes.

“I hope he’ll be okay. That’s all I care about right now.”

Ash noticed that the tingling sensation that had felt like a needle prick had suddenly disappeared without a trace. Instead, he felt a different tickle. It was an unsettling sensation, like having a soft cloth wrapped around his body.

The tickling sensation grew and grew until it engulfed his entire body, forcing him to confront an unfamiliar emotion.

Ah. He felt the same way: I want this person to be okay.

But how can he put these feelings into words? The emotions he’s just realised were vague, and words were so hard to come by.

Instead, he lifted the glass and slowly brought it to his mouth. The first sip tasted like the sweetness of thick whipped cream. Then, the faint scent of mugwort flooded into his mouth.

“…….”

He hadn’t said anything yet, but Rieul smiled as if she already knew he liked it. It was a bit strange, he thought.

Rieul brought some freshly baked garlic bread out of the oven and placed it on the table.

“What do you think? I was thinking of making a ‘The Legend of Dangun¹‘ set like this, though I’ll have to limit the quantity if I don’t want the store to be destroyed like it was today.”

Just as Ash’s lips were about to part to reply….

Tiling! A sound rang out.

[The conditions have been met.]

[You have gained sufficient mana. Your magical engraving will be restored.]

[Execute a connection with the main body. Upon completion, more abilities will be available.

Completion rate: 1%]

“Uh, Ash, you….”

“Aaah!”

Rieul’s face became close. Ash pushed his chair back in surprise, but Rieul leaned in even closer, looking into his face.

“You, your eyes …. the color of your eyes has changed.”

“What?”

Rieul brought him a mirror.

‘This is……..’

Ash gulped. His eyes had turned violet. As the feeling of something blocking him was gone, he could sense a deep source of magic in those unfamiliar glowing eyes.

***

Although there were a few twists and turns, the schedule with James ended successfully.

“Hahahaha, that was a special experience.”

“Come and visit us one more time before you leave the country.”

Now James had a few private schedules left, ones that were not publicly announced. A Hunter’s private schedule is usually dungeon investigation. James also told me that he was going to the Great Dungeon Abyss in an arrangement with the Dungeon Management Office.

Naturally, my schedule ended here. I said goodbye to James and packed him plenty of drinks for the dungeon.

“Then, see you again.”

With a click, the door closed and James left. And I…..

“Hmm, then shall we take a break now? I need to sit down and rest, ha, ha, ha.”

“Waeooong (you’re not good at acting)!”

Mieum, I don’t want to hear those words from you.

“The weather is nice today. Isn’t it right, Ash?”

“It’s below freezing right now.”

“….Kkyuuu?”

Now! I looked the other way as if I wasn’t interested in our slime, but then I jumped up and grabbed Lime.

“Ash! Open the carrier!”

“Kkyuu!”

Swoosh. I quickly put Lime in the slime carrier and closed the door.

“It’s no use rebelling, Lime, you have somewhere to go with me today.”

“Kkyuu…..”

Finally, Ju Noeul returned to Seoul.

I was told that she had a tough time staying at the training camp with poor internet access. Ju Noeul promised to stop by the cafe tomorrow, but I was too impatient to wait another day, as I still hadn’t found Lime’s food during James’ visit.

Imagine the despair I felt when Lime refused to take a bite of anything at a dinner party where a buffet of all kinds of food was served.

Is it fortunate that there are no signs of malnutrition yet? I have no idea how Lime managed to be so lively.

[If you fail the quest, Lime’s favorability decreases.]

The system flashed a rude notification. Please don’t tease me!

Anyway, since it was so urgent, I decided to go with Lime to the Royal Guild to see Ju Noeul. She thankfully agreed to let me visit when I told her I had a problem.

“Ash, I’ll go then.”

“It’s cold, so dress warmly.”

Before opening the door, I glanced back at Ash. His violet eyes were still unfamiliar to me.

Not long ago, Ash’s eyes had suddenly turned purple. At first, I was alarmed, wondering if he had an illness or something wrong with his eyesight. Luckily, it’s not an illness, he assured me. ‘I just got stronger‘, he said, which relieved me.

As his eyes turned purple, he looked like a character from a fantasy novel. There seemed to be a lot of colorful people around me, such as Kwon Jiwoon and Choi Rona.

But strangely, since the color of his eyes changed, his personality also seemed to have changed a bit. He’s still the same stubborn and blunt guy, but he’s become a bit more mature.

‘Kids grow up fast…….’

Feeling the passage of time, I left the shop.

The Royal Guild was surprisingly elegant and sophisticated. The large slime statue that seemed to reflect Ju Noeul’s taste stood out.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you. Come this way.”

Once inside, Ju Noeul’s direct subordinate led me to the guild leader’s office. He was someone I’d seen a few times in the cafe with Ju Noeul.

When we arrived at the guild leader’s office, the subordinate knocked on the door.

“Guild leader, I’m coming in!”

He opened the door right away.

“Aaahhhh! Knock! Don’t you know how to knock!” Ju Noeul screamed in surprise.

“I knocked.”

“If you’ve knocked on the door, wait a moment….”

Apparently, Ju Noeul was looking at something on her computer. I didn’t mean to peek at someone else’s screen, but due to my position, the large text at the top inevitably caught my eye. Umh … Y♥R Two-Shot² Collection……?

It was a title that intrigued my curiosity, but I didn’t get a chance to take a closer look as Ju Noeul quickly closed the window.

“It’s been a while. It seems like a lot has happened in the meantime…….”

“I heard you’ve been through a lot too, Noeul-ssi.”

The guild leader’s room that Ju Noeul used was surprisingly spacious with few items. As I sat down on the couch and looked around, Ju Noeul’s subordinate whispered to me.

“Don’t look around too much.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I will stop.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that the guild leader was in a hurry to tidy up this room an hour before Rieul-ssi came, so she shoved everything into the drawers…….”

“Get out of here!”

At Ju Noeul’s urging, the subordinate served the tea and left. As soon as the door was closed, Ju Noeul asked with a serious expression.

“What do you want to consult with me about?”

“Thank you for your time, actually…….”

“Ah, wait! Wait a moment!”

She gulped down her iced tea, took a deep breath, and then spoke again in a calmer manner.

“I’m ready. Feel free to tell me anything, whether it’s relationship issues or dating advice!”

“No, it’s not that. It’s because of our Lime.”

I opened the slime container and took Lime out. Lime cried, throwing her body around.

“Kkyuuu!”

Ju Noeul’s eyes widened. She was happy to see Lime, but at the same time, she seemed taken aback by my purpose. Before coming here, I had simply told her, “I have an important matter that I wish to discuss with you“. I should have at least briefly explained my situation in advance over the phone. In the haste of the moment, I didn’t think of it.

“Our Lime hasn’t eaten for a few days now. I was wondering if you knew what slime eats.”

“Why are you feeding a slime….”

“What?”

I caught Lime, who was bouncing around, and held it in my arms.

“Kyuuuu?”

“Now, wait. Why do you look at me with such eyes, with the coldness of someone looking at a slime abuser…….”

“How can you raise an animal and not feed it?!”

Ju Noeul, flustered, threw up her hands and hastily explained, “For convenience, slimes are classified as animal-type monsters, but they are actually somewhere in between animals and plants, especially closer to plants…….”

“….Ekk.”

“Kyuuuu?”

Lime innocently cried, oblivious to my reaction.

Lime, were you …. a plant?

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Translator’s Corner:

1. The Legend of Dangun is the founding myth of Korea. Once upon a time, Hwanung, the son of the ruler of Heaven, descended to the human’s world. One day, a tiger and a bear came to Hwanung and beg him to make them human beings. Hwanung told them that they had to eat mugwort and garlic only and stay in a cave for 100 days without seeing sunlight. After 21 days, the tiger could not endure the situation any longer and left the cave. However, the bear persevered and was transformed into a woman. Hwanung changed himself into a human form and married her. Between them, Dangun was born. Dangun later founded Gojoseon, the first kingdom in Korean history. ↩︎
2. Two shot (투샷): a photo of two people together. A type of shot in which the frame encompasses two people. Those two people do not have to be next to each other, and there are many common two shots which have one person in the foreground and the other in the background. ↩︎