SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-174

I opened my tightly closed eyes.

Beyond the gate was a river of fast-flowing red water. We were being swept away by the current and drifting round and round downstream.

“Aaaahhh!” I screamed in panic, trying to keep my head above water, but it was difficult because the water was so deep.

“What are you doing, waeong?” Mieum,, who was swimming beside me in a relaxed pose, asked.

“Mieum-ah, cough! At this rate, I’ll die before we get there … cough, cough!”

I flapped my hands in a panic, but the cat just leisurely gave me instructions, “Try to stay calm and dive in, meow.”

“I’m not good at swimming … cough! Ugh, I’ve got water in my mouth, cough, cough!”

“Waeooong! That’s not it!”

Mieum suddenly swam towards me and jumped on my back. Then, she jumped up and pressed my head down.

Puk!

“Aaaaaah!”

“Waeoooong!”

One more time!

“Cough, cough …. a cat kill its owner, ugh, cough……”

After living in our house for so long, eating three meals a day, with plenty of snacks, Mieum was quite heavy. I couldn’t stand her vicious attack and ducked my head under the water.

Cough … huh?

I was surprised.

“Uh, I can breathe…..?”

Not only that, but I could hear myself talking. I surrendered to the flow and swam naturally through the water. It was a unique sensation, my surrounding almost felt like water, but not quite.

“Kkyuuu!”

“What are you doing by yourself?”

Lime and Ash, who were diving and swimming first, scolded me. Their gazes stung.

“Gee, you, human requires a lot of care, waeolg!”

“…….”

What? Why am I, an ordinary human being with ordinary common sense, being treated like an abnormality here?

That’s your common sense, not everyone’s common sense. No matter how much I thought about it, I was the normal one and they were the weird ones. It was completely the scenario of ‘I Became The Only Normal Person in The Non-Humans Party’.

“It’s only natural to panic when you’re surrounded by water.”

“Waeolg, this isn’t water, but the ether that connects gate to gate. It takes you to the other gate!”

“Hmmm…..”

Would it hurt to tell me in advance? Swallowing such complaints, I looked around. There were no other objects in the water. But there were tiny particles sparkling and drifting away. Without realising it, I was about to reach for them.

“You shouldn’t look too closely, waeooong!”

“Huh? Why?”

“You can’t see it, but the flow of the ether is intricately intertwined in here. If you stepped on the wrong path, waeoong……….”

“…What if I step on the wrong path?”

Ash answered on her behalf, as if it was a matter of common sense, “You’d be lost forever.”

“Kyuuu!” Even Lime chimed in.

“That’s right, meow! If you lose your guide, you’ll be trapped in an unfamiliar dungeon and will never be able to get out.”

I shuddered. Such dangerous passages we have here.

“Kkyuuuu!”

The group began to move quickly forward. I didn’t want to be lost forever alone. I hurriedly followed behind my family.

“Huh, wait a minute, guys, go with me!”

We had only gone a short distance when the water suddenly increased in speed and an intense light washed over us.

…….

…….

“Cough, cough…..!”

I dropped to the floor and coughed up the remaining water. My head was dizzy from the sudden exit from the passage.

Pahpah! Mieum and Lime shook their bodies quickly to shake off the water.

“….We arrived at the right place.” Ash calmly stated, scanning the surroundings. I picked myself up and looked around as well.

We had landed in an empty clearing. I could see the scattered remains of the ruins. I listened for a moment, then opened my mouth, “Monsters … there aren’t any of them here, right?”

“Of course not, waeoong! They’ve already fled.”

“Kkyuuu!”

Apparently, the monsters that appeared through the gate were the same ones that fled. A Demon God that could make the monsters flee … they must have been quite powerful.

And there, in the distance, was a huge castle. Its gothic spires and black walls looked as fearsome as a Demon itself. That must be the location of the final boss fight where the Ultimate Gate resided.

By the way, that castle…….

‘I think I’ve seen it somewhere before…..?’

That’s weird. There was no way I could have seen a dark fantasy building like that anywhere else, and I hadn’t been to a single amusement park in my life because I was busy with works. However, the sense of deja vu was too strong to dismiss it as just a feeling.

“Uhm, hmm, hmmmm…..”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Ash asked. As soon as I saw his innocent face, the answer came to me in a flash of recognition.

“That miniature……!”

“What?”

It was the first demon castle miniature that Asu had ever made. Was it called the Throne of Darkness? He had actually recreated the castle where the final boss resides perfectly.

Oh my, Ash, you really are a genius at making miniatures! I clasped his hand in admiration.

“That’s so amazing!”

“W-What?”

“Our Ash is a genius! It’s amazing that you can recreate such a bizarre building in miniature!”

“That, that … yeah, but we have something to do!”

Whack! Ash brushed my hand away and turned his head. He’s been acting more mature lately, but he’s still weak to compliments.

“Kyuuuuu?”

“Waeolg! If you’re not coming, I’m going to leave you!”

The animals impatiently urged us on as we bickered before the final boss stage. Cough, okay, enough of marvelling at this kid’s genius.

I stopped fussing and looked at the destination. The black castle was as eerie as its name, the Throne of Darkness. To be honest, it scared me. But the gate we exited through was already closed, and the people I was looking for were there ahead of me.

My heart was still pounding despite my deliberately cheerful voice. I swallowed my nervousness and said, “Let’s go. Mieum, please guide me.”

“Waeooong……”

As I walked behind Mieum, I thought about what I would say to Ki Yoohyun when I met him. There was so much I wanted to say. From telling him that I was worried about him, to asking him if he was okay, to requesting that we return home together safely, to saying all the things I hadn’t been able to say all this time.

I also wanted to tell him that I had glimpsed some of his past memories through my grandmother’s notebooks. That I couldn’t claim to understand all his pain, but that I wanted to comfort him, even if only a little.

I loved the soft smile he made when he drank my coffee, and I hoped that one day I would be able to make a cup of coffee that he would be perfectly satisfied with.

Yes, I brought the Authentic Coffee Making Cart (★★★☆☆), so I can make coffee for other people. The final battle where one never knows what will happen next. The buffing effect of coffee will definitely help them.

And after I had walked some distance, I could hear some sounds.

Rustle. Swish! Flick!

“Eu, aak!”

An arrow flew in front of me, narrowly missing my foot. One more step and it would have pierced the top of my foot.

“Who is that? Stop! If you come any closer, this time I’ll shoot you in the head … Eonni?!” Joo Shinhee drew her bow in a rush.

“Noona? Eh, Kim Ash!” Joo Shinwoo also cleared his curse stake.

“Rieul? Why are you here?” Kwon Jiwoon’s eyes widened.

Everyone was surprised to see me here.

“….Rieul-ssi?” Ki Yoohyun couldn’t say much either. He looked shocked as if he had seen a ghost.

When I met their surprised faces, the words I had been working so hard to say suddenly disappeared. I was overwhelmed with joy and enthusiasm.

“Rieul-ssi, how did you get here? And more importantly, are you okay?”

I wanted to say something, but my mind was completely blank.

After a moment of embarrassment, I managed to speak, “Uh, so, everyone …. would you like some coffee?”

***

“What? Rieul-ssi, what do you mean?”

“Rieul, what happened?”

“Ah, haha…….”

Needless to say, my “Would you like some coffee?” didn’t go over well at all. They were quite taken aback by the appearance of Ash and me. Kwon Jiwoon, in particular, turned pale and asked me to go back.

At that moment, Mieum stepped forward, “Waeoolg, it’s already too late. The guide only provides one-way guidance. The gate is closed, so there is currently no way back!”

“…….”

“…….”

There was a moment of silence, but soon Ki Yoohyun casually asked Mieum, “Did you say there’s no way back?”

“That’s right, waeoong … this is the Demon God’s territory, so teleportation scrolls don’t work. In order to go back, you have to clear the quest, waeolg!”

This time, Kwon Jiwoon asked me, “A quest came up for you too?”

“Yep. I came after you because of that quest.”

“What’s it about?”

If I told him the content as it was, things would get out of hand. I vaguely explained it, “Uh, that’s it! Buffing people who go to seal the Demon God with coffee.”

“Okay, I understand……”

Kwon Jiwoon nodded, seemingly convinced, but in front of us, Mieum was furious.

“Waeoolg! You humans, why aren’t you surprised when I speak to you!”

Pakpakpak! A heavy front paw attack flew through the air. Mieum must have mustered up the courage to reveal that she could speak human language. But….

The Great Dungeon Abyss collapsed overnight, monsters appeared, a Demon God Seal quest began, and we were now standing in front of a bizarre castle with a Demon God in it. The fact that my cat could talk was pretty trivial by comparison, and even when I looked at the other people around me, their expressions were like ‘Oh, I see‘. It’s hardly more attention-grabbing than today’s lunch menu.

Mieum popped her tail with an expression full of dissatisfaction, “Kyakyakyap! Humans, your reactions are poor!”

“Kkyuuuu!”

And with that, our house animals went on a rampage.

“Eonni, you were really surprised earlier, weren’t you? I’m so sorry.”

“Huh? No, it’s okay…….”

“You idiot! You should have recognized them from a mile away.”

“You idiot! I saw you pull out the curse stake too!”

The twins started bickering like this while trying to apologise for shooting an arrow at me. Jijon simply rolled his eyes in the corner, Choi Rona welcomed Ash, and Hunter Kang Hyunwoo tried to calm the atmosphere but to no avail…….

It’s nice that we finally reunited, but the atmosphere was chaotic. And even though they’re now a part of the same party, everyone still looked uncomfortable with each other.

What do you need at a time like this?

Yes, it’s coffee.

“Hey … everyone, would you like some coffee?”

I said once again to the cluttered crowd. This time, everyone nodded.

I didn’t know it because I hadn’t had any use for it, but the Authentic Coffee Making Cart (★★★☆☆) for making coffee in the dungeon was quite useful. The spacious workbench was equipped with all the necessary tools, and thanks to the mini-fridge that connected to the shop’s fridge, I was able to use the ingredients to my heart’s content. Somehow, the hot water was also available. With this setup, I could open a takeaway coffee shop anytime, anywhere.

In other words…….

This cart was huge. It’s longer than the width of my arms and taller than my height.

“…..You have something like that in your inventory.”

When I took the cart out of my inventory and set it up, Ki Yoohyun showed a surprised expression on his face. Did other people not carry something this big in their inventory? I asked him about this, and he answered as if I had asked him a question he never thought he would hear in his life.

“That’s because we have a storage capacity limit.”

You did…..?

“Yes. So, we only keep the essential items so that we can use them right away at important moments.”

Those were the words of Hunter Kang Hyunwoo.

“……………..”

I’ll keep it a secret for the rest of my life that my inventory contains spray mosquito repellent (unscented), motion sickness pills, and cable ties.

You can support this translation through buy me a coffee!

Translator’s Corner:

Ki Yoohyun, you fake yearner … you met her right away.

We’ll drink some coffee before meeting the boss! Don’t forget to take your meals everyone so you can continue drink coffee! I was bedridden for a week lately because, apparently, the inside of my stomach got wound from irregular eating time and stress. Taking care of your body is hard … let’s commit to healthy lifestyle….

Thank you so much Moon for the coffees!