SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-182

“Yoohyun-ssi! Are you okay?”

I rushed over and called out to him. But he was unconscious and didn’t move no matter how much I called out to him. His eyes remained firmly closed.

What should I do? Typically, the cliche in this situation would be to wake him up with a kiss.

“Of course that doesn’t make sense…….”

Even as I said this, I cupped my hand around his white cheek, just in case. But I didn’t have the courage to do it, so I hesitated.

Whizz, zzzz━ the sound of noises occured when my fingertips that touched Ki Yoohyun. The noise soon covered my entire field of vision, and a system message appeared in front of me.

[You have made contact with a singularity.]

[Entering Ether-Wiki virtual mode.]

Huh? There was such a thing?

“……Ah.”

A square television appeared out of thin air. It looked exactly like the one I’d found in my grandmother’s store when I first awakened.

Faaah! Suddenly, the television screen switched on and a series of numbers appeared. Without any regularity, the numbers moved rapidly, disappeared, and then the message appeared again.

[Singularity: You have recovered all of Ki Yoohyun’s souls. The damaged souls will be restored.]

[You have reached the end of this round.]

[Error occurred!

Due to an unknown error, the System failed to perform the scheduled action.

It is not possible to rewind the timeline.

Probable Cause: Kwon Rieul (F)]

[Looking for a solution …. Completed.]

[We have found one unprogressed timeline that has not yet been reached.

If you continue, you will break out of the loop and reach an unknown timeline.

Do you want to continue?]

“….Yes.”

Fyaaaah━ at once, the noises disappeared. There was not even a television in sight anymore.

And…….

Blink. Her eyelashes fluttered. Ki Yoohyun slowly opened his eyes.

“Uh! Yoohyun-ssi, are you awake?!”

I watched in mesmerised fascination as the light returned to his black eyes. Finally, those sparkling black eyes turned towards me.

Tiling!

[Congratulations! You have completed Main Quest: ‘Chasing the Starlight.

Please collect the rewards.]

***

His body sank into the darkness. Endlessly, infinitely.

Ki Yoohyun thought to himself, did I fail this time too?

Just before he headed to the Demon God’s Hall, he had finished drinking the coffee made by Kwon Rieul. With the sweet taste of coffee, his memories began to return little by little. Memories from the distant past. In them, he had failed, failed, failed over and over again.

Well, it didn’t matter now.

He was exhausted from the long rounds of repeating the same thing. He wanted to rest now.

He closed his eyes and waited for his consciousness to dissolve into the darkness. Soon, he would fall asleep without remembering anything.

But no matter how long he waited, his consciousness remained clear. That’s when Ki Yoohyun felt something strange.

“……?”

A cool sensation touched her cheek. The tickling, gentle touch kept interrupting his sleep.

Ki Yoohyun slowly opened his eyes.

What greeted him was not pitch darkness. Large brown eyes were staring back at him.

“Uh! Yoohyun-ssi, are you awake?!”

A voice he’d been dying to hear knocked on his ear.

…….

…….

“……cough!” He coughed, feeling suffocated. His eyes stung as his surroundings suddenly brightened.

Ki Yoohyun slowly opened his eyes again. He had returned. He was lying in the middle of the hall where he had confronted the Demon God.

“Guild leader-nim!”

“Hunter Ki Yoohyun … is that you?”

“….Yes?”

His party members surrounded him, weapons drawn. He pushed himself up with his hands on the floor, and they all flinched; if he moved any further, they would have raised their weapons and attacked him at once.

What’s going on? Rather than that, Kwon Rieul … Ki Yoohyun grabbed his throbbing head.

Then, it happened.

[The damaged soul has been restored.]

[Great Old One: The contract with ███ ██ has been terminated. Some skills are no longer available.]

[Unbelievable achievement!

You have returned alive from beyond the《Ultimate Gate》in a mortal body.

Your damaged soul has been recovered.]

[Your status will be updated.

Ki Yoohyun (S)’s skill limitations and restrictions will be lifted.]

[The Demon God ████ is resisting …. failed.]

[Due to limitations in Causality, the vessel can no longer be occupied.

The vessel and the Demon God ████ will be separated.]

He suddenly felt a foreign sensation in his body. It was as if a foreign body inside him was on the rampage.

“….cough, cough!” Ki Yoohyun coughed again. The black liquid trickled down and pooled on the floor, forming a human form again.

【This can’t be …. Ugh, this can’t be happening……!】

A white light enveloped the body. Ki Yoohyun could feel the power overflowing from within him. His sharpened senses detected everything in this space; the figures of the party members surrounding him, as well as …. the sound of footsteps approaching.

[Gate of The Demon God ████

Time Remaining until Full Summoning 00:04:14]

[Time Remaining until Full Summoning 00:04:13]

[Time Remaining until Full Summoning 00:04:12]

The remaining time began to decrease again, but it was enough.

Ki Yoohyun pushed himself up and looked at the small and shabby appearance of the Demon God. Now that he had gained new powers, it wasn’t hard to foresee its end.

It was time to put an end to the long, lonely fight.

***

[Ether-Wiki’s usage time has ended.

The user is moved to the original coordinates. 10, 9, 8…….]

[The encyclopedia of the dimension cultivated by The Eligible! We look forward to your continued support.]

The quest was completed the moment Ki Yoohyun opened his eyes, and with this message, I was thrown out from inside the Ultimate Gate.

Kiiiiing━ the giant door opened, and light poured through the cracks.

I looked down from the top of the stairs, where a man stood upright. At the sight of Ki Yoohyun, safely awake, my heart raced. Thank goodness. I’m so glad.

Ki Yoohyun strode towards the Demon God. He created a translucent sword and held it in his hand.

Everyone watched the scene. There was only one person who could end it and that was Ki Yoohyun.

【This is nonsense! How could a mere mortal dare to stand against me, the infinite evil seething from the Primordial Chaos……!】

The Demon God was unable to finish his words. Ki Yoohyun glanced down at him expressionlessly.

Puuk!

And he plunged his sword at him.

[The summoning of Demon God ████ has been cancelled.]

[Congratulations! You have completed Common Quest: ‘Stop the resurrection of Demon God ████’!]

Tap, tap, tap, tak! I couldn’t wait any longer. I quickly ran down the stairs and approached everyone.

“Rieul!”

“….Eonni! Thank goodness, you’re back!”

But in my impatience, I lost my footing on the last step, and I was about to fall to the floor in a tumble.

Catch!

Ki Yoohyun caught me.

“Aah, I’m sorry … I’m fine…..” I panicked and tried to pull myself out of his arms, but stopped. He was looking at me with an expression on the verge of tears.

I could feel his hand trembling as he held my shoulder, a tremor that quickly spread to me. I felt like I was about to burst into tears myself.

“Thank goodness … Rieul-ssi is back, and I’m here ……. really…….” The rest of his words slipped out under his shaky breath.

I could feel other people’s gazes on the back of my head. Ah, but this moment was too important to swallow my words for such a reason.

I turned to face Ki Yoohyun and hugged him. As I buried my head in his shoulder, I could feel his body tense up.

“Me too. Yoohyun-ssi is back, and I’m here…..”

【Kkkkkuuukh!】

【Do you think it will end like this……!】

I looked up and saw…..

Black foam bubbled up from the floor. The bubble broke into tiny pieces and began to spread out in all directions.

【I will plant my fragments among the humans of the world.】

【And from these seeds of chaos, I will be resurrected again.】

【No matter how long it takes, I will bring doom……!】

Even the final boss spoke like a third-rate villain when defeated.

According to the Demon God, it was a serious situation. There’s no way to individually find all the fragments that split into such large numbers. If the Demon God reappears from one of those fragments, we’ll be doomed to a cycle of destruction and repeating the loop.

But there’s a reason for my indifference.

I opened a long system window that I hadn’t yet finished checking. It was the quest reward.

[Congratulations! You have completed Main Quest: ‘Chasing the Starlight.

Please collect the rewards.]

[You have obtained the true power of a Cafe Owner.

Your status will be readjusted as a result of the effects of the Cafe Owner’s true power.]

[Kwon Rieul (F) → Kwon Rieul (S)]

[Cafe in My Hand (S)

Details: (Lv.max) When making drinks in the store, the level of perfection is further increased.]

[Smile (A)

Details: (Lv. max) Smiling brings good fortune.]

[The Barista’s Extraction (B)

Details: (Lv.max) Extracts anything perfectly.]

[The Barista’s Eyes (B)

Details: (Lv.max) You can find ingredients in perfect condition in the Dungeons.]

[Dungeon Exploration After a Cup of Coffee (A)

Details: (Lv.max) When making drinks in the dungeon, the level of perfection is further increased.]

[The Bond of a Cup of Coffee (S)

Details: (Lv.max) You can copy the skill of the person who drank the Ultimate Coffee. (01:00:00)]

[Eternal Flame (S)

Details: (Lv.max) You can summon Cthugha.]

Not only did my grade jump dramatically from F to S, but all my skills were upgraded to their maximums.

This might be because I dealt with the final boss. The rewards were usually petty, but this time they were rather generous.

And the last skill that gained an upgrade was this.

[The Floor is Shiny (S)

Details: (Lv.max) You can quickly clean the world.]

Why on earth would a cafe owner need to clean the world? Shouldn’t I just focus on cleaning my store? Although I was tempted to make this argument, it’s a useful skill for now.

I used this ridiculous skill against the scattering fragments of chaos.

‘The Floor is Shiny!’

[※ Caution: This is a very strong skill.

It has a very long cooldown and can be used once a year. Do you still want to use it?

Yes☜ / No]

Fyaaaah━ The great power that emanated from me instantly destroyed the fragments of chaos. The dissolving fragments of chaos glittered and sparkled, like snow.

Kukukuk, kukuk━

[The Throne of Darkness has been destroyed.

Visitors will be automatically transported to their original coordinates. Please be prepared for the move.

100, 99, 98…….]

The pillars of the hall cracked with a loud thud. Then, the walls and floor began to crumble, and I felt the air of reality.

My head was dizzy from using too much force. Ki Yoohyun held me tightly as I staggered back.

The people around us shouted something at us, but I couldn’t hear them. I just hugged him tightly around the waist and leaned my head against him.

“Rieul-ssi, I miss you.”

“……Me too.”

“Just when I thought it was really the end, I thought of you, Rieul-ssi. The only thing that made me sad was the thought of not being able to see you again. But now you’re here, so…….”

The distance between us was close. He lowered his head and looked at me. I could see my face reflected in his beautiful eyes.

I knew we were thinking the same thing right now. My heart was beating like crazy. Surely he must be feeling the same way right now.

I raised my arms and wrapped them around his neck. Shyly, he smiled with his cheeks flushed. Ah. This was the face of someone I loved.

I lifted my chin just slightly, and slowly closed my eyes. His hair tickled my forehead, and a moment later….

His soft lips brushed against mine.

It was a warm kiss.