SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-184

Moreover, ever since she returned from the quest, she’s been acting strange. Although she tried to act like her usual self, she looked depressed…….

‘I think it’s because of that…….’

Still, today was the launch of the <Item Public Market>, something they had been working on together for a long time. She’s going to meet Kwon Rieul after a long time, so she should cheer her up by chatting about various things. At least, that’s how she made up her mind…….

A few minutes ago, a shocking news came to Ju Noeul. The news came from the Korean Hunter Association, a national organisation known for its lack of presence. Since Ju Noeul was selected by the lottery, she has served as the president of the Association for two consecutive years.

They have decided that from the next quarter, they will elect their president by vote, not by draw. Ju Noeul welcomed the news with open arms. She didn’t know who will be elected, but it wouldn’t be her. She could finally get rid of the boring Association’s President job.

……But Ju Noeul got elected with a majority of the votes.

‘Shocking…..’

What? Her?

She thought she was supposed to be a supporting character with some importance, but in the end, she’s a minor supporting character? Did they think she’s better suited for this kind of chore than for the quest?

But then her subordinate confessed a surprising fact.

“I voted for you, guild leader-nim.”

“What?! That’s too much…….”

The traitor was close by! Ju Noeul was deeply shaken by the betrayal of her subordinate, whom she had been close to for eight years.

“Because that kind of job suits you, guild leader-nim.”

“Why is that…….”

The subordinate was just about to speak.

“Ah, Noeul-ssi, there you are!”

Spotting them, Kwon Rieul stepped closer.

“Long time no see…….”

“I’ve been looking for you for a while. The main character of the day shouldn’t be in the corner like this.”

Kwon Rieul grabbed Ju Noeul’s hand and pulled her to the center of the venue.

“The main character, that is not me…….”

“Aye, you’re the one who’s been working the hardest. Oh, and congratulations on becoming president of the Association.”

“Thank you…….”

Ju Noeul was embarrassed, but she followed Kwon Rieul back to the venue. This interruption cut off what her subordinate was about to say.

‘I was going to compliment her, but the timing was off. She has a bad luck with compliments.’

In this day and age, there are many things a Hunter can do. While some go into dungeons and slay monsters, others seek to make the world a better place. Ju Noeul fits into the latter category.

It was also the case for this <Item Public Market>.

“The mayor of Hoehyeon accepted to participate…….”

“Do you mean the leader of the Information Guild, who is in hiding … I know his Hunchan ID because I did PvP with him before.”

“The result of the Hunter Market Satisfaction Survey…….”

And so on….

Without the help of the connections she had made through her active Hunter Channel career, it would have been difficult to get off to such a smooth start.

The subordinate took a moment to reminisce about eight years ago. Back then, he was a high school student excited to attend a formal meeting of the gaming guild ‘You Stop Playing Could Cause Server Termination’.

Back then, Ju Noeul found him hesitating and talked to him, “Perhaps … are you WongilOegilDasom-nim?”

“Yes, yes. I am.”

“Don’t just stand there, come here.”

“Yes … please take care of me.”

He didn’t realise that a long friendship would be born from that encounter.

Time passed. The game closed its server, and they became hunters. The world changed, and so did their profession.

And yet, some things have remained the same. Things like Ju Noeul’s kindness when she first spoke to them, for example, or the flexibility of her mind to think of different ways to make the world better.

The subordinate dismissed his earlier grumbling and watched Ju Noeul walked away with a bright smile on his face.

Regardless of what happened then or now…….

‘As long as you’re having fun, that’s all.’

***

After Ju Noeul’s congratulatory speech, the ceremony was over, and it was time for lunch. I quenched my thirst with an iced Americano and looked around. I had made several cups of coffee beforehand, so there was plenty. But I thought it would be nice to have more variety.

‘I don’t have anything better to do…….’

It’s nice not to have useless thoughts while my hands were occupied.

It was a good thing I had set up a coffee-making cart on one side of the venue in advance. I went to the cart and made a few more drinks.

Hmm, should I make another Einspenner? Was there any fresh cream left in the fridge?

“Ash, please get the whipped cream out of the fridge.”

…….

…….

Oh, he’s not here. I swallowed a sigh and took the whipped cream out of the fridge.

“Haa ……. This is the ginger latte made with Mandragora dungeon ginger……!”

Just then, the person drinking in front of me let out an exclamation. I looked back in the direction of the sound.

“I’m finally tasting it, and it’s delicious!”

The delighted person holding the ginger latte glass was Lee Chorok. Lee Chorok has made a fortune from the success of her home-grown ginger kit. These days, she’s busy running her dungeon farm and broadcasting to promote dungeon plants. It’s a success I never imagined when I first met her.

She mentioned that she’s planning to popularise toothed carrots with a ‘toothed carrot hydroponic set‘ next.

Umh … I apologise to Lee Chorok, but I don’t want to imagine every home growing carrots with teeth. Please don’t let the toothed carrot become popular.

In exchange for her investment, Lee Chorok had a very simple condition. She wanted Item Public Market to sell dungeon plants as well. Grandma Kim Deokyi immediately agreed, and now the two of them have teamed up to develop items using dungeon plants. That’s what we call a win-win situation.

And then there’s…..

“…..Ah.”

My eyes locked with Choi Yichan, who was picking up a cup of iced coffee from a nearby table. He must not have seen me coming. Choi Yichan stiffened, then spoke in a tone that couldn’t hide his awkwardness.

“Uh, hey, Rieul, hello.”

“Uh ……. Hi. How have you been?”

“…….”

“…….”

“Huh? Uh, it’s me…… I’ve been well as usual. You?”

“Me too, same as always.”

Silence again.

Help me…….

This was the first time I met Choi Yichan since ‘that time‘. I had no skill in leading a conversation skillfully at this kind of situation. The conversation was inevitably awkward. It’s incredibly uncomfortable.

Someone please help me…….

Neither he nor I were able to end the conversation naturally.

‘Who ……. Isn’t there a saviour … who can save me from this situation smoothly?’

“Oh, isn’t that my niece! It’s been a long time!”

The saviour appeared. Uncle and Kwon Jiwoon spotted me and approached us.

“Yichan is here too. But what’s wrong with your expression?”

“My expression?”

“You look like a man who has been listening to only sad ballads for three days and three nights because of the bitter wounds of youth.”

“Father, please…….”

Ah, but this saviour was not so perceptive. No, to be precise … he was perceptive, but he couldn’t read the room.

“That … Haha, I’ll excuse myself…..”

Choi Yichan, now pale, flashed me a glance and ran away. I waved back at him with a bitter smile. I rejected his confession, so we couldn’t suddenly go back to being friends like we used to just because we had made up our mind. Choi Yichan and I still needed time.

‘Still…….’

I glanced in his direction again. He looked better than before, probably because he didn’t have that creepy man in yellow clothes next to him.

……I hope you’re doing well.

And as for these two, my family, they were still my family. Kwon Jiwoon was busy being Kwon Jiwoon, and Uncle seemed to be enjoying his life as a YouTuber.

Actually, they recently asked me to move back in with them.

“You don’t necessarily have to live on the second floor of that building. Even if you reopen the cafe, you can just commute to work.”

“Yes, niece, we already have the largest room available.”

I knew these were hard words, spoken with genuine goodwill and concern. They were worried that I was still dragging on the past, that living in the shop building would make me depressed.

I hesitated and withheld my answer. My response was ambiguous, neither positive nor negative, but they graciously accepted.

“Okay, Rieul, if it’s you, then there’s nothing you can do. I’m sure you still need to sort things out.”

“Whenever you feel like it, just say so!”

And one more. I told them both what had happened inside the Ultimate Gate. I left out the part about the world reconstruction, and explained how I found Ki Yoohyun’s soul inside and returned. After listening to my story with a serious expression on his face, my Uncle said something surprising.

“I’ve been beyond that gate myself.”

“Yes?! Is that true?”

“Yes. I was wandering through the maze dungeon, chewing mugwort……….”

Was it the intervention of the Saintess or a coincidence? Did some force act upon my Uncle, who carried my grandmother’s blood?

When he was stranded in the maze dungeon, he managed to get inside the Ultimate Gate, but without the power of the key, he was rejected by the door and quickly thrown out. Although he only stayed for a few seconds, he gained a small amount of knowledge from the starlight that touched his hands. It was because of this that he sometimes seemed to know the future.

Meanwhile, Kwon Jiwoon, who had finished listening to my story…….

“Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!”

…… he slapped me on the back repeatedly.

“I told you not to do something so dangerous! I know it doesn’t hurt. Stop being dramatic.”

“I didn’t do anything dangerous on purpose, it was the only way I could ……. Ouch! It hurts! You’re going to leave marks on my back.”

“Really? Well, I’m sorry. Let me see, I’ll heal it.”

“I’m lying. Ouch! It really hurts this time, really!”

I remembered the reconstructed world I’d seen in the Ultimate Gate. In that world, I’d been slapped on the back by Kwon Jiwoon for making silly comments about him.

I suddenly giggled at the similar but different situation. I laughed out loud.

“Ahaha….”

“What’s so funny?” Kwon Jiwoon asked, tilting his head.

“No, it’s nothing, haha.”

I have no idea if I made the right choice. I couldn’t ask anyone and get an answer, so I would never be 100% sure.

But…….

I looked at my Uncle and Kwon Jiwoon again. We’ve been through a lot together. My family, after all, was these people here.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner later? It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.” Kwon Jiwoon spoke up out of the blue. It seemed that he had approached me to say this in the first place.

“Hmm …. No. I’d love to, but I have to leave early for work today.”

“Oh. You mentioned something important is coming up today.”

“Yeah, that one.”

All the important ceremonial stuff was over, so I decided to head home early. I thanked them both and slipped out of the venue.

***

I was walking down the hallway out the back door of the event venue to avoid the crowds. Taptaptap! Fast, cheerful footsteps were coming from up ahead.

“….Eonni!”

“Hello, Noona!”

It was the twins, Joo Shinhee and Joo Shinwoo. Spotting me, the twins pushed through the crowd and came closer.

“Hunter Kwon Rieul, how have you been?”

They happened to be heading to the venue together, and Han Yiseong was beside them. He greeted me with a friendly smile.

“Are you leaving already?” Joo Shinhee asked, putting her arm around me.

“Yeah, I have to leave early for work today.”

“Thank goodness. If we had been a little later, we wouldn’t be able to run into you, Noona!”

“You idiot! It’s because you overslept.”

“I know you woke up late too?!”

The twins spun in circles with me in the middle, snarling at each other. Han Yiseong didn’t bat an eyelid at the sight and skilfully pulled them apart.

“Haha ……. You must be having a hard time.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to it.” Han Yiseong smiled bitterly. The twins and him seemed to be very close, despite their considerable age difference.

Suddenly, I remembered the latest news I’d heard about the twins.

Translator’s Corner:

About Noeul’s gaming guild name ‘You Stop Playing Could Cause Server Termination’, maybe it’s because it’s 2 years ago, but I just realized the meaning now. About “Only You” “Fold” and “Server Termination” name actually means something like … fold is the term for quitting a game. The guild name means “the server will get shut down/terminate if you (only one person) quit the game”. It’s a dramatic/sarcastic way of saying a single player is so significant that even if one of them quit, the devs would terminate the server. It makes sense since the game they played is a “flop” game, so if player quitting, that would be a big trouble.