SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-3

The letters passed quickly as if the screen was fast-forwarded.

I tend to skip the whole story even when I play games. I don’t know what it is, but it didn’t seem like a big deal. It has nothing to do with me.

Soon the letters were skipped and a new screen appeared, and this time there was an input window.

[Name:

Age:

Blood type: ]

Are you asking me to enter the answers? I can ignore it, but I was a little curious about what would come out.

‘My name is right, my age is … I was 26 years old before I returned to the past, so I am 23 years old. My blood type is O….’

I entered the answer by pressing the button on the television screen.

This strange television question continued.

[Which of the following is the most important thing for you?]

Money Honor Power Rest

The answer, obviously, is number four.

Sure, money is important, but what’s the use making money then dying without spending it? After all, money is also needed for number four.

I didn’t realize that until I died.

At least, I wanted to spend this life leisurely. I’m going to take the route of the work-life balance that I’ve only been hearing about.

[What do you usually do on your day off?]

Doing self-improvement Exercising Socializing Resting

I chose number four again this time.

When I had a day off, I was busy just making up for my lack of sleep.

Self-development? Exercising? At the most, the exercise equipment I ordered was tucked away in the closet without even opening the delivery box. Socializing? With only a few friends, I sporadically reported my survival through KakaoTalk.

[You overslept on your day off, but your friend called you to meet them. What will you do?]

Go out to meet the friend.

Ask them to meet next time and continue sleeping.

The answer is undoubtedly number two. It’s so important to oversleep.

A few more silly questions followed. I don’t know the intention of this question, but I chose the answer that I want to rest, relax, and play at all costs. It’s like a psychological test.

[The test is over] [Check the results]

Finally, the last message appeared on the black screen, and a door suddenly appeared on the wall behind it.

When I was cleaning a while ago, it was definitely a wall with nothing.

‘Are you telling me to go in there?’

… Gulp.

Even a bluish light leaked from the door. The strange aura, which looks different from the store’s fluorescent lights, resembled a dungeon gate.

‘It’s not like a dungeon, is it?’

In my previous life, I’ve only entered a dungeon once when I was caught in a rift. And the result was death.

If there is a dungeon beyond this door, I never want to enter it. I cannot die again after only a few days have passed since I returned. Moreover, being stabbed in the stomach by a monster was extremely painful. It’s an experience I don’t want to repeat.

I stepped back slowly in front of the door.

But at that moment.

[We are waiting for a visit from the qualified person. Please open the door and check the result.]

A beeping sound came from the television along with the message.

What’s more suspicious, the more I stepped backwards, the louder the sound became, and I still could hear it even when I covered my ears.

I shouted, shaking my head with my ears closed.

“Oh, I’m not going! I will not going in!”

I have dungeon trauma, and I am allergic to dungeon, and I am suffering from dungeon phobia. No, you can call it anything. I didn’t want to go in there regardless.

[We are waiting for a visit from the qualified person. Please open the door and check the result.]

This time, I heard the voice directly in my head. I was horrified by the strange feeling.

What’s beyond that door that keeps telling me to come in?

“Should I report it to the Dungeon Management Office?”

There were several emergency call numbers to urgently report a dungeon. Yes, it is best to leave the dungeon to the Hunter.

However, as soon as I tried to take my cell phone out of my pocket, the floor vibrated with a woooh sound.

“….Whoaaa!”

I dropped my phone because of that, and it quickly went into a gap out of reach.

There was still a door emitting a bluish light in front of me.

As if entering the door was the only answer given to me.

Er, I don’t know anymore. It’s a place where my grandmother used to live, so it’s probably not something dangerous.

It was scary, but I honestly wondered what the outcome of this strange test was.

All right, once I open the door, and if I think a monster will come out, I’ll run away quickly. I will just take a peek. If I don’t think it’s safe, I’ll head out.

Determined to do so, I closed my eyes tightly, opened the door, and went inside.

As soon as I opened the door, a bluish light wrapped around me and the landscape changed.

“Uh?”

Only the cold air touched my hand that was holding the doorknob. The door that had been here a while ago was gone.

Huh, I’m trapped.

It was impossible to head out because there was no door.

That strange television must have tricked me! After all, I should have reported it right away without opening the door … but who would have thought that the door would disappear altogether!

“Aaargh, let me out! Save me!”

[We have confirmed the visit of the qualified person. Creating an agent.]

I screamed, but all I could hear was a calm voice.

Wait, where does this sound come from in the first place?

Only then did I look around slowly, a little genuinely.

The place I entered was a lawn surrounded by forest. It was about twenty steps wide from end to end, and the dense forest was covered with thick fog and could not be seen.

Even though it was past 7 in the evening., the blue sky and bright sunlight showed me that this place was a space.

It was a peaceful atmosphere compared to an usual dungeon full of tension. A gentle breeze blew from somewhere.

Isn’t this a dungeon?

In general, there were many indoor forms of dungeons that occurred in rifts, such as caves and tombs. I’ve heard that sometimes there are structures that are uniquely exposed to the outdoors, but I’ve never heard of a dungeon with the sun floating in the blue sky like this.

Still, that’s not the point. I had to find a way out wherever I was.

I looked at the lawn to see if there was a hidden door, and that’s when I noticed that there was a small flower bush here. There was a cat on a flat stone by the bush.

The cat with tricolored fur was taking a nap on the stone. The fur was smooth and the body ,with plenty of flesh, looked soft.

Did the chat come through that door like me? As soon as I approached it carefully not to wake them up, I heard a voice in my head again.

[I’ve been waiting for your visit. Please name the agent.]

What is an agent? Maybe this cat?

“….Name it? Are you asking me?”

I asked that, but there was no answer. Instead, a guide window appeared in front of me.

[Enter a name: ]

It was this mysterious message that called me here. Anyway, I guess I’ll have to do what this message tells me to get out of here. With that in mind, I put my hand on my forehead and started contemplating the name.

It’s a name for the cat….

Name for a cat … name for cat … cat, meow….

“Meong?”

After all, this is the only right name for a cat. However, the system rejected it with a beep sound.

[Agent rejects this name.]

“What’s wrong with Meong?”

It’s a traditional cat’s name.

[This is an agent for you. Please think about it seriously.]

[Enter a name: ]

I was incredibly serious.

I reluctantly thought of the name again, but couldn’t come up with a good name. In the first place, I was a person with no sense of naming. Butterfly … no, it’s a little out of place. Dumplings? nope, it’s really bad. It has three types of hair color, three colors, umm …. well…..

Then a name crossed my mind.

How about Mieum?

My name, Kwon Rieul, was given to me by my grandmother.

The meaning is literally Rieul. Giyeok, Nieun, Digeut, then Rieul. The name was given because I was my grandmother’s fourth grandchildren, but I don’t know my older cousins aren’t Giyeok, Nieun, and Digeut, yet I’m the only one who’s Rieul.

Originally, they was going to register my birth as ‘Kwon D’, but the civil service official rejected it and my name became ‘Rieul’.

I don’t even know your name or face, but thank you. You saved my name. The justice and duty of the civil service was there. I bowed my head in the direction that the community center was likely to be.

Anyway, I thought the name Mieum would be good because it was a cat I found in this space of the store that my grandmother left me. It literally means Mieum after Giyeok, Nieun, Digeut, and Rieul. The word M.

“….Mieum?”

I was terrified that the tricky notification message would reject me again, but I couldn’t hear anything anymore. Did it pass? Instead, Mieum opened her eyes in front of me.

“….Meooong!”

The cat continued to stretch. The fur wiggled softly, and the round-tipped tail soared upward. The chin was round and the belly with plenty of flesh looked soft.

It’s a cute.

I forgot that I had been looking for the exit door just a while ago, and casually approached Mieum then reached out my hand. Can I touch your stomach? I was about to pat her plump belly with my fingers.

Tak.

Mieum, who slapped my hand with her front paw, looked at me with squinted eyes and said,

“Uh-huh, don’t touch me carelessly.”

I got scolded by a cat.

“Eh?”

I turned my head in doubt at what I had just heard. Who just said that? but there was still only me and Mieum here.

“I told you so.”

“You’re a cat. You can talk?”

“Meow, do you think I’m an ordinary cat? I was waiting for a qualified person to visit me as an agent running the system. I thought I was going to die waiting for you. Anyway, put your hand up here.”

Mieum held out her round front paws. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I wanted to touch the pink jelly on her front paw, so I held out my hand as I was told.

At that moment, a translucent window appeared in front of me with a tingling sound.

[Checking the qualifications … Completed. The system has been activated.]

[Ability is granted according to the test result.]

[Class: Awakened as a Cafe Owner (F).]

[Skill: Cafe in my Hand (C) has been acquired.]

[Skill: The Floor is Shiny (E) has been acquired.]

[Skill: Smile (C) has been acquired.]

[Achievement: Became a Beginner Cafe Owner.]

[Quest: Start 100 cups of Mixed Coffee (0/100)]

Huuh?

I think … I am awake now.

[Next]

Translator’s Corner:

About the name, Rieul is the fourth consonant in Korean alphabets (Hangul) and Mieum is the fifth. The order is giyeok (기역), nieun (니은), digeut (디귿) dieut, rieul (리을), then mieum (미음). In English, it would be like naming your children A B C D E.

Mixed coffee is instant coffee. In South Korea, instant coffee commonly comes pre-mixed with non-dairy creamer and sugar that’s why it is called “coffee mix”. I want to keep the coffee in the end of sentence so I’ll write it as mixed coffee.