SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

“What?”

“Umh, don’t be so surprised … I’d like to get an advance payment…..”

Instead of constantly receiving the payment when he’s selling the numbered ticket, he asked for 100 rubies of the sale price first.

“Haha, there’s an item that I want to buy, but I have to pay the balance by today … If you’re unable to do it, I’ll find someone else.”

“Huh, wait, wait. You’re so impatient!”

Jinwoo did the calculating again.

100 rubies was a quite big expenditure for his pocket. However, it is a waste to miss such a pushover. If he went to another merchant while Jinwoo was busy hesitating, he might realize that he got scammed.

Furthermore, Jinwoo has to be careful for a while because the cafe owner remembered his face. He can’t do this business for the time being.

“Hmm….”

Yeah, damnit. If he sells the numbered ticket, he can get the 100 rubies back in no time.

“Well, let’s do that! I’ve used my generosity.”

Of course, Jinwoo is not a pushover. Therefore, he carefully checked not only the opponent’s contact information but also his Hunter ID Card. The advance payment was paid only after writing a simple contract with personal information.

Jinwoo, who took the numbered tickets, hurriedly left.

The remaining trading partner smiled and held his phone in his hand. A short dialing sound went on before the call is connected. His expression no longer bears any awkwardness.

“Hello. I took care of it as you told me. It’s useless to keep this money, so I’ll donate it to an appropriate place.”

— Okay.

“You owe me a debt, right?”

— ……..

The other person cut off the call without giving an answer. He’s such a heartless man.

The man used his index finger to sweep the Hunter ID Card he just showed to Jinwoo. As the illusion spell was erased, the original letter, the name of the illusionist Oh Seoho, appeared.

A Hunter who occupied the 18th place in the ranking, but now he was more widely known as an entertainer.

Still, his ability to manipulate illusions was real.

‘What on earth is that cafe that making even the No. 1 ranker cares about a fly?’

His curiosity arises. Let’s find out on his own sometime soon.

***

“What’s going on here….?”

As soon as Jinwoo returned home, he posted a numbered ticket of Cafe Rieul sales post on the Hunter Channel.

However, it was weird. Usually, messages would have poured out before 10 minutes went by, but he received none this time.

Did he get blocked because he posted a sales post?

There’s no way. He changed his nickname several times so that he wouldn’t get caught easily.

“Hmm……”

Looking at the clock, there is not much time left until the cafe opens. He’ll have to deal with all these numbered tickets before then.

He felt nervous. Jinwoo made up his mind and wrote another sales post by drastically lowering the price. However, this time, let alone message, the number of views of the post hardly increased.

This is a completely different reaction than before.

‘Is it out of fashion?’

Jinwoo put a search term related to <Cafe Rieul> on the Hunter Channel and then clicked on the latest post.

[Chatting] My heart is racing,, (4)

Upvotes: 38 / Downvotes: 0

Writer: Sweet Sugar

ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

There was a dungeon that I couldn’t get through because of the damage caused by the frozen attribute

I was on the verge of being frozen myself because I ran out of the non-freezing potions.

I cleared it because they gave me coffee through that strange door.

Thank you

It was an emergency, but they only received the payment in regular price;ㅜㅜ

— OO: God R

— Consignment Shop No. 2: The light that descended to the desolate Hunter World T_T

— red***: To be honest, it seems like the price of the drink is too cheap. Does she get any profits after selling it so cheaply?

└ MM: LOL The pharmacist bastards who asked a sick person in front of them to pay express fees are animals

They still filled with all kinds of plagues with coffee, which was not a big deal. So it doesn’t seem to have gone out of fashion, but the numbered tickets still doesn’t get sold.

Damn, it looks like he’s just wasting money.

Jinwoo, who was in conflict while looking at the clock, got up. He was going to buy coffee with this numbered ticket himself and sell it. It’s tight because there’s a time limit on maintaining the coffee’s condition, but it could also be sold at a high price if he caught a good pushover.

But….

“Hmm….?”

The cafe owner, who received the numbered ticket, tilted her head as if it were strange. Then, she returned the ticket to Jinwoo.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t buy coffee with this.”

“What? I have a numbered ticket, so why can’t I buy it?”

“You didn’t get this yourself, did you?”

The cafe owner pointed to a small mark on the corner of the numbered ticket.

“This numbered ticket has the binding effect to the first owner. If you were the first owner, it would glow, but there is no response.”

The binding effect is usually given only to high-end equipment or items. It’s astounding to use such a thing for a piece of paper. Still, the money already invested had to be recovered. Jinwoo lied with a calm face.

“I got it from a friend. It’s not like friends can accept it for each other.”

“Still, we have a rule that you should come to buy it on your own.”

“My friend told me to try the coffee here. Are you asking me to throw away his sincerity to the ground?!”

Jinwoo’s stubborn attitude made the cafe owner take a step back.

“If that’s the case, I can only accept it this time….”

However, Jinwoo hardened his face when he heard the cafe owner’s next words.

“The drink also has a bind effect, so the effect only works when the original owner drinks it. Is that okay with you?”

“……!”

Crush. Jinwoo crumpled the numbered ticket in his hand.

“What do you mean by binding?! What about my money!”

“Money? This cafe doesn’t charge a reservation fee, right?”

He was beaten.

His gut instinct told him that this isn’t accident. He was tricked. The stupid man, who took the advance payment with a lame excuse, hit him in the back of his head. He must have taken the money knowing about the binding effect.

He was enraged at the thought that he had been caught by a pushover.

“You! You conspired with that nerd and took my money!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

If he thinks about it a little bit, he’ll realise that it’s a ridiculous speculation. However, the fact that he got caught by someone that he thought was a pushover made him lose his reasoning.

All eyes are on him. He heard whispers behind his back.

He was furious, but he couldn’t make a fuss because the Hunter, who stood in line behind him and stared at him, looked strong.

“Keuheum, no, whatever. I’ll end this for now….”

In the end, Jinwoo faltered and stepped back. It was an excellent display of the strong and the weak.

But.

“Customer-nim, wait a minute. Take this with you.”

The cafe owner held out something. It was a cup of drink.

“Are you trying to drug me?”

Tak, he knocked the cup off and tried to pour it onto the floor.

Chill.

Again, he felt a sharp gaze behind his back. It seemed like they wouldn’t let him go if he refused the favor or spilled this drink.

‘These pushover guys….’

Although he muttered those swear words on his mind, he had no confidence to confront them. Jinwoo, who had long embodied the attitude of ‘strong-to-the-weak and weak-to-the-strong’, grumbled and received the cup.

A system notification immediately popped up.

[You are identified as the original owner.]

[Item: Lemonade has a binding effect.]

***

I held the binding sign-pen in my hand.

Then, without hesitation, I carefully marked the numbered tickets I had prepared in advance.

I was able to effectively block the tickets scalpers with this pen. There was confusion among the customers for about a day after I announced that the numbered tickets and drinks will have a binding effect, but it was quickly sorted out. Most of the customers were happy to drive out the resellers.

“Hmm, that’s weird….”

“What’s wrong?”

I must have said it out loud without even realizing it. Ash poked his head from the side. I shook my head and told him it was nothing, then Iwent back to work.

“As expected, it’s strange….”

Why doesn’t the quest completion notification appear?

No more traders are in sight. I searched the Hunter Channel just in case, but there was no post about tranding numbered ticket or coffee.

Then isn’t it done? It’s done, right? Is it because I complained that they’re stingy with the rewards before?

[This is the reward we have prepared with our utmost effort. Let’s cherish it. ٩(ㅇㅅㅇ)ง]

They’re sulking….

Yeah, I’m sorry for calling you stingy. I’ll treasure it.

I said that, but the quest completion notification still didn’t ring.

I opened the quest window and checked the completion conditions again.

[Drive out the merchant who takes unfair advantage: (Incomplete)]

No other conditions are written. So, what else do I have to do to clear this quest?

The question was soon resolved.

“What about my money!”

This is because a merchant who seemed to have been drawn by the big picture appeared.

‘Ash, calm down. It’s fine.’

I calmed Ash, who was about to jump out immediately.

The merchant was angry, but he couldn’t do anything more because he was concerned about the eyes around him. He looked around and then slowly stepped back.

By the way, does anyone feel a sense of deja vu in this situation?

It reminded me of the time when a journalist came to our cafe before. It was nice to see the journalist’s name on the main page of the portal site from time to time. He seemed to be walking on the path of a true journalist.

And what purified the journalist’s heart is….

‘That’s it.’

I handed the lemonade to the merchant with a half-doubt.

“Are you trying to drug me?”

The merchant, who tried to refuse at first, could not overcome the pressures from his surrounding and reluctantly took the lemonade cup.

And he drank it.

“……!”

He made a surprised face and emptied all the remaining lemonade. The merchant looked at me with clear eyes.

“I … I have lived the wrong life.”

As expected, it’s like this again….

It would be boring if I told you everything I’ve already experienced once, so I’ll summarize it briefly.

Anyway, he will live a good life from now on; the story that he told me was something like that.

[Congratulations! You have completed ‘Sub Quest: Let’s Eradicate The Black Ticket Trade and Find The Light’.

Please collect the rewards.]

[Experience: 10 EXP have been acquired.]

[You have obtained the Silver Teaspoon.]

[Fame: 1 / Popularity: 2 have been acquired.]

[<Cafe Rieul>’s current Grade: D]

[Item: Silver Teaspoon (★★☆☆☆)

It’s just a teaspoon. Surprisingly, it can also be used as a weapon.

Type: High-Speed Short-Range Weapon

Attack: 1

Note: It will discolor when it touches poison.]

As soon as the merchant was purified, a notification of the completion of the quest popped up.

I was lost in thought for a moment, skimming through the status window.

So far, there have been many other customers who have ordered and drank this lemonade. However, their impressions were usually in this way.

“I feel refreshed somehow.”

“It seems to clear my head, but I’m not sure….”

“I think it helps me relax….”

The words were more equivocal than a health supplement promotional phrase. To put it bluntly, this meant that there was no special buff effect.

However, it has had a tremendous effect on some people to reflect on their lives.

Does ‘purifying the mind’ mean purifying small evil?

If so, wouldn’t it be possible to purify something greater by raising the grade of lemonade?

And maybe we can make a world free of misdemeanors by letting a lot of people drink it?

Uhm, seriously, I got a little scared because I thought it would be possible.

Translator’s Corner:

Finally we’re done with this ARC. Personally, it was always satisfying to see Rieul using lemonade T__T

will be on the day after tomorrow, so you guys can come back by then! It was nice to see there’s so many familiar names still showing up even after the vague hiatus….