SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

“If you had called me from down there, I would have come down.”

“Yoohyun-ssi, do you know you’re not good at lying?”

You were planning to leave without meeting me, I added. Ki Yoohyun smiled out of the corner of his eye, as if I had discovered his true intentions.

I grabbed his hand. The heat of his hand was evident even through the gloves.

“Not again……! It’s because of that skill, isn’t it?”

I was about to pull off his gloves and check his condition, but he gently pushed my hand away.

“Stop it. I bought gloves that couldn’t be removed, just like what Rieul-ssi suggested.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

It was a joke that wasn’t funny in the slightest. The countdown in the system window proceeded swiftly. My mouth went dry. I finally managed to get the words out.

“Be careful.”

He smiled softly in response, “I told you briefly before, Rieul-ssi, that I failed once before the regression.”

“…….”

“Without me noticing, little things started to go wrong, little by little … it went wrong, wrong, wrong, until … it ended in failure.”

The vision I had seen in my grandmother’s notebook flashed through my mind. Moments of stark despair, too raw to be summarised as failure.

He blinked slowly, as if trying to shake off the memories, “But the future has changed, and it’s all because of you.”

“I-I didn’t do anything.”

“Even if that were the case.” Despite his words, he shook his head slightly, as if he didn’t quite agree, “It’s still the same because I have changed after meeting Rieul-ssi.”

“…….”

“Every time I drank coffee made by Rieul-ssi, every time we met, every time we talked …. the feeling of disconnection that I wasn’t aware of disappeared, and I changed.” He whispered with clear sincerity, “That’s why I’m here now, so it’s all thanks to Rieul-ssi.”

“…….”

“Sometimes I wonder, if I had met you in the past, would I have had a different ending? Or was it because I had that life that I was able to meet you in this one?”

My heart skipped a beat. I, too, had wondered what it would have been like if I had met him earlier, what our relationship would have been like, though I would never be able to know the answer now.

“Rieul-ssi.”

“….Yes.”

“I’ll be right back, with a different future than the past.”

The numbers in the system window dwindled rapidly. Knowing that time was running out, Ki Yoohyun explained hurriedly.

“The timing of the Demon God Seal Quest has changed, as well as the members who are participating. I presume this is due to the disappearance of Aeon, and the changes in each person’s experience level.”

“…….”

“The monsters are mostly taken care of, so there shouldn’t be any danger while I’m gone.”

“…….”

“You know, I go with trustworthy people this time. It’s different from the past.” Ki Yoohyun added sorrowfully, “So, Rieul-ssi, please don’t make such a face.”

What kind of face am I making right now? I wanted to ask, but the moment my eyes locked with his, my words trailed off.

He reached out his hand. His hand gently brushed through my wind-tousled hair, trying to touch my cheek, but ultimately moving away without making contact.

The system said I was the key. If that’s true, if that’s the case, I wish it would let me know. What I can do now, what I can do for him?

But I can’t take his place, nor can I join him.

There was no answer, and eventually.

[……1, 0.

Quest participants are automatically moved into the gate.]

Fyaaa~

Ki Yoohyun, who was in front of me just a moment ago, disappeared. The red gate in the sky has closed.

Tiling tiling!

A void of nothingness. A new system window popped up with a cheerful sound.

[System█████ ███]

[██████ ████

██…….]

[Quest has occurred.]

[Main Quest: Chasing the Starlight

The only key to unlock the “Ultimate Gate”.

Reach the door and save your loved ones.

The future will be waiting for you.

Reward: ???]

“You’re late.” I grumbled out loud, deliberately. As if the quest in front of me was an unimportant errand, a mere nuisance.

If I didn’t do this at least, I felt like the trembling wouldn’t subside. The words were written in a vague way, but I suspected they were asking me to enter the gate that Ki Yoohyun and the other Hunters had taken.

As always, I’m too late.

Ki Yoohyun has already disappeared into the red glowing gate. The Great Dungeon had collapsed without a trace, and the Gate had closed. There is currently no way for me to enter the gate without being one of the quest participants.

If this was going to happen, you should’ve included me in the quest. Couldn’t you have added one more person to the quest, like a back-up or something?

[We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the service delay.]

But all I got was an unhelpful message.

In the vague quest description, the words “save your loved ones” stood out. Does that mean someone I care about will be in danger if I don’t go?

“Whoa, haaa….”

Let’s calm down. If a quest like this popped up, it must mean I can do it. As quests have always suggested to me what to do.

“……!”

I remembered something I’d forgotten. Yes, there is a way. Maybe … no, it’s definitely the only way to get inside the gate.

It was at that time when I was in a hurry to get down from the rooftop,

Bam! Someone yanked my arm from behind.

“No.”

“What?”

“You can’t go, Rieul.”

It was Choi Yichan. Choi Yichan stopped me with a cold look on his face.

***

Choi Yichan appeared quite dishevelled. He drew in a shaky breath. His unruly hair was blowing in the breeze. He was clutching a dagger, as if he’d been fighting a monster. Ah, that was the artefact dagger from the last Sephiroth Branch incident.

Choi Yichan grabbed my hand with his free hand. He gripped it so tightly that my whole hand ached.

I tried to pretend it wasn’t a big deal.

“Wha-what do you mean? I was just going to go back to the store.”

“You’re not good at lying.”

“…….”

It didn’t work at all.

Choi Yichan spoke in an unprecedentedly heavy tone, “You’re trying to get to the gate. Don’t go. You can’t go.”

“Why? What do you know? If you know something, tell me.”

Choi Yichan still held my hand tightly, “It’s dangerous. They say the Demon God will be resurrected. You could die if you go.”

“That’s why! Yoohyun-ssi …. Kwon Jiwoon, and the others are all people I know well. It’s dangerous, and there’s something I can do, so how can I just stay still?”

Choi Yichan acted as if he believed this quest was going to end in failure regardless. That made me nervous. My heart thumped uneasily in my chest.

“Yichan-ah, if you know something, tell me.”

“…….”

Despite my words, Choi Yichan only bit his lip. My chest tightened. I had a suspicion that he was hiding something. He must be, because the guy who always came to the store with a smile on his face had stopped visiting. Several times he opened his mouth to say something but then fell silent.

I thought he would tell me someday. I believed so.

I spoke, not bothering to hide my boiling anger, “If you’re telling me not to go simply because you think I’ll be in danger, then let go of my hand.”

“….Rieul-ah.”

Puck! I tapped Choi Yichan on the shoulder. But he didn’t even flinch, and he didn’t let go of my hand.

Then he looked me straight in the eye and spoke firmly, “Even if I tell you that I like you?”

“……!”

My heart dropped at the unexpected words.

I wanted to say that of course I know that he likes me, but I couldn’t. I knew too well that what Choi Yichan confessed wasn’t that kind of ‘like‘.

“Yichan-ah….” I sighed, the rest of my sentence drifting away.

I stayed still and looked up at Choi Yichan. He still clutched the dagger in one hand. He seemed to be torn between something. When I saw the anguish in his eyes, the words I had to say to him flowed naturally.

“……I’m sorry.”

Choi Yichan’s shoulders flinched.

“You are an important person to me, but … my feelings are different from what you hoped for.”

“If I … would it have been different if I had told you how I felt earlier?”

“…….”

“Or, if I had reunited with you earlier?”

Only after I heard the questions, I recognised that the answers were within me all along. I shook my head, slowly but surely.

“….No.”

The look on his face was one of sadness. In the same moment, he also looked relieved. After letting out a shaky sigh, he spoke carefully, “I just …. I just want you to be okay, because you’ve been through a lot.”

“Thank you. I mean it, but …. I want to do what I can.”

I didn’t want to add any more regrets to this life that I had been given.

I should have gone to see my grandmother more often, I should have talked to Kwon Jiwoon earlier, I should have done those things back then…….

Life was too precious to be consumed by such thoughts.

“……All right.”

Choi Yichan slowly let go of my hand and took a step back.

I sensed that at this moment, something inside him had ended. Something precious that he probably cherished for a long time.

I felt tears coming to my eyes. But I was not the one who should be crying right now. Crying here would be too much for him, so I bit my lip tightly.

He melted the sadness away in a forced smile, and he put on the face of a dear friend. The look in his eyes filled with determination.

“Go, Rieul-ah. Next time … I’ll see you next time when you come back safely.”

I nodded slightly and turned around. I opened the rooftop door and walked away. I didn’t look back.

Translator’s Corner:

OH MY GOD I AM IKFDSLJFJLKJFDKLDFJJDSHFDH CHOI YICHAN ILL HUG YOU A LOT. Uh I want to say I’ll go isekai and date you instead but I definitely will choose Kwon Jiwoon if that happened….

omg life update i submitted a job application some days ago (you know, a full time job with proper wage ones, not the usual random part-time job that i’ve been doing to live) and apparently they didn’t even bother to tell me that i didn’t even pass to the interview stage (the interview scheduled for yesterday). IT WAS REALLY EMBARRASSING T__T i guess me, too, should learn how to handle rejection…… let’s form a heartbreak club, yichan…..

Thank you Iomoon and Anonymous for the Coffees!

I’m actually surprised there’s still new readers coming in … I will definitely survive and finish this story even before finishing my degree (WHY IT’S SO HARD TO FINISH A DEGREE)…..