Chapter 43

SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

Let’s calm down. It’s too early to be disappointed.

Maybe there’s a hidden effect on the skill. I tried using the skill with hope.

‘The Floor is Shiny.’

Shashashak.

A light gesture swept away the dust on the floor. Within a few minutes, the floor was clean without a speck of dust. I could see my blank face reflected on the smooth floor.

“….Waeoong?!”

It was so clean that Mieum, who stepped on the floor, slipped.

It’s convenient. It’s useful, but when you think of hunter skills, you would think of something cooler.

“Ha….”

As I looked at the signboard and the skill window, the time has already turned into noon, and Choi Yichan came to the store.

Today, I called Choi Yichan to the store. I planned to give him the pendant as a gift with a reasonable excuse.

“Kwon Ri, hi!”

Choi Yichan was wearing light sportswear today as well. As he entered, he was surprised to see the shiny floor.

“Ow, this place is really clean.”

“Thanks … oh, would you like something to drink?”

“I would love to. Then, just like before.”

“Okay.”

However, Choi Yichan, who drank two cups of ice cream coffee in succession, found a signboard left in the corner.

“Oh! Is this your shop sign? Do you want me to put it on for you?”

“No, it’s all right. You don’t have to.”

It was a 100% sincere refusal with no lies. However, Choi Yichan accepted this as a politeness.

“Hey, is it because it’s heavy? Don’t worry about it. I’m an Awakened, this is nothing! Trust me.”

“No, it’s really all right….”

“If you hang it over there, it will look good. Right?”

“Uh, huh….”

“Wait, I’ll put it on for you in a minute.”

Eventually, Choi Yichan found nails and hammers from the warehouse and immediately began to put up the signboard in the suitable place.

Indeed, Choi Yichan was always like this even before the regression. He likes to help others, and he finished the work he was supposed to do once without any fuss. It felt strange to see Choi Yichan, who was still the same person as he was before the regression.

But now that I have the pendant, the same accident won’t be happened twice.

While Choi Yichan was putting up the sign, I also have work to do. It was making a menu that made the drinker addicted to caffeine in one shot.

‘The Bond of a Cup of Coffee.’

There was one thing that caught my attention among Choi Yichan’s skill list I checked last time.

[Coffee is My Strength (S) /Unacquired/

(Lv.1) Attack power increases by 800% when in caffeine addiction

※ This skill has not been acquired yet.

How to acquire: Attempt to attack while intoxicated with caffeine.]

It works pretty well. It increases the attack power by 800%, so it’ll be helpful if he can get it.

The problem is that he has to be addicted to caffeine.

According to my experience so far, someone has to drink four cups of coffee to develop caffeine addiction.

However, it would be difficult to go into the dungeon and drink four cups of coffee in an emergency. What if a monster attacks while drinking the coffee?

So, I decided to find a way to become addicted to caffeine in one shot.

“Like this … can I do this?”

“What are you doing?!”

“Kkyuu?”

As I adjusted the settings of the espresso machine, Mieum and Lime leaned their heads.

“To extract a ristretto.”

“What’s that!”

Ignoring the curious animals, I adjusted the grinder settings, and then used the skill.

‘The Barista’s Extraction.’

Soon, the machine began to extract a thick ristretto.

“….There we go.”

About 15ml of thicker and heavier coffee was made. It was more concentrated as it was extracted with half the volume of espresso.

Still, this alone is not enough.

I repeated the same process a few more times, adding four shots of ristretto to the glass. And this time, ‘The Barista’s Extraction.’ was used again for this extracted coffee. It was to concentrate the ristretto once again.

Dripping. The black, sticky liquid fell into the glass. Due to the effect of the skill, the capacity was further reduced, and only half of the glass was filled.

As soon as all the undiluted liquid was put into the glass, a new status window appeared.

[Item: Dark Coffee Extract (★☆☆☆☆)

It’s a very concentrated undiluted coffee.

Because it’s too strong, you get caffeine addiction at once when you drink it.

Be careful with your intake.]

I succeeded!

I did succeed, but … is it possible for Choi Yichan, who only likes sweet coffee, to drink this?

The undiluted liquid in the glass smelled very strong and bitter. I dipped the tip of the spoon a little and tasted it, and that alone caused the strong taste blew in my mouth.

“Mieum-ah, Lime-ah, look at this for a second.”

“What, do you need my help!”

“Kkyuu…..?”

I held out a glass of undiluted liquid to the animals.

Mieum, who sniffed it slightly, raised her hair up and flew off her front paw wildly.

“Kiyaoooo! What is that, you’re trying to kill me!”

“Kyuuuuuuuuu.”

Lime didn’t even come close at all because it smelled bad.

This should not be the case. No matter how much I wanted him to get the skill, I didn’t want to feed him something that didn’t taste good. If it’s Choi Yichan, he’ll spit it out as soon as he put it in his mouth. I need to find a way.

“I need to use it.”

I first took out the sugar I had made. Next, there was one more material needed.

‘The Dimensional Shop.’

[Dimensional Shop]

Welcome! This is a shop that connects multi-dimensional gaps.

The Eligibles can purchase the items they need.

Item update time: 12:00:00 left]

I opened the system window and called up the Dimension Shop.

The Dimensional Shop was updated once every 24 hours, at midnight, before that, you have to pay rubies to renew the items.

I was worried if there was no item I wanted on the list, but fortunately, I was able to find it right away without renewing it.

“I found it.”

When I paid for the ruby and accepted the item, Mieum opened her eyes wide next to me.

“What are you going to buy that for!”

“Fufu, you’ll see. This is all I need.”

“It looks like paper, meow!”

The item I bought was gelatin. I decided to make coffee jelly using this gelatin.

Jelly is tastier than the undiluted solution and is easier to eat. The making process was also easy and simple. I put cold water in a bowl first, then put gelatin and let it soak for a while.

While waiting for the gelatin, sugar was mixed into the coffee extract.

“Hmm … should I add a little more?”

I splashed in sugar without sparing it. It was because the taste of the undiluted solution was so strong that a small amount of sugar was coated. Sweetness is a measure of taste.

Stir thoroughly with a spoon and dissolve the sugar until it does not rustle.

“Are you trying to make poison!”

“Kkyuu……..?”

Next to me, Mieum and Lime looked distrustful, but I ignored them.

“Can you just have a faith in me?”

Just in time, the gelatin was properly softened by the water. I mixed gelatin in a bowl of coffee extract.

Finally, the liquid was transferred to an appropriately sized glass cup. Now, all U have to do is put this glass cup in the refrigerator to harden it.

“Kwon Ri, what are you doing?”

I put the coffee jelly in the refrigerator, and Choi Yichan just returned.

“I was making a new menu.”

“Really? I want to try it, too.”

“Yap, we still have to wait until it’s done, but … I’ll let you eat later.”

Later, after the dungeon explodes.

“I put up the signboard. Do you want to see if it’s crooked?”

“Uh, huh….”

There was a big sign on the red brick wall. I don’t know how much Choi Yichan paid attention to it. It was straight. not even a millimeter crooked.

The good news was that it wasn’t that bad when we put it on.

I didn’t feel the simple yet glamorous, familiar yet unique, classic and, modern touch. Unknowingly, I kept looking at the sign, and I felt the urge to enter the store.

Perhaps this is the effect of a signboard that attracts the customers’ attention.

Yes, when it comes to appearance or performance, it is the nature of K-gamers to choose performance. That’s how I ended my self-justification.

Well, I need to repay Choi Yichan for this.

“Yichan-ah, I can’t say it’s a reward, but … I have something for you.”

“Huh? No, no! This isn’t hard at all! Feel free to let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you. There’s no need for reward.”

“Take this.”

I handed the pendant to Choi Yichan.

It was a very awkward situation to hand over the pendant as a gift, not as anything else. In addition, the simple design, a black stone the size of a little fingernail, seemed suspicious at first glance.

However, in order to acquire the skill, it was necessary to wear this pendant for more than 24 hours. I was in the midst of contemplating what to explain if Choi Yichan felt suspicious.

“…..”

With a careful touch, he accepted the pendant. His cheeks were slightly red. He seemed shy.

Huh?

Only then did I suddenly realize that giving accessories can be seen as meaningful. I didn’t think of that because I was only focused on how to save Choi Yichan.

Furthermore, simple design is a design that is good for a gift.

No, no, no. Choi Yichan, what are you doing! When we were students, we used to look down on each other during self-study!

Choi Yichan must have felt the same way. I added an explanation in a hurry.

“Hey, there’s nothing strange about it! It happened by chance, but I thought it would suit you well! It’s some sort of reunion gift, something like that?”

The more I explain it, the more I feel like I’m screwed….

“I know. You don’t mean anything else.”

Choi Yichan hung the pendant right around his neck.

“Thank you. I like it.”

“It looks good on you. I hope you don’t take it off your body and wear it for more than a day.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

Without asking the reason, he nodded his head.

He’s my friend, but he’s so nice. Anyway, it’s not like I’m forcing him to buy a fake crystal necklace that purifies his qi.

I worried about it for a moment, but seeing the black stone fluttering around his neck gave me peace of mind.

***

While waiting for the coffee jelly to harden, Choi Yichan played with the animals inside the store. Mieum and Lime, who were bored, welcomed the new player.

The problem was that Choi Yichan’s physical strength was different from mine.

“Come on, grab this. Here.”

Choi Yichan grabbed the stalk of the dungeon sugarcane and shook it back and forth.

The leaves fluttered in front of her eyes, but Mieum, who was already exhausted, could not even raise her front feet properly.

“Meong, waeooong (I can’t do it anymore)…..”

“Kkyuuuuuu…..”

“Meoooong (This human, how can he not get tired)!”

With a pathetic cry, Mieum and Lime completely stretched out to the floor. Choi Yichan, who finally let them go, said abruptly.

“Rieul-ah, where did you get this slime from?”