CH 24

“The day has finally come….”

After three days of roasting, I was finally able to get my hands on well-aged coffee beans.

I’m glad I have a ring that I bought at Hunter Market. Thanks to the ring, I’ve avoided the sabotage of the evil system.

I opened the box and checked the condition of the coffee beans inside.

[Green Beans (★★★☆☆)

Status: Mature

Beans aged after roasting.

It is aged properly and is suitable for making coffee.]

“It’s well-aged, meong.”

“Kkyuu.”

I didn’t want to do DIY like this. Is this what a farmer feels like when he cooks rice with his own rice?

When I saw the vivid brown color of the ‘real_end_last_final_beans’, I felt proud.

I wondered what it would taste like, so I decided to try making coffee right away. Having obtained the beans, the next process was relatively simple. First, I decided to try the skill I got last time.

‘The Barista’s Extraction.’

As soon as I used the skill, the method of extracting espresso came to my mind, and my hands moved naturally.

First, I ground the coffee beans with a grinder. Finely ground coffee beans were placed in a portafilter and tamped by pressing firmly with a stamp. When the properly set machine was operated, espresso was soon extracted.

… Gulp.

The rich smell of coffee made my mouth water.

After putting hot water in a coffee cup, pouring the espresso and mixing it, the Americano was finally completed.

[Item: Americano (★★★☆☆)]

Status: Good (Time Remaining: 00:30:00)

Effect: Nullifies the debuff. (01:00:00)]

“I just wanted this cup of coffee….”

Tears seemed to come to my eyes when I remembered the hard work I had done to make Americano. Debuff invalidation, the effectiveness is fraudulent.

This time, I put eight ice cubes and cold water in a glass and poured espresso. I like it hot, but I also wanted to drink iced Americano.

Stir slightly to mix it well and it was done.

[Item: Iced Americano (★★★☆☆)

Status: Good (Time Remaining: 00:30:00)

Effect: Using skill does not consume energy. (01:00:00)]

The effect of Iced Americano also seemed quite useful. Wouldn’t it be helpful when using advanced skills that consume a lot of energy?

‘I don’t know if that day will come….’

“Hurry up and drink it!”

“Kkyuuuu.”

As I looked into the Americano’s status window quietly, a cat and slime, who were impatient, rushed me.

So, let’s drink these two precious cups of coffee made by my hard work.

First, I took a sip of hot Americano. The soft yet deep taste warmly wrapped the body. My stiff body and mind gradually relaxed.

Next, Iced Americano. This time, a fresh taste poured into my mouth. It was refreshingly cold, yet the finish was clean.

As soon as the glass was completely emptied, the quest completion notification rang.

[Congratulations! You have completed ‘Main Quest: The Path of The Barista (1)’.

Please collect the reward.]

[Experience: 200 EXP have been acquired.]

[100 rubies have been acquired.]

[You have acquired the new recipes: the basic 5 menus of the cafe recipes.]

The satisfaction of being rewarded. The joy of finally making the coffee. A high level of concentration that suppresses serenity.

“….Right now.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?!”

“….Kkyuu?”

I selected the Golden Draw Tickets from the last quest in my inventory.

A perfect state of mindlessness. This moment was the right time to draw.

[Current number of Golden Draw Tickets owned: 3]

[Please pull the handle.]

I pulled the handle of the translucent drawing box that appeared in front of me. At the end of the hologram, where the capsules were quickly mixed, what came out was a white capsule.

[Agility status increases by 1.]

[You have acquired 1 Ruby.]

There’s only one chance left.

“Whoa, ha….”

“Hmmm, golden items don’t come out so easily.”

Ignoring Meeum’s criticism, I immediately pulled the handle.

“Done!”

I have succeeded! A golden capsule came out with a splendid effect different from before.

[You have acquired an item. Check your inventory.]

[Item: Stainless Steel Thermos (★★★★☆☆)

It maintains the temperature of the beverage for a long time.

Capacity: 700ml]

Inside the inventory was a thermos that was commonly used.

Just a thermos. It wasn’t a good item at all, and I was disappointed for a moment, but as I read the description, a certain possibility crossed my mind.

Maybe….

“What’s wrong with you? No matter how disappointed you are, you shouldn’t give up….”

“Wait a minute!

“Waeeong?!”

I immediately made another cup of Americano and put it in the thermos. Then, I checked the status window.

[Status: Good (Time Remaining: 00:30:00)]

[Status: Good (Time Remaining: 00:30:00)]

………………………….

The time remaining did not decrease while the coffee was kept in the thermos. With this thermos, it was possible to drink the coffee in good condition even far away from the store.

It’s a good item even if it doesn’t look like one, right?

I was thrilled by the joy of winning the draw, and for a moment, my phone rang. At first glance, it was a text message.

What is it? There’s no reason for me to get a text message.

Normally, I would have skipped over it because it was just an advertisement text, but why do I feel so anxious?

… Gulp.

Eh, it’s probably just my feeling.

The heart-pounding is probably because of the caffeine, and the chills on the back of my neck are … yes, it’s probably because I drank Iced Americano earlier.

I unlocked my phone and checked the text. The person who sent the text message unexpectedly was Kwon Jiwoon.

[Rieul-ah, how’s the store doing?]

[Come to the guild when you have time. Let’s talk ^^]

A heterogeneous speech. A smiling emoticon that feels more uncomfortable than the text.

Boom, it felt like my heart was going to drop.

***

The next day.

I was looking at the text left by Kwon Jiwoon on my phone again.

Ugh. Just reading the short sentence stings my stomach.

Kwon Jiwoon doesn’t call me this way. He had his guild member to deliver our business, but he didn’t welcome me to the guild.

Besides, what’s with the emoticon “^^”?

Ugh….

Ki Yoohyun came to the store when I caught this bitterness several times.

I contacted him to offer him a nice cup of coffee, as I promised before. The phone connection isn’t available in the dungeon, so I was going to wait patiently because he might be late.

Surprisingly, Ki Yoohyun arrived at the store in about 20 minutes after leaving a text message.

Isn’t it quite far from the Cheongna Guild building here?

However, Ki Yoohyun, who knocked on the door with a bright smile on his shiny face, looked very relaxed.

“Ki Yoohyun-ssi, don’t you go to the dungeon?”

Anyway, it’s true that I promised to let him drink the new coffee. I asked that question while putting the coffee beans in the grinder.

“Haha, the guild members feel pressured if I go with them.”

Does it mean that if an unskilled hunter joins a party, it will be a burden because of the loss of power?

“And the deputy guild leader Han Yiseong also told me to go early.”

“…is that so?”

“Yeah, he’s not that kind of person, I wonder what kind of wind was blowing….”

According to Ki Yoohyun, Hunter Han Yiseong sent him to go right away when he said he had something to do at this store.

I heard that each guild is busy because there was a C-class instance dungeon occured recently. From what I’ve heard, it seems like they don’t want to take Ki Yoohyun to the dungeon.

In the Hunter world, survival of the fittest was natural, but I still felt sorry for him.

Even though the main party of Cheongna Guild is famous, they don’t even run dungeons together.

I thought this guy was pretty strong when I saw him before.

Oh, and by the way.

While making a hot Americano, I suddenly brought up the issue that concerned me these days.

“What does it mean when someone suddenly does something that they have never done before?”

“Did something happen?”

Ki Yoohyun was watching Lime walking around. When asked where I brought this pet slime, I replied that I picked it up nearby. Well, I’m not lying. I picked it up from the inventory.

“No, I just want to know in general sense.”

In fact, Kwon Jiwoon’s text kept bothering me while making coffee.

At first, I wondered if I had read it wrong or if it was a spam text message with the same name and number as Kwon Jiwoon.

However, the denial of reality had no effect. No matter how much I looked at it, it’s true that the text was from Kwon Jiwoon.

I decided to visit the guild a few days later, but I couldn’t guess what was going on.

“I don’t know. Usually….”

“Usually?”

Avoiding Ki Yoohyun’s touch, Lime bounced back.

“They’re going to die.”

“Ah, that’s not it.”

Kwon Jiwoon is the best healer in Korea. He was in pretty good health even before my regression. I don’t think he suddenly changed because of illness.

Ki Yoohyun glanced at me with a slightly startled expression and spoke again.

“Did there ever be an event that could change their mind? For example….”

“For example?”

“It’s a regression or something like that.”

I felt like my heart was going to drop.

Ki Yoohyun was still admiring Lime’s translucent body. He turned his head obliquely, so I couldn’t see what expression he was making.

“Well, it’s just an example. Twenty years have passed since the system created the Awakened, but no regressors have ever been observed … so far.”

“That … that’s true. Ahaha….”

Speaking of regression all of a sudden, I was surprised to think if you knew about my regression.

Why are you making your answer so meaningful? You surprised people.