SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

Chapter 183

Translated by cabinfourtranslations.

Korea’s No. 1 Hunter Community – Hunter Channel.

Free Forum Board.

— Ranking and Guild harassment are prohibited. Real life player kill is done in the dungeon.

[Real-Time] Today’s Word Chain¹ Thread (89)

Upvotes: 18 / Downvotes: 0

Writer: Pink Jelly Lover

Let’s do it, without fighting k,k,

Sapsali

└ pin***: Boron

└ HingHungHong: Ronde

— Ruby Copy Bug: All of a sudden, word chain????? you guys really seem like you have nothing to do

└ coc*** : Deluge

└ I love you Eunrang: Geranium

└ OO: FKKK NIUM!!! DON’T USE NIUMㅡㅡ MODS-NIM, PLEASE BLOCK HER

└ I love you Eunrang: ㅇㅅㅇ*)v

— Ruby Copy Bug: Hey, fk you guys can’t read my replyㅡㅡ Why are you doing this???;; Everyone got fired of the guild????

└ Pink Jelly Lover: I’m free today so what’s wrong

└ Looking for a healer: true true pick, get 10,000 rubies for always being in Hunchan but you need to stop drinking coffee from CFR VS being more productive in life than just posting sh*t like this lol

└ pin***: it’s broken hahahaha i’ll just be productive

└ OO: 222 How am I supposed to quit drinking coffee R;

└ Lime Love Team: 3333333

— Ruby Copy Bug: If you’re bored, just go to the dungeon;;; don’t play endless word chain lol

└ Lime Love Team: I’m in a dungeon right now HAHAHAHA word chain is so much fun hehe

└ OO: This is the fault of the Korean Hunter Association,, crazy people are here 24 hours a day because now you can access Hunchan even from the dungeon

└ Lime Love Team: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

— Cheese Fizza: there are prizes for the word chain kkk the Grand Prize item is the participation ticket for the Item Public Market launching ceremony, the Excellence Prize is CFR Coffee Voucher for 10 people

└ Ruby Copy Bug: heol;;;;; fxxxxxxxxxxck

└ Pizza Cheese: No, I informed you, so why are you cursing at me?ㅡㅡ

└ Ruby Copy Bug: Wishlist

└ Looking for a healer: LOLOL Tteok

└ OO: Okta

└ coc***: Tactual

└ I love you Eunrang: Aluminum

└ HingHungHong: Nium;;ㅡㅡ are you discriminating against people from liberal arts i can’t stand this, please ban words than contain nium!

└ I love you Eunrang: HEHEHEHE CFR coffee ㅇㅅㅇ*)v

***

Kwaaang, bang!

“Ugh, umh, haaaaaam, I want to sleep more …. heuk, eh?”

I opened my eyes at the loud noise. I jumped up, wondering if something had happened, but the sound was coming from the building opposite to my store.

I looked through the window and saw a truck unloading boxes of goods. The building, which had been empty until a few days ago, had suddenly been renovated into something shiny. The signboard, which looked brand new, displayed the following.

DG25 Dungeon Gate 3 Street branch.

Wow, there’s finally a convenience store in front of Cafe Rieul!

Next to it was a … chicken restaurant?!

“Wow, amazing……”

It’s been about a month since I returned to this place after the last Demon God Sealing Quest. The Demon God has disappeared, and the Great Duel Abyss has collapsed. The world was saved from the brink of destruction.

However, permanent peace did not come to the world instantly and the Hunter was not left unemployed on a massive scale. The dangers of rifts and monsters were still present.

Still, time marched on, and the world continued to change.

A few days ago, the head of the Dungeon Management Office announced a plan to reduce the Rift mortality rate to less than 50% of the previous year. The results have not been confirmed yet …… but as everyone works hard, we will become better and better at dealing with rifts in the future.

The winds of change have also blown through Dungeon Gate 3 Street. Now that the Great Dungeon Abyss has been destroyed, what remained was an empty land in the middle of Seoul. The sudden appearance of a vacant lot in this bustling city naturally attracted attention.

I thought stores would gradually come in, but the first two were a convenience store and a chicken restaurant opposite our store. Is this heaven?

Hmm, anyway.

Now that there’s a convenience store, I have to ransack it. I quickly took out my coat and put it on, then shouted, “Mieum, let’s go rob a convenience store!”

…….

…….

But there were no sounds of heavy footsteps nor any “waeoooong” cries.

…….

…….

“……..”

Oh, there wouldn’t be.

The strength left my body. I took off my coat and slumped down on the bed.

Although I had defeated the Demon God and completed the quest safely, Mieum did not return with me. No one, not even Lime, had seen where she had gone.

Was that her plan all along? To leave this place and never return? Thinking about it made me feel unbearably lonely.

Ash also … did not come back. He was destroyed, but that meant he merely returned to his body. They said it wasn’t death.

What’s that? Then why wasn’t he here? We couldn’t meet again, so what’s the difference? Despite all the arrogant talk about how this world was so great, I couldn’t even save him.

But deep in my heart, I still had hope that they would both return.

They must have been delayed because the Gate was abruptly closed. Mieum was slow walker. Maybe that’s why it took so long?

I waited. Over and over again.

But no matter how many times I looked out the window every day, there was still no sign of them.

“….Kkyuu?”

“Lime, are you awake already?”

The sound I made must have woken her up. Lime stumbled over to me with her plump body.

“Kkyuu…..”

I had a schedule today, so I had to get ready to leave. I hugged Lime’s plump body once before releasing her.

My mind wasn’t in the slightest bit organised, but time marched on and the world changed endlessly. Heartlessly.

***

Today the world was set to undergo another change. As part of that change, I was attending the event.

“Well, there’s this, and this, and this … there you go.”

On a long table against the wall, several coffee cups were placed for people to drink freely. All made by me for this day.

I checked the coffee one last time to make sure it was in good condition.

[Item: Caffè Latte (★★★★★)

Status: Perfect (Time Remaining: 02:00:00)

Effect: 80% of maximum energy is restored.]

As the ‘Cafe in My Hand’ skill has been maxed out, the coffee’s status window has changed: it’s now rated 5 stars, and the effect has improved. The incident also made me more famous, so more people sought out my coffee.

It seemed like the popularity of Cafe Rieul would continue in the future. It has now been closed for a while, but…….

I couldn’t open the store without my part timer, that’s all.

“Excuse me, Hunter-nim, can I have this coffee?”

A nearby Hunter asked in a cautious tone. I smiled broadly and replied.

“Yes, of course, please feel free.”

“….Thank you!”

The Hunter took the caffe latte cup in his hand. Her expression softened as she took a sip and savoured the flavour. It pleased me to see someone enjoying coffee like this. I would definitely like to continue running the cafe.

But for now…….

“Uh, Hunter Kwon Rieul-nim.” The Hunter, who was drinking the coffee, suddenly spoke up.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Thank you!”

“Yes?”

It was an unexpected response. I narrowed my eyes and echoed back.

“That’s … so, I heard that you played a a crucial role in defeating the Demon God, Hunter-nim. If I ever meet you, I really wanted to thank you for that. Luckily, I was good at word chain…….”

“Good at word chain?”

“Ahaha, the competition for participation ticket to today’s event was fierce. Anyway, I’m a big fan of you, Hunter-nim. I will keep supporting you!”

“……Thank you.”

I pursed my lips. I hoped I didn’t look weird. The Hunter shook my hand and moved away.

“Miss Rieul, there you are.”

The next person who spoke to me was Grandma Kim Deokyi.

“Grandma! Congratulations on today, you’ve worked so hard.”

“I didn’t do anything. Miss Rieul did all the hard work.”

“Oh, I’m glad I was able to help.”

It’s the launch day of the <Item Public Market>, which will be the future rival to the <Hunter Market>. Originally, the Hunter Market had the exclusive right for the transaction of items, but many hunters complained about the tyranny of the Hunter Market, such as user discrimination and high commission rates. Therefore, several hunters complained to Grandma Kim Deokyi, a craftsman master in the production industry. As a result, some hunters, led by Grandma Kim Deokyi, established the Item Public Market , an an independent item marketplace.

The path to establishment was not a smooth one. A lot of things happened to get to where we stand today.

Firstly, the Hunter Market was naturally strongly opposed to the idea. They claimed that the establishment of Item Public Market was an infringement of Hunter Market’s business rights, and they were willing to take the issue to court.

While I was worried that this would lead to a lawsuit battle and it would take years for the establishment……

‘<Hunter Market> fell into disarray as the upper executives were caught in corruption one after another…’

The passionate journalist, Kim Taewoon, uncovered the corruption.

It didn’t end there. Next, there was a dispute over the name: Hunter Market claimed that the overlap of the word ‘Market‘ was a trademark infringement. Of course, it was ridiculous. But people who used childish materials originally were the most troublesome. It took a while to sort it out.

Today, after going through all these hardships, I was finally able to serve coffee at the launching ceremony. I took a moment to look around. The people in attendance were drinking their coffee with smiles on their faces. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Whether or not the Item Public Market would be successful in the future was yet to be seen, but I hoped that everyone’s hard work would pay off.

Hunter Market would no longer be able to do scam business like it used to.

“Honestly, they deserve it ahahaha.’

“But where is Hunter Ju Noeul?”

“I don’t know. She was with me earlier, but I haven’t seen her since.”

“We can’t start without our leading star … I’ll look for her for a moment.”

Another major contributor to today’s event was Ju Noeul. I said goodbye to Grandma Kim Deokyi and went in search of Jun Noeul.

I soon found her in the corner of the venue.

She was talking to her subordinate with a sullen expression on her face.

***

“How could this happen…….”

Ju Noeul muttered, her face full of frustration. She held an iced Americano in her hand.

“Are you going to continue sulking in a good day like this?”

“I’m not sulking…..”

This time, she really wasn’t, but as usual, her subordinate didn’t even listen.

“If you’re not going to drink that coffee, can I have it?”

“Hmph, no, I’ll drink it…….”

Slurp. Chirp. The cool iced Americano flowed into her mouth. Coffee was delicious, very delicious, but! Her furrowed brow couldn’t help but straighten.

The reason for Ju Noeul’s current foul mood could be traced back to the time of the Demon God Seal Quest. Ju Noeul naturally thought that she would be one of the quest participants, after all, she was an S-Class summoner, and her abilities would be of great use in the unknown dungeon.

However, her name was not mentioned until the end.

Even though the quests weren’t in rank order! How could that happen?

But it was all good so far. She wasn’t the only S-Classes who couldn’t participate, Choi Yichan was too, so she wasn’t the only one who was left out. There were plenty of things that needed the help of Hunters even if they weren’t participating in the quest. Ju Noeul led the Royal Guild’s members in assisting with damage control and helping the public.

However, when she later learned that Kwon Rieul had participated in the quest, she felt sick to her stomach.

‘I didn’t do anything…….’

It had been several months since she had become a regular at the café and became personally close to him. In short, she thought they were now truly close friends.

However, it was heartbreaking to find out that she had not done anything to help her friend during her time of need.

Please support this translation through buy me a coffee!

Translator’s Corner:

1. Word chain: (끝말잇기) A Korean word game wherein each player must produce a word that begins with the syllable that the previous player’s word ended with. Only nouns may be used. Words may not be repeated. In Japanese, it’s しりとり. ↩︎

AS YOU SEE, I TRIED MY BEST (I scrolled down 200 names of dog breeds to try to match but then everything after that is a mess). BUT I CANT DO IT IT’S NOT POSSIBLE UNLESS I CONJURE UP NEW WORDS. SO I DID T_T Sapsali is a shaggy-haired South Korean breed of dog that is said to ward off evil spirits btw!

The direct translation would actually be Dog/Puppy → Roof → Boron → Rumor → Problem → Geranium. Puppy 강아지→ 지 → Roof 지붕 → 붕 → Boron 붕소 → 소 → Rumor 소문→ 문 → Problem 문제 → 제 → Geranium 제라늄

term in netizen chat that i can’t do footnotes:

• it’s broken: the word used if directly translated is balance colapsed: 밸붕, abbreviation for the term 밸런스 붕괴. It is used in a situation, when one side is too high and the other side cannot be compared. The most similiar word in English is “broken”. You know, the term in gaming. When you’re saying Overpowered (OP) and the character that is too OP is “broken”
• Wishlist: the word used is 장래희망: hope for the future (將來希望) refers to the type of future one wishes for, the way one lives, or the job one desires (dream job). I want to make it one word to match the world chain setting so I just translated it as wishlist.
• Tteok: the word used is 망개떡, a traditional korean rice cake. Since the previous one “wishlist” ended with “t” i just leaved it as Tteok” (i have no other option)
• Okta and Tactual are made up to match the flow. In the original, Okta is actually 떡메 (lit: rice cake memo, like memo pads.It looks like a post-it, but there is no adhesive on the back, and it refers to a note that can be torn off one by one. Then, Tactual is 메추리알 (Quaill Egg). Aluminium is 알루미늄. So it’s 장래희망→ 망 →망개떡 → 떡→떡메 → 메→메추리알 →알→→알루미늄.

I WAS HAVING A HEADACHE DOING THE WORD CHAIN AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anyway sharing a good news! I FINALLY GOT AN APPROVAL FROM ONE OF MY PROFESSOR WHO WAS MY THESIS EXAMINER T_T now i only need to get one more from the other examiner, but i think it wouldn’t be that difficult since the professor who already approved is the most senior and head of my department : D the other examiner is hard to meet though … so i will need to visit my college often to get a chance to meet her T_T but ANYWAY, it also meant my thesis was finally not doomed anymore and I would most likely eligible to apply for October/November graduation T_T now I only need to think about how to hold on until then and pay for this semester, but I think it will work out somehow … maybe? Well, I survived this far on my own for the last two years so let’s just trust my luck! Thank you for always giving me a lot of encouragements when I was having a hard time!

9 chapters left … closure arc, maybe (?)