SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon — Side Story 7

Translated by cabinfourtranslations.

It all started about a week ago, when Ju Noeul visited Cafe Rieul.

She, still a regular at our cafe, was leisurely enjoying her coffee that day as well. I was about to bring her a new cup when I happened to glance at her tablet PC screen. It was a screenshot of a game I’d seen many times before. I beamed as I recognized it.

“Oh, Noeul-ssi, did you play that game too?”

“Don’t tell me, you know this game….?” Ju Noeul looked at me in surprise.

“Of course I do. I miss it. I used to play it quite diligently.”

“I can’t believe it, I never thought you had played this game, Rieul-ssi … Not many people know about it, but it’s truly a masterpiece … The deep storyline and kitsch graphics were a wake-up call to the complacent gaming market … The in-game purchase system was a mess, so despite its popularity, it didn’t generate much revenue and the servers were shut down, but its system was ahead of its time…..”

I couldn’t understand half of what she was saying, but I agreed that the game was a lot of fun. I’ve played a lot of games since then, but I haven’t found anything as fun as this cafe management game.

“But I stopped playing halfway through.”

“Oh, because I got hacked. One day I logged into the game and everything was gone and my character was only wearing her underwear.”

“What kind of bastards are they……!”

It was a long time ago now, but seeing Ju Noeul got angry about it made me feel both grateful and relieved. Smiling happily, I added, “Well, at least I got to be number one in the rankings once, so I have no regrets.”

“Rieul-ssi was ranked number one…? Number one … wait, number one?! N-no-no-no way … Rieul-ssi, what was your in-game username…..”

“I couldn’t think of a good nickname, so I just wrote my name, R, like this.”

“……!”

I traced the letters of my old username on the table with my finger. Ju Noeul looked completely shocked. I did make it a bit carelessly, but was my username really that surprising?

“Rieul-ssi … you were the number one in rankings, that R……”

“Oh, you know me? It seems you were on the same server as me, Noeul-ssi!”

“That’s right…….”

It was a game that wasn’t very popular, to the point where the servers were shut down. I had never met anyone around me who knew about it, so I was really happy to meet someone who played it too.

We chatted joyfully about the game for a while. We talked about how that quest went and what the event was like … the topics were endless, and time flew by. Then I remembered the game’s endgame item, the Platinum Royal Gorgeous Teacup Set. It was truly a nasty item. I brought up the memory with a lighthearted tone.

“Oh yeah, remember those? It was really hard to get a set of Platinum Royal Gorgeous teacups.”

“Yes … the drop rate was so low that no matter how much I spent on gacha, I couldn’t get it…..”

“That’s right, that’s right. I grinded a lot and managed to draw it without spending any money.”

“Without spending money … you said?”

The color drained from Ju Noeul’s face, but I didn’t notice her change and continued speaking.

“Yep. Back then, mobile payments were blocked, so I just played without spending any money.”

“…….”

“When I drew it, I immediately became number one in the rankings.”

“…….”

“And then, I had a conflict with some guild. and their name was quite unusual. Oh, was it ‘You Stop Playing Could Cause Server Termination’?’

“…….”

“But honestly, I prefer playing games alone. And then when I got hacked, I figured it was a sign to quit.”

“…….”

“…..Noeul-ssi?”

“I-I suddenly remembered something urgent, so I need to go……”

“Uh, Noeul-ssi, are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“I’m okay…..”

Ju Noeul, who replied while not looking the least bit okay, looked back at me from the doorway.

“Still, the spirit of ‘You Stop Playing Could Cause Server Termination’ will forever stay with me..…!”

Those were her last words.

……That’s what happened. Later, I found out that Ju Noeul and the people of the Royal Guild were from the <You Stop Playing Could Cause Server Termination> guild. It was often described as a family guild, but I didn’t realize the family was a cyber family.

I haven’t had a chance to meet Ju Noeul since then, but I guess she was still bothered by our conversation.

Hmm, was it because I said I preferred to play games alone……?

Well, since we’re both going to the same place for summer vacation, there would be another opportunity to talk. I gave up trying to speak to Ju Noeul who still had a gloomy expression, and turned my head away.

***

“We’re here!”

“……Ugh, it’s so bright.”

“Kkyuuu!”

“Meoooow!”

After about two hours on the KTX, we arrived at our destination: Gangneung City, Gangwon Province. The vast blue sea spread out beneath the clear blue sky welcomed us.

The accommodation I booked was a newly opened resort located on the beach. I liked that we could use an entire building just for our group, and it also provided a private stable that was perfect for Corong to stay in. Ash decided to share the room next door with Lime, while I chose to share a room with Mieum.

Ash told me he was going to hang out with the twins, Joo Shinwoo and Joo Shinhee, and as soon as he dropped off his luggage, he rushed outside. The others seemed to have their own vacation plans as well and soon scattered in different directions.

“Then, Yoohyun-ssi, I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, I’ll call you later.”

I also had an important schedule. After parting ways with Ki Yoohyun, I unpacked my things in my room and looked around. The wide-open scenery outside the window was beautiful, and the spacious, clean room was quiet and cozy. It was the perfect place to spend a few days on a relaxing vacation.

“I have an important schedule today. Now that we’ve arrived at the accommodation, the first thing I need to do is…..”

“The first thing?!”

Mieum repeated my words with sparkling eyes. She had been pestering Ash all day yesterday to look up information on local attractions, so she must have been looking forward to the vacation a lot.

But I had no intention of fulfilling Mieum’s expectations right now.

“…..I will not be doing anything.”

“Waeolgh?!”

“Did you not hear what I said yesterday? I mentioned it’s a refreshing vacation. What do you think is the most important thing to get refreshed?”

“Playing a lot….?”

“Ding, you got it wrong. It’s just doing nothing.”

Thud! I flopped down on the bed. Wow, this place, the bed was incredibly fluffy. I felt like I might fall asleep in no time.

“Are you really saying that you’re not going to do anything after coming all the way here, waeolgh!”

Without mercy, Mieum’s cat punch flew toward me. However, it didn’t affect me as I lay covered with the blanket up to my head.

“I barely escaped from the hell of Coffee Bingsu. I should be allowed to do nothing for a day. I’ll play with you tomorrow, tomorrow. Just play with Lime with today.”

Coffee Bingsu, the menu I made for Ash after his dental treatment. I immediately added this bingsu to the menu at Cafe Rieul. Everyone said it was delicious, and I wanted to use the new shaved ice machine. Not to mention, it was a perfect menu item for summer.

But I didn’t expect it to sell that much. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every customer who came to the cafe in the middle of summer ordered Coffee Bingsu. Because of that, I spent this summer grinding ice over and over again. Now, even the sound of the shaved ice machine running made me unconsciously start preparing the Bingsu’s toppings.

Coffee Bingsu is delicious. I like it too. It’s really delicious, but … I want to create a different menu now.

When I closed my eyes, it felt like I could still hear the sound of ice being crushed. If the air conditioner hadn’t broken down, I would have probably still been grinding coffee ice right then.

This was my first holiday after escaping from that Coffee Bingsu Hell. Naturally, I planned to do nothing.

My cat, however, didn’t understand my feelings at all.

“Why did you come all the way here if you were just going to take a nap, kyayaogh!”

“The air conditioner is working here.”

“In the first place, weren’t you the one who came up with the Coffee Bingsu as new menu item! Why are you complaining after all the hard work you’ve done!”

“But coffee bingsu is delicious. And you were the one who ate three bowls a day, Mieum-ah.”

“I-I have fur, so it’s hot for me! Waeoong!”

“Yeah, sure. The air conditioner is working well here, isn’t it? If you just lie still, you’ll feel cool.”

“Kyakyakyaogh!”

Pow! Mieum jumped up on the bed and tried to land a body attack on me, but I rolled over onto my side, dodged her attack, and buried my head in the pillow.

“I’m going to sleep, you go play with Lime, Lime…..”

“Waeolgh! I can’t believe this!”

“…….”

“Play with me!”

I feel sorry for Mieum, but I really don’t want to lift a single finger right now. I can just sleep as much as I want and then we can play tomorrow, starting tomorrow.

“Waeoong! Just wait and see!”

When I refused to budge, Mieum gave up and retreated. As silence settled over the room, I sighed and closed my eyes. It’s time for a comfortable nap. Comfortable, nap…….

Tiling tiling!

Ahhh.

I heard the last sound I wanted to hear in the world right now.

‘……Should I ignore it?’

I had no idea what the notification was, but it couldn’t possibly be as important as my relaxing nap time. I’d check it later, later.

But the system, as usual, refused to listen to my pleas.

Tiling, tiling!Tiling, tiling!

Tiling, tiling!

It’s not like it was an alarm clock set to go off every minute, but the noise just kept ringing. It would be nice if the system had a silent mode.

I reluctantly opened my eyes. The quest notification immediately greeted me.

[A quest has occurred.]

Yeah, I’ll check it later, later.

[Check the quest.]

[Check the quest.]

[Check the quest.]

It’s so hard to take a nap. I opened the flickering quest window, thinking it would be better to check the quest quickly so I could get back to sleep.

And I was startled.

“What…..? If things continue like this, our summer vacation is going to be ruined?”

If you enjoy this translation, you can buy me cup of coffee through Buy Me a Coffee!

Translator’s Corner:

This is side story but Rieul still overworked even on vacation….. system please have mercy to our MC….. but tbh going to a nice place and just sleep a day is my dream vacation too

anyway life update, 20-ish days left to my graduation but I still haven’t figured out what to wear (everyone is wearing dress, and the problem is I don’t have one on me so I need to buy it quickly but I HAVEN’T FOUND OUT ANYTHING THAT I LIKE) omg I’m doomed … everyone else is picking things with the help of their family but since I have no one and have zero choosing skill … I’m not even sure what color to wear ? should i go with red or pink or something? It’s once in a lifetime event so I don’t want to choose randomly but I’m running out of time????? why do women need to dress impressively for graduation anyway … it’s not mandatory but I’m afraid I’ll look out of place if I don’t

ANYWAY I checked and why all the novel-stealer-website not only copied the whole chapters but also THE WHOLE TRANSLATION NOTES CONTAINING MY RANT I’M SO EMBARRASSED T_T I mean this blog is fine since it won’t show up on google search, but theirs?????? IF YOU’RE GOING TO STEAL CAN YOU JUST DO THE NOVEL CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE PRIVATE RANTS T_T But better if you don’t repost in the first place!!!! I didn’t think much of views since I’m not on ads revenue or whatever that is, but the formatting is better in my own blog … have you seen the care I put on the internet forum formatting…. well anyway it’s so embarrassing I’m going to dig a hole for myself KJSHAdfUJHSDFKDSJ

Thank you Dracoocard for the coffees!