Our Cafe is Open as Usual - Chapter 24
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 24
‘What on earth just happened?’
I was still completely bewildered. I couldn’t even ask why they had brought me to this place.
The young man who had brought me here had already disappeared from sight.
‘Bewitched.’
I could only explain it as being truly ‘bewitched.’ If I was going to be bewitched, at least it was done properly.
“It’s not like I’m someone without any sense of caution either…”
‘Just what was that young man’s true identity?’
Beyond bewilderment, I was now even feeling composed.
Should I say that I too had a moment when a god lingered with me? It was a line from some drama.
If there was ever a moment when a god lingered with me, it might just be right now.
Didn’t I form some kind of connection with the owner of that statue?
“You must have really liked the coffee, God.”
I plopped down in front of the massive statue that was emanating a gentle light.
Even though the temple had been opened to the public, the place where the statue stood wasn’t made accessible yet.
All the large cracks had disappeared, but small ones still remained. Though irreverent, they were probably like everyday scratches, right?
That’s why I heard people talking about how this place would be opened to the public later. Perhaps that’s why there were no priests guarding this statue right now.
Or maybe they deliberately made sure no one would be in this place.
I looked at the statue with admiration.
“A divine statue is indeed a divine statue.”
The gentle light flowing from the statue somehow made even my heart feel devout. Even though I’d never believed in gods because my own life was hard enough.
Still, wanting to believe in that light, in the existence of a god… was probably because my life after the possession had been quite enjoyable.
Since I didn’t have to worry about debts anymore, I no longer lived with the constant feeling of being chased.
Though I was worried about the younger sister I left behind…
‘I can’t stay by her side and take care of her forever.’
It was time for her to live on her own now.
I lightly shrugged my shoulders and corrected my posture. Since I’d come all the way to the statue, I thought I might as well offer a proper prayer.
I knelt down and clasped my hands together.
That’s when it happened.
Flash!
The light emanating from the statue suddenly burst forth intensely.
At the same time.
Ding!
??’s Arrangement
-Pray.
Reward: Coffee Machine
Upon Failure: ^%$#
A Quest window appeared.
“…What is this?”
I had just tried to pray once, and a Quest was generated.
Since I’d been connected to the temple from the tutorial, this might have been a predetermined Quest.
However.
“Why is this corrupted?”
Part of the text in the Quest window was corrupted. Specifically, the content written in the failure section. There had never been a system window with corrupted text like this before.
Also, whether it was my eyes playing tricks on me or not, the Quest window was blurry. I had to strain my eyes to properly read the content.
The intense light coming from the statue created the illusion that it was emanating from the Quest window.
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again to read the Quest content.
The content was very simple.
Praying.
It was exactly what I was about to do.
But.
“…Are you really going to give me this?”
The reward wasn’t simple at all.
The coffee machine was such a high-difficulty device that even Millen said it would require 1,000 diamonds.
Millen’s words echoed in my ears – how he might actually be able to make it, but it could take decades, he had threatened.
“But you’re just going to give me a coffee machine?”
Of course, I did have to pray to get it…
“How is this any different from just giving it away for free?”
There’s no way this game would have such an easy difficulty level.
I stared at the Quest window with suspicious eyes.
No matter how much I glared at it, nothing changed. Even if the Quest itself was an error, the content and reward didn’t seem to be errors.
In that case, I had only one choice.
“God, I will pray right away!”
Offering a sincere prayer for the coffee machine.
I straightened my posture that had been disrupted by the sudden appearance of the Quest, and closed my eyes tightly.
Even if I’d never believed in a god, that didn’t mean I’d never prayed before.
I must have prayed dozens of times or more. There had been that many desperate and critical moments.
So prayer itself wasn’t difficult.
“God, thank you for providing me with the necessities of daily life. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to serve more customers. I also have experience working at a busy franchise cafe, you know. So even if 30 people rush in at once… if only you would graciously bestow upon me a coffee machine, everything would be okay.”
Thank you so much.
It was a prayer filled with sincerity. Whether my heartfelt prayer reached him or not, the content of the Quest window changed.
??’s Arrangement. Success!
-Reward will be delivered to ‘Yonggari Cafe.’
Reward: Coffee Machine
‘This is it!’
I wanted to shout out loud if I could. But it seemed like I shouldn’t let anyone find out that I had entered the place where the statue was located.
Because it felt like it would cause a commotion somehow.
I politely expressed my gratitude to the statue once more. Then I walked away, leaving the statue behind me.
Very swiftly!
When I thought I had gotten quite far away, someone popped out from around a corner of the temple.
It was someone I knew well.
“There you are, Lailah.”
It was Millen.
“Millen! You finally came to find me!”
“…Don’t act so brazenly when you’re the one who got lost.”
“Ahaha!”
“Are you laughing right now?”
“That’s right, Master! You should have seen how worried Hyu was!”
Hyu and Millen had identical expressions. It was just Hyu unilaterally copying Millen’s menacing atmosphere.
I knew I had done something deserving of scolding, and I knew Millen would lecture me, but…
“Everyone come here. Let me hug each of you just once!”
I was feeling so good from this unexpected windfall that I felt like I could fly!
I wrapped my arms around the startled Millen and Hyu, who had his arms spread wide. I could feel that large body stiffen, but I didn’t let go.
Just for today, I would consider this my world.
So I didn’t see it.
The light that had been gently asserting its presence from the statue behind me had grown weaker.
* * *
After finishing our outing in the capital city, we returned to Yonggari Cafe.
“Hyu, that restaurant was really delicious, wasn’t it?”
“Incredibly so! How is it that only Millen knew about such a restaurant?”
“She must have been eating alone all this time.”
“Huk!”
Hyu, who had covered her mouth with both hands, looked at Millen. He lightly tapped Hyu’s head with his finger as if asking whether she really believed that.
“Hehe, today was so much fun!”
Hyu smiled happily, seemingly unaware that she had been hit—well, tapped. I felt the same way.
‘I got a coffee machine and had a delicious dinner too!’
Today was really great.
When things go this well, this damn game usually throws some weird Quest at me…
‘Hmm, let’s not think about that.’
I’m a coffee machine owner now. I should go check out how to use it and start organizing the kitchen too.
Why?
Because Frizia, who looked haggard as if she hadn’t slept properly for days to the point where I felt a bit sorry for her, brought me good news.
“Ah, the furniture will start coming in tomorrow.”
After dinner, we briefly visited Frizia’s Furniture Shop to check on the progress.
We also had various things to discuss regarding the interior.
Since we now had a coffee machine, we needed to change the layout accordingly.
So we met with Frizia and had a brief conversation, during which I heard:
“I’ll start with the basic furniture. So I’ll drop by the cafe tomorrow afternoon, is that okay?”
“Of course!”
“Then if we start the interior work tomorrow… it’ll be finished in a week. You said you’d open right after the furniture comes in, right?”
So there’s really about a week left.
Recalling that conversation, I looked around the still messy interior of the cafe.
I had gradually cleared away the debris that was difficult to restore. Still, I couldn’t shake off the messy feeling.
But looking around the cafe, I could imagine how it would be decorated.
I smiled contentedly and entered what used to be the kitchen. There sat the coffee machine I had received as a reward earlier.
“Oh…”
It wasn’t one of those models I had used while working part-time at cafes, but I was still satisfied.
“If I brew coffee with this, the taste will be completely guaranteed.”
Should I prepare for tomorrow then?
* * *
Time flew by quickly like that…
One week later.
The long-awaited opening day had arrived.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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