SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

It was so cleanly smashed.
The shards of glass were the size of a fingernail.

Choi Yichan, who turned white, shook his head in embarrassment.

“Uwaaa, I’m sorry! I was just trying to put it down a little.”

Choi Yichan panicked and tried to clean the shattered glass with his hands, but the more he touched it, the more the glass pieces shattered.
If he did it a few more times, I thought the glass would return to the sand.

First, I calmed down Choi Yichan.

“Calm down.
This is fine.”

“Hua, I’m sorry.
I’m really sorry.
I didn’t mean to do this….”

Choi Yichan repeatedly apologized even though I said it was okay.
While I was cleaning the glass, he got flustered and opened his mouth carefully.

“Actually, I haven’t been able to control my strength since my awakening, so it’s like this sometimes.”

“Aha.
I heard that happens.”

When awakened, status such as strength and agility rises overnight.
That’s why it takes time to learn how to control the strength properly.

For your information, it had nothing to do with me, whose status was not high at all even as an Awakened person.
Should I say I’m glad I didn’t break a cup, or should I say it’s a pity….

“I exercise every morning to control my strength.”

“Exercise? What do you do?”

Come to think of it, he was jogging when we met in front of the White Silver Guild.

“Umh, let’s see … First, I do 100 squats, 100 planks, and 100 burpees every morning, then I run a full marathon, then I repeat squats, planks, and burpees again, and then….”

“….What?”

“But today, I only did half of my usual routine because I came here, so I guess it happened because I was a little less tired.”

“I see….”

I moved a little farther away from Choi Yichan.

If I add up all the workouts I’ve done since I was born, I think it would be less than his daily workout.
When I was a high school student, I used to be the first to get tired and drop out of physical education classes.

Not only that, but those wide shoulders and hard muscles greatly changed the impression.
He used to be like a small puppy, but now he’s like a big dog….

Choi Yichan, who was carefully eating the freshly made ice cream coffee, asked abruptly.

“By the way, what is the name of this cafe?”

“Ah, that….”

I was greatly embarrassed.

“Why? You haven’t decided yet?”

“No, it’s not like that … it’s just….”

After a moment of hesitation, I finally answered in a mosquito-like voice.

“Cafe Ri….”

“Uh, what?”

“Cafe Rieul….”

The name of the cafe is very important.

I struggled to name it in a very strict, significant, and serious manner.

However, all the names that come to mind were not met the condition.

‘Dungeon Cafe‘ doesn’t seem like the right name either.
‘Cafe Abyss‘, umh, it seems like a name for a place that will go bankrupt soon.
‘Dungeon Gate Cafe‘, uh…..

This is the level of my creativity.
I should have kept up with learning that fosters creativity when I was young.

After much deliberation, I asked the two animals.

“Hey, is there a name that’s colorful and simple, memorable, but not too flashy, and moderately unique and familiar?”
“Put my name on it!”
“Kyuuuuuuu….?”

They didn’t help at all though.

I thought about it all day, but I couldn’t think of a good name, so I decided to give it my name.

When I thought about putting my name on the signboard, I was embarrassed because it seemed too self-conscious.

“Kiyaoong (Cafe Mieum is more suitable)!”

Let’s ignore the cat who is interfering with my decision.

“Really? That’s cool!”

Choi Yichan did not think it was strange at all.
Thank you.
It’s a little comforting.

“Then how are you these days? Since you’ve awakened … are you going to join a guild?”

While we were having a small talk, I carefully brought up the main topic.
He smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

“Haha, no, I’m an E-class.
It must be difficult to find a guild that will accept me.”

I’m sorry for Choi Yichan, but I felt relieved for a while.

“Still, I’ve awakened.
If there is someone in need, I want to help.”

“…”

With a grin, Choi Yichan tapped me on the shoulder.

“Tell me if you need anything.
I’ll come to help.
It’s hard enough because I have a lot of power left over.”

“Uh? Really? Then, next time … I’ll ask you next time.
Will you really come?”

I said with a feeling of grasping at straws.

The dungeon, where Choi Yichan was involved before my return, broke out in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do.
Seoul, especially Gangbuk, is quite far from there.
So, at least this place will be safe for him.

I was terrified to think that I might not see him again when winter approached and it snowed.

“Ah, of course.
I will come right away when you call me, so please call me.”

Choi Yichan smiled broadly.
He gave me that promise and left the cafe.

***

[Congratulations! You have completed ‘Sub-Quest: The Ultimate Coffee’.
Please collect the reward.]

[Your skill point: 1]
[Please choose a skill to level up.]

After Choi Yichan left, the quest completion notification popped up and the skill points came in.
It seems that the quest was accomplished by giving Choi Yichan an ice cream coffee earlier.

So what on earth is The Ultimate….

The question remained, but it wasn’t important.

I leveled up the Barista Skill by using skill point with excitement.

[The Barista’s Extraction (D)
Details: (Lv.2) Extract only the desired substance from the mixed substances.]

“Huhuhu….”

As expected, I was right.

If I use this skill, I will be able to make sugar without bothering with trimmed the stems, squeezed the sap, filtered out the residue, boiled, boiled, boiled, and boiled again steps.

There is no reason to waste time.
I took the stalks of the dungeon sugarcane that I had cut beforehand.
I used the skill immediately before the deluded Mieum attacked the fluttering leaves

‘The Barista’s Extraction.’

[The extraction is complete.]

With the glittering light, the stalk of the dungeon sugarcane disappeared and only the sap remained.

Dark brown with a moderately sticky texture, and this sweet smell that comes out of it.
When I dipped it a little and tasted it, I could feel the deep sweetness.

We have succeeded!

“Meow, it smells good!”

“Kkyuuuu!”

Since the sap extraction was successful, the remaining process was simple.
I poured the sap into a square bowl and placed it on a well-ventilated window.
After feeding the cat and slime, I ate dinner, and when I came back, it hardened just right.

The sap that had turned into hard caramel was cut into squares with a knife.
When I put the square lump in a blender and grind it, it soon turned into fine granules of sugar.

[Item: Magic Sugar (★★☆☆☆)
Natural sugar made by hardening the sap of Dungeon Sugarcane.
It’s sweet, but it’s good for your body.
No matter how much you eat, don’t worry about blood sugar.

Maybe you can get a special effect depending on the recipe?]

Sugar has many uses.
But before that, there was something I wanted to make first.

***

The next day, I called the cat and slime in front of me and asked with a solemn expression.

“If there is one thing missing about this cafe, what would it be?”

Mieum and Lime had a lukewarm response.

“Kyuu….?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden, meong.”

“Tell me.
What is the shortcoming of this cafe, which is about to officially open now?”

Mieum, who was lying down on her stomach for a while, raised her front paws up.

“Mascot?”

“Kyuuu.”

“Of course, there should be a cute animal mascot.”

“….not that.”

“Interior?”

“Kyuuu.”

“No.
It’s not that, think carefully.”

I shook my head.
Mieum raised her front paws, proudly said that this time is the correct answer.

“Customer!”

“Kyuuu, Kyuuuuuuuu!”

Next to her, Lime violently bounced its body as sign of agreement.

“….”

That’s what you guys thought about the shortcoming of this cafe? … I am a little hurt.

Giving up on asking these animals for the correct answer, I put the plastic bag in my hand on the table.
Then, I took out the stuff inside one by one.

Eggs, butter, and flour.
They were all just bought from the supermarket.

And I put the magic sugar that I finished yesterday next to it.

“What this cafe lacks … It’s a dessert.”

As expected, cafes should have dessert menus as well as drinks.

Americano is delicious, it’s surprisingly delicious, but …  I felt a little disappointed.
If there is dessert here, it’ll be perfect.

Sweet dessert and fragrant Americano.
The taste of Americano gives a refreshing finish to the soft sweetness.
Needless to say, it’s a fantastic combination.

So, after finishing the sugar, I decided to make a dessert to eat with the coffee.

“….”

I waited for a while, but the system did not respond.
It’s a right time to launch a completely new quest….

I was a little puzzled because it was different from the time when the notification rang to the point of raising my annoyance.
After the obsession phase, is it neglecting me now? I was skeptical that it was only in the beginning that the rewards were generously poured and then slightly reduced.

Well, anyway.
The menu I’m going to make today is butter cookies.

The ingredients are simple and relatively easy, so it is a recipe that I can make.
The soft texture that melts softly will go very well with coffee.

First, leave the butter at room temperature, put it in a bowl, and whisk it.
Next, add sugar and mix it until there’s no crunching sound.
Add eggs and flour to creamy butter in order, then mix it to complete the dough.

“It’s done … wait, Kwon Mieum, stop!”

“Why?!”

Mieum tried to taste the dough by dipping it with her front feet.
I can’t let my guard down with this cat.

She tried to pretend she didn’t do anything wrong, but the yellow dough on her front feet was an undeniable evidence.

While separating Mieum from the bowl, it was Lime’s turn in aiming for the dough this time. Dungdung, dungdung. The bowl that hit Lime’s elastic body shook unsteadily.

“….Huk!”

That’s a relief.
I caught it by a hair’s breadth.
I almost fell on the floor.

“No, you have to bake it before you can eat it.”

“Kkyuu….”

“No kkyuu!”

I quarantined the two animals that were only disturbing.
Then, I started to squeeze the dough into a circle on an oven plate.

“Ugh….”

It was difficult at first, but soon I was able to knead the dough into a suitable shape.

Next, the oven was preheated and the dough was put in.
It was a small home oven, but it was big enough to bake a plate of cookies.

Soon, the cookies were baked golden in the oven, and the fragrant smell spread throughout the store.
Unable to wait for the cookies to be fully cooked, Mieum and Lime stuck together and looked into the oven.

Then, I heard a knock on the door.

I looked at the clock and it was just on time.
I didn’t realize that so much time had already passed because I was so absorbed in baking the butter cookies.

“Come on in.”

“Hello.”

The long-awaited guest, Jina, entered the cafe.