SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

Translated by cabinfourtranslations.

The fourth week of August, at the end of the scorching sun of summer … yet today was still an unbearably hot day.

The air conditioner broke down yesterday, so even with the fan running, Cafe Rieul was sweltering.

“Okay. Everyone’s here.”

I spoke with a serious tone, then looked around. After confirming that Ash, Mieum, and Lime had gathered at my summon and taken their seats, I picked up the board marker. I wrote on the whiteboard behind me, then read it out loud in a clear voice.

“The first Cafe Rieul’s Individual Achievement Presentation and Emergency Meeting is now starting.”

Ash, Lime, and Mieum suddenly looked at me with blank expressions, as if wondering what was going on. Ash raised his hand slightly and asked, “What’s that?”

“Didn’t you hear? It’s an achievement presentation. You have to say something you’re proud of that you’ve accomplished this year. Okay, one by one, please present your accomplishments.”

“Hmm….”

“Meow…..”

“Kkyuu….”

The members of my household fell into deep thought with serious expressions. However, no matter how long I waited, no one seemed ready to speak. Goodness, they’re all so shy. Reluctantly, I raised my hand first.

“I’ll go first, then. I’ve finally finished organizing and cleaning the warehouse.”

My announcement seemed quite unexpected, as the members of my household tilted their heads in confusion. What? What’s wrong with a deep cleaning? It was really hard.

“Isnt cleaning something that should obviously be done, waeolgh!”

“The cat that knocked over something while playing and interrupted the cleaning should be quiet.”

“Waeooong…..”

Mieum rolled her eyes while feigning innocence. Watching her, I laughed and remembered one more achievement to add.

“Oh, right. I saved the world too.”

“Shouldn’t that come first, how great is ██ ███……!”

“One question at a time. Question time is over.”

I cut off Mieum’s words, that were about to go on for a long time, without hesitation. I felt sorry for her, but since we had to conduct a lengthy meeting, there was no time to spare for explaining the world-building.

“Okay, next … Ash.”

“Then … this.”

At my call, Ash stood up. He then took out a piece of paper folded in half from his jacket pocket. When he unfolded it, it turned out to be the report card for this semester from the Special Hunter School, and at the top line, it read “Application of Magic: 100 points“.

“Okay, you did really well. But your Ethics and Social Studies are 10 and 15, respectively. You need to study general subjects too.”

He thought for a moment, then quietly added another achievement, “I made 10 friends on KakaoTalk.”

He looked secretly proud.

Although his grades were quite biased, Ash was making friends and enjoying school. That’s good to hear. I clapped my hands and returned the report card to Ash.

“Okay, you did well. You passed. Next is Lime.”

“Kkyuu, kkyuuuuuu, kkyuu, kkyuuuuuuu!”

I tried translating it with the slime language translator, but I still didn’t know what it meant. I looked at Lime’s bouncy gesture and nodded, “Lime is … yeah, you’re still pretty plump, okay.”

“Kkyuuu, kkyuu, kkyuuuu!”

“Ah, yes. You’re still getting along well with Corong. Good job. Pass. Next…..”

“Nyaaaaah……”

Mieum, tilting her head back with a proud expression, let out a long wail. Feeling guilty for ignoring her eager eyes, I decided to go along with her.

“Mieum appeared in a drama, right?”

“Waeong!”

As if to say “Are you only mentioning that now?“, Mieum stretched her body and cried out. She’s truly a cat whose thoughts were all laid bare.

It all started about a month ago. At the time, my cat was acting strange. She stopped watching her favorite dramas, ate less, and was often lost in thought. Although she pretended not to care, it was obvious that she was deeply heartbroken by the news of Oh Seoho’s marriage.

I was worried about Mieum and hoped that she would regain her spirit, but…….

How on earth could I comfort a cat heartbroken by the news of her favorite actor’s marriage? I could only watch and hope that Mieum would find a new obsession soon.

Then, out of the blue, Oh Seoho contacted me. He was looking for a cat extra for a drama he was currently filming and asked if Mieum would be interested in joining the cast.

“Well, I wonder if Mieum will want to … I’ll ask her.”

— Yes, I appreciate your help.

“Waeooong?! What’s going on?”

I relayed Oh Seoho’s offer to Mieum, who had been pricking up her ears from the moment she heard her name being mentioned.

I thought Mieum would reject the offer, given how heartbroken she had been, but I was wrong. Before I could even finish my sentence, Mieum urgently shouted.

“Kyakyakyaolgh! Of course I’ll do it!”

“No, it’s just that I thought you didn’t like Hunter Oh Seoho much lately, so I told him that you’d think about it….”

“How could that be, waeooong! Call him back right away, hurry!”

And so the drama was filmed.

Mieum’s role was that of a cat sitting on the lap of the final villain, who was plotting for a long time. Although her total screen time had been barely thirty minutes, Mieum had seemed to enjoy the filming. She had completely regained her energy and had been watching her scenes every day.

Pushed by Mieum’s persistence, I even set up an Instagram account for her. She’s gained quite a few followers. Now that she’s become the celebrity cat she’s always wanted to be, she has become quite arrogant these days. Well, it’s better than digging up the ground, so I let it slide.

After giving a round of applause to Mieum, who was twitching her lips, I turned to the members of my household who participated in the ‘1st Cafe Rieul Individual Achievement Presentation’ and got to the main point.

“Now, we’ve heard each pther’s achievements. Everyone has accomplished something amazing. So, at this point, how about we all go on a reward and refreshing vacation together? hose who are in favor, person, cat, slime, please raise or lower your hands.”

“Kkyuu…..”

“Oops, Lime doesn’t have hands. Then, Lime, don’t bounce or bounce your body.”

Realizing the oddity of my words, Ash stopped raising his hand and asked, “Raise or lower your hands, what about those who object?”

“I don’t accept any objections, I’ve already made the KTX and accommodation reservations.”

“Then why are we having this meeting, waeooong!”

“Ung? Just because. It feels good to talk about what we did well.”

Sometimes we need this kind of moment, right.

After checking everyone’s achievements, I erased the whiteboard with an eraser and wrote something new.

‘August 28th~August 31st Cafe Rieul Summer Vacation.’

No matter what, it’s always nice to go on vacation. Everyone welcomed the sudden announcement of a late summer vacation.

The air conditioner was broken anyway, so the cafe couldn’t open.

“Well, pack your bags today because we’re leaving tomorrow.”

Just as I was about to end the meeting, I added the last thing that came to mind.

“That’s right. Since we’ve rented the entire villa, if you want to bring anyone with you, it’s fine. The more people, the more fun it will be. That’s all.”

“……All right.”

“Waeoong!”

“Kkyuuu!”

My family members, looking forward to the vacation, cheerfully replied.

Although I said that…….

This time, the dates are tight, so it’ll be difficult to bring anyone else, right? Everyone must have their own schedules. It’s a shame, but I guess we’ll have to go by ourselves this time.

***

….That’s what I thought.

The next day. The sun was blazing in the cloudless blue sky. It was the perfect weather to ditch work and go on a summer vacation.

“Hoho, city, goodbye! I’m going on vacation and absolutely doing nothing!”

“……What are you doing standing in front of the door?”

“Kkyuu!”

“Get on quickly, waeoong!”

“Uh, guys, let’s go together!”

As I boarded the KTX with a bag of snacks in hand to eat on the way, I was bewildered.

“……..?”

That’s strange. Why is it that there are only people I know….?

It’s quite a hassle for a Hunter to personally travel abroad. While international travel wasn’t forbidden, they needed to obtain a Hunter-exclusive pass and submit various documents.

Hunters were a valuable human resource. It’s unavoidable that their behavior would be restricted to avoid conflict ….. but it’s incredibly annoying to have to go through such a long and complicated process just to go play. For this reason, the demand for domestic travel by Hunters has grown in recent years.

In order to catch up with this demand, various companies launched various services targeted at hunters, one of them being the KTX Monster Companion-Enabled Hunter Express Train, which I rode.

‘It was quite expensive, but…….’

Since it was a rare occasion, I made a big effort to take along Corong, who usually only stays in her barn, and booked this train. It was built with an automatic ether control system and special carriers, so even monsters could travel comfortably to the destination.

Since it was a train exclusively for Hunters, it was natural that there were many Hunters, but I didn’t expect there would be this many people I knew.

“Rieul-ssi, you’re here. This way.”

Ki Yoohyun waved at me. After seating Asg, Mieum, and Lime across from us, I sat down next to him.

“Hello. Um, what happened?”

I told Ki Yoohyun about our late vacation plans. It’s a family vacation, so it would be hard to go on a date alone, but it would be fun if we could go together.

And I knew that Ash told Choi Lona, and Mieum told Oh Seoho, who stopped by the cafe to tell her about the next filming schedule……

Somehow, most of the people I knew were on this train.

Ki Yoohyun glanced around and answered my question, “Well, I’m not sure either … but there’s something certain.”

“What’s certain?”

“It seems everyone was free.”

Hmm, well……

Since we’re just going for fun anyway, wouldn’t it be more enjoyable if we all went together?

Just then, I made eye contact with Ju Noeul, who was sitting diagonally across from me. I smiled and spoke to her,”Noeul-ssi, it’s been a while. Hello.”

“…….”

But Ju Noeul just nodded her head awkwardly and avoided me.

“Ah, Hunter Kwon Rieul. I’m so sorry. Our guild leader is still sulking.”

“I’m not sulking…….”

In contrast to her words, Ju Noeul’s face was still grim. It was obvious that something was wrong.

……Ah. Is it because of what happened back then?

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Translator’s Corner:

Life update, I’m currently torn between red, pink, and green to wear on graduation….. freeweɓnøvel.com

I slept a lot these days … it’s already October but the weather is still pretty hot in my place, we’re doomed with global warming….

This is the last side story arc, so let’s slowly enjoying it : D (I’m really bad at goodbye)