The next morning, I arrived at the guild building.
To be honest, I was a little nervous about coming here after everything I'd discovered the previous night.
I had fallen down a rabbit hole researching Han Jinhyuk, digging through old articles, interviews, and just about every discussion thread I could find. By the time I finally put my phone down, I had learned far more about him than I had ever intended to.
And yet, somehow, I still felt like I knew nothing about him.
"You made me wake up so early in the morning."
Diana arrived not long after, letting out a huge yawn as she approached me.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?"
I awkwardly cleared my throat and decided not to answer. Knowing Diana, she'd only use it as an excuse to tease me for the rest of the day.
"Oh? Did my little baby have a nightmare at this age?"
"What? No! Just give me my ID."
She chuckled before handing it over.
I took the card and glanced at the photograph printed on it.
...When did they even take such a professional picture of me?
I looked at it for a moment, wondering where she'd gotten it from, but eventually decided not to ask.
If I started questioning every strange thing this eccentric woman did, we'd never get anything done.
Once we entered the building, I scanned my ID at the terminal and made my way inside.
The moment I stepped through the doors, I stopped.
The café looked practically brand new.
"Has this place always been here?"
"It was built about a week and a half ago. They only opened it yesterday."
"They built all of this in that little time?!"
I looked around in disbelief.
The interior was much more impressive than I expected. The ordering counters were self-service, with digital displays showing the menu and available items. There was even a small service robot that could move around the café and assist customers whenever things got too busy.
Large windows let in plenty of natural light, while greenery was scattered throughout the space. There were plants along the walls, small potted ones on the tables, and even a few larger trees tucked into the corners.
Despite all the high-tech equipment, the place felt surprisingly cozy.
I liked it.
Actually, I really liked it.
The interior design was exactly my taste.
"Oh, by the way. The guild brought over all the ingredients you used before. Want to take a look?"
Diana led me toward the storage room.
The moment she opened the door, I was greeted by rows of neatly arranged ingredients.
I recognized some of them, but others were completely unfamiliar. They were the very same ingredients I'd seen in Jinhyuk's kitchen the day before.
I couldn't help but stare.
So he really had sent all of these here?
For some reason, I found myself seeing Han Jinhyuk in a completely different light.
Until now, I'd always thought of him as an incredibly powerful hunter, someone whose name alone could make an entire room fall silent.
But apparently, he also had an entire collection of unusual coffee ingredients and was willing to hand them over to me.
...Did that make him my boss now?
He owned the building, after all. And if the café belonged to this building, then technically...
I shook my head before I could get any further into that thought.
"Anyway, what desserts are we serving today?"
Diana pulled me out of my thoughts and pointed toward the display counter.
"These are the à la carte items, along with some of the things we served yesterday. We mostly stuck to what we already knew how to make. You were the one who usually handled the recipes, after all. We just helped out."
She paused and glanced toward the café.
"Still, considering the place only opened yesterday, business has been pretty good."
"That's a relief."
I looked around the café again.
"Most of our customers are hunters, so I'm sure the demand for coffee will be higher than expected. And since this is the guild building, there should be plenty of people coming and going throughout the day."
Hunters were constantly entering and leaving guild facilities. Some would stop by before heading out to a dungeon, while others might want something warm to drink after returning from a raid.
There was also the fact that many hunters spent long hours training or handling guild affairs.
A café inside a building like this was practically guaranteed to have customers.
"Then I suppose we'll have our hands full," Diana said with a grin.
I smiled back.
Well, whatever had happened to my old café, at least this place seemed to be off to a good start.
After preparing for the day's business, with help from Prometheus and Atticus, who arrived later that morning, we finally opened the café.
A few customers came in at first, but I certainly hadn't expected it to get this busy.
"I cant believe the coffee shop is finally under new management! I hope the coffee is better this time."
A woman practically sighed in relief as I handed her order across the counter. Just how bad was the previous cafe owner? I'm surprised they weren't fired instantly.
Anyway, everyone else was occupied with serving the growing number of customers, so I ended up managing the counter on my own for a while.
Still, I didn't mind. It was nice seeing the café so lively.
Since it was my first day working here, I had secretly expected Han Jinhyuk to stop by at some point.
But he never showed up.
I tried not to think too much about it, but every time the entrance opened, my eyes instinctively drifted toward the door.
Each time, I found myself hoping it was him.
And each time, I was disappointed.
I really couldn't keep pretending I didn't care whether he came or not.
"Excuse me! Do you have any of that special coffee left? I heard it temporarily boosts your stamina!"
Another customer rushed inside, looking slightly out of breath.
I blinked, caught off guard by his question.
"W-What?"
"The special drink! I heard there's a coffee here that boosts your stamina, but apparently, it sells out pretty quickly."
I stared at him.
I wasn't sure what special drink he was talking about, but if he was asking whether it was sold out, perhaps he meant one of the drinks made with the unusual ingredients Jinhyuk had provided.
"Do you mean Mana Rush?"
I decided to take a guess.
The customer immediately brightened.
"Yes! That's the one! Do you still have any?"
"Oh, yes. We should have a a few left."
"Thank goodness! I'll take two!"
I quickly turned around to prepare his order.
Mana Rush was one of the drinks I'd added to the menu after experimenting with the ingredients in the storage room earlier. I hadn't expected it to become particularly popular, but apparently, word had already spread among the hunters.
The drink had a rich, slightly bitter flavor with a refreshing aftertaste. More importantly, according to the description attached to its ingredients, it could temporarily improve the drinker's stamina.
It wasn't a substitute for a proper stamina potion, of course, but it was considerably cheaper and much easier to consume.
I placed the two cups on the counter.
"Here you go. Two Mana Rushes."
"Thank you!"
The man grabbed his drinks and hurried off.
I watched him leave before glancing at the remaining orders.
Just how many hunters had heard about this drink?
I had only been open for a single day, yet it seemed like the café was already gaining a reputation.
Perhaps I should prepare a larger batch tomorrow.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
Over the past few days, the café had grown far more popular than I had ever expected. Hunters from across the guild, along with ordinary civilians, had begun visiting to see what all the fuss was about.
And as the café's reputation grew, so did my own.
After all, I was the only one who knew how to prepare the special coffee.
Over the past few days, the café's popularity had exceeded my expectations. Hunters from all over the guild, along with ordinary civilians, had begun visiting after hearing about the place.
As the café's reputation grew, so did my own.
One of the main reasons was the special coffee I served. The ingredients used to make them came from dungeons, supplied by the guild whenever they acquired materials they had no particular use for. Since the ingredients were so unusual, not many people knew how to handle them, let alone turn them into something delicious.
Fortunately, I had somehow managed to figure out how to use them. And as far as I knew, I was the only one capable of making those special drinks.
I do share some of these ingredients with the alchemy team, so I have very limited special drinks.
But that makes it much more valuable and now the line is so long people are even waiting outside.
It was a bit pressuring honestly, but I was glad to see people enjoy my coffee.
"Excuse me, do you still have more Mana Rush?" One of the customers asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry. We're sold out of those. These are the only drinks we have available today."
I handed him a physical copy of the menu, which listed everything we could still serve.
Unfortunately, most of the items had a small SOLD OUT sticker placed beside them.
At this point, regular coffee was practically all we had left to offer. It was true that many hunters came here specifically for the special drinks, but that didn't mean they would leave empty-handed just because they weren't available.
After all, they were still Koreans. A good cup of coffee was always welcome, special ingredients or not.
By the time noon rolled around, the café had finally quieted down. Some customers had even given up and left after learning that the special coffees were sold out.
Just when I thought I could finally catch my breath, three women walked through the entrance, immediately drawing the attention of everyone inside.
Conversations quieted, and heads began turning in their direction. Whispers soon followed.
"Isn't that the Baekhwa sisters? What are they doing here?"
"I didn't think this café had become so famous that even Baekhwa's guild master would visit in person."
They weren't exactly whispering discreetly, so I caught every word. And somehow, that only made me more nervous.
As the three approached the counter, the woman in front offered me a small, confident smile. I returned it politely, but as she came closer, I finally got a better look at her face.
Wait...
Wasn't she the woman who had appeared in that article with Han Jinhyuk?
I stared at her for a moment, then glanced at the two women accompanying her.
Could she really be...?