Chapter 01
On the outskirts of the capital of the Kingdom of Jenon, there was one very famous café.
Its name was “Yonggari Café.”
It was so well known that not only nobles but even commoners in the Kingdom of Jenon had heard of it. Because of that, the café was always packed with customers.
One thing in particular made the café famous: the notice board boldly posted on the front door.
Customers are welcome! Come on in!
However, troublesome customers whose names are written below are banned from entry!
The owner of this bold café was Leila Token.
She was currently raking in money from the Kingdom of Jenon.
But she had one secret.
You are exerting influence over the world!
Current Influence: 57%
World Restoration Rate: 30%
*Attract more customers.
*If influence falls below 50%, a debuff will occur.
“This was supposed to be a game about rebuilding a failed café…!”
Yet somehow, she was saving a dying world.
That single sentence was the beginning of everything.
“Is there any fun part-time job game? Can you recommend one?”
Those words I casually said while asking my friend for a game recommendation.
“Hey, you already work like crazy. Why are you even asking for a game like that?”
Calling me strange as usual, my friend recommended a popular game that had been doing well lately.
It was called [Grandma Basha’s Café].
I immediately looked up reviews of the game.
People said the NPCs were charming, the mascot was cute, and the mini-games shown in ads were fun. There were tons of positive reviews.
“Wow, there are 59,000 reviews, and the overall rating is 4.7 stars? That’s insane.”
The promotional images also showed a romance-fantasy-style setting.
Just from looking at it, I could tell how much effort the developers had put into the game.
‘This actually looks worth playing.’
At the very least, it seemed perfect for stress relief.
A way to briefly escape from my trash-like reality.
‘Lie down for a bit, then go to the convenience store shift at dawn…’
Ah, right. Café part-time job in the morning. And today, I also had an afternoon tutoring grading job.
Work, work, and more work.
The reason I was living like this, despite being fresh out of school, was obvious.
The eldest daughter of a desperately poor family.
Parents who passed away leaving behind massive debt.
And a younger sibling who was still immature.
A sad but familiar story of someone forced to work day and night just to pay off debt, interest, and living expenses.
That someone was me.
Because of that, I had done everything from part-time café work to small side jobs like attaching eyes to dolls.
There was nothing I hadn’t tried. Nosebleeds every morning were normal, and days when I slept properly were rare.
But the hardest thing to endure was this:
‘Even after working this much, my bank account is still in the negative.’
That was why I suddenly asked for a game recommendation.
At least in a game, I could watch money pile up as I worked. I wanted that kind of satisfaction, even if it was fake.
So without much thought, I tapped the download button.
The game file was pretty large, so it took a while.
After what felt like two hours, the download finished, and I launched the game on my phone.
I thought I could start playing right away, but—
“Of course.”
As if a game would ever run without additional downloads.
What appeared was a loading screen decorated with typical tycoon-game-style animations.
At the top of the screen, the game title was written in a cute font. Below it stood a kind-looking grandmother with a hamster sitting on her shoulder.
By the way—
“The graphics are good.”
That’s actually important.
Even though I hadn’t played yet, I felt satisfied and tapped the loading screen lightly.
Text popped up at the bottom of the screen.
“Yeah, this wouldn’t be complete without it.”
It was a TIP! to make the game more fun.
I started reading the tips one by one.
[Be careful not to run out of energy!]
[You can obtain ingredients directly through farming!]
[If you need help, call the all-purpose helper Hugh!]
[You can buy useful items through the shop.]
[You can actively interact with the residents of the Kingdom of Jenon.]
And so on.
They were similar to tips from other tycoon games.
Some lines even felt like game characters were speaking directly.
“Oh, nice attention to detail.”
Were there more tips?
I tapped the screen again.
At that moment—
Flash!
The loading screen disappeared, and a bright light burst out from my phone.
It was so intense that I couldn’t even open my eyes properly.
This was way too much light for just a game screen.
So I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
Without knowing what was happening.
***
“You’ve arrived, my granddaughter!”
At the unfamiliar voice, I snapped my eyes open.
And what I saw was—
“…Huh?”
A kind, smiling face.
Standing right in front of me was Grandma Basha, the same grandmother I had seen over and over on the loading screen.
‘…What is going on?’
Why was Grandma Basha right in front of me?
Did I fall asleep? Was this a dream?
Unable to believe the situation, I blinked repeatedly.
I shut my eyes tightly, opened them again, and even rubbed them hard with my hands.
But Grandma Basha was still there.
I even pinched my cheek, wondering if it was a dream.
“Ow!”
It hurt.
Which meant this wasn’t a dream.
‘…Then what is this?’
Was this that possession thing people always talk about?
But usually, people possess characters in romance fantasy novels and end up with the male lead!
Or they possess a game they’ve already played to death!
‘Then why me…?’
Why did I possess a tycoon game I had just finished downloading?
Looking at the situation… yes. I had clearly possessed the game.
But it still felt unreal, so I scratched my head with a blank expression.
Grandma Basha clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“Oh dear, was the journey too tiring? The child’s completely lost it.”
“……”
“Get a grip, Leila!”
Her loud shout rang in my head.
That finally snapped me back to reality.
As soon as my expression changed, Grandma Basha began speaking rapidly, as if she had been waiting.
“Leila, my granddaughter. There’s a mountain of work you need to do, so please keep your head on straight.
I’m worried you’ll get scammed somewhere at this rate…”
As I listened quietly, one word stuck in my ears.
“…Granddaughter?”
Granddaughter?
I didn’t see anything about that in the reviews.
What was she talking about?
Confused, I blinked rapidly. Grandma Basha looked at me with disbelief and shook her head.
“Still half asleep? Tsk tsk.”
“……”
“You are my granddaughter, Leila Token.”
“…What?”
“And I am your grandmother, Basha Token. My health has worsened, so I planned to leave the café to you and return to my hometown to recover…
But what happened to my clever granddaughter?”
She looked at me with worried eyes.
After letting out a long sigh, she gently patted my shoulder.
“You remember that you’re going to run the café in my place from now on, right?”
As her voice echoed in my head—
“…Huh?”
My gaze was naturally drawn to the building behind her.
As if someone had planned it that way.
“…This is insane.”
Was I really seeing this?
That building looked like it would collapse if I touched it.
I couldn’t believe my eyes and looked around.
In the vast open land, the only thing that could be called a café was that completely ruined building.
It looked like it had once been two stories tall, but the roof was nowhere to be seen.
The outer walls were full of deep cracks.
And despite everything falling apart, a broken café sign hung pitifully, as if stubbornly insisting it was still a café.
The entrance door was completely gone, exposing the inside.
The interior was even worse than the outside.
It looked like the building had been flooded… or maybe a monster had grabbed and shaken it violently.
It wasn’t even worthy of being called an abandoned building.
‘It wasn’t this bad in the game screenshots or reviews…
Isn’t this a scam…?
Is this what they call possession fraud?’
Even if I tried really hard to think of it as trendy exposed-concrete interior design, this was absolutely not it.
I alternated my gaze between Grandma Basha and the ruined building, completely stunned.
Then—
Ding!
A sound rang out, and a status window appeared in front of my eyes.
***
Main Quest
Run the café in place of Basha!
- Turn the building in front of you into the best café in the Kingdom of Jenon within one year.
Reward: Survival
Failure: Death
