Chapter 17
The Happiness Restaurant That Needs Care
Even though we lived under the same Seoul sky, it had been years since we last ran into each other.
Before we broke up, we would bump into each other even if we just went to the supermarket for groceries.
But after breaking up, maybe because we deliberately avoided each other, we never crossed paths even once. And since we weren’t in the same line of work, it was even less likely.
But… was my desire too much?
I hadn’t never imagined meeting again, but the thought crossed my mind. Sori recalled the smirk on Gijun’s face.
We could have reunited gracefully without that sneer.
But that didn’t mean I had the confidence to act as if nothing had happened.
I pressed my palm to my forehead.
I still remembered the expression Gijun wore when he suggested breaking up—a face that seemed to say, “Is this nonsense?” At the end, he expressed anger.
If we met again, should I smile? Should I apologize?
Or should I keep an angry expression, just like the last time?
A small, bitter laugh escaped me.
Still, there was no need to mock him outright like that, right?
“Ah, thinking about it again, it pisses me off.”
Sori washed his face while still sitting down.
Praying that they wouldn’t meet again, he finally stood up.
“Shall we get back to work? First, let’s check the balance.”
Balance: 900 Gold
Still, thanks to that, the balance had reached an all-time high.
“Ah, I forgot there was a reward I didn’t get earlier.”
Looking around for a suitable chair, Sori sat down leisurely and claimed the reward from completing the urgent quest.
You have gained 150 EXP!
You have received 1 Armor Exchange Voucher!
Hidden Reward: 1 Master Key!
His eyes were drawn to the words “Hidden Reward.” Now that he thought about it, there had been a question mark in the reward section.
“What’s a Master Key?”
He was more curious about the Master Key than the Armor Exchange Voucher.
“John, what’s a Master Key?”
He asked John, who was trimming his thorns. John answered nonchalantly.
“I don’t even know myself.”
“Really? You seem to not know a lot of things.”
“Am I a walking library? Well… that’s not a bad thought, though.”
John seriously pondered the idea of himself being a library.
“Ugh, forget it. I’ll just ask the system. Master Key description.”
Master Key
—Allows you to exit to any dungeon at any time.
“To any dungeon? Really?”
Sori jumped up. So with this Master Key, there’s no need to leave the tutorial dungeon door open anymore!
“John! Now I can go into any dungeon I want. With this key alone!”
John yawned.
“Oh. So we won’t have to deal with monsters wandering around the restaurant anymore?”
“Of course not.”
“You haven’t forgotten the Mighty Strawberry, right?”
“What?”
John held out his small hand.
“Behold! With this tiny hand, I saved the restaurant and your life!”
He was exaggerating the story of closing the storage door.
“So you fully deserve the Mighty Strawberry.”
…Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Alright, fine.”
“Shall I also buy you a house?”
John’s eyes sparkled as he asked.
“Hmm…”
Sori hesitated. The balance was 900 Gold, but a house cost 200 Gold.
Plus, the revenue wasn’t stable yet. But now that he had the Master Key, he could go into the tutorial dungeon and gather resources.
“Alright!”
Sori answered confidently.
“That much I can do.”
“You’re a reliable partner after all.”
John said arrogantly.
“But what happened with that S-rank Hunter earlier?”
Sori was surprised at the personal question. John could ask personal questions too?
“What do you mean?”
“Earlier, you and your friend came directly, didn’t you?”
“Oh. By the way, do you even know who Gijun is?”
He thought John only knew system-related things, but he apparently had other knowledge too.
“Of course I know. Isn’t he South Korea’s number one ranked?”
“Why the sudden English? Anyway… he’s just an ex-boyfriend.”
“Ex-boyfriend?”
“Yeah, ex-boyfriend.”
John froze.
“Why that reaction?”
Had he said something wrong? At that moment, John pressed his forehead and shook his head in disbelief.
“You actually date people!”
“…”
John had just underestimated Sori.
The promise to buy John a 200 Gold house was temporarily canceled the next day.
<Business Closed>
As soon as the sign was posted, the system window blocked Sori’s view.
Warning
There is a problem in the restaurant!
“A problem? What problem all of a sudden?”
The Happiness Restaurant needs care!
Vines are infested with pests! Pesticide is required.
Bagrit is too hungry. How about a tasty Aether Cake?
The sculpture relief needs nourishing resin for sculpting. Its edges are corroding!
“What the hell is this?”
It seemed that leveling up the restaurant and assigning stats had caused this.
“You allocated them to interior and environment, right?”
That caused sculpture relief to appear, vines to grow… even a tiny garden next to the door.
What he had thought of as elegant and satisfying changes had now caused problems!
And what was Bagrit talking about?
“John, what’s Bagrit?”
“That little thing growing by the door is Bagrit.”
“A plant? A plant eats cake?”
“Are you underestimating plants?”
“No, that’s not it…”
He closed his mouth. In a world where the gates are open, what’s really strange anymore? Best to focus on what can be done.
“John. The vines have pests.”
“Oh. Finally. Then we just need to buy the medicine.”
John was calm.
“At the Hunter Market?”
“Of course. The Mighty Strawberry is always heavenly to eat!”
Sighing at John, who was mesmerized by the Mighty Strawberry, Sori opened the Hunter Market.
“So I can buy everything there, right? Pesticide, Aether Cake, and nourishing resin for the sculpture?”
Pesticide. Price: 250 Gold
Aether Cake: 600 Gold
Nourishing Resin for Sculpting: 1000 Gold
“…Why is it so expensive?”
All together, 1850 Gold. With only 850 Gold left after buying the Mighty Strawberry, it was far from enough.
“Wow. Crazy. The restaurant’s a money-eating hippo.”
He vowed never to randomly allocate stats after leveling up again.
Since he couldn’t avoid buying, he purchased pesticide and Aether Cake first.
Balance: 0 Gold
He sprayed pesticide on the vines and placed the Aether Cake on Bagrit’s leaves.
Bagrit’s flower was its mouth. The petals opened wide and wrapped around the cake, swallowing it.
—Nom nom.
Bagrit ate the Aether Cake with the happiest sound in the world.
“Plants eating cake… what a wonderful world.”
A system window popped up.
Congratulations! All pests are gone.
Please claim your reward.
Congratulations! Bagrit is no longer hungry!
Please claim your reward.
“Phew. There’s even a reward? That’s a relief.”
He hadn’t bought the nourishing resin yet… He planned to make up the remaining money from the tutorial dungeon and claimed the reward.
You gained 5 Gold from the vines!
You gained 5 Gold from Bagrit!
The end.
Who’s messing with me now?
He regretted buying the Aether Cake. Sori was thinking.
Why was a hungry plant such a big problem? Well, if the leaves wilted, that would be a problem too.
But then, a byproduct bag cost 300 Gold, Aether Cake 600 Gold. Handling a wilted Bagrit might be cheaper, right?
“Despising life shall be punished!”
John stopped Sori’s thoughts in a tone fit for scripture.
“Ah, fine. I already bought it and fed it, Aether Cake or whatever.”
“Why did you feed it something so expensive?”
John widened his eyes.
“…The system told me to feed it that.”
“That’s the highest grade.”
“Highest grade…?”
Had he been tricked? Heart racing, Sori reopened the Hunter Market.
Ba-ei-grit
Feeding options for Bagrit:
Aether Jelly. Price: 50 Gold
Aether Soup. Price: 70 Gold
Aether Cookie. Price: 60 Gold
“…Argh, this pisses me off again!”
He would no longer just follow the system blindly. Sori’s hands trembled.
“600 Gold could buy two Goblin Skewers… four Bird Stews…”
Meanwhile, another system window appeared.
Guests want the highest-grade dishes as much as Bagrit!
Now is the time to serve the boss. Increase the guests’ mood by +90 with boss meat.
Quest: Defeat the Boss Monster (0/1)
Time limit: 1 week
Reward: 5000 Gold, 500 EXP, Cooking Skill (???)
Failure: Restaurant reputation -10
A quest! And this time, money was involved!
“5000 Gold? Just for defeating the boss?”
Five thousand Gold?
He wasn’t ready to face a boss yet, so he had just been storing special utensils.
Sori thought: Now that I have the Master Key, I can go to the tutorial dungeon, gather byproducts, and maybe even defeat the boss… That should work.
He also worried about losing 10 reputation points if he failed. Right now it’s 0… what happens if it goes negative?
‘Happiness Restaurant sucks.’
Maybe bad reviews like that would flood in. Sori shook his head.
No way.
‘If I freeze and grill, it should be fine.’
The thought of 5000 Gold gave him confidence. Just imagining selling the byproducts made his mouth water.
A day had passed since Gijun and the others left the restaurant, and no new guests had arrived.
“Three roasted slime….”
The anxiety of possibly needing to buy byproduct bags crept in.
Thus, his motivation to embark on the quest was suddenly complete.
‘Let’s get rich too.’
“Alright. John! I’m heading to the tutorial dungeon.”
“For what purpose?”
“A quest popped up. They give money if you defeat the boss.”
“Hm. There shouldn’t be a boss in the tutorial dungeon.”
“It’s a dungeon; why wouldn’t there be? Anyway, I’ll go. Keep watch here.”
“Hmm. Practicing a bit there isn’t bad either.”
Click.
The sound of the key turning and Sori disappeared outside.
John lay on the table, licking the fruits he held in both hands.
“The bananas are sweet today.”
Today’s fruit obsession for John was bananas.
