Chapter 7
Maybe I’m a Genius…?
Her racing heart wouldn’t calm down. The Sori of yesterday and the Sori of today were completely different people.
Yesterday, she was just a regular part-timer. Today, she was an awakened person who had even taken over a restaurant.
And now she was even gaining skills—there wasn’t much to fear.
Please use the Random Skill Draw Ticket.
This message made Sori even more excited. She threw her arms up.
“Use!”
Watching her, John scolded from behind.
“Why is the restaurant owner acting so hyper?”
He meant she should maintain some dignity. But there was no one else around, so why bother? Sori ignored him.
The Random Skill Draw has begun!
- Word of Mouth Is My Happiness (C)
—If one customer is satisfied, five more will hear about it. - Joyful Service (D)
—A single word can make a customer happy. - Value of Cooking (A)
—Customers give unlimited tips and leave.
Several skill names appeared and disappeared rapidly before her eyes. The ones Sori could roughly read were the ones above.
“Wow. Amazing. I want ‘Value of Cooking’!”
At the word tip, Sori swallowed hard. If she got that skill, becoming rich would only be a matter of time.
Then, purely by chance, the motion stopped on Value of Cooking (A).
No way… are they really going to give me that skill? Sori swelled with anticipation.
But then—
Skill: Value of Cooking (A) cannot be used at your current awakening level. Redrawing…
“Whoa, what? Then why was it even an option? They teased me!”
The skill selection window spun again and finally landed on Joyful Service (D).
Congratulations!
You have acquired the skill: Joyful Service (D)!
In the end, the most mundane option was drawn.
“Just ‘Joyful Service’?”
Her expectations had been too high. It would help with the quest that had just appeared, though.
At least Word of Mouth didn’t get drawn. Sori felt a small sense of relief. If one customer is satisfied, five more will hear about it? What kind of terrifying skill is that?
She imagined getting rich easily: one customer comes, pays for ten meals, and leaves. From the moment she saw Value of Cooking, her mind wandered into fantasies of effortless wealth.
“Value of Cooking would be amazing. Just take one team of customers a day and close the restaurant.”
What a sweet life that would be.
But reality…
Sori looked down at the squeaky wooden floor.
How was she supposed to level up like this? She sighed. To level up, she’d probably have to start with interior renovations. Monster meat or whatever else didn’t matter…
“Ah, wait a minute.”
She had forgotten something important. “Hey, John!” she shouted, spinning around.
“What was that thing you mentioned earlier?”
John had said something scary, but what exactly?
“I mean, you said there’s a way to get monster meat. What was it?”
John shrugged.
“Do you want me to review it? How to get monster meat. First, buy it from the Hunter Market.”
“Not that one!”
“Why are you so impatient? I was about to say. Second, catch the monsters directly in a dungeon.”
Of course. Catching monsters in a dungeon.
“Really? But I’m not even a hunter. How am I supposed to catch monsters in a dungeon? Does that make sense?”
“You’re awakened now, so what can’t you do?”
“It’s way too dangerous. And all my skills are restaurant-related.”
She couldn’t risk her life just to run a restaurant. Sori furrowed her brows.
“Any other way? Monster meat’s way too expensive at the Hunter Market. The numbers don’t add up.”
“Then just raise the prices, right?”
“You’re supposed to be my assistant!”
Frustrated at the lack of progress, Sori snapped.
“Who’s going to sell you monsters they don’t want at a low price? Think about it, tsk tsk.”
John chastised her while combing his imaginary thorns. He was right—but there was no way around it. Did she really have to use monster meat? The thought of changing the menu flickered in her mind.
“Fine. Then just change the menu, right?”
Who cares if I don’t use monster meat? Set the prices normal like everywhere else.
Hmm…
Warning!
The Happiness Restaurant is currently too low-level. Menu changes are not possible.
“What? I can’t even change the menu as I like?”
The phrase too low-level bothered her. Wait… do restaurants even have levels?
“Restaurant stats screen!”
She summoned it just in case.
Happiness Restaurant (Lv.1)
- Interior: 3
- Visibility: 2
- Environment: 1
“It really exists?”
Then a new window covered her vision again.
Happiness Restaurant can now level up. Would you like to level up?
Oh, a level-up. If she leveled up, the interior would improve too. She felt her excitement swell. Finally, this hundred-year-old decrepit place would be freed from its ancient wear and tear!
“Of course I will!”
But things didn’t happen as she expected.
Happiness Restaurant has reached Lv.2!
—Directly connected to the dungeon. Now customers can visit straight from the dungeon.
Remaining stat points: 2
“Connected directly to the dungeon?”
Leveling up brought… something worse? The restaurant was already right next to a dungeon, but still. She hadn’t wanted a situation where opening the door meant instant dungeon access. What was going on? Sori was flustered.
So that means monsters could come in directly from the dungeon, right?
And more customers would come too.
“At least… I can still leave work, right?”
Right? Even for a self-run business, leaving work was important. She worried that dungeon visitors could come at any time and prevent her from clocking out.
“Tsk tsk. When business hours are over, the dungeon will no longer be connected. Don’t you know such obvious rules? Truly a pathetic awakened one.”
John clicked his tongue and shook his head. His small hands remained arrogantly crossed.
“Hmph!”
Ignoring her wide-open mouth, John continued.
“Go ahead, assign your stat points.”
“Fine, alright.”
Sori muttered, irritated, and called up the stats screen again.
She couldn’t tolerate the century-old shabby interior any longer, so she decided to spend all points on the interior.
“Interior +2.”
Interior points increased to 5!
As soon as the window appeared, the restaurant began to shake.
At first, she thought it was an earthquake, but soon the creaky floor turned into smooth wood, and the tables were… well, repainted with fresh colors, making her heart race with excitement.
The rickety chairs became new, and even the tattered curtains were replaced with brand-new ones.
“Wow. This is a level-up.”
Awakened people really were different. To be able to affect the building itself… She couldn’t wait to see how it would change further.
Curious if there were more changes, Sori absentmindedly opened the storage room—and was confronted with a new scene.
“What the…? Wasn’t this the storage room?”
A green meadow stretched out before her, under a gray sky.
Slime (F)
Slime (F)
The storage room was gone. In its place, creatures with the word Slime floating above them ran around. Monsters, actually.
“John! John!”
Sori urgently called for John. One slime noticed her and charged.
“Ah! Don’t come!”
Gripped by fear, she swung her arms wildly and hit the slime.
The slime died.
“…Huh?”
A system window appeared, one she hadn’t noticed before.
Welcome to the Tutorial Dungeon! Train as much as you like.
—S-rank monsters will soon be yours as well.
Kim Seonghun had a friend who was an S-rank hunter. Though they belonged to different guilds, they had done raids together a few times.
That friend had originally been A-rank upon awakening but, through harsh training, had reached S-rank.
Such cases were extremely rare. Increasing one’s awakening rank was extraordinarily difficult.
People around them clapped and congratulated him, but Seonghun felt sympathy instead. How much dedication must have gone into training?
The friend had said they didn’t want to devote themselves entirely to a hunter’s life. A-rank was enough. Seonghun agreed.
But his outlook on life changed after that day.
[Did you guys really break up?]
His friend spoke about the breakup calmly, and Seonghun asked several times, surprised.
They had bickered, but he never expected them to actually break up.
His friend didn’t answer, just kept drinking. Seonghun had nothing to say.
[Here! Just one pancake, please.]
His friend smiled weakly. That night, they drank until dawn, moving from place to place, ending at his friend’s apartment.
Seonghun laid his friend on the bed and glanced at a photo on the desk—photos with the “ex” girlfriend, not yet put away.
He had never spoken directly with the couple, but remembered seeing them walk together. He thought they made a good pair.
I wish I had a girlfriend like that.
The thought came naturally. The round forehead visible through the hair was particularly pretty.
The photo really does match reality.
And so, he left his friend’s apartment.
That was already two and a half years ago. Three years, maybe.
Both Seonghun and his friend had since forgotten about it—at least until today.
Seonghun came to the Happiness Restaurant, located next to the first Capcha dungeon, for the first time in months.
Having just come out of the dungeon, he was starving and exhausted.
At first, he thought he must be seeing things.
I didn’t break up with her… this is weird.
He couldn’t imagine his girlfriend, whom he thought was working at a company, serving in a restaurant.
But as he ate and regained his senses, he became more and more certain.
It was her voice—the exact same one he had heard passing by!
Seonghun’s heart raced as he debated whether to ask her. Finally, he made up his mind, handed over a card, and spoke.
“Um…”
But once he started speaking, he wondered if he really should ask.
It’s been years… what right do I have, not being directly involved…
“Yes?”
She, not understanding, waited for him to continue.
“Ah, never mind.”
He closed his mouth.
“Thank you for the meal!”
And with that sincere final greeting, he hurriedly left the restaurant.
“Although they said they can’t cook… this is actually tasty.”
Outside, Seonghun muttered to himself. He pulled out his phone and pressed the call button.
“Hey, Gijun. Are you free today?”
—Did you just get out of the dungeon?
“Yeah. Almost died, man. I was starving. So, um… since we just came out of the dungeon, want to grab dinner together?”
He was trying to casually ask the person directly.
