“Did we really sell this much…?”
The manager of Idaya Store couldn’t help but be shocked when they saw the day’s sales. At first, when they introduced Starlight Coffee Beans, a lot of people came, but now it was on a whole different level. The reason was that the headquarters was actively holding events. The employees, who had worked hard all day, were already completely worn out. They had dealt with an unimaginable number of people today. Of course, the manager, who considered themselves a reasonable person, thought about giving the employees a bonus for their hard work.
Normally, a typical café’s daily sales would be around 400,000 to 500,000 won. Most people who came to the café were just stopping by to relax for a bit. And since most customers used the tables, once they ordered a coffee, they would usually sit and chat for about 30 minutes to an hour.
In other words, there was a physical limit to how many people could be served when selling coffee. There were some who took their coffee to go, but the majority of café visitors came to use the tables. But now, it was different.
Most customers were taking their orders to go. There were still some who used the tables, but even with a notice posted in front of the café stating that only takeout was available due to the large number of people, customers were still swarming in. The event had an effect, but no matter how you looked at it, the coffee made from Starlight Coffee Beans was just too delicious, creating a synergy effect. If it didn’t taste good, no matter how many events were held, there would be a limit to how many people would come. Of course, if they were giving away billions like a lottery, people would swarm in, but the event prizes this time weren’t that extravagant.
“Almost 2 million won…!”
This was evidence that they had sold 4 to 5 times more than usual. The manager’s lips curled into a grin, and they were beaming. They had barely any ingredients left, which showed just how much coffee they had sold. The manager was anxiously watching, wondering if they should close early. They had already run out of the coffee beans received from the headquarters. Despite having been told that they had been given a generous amount, even the employees at the headquarters hadn’t anticipated this number of customers.
At this rate, they could aim for 60 million won in monthly sales. This was an unimaginable amount under normal circumstances. Of course, it might seem like selling one cup of coffee would bring in a lot of profit, but in reality, the profit from selling one cup wasn’t much.
The cost of raw materials wasn’t high, but when you added rent, labor costs, and other interior renovation expenses, there wasn’t much left. Cafés often operated on a high-volume, low-margin basis. And with this level of sales, there would be a decent profit. If coffee sold like this every day, the manager could become rich. After all, aside from the fixed costs of a few million won per month, the more they sold, the more profit they made. Selling more didn’t increase the fixed costs.
“Manager, how much did we make today?”
While the manager was calculating the sales, the manager who had worked hard all day asked out of curiosity. They were sure that sales were much higher than usual, but they wanted to see exactly how much.
The manager showed the sales screen to the manager. After all, it was obvious, so there was no point in hiding it.
“We made this much today.”
“Wow… we really sold a lot… Manager, I thought my arms were going to fall off from making so much coffee today.”
The manager waved their arms around as they spoke. As they said, the number of coffees they made today must have easily exceeded a few hundred. It was amazing they hadn’t run away. They were so worn out from serving one customer after another.
“I’ll make sure to give you a bonus later.”
“Okay~”
But the manager couldn’t have known. The number of customers visiting the café would only increase, not decrease.
—————————————————————————–
The scenery of a dewy grass forest greeted them. Linea had suddenly found herself here while sleeping. She wanted to return to where the World Tree was, but unfortunately, the mana concentration in this dimension’s atmosphere was very low. Of course, being near the World Tree would allow her to use mana even if there was none, but there was nothing here. Only pitch-black darkness surrounded her.
‘Dimensional travel…?’
A look of dismay crossed Linea’s face. Dimensional travel wasn’t an impossible magic. It was a magic developed by her seniors to find the World Tree in another dimension. But realistically, it was a magic with an impossible probability, something only theoretically studied.
Trying to find the World Tree by randomly moving through dimensions without precise coordinates was like dropping a needle somewhere in the world and being told to find it. There could be thousands, even billions of dimensions, and the probability of pinpointing the exact one where the World Tree resides was beyond imagination.
The amount of mana required was also unimaginable. Linea, still young, wouldn’t even have the strength to cast magic without the World Tree’s help.
Feeling the need to escape, Linea began to move slowly. Away from the World Tree, she was essentially defenseless. She couldn’t use the magic her mentor had taught her, and she had no idea when a monster might snatch her up.
Just then, Linea’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of footsteps. The crunching of grass underfoot made her eyes widen, and she quickly started running in the opposite direction. But her small, delicate frame didn’t allow for long strides.
“Huff… huff…”
The footsteps were getting closer. Judging by the sound, the creature wasn’t very large. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake off the pursuer. Her breathing grew heavier, and her pace began to slow.
To make matters worse, the footsteps that had been coming from one side were now surrounding her. It was clear she was being encircled. Escape was no longer an option. Feeling despair, Linea gathered the last bit of mana left in her body for one final act of resistance.
She didn’t know what the enemy was, but it seemed intelligent—otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to set up such a trap. With a cold ice spear in hand, Linea raised her arm, ready to throw it at whatever was approaching.
But the enemy was faster. The moment Linea sensed movement behind her, she was already subdued.
“@%%##@”
Something was being said, but to Linea, it was incomprehensible alien language.
*Clink.*
The moment something cold and metallic clicked around her neck, Linea lost consciousness.
‘World Tree…’
Her last thought was a lament for her own incompetence in failing to assist the World Tree.
—
Park Deok-gu felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. When he sensed something inside the Gate, it felt like he’d experienced this before.
Through the communicator on his ear, Park Deok-gu spoke up.
“Guys, I’ve spotted a small lifeform ahead. Judging by the mana levels, it doesn’t seem dangerous, but stay cautious anyway.”
[Got it.]
It was a low-risk Gate, after all. The chances of Park Deok-gu and his team getting hurt were practically zero. And the excitement of encountering an intelligent lifeform after so long was hard for the team to hide.
Hana, who had discovered this lifeform, hadn’t encountered anything intelligent in a while. Apart from worm-like creatures and moving plants, the recent lifeforms they’d met lacked any real intelligence.
Following their training, the team quickly closed in and subdued the target. Judging by the pointed ears, it seemed to be an elf with some kind of identification code. Normally, they wouldn’t have been so forceful, but seeing the ice spear summoned by the elf, Park Deok-gu ordered a swift takedown to avoid any potential harm to the team.
With their high-level skills, Park Deok-gu and his team weren’t likely to be hurt by something as basic as an ice spear, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Boss, carrying her like that makes it look like we’re kidnapping her, doesn’t it?”
One of the team members joked as they watched Park Deok-gu carry the unconscious elf under his arm.
“Yeah, you’re right. We *are* kidnapping her, aren’t we?”
Another chimed in, lightening the mood. There was no tension in the air—after all, this was a C-rank Gate. For veterans who’d faced A-rank Gates, staying tense here was no easy task.
