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Chapter : 24
What on earth just happened?
I was still completely bewildered. I couldn’t even ask why I’d been brought all the way here.
The young man who had led me here had already vanished.
I was enchanted.
There was no other way to explain it. I’d been utterly, completely enchanted.
“I’m not usually someone without caution, either…”
Just who exactly was that young man?
After the initial shock, I’d strangely grown calm.
Could I say that even I had experienced a moment when a god passed through my life? It was a line I’d heard in some drama once.
If there really was such a moment for me, then maybe this was it.
Hadn’t I, in my own way, crossed paths with the owner of this divine presence?
“It seems you really liked the coffee, God.”
I plopped down in front of the massive statue, which was emitting a faint glow.
Even though the temple had been opened to the public, the inner sanctum where the statue stood wasn’t accessible yet.
The large cracks had all been repaired, but small ones still remained. It was irreverent to think this way, but they felt more like everyday scratches.
I’d overheard people saying this area would be opened later. Perhaps that was why there were no priests guarding the statue right now.
Or maybe… it had been arranged so that no one would be here.
I gazed at the statue in awe.
“A divine statue really is a divine statue.”
The gentle light flowing from it somehow made my heart feel reverent as well. I’d never really believed in gods before—life alone had been hard enough.
And yet, wanting to believe in that light, in the existence of a god…
…might be because my life after transmigrating had been surprisingly pleasant.
I no longer had to live with the constant pressure of debt hanging over me.
I did worry about the younger sister I’d left behind, but…
I can’t stay by her side forever.
It was probably time for her to live on her own.
I shrugged lightly and adjusted my posture. Since I’d come all this way, I figured I might as well offer a proper prayer.
I knelt and clasped my hands together.
That was when it happened.
Flash!
The light flowing from the statue suddenly flared brightly.
And at the same time—
Ding!
??’s Arrangement
– Pray.
Reward: Coffee Machine
Failure: ^%$#
A quest window appeared.
“…What is this?”
All I wanted to do was pray once, and a quest popped up.
Since even the tutorial had been tied to the temple, maybe this was a preplanned quest.
But—
“Why is this broken?”
Part of the text in the quest window was corrupted—specifically the failure description. Until now, I’d never seen a system window with glitched text.
And maybe it was just my imagination, but the quest window looked blurry. I had to strain my eyes just to read it clearly.
It felt as if the intense light from the statue was now coming from the quest window itself.
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again and reread the quest.
The objective was extremely simple.
Pray.
Exactly what I’d been about to do anyway.
But—
“…You’re really giving this?”
The reward was anything but simple.
Even Millen had said that a coffee machine was a high-difficulty item that required 1,000 diamonds.
He’d even warned me that it might not be possible to make at all—or that it could take decades—his words still echoed in my ears.
“And you’re just giving me a coffee machine?”
Sure, I had to pray first, but still…
“This is basically the same as giving it away.”
There was no way this game was supposed to be this easy.
With a deeply suspicious look, I stared hard at the quest window.
No matter how much I glared at it, nothing changed. Even if the quest itself was bugged, the contents and reward didn’t seem to be.
Which meant I only had one choice.
“God, I will pray right away!”
Offering a sincere prayer for the sake of a coffee machine.
I straightened my posture, which had been disturbed by the sudden quest, and tightly closed my eyes.
I’d never really believed in a god, but that didn’t mean I’d never prayed before.
I’d prayed dozens of times—during desperate, life-or-death moments.
So praying itself wasn’t difficult.
“God, thank you for granting me the daily necessities. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to serve more customers. I also have experience working at busy franchise cafés, you know. So even if thirty people rush in at once… as long as I have the coffee machine you personally bestowed upon me, everything will be perfectly fine.”
Thank you. Truly.
I poured my genuine feelings into that prayer. Perhaps my sincerity reached the divine, because the quest window changed.
??’s Arrangement – Success!
– The reward has been delivered to Yonggari Café.
Reward: Coffee Machine
This is it!
I wanted to shout out loud, but it felt like I shouldn’t let anyone find out that I’d entered the area where the statue was.
For some reason, it felt like things would get noisy if I did.
I bowed respectfully to the statue one more time in thanks, then turned and walked away.
Very swiftly.
When I thought I was far enough away, someone suddenly popped out from around a corner of the temple.
It was someone I knew well.
“You were here, Leila.”
It was Millen.
“Millen! You finally came to find me!”
“…For someone who got lost, you’re awfully bold.”
“Ahahaha!”
“And you’re laughing right now?”
“Yes, sir! I was worried sick during my break!”
Hugh’s expression was identical to Millen’s—it was clear he’d been copying Millen’s intimidating look.
I knew I’d done something deserving of scolding, and I knew Millen would nag me, but…
“Come on, everyone. Let’s hug just once!”
I was in such a good mood from my unexpected windfall that I felt like I was floating!
I wrapped my arms tightly around the horrified Millen and the eager Hugh, who had his arms wide open. I could feel Millen’s large body stiffen, but I didn’t let go.
Just for today, this world was mine.
So I didn’t see it.
The light that had been quietly asserting its presence from the statue behind me had grown faint.
* * *
After finishing our outing in the capital, we returned to Yonggari Café.
“Whew, that restaurant was really good, right?”
“So good! How did only Mr. Millen know about a place like that?”
“Maybe he’s been going there alone.”
“Gasp!”
Hugh covered his mouth with both hands and stared at Millen. As if amused by how easily Hugh believed it, Millen lightly tapped Hugh’s head with a finger.
“Hehe, today was so much fun!”
Hugh smiled happily, apparently not even realizing he’d been tapped. I felt the same way.
I got a coffee machine and ate a delicious dinner!
Today was really great.
Whenever things went this well, this stupid game tended to throw some weird quest at me…
No, let’s not think about that.
I’m a coffee machine owner now. I should go check how to use it and start organizing the kitchen.
Why?
Because Freesia—who looked so exhausted it almost made me feel guilty—had brought us some good news.
“Ah, the furniture will be coming in starting tomorrow.”
After dinner, we briefly stopped by Freesia’s furniture shop to check on the progress.
We also had a few things to discuss regarding the interior.
Now that we had a coffee machine, the layout would need to be adjusted as well.
So we chatted with Freesia for a bit, and that’s when we heard it.
“Basic furniture will go in first. I’ll stop by the café tomorrow afternoon—does that work?”
“Of course!”
“Then if we start the interior work tomorrow… it should be finished in about a week. You said you’d open as soon as the furniture’s in, right?”
So that really meant about one week left.
Remembering that conversation, I looked around the still-messy café interior.
We’d slowly cleared away the debris that was difficult to restore, but it still looked cluttered.
Even so, I could already imagine how it would look once it was finished.
Smiling contentedly, I stepped into what used to be the kitchen. Sitting there all by itself was the coffee machine I’d received as a reward earlier.
“Oh…”
It wasn’t one of the models I’d used during my café part-time jobs, but I was still satisfied.
“With this, the coffee quality is guaranteed.”
Shall I start preparing for tomorrow, then?
* * *
And so, time passed quickly…
One week later.
The long-awaited opening day arrived.
