When I had a day off, I was busy just making up for my lack of sleep.
Self-development? Exercising? At the most, the exercise equipment I ordered was tucked away in the closet without even opening the delivery box. Socializing? With only a few friends, I sporadically reported my survival through KakaoTalk.
[You overslept on your day off, but your friend called you to meet them. What will you do?]
Go out to meet the friend.
Ask them to meet next time and continue sleeping.
The answer is undoubtedly number two. Itâs so important to oversleep.
A few more silly questions followed. I donât know the intention of this question, but I chose the answer that I want to rest, relax, and play at all costs. Itâs like a psychological test.
[The test is over] [Check the results]
Finally, the last message appeared on the black screen, and a door suddenly appeared on the wall behind it.
When I was cleaning a while ago, it was definitely a wall with nothing.
âAre you telling me to go in there?â
âŚÂ Gulp.
Even a bluish light leaked from the door. The strange aura, which looks different from the storeâs fluorescent lights, resembled a dungeon gate.
âItâs not like a dungeon, is it?â
In my previous life, Iâve only entered a dungeon once when I was caught in a rift. And the result was death.
If there is a dungeon beyond this door, I never want to enter it. I cannot die again after only a few days have passed since I returned. Moreover, being stabbed in the stomach by a monster was extremely painful. Itâs an experience I donât want to repeat.
I stepped back slowly in front of the door.
But at that moment.
[We are waiting for a visit from the qualified person. Please open the door and check the result.]
A beeping sound came from the television along with the message.
Whatâs more suspicious, the more I stepped backwards, the louder the sound became, and I still could hear it even when I covered my ears.
I shouted, shaking my head with my ears closed.
âOh, Iâm not going! I will not going in!â
I have dungeon trauma, and I am allergic to dungeon, and I am suffering from dungeon phobia. No, you can call it anything. I didnât want to go in there regardless.
[We are waiting for a visit from the qualified person. Please open the door and check the result.]
This time, I heard the voice directly in my head. I was horrified by the strange feeling.
Whatâs beyond that door that keeps telling me to come in?
âShould I report it to the Dungeon Management Office?â
There were several emergency call numbers to urgently report a dungeon. Yes, it is best to leave the dungeon to the Hunter.
However, as soon as I tried to take my cell phone out of my pocket, the floor vibrated with a woooh sound.
ââŚ.Whoaaa!â
I dropped my phone because of that, and it quickly went into a gap out of reach.
There was still a door emitting a bluish light in front of me.
As if entering the door was the only answer given to me.
Er, I donât know anymore. Itâs a place where my grandmother used to live, so itâs probably not something dangerous.
It was scary, but I honestly wondered what the outcome of this strange test was.
All right, once I open the door, and if I think a monster will come out, Iâll run away quickly. I will just take a peek. If I donât think itâs safe, Iâll head out.
Determined to do so, I closed my eyes tightly, opened the door, and went inside.
As soon as I opened the door, a bluish light wrapped around me and the landscape changed.
âUh?â
Only the cold air touched my hand that was holding the doorknob. The door that had been here a while ago was gone.
Huh, Iâm trapped.
It was impossible to head out because there was no door.
That strange television must have tricked me! After all, I should have reported it right away without opening the door ⌠but who would have thought that the door would disappear altogether!
âAaargh, let me out! Save me!â
[We have confirmed the visit of the qualified person. Creating an agent.]
I screamed, but all I could hear was a calm voice.
Wait, where does this sound come from in the first place?
Only then did I look around slowly, a little genuinely.
The place I entered was a lawn surrounded by forest. It was about twenty steps wide from end to end, and the dense forest was covered with thick fog and could not be seen.
Even though it was past 7 in the evening., the blue sky and bright sunlight showed me that this place was a space.
It was a peaceful atmosphere compared to an usual dungeon full of tension. A gentle breeze blew from somewhere.
Isnât this a dungeon?
In general, there were many indoor forms of dungeons that occurred in rifts, such as caves and tombs. Iâve heard that sometimes there are structures that are uniquely exposed to the outdoors, but Iâve never heard of a dungeon with the sun floating in the blue sky like this.
Still, thatâs not the point. I had to find a way out wherever I was.
I looked at the lawn to see if there was a hidden door, and thatâs when I noticed that there was a small flower bush here. There was a cat on a flat stone by the bush.
The cat with tricolored fur was taking a nap on the stone. The fur was smooth and the body ,with plenty of flesh, looked soft.
Did the chat come through that door like me? As soon as I approached it carefully not to wake them up, I heard a voice in my head again.
[Iâve been waiting for your visit. Please name the agent.]
What is an agent? Maybe this cat?
ââŚ.Name it? Are you asking me?â
I asked that, but there was no answer. Instead, a guide window appeared in front of me.
[Enter a name: ]
It was this mysterious message that called me here. Anyway, I guess Iâll have to do what this message tells me to get out of here. With that in mind, I put my hand on my forehead and started contemplating the name.
Itâs a name for the catâŚ.
Name for a cat ⌠name for cat ⌠cat, meowâŚ.
âMeong?â
After all, this is the only right name for a cat. However, the system rejected it with a beep sound.
[Agent rejects this name.]
âWhatâs wrong with Meong?â
Itâs a traditional catâs name.
[This is an agent for you. Please think about it seriously.]
[Enter a name: ]
I was incredibly serious.
I reluctantly thought of the name again, but couldnât come up with a good name. In the first place, I was a person with no sense of naming. Butterfly ⌠no, itâs a little out of place. Dumplings? nope, itâs really bad. It has three types of hair color, three colors, umm âŚ. wellâŚ..
Then a name crossed my mind.
How about Mieum?
My name, Kwon Rieul, was given to me by my grandmother.
The meaning is literally Rieul. Giyeok, Nieun, Digeut, then Rieul. The name was given because I was my grandmotherâs fourth grandchildren, but I donât know my older cousins arenât Giyeok, Nieun, and Digeut, yet Iâm the only one whoâs Rieul.
Originally, they was going to register my birth as âKwon Dâ, but the civil service official rejected it and my name became âRieulâ.
I donât even know your name or face, but thank you. You saved my name. The justice and duty of the civil service was there. I bowed my head in the direction that the community center was likely to be.
Anyway, I thought the name Mieum would be good because it was a cat I found in this space of the store that my grandmother left me. It literally means Mieum after Giyeok, Nieun, Digeut, and Rieul. The word M.
ââŚ.Mieum?â
I was terrified that the tricky notification message would reject me again, but I couldnât hear anything anymore. Did it pass? Instead, Mieum opened her eyes in front of me.
ââŚ.Meooong!â
The cat continued to stretch. The fur wiggled softly, and the round-tipped tail soared upward. The chin was round and the belly with plenty of flesh looked soft.
Itâs a cute.
I forgot that I had been looking for the exit door just a while ago, and casually approached Mieum then reached out my hand. Can I touch your stomach? I was about to pat her plump belly with my fingers.
Tak.
Mieum, who slapped my hand with her front paw, looked at me with squinted eyes and said,
âUh-huh, donât touch me carelessly.â
I got scolded by a cat.
âEh?â
I turned my head in doubt at what I had just heard. Who just said that? but there was still only me and Mieum here.
âI told you so.â
âYouâre a cat. You can talk?â
âMeow, do you think Iâm an ordinary cat? I was waiting for a qualified person to visit me as an agent running the system. I thought I was going to die waiting for you. Anyway, put your hand up here.â
Mieum held out her round front paws. I donât know what youâre talking about, but I wanted to touch the pink jelly on her front paw, so I held out my hand as I was told.
At that moment, a translucent window appeared in front of me with a tingling sound.
[Checking the qualifications ⌠Completed. The system has been activated.]
[Ability is granted according to the test result.]
[Class: Awakened as a Cafe Owner (F).]
[Skill:Â Cafe in my Hand (C)Â has been acquired.]
[Skill:Â The Floor is Shiny (E)Â has been acquired.]
[Skill:Â Smile (C)Â has been acquired.]
[Achievement: Became a Beginner Cafe Owner.]
[Quest: Start 100 cups of Mixed Coffee (0/100)]
Huuh?
I think ⌠I am awake now.
[Next]
Translatorâs Corner:
About the name, Rieul is the fourth consonant in Korean alphabets (Hangul) and Mieum is the fifth. The order is giyeok (기ě), nieun (ëě), digeut (ë꡿) dieut, rieul (댏ě), then mieum (미ě). In English, it would be like naming your children A B C D E.
Mixed coffee is instant coffee. In South Korea, instant coffee commonly comes pre-mixed with non-dairy creamer and sugar thatâs why it is called âcoffee mixâ. I want to keep the coffee in the end of sentence so Iâll write it as mixed coffee.