SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon-SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon — Special Side Story 8

Translated by cabinfourtranslations.

I was completely flustered by the sudden hostage situation unfolding right in front of me.

It was already shocking that Mieum had auditioned for the Transformation Magic Hunter alongside Hunter Jijon, but a hostage situation? And the lead actor taking a fellow actor hostage, no less?

“Ugh, h-help me!”

“Don’t move. Try anything funny and you’ll lose your head.”

When the actor playing Dios tried to seize an opening and break free from the actor playing Karin, the blade pressed tightly against his Adam’s apple. As the edge scraped his skin, blood trickled down. Her aura was so murderous that it looked like she might slit his throat at any moment.

Karin raised her left hand—the one not holding the knife—behind her head. Gripping something at the crown of her head, she pulled with force, and something tore away from her face.

Thud.

A flesh-colored mask resembling the human-skin masks seen in martial arts movies dropped to the floor.

And the face revealed beneath it was … completely different from Karin’s.

“H-Hyerin-ssi …… since when?”

Jijon’s voice trembled with shock, but the answer that came back was cold.

“From the beginning.”

“……”

“Tsk. This would’ve been over easily if you hadn’t interfered, you bastard. You’re really getting on my nerves.”

Flash—!

[Great Raccoon (B) has appeared.]

[Great Raccoon (B) has appeared.]

[Great Raccoon (B) has appeared.]

With a burst of blue light, several raccoon-like monsters appeared on the stage.

As the surroundings fell into shock, the sound of Karin’s footsteps echoed as she headed off in a certain direction.

Her destination was the glass case placed behind the stage.

Ah, that’s.

The artifact prepared as today’s audition grand prize. It had been provided by the Cheongna Guild, and I remembered hearing it was extremely rare…….

Crash!

With a gesture from Karin, one of the Great Raccoons shattered the glass case.

The security alarm immediately began blaring, but after the monster destroyed the security device as well, everything went quiet again.

Karin held Dios firmly with one hand while picking up the artifact with the other.

“Instead of pretending to be some damn celebrity, I should’ve just done this from the start.”

…Don’t tell me this is also part of the stage production?

A surprise event to promote Season 2 of ‘Cosmic Transformation! Magic Hunter Karin’?

Well, it was an event packed with hunters. There’s no way the lead actress would suddenly do something insane like this.

In that case, those Great Raccoons must be VR monsters for the stage…….

“Didn’t I say not to move?”

Boom!

When a Great Raccoon stomped its foot, the spot where I had been standing just moments ago caved in.

…A real monster?

Then the Karin standing in front of us is a real criminal?

Flash—!

“N-no! You can’t! If you use it like that……!”

The moment Karin stabbed the gem in the center of the artifact with her knife, a pale light burst out. From somewhere, I heard Ju Noeul scream.

“Grrr…….”

“Grrrrrrr……!”

[Monster information within the field has been updated.]

[Great Raccoon (B) → Ferocious Great Raccoon (S)]

[Great Raccoon (B) → Ferocious Great Raccoon (S)]

[Great Raccoon (B) → Ferocious Great Raccoon (S)]

The monsters began to mutate.

The monsters’ eyes glowed red as their bodies swelled larger and their fangs and claws grew long. Drool dripped from the gaps of their twisted maws, and their fur grew sharp as steel needles.

“Aaaah! Someone help!”

“Mom, Mom ……. I’m scared…….”

Children burst into tears at the sudden, horrific turn of events, and the venue plunged into chaos.

There were hunters present who were strong enough to handle S-Class monsters. The problem was the civilians.

It was a situation where a single mistake could result in heavy casualties.

“Ugh! There are too many!”

“Hold the line, you idiot! If we give way here, people are going to get hurt!”

“Like I don’t know that, you idiot!”

While several hunters held the monsters back, the staff began evacuating civilians outside.

Amidst the screams and chaos, Karin dragged her hostage along and calmly made her way toward the exit.

“S-stop! Hyerin-ssi, why…….”

Hunter Jijon tried his best to block Karin’s path, but.

“Move.”

Thud!

Using the artifact’s power, she knocked him down and fled outside.

“Rieul-ssi, we should head outside first…….”

Ju Noeul, who had been calling for backup to pursue the vanished Karin, grabbed my hand.

“Wait … just a moment.”

Mieum, who had been on the stage just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.

“Mieum-ah!”

“……”

There was no answer.

You stupid cat. Where did you disappear to now?

“Please go out first. I’ll find Mieum and come right back.”

“That’s dangerous ……. it might collapse…….”

“I’ll be right back.”

I let go of Ju Noeul’s hand and ran back into the hall.

“Mieum-ah! Where are you?!”

Just as I thought I glimpsed the plump, calico tail of a cat behind a pillar, a blue light flickered before my eyes.

“Rieul-ssi!”

I tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

…It’s a dungeon.

***

“Ugh, cough, cough!”

I tried to get up but ended up sneezing harshly as dust billowed into the air.

It took some time to grasp the situation since everything around me was dim.

“A dungeon … right?”

After finally stopping my sneezing, I looked around. The walls and pillars were twisted together in strange shapes, clearly not a normal structure. It seemed the artifact Karin had broken must have summoned this dungeon here.

‘Just what kind of artifact did they put up as a prize…?’

I was the only one caught up in it. It seemed Ju Noeul and the others had evacuated safely. A small blessing in the middle of bad luck, I suppose.

It had been about a year since the final quest ended and peace returned. I never imagined I, an ordinary cafe owner, would ever end up inside a dungeon again.

Especially not after coming to participate in a children’s tokusatsu drama merchandise raffle.

…Is this the period of ‘three years of misfortune‘1 that I have only heard of?

Anyway, I should find my cat, who never listens to a word I say, and then figure out a way to get out of here.

“Mieum-ah! Where are you!”

After wandering through the dungeon for who knows how long.

I found Mieum nearby before long. Hunter Jijon was right there next to her, having apparently been swept up together.

“Over here, waeoong!”

“…Mieum-ah!”

I picked Mieum up first and checked her over carefully. Only after confirming she wasn’t hurt did I finally let out a relieved sigh.

And after the relief came anger.

“You stupid cat!”

“Waeolgh, waeolgh!”

I grabbed Mieum and smacked her butt a few times.

“What were you thinking, running around on your own, huh?”

“Waeolgh, I was wrong, waeolg!”

“Grrr…….”

In the middle of that, I froze when I heard a growl from somewhere nearby and stopped my hand.

It sounded close. It seemed the raccoons had been trapped in here as well when the dungeon appeared.

“This place is dangerous. Let’s move. Hunter Jijon, please get up too.”

Having made up my mind, I held Mieum in both arms and stood up right away.

“…Hunter Jijon?”

When I turned around, Hunter Jijon was sitting on the floor, muttering something to himself. He looked strangely gloomy, completely different from his usual somewhat exaggerated demeanor.

“I, hic…….”

“What’s wrong?”

When I listened closely to what he was saying.

“My, my first love—!”

“Excuse me?”

“Hyerin-ssi was a fake—!”

Ah, was the name of the actress playing Karin ‘Hyerin‘?

Though, judging from everything that had happened, that name was probably fake too.

Hmm. It was unfortunate, but…….

How exactly was I supposed to comfort someone who had just learned the celebrity he liked was a criminal who had faked both her appearance and identity?

It would’ve been nice if I had some coffee, but I’d only come here for the merchandise raffle today, so I hadn’t brought anything.

“Hunter Jijon, um … well … please cheer up…….”

“Hic, waaah!”

Maybe my attempt at comfort had the opposite effect, because Hunter Jijon burst into tears.

At that moment, Mieum jumped out of my arms and leaped at him, throwing a series of meow punches.

Pow pow pow!

“…Ugh!”

“Stop whining, human!”

“C-Cat-nim?”

“As you go through life, you’re bound to find a new bias someday! Kyagyaolg!”

“Hic … do you think a day like that will come for me too?”

“It will, waeolgh! Haven’t I myself found a new love!”

“…Cat-nim!”

Thanks to that advice, thick with personal experience, Jijon finally managed to pull himself together and stand up. Then, returning to his usual exaggerated attitude, he offered me a belated greeting.

“Mwahahaha! It’s been a while, Owner-nim! Just trust me! As the supreme hunter of the hunter world, I’ll defeat the boss and escort you safely to the exit!”

Oh, my.

Well, it’s good that he got his energy back … but I seriously can’t keep up with this mood.

If you enjoy this translation, you can treat me to a cup of coffee through https://buymeacoffee.com/cabinfouror Wishlist♡

Translator’s Corner:

Three years of misfortune/bad luck (삼재): a concept in Korean fortune-telling (Saju) and folk belief. It refers to a period of three years of bad luck that occurs every nine years based on one’s zodiac sign. ↵︎

Rieul …. I miss your boyfriend…….

Thank you Ppkl for the coffees!

With the manhwa already out there, I was actually surprised to find someone still read this asdfghjkl Hope you enjoy it when you finally get here, and sorry for all the mistakes and grammar errors…..

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