Coexistence! (2)
Ssssss—
The aroma of coffee rolled out in a broad, generous wave.
"Ahh… the smell is especially good today. What's the occasion?"
"Maybe the roast just came out right."
"That so? Well, it's good, I'll give it that."
He drew in breath after breath, eyes closed, a quiet smile on his face. You could tell the scent genuinely pleased him. Of course it did—this was a man who lived and breathed coffee.
"Haa… that's nice."
He was the type who fretted that he needed to save money to open his own shop someday, then turned around and spent every spare won the moment a good bean appeared. When I asked why he couldn't just buy it later, he said the flavor only existed now. Bean prices were gold these days, he complained, and still he went out without rest days, hunting new beans and tasting them again and again.
Some people would call it foolish.
I understand, though.
Once something takes hold of you, that is simply how it goes. Charging ahead without weighing the gains and losses isn't always a bad thing. Having something worth that kind of obsession was, if anything, a happy state.
In the apocalypse of my past life, there had been more than a few people like that. Those were the ones who lived the longest—right to the end. If this world really was a so-called parallel world, then I hoped those old comrades had been granted the same kind of luck and were doing well…
Aigoo. Look at me drifting off into maudlin nonsense.
What snapped me back was a notification.
Duration of Continuous Trap: 3 hours.
That rich fragrance the boss was savoring wasn't only the coffee's own aroma. Nestled inside it was a Trap amplifying every note.
A continuous-type Trap skill, to be precise. I had taken the Trap I used before and set it here as well, and thanks to that the scent kept pouring out without pause.
Three hours. Perfect.
On top of that, there were the samples the boss had prepared.
"Ten cups should be enough, right?"
"Yes. Ten espresso cups. Once we start the tasting, people will be climbing over each other for more."
"I sure hope so."
"It will work."
"All right. With you helping like this, we've got to give it a real shot. Let's do this!"
"Fighting!"
"Fighting!"
With that cheer, the coffee business opened first.
It's a full house.
The coffee truck had always been the earliest to open. The boss liked to start as early as possible and sell morning coffee, with a few simple sandwiches on the side. Today he boldly skipped the sandwiches entirely.
Even so, the line for coffee alone stretched long from the first light of morning.
"Whoa… what is this flavor… how is this possible?"
"Why? How is it?"
"Just try it yourself!"
"Huh!? Whoa…!"
"Hey, you're drinking another one?"
"Of course I am. This is the real deal! It's insane!"
The reviews were nothing but praise.
A cup from the coffee truck ran two thousand won for an Americano. He made other styles as well, none of them topping three thousand. And that coffee was delivering maximum satisfaction.
If business weren't booming, that would be the strange part.
The line kept growing until it reached right up to my truck. The coffee stand had struck gold first.
Jinwoo, the first to arrive, took one look at the endless queue and whistled.
"Whew. What's going on with the coffee truck?"
"You're here?"
"Yeah! I was going to grab a cup first and then come over, but… looks like that's not happening today."
"Definitely not today."
"Shame."
Jinwoo juggled studying and part-time work; for him a single cup of coffee was as good as a potion. Missing out was bound to sting.
I held out my hand to him.
"Here."
"Huh? What's this?"
An Americano sat in his palm.
"The coffee guy poured one for you. It might have cooled a little, but it's still good."
"Whoa… nice save! Thank you!"
"That'll be three thousand won."
"Ehk!?"
"Kidding. Drink up."
"Pffft. I knew you were joking!"
Jinwoo laughed warmly and took a sip.
!!!!
The reaction hit instantly. The moment the flavor landed, his eyes went wide; he looked from the cup to me and back again, shock and awe written all over his face.
"Hyung, what did you do?"
"Do? I didn't do anything."
Kid had sharp instincts, as always.
"No, but this taste is… whoa…"
"Different, right?"
"Yeah. It's insane."
"Power of a new bean. The old man got lucky and scored a fresh roast."
I had no intention of admitting I'd touched those beans. For now it could stay a secret between the two of us. The taste, though, was undeniable.
"Whoa… no wonder the line's that long. Is he going to have new beans every day from now on?"
"Pretty much."
"Guess I'm out of luck for a while. Wait—maybe forever."
The regret on Jinwoo's face as he stared at the coffee truck was almost comical.
"Just come earlier, then. While you're at it, you can start studying early too."
"I mean… yeah, that works? If I come early I'll get more study time. I'll be exhausted, though."
"After a cup of that coffee, exhaustion might turn into pure energy."
"…You really know how to land a fact, huh."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Always doing your own thing. And no, that was not a compliment."
"Oh? Getting ahead of me now?"
"Call it growth!"
Jinwoo was throwing more jokes than usual today. His eyes, though, weren't smiling. He kept glancing carefully between me and the sandwich boards planted around the space.
"But those things… what are they?"
"Ah. Brought over from Restaurant Alley. Some kind of advertising, I guess."
"…Is that even allowed?"
"Must be, if they did it."
"Still, this is… the business spot… ahem."
He started to say they were trying to block my stall, then swallowed it. A heavy sigh followed.
"I just don't get it… why go this far?"
"Don't worry about it."
"How am I supposed to not worry about this!"
"If anyone should worry, it's me. A customer doesn't need to stress over that kind of thing, okay?"
"Even so!"
"Just come, eat happily, and leave. That's the most helpful thing you can do for me."
"…Haa. You really do have nerves of steel."
That was enough fretting. I had a duty to make my first customer of the day happy.
"So, are you just going to stand there and leave today?"
"Would I do that?"
"Then why aren't the tables out like usual? And now that I look, the Ramenkase sandwich board is missing too."
He was right. No sandwich board, no tables set up.
Why? Because I already had another way to handle this situation.
"I've got this instead."
Right in front of the counter, I stuck up the thing I had prepared in advance—my secret weapon for solving the sandwich-board crisis!
"Huh?"
Jinwoo was the first to stare in surprise.
Now we're talking!
Boss Bang gave his own head a couple of satisfied pats. Self-praise. The whole way back to his shop he had been glowing with pride.
Of course I thought of something like this. Ugh. Those other guys are so full of themselves. You think business runs itself if you just sit on your hands?
At some point he had started casting himself as the magnanimous owner looking out for Restaurant Alley. In truth it was all for his own store, but who needed to know that?
"Boss, you're back?"
"Yeah."
"You look like something good happened today."
"I do?"
"Yep!"
"Something good? Well, yeah, something did! Heh heh."
Boss Bang broke into a wide, foolish grin. His part-timer's face went flat with secondhand embarrassment; the kid muttered something about cleaning and fled the room.
Alone again, Boss Bang settled into his seat and wallowed in delight.
If they don't even have tables, how are they supposed to do business? A few people will start lining up, then peel off straight into the alley. From that moment on, they're my customers. Should I bump the ingredient order today?
Click. Click.
He actually doubled his order with the ramen supplier. There was a whole line of reasoning behind it.
Where are the customers who stop going to a ramen place going to go? Straight to a higher-end ramen shop, that's where!
Hope that twice as many customers as usual would walk through his door kept the smile plastered on his face.
Lunchtime came and went. Somehow, no customers arrived.
"Hmm… nobody's coming?"
"Well… weekday lunch is always slower, right?"
"Yeah? Just because it's a weekday lunch?"
"Right!"
Maybe it really was just a weekday thing.
I'm going to have to toss some of these ingredients.
The prep he had laid out early suddenly looked like a personal betrayal.
After lunch came break time. Stepping outside for a moment, Boss Bang spotted someone wearing the exact same expression he was.
Across the way, the café owner was making a face like he'd swallowed vinegar.
"Hey. Why the long face?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
For the record, the two of them were friends—childhood buddies who had stuck together since they were kids.
"Me? Why?"
"You've got a long face too. What, did someone smack you around again? Want me to back you up?"
"You maniac."
Their personalities were similar, too. Birds of a feather.
"Heh. When we were kids, if I said that you'd jump right in and help."
"How long ago was that? Anyway, why do you look so rough?"
"That obvious?"
"How wouldn't it be? You've never been able to manage your face."
"Business is weirdly dead."
"Huh? Your spot usually does okay, though."
"That's what I'm saying! Sales have been cut in half since morning. Lunch? Nobody. Not a single person!"
"Hmm…"
The café suddenly tanking was strange.
"Hey, once we put those sandwich boards out, business should get better, not worse, right?"
"You're a café."
"Dude. I still paid the same money."
"Merchant association money, you mean."
"Whatever! There should be some effect, and there's nothing!"
"…Hmm."
Something felt off.
Five thirty in the afternoon. Break time ended and they reopened. Still quiet.
Six o'clock, peak hour. A few scattered customers, nothing like a hit.
Seven. Empty. People who should have been coming in for a late dinner simply weren't showing up.
Seven thirty. By then, Boss Bang's nerves were completely shot. Fewer customers than usual.
What? What is this? Why?
By every calculation, he should have had more customers, not fewer. Even on weekdays this was a busy stretch—students fresh out of cram school filled the seats. Their age group loved his ramen. And still they didn't come.
That was when he knew.
Something's wrong.
Nothing was going the way it was supposed to. And the cause was obvious.
It's that bastard!
He stormed out of the shop.
"What, you closing early too?"
"I don't know. Just follow me."
"Huh?"
His café-owner friend happened to be shutting down early as well. Boss Bang grabbed the dazed man and dragged him along.
Their destination: the Food Truck Zone.
I knew it!
Why was a bad premonition never wrong?
"Huh? What's with that line?"
"…"
Boss Bang took one look at the snaking queue and understood with perfect clarity that things had gone completely sideways. He needed to check for himself. He strode forward—
"Hey! What are you doing! Get in line!"
"Excuse me?"
—and was immediately blocked.
"I said get in line."
"I'm not here for the line. I have business with that stall over there…"
"Then you still have to line up! Do you know how long these people have been waiting?"
"…Hah. Unbelievable."
He glanced around. Everyone was staring at the two of them. If they refused to join the line, they were going to get an earful. Reluctantly, he shuffled to the back.
What kind of humiliation is this?
He had come this far; retreating wasn't an option. He had to see it with his own eyes. Know the enemy and know yourself, and all that. With the grim resolve of someone about to execute his own general, he stood in line.
The long queue moved faster than expected. At last Boss Bang stood at the counter—and was crushed by two short lines of text.
Cup Ramen for Sale.
Takeout Available!