A Coffee-Scented Farewell and the Great Heist of New York
It happened on a drowsy early-summer afternoon, when a pleasant breeze drifted through the streets and Go Yushin was passing by that cozy neighborhood cafe tucked into the corner of a bustling block.
Crash—!
A sharp, clamorous burst of shattering glass rang out from beyond the cafe's door, scattering across the floor in a spray of transparent shards.
Yushin turned his head on reflex, his gaze snapping toward the counter inside.
Beneath the counter lay the broken fragments of an iced glass tumbler, and standing frozen in the middle of it all was a woman of quiet elegance—Han Sojeong. She stood motionless, her face clearly flustered, her right hand still raised in midair.
From the tip of her pale, slender index finger, a bead of red blood welled up and began to drip, drop by drop, onto the floor.
There was no time to think, no time to calculate.
Ring.
Yushin pushed through the cafe's glass door and strode inside without hesitation.
"Are you okay?!"
Startled by his sudden voice, Sojeong looked up with a jolt. For a fleeting instant, their eyes met—the silent recognition between the customer she'd exchanged nods with on his walk home every evening and the manager behind the counter.
"Oh…… yes! I'm fi—"
Before she could finish, the blood trailing down her finger fell to the floor.
Yushin approached in quick strides, gently pulled out a chair beside the counter, and set it down in front of her.
"Sit here for now. The bleeding will get worse if you keep standing."
There was no transcendent magic, no grandiose divine authority mixed into it—just the tender, resolute touch of a man being nothing more than a man.
As if entranced by his dependable manner, Sojeong carefully lowered herself into the chair.
Yushin pulled a generous handful of clean napkins from the dispenser on the counter and carefully wrapped her injured finger.
"It doesn't look too deep. Still, keep it pressed tight until the bleeding stops."
"……Thank you."
Sojeong's voice trembled faintly, but the tips of her ears, where the warmth of his hand had brushed, had flushed a soft pink.
Clutching the napkins as if wringing them dry, she quietly watched Yushin's dependable profile as he nudged the glass shards aside with his shoe, sweeping them out of the way.
After a brief silence—awkward, yet strangely comfortable—Sojeong ventured to speak.
"Um…… you're a regular here at our shop, aren't you?"
It was less a question of conviction than a gentle voice mingling warmth and quiet confirmation.
Yushin shook his head as he gathered the glass shards into a dustpan.
"Not exactly a regular. I've just passed by a few times on my way home from work in the evenings."
"Oh……"
A small, soft sound of realization slipped from between Sojeong's lips.
"That explains it…… Even though we've never really met, your face never felt unfamiliar to me."
Having said that, she fiddled with her injured finger and gave a shy smile.
"Do you…… like coffee?"
"Yes, I drink it now and then."
"Then next time you come……"
Sojeong faltered mid-sentence, hesitated for a moment, then added with a reddening face, as if embarrassed she might be getting ahead of herself:
"I'll remember exactly how you like it, and make you the best cup of coffee I can. I promise."
Yushin let out a quiet chuckle.
"I'll look forward to it, Manager."
Names had been exchanged, voices heard—and the first page of a special connection, one that made them more than strangers passing in the street, had quietly opened.
As Yushin stepped out of the shop, Sojeong's warm farewell rang out behind him.
"Thank you so much for your help, Yushin!"
From that day on, whenever Yushin pushed open the cafe door, Sojeong greeted him with a smile brighter and clearer than anyone else in the world.
He never even had to place an order—an iced americano, its ice and syrup calibrated perfectly to Yushin's taste, was ready and waiting every single time.
Yushin didn't read too much into Sojeong's earnest, warm-hearted kindness. He simply accepted it gratefully and savored the small luxuries of daily life.
Meanwhile, the laundering of the billion won in black money he had scattered across virtual assets and shadow wallets through his hacking systems flowed to completion as smoothly as water.
Illegal fund laundering and dispersed account deposit process has been completed stably. No signs of anomalous detection by financial authorities.
"Good. That takes care of pocket money once and for all."
Yushin nodded in satisfaction as he checked the enormous balance displayed on his smartphone.
All that remained now was to sweep up the greatest treasure this parallel Earth had to offer—mithril and gold bullion of the highest purity, in massive quantities.
Before departing on that grand expedition, Yushin stopped by Sojeong's cafe one last time.
Ring.
"Welcome— oh! Yushin!"
Sojeong, wiping down cups behind the counter, waved at him the moment she saw him, her face lighting up.
"You're a little later than usual today. You look tired—this coffee's on the house. A special treat from me!"
"I feel bad always being on the receiving end."
"Oh, come on. I give it because I want to. What's the problem?"
While the fragrant espresso brewed, a comfortable silence settled between the two of them across the counter.
As Sojeong snapped the lid onto the cup, she asked, her voice suddenly gentle and pensive:
"You seem really busy these days."
"Yeah, there's been a lot of work. And……"
Yushin paused, choosing his words carefully before adding:
"I don't think I'll be able to come by for a while. I figured I should tell you in advance, so you wouldn't wait for me."
For an instant, Sojeong's fingers faltered as she slid the cup into its holder.
"Oh……"
A short breath of disappointment escaped her, but ever the professional manager, she quickly buried her sadness and forced a smile.
"Are you going…… somewhere far?"
"Yes. I'm leaving for the United States. Work might drag on for quite a while."
"America…… that really is far away."
Sojeong murmured softly, tracing the rim of the cup with her fingertip.
"They say American coffee tastes a little different from ours. So…… when your work is all done and you come back, this place's coffee might just be the first thing you think of."
When you come back.
Those few gentle words tickled Yushin's heart in the most pleasant way.
"I think you're right. The moment I'm done, I'll come straight here."
A smile like spring flowers in full bloom spread across Sojeong's face.
"Take care of yourself. Don't get hurt—and come back safe."
"I will. I'm off, Sojeong."
In the moment their hands passed the takeaway cup between them, their fingertips brushed—just for the briefest instant.
It was an unintended, fleeting touch, yet that soft, warm sensation lingered deep in Yushin's palm like a fading echo, staying with him all the way into his seat on the flight to New York.
The eyebrow of Yushin, seated in his plane seat, twitched.
'Hey, where the hell did you learn to talk like that? Stop making me want to smack you and shut up.'
[According to the System records, that is an indisputable fact.]
'On this Earth dimension, I'm still a clean, virgin guy, okay?!'
[That information is not registered anywhere in the System, nor is it worth recording.]
'Ha—forget it. Don't even answer.'
Yushin pushed aside the distractions and gazed out the window at the vast blue sky stretching below.
America. New York.
The beating heart of global finance—and a colossal metropolis where the largest stores of pure gold and rare minerals on Earth lay sleeping.
Tonight, deep beneath that city, the underground vault of the New York Federal Reserve Bank would become the first target of the Dimensional Wanderer who bore the demon blade Heukwol.
Night had settled thick and heavy over Manhattan.
Slipping silently through the ventilation ducts of the Federal Reserve's underground vault, past layer upon layer of security, Yushin's ears were suddenly assailed by a blaring klaxon.
Weeeeooow—!
Intruder detected within the sector. Emergency lockdown barriers deploying.
Steel doors slammed shut with a thunderous roar, and dozens of SWAT officers armed with shotguns, ballistic shields, and laser sights leveled their muzzles and formed a firing line.
"Hands up! Don't move—now!"
The moment the rough shouts of the special forces unit reverberated through the vault, the corners of Yushin's mouth curved into a handsome arc.
"This is why swimming in the big leagues is so much fun."
Bang! Bang—!
In the instant the gunfire erupted, Yushin's figure scattered into empty air as if it had all been a lie.
Ssssssshp.
The newly evolved E-Rank demon blade Heukwol unleashed its authority of Shadow Concealment—and every light in the vault went dark at once.
Perfect blackout.
BOOM! CRACK!
"Fuck! My weapon's gone—watch out!"
From within the darkness, screams rang out as the SWAT officers' firearms were sent flying into the air one after another.
Yushin killed not a single man. Instead, with C-Rank magic channeled into precise knife-hand strikes and kicks, he struck only their vitals, knocking every last one of them unconscious in a single sweep.
Click.
Snatching up the rifle from the fallen commander, Yushin aimed the laser sight down at the floor and murmured in a low voice.
"If you don't want to get hurt, stay down. You've been warned."
The very next moment, the massive steel vault door behind which dozens of tons of gold bullion lay stored was cleaved cleanly in two by Heukwol's razor-sharp dark sword qi, slicing through it like paper.
Stacks of golden bars, ninety-nine point nine percent pure, poured into Yushin's subspace as if being sucked in wholesale.
[Even if you deliver a solemn warning in Korean, how exactly would those Yankees understand it, Master?]
"……Shut it, Wanderer. I'm trying to look cool here—don't ruin the moment."
Without spilling a single drop of blood, the legendary master thief who had rifled the New York Federal Reserve Bank to its last bar faded gracefully into the night mist.