The Second Balance Game Reward
My choice was acquiring a new trait.
Anyone who'd ever played a game would have made the same call. It was common sense — better to gain an ability you didn't have than polish one you already did. And even setting that aside, the raw value of a trait crushed plain stats by a mile.
…
"Hmm."
I'd selected the new trait, but no reply came. Given how those bastards only blasted KokoaTalk messages when it suited them, the silence could mean one of two things.
First: they'd dump the info all at once with the next Balance Game.
Second: the choice was the end of it. Something had already taken effect, just like the last Balance Game.
A gamer's instinct was screaming that it was the latter. Which meant I had a trait I knew nothing about — not what it was, not what it did, not how to use it.
"Status Window!"
…
I tried shouting it just in case. Nothing changed, of course. I turned it over for a moment, but nothing useful came to mind. Still, whatever it was had to be good for me — and I'd probably figure it out naturally soon enough.
I needed to head to the meeting spot anyway, so I decided to take my time working it out.
I picked up the pace and reached the café in five minutes. Surprisingly, there were people inside — but Ajeong didn't seem to have arrived yet.
"Oh my, Woohyun…? What brings you in today?"
"Ah… just as a customer…"
"Oho… Don't tell me you wanted to work more shifts with the boss?"
"N— No! A friend's coming by later, too."
I'd almost said yes without thinking. Something about that dreamy expression of hers made it hard to refuse — was that what years of experience looked like?
"Is that so? Shame… Make yourself comfortable."
"Yes, thank you."
I bowed politely and headed for a corner seat — the only table in the shop that couldn't be seen from the counter. It wasn't that I minded the owner watching; I just preferred somewhere out of sight.
While I waited for Ajeong, I looked around the café. Including mine, customers occupied a full four tables. Maybe because it was earlier than my usual shift. All women, spanning a range of ages.
I finished my brief survey and went back to thinking about the new trait. Still no message from KokoaTalk. That meant there probably wouldn't be one until at least the next Balance Game. I'd have to figure it out myself.
Not that I was completely without a hint.
Stats or traits related to your choice will be granted.
Related to the choice. Meaning I'd received a trait connected to eating that shit-flavored curry. Reliving that was painful, but I had no choice.
Shit-flavored curry…
"Curry…"
Knock knock.
"Cu…rry?"
"Hi!"
"You're early."
While I'd been lost in thought, Ajeong had already slipped into the seat across from me.
"Heh. Was the curry that good?"
"Ah… yeah, I guess."
"I'll have to try it sometime."
"Let's go order first."
"Okay!"
Ajeong stood, slipped off her outer layer and bag, and hung them on the chair beside her.
Hmm?
Her outfit was different from when I'd seen her earlier. I was pretty sure she'd said she hadn't gone home yet — but it wasn't important enough to dwell on, so I let it go.
"One vanilla latte, please!"
Ajeong had already reached the counter and clearly knew what she wanted.
"What about you, Woohyun?"
"And for you, Woohyun?"
"Huh?"
A perfectly ordinary question about my order — except it came out of both their mouths at the same time, which made it anything but ordinary. Ajeong was the one who looked flustered. The owner just wore an amused, easy smile.
"A strawberry smoothie, please."
I ordered first and figured I'd explain to Ajeong afterward.
"So you liked it last time? Go on and have a seat."
"Yes, thank you."
…
I finished paying while carefully ignoring Ajeong's stare and headed back to the table.
Clack—
"Woohyun, who is that…?"
Sure enough, the moment I sat down Ajeong asked if we knew each other. I'd never planned to hide it when I suggested meeting here — but with her finding out first, it felt like I'd been caught trying to keep a secret.
"I work here."
"Huh?"
"Part-time, every Saturday. She's the owner. I was going to tell you anyway."
"Ahaha… I thought…"
Ajeong exhaled like a weight had lifted.
"What did you think?"
"Huh?!"
"What kind of relationship did you think we had that got you so flustered?"
"Umm… good question? Why did I get flustered? Ahahaha…"
I'd meant to tease her a little, but I was genuinely curious why she'd panicked.
"I think I just got startled because she suddenly called your name. More importantly — when did you start working here? Right after you got discharged?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Yesterday was my first shift."
"I see… Next time you're working, I should come hang out. Is that okay?"
Most part-timers hated having friends drop by. I was different. I leaned in close and whispered.
"Eep."
"Yeah. Barely anyone comes in here… help me sell some drinks."
"Hah… really?"
"Yeah. That's why I came here today, too."
"Got it!"
Ajeong whispered back, beaming like she was enjoying the secret-sharing vibe.
"What are you two whispering about so sneakily?"
"Ah!— Thank you…"
"Enjoy~"
"Thank you…"
Of course the owner chose that exact moment to bring the drinks. She didn't seem to have overheard the content, thankfully — but Ajeong had frozen solid.
"She didn't hear us, right?"
"Yeah, doesn't seem like it."
"Phew… good. But was the strawberry smoothie that good?"
"Oh — want to try some?"
Remembering what had happened at the snack shop earlier, I quickly slid the strawberry smoothie closer to her.
"Is this okay…?"
She asked again, still clearly worried about it.
"Yeah. I thought about it — when you're eating out, it's basically impossible to track everything precisely anyway… I was just being sensitive earlier because my stomach was off."
"Aha! Then I'll dig in!"
After a brief hesitation, she started drinking through the straw. The cup was filled right up under the lid, so she didn't have much choice.
The strawberry smoothie here really was exceptional. Even I'd been stunned the first time I tried it. Unlike the usual syrup-bombed versions, you got a strong hit of actual fruit. The recipe the owner had taught me didn't care about cost — it just packed the fruit in.
Sluuurp—
"Whoa!"
"Good, right?"
"Yeah! Best strawberry smoothie I've ever had!"
She glanced at me for permission, then took another long pull. She'd ordered a vanilla latte. I'd never tried anything latte-related in my life, so I had no idea if it was good — or even what it was supposed to taste like.
Kinda like banana milk, maybe?
It had milk in it, so roughly similar, I figured.
"Oh! Oh?"
"Is it good?"
"Oh… this is weirdly interesting? It tastes like banana milk."
Had it really?
I'd once seen a video about making vanilla lattes with banana milk, so it wasn't completely out of the question.
"Oh… how is this even possible? Did they mess up the order…?"
"That bad?"
"Yeah. Want to try?"
I'd been curious anyway, so I took it gladly and had a sip.
"Huh? Is it supposed to taste like this? It really is just banana milk."
Amazingly, it was banana milk itself — the fat little bottles you could buy at any convenience store. We kept trading sips out of sheer fascination, our voices rising, until the owner had somehow appeared beside us.
"Does it taste strange…?"
"Ah, no! Not strange, exactly… it just doesn't taste like a vanilla latte!"
"Is that so? I'm sorry. We only opened recently, so there are still rough edges. May I try a sip? I'll bring you a fresh one."
"Yes, go ahead."
Ajeong looked uncertain, so I answered for her. I was curious whether the owner's vanilla latte was normally like this.
"Huh…? It really does taste different…? Why would it do this?"
"Hah, right?! But it actually tasted good."
"I'll bring a new one… I'm so sorry."
"No, it's fine!"
Even the owner reacted like she'd never tasted anything like it.
"Whoa… wait, did you just invent a banana milk recipe by accident?"
"I… I guess?"
She'd set out to make a vanilla latte and somehow produced a major corporation's banana milk instead. The whole situation was absurd — and the fact that I'd thought of banana milk right before Ajeong took her first sip kept nagging at me.
No way…
A possibility flickered through my mind. I thought of banana milk again and took a sip of the strawberry smoothie.
Nope…
Still just the owner's delicious strawberry smoothie. I'd half-convinced myself the new trait was involved — the taste connection to my choice made it seem related — but apparently not. Disappointing.
A little later, the owner brought a fresh vanilla latte. Judging by Ajeong's reaction, it tasted normal this time. I'd never had one before, so I couldn't really judge — but I could tell it wasn't my kind of drink.
"See you tomorrow!!"
"Get home safe~"
Ajeong and I talked at the café for about an hour and a half before parting ways. Roughly half the conversation had been about Tottenham and Arsenal's recent form. We even made plans to watch the North London Derby — Arsenal versus Tottenham — together sometime. With fitness and soccer as shared hobbies, the talk never dried up.
In the middle of all that, I'd tried various things related to the trait. Nothing changed. I kept turning it over after I got home and still couldn't crack it. In the end, I decided to call it a night after one last attempt — drinking water while thinking of banana milk.
Gulp—
I started chugging straight from the two-liter bottle in the fridge.
!
"B… banana milk!"
I'd called it the last try of the day, but maybe I'd been thinking about it all wrong. This might as well have been the real final attempt. Every drop of liquid in that two-liter bottle had been replaced with banana milk.
What's the difference?
So the banana-milk taste in the café's vanilla latte had definitely been my trait. Every attempt after that had failed. And now it had worked again.
Cooldown?
The time I'd first drunk the vanilla latte at the café… and now. Roughly eight hours had passed. To confirm it properly, I'd have to wait another eight hours and try again. Eight hours from now — meaning I couldn't test it until seven the next morning.
"Haa…"
I had no choice but to lie down and try to sleep. I worried the curiosity and anticipation would keep me up, but living on a regular schedule meant that once bedtime hit, I dropped off almost immediately.
Seven the next morning.
The water in a freshly opened bottle tasted like cola.
In that moment, the famously secret-recipe cola was created in a Korean college student's studio apartment.