Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Diet Drink
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Two days later, the ingredients for the drink I'd come up with arrived at the cafe.
"Pear, banana, apple, broccoli, carrot, beet—all of it showed up."
They were all low-calorie vegetables and fruits packed with fiber, perfect for feeling full easily.
"Chop them up to the right size, toss them together, and blend..."
Out came a veggie-fruit juice of some mysterious color!
I tried it myself, and the sweet-bitter taste wasn't half bad.
'Even if it tasted awful, it wouldn't be a problem, right?'
Diet food was supposed to taste bad anyway.
I immediately stuck the sign I'd made right in front of the counter, separate from the menu.
It must've looked weird, because the employees who came in for their shifts all asked about it in puzzled voices.
"Boss, what's this?"
"The font's super weird."
"It looks tacky. Want me to make a new one?"
Was it that bad?
Thanks to one employee stepping up, it changed from [Diet Drink Exclusive to Hypnos! Detoxes and Melts Away Fat!] to a plain and simple [Diet Veggie-Fruit Drink, Detox Drink for Sale] that got the point across without any flash.
'Not bad at all.'
Were they just that educated? The font was pretty, the design sleek—even just coating the paper made it fit the cafe's vibe perfectly.
'And the wording's low-key enough not to stick out.'
Coffee was the main draw here. Pushing the diet drink too hard like my original sign would've made us look cheap.
'It would've felt like a failing restaurant throwing spaghetti at the wall with menu items.'
Like a cold noodle joint pushing pork cutlets.
Or a Japanese place slinging spicy pork stir-fry. That kind of service just tarnishes the image, so this was perfect.
"Huh? Detox? I'll take one."
We opened, and sure enough, a few plump male customers bit the hook and ordered the drink.
'Alright, time to get started!'
While sneaking glances into the customers' eyes, I imprinted two suggestions to help with dieting.
Both suggestions were diet-friendly.
Just two, but they should be plenty effective.
'Not on every customer who orders.'
Some of the detox drink buyers were already slim. Some just wanted the veggie-fruit juice, others out of curiosity. Hitting them with hypnosis would've turned it into a "die-t" instead of a diet, so I only targeted the ones who clearly needed to lose weight.
'It'll work for sure.'
Just first-level hypnosis, so no forcing behavior—but I could nudge them.
And as a diet veteran from my past life, scraping off the fat I'd piled on toward the end of my army days, I knew exactly what they needed. No doubt about the results.
'Dieting's all about the food, not exercise.'
Sure, exercise helps. But it only accounts for 20% of fat loss.
The other 80% is diet, and without that, you're sunk.
'My trainer back then said it: no matter how hard you work out, skip the diet control and you'll just end up a muscle pig.'
So the hypnosis I planted was all diet-related—not harsh commands, but the best ones to ease a dieter's struggles.
'Not permanent, of course. Just one week.'
Why only a week?
Keeps 'em coming back regularly! And who knows what happens if I make it lifelong.
'Better not plant the seeds for trouble from the start.'
Anyway, a personal trainer handling diet one-on-one perfect costs at least 100,000 won a day—and even they can't fully stop clients from sneaking snacks.
'But my hypnosis nails that too. Talk about a steal.'
Weight drops, customers come back regularly for detox drinks, spread the word, and advertise the cafe.
Once they hit their diet goals?
'They'll be our regulars!'
The detox drink wasn't just for cash.
Word-of-mouth promo to spread the cafe around and lock in those future regulars.
'This is benevolent hypnosis!'
I get a thriving cafe. They get hypnosis-assisted dieting.
Win-win, right?
'Alright then...'
Customers pouring in—time to lay on the hypnosis thick?
＊＊＊
"Ugh, I'm beat."
A man paused his laps around the empty Seoul lot. Kim Hyun-seok, thirty-five this year, lived in a luxury apartment with his wife and two daughters. Today, like always, he'd pushed himself for the diet.
"Three laps down. Time for a quick break."
But his efforts always flopped. He'd drag his hefty frame around the park for ten laps every day, sticking to it for over a month straight, yet the scale wouldn't budge.
"Hm? That smell..."
No—in fact, the grueling workouts ramped up his appetite, packing on 5kg from his starting 90kg.
"Fish pastries already? It's barely early fall."
Even now, out in workout clothes for the diet, he was seconds from cracking open his wallet to temptation. No wonder the weight stuck.
He wiped the cold sweat from his sleeve with his forearm and sniffed toward the source.
'Just one. I worked hard, so one should be fine.'
They say walking burns fat first after 30 minutes.
I've been at it two hours already—tons of fat burned.
At least two fish pastries' worth of calories. One's okay.
'Starve too hard while exercising, and you lose muscle, tanking your basal metabolism and dooming the diet.'
But right as he reached for his wallet, his hand froze.
The info that popped into his head was from his old gym trainer.
[Sir, your weight's not dropping—in fact, it's going up—and it's not our fault.]
[What am I supposed to do? I did everything you said, and it won't come off!]
He'd shelled out for pricey personal training at a fancy gym, followed the program for weeks, but with the stubborn scale, he'd argued with the trainer. Those words stuck like trauma.
[No, if you stuck to our meal plan, you should've dropped 10kg. Calories don't lie. You ate something else, right? Gaining on low intake defies thermodynamics. If you're telling the truth, we could study you and solve Africa's famines! Nobel in science and peace, both!]
The trainer yelled so loud from frustration that other members stared. In the end, Kim Hyun-seok refunded the rest of his sessions and fled, reduced to solo park workouts.
He'd thought of switching gyms, but shame kept him away for now.
"Sigh. Eat what? Gotta lose this weight."
He snapped his wallet shut and wandered.
'Coffee at least?'
Black coffee's zero calories—safe.
No reason to head straight home, so when he spotted a cafe, he made a beeline.
'Hypnos? Weird name.'
Stepping inside, his eyes landed on a guy at the counter.
"Welcome!"
A cutely handsome young man, boyish charm and all. Kim Hyun-seok thought women would swoon and flashed back to his own youth.
'I had my days too(?). How'd I end up this potbellied uncle?'
If his wife were a high-rank hunter, he'd have a harem by now?
A twinge of envy, then his gaze hit the detox drink sign, separate from the menu.
'Detox drink? Ingredients look healthy. Perfect for dieting.'
Better than plain black coffee.
Good for you and the diet—detox wins.
'Fruits mean some sugar, but it's healthy anyway! Fine to drink!'
Rationalizing it, Kim Hyun-seok paid up. He'd planned to sip leisurely, but kids were due home from school, so he poked a straw in the lid and headed out.
"Sweet-bitter—nice."
Might have a few calories. Might as well grab that fish pastry too.
Passing the vendor, he reached for his wallet but...
[No desire for snacks outside the three main meals.]
Suddenly, his appetite plummeted.
'Stomach full from the drink? Not hungry.'
Halfway through the drink, home arrived. True to form as a housewife, his wife whipped up dinner fast.
"Home from school!"
"Honey, I'm back from work."
As dinner finished, wife and kids returned. Eating with family, he piled rice high in his soup bowl like always and shoveled it in but...
[Half your usual portion feels fully satiated.]
Halfway, his belly said full—no more.
"Huh? Honey? Not eating more?"
"Yeah, stomach's stuffed. Probably that juice earlier."
That moment, the family dropped their utensils.
"D-Dad... you okay? Not sick?"
"H-Honey? What's wrong? You're scaring me."
All three paled. Kim Hyun-seok chuckled easily and showed the half-drunk drink.
"It's this. Tons of fiber—fills you right up."
"Honey, that time you dieted on tomatoes, you ate twenty on the spot..."
"Yeah, Dad. Banana diet for fiber? Three bunches per meal."
Come to think of it, weird.
Under family worry, he promised a checkup later, brooded alone in his room, then before too late, visited a friend in the same apartment.
"Hyun-seok? This late, what's up?"
"Jin-soo, your wife works at the National Forensic Service, right? One favor?"
Luxury apartments like this in Seoul housed elites—jobs were no joke.
"Drank this, and now I'm weirdly not hungry? Wondering if it's appetite suppressants or drugs."
"Where'd you get it?"
"Cafe."
Drugs in a cafe drink? Big deal—his friend nodded.
"Got it. I'll ask."
"Thanks!"
If true, Kim Hyun-seok planned to sue the cafe pronto.
'I want healthy weight loss, not drug dependency!'
Tampering healthy drinks was illegal crime anyway.
[Hyun-seok, results back.]
Next day, a message hit his smartphone.
[Just veggie-fruit juice. No drugs detected.]
[Thanks. Dinner on me later!]
No issues then?
Pure natural ingredients with this effect?
"...No more for now. Watch it a bit."
He skipped the doctor since his friend said fine, lived normal.
Only change: appetite. No longer slave to hunger—he controlled it.
"Whew..."
A week later, he stepped on the scale.
His eyes locked on the number.
91.8kg
Past overweight into obesity, halving intake shed weight fast.
It'd slow later, but same diet and exercise? Normal weight in a year.
"No drugs, just regular veggie juice, huh?"
Gratitude washed over his face.
How hard had he tried to lose it?
How many suffered like him!
"Heh. Gotta go back often. What's the secret? I've made veggie juice, but never curbed appetite like this."
He fired up his computer and hit the neighborhood papa cafe—online spot for dads near his fancy apartment.
[AyoungDaddy]
[Whoa! Tried the detox drink recently—fiber must be it, appetite suppression on point! Made dieting easy, down 3kg in a week!]
Good things? Share 'em.
"Recipe different? Hm, only 5,000 won—I'll just keep buying."
His post went up in the papa cafe.
[So-youngDad: Whoa, really?]
└[AyoungDaddy: Yup. Suppressed so well, had friend test at forensics—nothing illegal.]
└[So-youngDad: Which cafe? Dieting too—exercise okay, diet kills me.]
└[CutiePuddingYoo-sunnieLove♥: Diet control driving me nuts. Spill please.]
Comments flooded in seconds.
[AyoungDaddy: Hypnos Cafe, across from Boram Park.]