Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: S-Rank Self-Employed
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"Hello."
The brown eyes, bathed in sunlight, faintly shimmered gold.
With his greeting, the soft curve of his eyes drew customers and part-timers alike into a daze as they stared at the man standing at the counter.
Despite the collective gaze fixed upon him, the man's face remained utterly serene. If anything, I was the one feeling the weight of those stares.
"Would you like to order?"
"Noona, what time are you getting off today?"
"Customer, we don't have 'what time are you getting off' on the menu."
"Are you opening the shop for next week's Clear Day anniversary? If not, come play with me."
"Customer, if you haven't decided yet, may I help the people behind you first?"
The man turned his head following my gaze, and the customer who had been staring at him like a priceless masterpiece jolted in surprise, her body trembling.
"No, no! I have plenty of time today. Ordering might take a while. Take it easy! Nice and slow!"
It would have been reasonable to get annoyed at someone holding up the line at the counter, but she waved her hands vigorously as if she'd just received the red-carpet treatment.
The man offered her a thankful nod before turning back to me.
"She says it's fine."
"...Customer, if you're not planning to order, could you step aside?"
"...Why do you keep calling me 'customer'? Don't do that between us... It feels so distant. Call me by my name like you used to."
What 'us' is there between us?
I stared at him silently, and he drooped his eyebrows with a pitiful expression. Sympathetic sighs leaked out from all around.
It felt like I'd suddenly become the villain of the century. With reproachful glares pouring in from every direction, I had no choice but to utter the familiar name.
"Ju Yeon-woo-ssi."
"Yeon-woo."
"...Yes, Yeon-woo-ssi. Would you like to order?"
"Yes."
His face bloomed brightly, like flowers in spring. The cafe fell into a hush.
In the silence, it sounded like someone drew in a deep breath.
Reactions like these were so familiar by now that they barely registered.
After he finished ordering and returned to his seat, I took the rest of the orders from the line behind him and headed to the coffee machine.
That's when Kang Min-ji, who'd been sneaking glances my way, sidled up and whispered.
"Boss, what's really going on between you and Handsome Guy?"
Kang Min-ji called the man—Ju Yeon-woo—that.
With our only part-timer using the nickname, a few regular customers who didn't know his real name started following suit.
I'd cringed at it once upon a time, but now I was past caring what they called him. Call me enlightened.
"Cafe owner and regular customer."
"Come on, that's a lie, right?"
She laughed as if I'd told the punchline of the century.
I knew no matter what I said, she already had her mind made up and wouldn't believe me.
I waved her off to get back to work, and she pouted, trudging back to her station.
I'd just sent out the first Americano and was about to start on the next drink when Kang Min-ji called me over.
"Boss, Handsome Guy's drink is ready!"
Why call me for that? Just put it out. Her bold reply?
"Because he likes it when you hand it to him!"
"...Since when is my cafe a nomination-only joint?"
"Boss, hurry up! Orders are backing up."
Bewildered, I took the drink. Grapefruit honey black tea—what he'd started ordering lately.
At the last cafe where he was a regular, it was Americano after Americano, but his tastes must've changed.
Objectively speaking, Ju Yeon-woo was a boon to the business.
Customers had surged since he started coming, and he himself was VIP material.
He stayed long, ordered plenty, and sometimes bought out whatever cookies or cakes were left. Plus, the people who followed him here spent big.
A part-timer on a fixed wage might not care, but for an owner whose livelihood was pure profit, he was invaluable.
Still, I didn't welcome him.
"Grapefruit hon—."
"Yes."
He answered before I even finished, already watching. Pickup was lightning-fast.
I handed over the drink and turned to get back to work when Ju Yeon-woo grabbed me urgently.
"Noona, really no time today?"
"Ju Yeon-woo-ssi—."
"I'm really hurting... Low-rank Espers can't just call Guides whenever they want. I don't have any other Guide to help, and my matching rate is so low..."
He pleaded with his long lashes cast down. It was a heartbreaking sight, but I just let out an incredulous scoff.
What? Low-rank Esper? No other Guide to help?
The reason he grated on me was crystal clear.
He was a walking bomb, ready to shatter the peaceful daily life I'd barely clawed back.
Fake name. Fake identity.
He wasn't some low-rank Esper with no connections but me. His name wasn't even Ju Yeon-woo.
One of only five S-rank Espers in Korea. A multi-ability user. Korea's number one, world-ranked second—the young Guild Master of Messiah Guild.
Competent Guides would line up for a mere glance from him.
Remembering how he'd fooled me all this time, my lips twisted into a sneer. I leaned toward the pickup counter.
"Hey, Ju Yeon-woo-ssi."
His eyes widened at my suddenly close face.
Fearing anyone else might overhear, I whispered through gritted teeth.
"Ah, wait—no, that's not the right name, is it? Then... should I call you this instead?"
I met his trembling pupils and curled my lips up.
My face was already on the fierce side normally, but right now, it probably looked downright murderous.
"Messiah Guild Master Yeon Woo-jin."
Yeon Woo-jin.
The bastard who'd deceived me for so long. The one who'd forced me to abandon my dream of owning a home.
The damn guy who'd wrecked my house not once, but three times.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ They say life is unpredictable, but mine had crossed into the absurd.
Back when I was an ordinary high schooler, I'd study late at the academy before heading home.
That fateful day was no different.
The sun had set, leaving the evening dim and the station emptier than rush hour as I waited for the subway.
Then—
Beep—.
A bizarre mechanical screech pierced my ears, and I couldn't breathe.
My limbs went ice-cold, as if all my blood had drained out. Terror flooded my mind in an instant.
Am I... going to die like this?
Someone nearby must've noticed something was wrong and called out to me.
But the ringing in my ears only grew louder, my vision flickered, and right as I blacked out—
Like a miracle, the noise stopped.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't Kim Yu-jeong, first-year at Jehwon High School.
I was Amelia Campbell of the Herman Empire.
To make matters worse, Amelia was the count family's illegitimate daughter—shunned by all—with an loveless arranged marriage to the crown prince thrust upon her.
That's right. I'd possessed the archetypal character from a cliché romance fantasy, complete with a trash family setup.
So now what...? Should I just run off, become the heroine, and escape this hellhole?
Leave the crown prince to become the regretful male lead?
I mulled it over in a daze, but no answers came.
My options were slim, so in the end, I grudgingly chose to study foreign languages.
Communication comes first, no matter what.
Dusting off my old cram-school skills, I barely managed to pick up the language—only for war to break out.
In the Herman Empire, unless you had a major defect, every family had to send at least one member to war.
And instead of the heir son, they drafted me.
...Wait, is this even a romance fantasy?
For the first time, my theory that the genre was off gained some weight.
Fortunately, Amelia had a special ability.
I leveraged it to claw my way through the battlefield, surviving by sheer grit. Five years passed like that.
I returned home victorious alongside my comrades.
Gorgeous fireworks lit the sky. Cheers and laughter mingled with bursting firecrackers.
As I nursed my grudge against the count family that had thrown me into the fray—
That same tinnitus from seven years ago at the station came rushing back.
And with it, my memories as Amelia Campbell cut off for good.