Chapter 36 : Adventure Level 25 (3)

Focusing my mind for a moment, I sensed the mana in the vicinity and found it gathering at a location slightly distant from this café.
The movement felt artificial, suggesting magic was about to be used.
It was a highly suspicious presence, but the mana pulse I initially felt wasn’t on such a small scale, so I expanded the range of my mana detection.
Scanning a radius of several kilometers, I found spots where mana was gathering here and there.
Roughly calculating the mana amount in the locations I found, it fell far short of the initial pulse I felt.
Based on that feeling, I guessed there must be many such locations.
Roughly, across the entire globe?
Excluding the oceans, the Earth’s landmass is about 150 million square kilometers, so I don’t know if my guess is accurate, but the initial amount of mana I sensed was that immense.
The scale was so large that any sense of crisis came and then fizzled out.
On this scale, there’s nothing I can do one way or the other.
All I could do was pray it wasn’t some sudden cosmic horror situation like the end of the world.
I don’t believe in God, so who do I pray to?
Was the recent trend to call upon all the gods you know?

“Cha Haneul.”
Do Yugeon, sitting opposite me, called out.
“Didn’t you feel something just now?”
He must have felt something too, having the Mana Sense skill.
There’s nothing we can do right now anyway, and even if something happens, leaving it to the security team is the best option, so I hope he doesn’t get any unnecessary ideas.
“Hmm, maybe you imagined it?”
“Really?”

Since magic is my specialty, he seemed uncertain when I denied it.
He did feel it, so maybe he should trust his own judgment, but since I’m the one deceiving him, I guess I can’t say that.
“More importantly, pick something to order.”
I turned the menu I was looking at toward Do Yugeon.
He then turned the menu back toward me.
“I already chose.”
He tapped the Soboro Bread and Cider on the menu.
Soboro bread? Cider? I looked around the shop.
There was no oven.
When I scanned with mana earlier, there was no baking space behind the shop, so it seemed likely they bought the bread from a nearby bakery.
The cider would be a standard product.
Soboro bread and cider—then what’s the point of coming to a café?

“What did you pick?”
He asked.
I had urged him to pick a menu item, but actually, I hadn’t chosen anything yet.
Because there’s no cake on the menu here.
Usually, when I come to a café, I choose cheesecake, but if they don’t have it, I pick whatever cake is available.
But this place doesn’t sell cake at all.
How perplexing.
I didn’t want to choose bread that looked like it was picked up from a neighborhood bakery either.
I came here based on Yu Mina’s recommendation that the coffee was good, but I didn’t realize they might only have good coffee.
In the first place, I don’t really know coffee taste.
Whether it’s instant or handmade, I drink it for the caffeine—where’s the taste in that?

As I pondered without answering, I felt his gaze.
Ugh.
Making him wait longer felt a bit rude—should I just eat anything?
“Cream bread and cappuccino sounds good.”
Mom said that regardless of the bakery, cream bread is always at least decent.
I didn’t hear the reason, but since Mom said it, it must be true.
Although, since it’s Mom, it could also be a joke to trick her daughter.

While waiting after ordering, the café door opened, and the Security Team Leader entered.
He seemed about to say something, so I gave a rough flick of my hand.
The Security Team Leader blinked, seemingly trying to grasp my intention, glanced at Do Yugeon, then approached me.
He leaned in and whispered quietly in my ear.
“As you may already know, there are unusual signs.”

According to the Security Team Leader, after the intense mana pulse, a strange phenomenon of mana gathering at specific locations was occurring worldwide.
Seems likely. My guess must have been right.
Hmm. Hopeless.
I whispered back to the Security Team Leader.
“Why is the mana gathering?”
“We strongly suspect it might be magic.”
Meaning they don’t know.

The Security Team Leader added a few cautionary notes and then took a mage robe out from his coat.
[C-Grade / Marphinia of the Melopine Royal Workshop]
Looks like I have to wear this ugly mage robe again.
I took it and draped it over my clothes. The Security Team Leader fastened it for me and then stood silently beside me.
It seemed he intended to guard me closely.
But doing this reveals that I lied to Yugeon about nothing happening.

Looking at him, just as expected, he was staring at me with suspicion.
He glanced at the Security Team Leader for a moment, then spoke.
“You said you didn’t feel anything earlier.”
“Me? I never said that.”
I replied with a puzzled expression.
What can he do if I deny it? That was my attitude, but he stared so intently that my conscience pricked me a little, and I subtly avoided his gaze.
“More importantly, I’ll explain the situation. Curious?”

I roughly explained that there was an unusual phenomenon of mana gathering.
“Oh, so mobs then?”
“Could be, could not be.”
“This must be it.”
“No need to be so certain.”

He logged in, then came back holding his sword.
Don’t bring a sword into the café.
The owner, who happened to be bringing our order, frowned but then glanced at the Security Team Leader standing beside me and left the items without a word.
Oops, I caused a nuisance.
Do Yugeon wiped his sword with the hem of his clothes.
“Even if you wipe it, you probably won’t get to use it.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because it’s dangerous.”

Explorers revive when logged in, but that doesn’t mean they always revive.
If you die while logged out, you just die.
No organization has experimented with this, but news occasionally reports explorers dying accidentally while doing stupid things, banking on their enhanced physical abilities.
Moreover, in an emergency like mobs appearing in the city, the risk of death is more than sufficient—it’s overflowing.
Even easily defeated Goblins can take your head off with one arrow if handled incorrectly.
Risking your life to level up amidst unknown chaos is a rather absurd act.

“It is dangerous, but that’s why we need to hunt them more.”
I don’t understand what he’s saying. Is this thrill-seeking puberty?
I shook my head and took a bite of the cream bread.
It was bread that tasted like cream.
Just plain cream bread.
It wasn’t bad, at least.
But having eaten chicken not long ago, the greasiness was a bit much.
I should have ordered something else.

I lifted the cappuccino and blew on it gently.
I can’t handle hot things well, so I usually let freshly made coffee sit for a while, but since the bread was a bit heavy, I thought I’d take a sip now.
After blowing a little more, I took a sip.
The inside of my mouth where the coffee touched flared up.
Ouch, hot.
My body shivered for a moment.
I put the coffee cup down.
Coffee is truly a great beverage, but the heat is a problem.
Not that I like iced coffee either—rather, I prefer drinking it hot, just enough not to burn.
The sensation of hot coffee warming its way down the esophagus is pleasant.
Like the wonder and mystery of a cup of coffee.
Of course, liking it is separate from being able to drink hot things well.

Feeling sorry for him wiping his sword with his clothes, I handed him my handkerchief.
I don’t know if it’s okay to wipe it with a handkerchief, but it’s better than his clothes.
But I don’t know what he’s wiping so diligently.
When hunting logged in, mobs turn into experience powder, so blood doesn’t even get on the sword.
He’s not unskilled enough to fall or drop his sword while hunting, so the sword doesn’t roll on the ground either.
Besides, that sword was originally from the Preparation Room rack, meant to be used and discarded.
He’s done some gacha draws by now and even got an F-Grade sword.
Come to think of it, wasn’t that originally mine?
After Do Yugeon’s sword was shattered by an Orc back then, before the gacha update, I gave him my spare sword since I wasn’t using it anyway.
Hmm, if it’s not his own, being careful makes sense.
He’s polite.

Just as I was carefully blowing on the slightly cooled coffee, intending to drink it, screams were heard from far away.
I put the coffee cup down.
Wondering what it was, I expanded my senses to check and found Goblins had popped out at the location of the anomaly.
One Goblin swung its sword at a passerby.
Before the sword reached the civilian, I narrowed my senses and stopped observing.
Screams and commotion echoed from the distance.
Ugh, this is quite dangerous.
It wasn’t the sudden end of the world, so not the worst-case scenario, but not a good situation either.
I could just log in, but I don’t know if my parents are safe.

As I took out my phone to contact them, Do Yugeon shot up from his seat.
“What’s going on?”
Screams and commotion still echoed from the distant outdoors.
“Who knows—just sit down for now.”
I pressed his shoulder down with mana, forcing him to sit.
He said with a flustered expression, “No, forget sitting—you hear the screams outside—what is it?”

I briefly considered whether I should explain.
It’s best if he remains ignorant and doesn’t get unnecessary ideas, but he’ll probably guess roughly even if I don’t explain, right?
“Goblins appeared where the mana gathered.”
“Goblins? Then we have to go hunt them.”
He tried to stand up, so I pressed him down with mana again.
“What do you mean hunt? I told you it’s dangerous.”
“No, precisely because it’s dangerous, we have to hunt them.”
This guy, really.
“So because it’s dangerous, sit down.”

I glared at him, frowning, and he opened and closed his mouth, looking like he had a lot to say but couldn’t get the words out.
The Security Team Leader, who had been busy communicating, went outside, and my phone rang.
It was Mom.
“Just sit down and contact your parents first.”
He took out his phone with an expression suggesting the thought had just occurred to him.
You only thought of your parents now? What an unfilial son.

After contacting them, it turned out my parents were under thorough protection.
If anything, I was in more danger.
Hmm, feels natural.
After listening to more worries, I ended the call.
It seemed I didn’t need to worry too much.
In the first place, for Mom and Dad to be in danger, society would have to be collapsing.
Do Yugeon’s parents didn’t have security, but they were reportedly in a location somewhat far from the incident.
Thank goodness.

I took a sip of coffee.
A warm sensation spread through my body.
It was warm, but disappointingly cooled down a bit.
I like that strange temperature that’s hot but not scalding.
Schrödinger had come to me before, even though I told him not to give me advance notice about updates.
I didn’t listen and chased him away, but maybe it was about today’s events?
There haven’t been any major incidents since then other than now, so it’s probably correct.
So if I had heard about this situation back then, if I had told others, the person who died today would be alive, and fewer people would grieve in the future.
“Huhu.”
I let out a small sound.
The knot in my stomach loosened slightly.
I told Schrödinger not to tell me in advance precisely because I worried my thoughts would drift this way, but he didn’t listen.
I’m just a minor, yet he’s burdening me with responsibility.
How wicked.

The Security Team Leader, who had gone outside, returned.
According to him, the mobs that appeared outside were all Goblins.
“There’s no major threat for now, but it would be best to wait a bit.”
“Can’t we just log in?”
“That’s currently blocked.”
What does that mean?
“Login.”

I muttered “Login,” but instead of logging in, a system window popped up.
[Login Delay Notice]
Due to high traffic, login is currently delayed. Please wait a moment.
Queue Position: 1089
Estimated Wait Time: Unknown
What’s this now? I muttered “Login” again.
“Login.”
[Login Delay Notice]
Due to high traffic, login is currently delayed. Please wait a moment.
Queue Position: 1097
Estimated Wait Time: Unknown

My queue position moved back.
Ha. Unbelievable.
It’s so absurd I’m speechless.
The System operates like a game, but it doesn’t need to be game-like in this aspect.
The Security Team Leader relayed a few more things and then went outside again.
I drank the last sip of coffee and looked at Do Yugeon—he was looking restless, staring at his phone.
Is he looking at social media?
I’m afraid he might suddenly bolt out.

I stood up and went next to him.
“Arms up.”
I spoke while gesturing upward with both palms, and though puzzled, he raised his arms.
I slipped into the space created by his raised arms and sat on his lap.
This way, he probably wouldn’t suddenly run off.
“Huh? Huh? Huh?”
“Excuse me, owner, can I get one cappuccino? No cinnamon powder.”
“Eh? What did you say?”
The owner, who had been staring intently at his phone, asked back, his face beaded with cold sweat.
“One cappuccino. No cinnamon powder.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”

I leaned back against him.
I fit snugly in Do Yugeon’s lap.
The height difference is nice for this.
Even though screams and commotion echoed from outside the café.
A moment passed.
As the distant screams got slightly, though still distantly, closer, Do Yugeon kept staring at the door.
It certainly is scary now that the screams are getting closer.
“Don’t worry. The security guards will protect us. If worst comes to worst, we can risk escaping through the back door of the café.”
Though outside is chaotic and likely more dangerous than here.

Do Yugeon looked at me for a moment, then looked back at the door.
“I realize this often, but you say a lot of strange things.”
“Like what?”
“And you say strange things so confidently, as if they’re perfectly normal, that listening makes me wonder if I’m the one who’s wrong.”
Like what, exactly?

He grabbed me with both hands and lifted me up easily.
Oof.
Then he placed me in the seat next to him.
Our eyes met.
“Young lady. People are dying outside.”
“I know.”
I know more than you do.
“Then.”
Do Yugeon grabbed his sword.
“We should be out there—why are we here?”
And then he ran out of the café.

My mind went blank from the sudden turn of events.
So, just now, he… left?
Horrified, I rushed out of the café.