SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon - Chapter 98: Page Nine: The Eternal Flame Who Carries Love

At that time.

Ki Yoohyun was thinking while looking at his phone. He got a KakaoTalk message from Kwon Rieul.

[Kwon Rieul]

Yoohyun-ssi today idk

“Umh….”

……what does this mean?

***

Page Nine: The Eternal Flame Who Carries Love

Cthugha, in his human form, stared intently at me. The red eyes were filled with confusion, irritation and longing.

Unable to overcome the pressure, I slowly retreated back, but Cthugha came closer. The heat hit me. Soon enough, the sound of breathing could be heard.

“Answer me. Intruder, why do you smell like Heesun?”

“Yes? Perhaps … are you talking about Park Heesun?”

Cthugha, who stood crookedly with his arms crossed, nodded his head.

“Yeah. I can’t forget this peculiar smell.”

“Why do you smell people!”

I backed away, appalled.

I took a shower in the morning. However, this field is in summer weather and I walked with Pepe for a long time.

When I glanced at him as if I were looking at a strange person, Cthugha looked embarrassed. I opened my mouth cautiously.

“Park Heesun is my grandmother.”

I didn’t know that my grandmother’s name would come out here again. What was the relationship between this Eternal Living Flame and my grandmother?

As soon as I answered, the flames died down, and the atmosphere became calmer.

“Euh-euhem. I see, grandgirl. Granddaughter, I mean. Here, here. Eat as much as you like.”

Cthugha pushed the tuna plate towards me, but it had been a long time since he burned it to charcoal when he was angry.

“…….”

“…….”

“The hospitality here is so poor.”

“Pepe, sincerity, unfair.”

“What did you say?”

“Tuna, tuna, tuna.”

Pepe, who could not go against his master, quickly caught the tuna again.

I picked up fresh sashimi and ate half-cooked tuna. It was delicious because it was cooked well.

“Ash, try this too. It’s delicious.”

“……I ate a lot.”

“Oh? Boy, you have to eat well to grow up like this Hyung. Yeah, I’m in a good mood! If you eat it all, Choi Cedric will sign it for you.”

“Haa….”

“Waeoong, waeooolg (This guys, his eyes said, ‘what’s this annoying human being‘).”

I forgot about the troublesome situation and enjoyed the dinner for a while … until Cthugha spoke to me again.

“All right, well … how is Heesun doing?”

“….she passed away.”

“……!”

Cthugha took a deep breath. He looked shocked.

“I see, that’s right. Has it already been that way?”

Remorse was deeply etched on his face. It felt strange to see this human-shaped fireball mourning the death of my grandmother.

“I had a good time with Heesun. However … it’s sad. Human time is too short. An immortal like me always misses the shadow of the mortal.”

Murmuring. The latter words ruffled into his breath.

Wait, don’t tell me….?

Suddenly, a possibility that I didn’t want to think about ran through my head.

My grandmother had always been alone since I was very young. I thought my grandfather died early, but … now that I think about it, I’ve never heard about him at all. Not only that, there is not a single photo left. As if he didn’t exist in the first place.

In addition, my uncle, Kwon Jiwoon, and I are all awakened. There are three Awakeners in a row in one family. Isn’t that a pretty rare chance?

No way.

Eh, that’s ridiculous.

I stared at Cthugha.

“Umh….”

“What’s wrong?”

Cthugha, with red hair and red eyes, looked just like a human.

What if it’s possible for these godlike creatures, like Cthugha, and humans, to produce offspring, and that’s why their blood flows through me?

What if the reason for the successive awakenings of my family is because of the secret of this birth?

Mieum’s eyes shone as if she had reached the same question as me. Even if she pretended not to, I could still feel her excitement. She’s like a K-drama fan who loves the secret of the main character’s birth.

I carefully raised my doubts.

“Don’t tell me … then, are you my grandfather?”

Spurt. Choi Cedric spilled the juice he was drinking.

“…….”

“…….”

A still silence where no breath can be heard.

With everyone’s attention focused on us, Cthugha answered with a vague expression on his face.

“No, Heesun and I had a pure relationship.”

“Phew….”

Thank God. I was free from the suspicion that 25% of my blood is non-human.

My precious humanity, my precious genes. I will continue to live like a human being.

“Was my grandmother awakened?”

“No, she was not an Awakeneds, but she could read the stream of the stars.”

Astrology … is it something like that? I asked again.

“Then, how did you meet my grandmother?”

“At that time, Heesun lived in a cabin in the forest. While wandering away from the ethereal world, I happened to meet her, and I was fascinated by her ability.”

The story is likely to be long. The fire spirits attentively brought yellowtail sashimi and alcohol. Cthugha, who ate a piece of the well-cooked yellowtail sashimi and spewed vaporized alcohol, continued his words.

“Heesun was very picky, so she would not eat anything other than freshly cooked rice at every meal.”

“……yes?”

“She only slept at the warmest part of the room. So every morning I cut firewood and fetched water.”

“…….”

I had to work hard not to spit out the words that popped into my head.

However, after hearing about how he made the charcoal himself and cooked rice by setting fire to the furnace for a long time, I couldn’t help but to have this thought.

So this is…….

….rice shuttle?

It was a memory that didn’t match the sad expression on his face.

“But I am an immortal of the ethereal world. I couldn’t always be by her side because of the limitations of causality. This is a body that can only move according to the stream of the stars.”

“…….”

Cthugha emptied his glass. The smell of alcohol whips through the air.

“Then one day, Heesun called me and made a request. She asked me to put my power on a stone so she can summon me any time.”

Wait, don’t tell me….

I quietly hid my hand under the table. Cthugha continued his story.

Cthugha, who was happy to hear that she would call him anytime, quickly handed over a red stone containing his power.

However, the next day, he said that my grandmother had disappeared.

Cthugha waited for my grandmother in the cabin until the stream of stars changed. Still, my grandmother did not return, and the causality imposed on him reached its limit.

Eventually, Cthugha returned to his garden, this place, and now time has passed. All he heard was that my grandmother had passed away a long time ago.

It was a strange story. At the time she ran her cafe, my grandmother seemed to have no interest in ‘God of Another World‘ or ‘Dungeon‘. I can’t believe such an old lady met Cthugha.

I felt the need to know more about my grandmother during my lifetime.

But that’s for later, and for now…….

I hesitated for a moment and showed him my hand.

“Is this the stone with your power?”

“……!”

Cthugha’s Ring. Since the name contains the name of Cthugha, it must be correct.

This ring was made by Grandma Kim Deokyi, but an item requires raw materials. Moreover, my grandmother and Kim Deokyi were acquaintances.

In other words, it is reasonable to think that the stone was passed away by the order of Cthugha → my grandmother → Grandma Kim Deokyi → me.

“How could you……!”

Hyuur.

Cthugha was again transformed into a great flame. This living flame erupted in rage in all directions and began to burn everything.

“Master, fury, run away.”

The fire spirits retreated, and the flames burned.

“I trusted her and handed her a stone of power. She tricked me! It’s not supposed to be a stone that I gave humans so they can use my power recklessly!”

“Eu, aaaa…..!”

“Hey, hey, it’s dangerous!”

Choi Cedric pulled me back, who almost got caught in the flames.

Cthugha, who was angry to the point that he looked like he would devour everything, quickly extinguished the push-type flames. The drooping red hair looked sullen.

“Haa … I thought it was strange.”

Cthugha murmured desolately.

“I summoned the stone containing my power several times. Originally, she should have been summoned, but no matter what I did, there was no response. I managed to summon it today, but a brick building flew in.”

It’s you! Because of you, the whole store was summoned here.

I found the culprit. In my mind, I wanted to grab his neck and shake him.

“Master, heartbreak, sorrow.”

Pepe said something that I didn’t know whether it was consolation or not.

“That … I have listened to you well, and I understand the situation well. Look, umh … cheer up.”

If the cause is Cthugha, then Cthugha must have the solution as well.

“Is there any way to return to the original state with the building here?”

“It’s none of my business.”

“What?”

“This is my garden. Once in, it is mine, the owner of the garden.”

“What?! Where do you even get that idea? What kind of ‘if you cross over with gold, it’s all mine’ is this?!”

Although I protested, Cthugha’s reaction was cold.

“The smell of Heesun remained in the building.”

“Ah, yes. It’s the building she lived in until she died.”

“If so, the building is a trace of Miss Heesun. Feel free to go back if you want to, but leave the trace of Heesun here.”

He’s crazy….

You said it’s a pure relationship, a pure relationship!

I should have recognized it since he mentioned the smell earlier.

Real estate means a lot to modern people, but he wants me to leave it behind!

Still, Cthugha was stubborn and I had no confidence to fight and win against him, who appeared to be close to God.

At that time when I was stuck in the situation, Lime, who had been quietly silent and held on my lap, bravely stepped forward.

“Kkyuuuu. Kkyuu … kkyuuuuu!”

“Ah, Lime-ah!”

“Kkyuu … kkyuuuu!”

While bouncing its body, Lime approached Cthugha.

“Hoo? Aren’t you the piece of flame that ran away from home a while ago? You’re back.”

As expected, Lime was the piece who ran away from home…….

The conversation between Lime and Cthugha continued.

“Kkyuu, kkyuu, kkyuuuuuu kkyu…..”

“What? The heir to the legitimate power? Is she eligible?”

“Kkyuuuu … kkyu …. kkyuuu.”

“Hmm, hmm, I see. You didn’t run away, but you followed her, hmm.”

“Kkyuu, kkyuuu!”

“That mortal … I see, hmm. The owner of ██ watched by ██, hooo….”

Why are you looking at me in an uneasy way and saying things I don’t understand?

Since I met the saintess not long ago, I want to refuse meaningful conversations for the time being.

After talking to Lime, Cthugha turned his head and looked at me with a warm gaze.

“Granddaughter.”

“Didn’t you say no earlier?”

“To me, the blood ties of the mortal are not significant. However, I guess it’s a fate that we met like this. You are like my granddaughter.”

Cthugha smiled and continued.

“Good. I will make a contract with you.”

Translator’s Corner:

rice shuttle: 밥셔틀 (babsyeoteul). The word shuttle (셔틀) comes from the popular slang bread shuttle (빵셔틀), 빵 means bread and 셔틀 means the english word ‘shuttle’. It’s means a shuttle (bus) that delivers breads to another person. The term was first used among Korean High School students and refers to a person who is being bullied, and does little errands such as delivering bread to their classmates. In here, Rieul used 밥 (boiled rice) to express that Cthugha is like someone who was builed by her grandmother to deliver rice.

Grandma basically gave false hope to a God….