For the past week, I'd been trialing and testing my menu, tweaking recipes, failing some spectacularly, and almost burning the café down once.
But aside from that minor detail, I was making progress.
I hadn't finalized everything just yet, but most of the food was locked in. I'd practiced the desserts enough to memorize the steps in my sleep, and the coffee... well, let's just say I've gained a whole new level of respect for baristas.
Now came the next step, buying dishes.
I visited a small local shop a few streets over, hoping I could find something cute within my budget. (The money that was originally saved to hire a hitman for my boss.)
After browsing around, I spotted an earthy nude set with delicate flower patterns along the edges.
They were simple, elegant, and surprisingly not that expensive for a ceramic.
I picked up enough for the café and a few extras, along with some cute takeout boxes for customers who wanted to eat on the go.
That should be enough, right?
That's what I thought, until I was halfway to the bus stop and my arms were screaming in betrayal.
I stopped on the sidewalk and set the bags down with a heavy sigh.
My back...
"I'm awakened," I muttered to myself. "Why can't I even carry shopping bags? Is this the curse of an F-rank? At this point, a middle school bully probably has a higher strength stat than me."
"Do you need help?"
A voice startled me from behind.
I turned and saw a man with black hair, broad shoulders, and a calm expression. He looked strong, definitely several times stronger than me.
But still. Stranger danger.
"Oh, uhh... it's okay," I said, waving a hand awkwardly.
"Please, I insist. My name is Jinhyuk."
He smiled, but... something about those eyes made me freeze.
They were so dead and empty, it creeped me out.
"...No, uh, that's fine. I don't need help."
"I understand," he said politely. "Well, it was nice to meet you."
He gave me a polite bow and walked away.
I blinked, confused by the whole encounter.
That was... weird.
I quickly gathered my bags and caught the next bus before another creep decided to walk up to me.
An hour later, I was finally home, very sore but proud I made it back with how heavy the bags were.
I dropped everything on the counter and started organizing the café stock.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
Outside Elena's café stood a man with his hood up, hands in his pockets.
His red eyes stared directly at her as she sat on one of the chairs, humming to herself while sipping coffee she brewed.
Who are you?
The man's expression remained unreadable as he watched her for a moment longer, then finally turned away.
He disappeared down the alley.
"Have you found any leads from the Stargazers yet?" he asked aloud.
A second later, a figure emerged from a pool of shadow that hadn't been there before.
"Hyungnim, how did you know I was here?"
The newcomer had purple hair, a small mole at the corner of one eye, and a bright, mischievous smile.
Despite his ability to manipulate shadows, his personality was anything but dark.
"Minwoo," the hooded man said flatly, "do you think I risked my regression ability just to have you fool around? Tell me what you found."
"Tch. So boring," Minwoo clicked his tongue. "I thought you might've changed, since you were out here stalking some random girl."
"Anyway," he continued, "I found their location. One of their main bases is in Bukwha. They've gathered a decent number of civilians, all blindly following their practices. During prayer, the cult extracts as much mana as they can from them.
"And not just civilians, there are low-ranking hunters there too. They're getting stronger."
Everyone in the world had been blessed with mana after the dungeons first appeared, but not everyone received enough to awaken.
Civilians with low mana weren't qualified to be hunters, but even F-class hunters were significantly stronger than the average person, whose mana was practically nonexistent.
Of course, only a handful of people in the world knew how that system actually worked.
Which meant the Stargazer cult wasn't just a collection of fanatics obsessed with constellations.
Someone behind the scenes knew too much.
"Keep scouting," Jinhyuk said. "We can't afford to lose track of them like last time."
"Understood. But, Jinhyuk-hyung," Minwoo asked, tilting his head, "should I also assign someone to watch her?"
He pointed toward Elena, who was still humming, happily swaying her hips to music they couldn't hear from that distance.
She looked absolutely ridiculous.
He looked at her for a long moment, unsure what to make of her.
There was something about her aura that didn't sit right with him, but there was no way to prove it.
Even when he activated his skill 『 Eyes of the Stars (U) 』all he got were the usual, insignificant details. No special traits, abilities or constellation. Not to mention, her stats were a sorry sight. She was worse than a regular F-ranker.
She was, however, a healer class though. But considering it was an F-rank ability tied to an F-rank hunter, there was no doubt it was practically useless.
At best, she could probably cure a mild migraine or patch up a paper cut.
And yet, she didn't even tremble at the sight of him.
Most hunters, even if they didn't recognize him, would instinctively recoil from the sheer weight of his mana. Fear, awe, discomfort, those were the normal reactions.
Was it because her mana was so low that she couldn't even register his? That would make sense. Still, something didn't add up.
Just in case, he made a mental note.
He would keep his eyes on her.
"...No," he finally said. "Leave her be."