Yokai Come to the Countryside Café

Chapter 25: Café‑Style Ramen (1)

We ate ramen and had a conversation we hadn’t managed earlier because of our confusion.

We introduced ourselves briefly and I learned that Yongman—a gumiho—had only one Dragon Pearl,

and had used that last Dragon Pearl on a futile wish.

To summarize, Yongman, for some reason he never explained, used the Dragon Pearl.

He used it to revive a game that had already failed and shut down.

The Elder had brought him all the way here in an effort to expel the gumiho who couldn’t ascend and had only one Dragon Pearl left.

He even planned to outsource the expulsion task.

“Elder, even Satan wouldn’t do this much.”

“Who said they’d take it! Now that things have come to this, I’m just asking the fellow to help him ascend.

And if he succeeds without the Dragon Pearl, that’s all the better.”

“Yes, your kindness knows no bounds.”

Clears throat.

I got up from the table, stacking the empty bowls.

“Where are you going? What about the room?”

“I’m going to clear the dishes. I’ll think of a plan later since there’s no strict deadline.”

“But isn’t there a saying about striking while the iron is hot?”

Pressured by the Elder demanding a quick solution, I asked Yongman for his understanding.

“I heard most of the story, so I’ll see what I can do. Please relax and be comfortable today.”

“I wasn’t expecting much. I just came hoping there might be a chance after that bold claim from the so‑called divine beast.”

Despite his cold tone, disappointment was clear on Yongman’s face.

“Oh right, about that game.”

“Hero’s Path?”

“If you have time later, could you tell me how to play it? Since you used the Dragon Pearl, I’d like to check what kind of game it is.”

“Sure, I’ll send you the link. I’m not sure if it’ll install though.”

“You can play that too, uncle?”

“Of course. You’ve got a phone here.”

It was an old model now relegated to being an ‘elder‑care phone,’ but it seemed serviceable.

Even the game preview Ria had shown earlier looked far from the latest in graphics.

So we sat back down around the table with our own phones in hand.

And an unscheduled lecture began. A beginner’s special class taught by a veteran, so to speak.

“There’s no separate job class system. NPCs in the town will teach early skills,

so just wander around and click on the skill‑learning icon when it appears. That’s for general skills, and this is…”

The explanation dragged on.

The brusque young man had disappeared, replaced by a slick salesperson sitting in front of me.

His nonstop game commentary was logical and seemed reluctant to stop.

I used to love games a lot in school just like all the other kids,

so I didn’t really need this much hand‑holding.

Even recently I’d installed some games I saw advertised on YouTube out of curiosity.

But he was so enthusiastic I couldn’t bring myself to say something harsh.

“That’s a skill warriors shouldn’t learn. A higher‑rank skill comes later in a quest.

I’ll send you a link to the page I organized for the higher skills.”

And it was surprisingly in‑depth.

I was only trying to check out the game in which the Dragon Pearl had been used.

“Ria is in here too! She’s trailing right at my feet!”

“Would you like to try, Ria?”

“Can I?”

“As long as you don’t play too long. Just a moment.”

I fetched a box from the storage room filled with miscellaneous electronics.

I rummaged through it—USB cables, a portable fan of unknown origin—all covered in dust.

Finally I managed to pull out two phones.

One was a scratched-up black phone with no intact corner left on its screen from being dropped too many times.

The other was a pink phone densely covered in sparkling beads.

My manager and assistant manager had given me their old phones when they upgraded.

In any case, these were newer models than mine.

However, the condition “I’ll switch to this if mine breaks” had never been met,

so the phones lay forgotten in storage.

Ding.

When I plugged in the charger, both phones thankfully turned on and charged fine.

“This one is for Ria. Game time is limited to two hours a day. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm? Why do I get one?”

I offered the remaining phone to the gumiho Elder, but instead of thanks I got a question back.

“Because Ria’s still young, a guardian must be with her. And while we're at it, activate this and use it a bit. Stop bothering the Director with so many calls.”

“You could have given me a working one!”

“It turns on fine. It’s a better model than mine. Now I need to tidy up, so please play with Ria, Elder.”

“Honestly.”

“Grandpa, hurry up!”

“Alright, alright. How do you start it?”

That hastily formed beginner party finally managed to reach the intro screen after a long time.

Of course, I excused myself under the pretense of cleanup, leaving them to play while I eavesdropped on their conversation.

“They said it was made in Joseon, but why are there only Western clothes? No hanbok anywhere?”

“Hanbok? This is a fantasy game…”

“Do they have talismans?”

“There’s a staff.”

“You old coot, are you teasing me because I’m ancient?”

“No, no, that’s not it…”

“Grandpa, stop it and come here! There’s a frog in the pond!”

“That’s not a pond—it’s a dungeon!”

No matter how skilled the instructor, it seemed their adventure would hardly go smoothly.

In the late dawn, having successfully sent Yongman off using business hours as an excuse,

the Elder and I brewed two cups of coffee and sat again by the window.

“You discovered something, didn’t you? So you're so relaxed.”

The tone was quietly confident.

“It’s still just speculation.”

Instead of answering, I turned my phone screen toward the Elder.

“Ha, so this is what you were using all alone?”

The Elder scrolled for a long time, then with a face of disbelief asked back.

How long had he waited on this abandoned message board by himself?

-(Admin) I miss you all…

-(Admin) Hey, do you remember that guild war with the Overlord Guild?

-(Admin) No matter how I think about it, the Holy Knight’s damage nerf war was way more fun.

-(Admin) Anyone up for hunting in the Corrupted Valley? We have a healer and dealer right now.

-(Admin) Lunch today .jpg

-(Admin) I got loot today. The guild office gave out prizes first‑come‑first‑serve. Hurry up. lol

-(Admin) Today’s report for the Dream Isle final boss raid—solid tanks check in!

…

Posting like this every day with nobody reading.

I clicked on a title that stood out among countless posts.

『Title: I Miss You All.

Author: (Admin) zLordMirz

Content:

I wonder if everyone’s doing well.

Seoru hyung used to drop in and say hi now and then, but it’s been about two years since he last came.

I heard he had his third child—must be busy.

Deko went quiet after school started, and now he’s playing a different game.

VeneziaGong and FoolPuchi went with him, but I couldn’t install it because my phone’s specs are too low.

Should I get a part-time job and upgrade to a new phone?

I’ve never done a part-time job before though.』

Yokai time is different from that of humans. Some of them live for thousands of years.

I thought that maybe living among humans, who pass through life in a fleeting moment, was itself a tremendous ordeal for these yokai.

Like this imoogi who held tightly to even the smallest online game connection.

Yongman’s posts, stretching deep into the past pages, shone like the diary of a diligent child—clear memories of the past.

Five years ago.

-(Admin) Deer! If you don’t log in for 90 days, you’ll automatically be removed from the guild! Please log in if you see this!

Seven years ago.

-(Admin) Haven’t seen Girisidan lately? Are you busy? [1]

And nine years ago.

-(Admin) Thank you all for kindly helping me. [8]

-(Admin) I installed the game in the device as you said, but login? I can’t figure that part out. [13]

-(Admin) I got a spare phone—will this game work on it? [17]

That was probably the beginning.

He must have gotten lucky and picked up a phone, then while browsing the internet stumbled into this mobile game, where he first formed connections with people.

Unfortunately, the game didn’t last long.

Like most mobile games, it got buried under a flood of new releases and quickly lost its vitality.

It remained without updates for years.

In the meantime, one by one, players quit the game, but Yongman kept waiting for them.

Even using a Dragon Pearl made from a thousand years of waiting.

“I think I finally understand why his personality got so twisted.”

“Foolish kid. What’s the big deal about that, tch.”

“Maybe it was everything to him. You said he spent a lifetime waiting deep in the river for ascension.”

“If it was such a precious bond, why not keep in touch directly?”

“He probably tried at first.”

“Huh?”

“There are only two or three conversations you can have reminiscing about an old game. Especially with someone you never met in person—it’s even harder.”

Trying to reconnect with a friend who’s drifted away because of real life

through awkward chats and calls might be more painful than comforting.

Especially for someone like Yongman, who formed his first human bond that way.

“We have to help him. After all, we basically dragged him here. We can’t just ignore him now. And Ria is enjoying it too.”

“I want to help him too, sure. But how do we even help him further?”

“There’s more than one path.”

“I don’t get what you’re saying at all.”

There isn’t just one path.

The Dragon Pearl is just one of many ways to reach the Heavenly Realm.

Not all the ascetics I met in the Heavenly Realm had Dragon Pearls.

And fortunately, they still had plenty of time—enough to not worry too much even if the outcome wasn’t perfect.

The next day, at the construction site where Yongman worked.

“Hey Gom-bang, did you eat something weird today? You’re not even on your phone and working like a beast!”

“Out of the way. I’m busy.”

“Ha! There goes your short tongue again.

Man, I’ve got a son your age at home—whoa.”

Yongman almost shoved Choi-Pro aside as he climbed the stairs.

He was carrying five heavy bags of remital cement on his back.

“Whoa! Look at Yongman carrying five bags at once! He’s practically a crane!”

“Yongman, are you becoming the ace now?”

“Oya, we’ve gotta give our Yongman a bonus head count today!”

Workers who normally saw him carry one, maybe two bags at most,

began tossing comments as they passed by, surprised by his drastic change.

‘Since when were they so friendly with “our Yongman”? Losers acting superior…’

But maybe because he had never heard compliments like this before,

he swallowed the words he would’ve said out loud in the past.

Finishing work two hours earlier than usual, Yongman ran toward the bus stop.

“Oya, did that punk hit his expiration date or what? What’s with the sudden sprint?”

“Hard work is good, so why complain?”

“Looks like something’s up, doesn’t it?”

A worker passing by Choi-Pro and the site manager wiggled his pinky finger.

“Psh, like that rude punk could.

He’s always glued to his phone—must be a release day for some new model. Anyway, what are y’all doing? Gonna see him off at the bus stop or something? Let’s get back to work already.”

Even after Yongman boarded the bus and disappeared, the site buzzed with talk.

That he’d finally become a proper human being.

That if he just learned to drink soju, he’d be a full-fledged ace.