Yokai Come to the Countryside Café

Chapter 8: The Opening Ceremony Was a Mess (2)

“Let’s see. The President’s approval rating is at 67%. If there’s no lame duck period, he has 2 years and 4 months left… At 30 million won per month, that’s 840 million won total!”

Eight hundred and forty million won.

That’s the amount I would receive under the condition that I open the café.

I could set my own operating hours, and at best, I’d only have two or three customers like today.

It was an absurd deal.

Well, if we’re talking absurd, then the fact that high-ranking officials from the National Intelligence Service and yokai come to drink coffee is even more bizarre.

However, the moment I started earning a net profit of 30 million won a month, all these strange, supernatural happenings became mere challenges I could overcome.

If I added a bit more to the savings I’d collected, it would total exactly 1 billion won.

If I could just secure the right loan, moving into a brand-new apartment in Seoul wouldn’t be a dream anymore.

-Swish, swish.

『Seocho Forstar Complex 2, Building 202, sale 1.38 billion won

Bangbae Artshop Complex 1, Building 109, sale 1.43 billion won

Bangbae Artshop Complex 2, Building 215, sale 1.36 billion won

…

Sunghyun Shindo Apartment, Building 115, sale 1.25 billion won [♥]』

Feeling a bit restless, I had scrolled through the listings on a real estate app and even added a few apartments that just barely matched my budget to my favorites list.

They say 1 billion isn’t even considered money anymore these days, but how many people my age actually own an apartment in Seoul?

Of course, I hadn’t even received the first month’s payment yet, so it was still just a distant plan.

Right, this wasn’t the time for this.

The thought of getting a large sum of money had distracted me.

A contract was a contract, so I had to start preparing to open the café from tomorrow.

I needed to officially register the business and get a health certificate, plus other permits and documents, so I couldn’t afford to just sit around like this.

I couldn’t run an illegal business for customers who might come again tomorrow.

I quickly grabbed my car keys, wallet, and packed some strong coffee into a thermos just in case I got sleepy, then headed into town.

How long had I been driving?

-Plop, plop.

Cherry blossom petals began to fall one by one onto the car roof.

What’s this? Is it some kind of weather anomaly?

Cherry blossoms in early autumn? And it wasn’t just cherry blossoms. Cosmos, roses, forsythia, and wildflowers I didn’t even know the names of.

Every tree-lined road, vine-covered wall, and any patch of soil was overflowing with blooming flowers.

And that wasn’t the only strange thing. The road I’d been driving on had also changed along with the scenery.

The nicely paved asphalt had, without me noticing, turned into a dirt path and then into a field where the grass reached up to my knees.

-Screech.

I had no choice but to stop the car.

When I realized something was wrong and turned around to head back, all I saw was a field that looked no different from the view ahead.

Just a few days ago, I would’ve had no idea what to do and probably panicked, but in that short time I’d already received one hell of a “vaccination” against the supernatural.

Hadn’t I met a talking raccoon dog and a gumiho?

So having my car suddenly transported to some strange place wasn’t even that surprising anymore.

Neither was the kindly-looking old woman who had somehow approached me.

“Was the road here rough?”

“No, it was a peaceful road with fluttering petals.”

“That’s good to hear.”

The smiling old woman’s face wrinkled naturally with age as her smile deepened.

Only then did I start to get a vague idea of where I was.

“This must be the Heavenly Realm.”

“Oh ho, then do you know who I am?”

“I heard that the goddess Mago opened my eyes. I assume you must be her.”

“Looks like I made the right choice. You’ve got sharp wits.”

“It’s not that impressive. That was simply the only story I’d heard.”

“Hoho, and modest too.”

Now that I had received a clear confirmation of where I was, it finally began to feel real. For some reason, I had driven my somewhat old compact car all the way to the Heavenly Realm.

“So, now that you’re here, how does it feel?”

“Well, it feels quiet and warm. Maybe a little boring, too.”

“That’s because this is where dull hermits come, hoho.”

It was a blunt answer, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie in front of a deity, so I just shared my honest impression. It was, after all, how I felt.

Below the field where the goddess Mago pointed, I saw a few thatched cottages made with humble bundles of rice straw.

The golden waves of rice paddies, ox carts, and unnamed vegetables growing in the fields made it look unmistakably like a countryside village.

The peaceful atmosphere was so charming that it made me briefly forget about my busy real life, but at the same time, it felt like it would be torture to go even half a day without the internet or my phone.

Even my grandma’s house from childhood had at least a television.

“By the way, would you care for a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind?”

“Coffee?”

“I just happened to bring a cup.”

Feeling awkward about being too honest, I tried to change the subject and happened to spot the thermos in the cup holder.

-Drip.

Steam rose from the coffee that quickly filled the lid of the thermos.

“That’s the coffee Geum liked. Here, sit down, it’s fine.”

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks.”

When Mago Goddess accepted the coffee and swept her hand across the ground, the wild grass laid itself down in a way that made it easy to sit.

“Well now, you must have a lot to say to me?”

“Is that why you called me here?”

“Called you? Hoho. I simply waited, thinking you might come. It wasn’t I who brought you to the Heavenly Realm, was it?”

“Ah.”

From my pocket, a soft light was leaking out.

More precisely, it was light coming from a leaf inside the wallet in my pocket.

A coincidence stacked upon coincidence. There was no divine will in it.

It was my choice to pick the leaf among the random items the raccoon dog offered as coffee payment.

This time, Mago Goddess was right.

“Did it make you sad? Living as the gods wished?”

“There were times when I blamed it, though it wasn’t exactly resentment. After all, it didn’t have to be me.”

Seeing what others couldn’t was both a blessing and a curse.

Frustratingly, the fragments of the future I saw never appeared at the moment I desired. It was like flipping to the last page and accidentally reading the ending.

However, Mago Goddess’s response to my half-whining lament was different.

“That’s where you’re wrong. It had to be you.”

“My vessel isn’t that large.”

“Every child whose eyes I opened said the same thing. But listen well, child. Among them all, you are the most special. I’ve opened the eyes of many, but you are the first whose threads of fate are so free that you came to me and even offered me a drink.”

“Yes, I understand. And I no longer harbor resentment. Even Mago Goddess cannot achieve all she wishes, so me trying to live exactly as I want is just greed.”

“How do you know that?”

“Didn’t you say yourself that even after bringing them to the Heavenly Realm, all they do is farm out of boredom?”

“Hohoho, you’re right. Truly wise.”

She was no different.

Even Mago Goddess, a being from the heavens beyond heavens.

Perhaps that’s why she took the form of such a warm-hearted grandmother, rather than a grand divine figure.

Just an ordinary old lady who enjoys a good cup of coffee. One who might tell long stories about life.

That simple fact comforted me.

It made me wonder, ‘Maybe fate and destiny are just illusions made from everyone’s tangled wishes.’

At the same time, the sedan that rushed into Jinseong’s café was nothing short of a warzone.

“There’s the café!”

“Ugh! We’re in a hurry, just park in front of it!”

-Screeech.

Baek Mahyeon had slowed down and turned on his signal to take a right into a spacious parking lot, but the gumiho scolded him.

The three people—no, two people and one raccoon dog—clumsily got out of the car and rushed toward the café.

But the door wouldn’t open. The lights were off, and there was no sign of anyone inside.

“Looks like he just stepped out?”

“There’s no car outside either.”

“Let’s go in anyway. He might’ve left the divine leaf behind.”

-Whoosh. Ding-a-ling.

“Come on in.”

Before they even finished talking, the gumiho disappeared, unlocked the café from inside, and welcomed the two in.

“Is it really okay to barge in like this? Wouldn’t the owner be upset if he found out?”

“Quiet! This is no time to worry about that! We have to find it quickly!”

-Clatter. Clatter.

The three scattered and began rummaging through the empty café in search of something.

The cupboard, the counter, even the master bedroom on the second floor.

If anyone saw them, they’d definitely look like thieves trying to steal something, but in truth, they were desperately trying to save Jinseong, the café’s owner.

It seemed only the gumiho actually knew the reason.

“Is it not there?”

“No, I don’t see it here.”

“Not here either.”

“Keep looking, more!”

“What kind of item is this divine tree leaf anyway?”

The elder had lived through countless years beyond imagination.

He was the type who would usually scold with, “Is that really worth fussing over? Back 500 years ago…” for most things.

Yet here he was, sweating and searching alongside them.

Though the situation was urgent, it was impossible not to feel curious. If it were that serious, it had to be something the whole nation should be aware of.

“The divine tree is, quite literally, the tree from which gods descend. Some folks call it the World Tree or whatever, but even if you travel all the way across the Central Plains, the only truly living divine tree is here on Mount Gyeryong. That’s why that guy’s guarding it.”

“Ahem! It’s an important mission, you see.”

“Then why, during that all-important mission, did you pluck a perfectly fine leaf and give it to him!”

“I don’t have money like the gumiho! So I tried to pay for the coffee with that instead…”

“Ugh, and you call that an excuse? The divine leaf holds divine power. If a human carries it around, wouldn’t beings with supernatural powers trying to reach the heavenly realm come after him? His life could be in danger!”

“The café owner might die? No way! Waaaah!”

“Argh! My head’s already a mess—don’t cling to me!”

At the mention that Jinseong might die, the raccoon dog wailed and clung to the gumiho’s pant leg, shaking it wildly.

“Would it really come to that?”

“No one knows. There are mad imoogis who’ve prayed for over a thousand years trying to ascend—who knows what they’ll do to a human who smells of the heavenly realm.”

“I’ll send staff out to search immediately.”

“We can’t sit around either. Let’s go out and look. Ugh, what a night this has turned out to be.”

They had no idea.

That a single leaf had caused a massive incident where a human was suddenly sent to the heavenly realm.

And he’d even driven there in a beat-up old car, to the place others could only reach after casting off all worldly attachments and achieving enlightenment.