S-Class Small Business Owner - Episode 3

One year later.

The collapsed house was just the beginning. An even more extraordinary story awaited me.

While my family and I existed in this world, it was no longer the ordinary reality I’d known until I was 17.

The world had transformed into something out of a modern fantasy novel.

When I opened my eyes in the hospital room, I heard many stories, each more shocking than the last.

Among them, three things stood out:

Gates. Espers. Guides.

Espers were people with supernatural powers, but using their abilities would contaminate something called their “vessel.” Guides were beings who could purify these contaminated vessels.

As it turned out, Han Se-young, who said she worked as a guide, wasn’t the tourist guide I’d assumed but an E-rank Guide belonging to the Center.

Both Espers and Guides were collectively known as “Awakened Ones.”

Currently, the most sought-after career among teenagers worldwide wasn’t being a civil servant or celebrity—it was becoming an Awakened One.

And Yeon Woo-jin, the bastard who destroyed my house the day I returned to this world, was apparently a top-tier Esper, standing at the peak among these Awakened Ones.

A lot happened during that year. Despite numerous hardships, I didn’t cry; I hardened my anger instead.

Still, feeling empty was inevitable, so I kept busy to avoid letting my mind wander.

I’ve closed my flower shop and now work various part-time jobs.

The reason was simple: I couldn’t run a flower shop when I couldn’t even make bouquets or remember flower names.

I didn’t just do part-time jobs all year. After clearing out the shop, I saved money and opened a rice ball store.

I chose it because cooking was my favorite hobby, but the shop didn’t even last six months. A Gate burst open right where my shop stood, obliterating everything—store and all.

During that time, two more rental rooms I had contracted were also destroyed by Yeon Woo-jin.

Thanks to all this, I now have a dream: to someday weave that bastard’s hair into a burial shroud.

* * *

Beep-beep-beep-beep-

I jumped up at my phone’s alarm.

Recently, I’ve been working as a fill-in part-timer at a famous café in a prime location.

Being in a safe zone, the hourly wage is good, but the downside is the distance from where I’m staying.

After that crazy Esper destroyed my home again—achieving a hat-trick of destruction—I had nowhere to go and ended up staying at my high school friend’s place.

I received compensation from the government: my rental deposit back and living support while homeless. Depending on the situation, additional small payments would come in.

But this wasn’t like winning the lottery. Being “damage” compensation, it would never be something to celebrate.

I needed to find a new place, and everything—from interior decorating to belongings—had been reset to zero. What was there to be happy about?

Moreover, considering my loans, it made more financial sense to share rent and food expenses at a friend’s place rather than immediately finding a new home.

About a year ago, after being discharged from the hospital, I’d stayed at Han Se-young’s place, finding new rooms only to return whenever my home got destroyed.

As time went on, I felt too guilty and moved to another friend’s house.

Although Han Se-young insisted I could stay as long as I wanted, how could I remain there when she was starting something with Yang Hyun-woo?

Yang Hyun-woo was the person who’d visited my hospital room a year ago to tell me about my house being blown up.

He was our age and worked as a D-rank Esper at the Center.

By this point, it seemed I wasn’t destined to have a home, so I stopped looking. Instead, I shamelessly accepted support from my parents to open a new shop.

Fortunately, one of my parents’ friends—a building owner just below the Lord himself—graciously offered to rent me one of their vacant spaces.

I’d already obtained various certifications including barista, confectionery, and cooking licenses. Until the shop was completed, I planned to make ends meet through part-time work.

Once finished, I intended to live in a private room I’d set up in the café.

“Wow, Unnie, it’s starting again…!”

While brewing coffee and thinking about my bright future, a female part-timer urgently gestured to me.

Following her excited gaze, there he was—a man with striking looks who had become familiar over the past few days.

Light sandy-colored hair and eyes. Broad shoulders and tall stature.

His presence stood out distinctly even among crowds.

The man, who seemed to live in a nearby luxury officetel, visited this café at least once a week.

He always ordered an iced americano and favored black turtlenecks with beige coats.

This makes me sound like his stalker, but all this information came from my fellow part-timers and customers.

He had been famous even before I started working here.

While his face—which belonged in a coffee commercial—was the main reason for his fame, he was also well-known for another reason.

I watched him with curiosity because of that other reason.

The man was never alone. His designated seat was always occupied by different women who looked beautiful enough to be celebrities.

His expression remained consistently composed, while the women’s faces would be filled with intense emotions.

Today too, after several exchanges, the scene ended with the woman bursting into tears and leaving.

At least this one ended quietly. Last time, she’d thrown drinks and everything else, leaving quite a mess to clean up.

The male part-timer, seemingly recalling the same incident, whispered:

“Noona, good thing there’s nothing to clean up this time, right? Last time we had to clean even the sofa.”

“Shh, he might hear.”

“Come on, it’s fine. How could he hear from this far away?”

The male part-timer burst out laughing as if the idea was absurd.

True enough. I nodded while continuing to observe the man in his seat. He looked particularly pale today.

At this café, he regularly repeated his breakups. Regular breakups that occurred as if disposing of unnecessary tools.

The fact that they always happened at the same café showed a lack of consideration for others.

Although my own sense of humanity and common sense had been somewhat discarded while living in that other world, I always tried to maintain basic courtesy, which was why the man’s attitude didn’t sit well with me.

Watching this, my female coworker would chatter about how this was typical for someone with his looks. Whenever conversation turned to the man, I felt uncomfortable.

No matter how much he used the café as his breakup spot, he was still a customer.

It didn’t seem right for employees to gossip about a customer, especially while he was still present.

“Oh right. Did you all see Guild ‘Error’s’ dungeon clear? The YouTube views were insane. Guilds rarely share Gate footage.”

“That only showed the shocking scenes. It’s not good for mental health.”

“Oppa, you’re too old-fashioned.”

“You’re just being reckless.”

As the two were about to start their usual bickering, I jumped in and asked what they were talking about. The male part-timer spoke first.

“There’s this controversial guild called ‘Error,’ and they recently livestreamed footage from inside a Gate on YouTube.”

“Why? That happens sometimes, doesn’t it? Even the Center broadcasts occasionally.”

“The problem is there were casualties. A C-rank Esper who didn’t receive Guiding in time went berserk, and it was all caught on video… Though it’s been taken down now.”

“What was the Esper’s ability?”

“Explosion.”

“Ah.”

So the process of a human body exploding was broadcast live.

While I was frowning, the male part-timer showed me a news article on his screen.

The deceased Esper had no highly compatible Guide and regularly took medication that produced effects similar to Guiding.

The ‘Error’ video essentially suggested there might be issues with these Guiding drugs, which was why it was getting such extensive media coverage.

“Speaking of Guides, I used to want to be one.”

“Rather than an Esper? Why?”

“What if a handsome Esper became obsessed with me? All Awakened Ones are so good-looking, and I could be someone’s one and only, eternal love!”

“I think you’ve watched too much media.”

“You think so too, unnie? When will she ever grow up?”

When I shook my head lightly, the male part-timer nodded in agreement.

As the female part-timer said, unlike Guides, all Espers had above-average looks. More precisely, their physical appearance was affected upon awakening as an Esper.

Scholars theorized this was because the presence or absence of Guiding directly affected their survival.

Humans are typically drawn to beautiful things, and this would be true for Guides as well.

Perhaps because of this, Espers were often topics of conversation. Some even had fans among notorious Esper criminal groups, which said it all.