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LEON
The opening of the internet cafe was a success.
A huge success, actually.
Even now, as I looked around the establishment, I still found it a little hard to believe.
Part of that success was definitely thanks to Sam. Her influence and reach had pulled in a lot of visitors on the first day alone. Plenty of people had shown up because of her recommendations, and once they got inside, most of them seemed interested enough to stick around and try everything out.
Honestly, I had expected a decent turnout.
What I hadn't expected was for the place to be this busy.
It wasn't packed to the point that people were fighting over computers or standing in line for hours, but there were enough customers coming and going that I couldn't really complain.
Not that I was planning to.
After all, this was literally the first day.
If things kept going like this, then opening the business would end up being one of the best decisions I'd made.
Naturally, the person handling the current shift was Charlotte.
And surprisingly enough...
She wasn't struggling.
Actually, scratch that.
She was doing far better than I expected.
I watched her for a moment as she moved from customer to customer without any visible issues. She answered questions, handled payments, helped people find available computers, and somehow managed to keep everything organized at the same time.
The weird part wasn't that she was doing her job.
The weird part was how good she was at it.
Charlotte didn't look stressed.
She wasn't complaining.
She wasn't asking for help every five minutes.
And somehow, she managed to make everything look smooth and effortless.
It honestly felt like she was trying to make every tiny detail perfect.
At some point, I must've been staring too long because she suddenly looked in my direction.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing."
Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
"You were clearly looking at me."
"I was just surprised."
"About?"
I shrugged.
"I was surprised you're actually good at your job."
She stared at me.
For a second, I thought she might throw something.
"That's such a nice thing to say to your employee."
"You're welcome."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"It sounded like one."
Charlotte sighed.
"Well, my salary depends on how I perform, doesn't it?"
"I guess."
"Then naturally I have to be good at it."
She crossed her arms.
"If I want to earn more points with you, boss, then I need to do my job properly."
"You don't have to call me boss."
"You're literally the boss."
"Still."
"So I'll call you boss."
"..."
"..."
"Fair enough."
Honestly, I wasn't sure why she insisted on it.
We were probably around the same age.
Maybe there was a one or two year difference at most.
Still, she seemed completely committed to calling me boss every chance she got.
Not that I really minded.
If anything, it was kind of funny.
At the moment, the kitchen section was still empty.
There weren't any employees assigned there yet, which meant none of the food options were available.
The cafe side of the internet cafe was technically unfinished.
Customers could buy access to computers and use the facilities, but the actual food and beverage service wasn't operating yet because I still didn't have enough staff.
Finding employees was turning out to be more annoying than I expected.
Who would've thought that running a business actually required people?
What a shocking discovery.
While I was thinking about that, a large interface suddenly appeared in front of me.
Huh?
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NEW QUEST
Reina is planning to buy all of the establishments here to build her new mall, including yours.
Do not accept the offer.
Reward: +5♥︎
Requirement: 100 COMMUNICATION
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I blinked.
What the heck?
Why did that suddenly appear?
And more importantly...
Who was Reina?
While I was still trying to process the notification, the front door opened.
A woman walked inside.
She looked like she was somewhere in her late twenties.
The moment I saw her face, something immediately felt familiar.
"Ah..."
Wait.
Wasn't she...
The woman from the parking lot before?
The one who had shown up to pick Clara up?
If I remembered correctly, I was pretty sure she was Clara's older sister.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, another interface appeared.
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Reina
You have acquired the necessary requirement to unlock her interface.
Requirement: Build your own business.
Affection: 0♥︎
Mood: 10♥︎
Lust: 10♥︎
Status: Stranger
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I stared at it.
Well.
I guess that answered one question.
Apparently, opening my own business had fulfilled the requirements needed to unlock her interface.
Which meant I could now see her status information.
Still...
The timing was suspicious.
According to the quest, she wanted to buy this place?
I'd literally just opened.
Could she not wait at least a week before trying to buy me out?
Standing behind her were two bodyguards.
And honestly...
Those guys looked terrifying.
They were huge.
The kind of huge where you immediately start wondering if they eat bricks for breakfast.
Just looking at them made me feel like getting punched would instantly send someone into the afterlife.
"Who owns this establishment?" the woman asked. "I'd like to speak with them."
"I do."
Her gaze shifted toward me.
"You?"
"I own the place."
For a moment, she looked me up and down.
"You seem rather young to be the owner of an establishment like this."
Then she glanced around the room.
"Then again, considering the business model you've chosen, I'm not surprised that someone your age would create something this immature."
I blinked.
Wow.
She really came out swinging.
Just straight to the insults.
Impressive.
"Let me be direct," she said. "I want to buy your establishment."
"No."
I answered immediately.
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COMPLETED
Reina is planning to buy all of the establishments here to build her new mall, including yours.
Do not accept the offer.
Reward: +5♥︎
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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The reaction was immediate.
She looked at me as if I had just spoken an entirely different language.
For a few seconds, she simply stared.
"Did I hear you correctly?"
"Probably."
"Did you just say no to my offer?"
"Yes."
"My offer?"
Now she sounded genuinely offended.
The way she emphasized the word "my" made it pretty obvious she wasn't used to hearing that answer.
Then again, considering who she was, I supposed most people probably didn't reject her very often.
"I'm sorry," I said, "but I built this business myself. We literally opened today. I can't just hand it over because someone wants to expand their property."
She stared at me.
Then she laughed once.
Not because she found anything funny.
It was the kind of laugh people made when they were annoyed.
"You really are something."
"I get that a lot."
"I doubt that."
"That's fair."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"I do."
"Oh?"
"You're Reina Cadranda, aren't you?"
Back then, I hadn't actually known her name.
At least not personally.
But I knew who she was.
Reina Cadranda wasn't famous because of her actual name.
She was famous because of what she had accomplished.
By the age of twenty, she had already accumulated a net worth of over five hundred million credits.
And from what I knew, that number had only continued to rise.
People in the business world called her the Rising Tiger.
Her businesses kept expanding year after year.
Success followed her almost everywhere she went.
It was also one of the reasons she hadn't been selected as the fiancee for the bastard who had been targeting Clara.
To the Cadranda family, Clara was expendable.
Reina wasn't.
"I see."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"So you know who I am."
Then her expression cooled.
"And even knowing that, you're still refusing to sell your establishment?"
"Yes."
She took a small step forward.
"You do realize," she said calmly, "that I could crush your business immediately if I wanted to, don't you?"