Chapter 27: Oppression in a Slice-of-Life
Previously, Baek Si-Jin had ordered his subordinates to bring the owner of Origins VR Cafe before him.
The reality, however, was a complete disaster.
His three men had returned thoroughly battered, looking like they had barely survived a brutal beating.
"Master... we failed your task," the lead bodyguard reported, his voice trembling.
Instead of exploding in anger, Si-Jin leaned forward, his expression growing dark and intense. "It seems I underestimated the owner of Origins VR Cafe. To force men of your caliber into such a pathetic retreat... how many bodyguards did you have to fight?"
The three men immediately hung their heads, unable to meet his eyes.
"Speak," Si-Jin commanded, his tone dropping an octave.
For a split second, the bodyguards considered fabricating a story to save face. But the moment they looked at the elder, their courage vanished.
Among the supreme elders of the Baek Family, Baek Si-Jin was notoriously the strongest and most ruthless. He showed zero mercy to incompetent subordinates—and he executed anyone who dared to lie to him.
"My Lord! Please forgive our failure!" The lead bodyguard slammed his forehead against the floor, followed instantly by the other two.
Prone on the ground, he confessed everything without omitting a single detail.
As the explanation went on, Si-Jin’s face went through a wild cycle of expressions—from cold anger to utter confusion, and finally pure disbelief.
Listening to how three trained martial artists had been reduced to panicking idiots simply by trying to force their way into the shabby building made his head throb. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a massive headache coming on.
"I am listening as closely as I can, yet I still cannot process this nonsense," Si-Jin groaned. "Are my ears deceiving me, or have I lived long enough to hear magic-realm absurdity bleeding into reality?"
Hearing his low, dangerous groan, the three bodyguards cowered even lower, pressing themselves completely flat against the floor.
After a long, suffocating silence, Si-Jin took a deep breath and dismissed them with a flick of his wrist. "Get out of my sight. Go to the isolation room and face the wall for three days—no food, no sleep. Have your comrades report your status to me every twelve hours."
"Yes, My Lord! Thank you, Master!" The three bodyguards answered in unison, practically sweating tears of relief that they had escaped with their lives intact.
While contemplating what his subordinates had reported, Si-Jin stared at his phone, considering whether to send an even larger unit to assert his dominance over a mere VR cafe.
However, his wandering thoughts came to a halt when his granddaughter entered the room.
"Grandpa, what happened? Why do you look so troubled?" Baek Si-Yeon asked with concern.
Si-Jin looked at his granddaughter for a moment, stroking his chin in thought. "Si-Yeon~ah, do you want to visit a shop with Grandpa?"
"Huh? What shop?" Si-Yeon asked, bewildered.
"Origins VR Cafe. The place Ji-Hong has been frequenting."
"Is that alright? Won’t we bump into Ji-Hong there?"
"No need to worry. I received word that he’s currently tied up with an assignment from his father and won’t have time to stop by."
"Sure, why not? I don’t have any plans for the rest of the day anyway."
Back in the present, Si-Jin fully expected his grand entrance to cause a stir among everyone in the shop, only to be met with complete, ordinary indifference.
Irene, Ga-Eun, and Mira grabbed their Origins Fountain Waters and drank them, initially expecting a burst of flavor—only to realize it tasted like plain water. But a moment later, the effects kicked in.
A soothing warmth bloomed in their stomachs, filling them with a sudden surge of boundless energy.
"Whoa! I feel like I could lift heavy weights right now!" Irene exclaimed boisterously.
"Mmm! For some reason, I feel super pumped!" Ga-Eun added, her eyes shining with excitement.
"How about we jump into the game?" Mira suggested. "I feel like I could power through all those quests and earn enough money to remodel my house!"
Bursting with fresh vigor, the three of them headed straight for the VR Capsules and dove into The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts. As usual, it wasn’t to train in legendary martial arts, but to tend to their virtual gardens and relax after a grueling week of college assignments.
It was such a normal occurrence at this point that even Donape no longer bothered to comment on it.
Meanwhile, Si-Jin, Si-Yeon, and the bodyguards stood near the doorway with heavy frowns, feeling bizarrely ignored.
Agitated, two of the bodyguards moved to assert dominance—stepping forward to drag Irene and her friends out of the VR Capsules and demand Donape properly greet their master.
But before they could take more than two steps, Si-Jin raised a stern hand, halting them instantly. He disliked making moves without knowing his opponent, and he certainly wasn’t going to let his men act recklessly without an explicit order.
All of this caution stemmed from the growing paranoia surrounding Donape’s existence—a seed planted after hearing how his previous subordinates had failed to even step inside the building... a building he had just walked into without a single issue.
Si-Yeon glanced at her grandfather before stepping forward to take charge, while the bodyguards fanned out to secure the room and inspect the shop.
"Care to explain what your shop is actually about?" Si-Yeon asked politely, though her condescending gaze made it clear how insignificant she found the ordinary-looking Donape.
Without a shred of fear, Donape offered a brief, casual smile and gave a precise breakdown of the shop. "Origins VR Cafe operates just like a typical internet cafe. For full details, you can check the digital screen menu up there. You pay to play—otherwise, you get out. Simple, isn’t it?"
Si-Yeon’s polite smile vanished. Ignoring his explanation, she narrowed her eyes and glared at Donape with a chilling intensity.
The bodyguards immediately matched her energy, shooting deadly, threatening glares at the shopkeeper’s nonchalant face. Still, they held their ground, awaiting their master’s command.
Only Si-Jin bothered to look up and examine the menu board.
"How bold," Si-Jin chuckled, a dark undertone in his voice. "Not only do you dare use ’Origins’ in your shop’s name, but you also have the audacity to post such ridiculous rules. But rules are only enforced by those who possess real power..."
He slowly shifted his heavy, crushing gaze to Donape. "...And do you truly believe you have that kind of power?"
Donape tilted his head, utterly bewildered. ’Why did the genre suddenly switch? Isn’t this supposed to be a cozy slice-of-life where I serve customers and get paid? Why am I being oppressed and intimidated out of nowhere?! Is this an action novel now?’
"Well, I’m not entirely sure what you mean, gentlemen," Donape replied politely, clasping his hands together. "However, the rules here are absolute. It might sound like a challenge, but please don’t misunderstand me—and I strongly advise against doing anything reckless."
He wasn’t about to resort to that masochistic stunt from before. He had plenty of regulars now; his shop was steadily occupied every day, even if it wasn’t packed to the brim.
Besides, doing that once was more than enough for a lifetime. That reckless incident remained a deeply traumatic core memory.
’Screw it. If they want to cause trouble, let them. It’s not like I’m worried or terrified of a few gangsters. Even if a military tank rammed into this place, it wouldn’t leave a scratch. If this System were that weak, I would’ve overthrown it ages ago.’
Since they hadn’t actually done anything or ordered a service yet, Donape simply returned to his usual nonchalant self.
Seeing Donape’s relaxed demeanor, Si-Yeon signaled one of the bodyguards to drag him over to her grandfather.
The bodyguard glanced at Si-Jin, receiving a silent nod of approval to follow the young miss’s command.
Donape noticed the bodyguard approaching him with clear malicious intent, but he merely spared the man a brief glance before returning his attention to the counter computer.
[Troublemakers detected!]
Swoosh—
An invisible force slammed into the bodyguard, violently hurling him through the front doors. He crashed hard onto the asphalt outside, tumbling wildly. Before he could even lift his head, the next procedure flashed.
[Initiating: Divine Lightning!]
ZAP! ZAP!
A blinding bolt of localized lightning crackled through the air, striking the man at a speed that defied physics.
His body convulsed violently as his vision flickered. His limbs stretched, snapped, and warped like a glitching video game character, his joints threatening to disconnect entirely.
Within a single second, the lightning vanished.
The bodyguard was left as a heap of broken bones, third-degree burns, and weeping blisters, his clothes singed and skin charred. The distinct smell of burnt toast drifted back into the shop.
The street was eerily silent—no witnesses were around, as Si-Jin’s subordinates had cleared the area before he arrived.
Now, however, Si-Jin stood with a heavy, terrible frown after witnessing the entire sequence unfold right before his eyes.
Beside him, Si-Yeon and the remaining bodyguards stood jaw-dropped. They watched as the doors had automatically swung open, thrown their comrade outside, and electrocuted him into a crisp in the blink of an eye.
The f*ck?!
Bewildered?!
What in the hell had just happened?!
Their minds failed to process the sheer absurdity of the incident, leaving their bodies completely frozen as they struggled to comprehend it.
Only Si-Jin managed to regain his composure. He glanced out the door at his charred subordinate for a fraction of a second before snapping his gaze back to Donape, glaring at him with deadly, razor-sharp intensity.
"What have you done?!"