by Andrew Reise
Alan nodded. "Of course, coming right up."
Meanwhile, the manager John had come out to see what the commotion was about. "Is everything okay, sir?" He asked Tom.
Tom nodded. "There's no problem. You have a real gem here in this barista. I'll come back for coffee everyday so long as he's here."
John seemed surprised before smiling and saying, "Then I'll thank you ahead of time for your patronage."
John went back to his office, still slightly confused by the interaction he just had.
"How good can coffee made from pre-ground beans be?" He thought doubtfully. Still, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Alan made Tom his cup of coffee. While he did so, Wendy collected the money as per usual, paying little attention as she did so.
When Alan handed Tom the cup, Tom nodded at him. "Thank you. I meant what I said. So long as you are here, I'll keep coming back for coffee. Putting aside the effect it had, the taste was much better than the coffee I used to get from here. I used to just drink it for the energy, to wake myself up in the morning; now, I actually am looking forward to drinking this cup of coffee."
Finishing this sentence, he took a ten-dollar bill out of his pocket and dropped it in the tip jar. Alan felt mildly surprised but kept his face straight as he thanked Tom. Tom didn't stick around to chat. He took his coffee and left to work.
Alan appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was extremely excited. However, his excitement, for once, had nothing to do with money he had just received. When Tom had finished complimenting him and gave him the ten-dollar bill, a notification sound had rang out and the system said, "Host has fully satisfied a customer. The system is commencing the next mission. Please check the details."
Alan thought and pulled up the mission details.
Mission: Owning a cafe
Details: Host has proven that he has the necessary skills to satisfy customers. Host is the future owner of the world's most luxurious cafe. Thus, it's not appropriate for Host to continue to work for someone else. Figure out a way to start your very first cafe!
Reward: Owner title.
"System you have to be kidding me!" Alan was so upset he almost exclaimed out loud.
"What is the problem, Host?" The system asked.
"What's the problem?" Alan asked incredulously. "The problem is that I only have one day of experience and ten dollars to my name and you're telling me to start a cafe! How am I supposed to do that?"
"Work hard to figure it out Host."
Alan snorted at the typically unhelpful answer. "Whatever," he thought to himself. "I don't actually have to do what the system wants. I can just work here and make some money for a while. It won't be too late to have my own cafe later on."
Thinking this to himself, Alan put the mission out of his mind.
As the day continued, customers from yesterday came in one after another. Some of them were accusatory at first, and others just seemed excited to get the coffee again. All of them ended up complimenting Alan and his coffee. John watched the procession of customers come and go with disbelief. He secretly went out to check the pre-ground coffee to see if Alan had switched it out for something, but it was the same coffee. He watched as Alan made a cup of coffee using it and served it to a customer.
John went back to his office in confusion, having some doubts about what was going on.
At the end of the day, Alan counted the tips he received today.
He smiled to himself. "I received $150 in tips today. Not too shabby. At this rate I might be able to make more money from selling coffee than I could from getting an office job." For the first time since he received the system, he felt the idea of being a cafe owner was an attractive future.
He stopped by the store on the way home to buy himself a bottle of wine to celebrate. Now that he was rich, he could afford to buy something classy. He didn't have to buy the two-buck chuck he normally would drink. He decided to splurge. He went to the cashier proclaiming proudly, "Sir, give me your best three-dollar wine."
Well, it was only $150 after all. He couldn't completely change overnight.
Chapter 4
Alan stood behind the counter in the cafe. A week had already gone by since he started working here. Though the system had issued its new mission five days ago, Alan had not taken any action on it yet. Frankly, his life was already going pretty well. The number of regular customers increased, and his tips managed to hold steady around $200 per day.
If he kept this up, he could afford to rent his own place next month.
Alan looked at his watch and saw the cafe was about to open. He began making a cup of coffee. As he finished it, almost as if on cue, the bell rang as the door opened and Tom walked in.
"Good morning Alan," Tom nodded.
Alan nodded back. "Morning." He handed the cup of coffee to Tom.
Tom smiled in anticipation as he reached for it and quickly began to sip it.
Even though the coffee was still scalding hot, Tom gave a smile of satisfaction as it hit his taste buds.
However, then his smile faded and he sighed. Alan looked at him, mildly curious. "What's wrong? Is the coffee not to your liking today?"
"No, no," Tom shook his head, reassuring him. "The coffee is great, as always. I'm just bummed that I won't be able to have it in the afternoon."
Alan thought about it and said, "You could come back here." If he came back in the afternoon, most likely more than 6 hours would have passed, so Alan could serve him another ultimate cup of joe.
Tom sighed. "I wish I could, but this is so far from my office. It's fine in the morning because it's on the way on my commute, but during the day I don't have the time to come all the way over here just for coffee. My company won't run itself."
Over the past week, Tom and Alan had gotten to know each other a bit better. Alan now knew that Tom was the majority stakeholder and CEO of his own real estate development company. Furthermore, it was the biggest real estate development company in the city.
Alan shrugged. "Well, I guess you'll have to put up with bad coffee then."
Tom sighed mournfully before accusing Alan, "This is all your fault. I didn't care about the taste of coffee in the past, but since I started drinking your coffee I can't stand to drink anything else. I always end up tired at the end of the day because I can't get my second cup of coffee anymore."
Alan smiled insincerely, "Thank you for the compliment."
Tom looked at him balefully. "It wasn't meant to be a compliment, it was a complaint, you understand? A complaint!"
Tom eventually had his coffee and left.
John had come out to observe this interaction. Though business had picked up, John couldn't identify anything Alan in particular was doing to make the coffee great. Thus, he decided it must just be the coffee itself. Even though it was pre-ground, whatever beans were chosen by Alexander Willington must have been superior beans. He thought it was quite shameless of Alan to take credit for it. Still, so long as the customers were happy there was no reason for him to take any action.
The day proceeded normally until around the lunch hour.
At that point a woman came in.
She seemed to be impatient, tapping her foot as she waited behind people.
When her turn arrived, she grunted, saying, "Finally." She stepped up and ordered a coffee.
Alan turned to make it when a notification suddenly went off.
"Host, please be advised, you served this woman an ultimate cup of joe 5 hours ago. You cannot serve her one again for another hour."
Alan did a double take. "Wait, System are you serious? How am I supposed to refuse this woman?"
"Host, as the future owner of the world's most luxurious cafe, how can you capitulate to the demands of your customers? Show your pride young man!"
Alan felt incredulous. "What pride? She just wanted a second cup of coffee? Plus she was going to pay for it." However, no matter how he insisted the system refused to back down. Finally, he sighed, and t
urned to face the woman reluctantly.
"Excuse me ma'am, but I'm afraid I can't serve you."
The woman stared at him in shock before raising her voice shrilly and exclaiming, "What do you mean you can't serve me? What sort of discrimination is this? Do your job and get me a cup of coffee this instant!"
Alan remained calm. "Ma'am, it is my personal rule not to serve my coffee to any customer more than once every 6 hours. You had coffee this morning, only 5 hours ago. Thus, I cannot serve you more."
She continued to shout shrilly at him. John, hearing the commotion, came out of his office.
"What seems to be the problem?" He said, as he hurried over, sweaty.
"Your barista is refusing to serve me coffee! What sort of cafe is this? What business of yours is it how many times I drink coffee per day?"
Alan felt a headache coming on as John turned to him. "What's the problem? Hurry and apologize to the customer and go make her coffee." Turning back to the woman he said, "My apologies ma'am, the coffee will be on us."
Alan really wanted to just go make the coffee, but he knew the system wouldn't let him, so he spoke to John. "As a cafe, we should not be in the habit of over serving our customers. The caffeine in coffee has an addictive property. Without proper management of caffeine intake it is possible to develop withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and fatigue. It's a rule of mine to never serve any customer my coffee more than once every 6 hours."
Alan gasped in admiration at his own ability to speak bull****. Somehow creating a health concern out of drinking coffee, who else could come up with such an excuse. He patted himself on the back as he looked to see how John reacted.
John was less impressed. He looked at Alan angrily, exclaiming, "Nonsense! It's none of our business how much caffeine the customer chooses to consume during the day. Hurry up and apologize right this minute and then get this woman her coffee. If you keep this up, I will fire you."
Truth be told, John initially had some reservations about his new employee. Since Alan claimed to be sent by Alexander Willington, he felt almost trapped, like he had to walk on eggshells for fear of upsetting Alan. However, Alexander Willington had never once called or stopped by. Frankly, there was no indication that Alan's story had any truth to it. Maybe he just used the name to get his foot in the door.
Reassuring himself with this thought, John attempted to stare down Alan.
Alan, though calm on the outside, was frantically arguing with the system. "Hey, System, come on. It's one thing to have that rule when I own my own business, but to have the rule now? You want me to become the owner of the world's most luxurious cafe don't you? How can I do that if I get fired?"
The system replied, "Correction, Host. As the future owner of the world's most luxurious cafe, how can you let the threat of being fired usurp your pride. Stand tall young man!"
Alan felt like crying, but he was helpless to do anything.
He took a deep breath and said to John, "Then I guess you'll have to fire me. I can't serve her another coffee for at least one more hour."
John looked at him in disbelief before shaking his head. "Collect your check at the end of the day. You're done here."
Just like that, Alan was back to being unemployed.
Alan left the cafe, depressed. He'd collected his check. He'd only worked for a week, so it was pretty insignificant. Even with his tips, he only had a couple of thousand dollars to his name. As he walked he complained to the system.
"Hey, System, how come it feels like you're working against me?"
"Host, it's just your imagination." The system replied.
"Is it really?" He asked suspiciously.
"Work hard, Host. Now that you got yourself fired, make the most of the situation and start a cafe."
Alan's eyes widened in indignation. "What do you mean I got myself fired? YOU got me fired! You and your stupid rules!"
"Host, if you were more attractive the woman wouldn't have been so angry and everything would have been fine. Thus, once again, this all comes down to Host's lack of charisma."
Alan was so angry he couldn't even speak and his face turned red.
The system suddenly said. "Detecting abnormality in Host's mental state. Host is in a dangerous state. Beginning recovery protocol. Initiating consolation." The system paused for a minute before saying. "There, there, Host. It is the system's fault."
Alan was surprised by the sudden change. "System what are you saying?"
The system replied. "It's all the system's fault, Host. You are not responsible for your misfortune."
Alan felt his anger draining and he started to feel a little better. He never expected the system to actually console him.
But then the System spoke again. "Yes, Host, it is the system's fault for lacking the capability to make you more attractive. The system has failed you, Host."
"This-," Alan cut off and began cursing the system under his breath.
The rest of the day passed quickly. When Alan came home his parents were there and found out he no longer had a job. However, since he didn't want to tell them he was fired he told them that he had quit.
In hindsight, it would have been better to say he had the day off. Turns out his parents didn't care if he was fired or quit, they more cared that he no longer had a source of income.
Alan sighed as he sat in his room, pondering what to do next.
"I could always do what the system wants and start a cafe," He thought. He didn't have much money, but he could always sign a lease to rent a storefront in the city. Then he could use the couple of thousand dollars he had to get a cheap coffee maker and the other equipment and furniture he'd need for the cafe. It would be tight, but he could manage.
So long as he could get his start, he was confident the ultimate cup of joe would be able to keep him in business.
As he thought of this, however, the system suddenly spoke. "Host, it seems you are considering renting a cafe."
"That's right, System." Alan said. "You get what you wanted. I will be starting a cafe."
The system was quiet for a moment, but then said. "Host, please check the mission again."
Alan did.
"I see it," He said, getting annoyed. "It tells me I need to start a cafe and then I'll get the title of cafe owner as a reward. Speaking of which, I never asked what that reward actually meant."
"Host will have to earn the reward to find out. More importantly Host, you're paraphrasing the mission."
"What do you mean?" He asked irritably.
The system replied, "Read the mission title word for word Host."
Alan went back to it and did. "Owning a cafe. What's your point, System?"
"Host, you kept saying starting a cafe. The mission is owning a cafe."
Horrified understanding began to dawn on Alan. "System, you can't mean...that I have to buy a storefront for the cafe."
"Of course not, Host." The system replied.
Alan started to breathe a sigh of relief, but then the system continued. "Host doesn't have to buy a storefront. It could be a house, an office building, or any other type of property. The system would never limit Host in such a way."
Alan could only give the system's response a thumbs up. "Wow, System, you're great, you know that? I mean truly just great."
"You're welcome, Host." The system said mechanically.
Just like that, Alan went from having enough money to potentially start his cafe to having nowhere near enough money to do so.
He wondered if he could get a job at a cafe somewhere, but he could easily see the rules being a problem. Not to mention he only got the job this time because of Alexander Willington.
If he went to another place he would have to list his previous cafe as a reference to have a shot, but there was an obvious problem with that. Was John likely to give him a good reference if they called him up?
Alan sighed helplessly, wondering what he was going to do next.
"Host, please be more ambitious." The s
ystem told Alan as he moped.
Alan sighed before thinking about what else he could do. "No use crying over spilled milk. What can I do to own a cafe?"
He began to brainstorm ideas.
"I could ask my parents for money," He thought. But he instantly shot that idea down. There was no way his parents would invest in a cafe based on his one week of experience as a barista, and it's not like he could explain the system without sounding insane.
"I could ask my friends from college!" He got excited at the thought of this. There were plenty of stories where college friends pooled their money together to start a business and became wildly successful. He went to grab his phone, when he realized a problem. "That's right," He thought miserably. "There's no way this will work because...I didn't make any friends in college!"
Alan suffered a critical blow as he realized the system might be onto something when it said he lacked charisma.
Continuing to brainstorm as a dark thundercloud of negativity poured out of him, Alan felt an idea go off like a light bulb in his head.
"Why not just go to the bank and get a loan?" He thought. "I mean, isn't that what banks do?"
The more the thought about it, the more it seemed like his only option. Setting his resolve he decided not to put it off any longer. He strode downstairs with firm steps, and a determined gaze. He looked a changed man, a confident man. Anyone who saw him like this would have to believe he could do anything he put his mind to.
He strode with purpose through the house, and opened the door, ready to make his way to the bank. He wouldn't take no for an answer!
He strode outside and immediately stopped. "Ahem, System is that the moon?"
"Confirmed, Host. That is the moon."
"I see. System, what time is it?"
"Host, it is currently 9:47 at night."
"I see." Alan stood there for a moment, before turning to go back inside. "Tomorrow is soon enough to go to the bank."
A random voice seemed to call from the darkness. "I couldn't help but overhear you. Tomorrow is a national holiday so the banks are closed. Well, have a good night." A rogue author biked by.
"Why was there an author riding by at this time of night?" Alan wondered to himself, before shaking his head. It wasn't any of his business. He'd go to the bank after the holiday. As he thought this he stopped, waiting for another voice to tell him that something else would prevent him from going to the bank that day. No one called out to him. Nodding in satisfaction Alan went back inside and up to his bedroom.
