Chapter 76: Shadows Over the Neighborhood

"So... what you did back then was possible because of Qi?" Si-Yeon asked, referring to the incident where Donape had effortlessly flattened a gang of thugs from a distance with a simple flick of his hand.

On Blue Star, Qi was nothing more than a children’s fairy tale—a term strictly reserved for historical fantasy dramas, martial arts NovelPhoenixs, and cheap fiction.

Renowned martial clans like the Baek Family had spent generations refining modern hand-to-hand combat, modern weaponry, and peak human physical conditioning. But even the most delusional patriarchs accepted that "internal energy" was purely mythical.

And yet, this unbothered shopkeeper was casually discussing cultivating real-world Qi through a virtual elixir as if he were talking about a cheap energy drink.

Deep down, Si-Yeon’s skepticism was rapidly unraveling. Visiting the shop repeatedly and witnessing its impossible spatial expansion had dulled her sense of disbelief. Fictional anomalies happening right before her eyes were becoming a regular occurrence.

’If what he says is true...’ Her hands trembled slightly, her fingers curling into a tight fist.

Beside her, Butler Yoo and the two bodyguards maintained their strict, disciplined silence. Unless their Young Miss was directly insulted or physically threatened, they refrained from stepping out of line.

However, beneath their stoic masks, they harbored a bit of hostility toward Donape. To them, seeing a seemingly ordinary civilian address their Young Miss with such nonchalant, unbothered casualness was brazenly disrespectful.

Si-Yeon caught the subtle tension in their postures and offered a faint shake of her head.

She couldn’t afford to let any friction spark between her entourage and Donape, terrified of receiving a permanent ban from the shop. Unlike before—when she had been confident that seizing control of the cafe was a low-risk, high-reward move—she was no longer certain if provoking Donape was wise.

Donape easily recognized the bodyguards’ hostility, but he didn’t bother issuing a challenge. He didn’t have the idle time to waste on prideful duels—if he accepted every challenge offered, he’d be sparring endless prideful nobles all day in the future to come.

Ding!

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[Novice Quest: The Protector]

Objective: Protect the neighborhood from unrest and chaos. Demonstrate your growth by ensuring the neighborhood surrounding the shop remains the safest zone in S City.

Failure Penalty: If any building or local establishment is destroyed or vandalized by thugs, or if a neighboring civilian is hospitalized due to violence, the quest will be marked as a failure.

Reward: A special surprise!

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[SYSTEM WARNING: UPON QUEST FAILURE, YOUR DANTIAN WILL BE PERMANENTLY DESTROYED.]

’This son of a bitch?! What the hell kind of quest is this?!’ Donape cursed viciously in his head as the blue notification window materialized directly in front of his eyes.

Donape stepped into the VR Capsule behind the counter and closed the glass lid. Inside the loading space, instead of booting up The Path of Heavenly Martial Arts 2 immediately, he remained floating in the option menu.

"Goddamn it! No matter how much I think about it, this is the most problematic quest I’ve encountered so far," Donape complained, staring up at the vast digital void. "Why is it suddenly telling me to play neighborhood watch?! Isn’t that a police job?! And since when did this neighborhood become a high-crime area?!"

Thinking back, the signs had been there when Old Man Han—the kindly owner of a nearby food stall—got harassed by those thugs a few days ago.

Donape didn’t know the exact details of the old man’s trouble yet, but there was no way those thugs weren’t connected to this sudden quest.

After all, this neighborhood had always been quiet, peaceful, and practically crime-free.

[Mortal, there is no need to overthink it. Simply execute the quest.]

Donape frowned. He wasn’t familiar with seeing the System’s floating text windows inside the virtual reality.

"What actually happened? Care to explain?" he asked, his expression growing solemn.

[How dare a mere mortal question the Great Me?! Are you tired of living?! Should I strike you down with Divine Lightning?!]

"Go ahead if you can," Donape retorted dryly. "We’re inside virtual reality right now."

[...]

Donape hit the mark dead center.

Although the System was capable of projecting its interface inside the virtual reality, it lacked the power to summon real-world lightning in the digital realm. Within the shop premises, its authority was absolute—it could control the environment and punish rule-breakers at will.

But inside the VR simulation, its influence was strictly restricted.

And when Donape stepped outside the cafe entirely? The System couldn’t interact at all—it could only watch everything passively through Donape’s field of vision like a spectator.

[Haha. No need to be so rigid, mortal. The Great Me is a benevolent entity; therefore, your insolence is forgiven.]

"Is all of this happening because the shop exists?" Donape asked, voicing a theory he had been mulling over.

When the System offered no response, he pressed further, his tone darkening.

"At first, I brushed it off. But lately, a disturbing thought has been taking root in my mind. This shop... it doesn’t forbid or blacklist criminals, murderers, or corrupt syndicate leaders from entering and playing, does it? The rule enforcement only triggers if they cause trouble inside the premises. So, what happens when those monsters step outside with the superhuman abilities they gained here?"

[Hehe. Chaos.]

Donape’s expression twisted into a deep grimace, a heavy sense of dread sinking into his chest at the text floating before his eyes.

"You actually want chaos," Donape muttered, his hands clenching into fists.

The System had basically admitted it: Origins VR Cafe was a catalyst for world-ending turmoil. And the sudden wave of violence creeping into his peaceful neighborhood was just the beginning of the storm.

[There is nothing you can do, mortal. Haha. I descended upon this planet with the sole purpose of granting power to fragile humans. Thus, your only job is to tend the shop and bring in as many customers as possible.]

Suddenly, the blue hue of the floating interface shifted, darkening into an ominous, reddish-black gradient.

[Even knowing the truth, as the Great Me said, you are powerless to stop it. Unless you intend to sacrifice yourself for the so-called greater good? Kill yourself? Haha! It is futile, mortal. Even if your death causes me to vanish, mark my words—it will not be the end. The Great Universe is not a weak, foolish entity like you.]

"You talk as if self-sacrifice is the only way to prevent it," Donape countered, placing heavy emphasis on every word. "Doesn’t the quest just now that was dumped on me offer a completely different solution?!"

[...]

The System went dead silent. It was realizing that the host it had always written off as a harmless idiot wasn’t the pushover it assumed he would be.

"Since the shop’s expansion is inevitable, all I need to do is grow stronger and complete every required quest," Donape declared, his voice ringing with absolute certainty inside the digital void.

"As for your precious chaos? You’re far too narrow-minded. Power works both ways. If criminals can play and gain strength, do you really think good cops, righteous martial artists, and Samaritans will just sit quietly while injustice unfolds before their eyes? You underestimate human beings by far too much. Fragile as we may be, we are the very creatures envied most by immortals and gods!"

Donape uttered the line with fierce conviction—secretly proud of himself for flawlessly reciting the cool speeches he had memorized from the NovelPhoenixs and anime he used to binge in his past life.

"Also, I couldn’t help but notice... you and the quest system don’t actually seem to be the same entity," Donape remarked, pointing out his latest observation.

The tyrannical System didn’t seem to possess total authority over the quests themselves. Its primary function was to maintain the establishment, enforce shop rules, and ensure the building remained entirely indestructible.

When no text materialized after several seconds, Donape realized the System interface had quietly withdrawn.

He let out a heavy sigh. Posturing in front of a cosmic entity was mentally exhausting, but standing his ground had been necessary. As for the novice quest, blindly rushing out without a plan was unwise.

"Worrying without direction won’t solve anything," Donape muttered to himself. "My best move is to clear The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts 2 as fast as possible. That way, I’ll have enough combat strength as insurance to handle whatever crime or violence comes my way."

Meanwhile, outside the capsule in the main hall of the cafe...

Si-Yeon was savoring the refreshments at the shop. Ever since drinking the Celestial Sparkle Sprite, her senses had heightened, making food and beverages effects feel infinitely better than before.

Butler Yoo, who had also consumed the Sprite in an earlier visit, silently shared her sentiment. In his eyes, this cafe was nothing short of miraculous—capable of serving items that cleansed the body and prepared it for high-level martial conditioning.

Beside them, the two newly assigned bodyguards—experiencing the menu for the very first time—wore expressions of pure, bewildered shock throughout the entire session.

Over in the tactical gaming zone inside VR Capsules, Jong-Un, Suk-Jin, and their three range comrades were fully immersed in Counter-Injustice alongside Zerke and Jong-Kook.

Experiencing virtual reality at Origins VR Cafe was night and day compared to the primitive VR headsets sold across Blue Star. They were thoroughly thrilled to engage in realistic 5v5 modern firefights alongside tactical NPCs.

As for Carla Mislaine, she had taken her time entering the VR capsule, preferring to listen to Ga-Eun’s detailed explanations first. Yet, despite coming from the Starfall Federation—the most technologically advanced nation on the planet—stepping into the pod left her genuinely shaken by its flawless realism.

By the time night fell and the last of the regular customers filed out into the dark streets, an eerie, heavy silence settled over the perimeter of Origins VR Cafe...