Hestia's Hearth Café

Kazi loved the colour pink. It was a far cry from the typical dull colours of black and brown. Amongst the various cafes in the Food Sector, "Hestia's Hearth Café" stood out for its colour and layout as a welcoming haven with lovingly pink charm. Cozy nooks held plush chairs and small tables, inviting patrons to unwind. Outside or inside, the scent of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods wafted through the air.

William sipped on his cup of coffee and sighed as the taste left his lips. "Ahh~! Double-doubles are the best."

Two sugar, two cream—that was how William drank his coffee. Kazi's option was somehow stronger than the teenage Canadian; a black espresso so strong and bitter that it would cause an ordinary person to spit it out.

Kazi was no ordinary man.

"We should talk about ourselves." Kazi noted the place was buzzing with women. No time like now to talk about themselves. "I guess you know the basics. I'm Kazi Hossain, I'm from Bangladesh and I worked as an archeologist. Well, formally, I was an assistant but I was pretty much an official one."

"What school did you go to?" Sun-young had opted for no drinks so she could question him without pause.

"Like a bunch. Mostly trade schools and stuff. Technical Institute of Electrical Engineering, Carpentry Craftsmanship Academy, Plumbing and Pipefitting Training Center, Automotive Mechanic School, Culinary Arts Institute, Masonry Craft Academy—"

"Why would you subjugate yourself to that much schooling?" William's joke implied he didn't fully believe him. "Hold on, you went to a culinary school? So you're an actual certified chef?"

"Yep!"

"So you know how this coffee is made?"

"Yep!"

"...are you gonna tell us?"

"Nope!"

Kazi laughed at William's pout. He could see Sun-young smiling too. That was relieving to see. For a while, Kazi thought she was only putting up with them.

"How old are you anyway?" William asked. "You don't look over thirty to me."

"I'm twenty eight." Kazi patted his chest. "And you?"

"Seventeen."

"So you're in high school. Any profession you're going for, William?"

"Uhhh, to be honest, I'm just gonna follow in my dad's footsteps and take over the wood chopping business. And if I win a bunch of money from this, then maybe just retire and do nothing."

Kazi casted Sun-young with a curious look. She answered, "Twenty two."

His look didn't waver. Following a mild pause, she answered him.

"I was in university." Her eyes darkened slightly. She did not want to talk about her life, it seemed.

Kazi decided to switch topics. "I'm gonna order an espresso."

William was taken aback. "Sheesh, you're a caffeine monster, aren't you?"

Transferring points for Hestia's Heart Cafe was simple. A menu screen appeared when a player sat down and displayed the cafe's options. Whatever was chosen, twenty seconds later, it would materialize in front of the player.

Kazi suspected the level of magic was due to the cafe owner. Hestia, if this was the very same one, was a member of the Twelve Olympians. A Greek goddess of hearth, of home care and people. The warmth seeped into his cells and the grip of his mug.

There was an option to refill it. An inch away, he stopped his finger from clicking on that option.

"Ms. Sun-young, you want an iced americano? On me."

"...sure."

With that, he ordered their drinks. Sun-young looked quite satisfied.

***

Following lunch, the party bought furniture. Their homes, small pocket dimensions, needed a revamp. William proved meticulous in his choices, and the process took over two hours as he sorted posters, beds, tables, and television into his inventory. Sun-young swiftly settled on a basic bed and a low table. Kazi struck a balance between William's meticulousness and Sun-young's simplicity.

Then, it was back to the Food Sector. Stalls, grocery stores, and the tangy smell of fresh fruits stained the air. It was wonderful. Gravitating towards it was lulling. A identical kind of satisfaction that came from a small bakery, except the Food Sector stretched kilometers across.

To some, this might have been heaven. To William and Sun-young who had eaten till their stomachs were full, it was an unnecessary reminder.

"Why are we here again?"

Kazi replied to William's inquiry in the form of a chuckle. "Don't worry, it won't take long." Shifting his neck left and right, scanning, Kazi found what he was looking for and jogged over. "Ah, here it is!"

In the Food Sector, he spotted a fruit stall containing baskets of various fruits. Among them were mangoes, apples, oranges, pineapples, and pomegranate. He plucked a couple of mangoes, apples, and pomegranates and asked the stall keeper for the price.

"It's four points per pound for mangoes and pomegranates, and three points per pound for apples."

Of his own accord, Kazi started the transfer. He recollected what the blacksmith told him. He imagined the transfer details and let the spark inside him, the system, activate.

When Kazi blinked, he smiled.

[ Transfer details:

4 PP —> 2x Mangos

4 PP —> 3x Pomegranates

3 PP —> 2x Apples

Accept? ]

The stall keeper accepted it at the same second he did. The fruits appeared in his inventory, confirming the transition went successful.

"Alright." Kazi went back to his party. "Alright, let's rest up and meet tomorrow. I know you've got a lot of stuff to set up, William."

"Not my fault the posters were all so cool," William said.

"Fair enough. Ms. Sun-young, good luck to you too. We can message each other when we're ready." Nods were exchanged. With one last smile, he announced, "Enter home."

His vision went white.

It was less than three seconds. One moment, he was in the middle of the bazaar and the next he was in the white room. A chair sat at the centre, a remnant of his and Azrael's conversation.

"Open inventory."

A broad screen materialized, filling his field of view. An array of small boxes adorned the screen's expanse, each connected by delicate lines. Sixty-four slots, complete with a slider on the right side, were arranged in an organized pattern. The first row was halfway encompassed by slime droppings.

His eyes returned to the white canvas. He could do anything with this. Azrael told him it was his to control and design through the Game System. "Edit home."

Beep! Multiple screens came out describing the current layout of the pocket dimension and the potential options. For example, there was a slider to vastly increase its volume and a colour selection menu. There were types of ambiences he could choose and half a dozen separate alternatives.

"Sheesh." Kazi was many things and that included being an architect. None of the options in the Game System particularly surprised him. The ease of it did.

He placed his finger on the slider and the room squashed and stretched. What should have taken weeks of laborious hard work took seconds here.

"Unbelievable," he muttered.

He clicked the king-sized bed he bought and chose the [ Drop ] option. Thud! It literally dropped two feet in front of him.

"So I gotta move it myself, eh?" He rubbed his biceps. "Alrighty! Time to get to work!"

The end result was a satisfactory one. A plush king-sized bed stood against the back wall, draped in soft, silver-tinged linens. Positioned near the bed, two round glass tables with slender silver legs. The arrangement was deliberate: the tables were placed within arm's reach for convenient access to whatever he desired while lying in bed.

Opposite the bed, a minimalist desk with a translucent chair. The colour of the dimension was also shifted to grey satin sheet walls. White was too illuminating in his opinion. He preferred something down the middle—not too eye popping or distracting. To top it all of were five puff chairs set-up in a tight-knit circle in the event that he had guests. Typical living room arrangements weren't to his liking. The lax nature of the puff chair suited his tastes better.

He walked to his bed, turned his back towards it, and fell onto the mattress with a long awaited breath of air. "Man…this is so soft and good."

The Merchant Sector was absolutely loaded with furniture, weapons, and whatever a player could need. He spelled surprise and shock from the sellers. None of them expected the amount of points he and his party was willing to spend.

'That means we're making good progress. Although judging by the blacksmith's face, there might be others like us. He thought one of us wielded the dark element, a huge leap in logic unless there was information and gossip already being thrown around. There must be someone strong out there wielding the dark element. I wonder who...'

He rolled himself over till his head was on the pillow. Thinking could come later. Sleep first.