A Bad Premonition

Su Ran couldn’t quite grasp what the maid was thinking; she didn’t understand the other’s thoughts. She was led by Winnie into the Sakura Cafe’s break room.

“Find a place to sit. I’ll go get you a drink.”

With that, Winnie left the break room to go to the kitchen.

This left Su Ran sitting alone in the room.

Seeing that no one else was around, Su Ran gradually relaxed from her initial nervousness and began to look around at the room’s decor.

From the moment she stepped through the doors of Sakura Cafe, the interior was filled with a girly, pink atmosphere. There was even a dedicated wall with official photos of the staff, introducing each maid in detail.

Walking into the main hall of the cafe, there was a large stage set in the center for customers to watch performances.

To be honest, in this prime commercial district where every inch of land was precious, the Sakura Cafe occupied a considerable amount of space.

Now, in the break room where Su Ran was sitting, she could see many photos of maids with their customers.

What Su Ran found strange, however, was why all the customers here were girls. She couldn’t see a single male figure.

With a click, the break room door opened again.

Winnie held a tray with two drinks, gracefully striding over to Su Ran. She gave a slight bow and asked, “These are both the shop’s signature drinks. Which one would you like?”

Seeing Winnie’s textbook-perfect, goddess-like etiquette, Su Ran couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

‘As expected of a maid cafe manager. Her every move is like that of a professionally trained maid.’

Su Ran’s gaze fell on the two differently colored drinks Winnie offered. One was a vibrant red, flowing like freshly drawn blood. The other was a translucent, lustrous, deep blue, with white, snowflake-like crystals on the rim, as if it had just been poured from the sea.

Su Ran didn’t want to see such a vibrant red in her cup right now.

It would remind her of the vampires.

“I’ll have the blue one, thank you!”

So, she pointed to the blue cup. After taking it, she took a sip, while Winnie casually picked up the remaining drink.

As the blue drink entered her mouth, a strong aroma of alcohol burst forth, mixed with the scent of lemon.

After taking a sip, she discovered that the white crystals on the rim were actually sea salt, and the faint salty taste perfectly neutralized the final aftertaste of the liquor.

After just one sip, Su Ran’s face felt like it was on fire, and even the tips of her ears turned red.

“This is?”

Just as Su Ran was feeling dizzy after finishing the drink, a warm current rose from her flat stomach. She noticed a surge of magic essence rising within her body.

“This is no ordinary drink. It’s brewed from plants that contain magic essence.”

Seeing that Su Ran had noticed the drink’s effect, Winnie explained before taking a sip of her own drink.

Winnie didn’t serve Su Ran an ordinary beverage, but chose one with magic essence. The reason was simple.

Only things containing magic essence could be consumed by Winnie. It made her disguise as a human less likely to be exposed.

“I remember these two drinks are supposed to have only a small amount of alcohol?”

Seeing Su Ran’s cheeks flush red, Winnie frowned.

“I’m fine!”

Su Ran shook her head, shaking off the effects of the rapid increase in magic essence, and the blush on her cheeks gradually subsided.

“Alright, since you’re fine, let’s get down to business!”

Winnie stared at the Su Ran in front of her and asked, “You’re here for the Blood Hunter branch, aren’t you?”

“Then let me introduce myself. My name is Winnie. I am the manager of Sakura Cafe and also the head of the Jiangbei City Blood Hunter branch.”

‘The head of the Jiangbei City Blood Hunter branch!’

Hearing Winnie’s words, Su Ran immediately perked up.

At the same time, she had a question she wanted to ask.

“Go ahead and ask whatever you want to ask.”

Seeing Su Ran’s hesitant look, Winnie smiled slightly and prompted her to speak.

“Manager Winnie, why is the Blood Hunter branch located in a large shopping mall? Shouldn’t it be more secretive?” Su Ran blurted out her question in one breath.

“First, there are no rules about what a Blood Hunter branch should look like. It only serves as a point of contact and for issuing orders.

Whether it’s a coffee shop or a dumpling house, it doesn’t affect the function of the Blood Hunter branch. Second, the branch is responsible for contacting the Blood Hunters in the city, so of course it has to be in a place with convenient transportation.”

“And one last point, which you’ve experienced yourself. When you saw the shop, not many people would believe this is a Blood Hunter branch. There is no better way to hide in plain sight.”

Winnie explained everything in detail to Su Ran, and finally confirmed her intention, “You’re here to join the Blood Hunters, right?”

“Manager Winnie, you’re right. I’m here to join the Blood Hunters!” As she spoke, Su Ran handed her record card to Winnie. “This is my record card. The aptitude test was completed with a teacher from Beizhou Academy as a witness.”

Winnie merely glanced at the information on the record card and knew that the teacher from Beizhou Academy must have concealed something for her.

The aptitude Su Ran displayed could definitely not be explained by a mere “liquid.”

However, Winnie didn’t expose it. Instead, she put her mind at ease and proceeded according to the regulations. “The information on the record card is fine. We certainly welcome you to join the Blood Hunters, but I see you haven’t entered the sequence yet.”

‘Of course, many are like this. You have to wait until your strength is sufficient before you can accept them.’

Hearing Winnie’s words, Su Ran’s heart sank.

Her original plan to earn more funds through the Blood Hunters had stalled because she had not yet reached Sequence One.

“Manager Winnie, then can you tell me what missions are suitable for me right now?” Su Ran quickly asked.

Pulling a tablet out from somewhere, Winnie handed it to Su Ran. “The missions in here are suitable for newly-started superhumans.

You can complete some of them.”

Su Ran carefully examined the mission list displayed on the tablet.

“Mission: Help grandma find her lost kitten. Reward: Two hundred yuan, one point.”

Su Ran didn’t need to look any further down the list of missions; they were basically all trivial daily tasks.

Let alone hunting vampires, there wasn’t even a single mission that required leaving Jiangbei City.

The purpose of this approach was to protect newborn superhumans and prevent them from throwing their lives away out of ignorance.

It could only be said that no matter where one was, one’s own strength was the most important thing. Without strength, one couldn’t even accept missions.

“Manager Winnie, are there any missions that can make money quickly?”

“Yes, of course there are.”

Winnie looked Su Ran up and down with great interest, as if appraising a delicate work of art.

This gave Su Ran a bad feeling.