Rieul toils away at her office job until a sudden dungeon break ends her life. But instead of dying, she wakes up three years in the past with a second chance at life. Determined to change her fate, she reopens her late grandmother's cafe. But the moment she gets to work, she awakens as a Cafe Owner-class hunter... with a talking cat agent named Mieum! Between brewing coffee and clearing system quests, Rieul's new life is anything but peaceful. Has her quiet dream already gone up in smoke?

SSS-Rank Cafe by the Dungeon has story by yeatakoo and art by NOVA, based on a work by Lee Woohee. English localization is done by Kakao Ent. Published by TAPAS ENTERTAINMENT 2025 (December 3, 2025).

Erica Friedman
Rating:

Surely it will surprise no one that I loved this story—it is about food and drink! Rieul's little café at the entrance to a horrific dungeon, its very existence which has caused death and destruction, is ridiculous and wonderful. Even more ridiculous are her powers, like making an unbelievably amazing cup…of instant coffee. You know the kind, those little cylinder packets of coffee powder and milk powder. I mean, yes, those are very good for instant coffee, but healing magical wounds and restoring HP is really beyond the pale.

There is clearly a story or two in the details that we don't get for a few chapters; Rieul's relationship with her brother and the coffee shop, for instance. And, eventually another time traveler will join the cast who has just as deep a commitment to changing the past as Rieul does. Those details, while occasionally predictable, make for a really fast and fun read. The only complaint I have about the story is that, for the purposes of the narrative, Rieul and other characters have to be a little slow to connect the dots. But, hey, it's a story, and what else were you doing with your afternoon, anyway?

As the plot develops, we encounter many factions that are involved with the dungeons. One hopes that the story will tie them all together, as we get tidbits about the dungeons and hunters from a clever ribbon narrative—a hunter who does a livestream to a small, but dedicated audience. The comments in the stream were not only incredibly realistic, the streamer acts as a Greek chorus, who gives us key fact that allow us to put two and two together, even if the characters in the story cannot. This is good fun, and definitely makes me want a cup of powdered coffee, if only so I could wish it was magic.