Chen couldn't help but check his phone again.
5:03 p.m.
He'd stepped into the tavern fifteen minutes ago, just like yesterday—and everything felt familiar again. The wooden tunnel behind the manga shelf. The soft moss beneath his feet. The ever-so-slight warmth that hinted at enchantments woven into the air itself.
He stepped through the cleaning closet door and into the multi-dimensional tavern, where talking spoons flew through the air, and carpets rearranged themselves based on the time of day. The tavern buzzed with gentle chaos, and just like yesterday, it was absolutely alive.
But something was different.
The café clock said 3:11 p.m. The same time he'd arrived yesterday.
Chen paused in the main hallway as a floating loaf of bread zipped past, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone again.
Still 5:03 p.m.
His eyebrows drew together.
"Hold on… if time was 15 hours here yesterday but only 15 minutes passed on Earth… but now it's moving in sync?"
He scratched his head. "So… maybe time flows slower outside the tavern only when I'm not inside it? Like… when I'm here, everything moves at normal speed. But once I leave, the world outside zips forward slower than this one?"
It was a weird thought, but he filed it away mentally and walked toward the café.
The aroma of warm spices and something citrusy drifted through the air, mixed with the faint scent of toasted marshmallows. As he rounded the corner, he saw Listra already working behind the counter, calmly pouring glowing tea for a grumpy frogman.
"Welcome back, café boy," she said without looking.
"I have a name, you know."
"I know. But café boy fits you."
"Fair enough," Chen chuckled, tying on the enchanted apron she'd given him yesterday. "Do I, uh… still have the job?"
Listra tilted her head with a grin, her translucent hair gently floating like jellyfish strands. "That depends. Do you still know how to dodge projectile salt shakers and outrun a jealous broom?"
"I've only gotten better," he said, punching the air dramatically.
Gregory, the sentient broom, made a low humming noise from the supply closet. "We'll see."
And so, Chen's second shift at the Azure Bean Café began.
He wiped tables that refilled their own mugs, took orders from customers who communicated entirely in musical tones, and successfully wrestled a sugar elemental back into its jar with only minimal frosting loss. The tavern world was strange, but his instincts—trained from years helping out at his family's café—kicked in naturally.
At one point, a patron ordered a "reverse-steeped midnight dew latte with an anti-time twist," and Chen nodded confidently, then panicked internally before Listra swooped in to handle it. Still, she gave him an approving look afterward.
"You're a fast learner," she said.
"Family business," he replied casually, referring back to what he'd told her the day before. "Once you've dealt with a caffeine-deprived aunt at 7 a.m., you're prepared for almost anything."
The shift moved quickly. A flying raccoon choir performed a table-side concert. A group of goblins argued passionately about whether pudding counts as soup. Chen handed out napkins, took tips in glittering pebbles, and handled it all with surprising grace.
But when the final wave of customers drifted out and the café quieted down, exhaustion finally hit him.
He slumped into a chair near the counter and exhaled deeply.
Listra floated by and handed him a steaming mug of herbal tea that smelled like ginger and vanilla. "You're doing better than expected."
"I'm just glad I didn't spill anything on the flame sprites this time."
"Yet," Gregory muttered from his broom cubby.
Listra settled into a nearby lounge cushion, her four arms working on folding napkins into swan shapes while she hummed a soft tavern tune.
Chen stared at the dark liquid in his cup. "I want to ask something… kind of strange."
Listra raised a delicate eyebrow. "This whole café is strange."
He laughed nervously. "Does time… work weird here?"
"You noticed," she said, not surprised.
"I mean, yesterday I spent hours here, but when I got back… it had only been fifteen minutes. But today, it feels like both sides are synced while I'm inside. So…"
Listra considered. "That sounds like the Temporal Drift Effect. Some doors in the tavern are aligned with flowing time, others with frozen time. Your closet entrance must compress time while you're outside. But when you're inside, the tavern stabilizes to local time."
"So one hour in here is one minute out there… but only while I'm not actively in it?"
"Exactly."
"…Cool," Chen said. "That's really cool."
She smirked. "Use it wisely."
His eyes lit up. "That's what I was thinking! I could… use the tavern to study, do homework, maybe even sleep more…"
"Don't push your luck," Gregory mumbled.
"I'll pace myself," Chen promised.
And with that, he pulled out his schoolbag and set it on the table. The old notebooks looked extra drab in this colorful world, but he was determined.
He flipped open his math worksheet, brows furrowed, pencil in hand.
Five minutes later, he was still furrowing.
Listra, now sipping her fourth cup of tea and resting two of her arms, glanced over. "Need help?"
He hesitated. "I mean, you're off work…"
She floated closer anyway and peered at his notebook. "You're stuck on this?"
"It's a slope problem."
"I can see that. You substitute zero for y, then solve for x. Easy."
Chen blinked. "You—huh? That's right."
She tilted her head. "You look surprised."
"I just didn't expect a café manager in a magical tavern to… understand math from my world."
She gave him a dry look. "You do remember this place spans dimensions, right?"
"Fair," he admitted.
Listra gently took his pencil and pointed at the next problem. "This one's a system of equations. Two variables. Same idea—just visualize them as crossing paths. Like tavern hallways. Intersections."
He watched her solve the problem in seconds.
"You're really good at this."
"I once ran inventory for a casino in a black-hole pocket dimension. We did calculations under pressure."
"You should teach math."
"I'm teaching you," she said with a grin.
For the next hour, Chen's world narrowed to equations and explanations, the strange comfort of floating lights, and Listra's surprisingly calming voice.
They didn't talk about where he was from—he never brought it up. Chen had already decided: he'd keep his Earth origin a secret. This world was unbelievable, and he didn't want to risk it thinking he didn't belong. For now, this was his second life. A café worker in a magical tavern.
Eventually, Listra stretched and floated back to her corner. "You'll pass your next quiz."
"I hope so," Chen said. "If I don't, my teacher's threatening to shut down my club."
"Harsh."
"It's a fantasy club. Just me in it. But I like it. If I lose the room, I… lose this."
She didn't say anything for a while.
Then: "You're not bad at balancing worlds, Chen."
He gave a small smile. "I'm learning."
Gregory snored softly from the supply closet. Somewhere in the distance, a violin started playing itself, while two chairs danced a waltz. Outside the café window, Chen could see the bustling tavern continuing as if it were an eternal festival. Lights shimmered, voices rang, and stars twinkled where the ceiling should be.
Chen leaned back, notebooks stacked, math done. Maybe he would survive this semester. Maybe he'd even thrive.