Three days had passed since Brahma and Tardi entered Single Origin. Counting from their arrival to this cafe, they have been regular customers for a total of one month.
The space of this coffee shop, if examined closely, seems to be expanding every day. The large number of visitors directly affects its size. Given their original purpose for coming to the café - to sip coffee that could transport them to another world - this kind of phenomenon is no longer surprising.
They all believe it to be an 'illusion'.
After all, this coffee shop is more of a food court because of the owner's interesting decision to start setting up stalls offering a wide variety of foods other than fried foods. Satay, soto, pempek, and all kinds of delicious and cheap Nusantara cuisine. But, of course, the main menu of all the stalls is still coffee.
The space is now a little livelier. The cafe provides a special location for entering Single Origin. So there are no longer people sleeping on the floor, tables, or anywhere inappropriate after drinking coffee and entering Single Origin. Now there are even people from various ethnic groups in Indonesia gathering, including some Chinese-Indonesian women who walk around shopping in their sexy outfits, inviting the lust of native men who have a fetish for Chindo girls.
The baristas do not discriminate in their treatment of customers. From rich, poor, good-looking, ugly, madura tribe, Chinese race, people of any background, all are treated equally. Because the truth is that all customers have only one purpose.
Besides wanting to create their own ideal world at Single Origin, customers also look forward to a special day at this place; Friday. The day when the café gives away a special coffee that brings patrons into Single Origin, which instead of being made by them, is created by the baristas. It was like entering a lottery to see how big the surprise was each time. They could be in a world of talking dinosaurs, a world made entirely of living sand, or even a world that rejects the color white. It's that curiosity that intrigues visitors to look forward to Friday.
The long-awaited Friday arrived.
The group of worshipers who had completed their Friday prayers came to the coffee shop in droves, some still wearing Muslim clothing complete with sarong and Peci. There were even some who came without wearing sandals because they were stolen. Tardi and Brahma had to tiptoe on the hot asphalt with slightly blistered feet.
This Friday was the first day for Tardi and Brahma to come. Therefore, both of them were left gaping as they witnessed the change of atmosphere in this place that was so different compared to other days; no one had entered the special room to enter Single Origin.
Both Brahma and Tardi, wanting to pique their curiosity, approached a lone barista who was watching TikTok reels while smoking a cigarette.
"Excuse me, sir," Tardi said in a tone like a student asking for a signature from a lecturer.
"Yes,kid?" The barista replied while fixing the position of his ten-cent-high cap.
"By the way, why does it look more crowded than usual, sir... Yudi?" Asked Tardi who narrowed his eyes to see the nametag on the barista's left chest.
"Oh, is this your first time here on Friday?" Yudi replied as he turned to Brahma.
"Yes," said Brahma.
"In short, you will experience a world that you can only experience once in a lifetime. A world that cannot be repeated or revisited," Yudi explained in a serious tone, although his eyes had glanced several times at the dancing video on his cellphone screen. "That's why many visitors are interested," continued the barista with his madurai accent and not forgetting to add a smile in the style of a native of Salt Island.
"Ok, thank you Mr. Yudi," said Brahma, followed by Tardi who said the same thing with his own choice of words.
"If you want to come, wait for more information," said the barista as he waddled away from Brahma and Tardi to greet the people who had just arrived.
"It's getting crowded, Di, it's really exciting." Brahma scowled with a wide grin on his face.
The shrill hum of the microphone rang out, disturbing the hearing of everyone in the stall, making them stop whatever they were doing. Their attention was now directed towards the source of the sound; the large stage that the singers used to fill.
An old man in a suit stood in the center of the stage while fixing the microphone cable so that the noisy buzzing would stop.
"Hahaha, sorry, sorry," the old man said, echoing throughout the room with the help of the loudspeaker, "I see a lot of new visitors today, maybe it's our first time meeting. Introduce, my name is Azazil, I'm the manager here."
Azazil bowed his body to show respect to the customers.
"Without further ado, are you ready for a cool adventure?" Azazil asked.
"Yes!!!" One stall cheered.
"Are you ready for a thrilling battle?"
"Yes!!!"
"Then, let's start the event on this beautiful Friday, please enter the Single Origin room that has been prepared by the baristas," explained the manager who directed the visitors including Tardi and Brahma to the room in question.
Almost all the visitors moved to the different rooms, leaving their food intact just to participate in this event. Tardi and Brahma also entered a room together.
A classroom with lecture chairs lined up, a blackboard, and a projector hanging from the ceiling. However, instead of an exam paper, what was on the table was a cup of strong coffee, still billowing smoke. The strong aroma of the coffee filled the classroom, forcing Tardi and Brahma to quickly sit on the chairs next to each other, wanting to have a quick taste.
Some people had already brewed their coffee and were fast asleep in their chairs. With a brief observation, Tardi and Brahma knew what to do now; drink the coffee on their table. The overwhelming drowsiness hit them as soon as the coffee hit their tongues. Both of them slept right then and there.
Tardi and Brahma woke up in a vast white room, seemingly endless, standing above, below, and between emptiness.
However, the infinity turned claustrophobic as soon as the other customers appeared one by one, gathered close together. Soon, black smoke curled up in the air. Some people gasped or raised their eyebrows at it, while others just nodded or stared at it flatly as if they had witnessed this many times before.
From behind the plume of smoke, an elf with a very dwarf-sized body came out, flying on its four small wings.
"Hello, welcome to Pre-Single Origin," greeted the fairy. "The place where you'll all be preparing, there's no way you're going on an adventure unprepared, right? This is the place."
Being small does not mean having a weak voice. All the customers could hear her voice. Although there were also customers who didn't pay attention, like Brahma, who was looking in all directions.
Brahma scratched his head repeatedly as he saw accessories created out of nothing, neatly attached to each of the clothes of the patrons who closed their eyes.
"You just need to think of something you'd like to take with you on your adventures, perhaps a glass, a fishing rod, a spoon, a stove, or a bite brush to keep your teeth shiny," explained the fairy, showing off her own teeth.
After ten seconds, when everyone seemed satisfied with their preparations, the fairy announced the next step. "Yep, it's time for your adventure, good luck."
The fairy entered the smoke where she had first appeared, only to vanish shortly before a blindingly bright light fell on the participants' vision.
"What? Gob-" hadn't finished swearing because the glare made his eyes hurt, Tardi had already been teleported along with all the customers to another world.
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