Chapter 14

It was basically like drawing water from the Han River to sell it.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I exclaimed to the twins.

“Thank you so much! Since I thought I might have the chance to meet you, I brought some human food in advance.”

The flames rose, and suddenly a table and chairs made of red marble appeared.

Ella crossed her legs, sat down, and ordered.

“I see you came prepared. Let’s see what you’ve brought.”

Together with Kwak Hanmuk, I placed fifty cups of Grass Tea on the table.

The twins each took a sip.

Elun’s eyes, which had been half-lidded until then, suddenly flew open.

Wearing a look of complete bewilderment, he said,

“How awful…”

As soon as Ella took a sip, she also made a face of disgust.

“It’s horrible! You have no talent for cooking. You should change professions immediately! This is all garbage!”

And with that, she reduced all the Grass Tea on the table to ashes.

Kwak Hanmuk didn’t miss the chance to continue acting.

“Ah…! The tea my little Green Chestnut prepared with such love, spending countless days and nights without rest…!”

Thud!

He dramatically threw himself onto the ground.

Ella shouted angrily.

“Get out of here already!”

Elun simply looked at me and blinked silently.

Then the long-awaited system message appeared.

You have sold 50 cups of Grass Tea and received 60 Gold.

Slay to Plate had a wonderful tipping system.

Customers could pay more than the original price of the food.

Those extra ten Gold were the tip Elun had decided to give after seeing Kwak Hanmuk’s pitiful performance.

We had earned a total of 60 Gold.

I lowered my gaze and spoke apologetically.

“I’m truly sorry… Next time I’ll bring a dish that satisfies both Lady Ella and Sir Elun.”

I felt sorry for them, but tomorrow would also be Grass Tea.

As long as we were short on money during the early game, they would have to keep drinking Grass Tea.

After promising that I would return the next day, we left the dungeon.

“Whoa…”

Kwak Hanmuk let out an admiring exclamation.

Looking completely satisfied, he said,

“As expected of the great Hyung Chestnut. We got filthy rich.”

Grinning and showing his fangs, he walked up beside me and laughed.

“Make me do something like that again next time. That was hilarious.”

Dominic also seemed to have enjoyed himself quite a bit.

In a voice full of amusement, he praised me.

“That was a touching performance. I think you could become an actor, Mr. Gunbam.”

‘It’s really not that much, Mr. Dominic.’

After receiving such high praise, we wrapped up our little performance and headed to the village’s general store.

As I happily thought about how to spend those 60 Gold, Kwak Hanmuk narrowed his eyes.

“And who are those guys?”

Several burly men were blocking the narrow forest path.

Ding!

A system message appeared.

What bad luck! You’ve run into some bandits! There’s no way to escape…! What will you do?

We had run into bandits.

Normally, this event almost never happened at the beginning of the game.

Only once in a great while would it appear thanks to an extremely low probability.

If you encountered bandits during the early stages of the game, before leveling up or obtaining good equipment, you could practically consider the run over.

But I had Kwak Hanmuk.

And the bandits?

‘They have money.’

Unable to hide my delight, I replied,

“They’re customers, Captain Kwak!”

***

You have defeated the bandits!

Kwak Hanmuk dusted off his denim overalls and turned toward me.

I gave him two thumbs up.

“That was amazing.”

While he dealt with the bandits, I ran to the general store and spent the enormous sum of 5 Gold to buy a rope.

Then I tied the unconscious bandits together one after another, like sausages.

And together with Kwak Hanmuk, I dragged them back to the restaurant.

When we returned dragging the entire gang of bandits behind us, Captain Mo Haein, who had already finished cleaning, looked at me in complete bewilderment.

“Recruit…?”

She was utterly confused by what had just happened, but I looked for Je Hyuno first.

“Where’s the Lieutenant Colonel?”

“In the backyard, pruning the trees.”

It seemed that after Three Worlds, he had developed a hobby of trimming trees.

It wasn’t a bad hobby.

Besides, with the hands he had, he was perfect for gardening.

I decided to let Je Hyuno continue turning the trees into ornamental ones and ran into the restaurant to prepare more Grass Tea.

One cup per person.

As soon as I had prepared the exact amount, the bandits began waking up one after another.

I smiled at them.

“After spending the whole day robbing people, I’m sure you’re thirsty. Go ahead, have a cup.”

The bandits stared in utter confusion at the row of cups filled with Grass Tea.

In front of them was a small cardboard box with a simple sign.

Tips Here!

The bandits exchanged glances before cautiously picking up the cups.

But the moment they took a sip, they all reacted violently.

“Ugh!”

“Ack…! What the hell is this?”

“Was this made out of garbage?!”

As chaos erupted, one of them tried to flee through the door.

Captain Mo Haein, who was guarding the entrance, pressed a kitchen knife against his neck.

Then she said a single word.

“Tip.”

Not a single bandit was able to refuse the kind request of a waitress.

Obediently, they emptied all the money they had on them and left their tips before leaving.

The tip box began filling up with Gold.

Ding!

A cheerful notification appeared.

You have sold 12 cups of Grass Tea and received 120 Gold.
A full 120 Gold!

I felt as though I had won the lottery.

On top of that, defeating the bandits had raised our levels considerably.

Since the system considered us a five-member party, the experience was partially distributed among everyone.

After just a few more minor quests, the entire Special Missions Team would reach level 10 before the day was over.

That meant we could enter the dungeon starting on the second day.

Just thinking about gathering ingredients the following night brought a smile to my face.

Mo Haein lowered the kitchen knife and stared at me.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve seen someone make money off bandits.”

Was that a compliment?

I was just about to smile shyly, but then I clearly read the word crazy in her eyes and restrained myself.

Captain Kwak shook the tip box with a mischievous grin.

“Captain Mo. Consider it the cost of their rehabilitation.”

With 175 Gold in my pocket, I happily headed to the general store to go shopping.

Before that, I stopped by the backyard for a moment to see what Je Hyuno was doing.

The trees that had once looked completely wild had now become elegant ornamental trees.

“Lieutenant Colonel! Once you’re done with the backyard, could you also take care of the front yard?”

I explained that the better the restaurant’s surroundings looked, the higher the reputation bonus would be.

Je Hyuno clicked his metal hands together.

For a moment, I thought I might have been too bold and tensed up slightly.

Then an emoticon appeared on his goggles.

^ ^

“……”

What was that supposed to mean?

For a moment—just for a moment—I had the impression that ever since we entered Slay to Plate, Je Hyuno had been surprisingly considerate toward me.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine why.

He was someone impossible to understand through the logic of an ordinary human being.

‘Could this be the calm before a much bigger leap…?’

Since we were on the same team, he wasn’t going to kill me.

But perhaps he was planning to prune me the same way he had pruned the ornamental trees.

The way he looked at me really gave that impression.

So I used shopping as an excuse to get away as quickly as possible.

At the shop, I carefully selected the items we needed the most.

Chef’s Knife: A kitchen knife with an exceptional edge. It might even be useful for defeating monsters. (Attack +1)
Small Bag: An essential item for any dungeon adventurer. It’s made from monster leather and allows you to carry materials obtained from monsters. (Inventory +15)
Apron: A cute apron with frills. (Luck +2)

In addition to the restaurant’s basic tools, I bought an upgraded cooking utensil, a bag to expand my inventory, and an apron.

When the staff wore the proper clothing, the chances of receiving tips increased.

But at the beginning, there wasn’t enough money to buy chef or waiter uniforms.

So the apron was a cheap way to earn extra income.

Especially for chefs, since it increased the chance that customers would leave tips for the food.

After finishing our shopping, we finished organizing the restaurant, completed a few simple quests, and processed the materials we had gathered.

Before we knew it, the first day had come to an end.

There wasn’t a single light around the restaurant, so the outside was completely dark.

When we went up to the second floor, where the staff rooms were located, it was a complete mess as well.

Kwak Hanmuk had cleaned it as best he could, but there was no furniture.

There was practically nothing but a roof and a floor.

It was barely any better than sleeping out in the open.

When I played with random people in the game, I didn’t care if I had to sleep on the ground as long as it improved the restaurant.

The staff could sleep on the floor while the customers dined on luxurious tableware!

That had always been my principle as the restaurant manager.

But now things were different.

Everyone had entered this Trial because of me.

I wanted to provide them with a comfortable place to rest.

‘I have to make money as soon as possible.’

Thinking obsessively about that, I checked the time.

11:50 p.m.

At midnight, all players automatically fell asleep.

If you weren’t lying in your assigned bed when that happened, the system considered you dead.

So we all hurried to our rooms.

Before going to bed, Kwak Hanmuk grabbed my shoulder one more time.

“Shit… I can still see it…”

After confirming that he could still see the pudding slime, he disappeared with a dejected expression.

I entered my room and lay down on a straw bed.

It inevitably reminded me of the cell in Call of the Void.

The pudding slime resting on my stomach slowly began to slide downward.

It looked as though it intended to lie down on the straw bed.

However, it remained still for a few seconds.

Then it calmly climbed back on top of me.

He didn’t say anything.

But it was obvious that the rough texture had surprised him.

He was an extremely high-ranking slime.

He had probably never rested somewhere as miserable as a straw bed.

I waited until Dominic found a comfortable position on top of me before speaking to him.

“Mr. Dominic.”

Then, in the most pitiful voice I could manage, I pleaded with him.

“Now that we’re alone, could you tell me? How is it possible for someone of a lower rank to be able to see you, Mr. Dominic?”

I wanted to know the truth.

But Dominic didn’t answer.

He just kept laughing.

He seemed to enjoy seeing how curious I was about it.

Then it appeared before me.

E-e-event Q-q-quest: Serve a delicious meal to T-that Person.
Reward: Reward: Reward: Resolve Y-y-young Gunbam’s curiosity.

It was a completely corrupted system window.

I felt my face stiffen.

What… was that?

This wasn’t Call of the Void anymore.

The memories I had tried to bury suddenly resurfaced, and a chill ran across my cheeks.

Dominic spoke kindly from my chest.

“What do you think, Mr. Gunbam?”

“……”

“Since your rank is still far too low, I thought it would be dangerous to explain it without asking for something in return. So I improvised this.”

“……”

“Hmm… The quality leaves a little to be desired. I’ll make a better version next time.”

“……”

“You’ll be able to create things like this yourself someday as well, Mr. Gunbam. You’re still a Young God, but you’ll grow very quickly.”

He didn’t even forget to be humble about his own abilities.

In a gentle tone, he remarked that precisely because I was young, I would learn very quickly.

With great effort, I managed to open my mouth.

“Ah… Thank you very much.”

How much longer would it take before Dominic fully recovered his true nature?

Until then, I would try to make him love Earth as much as possible.

But there was no way of knowing what kind of existence he would become once he recovered all of his memories.

I felt as though I were staring into an endless void.

I clenched my teeth so I wouldn’t be swallowed by that feeling.

Then I smiled faintly, pretending that nothing was wrong, and asked,

“Mr. Dominic. Could you teach me how to create something like this as well?”

Even though Dominic frightened me, creating quest windows was an ability I had always wanted to have.

Since I had already registered every member of the Special Missions Team, it would be an incredibly useful tool if I could learn it.

“Hmm If you don’t mind, could I examine you for a moment, Mr. Gunbam?”

“What do you mean by examine me?”

“I would like to observe your interior. Since you’re still young, it would be best to use a traditional method. I’ll start with your heart…”

When I heard the rest of Dominic’s explanation, my stomach churned.

Perhaps because he was an extraterrestrial slime, he didn’t seem to know that humans died when their bodies were cut open.

“Isn’t there any other method?”

I asked with all my strength, determined to avoid being tortured alive.

Dominic let out a deep chuckle.

“It won’t hurt.”

He sounded exactly like a doctor reassuring an overly anxious patient.

A chill ran down my spine.

“It’s just that I’m very cowardly. If there’s any other method, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Then it can’t be helped. For now, that’s the only one I remember.”

Since I rejected the idea, Dominic didn’t insist even once.

“When I remember another method, I’ll let you know, Mr. Gunbam.”

“Thank you very much.”

I had been a little afraid he might try to do it by force.

So I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed I wouldn’t be getting any help with the quest windows after all.

Besides, there was always the possibility that accepting Dominic’s help would require paying a much greater price.

The best thing to do was simply focus on completing the Trial.

I closed my eyes while the little pudding slime continued wandering freely over me.

I must have cleaned the restaurant too much.

I’d been incredibly sleepy for a while.

Thinking about everything I had to do the next day, the system forced me to fall asleep the moment the clock struck midnight.

Perhaps I was simply too exhausted.

I couldn’t sleep deeply.

I had a strange dream.

I dreamed that Dominic ended up inspecting my insides.

A three-meter-tall man opened my chest with an enormous hand.

As I writhed in fear, pain, and despair, Dominic kept repeating the same words.

“It won’t hurt.”

And at some point.

It really stopped hurting.

I think Dominic even smiled when he saw how surprised I was.

A profound sense of peace enveloped me.

And I sank into a much deeper sleep.

Completely forgetting that nightmare.

The following morning.

Dominic had disappeared.

T/N:

(1): It changed from Clean Clean Clean! to Three Worlds.