Serie

Beta Read By - XxNaRutoUcHiHaxX, Agni_Ravan_Asura

---

*Crash*

This was the sound of the new customer just slamming down on the chair. The man didn't reply but only nodded. I got the feeling that he wasn't trying to be rude, just that he's probably very exhausted at the moment.

Taking a seat, he picked up and took a look at the menu which made him look confused for a moment, after which he brought the menu and rescanned it with eyes showing disbelief after seeing the dishes.

Sensing that something was wrong, I approached the gas-masked customer and asked. "Is there a problem, sir..?"

The man snapped out of it and awkwardly spoke. "N-no, it's nothing, it's just…are the dishes on the menu real?"

Huh? Of course, it's real. Why the hell would anyone ask that kind of question? 

"They are."

The man stared at me for quite some time as if trying to figure out my motives. Eventually, he yielded after finding that there was no other hidden intention.

"Then…can I have this?" He pointed to a certain dish.

It was a spicy chicken curry. Usually, it takes time to cook this type of dish, thankfully I don't have to bother starting from the beginning since I've got some raw peeled chicken left thanks to Mikami and Saitama ordering the same dish.

"Alright, I'll be right back." I went directly to the kitchen to prepare the dish.

—

Washing my hands, I opened up the system store to buy the ingredients I need

[Black Atomic Havoc

Rarity: Common

Description: Harvested from an unknown desolate purgatory realm, these peppers were naturally grown in the harsh environment of a hellish place. The rough environment stimulated the chillies, providing a much better texture and taste and exponentially spicier than a normal earthen chili pepper. A person eating this will gain a boost in anything mana-related for a short period but beware overconsuming or eating raw may cause damage to one's soul]

[Butter Cashew nuts

Rarity: Common

Description: The products of top-notch genetic engineering produced from a highly technologically advanced civilization. These Cashews have been scientifically bred to have the best possible genes that can be produced without any fantasy elements]

*click* *Fwoosh*

Turning on the stove, I turned down the heat a bit. I then proceeded to take the black chillies pepper and cashew nuts and lightly roast them for 3 minutes.

While they were being roasted, I proceeded to buy more ingredients

[Luscious Red Juicy Tomatoes

Rarity: Common

Description: Tomatoes harvested from an unknown tropical realm. The mana present in the environment greatly enhanced the tomato, making it glow red. Consumption of these tomatoes enhances physical growth for a short period of time]

Buying two of these tomatoes, I proceeded to chop them up into medium-sized pieces.

After the chillies and cashews were done being roasted, I proceeded to put the chillies and cashew nuts into a blender provided by the system. After grinding them to a coarse powdery substance, I proceeded to add the medium-diced tomatoes into the grinder and grind them till they turned into a smooth paste.

*sniff*

Mmm, the aroma smells amazing, and this is just the paste

After acquiring the paste, I heated my frying pan and poured around 2-3 tbsp of oil into the pan. After doing so, I took out a bunch of onions from my storage that I bought before.

[Celestial Onions

Rarity: Common

Description: Onions harvested from an unknown secret celestial realm. Due to exposure to large amounts of Qi, the onions changed and acquired a celestial white color. Consumption of these onions will result in a temporary boost in speed]

*chop chop*

Taking the onions, I took out a knife as I proceeded to finely dice the onions into small pieces. After cutting the onions, I tossed them into the frying pan, as they started sizzling from the heat. Taking a spatula, I proceeded to turn and toss the diced onions for around 5 minutes, after which they turned translucent.

I then proceeded to add some Ginger Garlic paste into the translucent onions along with turmeric, chili powder, and coriander powder, all of these being produced by myself. I proceeded to add a small splash of water as I started to mix them.

[Pure Spring Water

Rarity: Common

Description: Water from a spring located in the highest peaks of the inhabitable realm, it can sometimes partially grant immortality and healing depending on the situation.]

After mixing and stirring them for a while, I finally proceeded to add the main ingredient of the dish, the chicken pieces.

[Golden Cockatrice's Meat

Rarity: Common

Description: In an alternate universe, the cockatrice that produced the golden eggs was not killed by the greed of the farmer. One of these golden eggs hatched into golden cockatrices. This is the meat of said cockatrice. Provides boost in jumping for a short period]

After adding the cockatrice pieces, I stirred them around until they obtained a golden color, after which I poured the paste I had initially ground on it along with a bit of water.

Normally, I'm supposed to leave it for around 15 minutes, but this special pan from the system provides an ability that instantly lets me skip the time required for the cooking with a maximum limit of two hours. Hence, 15 minutes of cooking was completed in an instant.

And here it is, the finished Spicy Cockatrice Curry.

—

It took only a few minutes to finish cooking the curry. Scooping up the plate I went directly to the table where the man was sitting as I placed the warm spicy chicken curry on his table along with a glass of cold water.

"I didn't order the water…"

"It's in the house, if you want a refill just call me."

"So the water is free..?" A look of astonishment appeared on his face.

'It's just water, it's not a big deal. Why is he acting like It's something worth being surprised about? Does he come from a dystopian world or something?'

"Yes, and please enjoy the spicy chicken curry." 

After serving the weird man, I left and went to 

Mikami's group, who were still playing the game, were not at all paying attention to the new customer as they were immersed in their… What do you do in this game in the first place?

Shaking my head off these useless thoughts, I didn't bother them as I was looking at the new customer with curiosity, wanting to see his reaction after eating the meal I cooked.

The man hesitated for a bit, but after smelling the appetizing aroma of the curry, he gave in and took a bite. His eyes widened and then resumed eating the curry, nothing seemed out of place until halfway through finishing the dish.

*RIPPP*

His clothes exploded off him, as he started making an ahego expression. The man started crying for some reason, and I wasn't sure what to do as this was my first experience of, uh, whatever the fuck just happened.

Mikami, who noticed this, stopped his immersive gaming for a bit and said. "He's…? Uhm."

"Yeah…and I have no idea what to do."

"Oi, Mikami you're not movin- hm? What are you guys looking at? Oh, is he crying?"

"Why?" Saitama asked, completely ignoring the two more important details.

"Don't ask me, I don't know." 

In the end, we just watched the guy having some sort of emotional breakdown.

'Let's not serve food from system ingredients until I make a private booth.'

—

After offering the guy some clothes, we found out that the guy's name was Suzuki Satorou, coincidence he also has the same last name as Mikami.

Anyway, according to him, he was from the year 2138. That's a hundred years away 

from us.

His version of Japan, if not the entire world, was so polluted that the air wasn't breathable anymore, and everyone had to wear a gas mask if they wanted to go outside else the air pollution would kill them.

I see, from what little he's told me, I can already think of a few problems in his world. The first and most obvious would be the scarcity of natural resources. At this point, all fossil fuels should have been drained and metals like iron which are essential for infrastructure should have already been depleted. 

This alone would have been bad enough, but considering he's 100 years from the future the population of the planet should have increased by a hundredfold, and it will keep on increasing because the people of the world most likely wouldn't be using any protection.

Too many mouths to feed and not enough food. To solve this the government introduced a type of food called "natural flavor paste".

What a fucking joke of a food.

But…

*Sigh*

Painfully, I must admit I understand. Scarcity of resources would lead to a scarcity of crops, and that would lead to a scarcity of animals, which in return leads to a lack of meat and other dairy materials. A world lacking meat and milk is not a world I can even comprehend. Though, this also explains this guy's physique.

This guy's malnourished as fuck, I could probably snap his arm in half like a twig.

Anyway, his world is screwed and it's only a matter of time before his world would be covered in pollution that even gas masks won't be able to stop. If a madman like Akihiko Kayaba made a VRMMORPG that trapped players within it, he would be worshiped as a god.

"Your world is fucked up," I said after hearing his story, and the rest agreed with my statement.

"Yeah, but it's how the world works. Sometimes I feel more dead than alive. Still, I can't believe this restaurant is from a different world."

Suzuki let out an exhausted sigh as he dropped the chopsticks clumsily, most probably due to this being his first time using them. Poor guy, this was his first decent meal, wasn't it?

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either when I first stumbled into this place." Mikami chuckled.

"I thought Akihiko was bullshitting me at first, but then he showed me an undeniable truth," Subaru remembered the first day he went to this restaurant.

While they were talking about their first-day 

experience in this restaurant, Kirito asked a different question from the rest.

"Say, since you're from the future do you guys also have VRMMORPG?"

Subaru gave his friend a disbelieving look. 

"Seriously, Kirito? Now is not the time to ask that kind of question!"

Kirito scratches his left cheek and replies. "Look I get it, but aren't you a bit curious about it? I mean, tell me that thought never crossed your mind?"

The thought never crossed Subaru's mind, mostly because this sort of technology didn't exist in his world. He did become a little curious after learning about Kirito's world, but he would never be that blunt after knowing Suzuki's story. "Well…"

"It didn't cross my mind at all."

Both shifted their attention toward Saitama whose expression was stuck in a deadpan.

Both of the teenagers nodded at each other and decided to ignore what Saitama just said.

"So, does your world have it?" Kirito asked again.

"Oi, did you just ignore me?"

Suzuki looked awkward, but he answered 

Kirito's question. "Yes, we do have something like that."

Kirito's eyes brighten. "I knew the future didn't disappoint, maybe except for the pollution problem and all."

"Anyway, did your version of VRMMORPG also trap you in your game, and then once you die in-game your brain will be fried and you'll die in real life?" 

"That's an oddly specific question but no, also I've been meaning to ask…why can I see a name and a level above your head..?" Suzuki has been wanting to ask that question ever since he regained his clarity.

"Well…about that…mind listening to my story?" 

"I have the time so, sure I'll listen."

And so Kirito explained how it all started for him.

******

I look at Suzuki's reaction after hearing Kirito's story, after processing everything he said. 

"Kayaba is a madman."

"Definitely."

"Who would make something as advanced as that just to make it a death game."

'Why doesn't he exist in my world? Yggdrasil would be a lot more fun.' The majority of the guys agree that Kayaba is crazy, except for the guy who's probably even crazier than him

I look at Suzuki. While he wore an impassive face, there was just something off about him. I couldn't help but think he didn't look at us like fellow humans, but more of an entertainment squad.

A disposable squad.

My eyes narrowed on him.

'I'll be watching you'

—

It was quite fascinating to see a different currency, I mean technically Subaru, Mikami, and Saitama had a different currency, but it wasn't too different from one another.

Sans Kirito, of course. He uses Cor, which is SAO's currency and we can't physically see it as it's a virtual type of money.

Now, about Suzuki's currency. They weren't made out of paper but of plastic, while I don't know which kind of plastic is used for this, it looks cool and futuristic.

—

At the end of the day, Suzuki thanked us for the amazing food and company. The poor guy doesn't have any friends aside from the game he's playing. He promised to come back and also told Mikami that he'd bring some 'cultured' games from his world.

Soon enough, everyone left the restaurant as it became barren and lonely once again. Glancing at the clock, I could see the time was 11:45. While we might be from different worlds, our time zones surprisingly match up.

Although it can't be said the same for the dates.

For example, it's Friday in my world but in Mikami, it's Monday, Subaru's world is Wednesday, and so on.

I don't think anyone is going to enter the restaurant this late. I suppose it's time for me to clean up the restaurant and close it.

"Well then, I'm going to flip the door sign to close-" 

I was suddenly interrupted as someone opened the door. The person who arrived had a small petite body, a girl, and from her height alone, she would have been between 13 and 14 by the average human girl standard.

However, the most eye-catching part of this new potential customer isn't because she's a girl or anything, but because of her ears. They weren't human, because there's no way a human would have such long ears, this could only mean one thing.

There are very few creatures that have an ear like that, most of them are mythical or from fairy tales. But since my restaurant connects others, it means that this girl might be of a legendary race.

She's most likely an Elf.

Or a birth defect. Would be a lot cooler if 

she was an elf though.

"Hooo..? This is not what I was expecting when I decided to enter this mysterious building that appeared in my home." The elf then stared in my direction.

"You, are you the owner of this place?" 

From her tone, she wasn't asking but more like ordering me, and I also have a feeling that if I lie, It would end badly for me.

"I am, and this is my restaurant."

"This place is a restaurant…?"

"That's right ma'am, what did you think when you entered this place?"

Instead of answering, the elf was talking to herself while looking at me. "Definitely isn't a demon…but a human male…no magic either…wait, no…"

I wasn't sure what she was talking about, so I decided to interrupt her. 

"Ahem*, why don't you take a seat ma'am, I'll cook you something, and don't worry about paying, it's on the house because I'm curious about something, I want to ask some questions from you, and in exchange you can ask me anything."

The elf raised a brow. "Oh..?"

She looked like she was thinking whether to accept my offer or not and after a few seconds, she decided. "Very well."

"Right, before we start I'd like you to know my name. Akihiko, what about you?" I introduced myself.

The elf didn't say anything for a moment, before answering. "Serie."

"Well then, Miss Serie. Let's begin."

—

A/N: The chubby cheek elf is here!

E/N: Can't wait to see the cheeks 

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