The Fantasy World Fanatic Wants To Leave Work

16 – 16. Cheerful Lunchtime (2)

It is unnecessary to explain in detail the diet of Cosmic-1221. Most people can understand it to some extent.

In a space where primary industries such as agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fisheries have mainly developed, secondary industries have advanced in the form of industries utilizing magic, such as spell-infused manufacturing, mining, and construction.

In other words, to put it simply, apart from some medieval elements added by magical means, the culture of normal diet is not much different from that of the Middle Ages.

So even spicy food mainly consists of spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and pepper.

But what if you suddenly discover the true spiciness of a chili pepper, like Cheongyang chili pepper?

What if it is known as the ultimate test of combat power for the Garlic race, the spicy taste of Buldak, which even mercilessly interrogates heretics at night…

“Um, it’s spicy, but not to that extent… Eh…?!”

As she cautiously rolled the red noodles with her fork and put them into her pink lips and tongue, her eyes soon became moist, and her face turned red.

If she hadn’t been a saint, she would have screamed as soon as it touched her tongue, and she would have drunk anything that turned into liquid.

With tremendous faith and superhuman endurance, the saint managed to cover her mouth and drop the fork.

Still, the dizzying spiciness made her feel like she was going to lose consciousness.

In the end, the saint, who was enduring the excruciating spiciness with her immense faith and supernatural patience, was left panting and drenched in sweat.

Her body, glistening with sweat, may have looked alluring, but more than that, I felt pity for her suffering from the intense spiciness.

Watching this, the assistant at Cosmic-1221 U.C. convenience store thought to himself.

“Then I suppose so.”

It was the natural outcome of daringly challenging K-Spicy flavor without any fear.

†††

[Cuisine of Universe-1221]

[Photo of white soup and bread, and salted meat]

“Although the quality of ingredients in Universe-1221 is excellent, the completeness of the dishes is regrettable. In other words, the food is too bland.”

Master Baek’s Universe Food Fighter: Universe-1221 Edition

[Characteristics]

“In a universe where only ingredients better than the medieval era but not quite as good as the modern civilization of the 21st century exist, the tastiest dishes mainly consist of grilled or steamed dishes that bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients. For those who have lived in civilizations beyond the 21st century, it is a universe that evokes a longing for sweetness, spiciness, and saltiness, even nostalgia.”

Indeed, I intentionally intended for their reaction to the young beasts to be exceptionally fulfilling.

In summary, the people of Universe-1221 are the kind of people who use only a very small amount of pepper because they consider it to be spicy.

Moreover, when it comes to garlic, they would barely put in half a piece of garlic into ramen, according to our standards.

Yet, here they suddenly eat Fire Chicken?

Even though I only put in half of the sauce as I suspected, this was still the result.

“H-How on earth do you eat this…?”

Such a reaction, to the point of being afraid that it is impossible for a person to eat such a thing.

“I told you it’s spicy.”

Alexia was trembling with both hands tightly clasping the cross.

If someone were to see, it would appear as if they only saw a demon.

However, the reason why she sought help from God like that wasn’t because of the devil, but simply to taste ordinary Fire Chicken.

More accurately, it was Fire Chicken with only half of the sauce.

And even though she only took one bite, it was like that.

If she had put in all the sauce, Allenzia might have really fainted.

“This is not just a level of spiciness. Even the inquisitor in the heresy trial supposedly cannot endure any torture worse than this, or so they say…”

Alexia was still shedding tears, clutching the cross tightly as if desperately praying.

It’s definitely spicy, but is it really that extreme?

“What kind of torture do the inquisitors perform?”

“They throw the criminals onto a scorching gravel field… or they restrain them on a triangular wooden horse smeared with a liquid that causes unbearable itchiness, if they are accused of being a witch with bad sin…”

Well, setting aside unnecessary details, it is a torture I know precisely from the medieval era.

From now on, I must be careful not to utter any words that blaspheme against the divinity in front of church people, especially in front of the inquisitors. It would be better to not say anything at all in their presence.

“And the most cruel torture is to keep the prisoner confined in a dark, secluded room where not a ray of light enters until they repent of their sins… Of course, there is no water or food.”

Oh, it goes beyond being cruel, it becomes terrifying.

By now, I am truly reaching a level of fear myself.

The first one was just torture, but the second one included crucifixion, and now the third one is a medieval European-style inquisitor.

“How on earth can Hyunwoo put something like that in his mouth?!”

Ironically, I must have seemed abnormal to Allenia as I calmly ate the spicy chicken without a care in the world, even more horrifying than such torture.

It is true that nuclear spicy chicken is quite hot to eat, but the original version with only half of the sauce in it was still that spicy.

I can now understand why those little beasts wanted to kill me yesterday.

“Hold on.”

I couldn’t help it and brought some milk from a suspicious dairy farm and some spreadable cheese.

“What are you doing now?”

“At least if you drink some milk, the spiciness will be reduced. And I’ll make this as mild as possible for you.”

I handed the milk to Allenia in a paper cup, and I mixed the remaining milk and cheese into the spicy chicken.

Luckily, after drinking the milk, Allenia seemed to calm down a bit and she finally let go of the crucifix, exhaling a sigh of relief.

However, she still seems reluctant to eat the remaining spicy chicken.

“It should be less spicy now, but if it’s still difficult to eat, just leave it. There were quite a few customers at the convenience store who couldn’t finish it and ended up throwing it away.”

Usually, it was the students who hadn’t matured yet.

I often saw elementary school kids buying spicy chicken at the convenience store and desperately buying milk.

And sometimes, some damn kid would eat it while holding it in their hand but then overturn it on the floor because it was too spicy.

The spicy chicken sauce doesn’t easily come off, no matter where it gets on.

“But, that’s not allowed… If you throw away perfectly good food, you’ll be punished. Well, it doesn’t seem like this is perfectly good food though…”

While her brain registered the food as something utterly inedible, I was eating it just fine, which seemed to confuse Allenia a little.

Her hand holding the new fork was trembling slightly.

And yet, she looked at me eating without a care, wondering if there was something wrong with herself.

“Please pray for my safe passage.”

“I may not know God well, but I will pray to Him nonetheless.”

In the end, Allenia embarks on another difficult challenge.

However, from my perspective, the spicy chicken in front of her right now is not very spicy, but rather a completed combination that is appetizing with the addition of milk and cheese.

“Oh Lord, I pray that I may endure…”

And so, she takes another bite of the spicy chicken.

Still wrinkling her face as if it’s too spicy, but this time she managed to chew and swallow it properly!

Internally, I applauded, thinking, “Impressive.”

“…Phew, I managed to swallow it.”

Alencia sighed and took another sip of milk.

“So, how is it now?”

“Thanks to you, it’s not as unbearably spicy as it was initially. It’s still spicy, but the taste is surprisingly good in its own way.”

Breath still labored and eyes slightly moist, yet the combination of cheese and milk seemed to provide a balanced neutralizing effect, making the fire chicken more than just an onslaught of spiciness.

From that moment, little by little, the ramen started to get consumed.

It’s true, the heat amplifies the spiciness.

Sure, I’m used to it, having bought and eaten it frequently since its first release, but for those encountering genuinely spicy food for the first time, it’s understandably challenging to adapt.

“I used to think I could handle spicy food well, but now I realize what I had before wasn’t really spicy at all.”

A vivid review tinged with a hint of irony.

From my perspective witnessing this firsthand, I could vaguely understand why people seek out videos of foreigners trying out the fire chicken.

There’s an element of amusement in seeing their reactions, especially with a novel spicy taste that elicits responses one wouldn’t normally expect.

I’d like to feed Alencia the fire chicken without milk or cheese next time, then try it with all the sauce added, and finally, witness her reaction to the nuclear fire chicken.

“Actually, this one is particularly spicy. It’s about three times hotter than your typical spicy ramen.”

“How on earth do you handle this so well, Hyunwoo? My tongue is still burning.”

“Oh, me?”

Well, truth be told, I wasn’t always good at handling spicy food.

Even in high school, when I felt like eating something spicy, I used to mix just half the sauce of the fire chicken with milk.

However, with the stress building up from frequent visits to the convenience store, questioning why people live their lives as they do, my empathy seemed to dwindle, and I ended up seeking spicy food for stress relief.

“…I can tell by your expression, even without you saying anything. Dealing with people can be tough. I, too, face difficulties in dealing with people from time to time.”

Oddly enough, initially, I empathized with Alencia’s struggle in eating something spicy, yet now, she looks at me, detecting an expression of deep pity.

Huh, it’s not even that spicy, but why are tears welling up…?

“You must have had quite a few challenging customers on your first day, right? But I’m sure next time it won’t be the same.”

However, even before she arrived, a crazy magician with a gun had already visited.

Sure, he didn’t shoot the gun and even left a tip without pressing the red button, but honestly, I felt a looming darkness about what might happen tomorrow.

I wonder if I can survive for a few more days.

If I were to categorize this part-time job at a convenience store, it would fall under the genres of ‘#contemporary’, ‘#decadent’, and ‘#daily life’, so why am I shooting a survival film?

What kind of convenience store allows you to survive?

“Let’s both try to stay strong in the future.”

“Yes, let’s.”

That’s how Naomi and Alencia finished their lunch, a meal in which tears of different meanings were mixed.

She said it was too spicy and couldn’t eat it at all, but since I mixed milk and cheese for her, she seemed to have succeeded in eating it somehow.

After finishing the clean-up, I found the coffee she was looking for on the shelves and brought it to her.

“Thank you. This time, I’ll make sure to pay for the coffee properly. Since I got free lunch, too. It did hurt my stomach, but the taste was unexpectedly good, and even though it was excessive, it had a different taste.”

“Initially, I always say it’s too spicy, but in the end, I look for it and eat it when I get used to it.”

“For some reason, it reminds me of a familiar taste. It’s really strange.”

Fortunately, Alencia’s face seemed somewhat brighter.

Now she seemed calmer and the spiciness seemed to have eased a bit.

This is good for relieving stress since the spiciness stimulates the brain to produce endorphins and dopamine.

“Ah, speaking of which, have you ever seen a person like this, Hyun-woo?”

Suddenly, she took out a photo and showed it to me.

The photo contained the image of a woman I had never seen before.

“Who is this?”

“I can’t tell you exactly who she is, but if someone like this appears in this store, be careful. And let the security know as soon as possible.”

I couldn’t ascertain her exact appearance since the photo was in black and white, but the noticeable features were the horns on her head and the wings on her waist.

It also reminded me of a demon.

Why does something like this exist? It’s like the succubi that often appear in fantasy games.

This is making me unnecessarily anxious.