Chapter 1953 – [Chicken Soup That Shakes the Soul]

Around the time that the bluefin tuna dish ordered by Chairman Naomoto and Blue Dragon Bismund was served, another customer came. It seems that as the number of customers has increased, the frequency of visits has also increased.

Still, this time it was a familiar face… No, it was a skeleton. This was because he was Kristoff, a lich wizard who mainly consumed spirit tear sherbet.

He looked at my face for the first time in years and showed a happy expression. I wondered how he could tell that I was happy to see a skeleton without any facial muscles, but I knew it when I saw the blue, naturalized eyes shining.

[Oh, it’s been a while. How have you been?]

“Yes, I was busy, but I had a good time. It looks like everything was fine, Kristoff.”

[Well, I have a body that doesn’t change for a few years. First, can you give me some spirits tear sherbet? I’m thirsty because I’ve been waiting for this day all week.]

“Okay. Then, please sit where you’re comfortable.”

Chairman Naomoto and Blue Dragon Bismund, who are close friends, seem to have found a time to meet each other. Next, a saint who was Mrs. Kim Ryu-hwa, who had guided Eden to the path to becoming a psychic in his past life, visited. In the past, as far as I remember, we argued about each other’s positions, but now we seem to have become quite close.

“Ah, aren’t you the hero’s father? It’s been a while since I saw you. How have you been?”

“Well, I’ve been doing well. It looks like the saintess has been doing well too.”

“Yes, there is less work these days. I am glad because it is proof that the world has become more peaceful.”

“Could you please show me the same seat as Mr. Kristoff?”

“Please. Oh, and I’ll also order a crème brûlée.”

“I understand.”

The saint and Christoph, who were sitting facing each other, started laughing and chatting. Like Chairman Naomoto and Bismund, the sight of Richie and the saintess laughing and talking together is so harmonious that it feels like a two-dimensional restaurant.

And the next customer who came in… Was not a person. To be precise, it is only half a person.

The upper body was that of a human, but the lower body was that of a spider so gigantic that the gates of Elysium seemed cramped, making it seem like a race of monsters that were half man, half spider.

“This is my first time seeing you… Who are you?”

“They say he is the worst father to Eden. Excuse me, but what is your name?”

“Ah, I’ve heard a lot of stories. My name is Ariadne. Normally, you would be surprised to see me, but perhaps because you are Eden’s father, you have no prejudice.”

“If you work in a place like this, you should first work with common sense and prejudice. That way, you won’t cause inconvenience to the customers.”

“As someone who is semi-treated as a monster, this is something I welcome.”

Even though spiders themselves are beneficial insects, there are people who dislike them because of their disgusting appearance. Her upper body, identified as Ariadne, had the appearance of a beautiful woman with black hair, but because her lower body was like that, I think an ordinary person would be shocked.

If this wasn’t Eden’s store, I would have been a little wary. However, she is not the first customer, and if she is a regular customer, she is probably an ordinary customer who likes cooking, despite her appearance.

“I’ll show you to your seat, but is there anything else you need?”

“Because I look like this, I may disturb other guests while they eat. Could you please guide me to a seat inside where I can’t see it as much as possible?”

“I understand.”

Although they look more like monsters or monsters than sub-humans, they know that their appearance is unsightly to others, so they deliberately try to go to a place where they are not noticed, and have the consideration of a human. At least it doesn’t seem like he’s a customer that would be rejected just by looking at the outside.

“How would you like to place an order?”

“Beef steak. I would like it cooked rare.”

“I understand.”

The order is also relatively ordinary. At that point, I think it’s just a guest with a unique appearance.

There are only a few people here, but the store is already noisy. Some customers were seeing it for the first time, some were not, but it seemed like there were more customers coming in the future.

After the other guests were finished cooking, and I had some free time, a customer I had never seen before came to me. However, this time, the guest did not have a unique appearance, but rather a familiar appearance. This was not because the guests were different, but because they were people from Earth, especially Koreans.

However, the clothing was not typical Earth clothing. What should I say… It was like wearing equipment that a force user who uses the Gaia Force that I had seen on Earth in this universe where my former incarnation and mother-in-law live would wear when fighting against an enemy species.

“President Eden!!! We’re here… Uh, who are you?”

“You are a guest. I say you are the worst. Eden is the father.”

“The boss’s father…?”

The man who appeared to be the leader of the group of five or six people looked at me and gave me a questioning look. Then, a male team member next to me secretly tells me my story, as if he had heard it from Eden before.

“Huh? Team leader, didn’t you say that your father is the president of Korea over there?”

“Uh, hello, President!!!! My name is Kang Yun-chang, and I am the 7th team leader of the Hanul Guild!!!!!”

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”

Looking at the costumes and guilds, it seems like it’s based on Earth’s civilization, similar to Before Reincarnation Earth, with a certain amount of fantasy mixed in. However, it is not in a position to defend against invasion like the enemy species, but maybe it is a modern dungeon? It almost felt like that.

Since I have had the experience of being reincarnated on Earth, I think I know why they came. A dungeon is no different from the front line, so you have to eat as combat rations and be on alert 24 hours a day, but if it’s a place where you can eat delicious food in such a comfortable way, you have no choice but to become a regular.

“Even the president is nearing the end of his term, and Korea is on a different level. So there is no need to be too polite.”

“Oh, no. I heard from the president that Korea has unified, traveled to outer space, and is even taking care of refugees across the world? How can you be comfortable with the representative of Korea like that? You should at least be as polite as our Korean president.”〈 Br〉

“How many months will your term end?”

“Yes? I heard from the boss that he will be reappointed.”

… No, Eden is really you.

Eden seems certain that I will be elected and serve again in this election. So, let’s tell the customers everything.

“This is my first time seeing you, and I am embarrassed to tell you this, but our district is experiencing a lot of damage due to the dungeon. If you visit our district later…”

“Well… Non-interference is the basic principle in non-dimensional civilizations.”

“… Oh, is that so?”

Do not touch anything unless you enter a dimensional civilization. I don’t know if he’s doing this in his personal capacity, but aren’t I the president of Korea now? Of course, there are only one or two months left in his term, but it is still difficult to touch it because of his social status.

When my term is over, I can just go and do it on my own, but if Eden gets reappointed as I said… I can’t just promise because of that.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t treat the customers of Eden’s store coldly. It looks like he’s a frequent guest, but wouldn’t it be a bit uncomfortable if such a guest stopped coming one day?

“Still, one thing is that we need to find out whether the dungeon in that dimension is an interdimensional invasion problem. It’s difficult to say when, but we will visit.”

“W-Is that really?! Thank you!!!! Please come visit us anytime!!!!”

No, but even if Earth was the target of the Aiol Empire, if modern dungeon Earth is also touched, I don’t know if it will become like a guardian of Earth civilization in some dimension.

I am the President of Korea, not the President of the Earth, nor the President of the Earth at any level!!!!

For now, I left that part aside and took orders from them. Maybe it’s because we’re all Korean, but in the midst of all the hardships, the only thing that comes to mind is Korean food, so we usually order stews with soup, such as kimchi stew or soybean paste stew, and as side dishes, we order things like stir-fried pork.

That’s just the taste of office workers. Well, no matter how bad you are, it’s a menu item that you can go for and get above average at any restaurant. Moreover, with Elysium, even common dishes can be made several times more delicious, so they will be even more delicious.

As the situation was crowded with new guests, Ariadne, a half-human, half-spider demi-race, stood up to see if she had finished eating. I obviously ate all the food, but there was still a little bit of coffee left, which seemed to show concern for the Koreans over there.

“I had a good time. The steak here is very delicious today as well. The gravy is so rich that it can’t be compared to ordinary beef… We’ll be open tomorrow as well, so I’m looking forward to visiting again.”

“I don’t know if you ate in a hurry.”

“No, I was just about to get up after I finished eating. Oh, this is the meal fee.”

She gave me something in kind instead of money. When she said something, she turned out to be a skein of silver thread that was so pretty that it reminded me of Eden’s pretty silver hair.

From the looks of it, it looks like it was hand-picked… But considering the soft, silky feel it felt in my hand the moment I received it, and the strength it imparted, it was beyond my imagination. It is light, soft, and tough, with much better performance than aramid, a synthetic material inspired by spider silk.

I think if you wear clothes like this, no matter how thin they are, they will have the effect of bulletproof clothing. If it is comfortable to wear like underwear, has a good feel, and is bulletproof, there will be a lot of demand.

“This is the thread I spun and spun myself. It’s a very useful item, so use it when you need it.”

“Thank you. See you tomorrow then.”

“Yes, see you tomorrow.”

If there are customers who come, there will also be customers who leave. Then, Christophe and the saint slowly returned.

Of course, we ordered more, but it was still too much to spend hours on desserts like sherbet or creme brûlée. Moreover, both of them are probably busy with their own work.

[We’ll go first. I enjoyed my meal today too.]

“I’ll come again next week.”

“I’m glad you were satisfied. Please stop by again next time.”

As they are busy, it looks like they are planning to come next week. Since I had a lot of work to do and could only come for one day even though it was the weekend, I thought they would have treated me better.

Still, today is not the only day, so I promise next time. And, to my surprise, while I was serving the dishes ordered by Koreans in Modern Dungeon, a new customer came.

“Double cheeseburger set!!!! Eat one and leave the other with a lot of ketchup in the packaging… Hmm?”

“Oh, hello?”

“This is my first time seeing this face. Who is it?”

The previous customer was Korean, but since this customer spoke English, he was from that country. Considering his accent is American, is he American? Since he is a typical white person, I think that is probably the case.

“It’s the worst, Eden is the father. I came here today to help my daughter run the store for a little while.”

“Ah!!! I heard the story. Are you the Korean president of that district?”

“I don’t know if my daughter has been spreading rumors around the neighborhood that I am president…”

“In fact, he talked about it as if he was bragging. Thanks to this, there is no one among the store’s customers who don’t know about it.”

No, my daughter really. How can I be proud that my dad became president.

… Huh? If you look at it objectively, is it right to be proud of being president? First, I am a representative of a country. Are my sensibilities strange?

“Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Matthew Murdock from Mars Team 5. Ah, I’m a Martian castaway now.”

“Mars?”

“I came here to explore Mars, but I ended up being left alone. I had to wait for years for rescue, but I can’t tell you how fortunate I am to have found this place. I was completely ‘alone on Mars.’ Even though it wasn’t even Kevin.”

No, it looks more like just the Martian than that. Why not Matt Damon?

Well, I can’t say anything about it because it may not be a work that exists over there. Still, looking at his external health, he seems to be doing well. If you look at it, they ordered takeout at least once. If there wasn’t anything to eat, they would have packed up enough food for the week.

“You’re having a hard time. Our Earth is now trying to build a moon base…”

“No, that’s actually better. Did you say space travel technology? If I had that, even if I was shipwrecked, I would have returned to Earth in a matter of seconds. There are still months left before the rescue team arrives, so I’m very jealous of that.”

“Still, I’m glad there’s a chance of being rescued.”

“Yes, actually, I was lonely because I was alone compared to the rescue team, and the food was not tasty, so it was mentally difficult, but I was able to get through it somehow because I came here every weekend and ate.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Oh, first, I’ll prepare a double cheeseburger set meal and a package for you. Now that I think about it, the bill is…”

“Ah, your daughter said that I should pay for it now, and after being rescued, go back to Earth and write my story in a book. It would sell well, so I told her to earn royalties from it later.”

“Well… It will sell well enough to become a bestseller.”

That was a science fiction novel, but this one will be an essay. But I don’t know what to say about our store.

There are many unique guests. I can’t believe that the number of customers I’ve never seen in Elysium in the Other Dimension Restaurant has increased so much… There are even some customers I know who haven’t come yet, so there must actually be more customers.

Honestly, if there’s a restaurant that’s only open on weekends, isn’t there some difference between people coming on Saturdays, some on Sundays, and some on both?

“There are still a lot of customers. But it’s good because it’s a familiar order. It doesn’t change.”

“It looks like you’re just an ordinary customer so far.”

“Well, that’s right. Ah… The tiger also says it will come when I tell it, so it looks like the first customer has arrived this time. Dad, please go and check it out.”

“Oh, honestly, I can’t stand newbies.”

“That’s right… Huh?”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“No, something feels strange. What is it? Is this customer a little strange?”

After leaving Eden’s reaction for a moment, I left the kitchen to greet the guest and faced the guest.

What can I say about this guy who came to Elysium for the first time… He doesn’t look unfamiliar. He is a blond boy who appears to be in middle school. However, he had bad eyesight and was wearing thick, horn-rimmed glasses.

When I think about the atmosphere and my intuition, I think they are strangers, but if I look at their appearance separately, it feels like a sick utopia. Honestly, I think there would be a demand for a sickly handsome boy wearing glasses regardless of gender.

“Where… Is this?”

It is a visit from a strange person. And my intuition was also ringing with a strange feeling.

… Who on earth is this person?