Gourmet Bliss and the Hand from Heaven
After the fun virtual reality game training ended, I was basking in freedom.
I was still sticking to my righteous routine of waking up bright and early in the morning and going to bed early at night to avoid fully turning into an angel.
But with study time on hold and pure playtime granted, I was busy having fun all day long.
-Meooow...
I was gently stroking Dangdangi's soft fur while enjoying the comfy massage chair.
Whiiiirrr.
"Food time...!"
The ceiling slid open, revealing the familiar robot arm.
After sticking to veggie-packed meals to fix my picky eating during training, the cafeteria food that came after was surprisingly high quality.
The breakfast menu even had tons of my favorites, so I was super excited for lunch today too.
Whirr...
Moments later, the robot arm slowly lowered the tray right in front of me with a thunk.
I eagerly checked the menu and my eyes sparkled at the generous spread.
Today's cafeteria food quality far exceeded my wildest imagination.
"Is... is this for real...?"
Today's lunch was lobster roast with meat packed on, steak, bushman bread, butter, strawberry chongkalong, and strawberry yogurt smoothie.
A feast of delicious foods that the ever-strict Anomaly Management Agency would never normally serve, given their thorough meal management.
Feeling drool pooling at the corners of my mouth, I hesitated and called out to RatPT.
"Rat... RatPT... Could this be an anomaly or something?"
The Agency was watching the isolation room via CCTV, so if there was anything wrong with the menu, they'd have called me right away.
But with no word from them, it seemed like this really was Agency-approved food... still...
All the meals from the Agency so far had clearly been designed with nutrition in mind.
So this sudden calorie bomb of a special meal felt suspicious.
Didn't Persephone Noona even sneak a pomegranate seed into my food once?
[Hmm... If my guess is right, the food's safe to enjoy.]
"Really...?"
[...]
RatPT eyed the food and gave the okay, though it felt a bit unnatural.
"Hmm..."
Come to think of it, I remembered hearing in some shorts that the US military serves steak and lobster before heading into dangerous spots.
It felt a little iffy, but...
Whatever, right?
I decided to just enjoy the moment.
Worried I might hurt myself, they'd included a plastic knife instead of a real one, so I sliced the steak shwick shwick.
The steak cut so smoothly.
I prefer rare, but considering potential risks, the Agency had fully cooked it.
A bit disappointing, but I got their side and popped a piece into my mouth.
"Whoa...!"
I was blown away.
This steak—fully cooked yet not tough at all, so tender!
And perfectly seasoned too; no need for steak sauce, the flavor was amazing on its own.
Next up, the meaty lobster roast.
I thought it was just plain lobster, but the aroma suggested lobster butter roast.
-Meooow...
Dangdangi, sniffing the scent like crazy, wagged its tail happily as it sidled up.
Looks like Dangdangi knows lobster's tasty too.
"Hmm... Dangdangi, is this okay for you to eat...?"
[I don't recommend butter for dogs usually... but for a super dog like this one, no problem at all.]
Classic RatPT!
Now even picking up on social cues, it neatly answered my exact question.
Our Dangdangi's so healthy it can handle most foods fine anyway, but this cleared up my lingering doubts completely.
-Meooow...!
Dangdangi seemed to sense things were going its way and looked thrilled.
Fuu... Fine, big sis is feeling generous!
I cut a tiny piece of lobster.
"Here!"
And fed it to Dangdangi.
Lick lick...
"Haha... That tickles..."
Dangdangi greedily licked up the lobster from my palm.
It devoured it in seconds and barked energetically.
Looks like Dangdangi loved the lobster butter roast too.
Phew, good.
I polished off the bushman bread—which tasted just like at Outback—along with the steak.
Then I grabbed the strawberry chongkalong.
Munch munch.
Each sweet meringue melted down my throat with intense sweetness.
My brain soaked up the sugar, all fuzzy and happy.
This is bliss...!
Hehe.
I finished the meal clean, grinning ear to ear as I left the isolation room.
"La la la~"
The tasty food and sugar rush had me in high spirits!
People really do live on sweets, after all!
Munching on the handful of green grape candies Han A-young gave me, I headed to 1st Place Noona and 2nd Place Oppa's isolation room.
We'd agreed to eat lunch and hang out today.
"Hum hum~"
With Agent Ajusshi, I walked the now-familiar path to the isolation room.
-Whirr...
The door slid open smoothly, and I beamed at Noona and Oppa, who were already seated.
"I'm heeeere!"
"Oh? Hey, Angel."
2nd Place Oppa waved first.
"Hiya."
"Yeah, hi. You're cute as ever today, Angel."
Blushing at 1st Place Noona's praise, I scurried to my seat.
With the three of us lined up, the last spot was taken by the female researcher in her crisp white lab coat.
Han A-young sent her as a "nice noona" to proxy for RatPT in the game.
But sandwiched between 1st Place Noona and 2nd Place Oppa, she looked terrified.
Her hands were shaking.
I tiptoed over to her.
And grabbed her hand tight.
"Noona, it's okay. 1st Place Noona and 2nd Place Oppa don't bite."
Her eyes darted side to side.
She was really tense.
Should I ask Han A-young to send someone else? As I pondered...
I spotted a keychain dangling from her bag.
It was a tiny angel figure that looked just like me.
"Is that... me?"
A bit self-conscious, but it was so similar, so I asked—and the researcher noona nodded.
"Y... yes."
"Whoa..."
Me as a keychain. Wild.
Feels weirdly good, like I'm a celeb, but also embarrassing.
Strange vibe.
"Th... thanks for liking me."
Weird feeling aside, making and carrying a keychain means she likes me, right?
Cheeks burning, I mumbled thanks and scurried back to my seat.
"..."
Researcher noona's mouth hung open, but luckily, she seemed less tense.
I handed her the smartphone with RatPT and awkwardly shifted the mood.
"L... let's start!"
"Pfft, sure."
I hit the button, and the mahjong table whirrrrled to life.
Tiles stacked up soon enough.
But I got a trash hand among trash hands.
"Ugh..."
Bad luck from the start.
Mood dipped a bit.
Others seemed to have good hands—their faces weren't bad.
Just my luck again...
"Pong!" "Chii!"
The game flew by, with 1st Place Noona, 2nd Place Oppa, and downgraded RatPT dominating.
My head was spinning; I couldn't keep up, but these smarties had machine brains or something.
Ah, they really are machines.
Wait, RatPT's brain is literally a machine.
Is this the end of humanity?
"Ron!"
"Agh..."
The game raced on.
Current scores:
1st Place Noona and 2nd Place Oppa only learned the rules after I told them, yet the longest-time player—me—is dead last.
To reclaim my honor, this is my last shot.
[Don't be too down—it's natural for a superintelligent AGI like me to win!]
The RatPT in the researcher noona's smartphone looked all smug.
"Cheater."
[I downgraded to human level!]
"Bad Rat Panda."
The on-screen RatPT smirked cheekily.
[Lucky people always get envied. The kind AI gets it, Angel.]
Ugh... I wanna knock that smug Rat Panda down a peg.
What to do...
-Clatter clatter.
The auto mahjong table shuffled the tiles busily.
This was basically my last chance to turn it around. To flatten that Rat Panda's nose, I started praying desperately.
God, Allah, Buddha... nah, not that one.
Prayers to the divine sent, I opened my eyes—and!
"Whoa...!"
Glittering tiles shone from under the table.
Golden energy shimmered in my hand.
Instinct screamed now's the time, so I mashed the button.
Golden-glowing tiles were dealt to me.
I froze upon checking my hand.
[White, White, White] [Red, Red, Red] [Green, Green, Green] [East, East, East] [West, West]
"Ah... uh..."
Mahjong has something called Tenhou.
You can declare win immediately with your starting hand—kinda like drawing Exodia on turn one.
Worth "heaven-made harmony," its odds are insanely low.
Reportedly just 0.0003%.
Put simply, about 1/4 the chance of a straight flush in poker.
Hands trembling, but ecstasy surging, I glared at RatPT.
[...?]
RatPT sensed something off and flashed urgent question marks.
I boldly revealed my hand and declared.
"Tenhou, Big Three Dragons, All Honors, Straight Scar, 48,000 all in!"
[This is cheating! Rigged!]
I beamed triumphantly at the freaking-out RatPT.
"Lucky angels always get envied, right? Get it, RatPT?"
[.........]
[......................]
[Error code: 404]
Ah, it's broken.
