Chapter 106: Hamburgers in Another World

Instead, people pointed out that because there were so few Game Land branches in Brunyad, there could not have been many participating players.

Moreover, among those few players, there was someone who had advanced fairly far, even if not into the top rankings. That made the people of Brunyad feel even more regretful.

Whether it was because of this public opinion or because some among the leadership shared similar thoughts, no one knew.

In any case, while it was not exactly a warm welcome, all the issues where permits had not been granted easily and procedures took a long time disappeared all at once.

So the Arcade Game Land management team, which had more than enough enthusiasm, ability, and funding, seized the opportunity and pushed forward fiercely. As a result, they achieved the result of opening forty-four branches in just two months.

Ras was startled when the company’s internal reserves suddenly dropped sharply, but after confirming this result, he was even more surprised. At this point, it was enough to say they had conquered Brunyad.

For now, branches had opened in all the major cities. They were also moving down into small and medium-sized cities. Ras thought the next game tournament would definitely become an international tournament.

Arcade Game Land in western Kames City.

Orox, a university student, was a diehard arcade fan. Born in the countryside, he barely managed to enter university through sheer determination to succeed in the city, but studying did not suit him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very well, so his stress was intense.

His old friends and family knew this tendency of his, so they had advised him to stay in the countryside instead of studying.

But he wanted to live in the city. However, he also did not want to become a lower-class day laborer, so he gritted his teeth, studied, and entered university.

As befitted a Buffalo Beastman, Orox had a massive, rugged build and even horns. He hated the prejudice caused by his appearance. That was probably also a major reason he had not wanted to remain in the countryside.

In any case, because his academic stress was severe, he needed some way to relieve it, and what he chose was electronic gaming, which was currently popular in the city.

That was because his financial situation was not good enough to enjoy other forms of entertainment.

And games were also fun. Recently, he had been feeling even more strongly that he needed to keep living in the city just because of them.

The city really is the best.

From the moment the Arcade Game Land building began to appear in the distance, he felt his mood improving. Arcades truly were the best. They felt like spaces filled with joy, and even if he did not play games, merely being inside that noisy space made him feel as if he were sharing in other people’s happiness.

As he entered the arcade in that excited mood, he noticed that a shop he had not seen before had appeared beside it.

Is it a restaurant?

He was not without curiosity, but games came first, so he only glanced at it once before going straight into the arcade.

Then he walked around the spacious arcade and played various games. His favorite was Fighters’ Club, but that one made his money disappear too quickly. So he also enjoyed Tetris and Pac-Man.

Aside from Fighters’ Club, there were many other fun games.

And besides playing games, he also liked watching them.

He headed toward the direction where cheerful music and people’s exclamations were coming from. A cute Gnome young lady was happily stepping on the Pump foot panels.

Orox was not uninterested in rhythm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠games either. But he was not very good at them, and being the center of attention felt burdensome, so he rarely played them himself. Most of the time, whenever a decent gamer appeared, he joined the crowd of spectators like this.

“Huh?”

After enjoying himself for quite some time, Orox flinched in surprise when hunger suddenly surged through him. He was not living in starvation, but he had always been the type with poor fuel efficiency. On top of that, he had eaten a poor breakfast, so this was what happened.

He still intended to keep playing games, but he was too hungry to concentrate.

So he stepped outside, thinking he should at least buy a simple piece of bread. And then the shop he had seen when entering the arcade earlier came back into Orox’s view.

<Quick & Fun Burger>

It was a shop that looked quite plausible. Because of that, Orox ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had intended to just pass it by. After all, proper shops tended to be expensive, and his wallet could not handle that.

But the advertising phrases pasted on the glass window stopped his feet.

<Delicious hamburgers for only 2 Del!>

<One hamburger set, and your meal worries are over!>

Judging by the picture in the advertisement, it seemed to be something like a sandwich with something placed between bread. He did not know what it was, but Orox, already interested, decided to try it once. The price was also just right.

When he opened the shop door and stepped inside, he saw a clean store, employees wearing uniforms, and many customers.

At this point, Orox nearly turned around and left again. With this many people, there was a high chance he would have to wait a long time. Since he wanted to go back and play games immediately, that was something he wanted to avoid.

“Customer number 634! Your food is ready!”

But even while he hesitated briefly, he saw the staff continuing to bring out food. It seemed to come out quite quickly. And on one side of the store, people were eating those hamburgers deliciously.

Just like sandwiches, they held them in their hands while eating, and it looked very convenient. Orox swallowed without realizing it. Already hungry, he was completely tempted by the delicious smell and the sight of people eating with enjoyment.

He completely erased the thought of leaving and looked around to see how to order. Then he spotted the employee continuously taking orders and stood at the end of the line in front of her.

“What would you like to order?”

The employee was a young Beastman woman. Even while hungry, Orox got the impression that the employees were quite kind and smiled well.

“Yes. Please give me one Quick & Fun Burger set.”

Orox had already carefully watched how the people in front of him ordered, so he was able to order without much hesitation. He soon finished paying and went to a space on one side of the store with a paper bearing his order number.

While waiting, he briefly regretted not just going to a bakery. But that time was not very long. The people ahead of him decreased quickly, and before he felt he had waited long at all, his number was called.

“Customer number 642!”

“Yes!”

When he stepped forward, he received a small tray like the other customers, with a sandwich called a hamburger, fries giving off a savory oil smell, and a cup of Xile.

Considering the price, it was a fairly substantial menu. Orox looked for a seat while picking up a fry and eating it. It was salty and savory, which was nice.

As he searched for a seat, he thought there really were a lot of people. The shop was quite large, and it was filled with tables and chairs, but all of them were occupied.

Fortunately, however, the food itself did not seem to take long to eat. A seat soon opened up, and Orox quickly went over and sat down.

Hungry as he was, he immediately peeled away the paper wrapped around the hamburger and took a bite.

Oh?

It was delicious. Most importantly, there was a large piece of meat inside. It did not seem to be ordinary meat, but ground meat shaped into a patty, and it seemed this was better suited to being placed between bread and chewed together.

The various sauces and vegetables blended together, making the fairly greasy meat go down refreshingly enough. Normally, when trying to make a meal out of 2 Del, one usually had to give up enjoyment and simply fill calories, but this was truly good.

Since it was mostly meat and bread, there was a slight feeling of his throat clogging, but drinking Xile resolved it instantly. No, the repetition of eating the hamburger and then taking a sip of Xile even gave him a certain kind of pleasure.

He finished it in an instant. It felt slightly insufficient, but it was still enough to feel like he had eaten something. Moreover, he still had fries left.

After finishing all of it, Orox left the still-crowded shop and thought he would probably use this place often even when he was not coming to the arcade. There had never been a restaurant before that gave this much satisfaction at this price.

Feeling good, he went back into the arcade.

“Wow… there are so many people.”

Ella looked at the crowd gathered around Quick & Fun Burger across the street from inside the car and exclaimed in admiration.

“Yeah. That’s a relief.”

After the opening of Branch No. 1, Ras had been unable to resist coming to see how it was going. This was a success without even needing to check the sales. It was true that he had brought an invincible item from Earth and used it.

But since he was not an expert in this field, he had been fairly nervous. Fortunately, it seemed he had not made any major mistakes.

In any case, Ella’s gaze looked quite satisfied. Right now, she was looking at him as if he were an incredible person who could succeed at anything he touched, not only games.

“Ahem. Anyway, now we’ll need to start opening branches in earnest, so we need to hire more people. Please handle that.”

“Mm. Got it.”

Because of Ella’s gaze, Ras felt like he was floating too much, so he deliberately cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Since he had confirmed its success, it was now time to expand actively according to Plan A.

For reference, Plan B had been to open only a few more near arcades and observe the reaction in case the response was merely lukewarm. And the worst-case Plan C had been to open only Branch No. 1 and use the remaining rented shops for things like gift stores.

In any case, since the atmosphere was good and not very different from Earth, it seemed they could push harder.

So on the way back to the office, Ras thought about it and decided to separate the business entirely.

After all, even if they placed only one beside each Arcade Game Land branch, it would be a major business that required opening more than a hundred stores. It was too large to run as an accessory business. Moreover, it was in a completely different direction from the existing businesses.

This was a food service business.

So Ras established Quick & Fun Burger as a separate company.

The management team had already been created, so all he had to do was separate it.

“I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes! I’ll work hard!”

The president of Quick & Fun Burger was a still-young male Bear Beastman named Naka. Originally, he had joined with the intention of operating a simple food service under Arcade Game Land. That had been Ras’s initial plan as well.

But as it became an independent company, he suddenly became president. Ras had considered finding a manager with experience. But when he thought about it, there did not seem to be any particular need.

After all, a hamburger franchise was a business being attempted for the first time in this world. Even if someone had experience, no one would have specific knowledge in this field. Moreover, since they had already confirmed that the method Ras prepared was successful, continuing according to the manual should not be too difficult.

So rather than using someone experienced in an unfamiliar industry who might be hard to handle, he decided to raise a young person instead. Thanks to that, this man achieved sudden promotion.

Of course, if he failed to do well, he would be replaced immediately. This was not because Ras was cold-hearted. Originally, when someone received such an opportunity, it was only natural that they had to show ability worthy of it.

Moreover, the cutoff line could not be called high. Ras was providing an invincible item along with manuals and funding, so failing to do well would mean he truly lacked even the bare minimum ability and motivation. There was no way such a person could remain president.

In any case, not long afterward, Quick & Fun Burger formally became an independent company and began aggressive expansion under Naka’s command.