The Gallery Digs Up the Past – Is "Liberation" the Returned Ramji?
Once they became padaks, the past posts got exhumed in the Cooking Gallery, where the Fantasy Solas Continent and an Earth riddled with Towers were connected. As lifeforms from the two dimensions gradually intermixed, some exchanges began to occur. But since they never actually met in person, there were no real flare-ups or brawls. Then something happened that piqued the interest of both crowds: padaks had been elected to assist the gallery's mysterious admin, Judak.
They were enigmatic figures—no one even knew how many there were. One claimed to be the patriarch of some Tang Clan on China's mainland; another introduced himself as half machine, half human. None of them understood why they'd been invited to the Chef Gallery or turned into padaks. But the most active among them was the padak called Liberation.
Saw the sign with a knight slicing knife-cut noodles and it cracked me up, so I went in. (Sign and menu board pics)
Even though I went a bit after lunch rush, all six big tables were full. But there was a spot with just one guy at a table, so the girl handling customers asked if I could join. She was so pretty I turned to stone.
Pretty young elf, turns out she's the boss's wife. (Insanely cute, boss must be ex-knight captain? Or thief guild leader??) (Sneaky back pic)
Pic coming down in 2 mins. Menu's got 5 set meals targeted at adults/kids/elderly + goblin/elf sets. No a la carte— that's all there is. (They give extra sides if you ask.)
Big eater here, so I got adult + kid sets. Adult set lets you pick one knife-cut noodle dish, or add cash for both (couples bait?). Kid set has phoenix fry, bibim noodles, onigiri stuff kids like instead of noodles.
I'm a pig, ate it all no prob, but picky eaters might struggle. Verdict: Food's pretty and so's the boss's wife! 5/5!!
Ever since restaurants following Liberation's advice started booming, interest in him spiked—and now that he's a padak, the gallery was on fire.
But he was posting here before it opened to Earthlings. So he's from Fantasy side? Hmm, weird.
WhatsWrongWithMyNose << This asshole dared diss the padak with "Who the hell are you???" Lmao rofl
Reincarnated from Earth to this world??
Liberation << Only known padak, started posting pre-Earth access.
Consulted for Talis (ex-knight captain) restaurant near warp gate?? Like Health Restaurant.
Earth food biz tips + isekai knowledge = matches Ramji, the chef everyone worships here.
Prob some Earth chef/restaurateur reincarnated, now back. Conclusion: Ramji's on Earth now! (99% Chef class prob)
"Ahhh!!!"
Lee Haru's face froze solid as she scrolled the gallery in the kitchen. It was Earth chefs only, but info like this spread fast to Hunter Gallery too.
If this keeps up, I'll be suspected as the returnee Ramji.... How do I fix this??
She glanced at AI Yui's hologram, but it was totally bricked.
[ZZZ.....]
[Stamina: 0/1000]
Fuck!!! Shoulda leveled AI to 2 sooner....
She regretted not grinding Interest Points harder, but the Chef Gallery padak grave-robbing raged on.
(Padak comment on pic: "Kinda hot tbh lol")
(Wanted poster: Ex-Demon Army Exec Snake Beastkin Korna)
Padak digs this type, noted....
Korna glomming onto the hero side just to eat Ramji's cooking was top-secret, so no one knew.
Pop!! After a few dozen minutes, AI Yui, who'd crashed beside Haru, rebooted.
Haru's red pill's about to get exposed!!! But I got a good idea!
Yui's proposal scrolled up before Haru. Key point: don't post a serious clarification.
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(Title: Ramji Getting Plucked and Shivering)
(Title: Ramji Tied Up, Dropping Fleas in Fur One by One – Dies of Joy)
(Title: Snack Method When Hungry)
(Ramji cheek-slap drops acorns content)
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A few days back, consulting Talis's shop led to beef between Haru and Ramji fanboys. Sick of blind Ramji worship, she'd posted aggro bait without thinking—now repurposing to hide her red pill.
She stopped posting/commenting, just lurking, and headed to the rooftop.
Slipping into the rooftop shed, emerald-green Crimson Parrot Elmu flapped excitedly to greet her.
"Momma hungwy peepy!!!!!!!!!!!"
Elmu was the off-spec monster that'd been in Haru's pocket since her isekai chef days, hatched on Earth, chugged concentrated Haru-juice, and hit adulthood instantly. Level 1, but God's Droplets-boosted stats were sky-high. Still fresh outta egg, mental age low, no taste discernment—so Haru was training her.
Today's feed: cafe lemonade spiked with Haru's "sour-boost" bodily fluid guess. Half the still-warm liquid from the bathroom poured into the lemonade via paper cup.
Lukewarm'd suck. Add piss and too intense??
[Packed w/ice to bulk volume, no issue.]
Haru-juice lemonade poured into Elmu's square iron "bowl."
"Eat up."
Elmu plopped center, beak wide, slurping.
"Kweeeek!!!"
Eyes rolled back, flopped into the puddle.
"Sow aweshome!!!!!!"
Shivering like she'd seen god.
"This or Fire Chicken or Stir-Fry—which best?"
"This best!!!!!!!"
"This is sour taste, got it?"
"God's taste god's taste god's taste!!!!!!"
"No, it's sour~ taste."
Elmu windmilled on the floor in bliss.
[Feathers'll get sticky??]
Elmu finished the lemonade, went berserk in the shed.
"Mowe mowe mowe peepy!!!!!"
Rampage level matched her giant firebird polymorph days ago.
"Too much hurts tummy! No morph here!!"
Dozens of minutes tussling later, she calmed—but side effects hit.
"Tummy gwumpy momma~~ Body heavy~~"
Digestive aid time. And bath??
Sugar-coated green feathers photogenic; snapped a pic. Back to restaurant, gallery refresh.
Liberation=Ramji theory squashed; new lore: Ramji dropped into Earth tower, enslaved by Liberation—filled the hype.
Phew, crisis averted. But....
If Liberation=Ramji became canon and gov hunted returnee chefs, Haru'd be target #1.
Need Interest Points fast....
Top idea: Health Restaurant show. Plan was fake-align with Shin Do-young/Seong Chan-ho, bail mid.
Not impactful enough.... Pull more aggro??
Kitchen too hot, stepped out solo. Brother (now oppa) Lee Ha-seong on a call.
"Seong Chan-ho's inspecting other shops???"
As everyone tensed in panic, Haru eyed Yui's aggro ideas.