Carnival Chef (3)

I was panting heavily when I saw the numbers changing right before my eyes. It felt just like waiting for a massive update in a mobile game on shitty Wi-Fi. In other words, painfully slow.

'This is really fucked...'

I quickly scanned my surroundings. At some point, everything had gone quiet. The customers who'd been clamoring for food were now staring at me without a single shout. Their eyes... were utterly emotionless. Emotionless meant they had zero interest, right? And yet, they were watching me intently. A gaze like that is pure pressure. How the hell did my every little move look to them? What did they think of me, the one who'd just punched their favorite chef?

"Ugh..."

Now wasn't the time to cave to that pressure. Whether they saw it or not didn't matter. What they thought of me didn't matter. All that counted was how I got out of this crisis alive.

If I glanced up, the monster was peering down at me. Not sure if "peering" was the right word. That lump of clay-like mush for a face didn't have anything resembling eyes. Still, it tilted its head, aiming its "face" right at me. Then, the slightly sunken slit that passed for a mouth twitched.

"Customer. Calm. Down."

It spoke. The monster ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spoke. It wasn't quite a human voice yet—just hearing it made my skin crawl. But this thing, which had no vocal cords before, was making sounds. Up until now, it'd relied on a recorder since it couldn't talk directly. The pronunciation was still slurred, but the monster tilted its head a few times, like it was just as baffled by its own change.

"Please. Taste. And. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Review."

The percentage was still crawling along, but that measly 3% seemed to have given the monster a voice box. ...And it didn't seem to care that I'd just clocked it.

'Maybe 'cause I'm a cutie...?'

I always thought I was pretty when I looked in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mirror, but that effective on a monster...? As the ultimate cute girl in the universe, I couldn't deny the possibility, but then I remembered: the Carnival Chef was "slightly friendly" toward humans. Say a stray cat suddenly rubs against your leg on the street. Some asshole might kick it away, but the Chef? It'd just ignore the thing and keep walking. To that monster, humans were that insignificant. A few punches from me probably just came off as endlessly adorable—no big deal. Unless I straight-up murdered someone, it'd never hold a grudge against me.

Anyway, the monster didn't seem interested in swinging back at me. And it was slowly... unchanging into something not monstrous. The problem was how goddamn slow it was...

'Put another way, if I can just stall until the remaining 96% fills up...'

But how the hell was I supposed to stall? I took a small step back.

"N-no thanks on the reward money... Just send me back. I didn't even finish filling out the application...!"

"Mayuri."

It called my name.

"20s female Mayuri. Seoul resident Mayuri. Mayuri who recently ate fried rice. Mayuri who likes gukbap?"

"Wh-what...?"

"Just. One. Bite. Please. Taste it."

As it said that, the chef placed a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't even pressing hard, but the weight crushed down like a vice. Way beyond what my tiny frame could handle. ...Partly because the monster was huge, and partly because I was ridiculously small.

Would a few more punches speed up the percentage...? ...Nah, I'd already landed plenty and it was only at 4%. Meaning the progress had nothing to do with how many hits I landed.

"I-I'm not hungry anymore...! I'm not feeling well today, so next time...!"

"Come on, think of the head chef's sincerity and at least try it."

Before I knew it, customers had crowded around me.

"Looks sketchy, but the food's actually delicious, kid."

"You can't buy this stuff anywhere else. Take the chance while you can."

"I was scared at first too, but once you have a bite, you keep coming back."

"Just close your eyes and try it once, kid."

"...I'm not a kid."

I pushed back a little, but the other customers showed no sign of backing off. Those alien eyes fixed on me—hollow. Like ghosts who'd lost all will to live. With nothing left in life to enjoy, all they had was the chef's food. They weren't letting me escape.

'There has to be... something... some way...?'

The only power I had was the Cute Girl Mod, but I'd already fed the monster a "cute girl punch." So... hit the other customers and neutralize them? ...Nah, without dealing with the source—the monster—it'd be pointless. What other cards did I have...?

'...The codex?'

I suddenly remembered the codex feature built into the Cute Girl Mod. I tapped File 001 to pop up the window. Luckily, it seemed invisible to everyone else.

Not sure if it'd work, but... it was my only option left.

Weeeeen——

People's attitudes toward bugs vary. Some hate 'em so much they spray insecticide on sight. Others rip off dragonfly wings for fun—real sadists. Plenty couldn't care less. Some might wanna eat 'em. Others might wanna use 'em. And yeah, some might even find 'em cute.

Humans confess love to other humans with an "I love you." But how does a human show love to a bug?

Feed it.

What else is there?

"I'll eat."

The girl said that. The girl sat primly in her chair. The girl picked up her spoon. She was about to eat.

"See? You can't resist this place's food."

"Had us worried for nothing."

The customers relaxed. The monster looked at the girl. Her name was definitely "Mayuri." It remembered everything from the application perfectly. Age and gender: 20s female. Humans, who barely lived a century, seemed to count as adults from their 20s. At first glance, she'd seemed so tiny it thought she was a larval human. But up close like this, she was pretty tall. Even sitting, you could tell—she was on the taller side for a female specimen.

...Wasn't she small before?

Weeeeen——

Another buzz from somewhere.

"Tastes bad."

Nom.Chomp chomp.

The girl spoke while eating.

"...Pardon?"

"This tastes bad."

She kept saying it tasted bad, yet shoveled it in. No manners whatsoever. Just scooping haphazardly with the spoon and cramming her mouth full. Cheeks bulging, she munched away—crunch crunch—until red liquid dribbled from the corner of her lips. It looked feral, like watching a beast. She licked it up greedily, not wasting a drop, then went right back to spooning. Hard to tell if she really thought it was bad.

"It... tastes bad?"

"Yeah. Mayuri's is better."

"I'll make it again."

The monster hurried back to the kitchen. But—

"Tastes bad."

"...Might taste bad?"

"Mayuri's is better."

"Worse than before."

Human flesh pizza, dumplings, burgers, soup, gukbap, jjambbong, cookies... The monster brought out dish after dish, and the girl ate every bite. But "delicious" never passed her lips. She ate because it was there. That was all it meant to her, and the monster realized it.

Why?

"Why?"

Why? Why? Why? WHY??

A chef whose food tastes bad—what value did such a chef have? The monster couldn't comprehend.

It knew all about Mayuri. Her name. Age. Gender. Residence. Most recent meal: fried rice. Favorite: gukbap. What she ordered most. It knew, understood, studied, researched this human called Mayuri—and poured it all into the dish. In other words, sincerity.

Doesn't mom's home cooking taste good because of that sincerity? That homemade flavor you can't get at restaurants? That maternal warmth?

It poured in effort, will, sincerity, love. Why? WHY? WHY???

"I'll give more reward money. Give me another chance."

Its pride as a chef stung, the monster headed back to the kitchen. What was missing? Better ingredients? More seasoning? Hone the technique? Study the target more? Not enough love?

Love? Love? LOVE? LOVE????

Weeeeen——

Irritated by the grating buzz, the monster smashed down.

-Boom!

The squashed fly corpse splattered against the wall. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Glaring at it, the monster thought: Flies in the shop? Hygiene issue. Was bad hygiene why it tasted bad? Did hygiene make that much difference? It always paid attention to hygiene—was it not enough? But why were flies buzzing around inside?

"Ah...?"

The monster looked at the girl. At Mayuri.

It wasn't Mayuri.

Tall human girl. Age indeterminate, unique eyes.

Ah? Aah? What the—? Not a customer?

Then where's Mayuri? The one who'd eat my food. Eat my effort, my sincerity, my love. The one who'd say it's delicious. Where? WHERE? WHERE? WHERE??

The monster left the kitchen. The shop wasn't big. Finding the hiding Mayuri wasn't hard.

"Found you, found you, found you, found you, FOUND YOU."

Eek... Mayuri swallowed hard.

Mayuri, Mayuri, Mayuri, Mayuri. Mayuri?

"Would you try the food I made?"

No thanks... Mayuri trembled.