Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Restaurant Rampage
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My getting tangled up in a tale honestly wasn't that big of a deal in itself.
The resolution method was the same as last time anyway, and you could even call this situation more profitable.
Either way, it was a special event, so the rewards were bound to be generous.
The real issues were that my mouthwatering sashimi had vanished, and civilians had gotten dragged into it too.
If I had to rank them by importance, the latter would barely edge out.
Could I escape with these people without revealing my identity?
The simplest method would be to just let them die.
But I couldn't do that.
I'm a 'human'.
Just an unfortunate soul whose outward appearance had turned into that of a tale.
There was also the fear that abandoning my humanity here would turn me into a true tale in every sense.
"Customer?"
All the waiters around were staring at me openly.
It looked like they'd been waiting for a chance to pounce on me.
The family tourists couldn't even lift their heads properly, trembling in fear.
They didn't seem intent on harming them right now, but it was obvious these people were next after me.
From the restaurant's perspective, it was a legitimate transaction to carve up their bodies, but they wouldn't get the shop's premium hemostasis service—it was massive blood loss as standard.
A way to hide my identity and get these people out too...
No.
Did I really need to hide?
I'd originally planned not to reveal myself to avoid drawing the Bureau's attention, but didn't that matter less now?
They already knew I could step outside the shop anyway.
This might even advertise the shop's existence.
Not that rumors would spread easily.
"Customer. Shall I help you order? How about our new menu item, Human Nightmare?"
Another waiter approached.
"The price will be a piping hot serving of brain broth."
"Hmm. Get lost."
"Pardon? What did you just say?"
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 BOOM—
My power had grown exponentially stronger since my first visit here—it was something a mere waiter couldn't block.
The waiter's body crumbled like Styrofoam, dyeing the people in even greater terror, but I had neither the time nor need to worry about that.
"Wh-what is this?!"
Blood gushed from the waiter's neck.
They were surely preparing to counterattack, but I wasn't about to wait for it.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Tentacles Surpassing the sound barrier
ZZZRRRRT—
Cooks burst out from the kitchen.
Unlike the waiters, these ones would revive, but that meant nothing to me now.
💥 SMASH! 💥 The cook was pulverized like chewed gum by my terrifying strength.
Still not enough.
💥 SMASH! 💥 I struck down hard enough to prevent their revival.
💥 SMASH! 💥 Their form was unrecognizable now, but just in case, one more time.
"Stop—!"
The moment my tentacle was about to deliver the final blow, a familiar plump thud echoed from afar as the owner came running.
"Owner!"
"What did my restaurant ever do to you to deserve this constant interference?!"
"Huh? Didn't you summon me? If you'd just quietly minded your business, I never would've come here."
It was perplexing.
He was the one who'd forcibly dragged me in, yet he was mad at me.
"...I'll let you go. So leave."
"Hmm. Can I take these people with me too?"
"Tale! Merchant who can't even be human! Why take other humans too?! Wasn't ruining our restaurant last time enough?!"
"Last time it got ruined because you broke the contract. Taking people... well, you have to save people, right?"
The owner shook his obese body and slammed the ground.
"You are a tale! A tale!"
"Guess so?"
"Humans aren't such kind beings! They're not the type to sacrifice for others! You're just a tale mimicking an idealistic human!"
"Huh? I'm just righteous, that's all."
"Just disappear!"
The owner raised a strangely shaped cleaver in one hand and lumbered toward me with his massive frame.
I brushed aside his worthless words and thrust a tentacle into his plump belly.
It was resolved so ridiculously easily that I was momentarily stunned.
But the owner's already bloated body began swelling further, ripping his clothes apart.
For a normal tale, this would signal the start of phase two, but this one was different.
💥 BURST! 💥 His fully inflated body exploded like a balloon.
At the same time, countless chunks of flesh unlike any human's spread through the restaurant, reeking of rot.
And from within them emerged a tiny lifeform.
A small human less than 50 centimeters tall hid among the flesh and fled.
This was the owner's ability to shed his original body like a husk and escape when facing death.
The power that had allowed him to rebuild the restaurant—but it was worthless now that I'd spotted him.
The owner's body was bisected by my tentacle.
His eyes brimmed with boiling hatred.
But the moment those eyes met mine, the hatred vanished, replaced by some profound turmoil.
"Ah... so that's how it is. Your story was created..."
"What? What does that mean?"
There was no longer a mouth left to answer my question.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The reporting period for tale-related items is two days from acquisition.
Even if you can't visit in person, you must at least contact the Bureau or a police station.
In other words, with the owner causing havoc two days ago, Heo Min-jae had become a criminal.
Though illegal black-market dealings were rampant lately, especially around Seoul, illegal possession of tale items was a serious crime punished harshly.
Even if the culprit was the heir to a major corporation.
An opulently luxurious house.
No need for polite knocking to enter.
At the point where they didn't know what he'd bought, what was needed was silence to heighten their tension.
CRACK—
The door was forced open. The response team in intimidating gear led the way, followed by the investigation team.
And entering last was the Headquarters Chief.
He wouldn't normally come along for something like this, but his craving for stress relief from recent events had drawn him here.
A faint whistle echoed off the walls into the Chief's ear.
Bodyguards tried to block midway, but they stepped aside silently upon realizing the intruders' identities.
Following the sound led to the living room, where the whistler lounged casually on the sofa.
His fingers, now perfectly healed without a scar—treated since then.
No one could guess how much money he'd poured into flawless regeneration in such a short time.
"What the—Bureau? Finally caught that tale bastard? Wait, how'd you even get in?"
His attitude was as rude as ever.
Of course, Heo Min-jae was seeing the Chief for the first time in his life, but such trivia didn't faze him.
By Heo Min-jae's experience, adults not shown respect should look crumpled, yet the Chief's face bloomed with a steady smile.
Sensing something off, Heo Min-jae frowned instead.
"Wh-what is it."
The Chief's lips stretched into a wide grin.
It felt like a movie exaggerating release from some stress.
'Kids, take him down.'
The Chief used a formal, official tone, but at least in Heo Min-jae's mind, it registered that way.
"H-hey?! Get out! What the hell, bodyguards, do something!"
Heo Min-jae screamed, but his parents—the only ones who could protect him now—weren't home.
"You fucking bastards! Let go? Think my dad'll let this slide?!"
Such threats wouldn't work.
"Tell me where Yu-na is!"
"Illegal possession of a tale item."
"What? I never—"
BEEP BEEP BEEP— "Found it. Looks like... some kind of candy."
What the investigation team held was
"Uh... no, that's not mine!"
"We'll sort that out later. Take him away now!"
The response team pinned down Heo Min-jae as he resisted with all his strength.
"Aaaah! It hurts, it fucking hurts!"
Heo Min-jae suddenly thrashed his head.
"Fuck it, just knock him out!"
His loudest shout yet reverberated through the house.
Loud enough to pierce the windows and reach outside.
"What?"
DING-DONG— His pocket phone buzzed.
A call from the Bureau.
With multiple victims from the shop, why hadn't rumors spread yet?
Because spreading tale-related info was illegal.
Tales being based on stories, letting their details spread far and wide did no good.
It was treated almost like attempted murder, with severe punishment.
"Heh..."
So the Chief hadn't dared imagine it.
That this brat would go this far.
📰 Breaking News [Momentary Dream, the Recent Hot Topic... Suspicion It's from a Tale. Why Did the Bureau Hide It?] A maliciously titled article sprang to mind.