Chapter 12
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 12
3. Earth's Culture is Number One in the Dimensions (3)
"Fufu, then shall we start the party in earnest?"
Saying so, Elena opened the second gift received from Seo-jin.
Strange cylindrical boxes painted colorfully.
However, objects that anyone Korean couldn't help but feel incredibly familiar with.
"Cup noodles!"
The number Seo-jin sent was not just one, but a whopping 10.
It could be called a bonus that it wasn't just one type, but all 10 were different flavors.
Eventually, just like when she encountered Zero Cola a moment ago, Elena ended up smiling brightly.
Because this was the first time she saw actual cup noodles.
Although she had experience of what cup noodles taste like in the previous broadcast.
That was strictly an indirect experience through ‘Sense of Taste Sharing’.
In other words, it was merely fake entertainment, not real.
So now that she encountered the real thing this time, how could she not feel deeply moved?
"Umm... let's see.... Then what on earth should I taste first?"
Elena examined the cup noodles here and there with a very happy expression.
Actually, she had received various advice about cup noodles from Seo-jin, so she couldn't help but make a quite serious expression.
- ...Why is that?
According to Seo-jin, the black cup noodles are called so-called ‘Nuclear Fire Taste’, and people not accustomed to this taste suffer hell-like pain.
He said the pain is so severe that some people turn on a broadcast and broadcast live the sight of themselves suffering.
And seeing that people accustomed to this Nuclear Fire Taste take that sight as entertainment and even ridicule it, what a terribly horrific thing this is.
‘There are many crazy streamers in Trans-Dimensional Streaming too but... the place called Earth seems to be one step further than this.’
Feeling both fear and awe towards Earth for some reason, she quietly pushed the Nuclear Fire Taste ramen to one corner.
"What Seo-jin-nim recommended to someone trying cup noodles for the first time is this thing called ‘Cham Ramen’...."
If there is a problem, it's that Cham Ramen is an item divided into not one but two flavors.
None other than ‘Mild Flavor’ and ‘Spicy Flavor’.
If it were the original Elena, she would have chosen ‘Mild Flavor’ without needing to worry here.
Because she was a body that had lived eating only the Dew of the World Tree since birth until now.
When she indirectly experienced the taste of cup noodles through ‘Sense of Taste Sharing’ last time, her tongue received considerable stimulation... no, pain.
So, if she doesn't want to suffer the same pain as last time, choosing 'Mild Flavor' obediently would be the correct answer.
However, she couldn't bring herself to reach out her hand towards ‘Mild Flavor’.
The reason was simple.
- Why is that?
- Well, bastards who eat Cham Ramen Mild Flavor saying it's tasty are bastards who would gobble up Han River Ramen saying it's tasty too.
She didn't know what on earth Han River was, but she felt she could know well that it was something very bad.
Because at that moment, Seo-jin distorted his face fiercely and said this.
She doesn't know what happened in the past, but Seo-jin hated Cham Ramen Mild Flavor to an extent hard to understand easily.
Probably, he must have had such a sad experience like losing a friend because of Cham Ramen Mild Flavor.
Because it's impossible for a person to emit that level of hatred without experiencing such a thing.
Anyway, Elena, who regards Seo-jin's words as equivalent to a revelation from heaven, grabbed the Cham Ramen Spicy Flavor cup noodle after hesitation.
Doesn't she already have a history of experiencing the taste of spicy ramen once through Sense of Taste Sharing?
Then she will be able to endure the spicy taste of ramen this time too.
...Yes, probably.
Elena, having made up her mind like that, summoned spirits and opened her mouth quietly as if warning them.
"Undine, and Ifrit. If you fail... you know right?"
Nod nod.
Like that, Elena succeeded in pouring hot water into the cup noodle after endlessly grilling the Fire Spirit and Water Spirit.
And, exactly 4 minutes later.
"...Ah."
Drip.
Tears like chicken droppings were falling drop by drop from Elena's two eyes.
"It's too... too tasty.... Sob.... Unfair... It's unfaiiiiir...."
The time of 500 years she lived eating only the Dew of the World Tree until now felt too wasteful.
Yes.
It must be certain that she wasted half her life.
Regarding the food called Ramen, a famous overseas chef once made this evaluation.
‘We can taste Michelin-level cuisine casually in our daily lives through the food called Ramen.’
Of course, there is a feeling that it's a bit lacking to say Ramen is truly Michelin-level food.
But Ramen is like a result created after countless scientists in modern times pondered and researched countless times on how on earth to make very tasty cuisine easily and quickly.
In other words, should I say it's the crystal of modern science regarding the field called ‘Taste’.
Such food has now permeated into the body of an Elf who has lived eating only dew since birth until now.
There is no need to even hurt one's mouth saying what result this will bring about.
"I took a loss.... I was taking a loss until noooow...."
Gobble gobble.
Perhaps because she ate spicy food for the first time in her life, Elena's lips were swollen compared to before.
But she didn't stop using her chopsticks.
Because it was tasty.
She barely realized the fact that the act of eating is this joyful after 500 years, so how can she stop her chopsticks here?
Like that, only after eating everything cleanly up to a single strand of noodle and a single drop of soup could she finally regain her reasoning.
"Haa...."
After finishing the complete meal of Cham Ramen Spicy Flavor, she looked towards the Zero Cola with a much more pounding heart than before.
"Ugh...!"
It's fluttering.
The cup noodle she tasted directly through her own tongue just now was to the extent that it couldn't even be compared with the taste she experienced through Sense of Taste Sharing before.
Thrilling taste itself that gives a feeling as if cells of the whole body are waking up, which can never exist naturally in this world.
Probably, this beverage called Zero Cola will also bring her a similar kind of sensation as the cup noodle.
"Ah...."
At this moment, Elena instinctively realized.
That if she drinks Cola, she can never go back to before.
She will be bidding eternal farewell to the pure self of the past who felt the impression of ‘tasty’ after drinking the Dew of the World Tree.
And instead, here in this seat, one Elf slave completely addicted to the happiness brought by Earth's food will remain.
Will she continue to live eating only dew with the pride and self-esteem of the Guardian of the World Tree engraved in her heart?
Or will she degrade into a mere livestock feeling happiness while readily accepting and eating food created by Earthlings?
There was no need to even worry.
Like that, Elena drank the black water where bubbles were boiling like lava at once without any hesitation—
"...!"
The next moment, Elena realized.
The fact that Seo-jin lied to her.
Cola is just slightly sweet carbonated water?
Cola might be less tasty than the Dew of the World Tree, a gift given to Elves?
‘Liar.’
Right here, Elena could say confidently.
The fact that something like the Dew of the World Tree was just tree sap compared to Zero Cola.
And at that moment, she obtained a certain realization.
"Yes... it was so...!"
Elena turned her head and stared blankly at the World Tree she had worshipped as a god for the past 500 years.
The Dew of the World Tree, which she thought was a miracle of god until now, was mere tree sap, and Zero Cola was truly the genuine gift of god.
Traditionally, two or more gods cannot exist under this sky.
Then, the true identity of the World Tree is probably—
"The World Tree... was actually just a big tree...?"
Sign it.
The World Tree is... just a big tree.