Taste Overload
Taste Overload.
Entity Name: Croma Ira has requested 'Tasting'. Do you accept?
【YES】 【NO】
Expected Reward: Free Food
A familiar yet cursed transparent window suddenly floated into my vision. A demon’s whisper trying to probe my emotions. At the tail end of that intriguing and dangerous string of text sat the bait, hanging there like a forbidden fruit: the words Expected Reward.
Free food.
Just four syllables, yet they struck my chest like a hammer. I’m a gamer who loves extreme profit more than life itself. There was no way I could refuse this temptation.
I accept. Yeah, this is a definite accept.
“Deal.”
“Huh?”
Confirmation complete!
I’m not sure what actually changed, but if the system says it’s confirmed, then something must have gone through. All that remained was to let this insolent demon taste me and collect the proper Reward. Free food. My mouth was already watering. Massively.
Of course, it wasn’t like I could eat it myself, and even if it was given to me I still couldn’t swallow it! But it felt good, didn’t it? That was enough.
“Fine. I permit you to taste me.”
“Kyaa~♡ What the hell was that perverted line just now? I thought my ears were going to rot off for a second there. Still, since you gave permission, I’ll specially taste you~”
The moment permission was granted, a small, squishy-looking hand slowly reached toward me.
“...Hmm.”
My contractor seemed irritated that another demon was touching her own. Her mood had clearly soured, but it couldn’t be helped. This was all for free food. So come on, taste me already, demon! And make the service generous while you’re at it. Our contractor’s been starving for quite a while.
“Yap!”
Whether the saying that the heart resides in the chest rather than the head is true or not, Croma, my senior demon, firmly planted her soft, plush hand on my chest.
“Then, I’ll enjoy it~♡”
That arrogant smile was mixed with a hint of anticipation, but underneath it all lay pure contempt. It stung my pride more than I expected.
But then.
As time slowly passed.
Cracks began to form in her insolent smile.
“Mm?”
Confusion.
“Haa?”
Suspicion.
And then…
“Haaang♡”
What the hell? Her face gradually flushed crimson, her breathing grew ragged. A lewd moan tickled my ears. Tears welled in her half-lidded eyes, and between her tightly bitten red lips, sticky strands of clear drool slid down.
Was this what they called foodgasm? It was my first time seeing it in person. And from this close…
“....”
“Ooh….”
“What kind of bullshit is this, nyang.”
Exactly. I had no idea why she was suddenly acting like this, but I really wished she would stop. It was getting burdensome, senior. Also, please wipe the drool from your mouth. I’m begging you.
Ah… it fell.
A demon does not get swayed by their own origin. Of course, a few pathetic ones lose their minds like reeds before a typhoon or jellyfish caught in waves, surrendering their bodies to it, but in general that isn’t the case. Croma Ira’s usual role was to laugh at those pathetic demon trash.
‘Demons so worthless they can’t even control their own origin♡’—she would personally condemn them.
However.
“Ahut, ugh… Huaat…!”
The hand and head pressed against the hard chest—no, her entire body—burned hot like boiling potage.
“Haa… haeu….”
Every time she opened her mouth, an excited breath escaped desperately.
Sway. The overwhelming pleasure melted her muscles; she could barely keep herself upright. It felt like she would collapse disgracefully at any moment, and all the dignity she had painstakingly built would crash to the ground.
The realization that she was no different from those pitiful trash kin made her head burn hotter in real time.
Gurgle.
‘I have to endure…’
Her emotions. Her desires. No. She couldn’t control her origin at all!
“Huu… Zmneu?” (Haa… Interesting?)
Grind. She clenched her teeth hard to hold back the anger threatening to explode.
It was infuriating. This shitty situation and her own pathetic weakness. But more than anything… it was so delicious it made her furious!!!
‘What the hell is wrong with that crow!? Is he insane!!? Where is all this abnormal concentration of rage even coming from? Huh?’
Croma was a gourmet. A noble, refined seeker of origins who wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at ordinary anger. In all her long years, only one dish had ever truly satisfied her.
The ‘First Anger’ produced by her dull contractor, Noir.
The very first emotion miraculously born from a deformed being incapable of feeling emotion, only to fade away just as quickly. Croma had always treasured it as the ultimate and took pride in her excellent chef, Noir. No intelligent being’s anger had ever given her greater satisfaction.
Until a moment ago.
‘How can an aftertaste this lingering exist in this world? Unless someone was directly betrayed by the god they worshipped, abandoned by the world, submerged in pain and despair, and lived their entire life on the boundary between life and death! There’s no way anyone could feel hatred and resistance to injustice this thick!’ (Accurate.)
—Grind.
‘More. I want to taste more. It’s not enough.’
It was more violent and stimulating than anything else, which was exactly why she couldn’t stop. She had only licked the surface, yet her origin boiled and the incarnation of greed whispered, urging her to devour it further.
—Devour endlessly!
It wasn’t poetic expression; it was literally whispering. Had she gone mad?
‘Ah, seriously! Shut up, you stupid pig♡ I’m in a bad mood. Didn’t I tell you not to peep!?’
—It is a misunderstanding!
Regina Gura was merely watching the human species devour their food greedily! She was absolutely not peeping at Ira!
‘This idiot… I told her so many times not to invade my domain!’
Not only had Regina Gura dared to trespass into her territory without permission, she had even tried to taste her emotions. The heat that had always stayed at a proper temperature inside Croma’s mind now surged violently.
Crackle.
A tiny spark flew up and gently settled onto dry grass.
Whoosh…!
She was angry.
‘Gura. Just you wait.’
To that stupid kin who never listened to a word she said.
‘Well? Enjoying the show?’
To the stupid customers treating her like a spectacle, the rookie employees, the idiot crow, the shedding cat, and the low self-esteem brat. To all of them.
‘This is really annoying.’
Anger is like fire. At first it is faint, but once it begins to burn, it will not stop until it has consumed everything around it.
Whoosh.
Flames ignited in her red pupils. The small white hand resisted the injustice of the world’s laws and slowly reached toward the heavens in defiance.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Croma’s strange behavior. Doubt filled the gazes of customers enjoying their meals, while shock flooded the eyes of the staff and regulars who knew her usual self.
“What the hell!!!”
“Nyan nyan nyang! Croma’s rampaging again, nyang!”
“Uh oh!? Croma!? What are you doing!!?”
“Kyaaak! Boss! Croma’s causing trouble again!”
“Noir!!!”
Hate. Deny. Spit out the injustices you have endured. Tear apart with your red mouth. Crush with your black hands. That is the reason you and I, and this world, exist.
Flambé
From between her twisted red lips flowed a tiny spark that could set the world ablaze—the authority of a great demon. The flames burning at her fingertips coalesced into a single point, forming a small orb. It boiled black like freshly caramelized sugar, ready to be unleashed upon the world.
And just as that small hand stretched toward the sky began to fall, drawn by the world’s law of gravity—
“Croma. Stop.”
A fist wearing a pure white glove flew straight into Croma’s red crown.
Bonk!
“Ouch!”
Sizzle….
With a pathetic sound, the rage was extinguished instantly, as if someone had poured water over burning firewood.
“Ow.”
It didn’t hurt, but feeling awkward, Croma rubbed her head anyway before looking up at her contractor.
Neat black bob cut precisely to the nape for hygiene. An expressionless face carved like a master sculptor’s work. The custom pure white gown and cotton gloves layered over that cold impression overflowed with the dignity of a true artisan. The thin string cinched tightly at her waist emphasized her ample chest and slender waist, drawing every eye. She possessed the grace of a queen ruling a kingdom rather than a mere chef. As expected of the greatest masterpiece I chose, Croma thought.
“This is punishment for violating the contract. Consider this month’s salary nonexistent.”
“That’s too harsh~ Boss♡”
The owner of the Rainbow Cup had spoken, signaling the end of the incident. At Noir’s calm voice, the staff and regulars all breathed sighs of relief.
“Thanks to Croma we almost had another battlefield in the tavern. Just remembering last time gives me chills.”
“Good thing the boss was here. Otherwise the guards would’ve been called and it would’ve been total chaos.”
“By the way, why did she rampage this time?”
“I think it had something to do with that crow head over there.”
“Crow head…? Wait, huh? Isn’t that the crazy demon who rampaged at the Dungeon Road today?”
“What? That’s the crazy demon? It doesn’t smell like rotting corpses like the rumors said.”
“Does hanging around the crazy demon make other demons go crazy too?”
“As expected of the crazy demon. Completely insane.”
Thanks to the hot potato phrase “crazy demon” that accidentally slipped out during the staff and regulars’ conversation, the usual topic of Croma’s regular rampages was quickly forgotten. The Rainbow Cup soon filled with rumors and stories about the ‘Crazy Demon Dungeon Road Rampage Incident,’ buzzing with lively energy.
And at the center of every incident, rumor, and story, being jostled back and forth, Raven quietly closed his eyes as always.
‘Stop staring at me, you people.’
When he opened his eyes again, he earnestly prayed everyone would lose interest in him and that the table would be covered with free food. Of course, whether the table was full of free food or not, he still couldn’t touch any of it with his mouth.
“…So when exactly are you going to take our order?”
“I’m starving to death, nyang! Hurry up and take the order already, nyang!”
As for Sion and Yuri, they were simply hungry. Very, very hungry.