Pinch Hitter (2)

E. The alphabet E. What a truly gorgeous letter. And I think the cutest color in the world is pink.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just... the underwear feels kinda weird."

"Hmm... Can't really say since I've never been through it myself, but does the outfit size fit at least?"

"The waist is a bit off, but it's wearable enough?"

"Give me a spin."

"How's it look?"

"Your proportions are insane."

"You think?"

I stepped out wearing a black tracksuit with long white vertical stripes running down the sides of the arms and legs over a white T-shirt, and my friend's gaze stuck like glue, refusing to budge. I wish he'd stop staring already...

"Quit gawking. You're getting on my nerves."

"No way, if you were in my shoes, you'd stare too. Putting on those glasses totally changed your vibe. The smaller ears are cool, but the glasses shock me more."

"That much?"

"That much."

Hmm... Is it really? The big round glasses do give a softer impression, but I didn't think it was a total transformation. Well, if he's saying so, it must be true.

"Still can't believe it even seeing it with my own eyes."

"What?"

"Your ears."

"Ah..."

I lightly touched my now normally sized ears. The way they shrank right after I put on the glasses was straight out of a CG effect. And at the same time, my phone buzzed, so I checked—my mana had dropped from 100,000 to 90,000.

Oh yeah, come to think of it, does mana refill when I eat? How do I level up my mana level? The gold shop had stuff, but nothing I could use with my current specs...

"What're you spacing out for again? Let's grab some food."

"Yeah."

Suddenly a ton of questions popped up, but I shook them off and answered. Gotta do some experiments after work.

"Mmmph."

"..."

"Mmmph... I'm not the only one feeling it, right?"

"Probably not?"

A few minutes after stepping out onto the street for food. In the bustling area full of people, it felt like countless eyes were on me, but I chalked it up to overthinking and ignored it. But once we opened the door to the pork cutlet place, sat in the corner booth, and the thought hit—this wasn't overthinking!

Just to be sure, I pretended to mull over the menu, swallowed my embarrassment, and subtly asked. Sure enough, my friend felt it too. No wonder I kept making eye contact with so many people today—my hunch was right.

"If I were average height, would I get fewer stares?"

I whispered, thinking of my current height, which looked easily over 180cm by eye.

"Height plays a part, sure. But with your looks now, it wouldn't make much difference."

"Haaa. This is so annoying."

"Just enjoy it."

Drained by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this unfamiliar experience I'd never had before, I slumped over the table, which made him chuckle.

"Let's eat. What're you getting?"

"Nah... Going for the jumbo combo today."

The jumbo combo piled high on a big plate with tenderloin, sirloin, cheese, fish, shrimp, and karaage cutlets is what you pick if you want to try every cutlet this place offers. Naturally, since it has everything, it's way too much for one person.

"I'll have udon."

"What? I'm eating it alone. Who said share?"

He grumbled, assuming we'd split it like usual, but I shut that down.

"What, wanna test if I really don't get full?"

"Yeah. Gotta verify if it's true. If I can't finish, I'll just pack it up. You're paying anyway."

"Look at you, so shameless... Fine. My treat."

"Yes? How can I help?"

"One jumbo combo and one odeng udon."

"..."

"One jumbo combo and one odeng udon."

"Pardon? Oh, yes. Order noted. One jumbo and one odeng."

I hate to say it myself, but with all the stares glued to us, the brief silence made it obvious. The waitress took the order politely and left, but her lingering gaze made it awkward. My face was burning up.

"You definitely stand out. Even the waitress is out of it."

"Shut up."

"Just enjoy it, I said. If you can't avoid it, enjoy it. Got it?"

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

"Bet someone asks for your number soon. Ow!"

I kicked his shin with my longer leg while he kept needling me from across the table, and we were bickering like kids when our food arrived. I hadn't felt hungry a moment ago, but now my stomach was growling. Alright, let's test this.

Crunch.

Mmm. Oh yeah. Biting into my favorite tenderloin cutlet, the crispy batter infused with savory oil gave way to juicy pink meat that burst with flavor, waking my dormant tongue. Ahh, this is the crispy-outside-tender-inside perfection. Whoever invented this fried pork—tonkatsu or donkatsu as it's called—deserves a Nobel Prize. The taste so moving it brings tears to your eyes. So moving, tears are actually coming...

"Why're you like that?"

Sniffle. "Huh? Why?"

"Why're you crying mid-bite?"

"Huh? Wha?"

"Well, well?"

Tears? Huh? Wait, why am I tearing up over just a pork cutlet...

Flustered by the tears suddenly rolling down, my phone on the table started vibrating nonstop like an incoming call.

I unlocked the screen and saw the flood of notifications, finally piecing together what was happening. The seal engraved on my body must sync somewhat with its owner's senses. Otherwise, this wouldn't explain the alerts and my body's reaction. Is this some kind of side effect? Seeing those scary notifications, even at a popular spot, getting this moved over one pork cutlet is kinda frightening. It's a place I frequent because the taste is guaranteed, but no way it was ever this good... The first time I ate here, it was tasty sure, but nothing like this. This heightened sense is probably mostly the Food God's influence.

"Why the tears? Actually getting worried now?"

Guess since we're friends, seeing me bawl out of nowhere made him think I broke mentally.

Sniffle. "Nah, not that. Check this out. Nom nom."

Stuffing more meat in to satisfy the Food God, I handed him the phone.

"..."

Nom nom.

"You cried that hard over this?"

Gulp. "Yeah."

"Over one pork cutlet?"

Nom nom.

"Ah..."

Nom nom.

He stared in disbelief as I kept eating and mumbling responses.

"Here, wipe your tears."

"Yeah. Sniffle."

"Man, I wanna record this and replay it for you."

"Do it and you're dead. Sniffle. Nom nom."

I don't know how pathetic I look to him, but I ignored it and kept forking the remaining cutlets into my mouth.

"Need anything?"

"Yeah, one more odeng udon."

"Yes. One odeng added. Thank you."

"You hungry too?"

He eyed me curiously since he'd never seen me eat this much, but I shook my head at his extra udon order.

"For you."

Gulp. "Suddenly?"

"Seeing you eat with tears of joy made me curious about udon too. You full yet?"

"Nah."

No sense of fullness at all—proves the "no satiety" thing is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real. If anything, a bit hungry? Before eating, I hadn't noticed, but touching food sparked appetite. Not starving hunger, more like late-night fridge raid vibes. Tolerable, but something's missing.

"Why the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fuss all of a sudden."

Gulp. "Wanna talk shit? It's not fussing. Food in my mouth just does that."

"Oh? Thought you were being cute enough to gouge my eyes out."

Thwack!

"Ow. Quit hitting."

"Shut up and eat?"

"Saying that with tears streaming is hilarious."

"Shit. Can't stop the tears—what now."

Just when I was adapting, the Food God was still thrilled, so tears kept flowing.

"Your udon."

"Ah, thanks."

Regretting the nearly gone cutlets, the udon arrived. Plump noodles, generous odeng and fried tofu in pale broth—beautiful. Broth first?

Slurp.

Ahhh. The hot, umami-packed broth washed over my oily tongue and throat, making me close my eyes in savor. Sob sob. So damn good. Tears I'd almost stopped surged again.

My emotions right now made checking the phone unnecessary—Food God approved.

"You're hilarious right now."

Slurp. Nom nom.

I flipped him off lightly amid his laughter and kept eating, polishing off everything before checking my mana.

Hmm. Experiment successful.