The Android's Culinary Delight
I had arrived at the Villa District once again.
Perhaps it was because we had managed to defeat the Queen-class monster that could be considered the boss of this area, but it felt somewhat safer compared to before. However, that didn't mean I could afford to let my guard down.
"Now that the Queen-class monster has been subjugated, this Villa District has effectively become a 'lawless zone'."
"A lawless zone... you say?"
"Yeah. It’s still early, so everyone is just keeping to themselves and watching each other. But in about three days, a fierce struggle for hierarchy will break out here to determine the new leader."
"...! Does that mean a new Queen-class monster could appear?! Chanwoo."
"It’s one of two things. Either a new Queen-class awakens among the monsters, or some mediocre Rook-class monster just inherits the throne."
Of course, in Star's Doll, the latter was almost always the case when a power struggle erupted. The former was quite rare. Because that was the difference between a 'mid-boss' and a true 'boss'. Even in the game system, it was only from the Queen-class monsters onward that the game would display a name tag and a long health bar at the top of the screen. The game's boss monsters were, in a sense, a piece of 'content' in themselves—like gathering or exploration—so the developers couldn't just throw them around recklessly. It was a bit of a disappointing patch from the perspective of a veteran player like me, but the reason I was telling Revi this now was simple.
"We'll only be able to explore this Villa District for about three more days."
"Is that also because of the hierarchy struggle you mentioned, Chanwoo?"
"Exactly. You don't take a stroll through a region where the current apex predators of Earth are busy tearing each other apart, do you?"
"I suppose that is correct."
"And areas where power struggles occur get heavily damaged. A lot of the materials we could farm would be destroyed, so this is our only real chance."
"I see. I understand."
Three days. No, the struggle could break out in as little as two. If we were looking for solar panels, today was the golden opportunity.
Perhaps because of that,
"Then let us move quickly! Chanwoo."
Revi, her chest heaving at the realization of the time limit, put even more effort into her movements than usual. Even though she was a bit tired from yesterday's events, she was still my dedicated android, trying to help me secure what I wanted as quickly as possible.
"Just in case, please stick close to my side as we move. There might be more monsters hiding inside the buildings like yesterday."
"Yeah. I'm counting on you, Revi."
Truly, our reliable dairy cow... no, android escort knight. I followed her instructions and stuck right behind her, almost like I was rear-mounting her. We were in the middle of thoroughly scouring the dilapidated villa complex when,
"...! Chanwoo, look at this!"
"Did you find the solar panels already?"
"No, not that, but isn't this a canned food item?"
"Oh, you're right. It says 'Jungwon Tuna' on it."
"Jungwon... Tu... na? Back when I was at R.P.M., I ate canned foods like this, but what exactly is tuna? Is it the name of a new starch?"
"No, tuna is... well, it's a type of fish."
"A fish? So tuna was the name of a fish?"
We were searching a second-floor unit of a brick villa that looked relatively intact. In that place, where even the indoors were covered in vines and all human traces had vanished, Revi had found a tuna can—the logo still visible despite hundreds of years having passed—and brought it straight to me.
'Anyway, empty cans are one thing, but this is the first time I've ever obtained a tuna can with the contents still inside in Star's Doll.'
Revi had been taught about canned goods as emergency rations for combat, but she had lived on the same starch-based paste I usually ate. To her, a can containing tuna rather than starch must have seemed like a 'new discovery'. Was Revi surprisingly gluttonous despite how often she went hungry?
Regardless, I patted the head of the Revi who had found the tuna can, just like last time.
"Shall we open it?"
"?! Wouldn't it be better to eat it later?"
"Hmm... I thought about that, but honestly, this can is at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years old."
A tuna can that had spent at least a century in this state. It would be a miracle if it were still edible, but in all honesty, the possibility of it being rotten was much higher. Since I didn't have the luxury of carrying around trash when I didn't even have a 'bag', and since I was the only one who felt refreshed after half a cup of breast milk this morning while Revi had been starving all day,
"It's almost lunchtime anyway, and this is enough for the two of us to share."
"T-two of us... Chanwoo! I was taught that canned food that still maintains its form on the surface is extremely valuable!"
"Yeah, and that's why I'm going to share that precious item with my precious android."
"I-I am not such a precious being!"
"No, to me, you're incredibly precious. So let's eat it together. That's an 'order'."
"...! Oooooh..."
Thinking that if it was rotten, we'd throw it away, and if it was edible, we'd share it, I gave an order to Revi—the same Revi who would squeeze her milk into a coffee cup whenever I wanted. Like a slave already conditioned to female submission, she couldn't dare argue with my command. She just spun her eyes in confusion, feeling happy but wondering if it was really okay.
"Alright, opening it now."
"Y-yes!"
Honestly, she didn't need to be that expectant. While canned food was indeed the 'most representative food for long-term storage', its shelf life was only about one to five years. No matter how tightly sealed, the can itself was 'matter' that could rust or decay over time. The idea that it could be stored for over 100 years was only true in theory. The fact that canned goods had an expiration date at all was proof that you should eat them as soon as possible.
'I just hope it doesn't contain sludge.'
What I was doing right now was mere curiosity rather than securing food. I had just opened a can that was likely already rotten to satisfy that curiosity. But what was this?
"Huh?"
"Oooooh!"
Inside the tuna can, with its logo half-erased, was tuna in a surprisingly decent state... glistening.
No, that might just be my imagination. But the tuna meat looked as if it had just been distributed, packed tightly with oil rich in meat juices.
"Is this... safe to eat?"
"Well, it looks fine, but just in case, we should smell it first."
"Hmm... even if you say that, I don't know what the proper smell of tuna is, so I must dare to ask for your help, Chanwoo."
This... could it actually be edible? Even with the most careful olfactory examination, it only gave off a beautiful, savory scent. The tuna inside the can really looked perfectly fine.
'No, it's been at least a few hundred years... how has it maintained this state of preservation?'
Jungwon Tuna is truly legendary. As expected of the Korean Wave. As expected of K-Tuna. To think that we, the Republic of Korea, achieved what even American Spam couldn't. Is this what they call national pride?
To finally test the taste, Revi and I both pinched a bit of the tuna meat with our thumbs and forefingers, as if pinching a nipple. And then, we swallowed it together.
"...!"
"I-it's delicious!"
Twisting her already lewd body, she was putting on a full display of female appeal in front of me. Perhaps it was because she had been eating nothing but unseasoned deer meat, but she seemed to love the taste of the proper food. With a look of pure bliss, she was even letting out suggestive moans as if she were savoring the taste with her entire body.
"It's so delicious! This is the first time in my life I've tasted food like this!"
"Really? ...Then, if we ever have the chance to go to the sea, I'll feed you real fish that taste even better than this."
"E-even better than this?! Are there things in the sea that are even better than this tuna?!"
Since even just the tuna we were eating now had different cuts that tasted worlds apart when eaten as sashimi, I had to make sure to feed it to her if the opportunity arose. Revi, her eyes sparkling like a happy puppy, seemed to have recovered her condition to the point where she had forgotten yesterday's fatigue.
"Anyway, we were really lucky to find a perfectly good can of tuna in a place like this."
"Yes. That is true!"
In a way, we had obtained food more precious than solar panels. But since coincidence only happens once, it's called a coincidence. Leaving behind the taste of the once-in-a-lifetime Dongwon Tuna, we decided to leave this place without regrets. We were just about to head to another floor to find the solar panels, our original goal, when,
"Ch-Chanwoo!"
Revi, her pupils glowing with heart-shaped light, called out to me urgently as I was about to leave the house.
"This! Please look at this!"
"This?"
She looked so flustered that it seemed she had finally found what she wanted. I went back into the second-floor house, followed Revi, and opened a shabby door at the very end of the living room.
"What..."
Inside, there was a mountain of tuna cans, beautifully displayed and filling one entire wall. Unlike the one we had just eaten, these cans had their logos perfectly intact. I couldn't help but lose my mind at the sight.