The Restaurant Opens
[Kitchen construction completed.]
Kitchen
[Restaurant construction completed.]
Restaurant
And the message that followed.
[Hotel grade rising!]
[Hotel grade rising, some functions unlocked.]
[Promotion function unlocked.]
[General ingredients unlocked at the shop.]
[Internet available in the hotel.]
“Wow.”
The hotel grade had risen again.
Now it was a full three stars.
'I never thought the kitchen and restaurant would be the upgrade conditions.'
“Waa! The kitchen is finally here!”
Emily bounced around the newly completed restaurant and kitchen like a puppy seeing it for the first time, her long ears twitching with every step.
“You’re really that happy?”
“Of course! Now I can finally work as a chef!”
“Of course. You’ve worked hard so far.”
Emily’s expression softened with happiness at my words.
'She really loves cooking.'
Putting a friend who loved cooking on front desk duty felt a bit like a guilty conscience, but with no manpower available, there was no choice.
'Of course, I’ll be taking over front desk soon.'
Points kept coming in anyway, so I’d be able to hire a front desk staff member soon.
'Until then, I’ll have to tough it out while sleeping on the job.'
At that moment, someone approached the area.
“H-huh? What is this place?”
A guest waiting in the lobby for Yu Yeonhwa looked startled by the sudden hotel construction.
“I’m sorry for startling you. This is the restaurant that will be operated from now on.”
“...A restaurant. Are you operating it right now?”
I shook my head.
It had only just been built.
Of course there were no ingredients yet, and there was a lot to check.
Operating it immediately would be impossible.
“It might take some time to start operations.”
“That’s a shame. I’m getting tired of ramyeon, so please hurry as much as possible.”
I told her I would do my best.
Only then did she return to her seat.
Subsequently, every guest who discovered the restaurant asked me about it.
'Most of them seem friendly.'
After all, they probably hadn’t expected to see a restaurant in the tower.
These were people staying at the hotel despite its high price of one million won, drawn by its appeal.
Of course, they would be interested here too.
At that moment, Emily slowly approached from afar.
'Is something wrong?'
Her ears looked strangely drooped.
“B-boss.”
“What is it?”
“...There are no ingredients at all.”
“Ah, that’s the problem.”
Her serious expression made me tense as well, but hearing her out, I could relax.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Just a moment ago, the message had said that general ingredients were unlocked when the grade rose.
Probably, ingredients could be purchased there.
'Check the shop.'
[Shop opened.]
▶ General Ingredients
- Eggs 100 / 10P
- Rice 20kg / 10P
- Flour 20kg / 8P
- Sugar 10kg / 5P
- Salt 10kg / 3P
- Cooking Oil 10L / 8P
- Milk 20L / 8P
- Chicken 10kg / 20P
- Beef 10kg / 35P
……
And endless other general ingredients.
'There’s almost everything.'
I took out paper and began writing down the names and prices of the shop’s ingredients.
And.
“Emily. Look at this and write down the necessary ingredients and quantities, then give them to me. I’ll buy them right away.”
I had no intention of ordering myself.
After all, cooking was entirely Emily’s responsibility.
“O! Please wait a moment!”
Emily began diligently writing the order on the paper.
About five minutes later, she handed me the paper again.
“I wrote everything here!”
“Let me check.”
I looked at the purchase list Emily had written.
“It’s not as much as I thought.”
“Actually… since the hotel grade is still low, the number of cookable dishes is limited.”
Wait, what did she mean by that?
Emily brought a booklet from inside the restaurant.
The booklet listed the available menus.
Warm soup, sandwiches, salads, fried rice, ramen, hamburgers.
“...Is that all?”
I nodded.
What kind of fast-food restaurant was this? The restaurant menu was so sparse?
“You mean you can only make this much?”
“The system set it this way, so I have no choice.”
“……”
I was caught off guard.
'With only three stars, this is the maximum?'
I complained, but the system was ironclad in this regard.
It meant no response even if I asked.
It was unfortunate, but to sell more menus, I had no choice but to raise the hotel grade.
'The promotion function is also unlocked, so let’s check that too.'
For now.
“Then I’ll buy the ingredients you listed first.”
“Yes!”
[Bought 100 eggs for 10P.]
[Bought 50 hamburger buns for 10P.]
[Bought 30 ramens for 10P.]
……
The total spent was 320 points.
'It wasn’t as expensive as I thought.'
[Remaining points: 172P]
At the same time as the order, supplies began piling up like mountains inside the kitchen.
The system’s strange feature of delivering orders instantly had become quite familiar now.
Instead, the worry now was ‘When will I clean all that up?’
Emily liked cooking but apparently didn’t like organizing logistics, staring blankly at the mountain of boxes.
“I’ll help. Don’t worry.”
“A-ah, th-thank you.”
Emily’s ears reddened as if embarrassed that I had read her thoughts.
Did she really think she could clean it all by herself?
'I’m not that evil.'
Of course, I had put her on front desk duty, but that was an unavoidable choice.
“Shall we start?”
Following Emily’s instructions, I began sorting the delivered foods.
Eggs to the large refrigerator, flour to the dry storage, meat to the freezer.
While organizing, the lobby became noisy.
“Waa! It’s out!”
“Please sign for me!”
Two guests who had bought rooms for 16 million won and 8 million won were causing a ruckus.
'Yu Yeonhwa must have finished resting and come to the lobby.'
Yu Yeonhwa sighed and signed for them.
'If this is always the case, won’t it be inconvenient?'
I paused organizing for a moment and headed to the lobby.
Yu Yeonhwa, who had been about to go hunting, noticed me and stopped.
“Is something wrong?”
“If guests waiting to sign are causing inconvenience, shall I stop them?”
Actually, I had asked this before.
At the time, she had said it was fine, but she probably hadn’t imagined guests waiting in the lobby would appear.
“It does seem like it would bother other guests.”
“Understood.”
With that said, from now on, guests waiting to sign in the lobby would be prohibited.
“But what about me…?”
Yu Yeonhwa’s gaze turned toward the newly built restaurant.
'She noticed immediately.'
It was an incredibly luxurious restaurant at first glance.
A facility that hadn’t existed until yesterday stood out clearly.
“It’s a restaurant. It will open tomorrow, so if you’re not busy, would you like to try it? Since you’re a regular, I’ll serve it free of charge.”
Yu Yeonhwa, who had been about to go hunting, hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“Okay.”
I led her to a restaurant seat.
“You can decide on the menu by looking at the booklet here.”
She opened the booklet I handed her and looked a little surprised.
“The menu isn’t very extensive yet.”
According to Emily, the menu would expand when the hotel grade rose, so for now, we had no choice but to be satisfied with this.
“It really isn’t much… but I never imagined I could eat proper food in the tower.”
Fortunately, she didn’t seem overly concerned about the sparse menu.
Despite the limited options, she pondered for a while before speaking.
“Is a hamburger okay?”
“Of course.”
All ingredients listed on the menu had already been purchased, so there was no problem.
“Then, please wait a moment while I make it quickly.”
“Take your time. I have plenty of time.”
I nodded.
After that, I went to the kitchen.
“Emily. Sorry, but can you make a hamburger right now?”
“I was getting bored with my hands anyway. Of course!”
Emily tied her apron strings with a confident smile.
She immediately took out the hamburger ingredients from the refrigerator and freezer.
After setting everything up, she first lit the grill.
Chiiik!
Once the heat rose sufficiently, she immediately put in the patty.
Next, she began chopping vegetables.
'Her hands are incredibly fast.'
There were more than a few amazing points besides that.
One important aspect of cooking was multitasking.
She didn’t waste any time.
'To think this talent was being wasted on front desk work.'
How unfair it must have been for her.
Emily began fully unleashing her talent like a fish that had found water.
Soon, the completed ingredients were stacked layer by layer.
In just ten minutes, a perfect homemade hamburger appeared before my eyes.
“How is it? My skill!”
“Amazing? I never imagined you could cook this well. I’ve been enlightened again.”
“Ehehe!”
Emily’s ears perked up at my praise.
'She’s happy.'
Her ears, which moved like a dog’s tail according to her emotions, were incredibly cute.
“Anyway, you worked hard. Want to try it together?”
“Yes! Seeing the food I made being eaten deliciously is my joy.”
We took the hamburger to Yu Yeonhwa.
“Your order is ready.”
The group opened their mouths at the steaming hamburger.
“You really made this just now? It didn’t even take ten minutes.”
“Ehehe! This is basic!”
Emily said.
“Before eating, let’s eat.”
At my words, Yu Yeonhwa carefully picked up the hamburger.
***
Yu Yeonhwa’s visit to the hotel had been purely coincidental.
Originally, she had planned to move directly to the sixth floor beyond the fifth.
At that moment, a conversation from a group entered her ears.
“Hyung, that guy is probably dead.”
“Probably dead.”
“I hope he’s alive so he can report us….”
“Hey, how are you supposed to escape from orcs as a porter?”
“That’s right.”
'Probably dead.'
It was an unmissable conversation.
“Wait a second.”
“Yes?”
Yu Yeonhwa stopped them.
“Please tell me in detail what you just said.”
“Ah, that? It was made up. Made up. Hey, right?”
“That’s right, hyung.”
“It doesn’t sound like it.”
“If you don’t believe me, say so. We only told the truth, so there’s no problem. Hey, let’s go.”
But she had no authority to forcibly interrogate them.
'...Something seems suspicious.'
Just in case, she decided to follow the path they had taken.
After walking for about thirty minutes.
'What’s this bag on the ground?'
A pitifully abandoned backpack on the floor.
Inside were tent supplies, ramyeon and water, and a magic stone pouch.
It was a typical porter’s loadout.
'From the footprints, it seems this way.'
Following the footprints, Yu Yeonhwa walked for a long time.
Soon, the place she arrived at was a luxurious entrance she had never seen before.
'What is this place?'
Even Yu Yeonhwa, who had climbed thirty-seven floors, had never seen such an artificial building in the tower.
Yu Yeonhwa cautiously entered.
Inside, a dazzling chandelier and a magnificent interior unfolded.
Even the lobby of her guild, Hwarang Guild, wouldn’t be as grand as this.
'What is this place?'
Soon, someone from afar called out to her.
“Welcome. Welcome to Yuil Hotel.”
“...Yuil Hotel?”
She approached the man who seemed to be the owner.
And after several conversations, she realized he was an awakened.
'He knows me.'
The man asked.
“Why is the vice guild leader of Hwarang Guild in such a low floor?”
“...Footprints. No, I was just wandering around and saw a door I’d never seen before and came in.”
She had come to find someone, but she judged it unnecessary to reveal that to someone who had never seen it before.
'Still, no more traces of blood or footprints mean she probably escaped safely.'
It was a reassuring result for Yu Yeonhwa.
'More importantly, if I’m here, I can keep hunting without having to go back and forth outside.'
Yu Yeonhwa loved hunting very much.
It was because of her S-grade trait 'Bloodthirst' obtained upon awakening.
Thanks to that trait, Yu Yeonhwa had become a combat enthusiast who went hunting even during rest periods.
She would stay at the hotel at night and hunt during the day.
It was the best life for Yu Yeonhwa.
Just like usual, she was about to sign for those who requested her signature and go hunting when she noticed an unfamiliar space.
“But what is that…?”
“It’s a restaurant. It was decided to open tomorrow, so if you’re not busy, would you like to try it? Since you’re a regular, I’ll serve it free of charge.”
She did use the hotel every day.
So she didn’t refuse the offer to serve her for free.
'Hunting is good, but I want to eat something delicious for once in a while.'
Following the man’s guidance, she looked at the menu.
Warm soup, sandwiches, salads, fried rice, ramen, hamburgers.
It might seem sparse for a hotel, but this was the tower.
Awakened people’s staple food was called ramyeon, so eating such food in the tower wasn’t easy.
Yu Yeonhwa pondered briefly and ordered a hamburger.
And the hamburger that came out in less than ten minutes.
'It looks delicious.'
A subtle butter aroma spread from the freshly baked bread, and juices flowed from the thick patty.
“Before eating, let’s eat.”
At the owner’s words, Yu Yeonhwa nodded and picked up the hamburger.
“...Thank you for the meal.”
At the first bite.
Crunch.
Juices filled her mouth along with the fresh vegetable texture.
“...!”
She took another bite silently.
And another.
In less than a minute, the hamburger disappeared without a trace.
'Where did it go?'
“How was it?”
At the owner’s words, Yu Yeonhwa finally realized she had lost her composure and devoured the hamburger.
Yu Yeonhwa paused briefly before speaking.
“It was delicious. It seemed to be the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“Hehe.”
The woman who made the dish was happy with her evaluation.
The problem didn’t end there.
Ring!
Fatigue recovery speed +10%
Mana recovery speed +10%
Duration: 6 hours
'...Is there a buff in the food?'