Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Shopping!
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"Hng. I'm hungry."
The anomaly I'd gone to the trouble of eating didn't taste good at all.
The smell had seemed promising enough, but once it was in my mouth, it was dry and crumbly, with a bizarre flavor to boot.
I couldn't stand it and spat it out on the ground.
In the meantime, the anomaly had started spouting nonsense I couldn't understand, like something about ideals or whatever.
Instead of talking big, it should have focused on tasting good.
What a waste of a meal—just all talk.
"How about we hit the commissary together? I'll buy you whatever you want to eat."
"Yay! Thank you!"
Thank goodness Cheol-woong said he'd buy me food.
Se-hwa's packed lunches were edible enough, but they weren't all that tasty.
I needed some special treats now and then to lift my spirits.
I headed to the commissary with Cheol-woong.
"Mind if I ask you something?"
As we walked down the hallway, I felt like asking about something I'd always been curious about.
For some reason, Cheol-woong flinched when he heard me.
"Y-yeah. I'll answer as best I can, from what I know."
Cheol-woong's words came out a bit haltingly.
I'd met him plenty of times, but this was the first time I'd seen him so tense.
It must be the aftereffects of being dragged into that horror tale space earlier.
Some small talk should loosen him up.
"Mister, you always show up wherever anomalies are. Can you summon them or something?"
"Uh, huh? Well..."
Cheol-woong seemed to carefully choose his next words, falling into thought for a moment.
"My job is to put anomalies that escape back in their rooms. That's why I'm always at the spots where they show up."
"Aha. Got it."
Turned out the causality was backward.
It wasn't Cheol-woong calling the anomalies; he showed up after they appeared.
"It would've been nice if you could summon them. What a shame."
"...Why?"
"Then I wouldn't have to go looking for anomalies. I could just stick by you, and they'd pop up."
"Huh."
I could've enjoyed them like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Too bad.
Cheol-woong looked like he'd heard something ridiculous, his tension easing just a bit.
"By the way, why do you lock up the anomalies? They're useless except as food. Are you storing them as rations or something?"
"Uh, well. From what I know, it's for research. I'm not a researcher myself, so I don't know the details."
I glanced at Cheol-woong's expression.
He didn't seem to be lying.
"Must be research to make tasty food! I love cooking too. The path to fine dining has no end."
"Huh? You can cook?"
Cheol-woong looked at me with intrigued eyes, surprised that I knew how to cook.
Ahem. Don't let appearances fool you—I've got over ten thousand years of living solo under my belt.
Of course I can cook.
"Don't underestimate me. Of course I can make food."
"What can you make? Fried eggs? Soy sauce rice?"
He must think I look too scary, underestimating me like that.
Time to boast about my skills and shock him.
"Ahem! I can even make cakes."
"Ho, you bake too? That's impressive."
Cheol-woong let out a small exclamation, his eyes widening.
"And apples too."
"...Huh?"
A question mark appeared on Cheol-woong's face.
His brows furrowed.
"You made apples?"
"Yep. Pretty amazing, right? Hehe!"
I puffed out my chest proudly.
Cheol-woong noticed but barely wrinkled his nose.
"Mind if I ask... what ingredients you used?"
"Anomalies."
"For the apples?"
"Yeah. And the cake too."
A flicker of dizziness crossed Cheol-woong's face for a moment.
"I see. Makes sense. I was the idiot."
"Idiot how?"
"N-no, nothing. Let's just head to the commissary."
Cheol-woong hurriedly brushed it off and cut the conversation.
Hmm. I don't like people who trail off mid-sentence.
But since he promised to buy food, I'll let it slide this once.
"Want to eat some next time I cook?"
"No. I'm good."
Cheol-woong flatly refused my dinner invite.
He didn't even meet my eyes, staring straight ahead.
"You don't want to eat my cooking?"
I stared right at Cheol-woong.
He seemed to realize something and started fumbling for words in a panic.
"N-no, that's not it. I-I'm on a diet. I've put on weight lately. I meant it'd be hard to eat together because of that."
"Oh? Hmm, what a shame."
I can't force food on someone dieting.
"You devoured that steak last time, so I thought it'd be nice to eat together. But if it's a diet, no helping it."
"H-ha. Sorry about that. Once my diet's over, we can eat together. After the diet ends."
Cheol-woong emphasized "after the diet ends."
When that time comes, I'll show him my secret recipe.
"I should invite Se-hwa too! Why didn't I think of that? She'd be happy if I cooked for her, right?"
"...Yeah, probably. Researcher Lee Se-hwa would like that. Uh."
Cheol-woong said, staring off down the hallway.
I kept up the small talk to help him relax after that.
But the horror tale space must have really shaken him—he wouldn't loosen up no matter what.
Armed to the teeth and dressed sharp, yet such a scaredy-cat.
Before I knew it, we'd arrived at the commissary while chatting away.
"Pick whatever you want. I'll buy as much as you like."
Cheol-woong handed me a plastic basket from a shelf in the corner.
I took the basket.
"This basket's too small, though?"
The plastic basket was just big enough for a few snack bags before it'd be full.
Cheol-woong smiled leisurely, like he'd expected that.
"You can get more if you fill it up. Go wild."
"Yay, really? Thank you!"
Great, permission to fill it multiple times.
I never turn down freebies.
Commissary shopping time.
...
As I freely raided the shelves, Cheol-woong piped up cautiously.
"Uh, um. Isn't that a bit much? Can you eat it all?"
"It's fine. I could eat this much in one meal."
Cheol-woong gave a wry smile, looking troubled.
Shopping continued.
"You sure you can eat all that?"
"Yep. This is just snack level."
"W-well, if you can eat it, it's fine. Buy more if you want."
Kept on shopping.
"Won't that be hard to carry?"
"Nah, I'm strong."
Shopping kept going.
"D-done now?"
"Yeah, this should do it. Thank you!"
"Mm. Alright. As long as the princess enjoys it, mission accomplished."
Cheol-woong rang up my selections.
The commissary clerk exchanged awkward glances with him.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The barcode scanner kept chiming.
The plastic bags were too small for my haul.
We borrowed a big box and packed it full.
"Thank you! I'll be off now. Bye!"
"Yeah, take care."
I said goodbye and parted ways with Cheol-woong.
Stacking the food-filled boxes, I headed back to my room.
Gradually moving away from Cheol-woong and the commissary.
"Thanks for today."
Cheol-woong whispered quietly, watching the back of my head as I left.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few days after the Philosophy Doctor escape incident.
The Philosophy Doctor was safely recontained in its prepared spare containment cell.
Apparently, the Doctor walked right into the cell on its own without much fuss.
The rumor that the Black Princess had beaten the Philosophy Doctor spread like wildfire.
Now, among the institute staff, the Black Princess was known as the strongest anomaly at the Ansong Research Institute.
Despite all that, the research institute went on as usual.
Anomalies escaped, anomalies were contained, experiments proceeded.
Researcher Lee Se-hwa was spending another ordinary day.
"Let me see, what was tomorrow's experiment schedule again?"
Se-hwa glanced at the desk calendar.
A date circled in bright red caught her eye.
Even amid the calendar's scribbles and marks, that red circle stood out.
Notes like "Black Princess Report Due" or "Researcher Monthly Meeting" were meticulously written on each date.
But the date with the bold red circle had nothing written on it.
"Hoo."
Se-hwa clenched her fist anxiously.
Her nails dug into her skin, sending pain shooting through her.
She already knew what tomorrow's experiment entailed.
Still, she checked the calendar again and again.
"Tomorrow's experiment is..."
Se-hwa trailed off.
Tomorrow was the live experiment with death row inmates.