Chapter 187
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Buffet
“What? Really?”
“Yes.”
Already my second regression.
I quickly repeated my past experiences, proved the regression to Agent Yi Ha-yul, and made a few requests.
“A meeting hall that can seat 116 people, ingredients, and chefs to cook them—that's all you need to resolve this incident?”
“To be precise, it'll identify the culprit. Whether we can actually resolve it depends on talking to them.”
Agent Yi Ha-yul eyed me suspiciously but didn't doubt my words.
“You being an entity doesn't change that you're helpful to us. At least your actions so far show no intent to deceive the Foundation, so your claims about being a regressor and the culprit's pattern must be true.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“But a pattern where it goes berserk the moment it kills... Tricky.”
Having heard about her own death twice now, she was being cautious.
“At this point, it might be better to prepare a way to exterminate every beast in the world in advance...”
No, that's not it.
Until the requested items arrived, I went to the office and met with clients just like in previous loops.
“I think I know what's wrong.”
“Really!?”
“Here’s my card. Come to the place, date, and time listed, and it’ll be resolved.”
To the client worried about their pet.
“You'll adopt all our cats if we show up on time that day?”
“Yes.”
“And cover the adoption fees?”
“Of course.”
To the client there to rehome cats.
“Hmm, do pets need to attend too?”
“It's a banquet for pets and their owners.”
“You're covering our hamster's vet bills, so... sure.”
To the client seeking pet treatment.
Under the pretext of resolving each client's issue, I invited everyone—pets included—to a banquet hall three days later.
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, will the culprit really show?』
“They will.”
『But the culprit is cautious and methodical. If I were them, I'd realize you're suspicious and stay away.』
“No chance.”
Late morning, I ate a boiled egg.
“But humans are full of contradictions.”
『What do you mean?』
“It means our emotions, logic, and actions often go completely opposite ways.”
Next, I ate a cucumber sandwich.
“Like a student who knows they should study before an exam but plays nervously instead. Or a dieter who knows they need to lose weight but can't resist late-night snacks. Or a patient who knows their health is bad but avoids the doctor out of fear and frets endlessly.”
『So, even with an obvious right answer, reason and emotion clash, preventing proper choices. But how does this relate to the current culprit?』
Finally, I drank Darjeeling tea.
“My guess is the culprit's in the same boat. Their actions contradict their thoughts.”
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon.』
“Yeah.”
Sarang-i asked.
『Your eating habits are poor. A tea party is tea paired with desserts—that's the rule. Eating them separately defeats the purpose.』
“Exactly. That's the contradiction.”
『?』
A few days later.
The Foundation chefs arrived.
“You want us to make the dishes on this list?”
“Yes. Not too hard, right?”
“Hard? I know every recipe on Earth.”
The Foundation chef looked proud.
“Even the forbidden ones.”
“Thank you for the invitation!”
Clients entered the banquet hall.
“Please don't hold back—enjoy the buffet until the others arrive.”
“Ah, sure!”
As discussed, everyone brought their pets.
“We've prepared food for the pets too.”
“Oh, nice! Safe for dogs?”
“Yes, feed them as much as they want.”
“Hong-gu, dinner time!”
However, the buffet wasn't very varied.
“Tsk, isn't Lee Seung-hoon the fixer also the chairman of Sarang Trading? But the food is kinda...”
“Only twelve human-safe dishes? And all light ones for palate cleansing—won't fill you up.”
They whispered, but my enhanced hearing caught it.
Once all 116 clients arrived, I lightly tapped a glass with a spoon to draw attention.
“Thank you all for coming. Only those who love animals are here, and I know better than anyone your passion and love for your pets.”
Some smiled warmly; others awkwardly.
“We've prepared special dishes for you.”
I set down the glass and clapped.
Waiters wheeled in carts with covered trays.
“First dish.”
The portions matched the guests.
Plates were set before everyone, trays uncovered.
“Foie gras, France's delicacy made from fattened goose liver.”
“Oh, foie gras.”
“First time trying it.”
The glistening dish made mouths water.
At the same moment, a screen descended, showing the prepared footage.
“Foie gras starts by fattening geese. For efficiency, we cage them tightly, exposing only the neck.”
On screen, a goose in an iron cage stretched its neck out.
“Then force-feed them nonstop. Doesn't matter if by force—as long as they fatten.”
A metal tube shoved down to the stomach, dumping feed.
“Induce fatty liver artificially, harvest the liver—that's foie gras.”
“......”
Silence blanketed the hall.
“Go on, eat. Plenty more dishes.”
“Ah, yes......”
Clients reacted variously.
“Well, it's the brutal history of food.”
“Foie gras is fancy, but this warns us of the horror behind it.”
Some ate.
“This is a bit...”
“Psycho? Just serve the food—why show the process?”
Others pushed plates away.
But the dishes continued.
“Second: ortolan. Catch buntings, lock in dark boxes, feed millet, grapes, figs for a month. To focus on eating, gouge out eyes. Drown the fattened birds in Armagnac brandy. Bake 6-8 minutes for a flavor said to embody the soul's essence—the ultimate delicacy.”
One after another, cruelly prepared dishes.
“Third: san-nakji. Live-cut octopus in sauce. Once thought cephalopods felt no pain, but recent studies say otherwise.”
Dishes from every nation followed.
“Fourth: fengganji. Pluck live chicken feathers fast, slit belly, remove guts. Stuff spices, sew up, salt evenly, air-dry. Chickens often still alive—left until they die naturally.”
In the previous loop, rampaging beasts hated humans.
For how humans treated them.
The culprit would too.
“Fifth: kaoya zhang, or roast duck feet. See for yourselves.”
Chefs brought massive iron platters.
Seeing live ducks, guests sensed it and gasped.
“No way......”
One clutched their pet duck tight, fearing it'd be used.
“Begin.”
“Yes.”
Chefs slathered prepared sauce on duck feet.
Dropped onto warm platters, cages slammed shut.
“Honk! Honk honk!”
Ducks thrashed wildly on the heating platters.
This hurts my heart too.
I miss Rubber Duck.
“Aaaah!”
“Eek!”
Guest screams rang out.
I scanned faces, but attention shifted elsewhere.
“G-Gu! Go-su!”
“M-Ming-ming?”
Not the cooking.
Their pets had all grown human faces.
“Haven't even done the monkey gall yet.”
Shorter fuse than expected.
‘As planned.’
Beast faces were one of the three glories promised to Adam.
Unlike Paradise Lost's flower, this power stemmed from beasts, so it manifested in beasts, not humans.
‘Thus, the culprit is one of the pets brought by guests.’
Even all turning human-faced was anticipated.
The one reacting differently amid them would be the culprit.
‘There.’
Spotted the special one.
Slightly off from expectations?
‘Whatever.’
Vision darkened.
Last sight: an unseen singularity butchering my body.
Darkness flooded in.
‘Found the culprit.’
In the dark, Paradise Lost's flower bloomed.
The final petal fell.
[Next news: Last night, 13 animal rights activists illegally entered a Seoul zoo and were found dead.]
Two fried eggs.
Bowl of rice.
Two spoons soy sauce, one spoon sesame oil.
[No animal wounds found. Police leaning toward weapon, illness, or accident.]
Not eating.
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, skipping meals to go somewhere?』
“Got something to check.”
Used a ticket for apocalypse survivor's survival kit.
Opened fortune cookie.
[Conversation is the best way to resolve problems.]
“Knew you'd say that.”
After, did nothing else.
“Nice to meet you. I'm Yi Ha-yul, acting branch chief of the Foundation's Korea branch.”
Didn't tell Agent Yi Ha-yul about the regression.
Too radical—likely to create variables.
“Ugh, our Chorong barks at people nonstop lately! Saw famous trainers, vets—nobody knows why.”
“Woof! Woof woof! Woof!”
Quietly.
Waiting for the hoped-for client.
“I know the cause. Mind leaving Chorong with me briefly?”
“Pardon?”
“Can fix it next room. Owner can't enter.”
Took the toothless old dog next door.
“Chorong, it's you, right?”
“Woof woof!”
Chorong on the desk barked at me.
“You wouldn't know, but I regressed from the future. At the banquet, all clients' pets showed their true faces—including you.”
“Woof woof woof!”
Just like a normal toy poodle.
“115 turned human-faced. You alone didn't.”
“Woof! Woof woof!”
“Stayed a normal poodle. But get this? Future you didn't bark like now. No panting either.”
Banquet scene overlapped with now.
“Just glared silently. Like someone too furious to think straight. Everyone else human-faced, but you acting human? Suspicious as hell.”
“Regression's cheating.”
Chorong spoke in an old man's twilight voice.
The 6kg-less toy poodle glared.
“So what now? You found me—gonna kill me?”
Provocative tone.
“No.”
Conversation is the best way to resolve all problems.
Especially for one that speaks human.
Thinks with human intelligence.
“Just want to talk.”
All the more for an animal with human contradictions.