The Last Supper
A short while later, I headed to the restaurant with Shin Yu-hee in tow. Calling it a restaurant was a stretch—it was more like a college cafeteria or a company canteen.
"Hey, newbies?"
The dark elf sitting beyond the iron bars scanned me and Shin Yu-hee up and down.
"Who's that...?"
"Dark elf. She's the head chef."
"...She's buck naked, though?"
"Don't overthink it."
Even though she was working in the kitchen, the dark elf—covered in scars across one eye and her entire body—radiated an aura that made her hard to mess with.
"You know the rules here? If not, I'll explain. Use the exchange voucher on the last page of your survival log, and..."
Gruff and prickly as she seemed, the dark elf chef was kind enough to give the newbie a detailed rundown.
"...So remember this: with exchange vouchers, you can swap for any food based on how many you have. No vouchers? Tough luck—no bones, no broth!"
"Got it. Alright, Shin Yu-hee? One each. I'll get bread, you get soup."
"......"
"What?"
"We're sharing, right?"
"That's the perk of partying up. Oh, you didn't think I'd cover both, did you?"
"No way."
Shin Yu-hee pulled out her exchange voucher, and I did the same, holding it out.
"Ho. Not bad."
The dark elf chef's eyes sparkled as she eyed us up and down again at our actions.
"Heard about this place beforehand? Or what, special agents infiltrating to liberate the arena?"
"What the...?"
"No need to freak out, miss. Even if you are, I just take the vouchers—that's my paycheck."
"It's not that, chef. We just read the survival log thoroughly and came to eat early."
"Oh, gotcha. Thought heroes were storming in for a sec."
"Heroes..."
Shin Yu-hee shot me a quick glance, but by then the chef had already brought out two decent-looking chunks of bread and some soup from inside.
"Hm? Two bowls?"
"Not service. It's one portion, but since you're sharing, I ladled it separately."
"You could've packed two portions or at least one-and-a-half into one bowl."
"In your dreams. Do that, and Chekhov'd blow my head off. Enjoy your meal, you intriguing newbies."
The chef chuckled as she slid over the tray, and I took it to a quiet corner.
"...Want me to get water? Cutlery—"
"With vouchers?"
"Pardon?"
"Water's not self-serve."
Water and exchange vouchers. At those two words alone, Shin Yu-hee's face went pale. Sharp as ever—made things easy.
"We'll be eating a lot of soup from now on."
"Hydration and nutrition in one?"
"Exactly. And this is a spoon."
I dunked a piece of bread into the soup, soaked it thoroughly, and chewed.
"It might be your last supper, so chew well."
A meal you couldn't call ordinary. Even modern prison inmates probably ate better. Shin Yu-hee had every reason to complain, but—
Squish.
She split the bread in half, gripped one piece in one hand, and started dipping the other into the soup.
"Packed lunch?"
"...Just in case."
"Not planning to give it to someone, right?"
"If it's a trade, maybe. But charity? No way."
Beyond sharp—she was on another level. Even without me, she'd probably survive just fine on her own.
"You, why'd you die in stage 1?"
"......"
"Me? Park Chang-su fucked me over early on. But you don't strike me as the type to die easy."
"You believe me if I tell you?"
"Half."
"Half?"
"You're only half-believing I got killed by Park Chang-su, right?"
Shin Yu-hee went quiet for a moment, then chewed her bread in silence.
"Fine. I'll take the L. Tell me straight how you died, and I'll believe it all."
"How'll you know if it's true? Grab another hero candidate and ask?"
"Could, but no need. If you say so, I believe it."
"......I was murdered."
Shin Yu-hee clenched the remaining bread in her hand hard.
"Newbies banded together some. Girls partied up to survive, and I took a goblin's weapon to fight."
"Mm, mm, yeah. Impressive. Then?"
She probably didn't realize how hard she was squeezing, but I didn't point out the voucher-squished, lunch-ready bread chunk and just listened.
"The quest—or whatever mission that angel gave. Right before the 24-hour mark, a goblin pack hit us. Over a dozen at once. I took out five."
"What weapon?"
"Sword. Pretty long one. Did some kendo back in the day."
Kendo basics wouldn't cut down multiple goblins easy. Looked like I'd hooked a bigger fish than expected.
"Overwhelmed after that? By goblins?"
"No."
"Then? Fell off a cliff?"
"Mission was survival, so after luring them, I tried to run. But..."
Shin Yu-hee shuddered, crushing the bread completely.
"A dagger flew from the girls who'd run ahead."
"......"
"Hit my gut, I tumbled. Then a goblin from behind stabbed my back."
"Dogshit way to go."
"Yeah. Absolute dogshit. Problem is, one of those fucking bitches is here. Means the rest survived. Rotten cunts."
I got the rage. I bust my ass fighting to save them, they bail first and sacrifice me? Then I end up in this shithole after such a bullshit death?
"Fucking sucks."
"Fucking does. I'd kill to track 'em down and make 'em die the same. If I hadn't used my three lives, I'd have killed one—so fair's fair, one of 'em should die too."
"Damn right."
She'd go far as a hero. Even if our paths split later, she'd carve out a spot in some big guild back home and thrive.
"Wonder if those bitches are choking down slop like this right now."
"Who knows? Not me."
I knew. Probably chilling in a human village near the orc outpost. Not buying food with vouchers—getting fed and housed by village chiefs begging them to wipe out the orcs.
"Anyway, that bread—you trading it like that?"
"...Ah."
Shin Yu-hee stared blankly at the mangled lump, face falling. Unless you were some freak with a handprint fetish, no way it'd pass for a voucher trade—
Kyaaaaaaaagh—!
A high-pitched scream echoed from afar. The kind I'd heard endlessly in the Goblin Forest, and even after dying and respawning.
Not one or two—multiple.
"This now...?!"
"They made it out. And saw the corpses and shit."
"......"
"Finish eating. If they come here, we'll bump into 'em—trouble."
"...Sunbae."
Shin Yu-hee scraped the soup bowl clean with her mangled bread and asked carefully.
"What's your basis for judging others as a hindrance?"
"This ain't a team game. We'll never see 'em again anyway."
"......"
"Even if we do later, handle it flexibly then. Selfish plays to survive? Fine."
"As long as it's not like killing someone out of grudge?"
"Yeah. All done? Gimme the empties."
I swallowed the last bite. Scraped every drop of moisture from the soup bowl, then gathered the empties and returned them to the chef.
"Hey."
The chef receiving the tray leaned forward a bit toward me.
"What's your name?"
"Yoo Si-woo."
"Yoo Si-woo, huh. Unusual name. I'll remember it."
The chef pointed at me and Shin Yu-hee alternately, winking one scarred eye.
"Where to next? No meddling—just curious. If you're after more vouchers, I could point you to good spots."
"Good spots...? Like what?"
Shin Yu-hee edged behind me and asked cautiously.
"How many vouchers per hour?"
"Damn, miss—haggling rates already?"
"Yeah. Um, anything like selling your body?"
"Whorehouse? Nah, that's for the brothel."
"There's a brothel?"
"Yup. Interested? I could hook you up."
"...No, no."
Brothel, huh. Wonder how many would end up there.
"Sunbae. What about you...?"
"Got one in mind, but recommendations welcome."
"Oh, already?"
"Yeah. The surest way to rack up vouchers in the survival log."
"...Oho."
The chef's eyes lit up again.
"Whatever I suggest, you'll ignore?"
"I picked mine, but it'll help her."
"Fair. Don't know if she'll jump on it, but here's three recs."
The chef held up three fingers, pointing one inward.
"Work here at the restaurant. Can't trust you with cooking, so dishes or prepping ingredients. Simple stuff."
"Others?"
"Arena cleanup. Corpses and mess everywhere. Vouchers pay decent."
"......Humans' post-sex traces too?"
"That too. And last..."
The chef stuck out her thumb.
"Best pay? Brothel, hands down."
"That's..."
"Just recs. Your call, miss. Tell 'em Shemiri from the kitchen sent you. ...Though looks like you're picking elsewhere."
"Elsewhere...?"
"Yeah. Said it yourself—last supper."
I raised my hand and mimed slitting my throat.
"We're heading to the arena."
"Arena? This place is..."
"Exactly. To fight."
"...Pardon?"
The easiest way to earn exchange vouchers in the arena.
"Cut off the enemy's head and claim the voucher."
"......"
"And...lend me some vouchers?"
"...Pardon?"
"No biggie."
I rubbed my thumb and index finger at Shin Yu-hee.
"I'll pay double after I cash in."