Bye-Bye, My Pretty Delivery Foods
Three hours had flown by as I clutched my smartphone, buried in searches. The sky had turned a golden yellow before I knew it. I set the now-useless phone aside and flopped down onto the wide wooden porch where I'd been sitting. It was still mid-September, so the air was warm, but the floor beneath me felt refreshingly cool by contrast. My overheated brain, stuffed with random new knowledge in that short time, was finally cooling off bit by bit.
"Does this even make sense…?"
The results of my three-hour smartphone marathon were utterly disappointing.
"I never imagined the level here would be this low…"
To cut to the chase, the knowledge of mana and magic in this world was pathetically inferior. Not quite primitive, but from my perspective, it was sigh-worthy. If I rated mana handling on a scale of 1 to 10, these people barely scraped a generous 3.
Average awakeners here could grind their way up to C-rank at best—that was their "3." There wasn't much info on S-rank hunters for comparison, but I watched a video of an A-rank in combat and could only let out a hollow laugh. Even the elementary kids at the Witch Academy in Nihilum handled mana better than that.
Setting aside their overall sloppy mana control, I wondered why Sis and So-hee noona had doubted me so much. That's when I dug into the Hunter Management Bureau website, checking out the support mages So-hee noona mentioned, and discovered this "Mana Type Test" for figuring out what magic awakeners could use…
I smacked my forehead the second I saw it. How could they think so one-dimensionally?
According to them, everyone has an innate mana form they carry from birth. You can't change it at will—attack awakeners stick to attacks, support to support. That's the common sense here. Probably what So-hee noona meant by an "unchanging fact."
They base their magic and skills on the test results… but honestly, I have no idea why they buy into this. Sure, there's an innate mana form, but with repeated training, you can reshape it completely. Meaning, with enough effort, anyone can wield a variety of spells.
But even with their near-zero mana comprehension, the real killer issue was something else. Most awakeners here had dramatically less mana in their bodies compared to Triia's mana users. Already wasting mana due to clumsy control, and with low reserves on top? They tire out fast. Straight-up mana premature ejaculation. Not even real ED is this bad.
Sure, some with slightly higher mana pools or better control hit B-rank or above… but anyone from Triia would just laugh.
…But that's normal here. From their view, I'm the freak, and my words would sound like nonsense. No wonder Sis and So-hee noona, living in this world, couldn't buy what I was saying.
So-hee noona saw me use Miracle Time and pegged me as a support mage. Should've shown her a mid-tier spell instead… but indoors, that was the only one that came to mind. Anything else would've wrecked the room.
Couldn't just drag them into a dungeon to fight monsters either. Still, Miracle Time is insanely powerful. Sure, ultra-low-probability stuff is a no-go, but for combat, any spell with 30% or lower hit/success rate always lands. And these folks don't even get how broken that is… tsk tsk.
With my thoughts somewhat sorted, I got up and headed inside. I'd been outside since afternoon, so the house was dark, bathed only in sunset glow.
"All alone in this big place…"
Standing blankly in the living room center, the loneliness finally hit me. Back when I was a guy, I was a total loner, but in Nihilum, I was always with someone. Before enrolling in the Witch Academy—the specialist institute for witch training—I stuck with Master and my sisters. After, I meshed perfectly with my department cohorts, always hanging out.
I'd visit Red noona and little sis in other departments sometimes, but little sis graduated early—fastest in Academy history—and Red noona dove straight into field training post-graduation, so I naturally bonded with my classmates. After my own graduation, I was back with sisters, so being alone was rare.
Becoming a witch taught me the joys of companionship. Now facing solo rural life? Kinda bittersweet.
Grrrowl—
My stomach picked this moment to rumble.
"Tch, food first. It'll work out somehow."
Think positive. Not forever here—just till things quiet down. Worst case, sneak into hunting without telling Sis and show 'em myself.
To soothe my noisy gut, I beelined for the kitchen. It was super open-concept, with brick-patterned walls.
"Whoa… this that Nordic style you hear about?"
Even non-cooks would wanna whip something up here. Scanning the kitchen, my eyes locked on the massive fridge—the fancy kind from dramas about rich folks.
I approached, grabbed the handle, and tugged lightly. Amid the spilling cold air…
"Huh? It's empty?"
Contrary to expectations, zilch inside. Just a deodorizer.
Grrrowl—
My stomach protested the empty sight.
"Come on, at least send food with someone exiled to the boonies…!!"
Hoping against hope, I rummaged the lower cabinets—pots, pans, utensils galore, but zero edibles. Emergency!
No food!
I tapped the contact labeled [PrettySis♡] without hesitation and called. One minute of ringing… then, "The person you called is not answering. Beep…"
Am I seriously abandoned? Wait, last resort: the credit card in the paperwork envelope, probably for living expenses. Order from nearby spots or delivery—done.
Dunno whose card, but Sis or So-hee noona. Sis is guilty by default; So-hee noona for dodging my call.
"Punishment: I'll use just 20 a day."
20 daily = 600 monthly. Huge for food, but they're loaded—no biggie. I was already thrilled. Holy crap, jackpot. What first? Right—bucket list from guy days: try every chicken brand! All meals delivery. Unhealthy? Pfft, I'm a witch. No sickness, no weight gain. Born to eat, cheat code existence.
Humming, I made a webstore ID with my new info, downloaded the delivery app.
"Different history here? So many weird apps."
Not the famous one from my old world—"Zugiyo," rated 4.8. Impressive for a delivery app, usually review-bombed. Different here.
"Start light: signature chickens~"
Launched Zugiyo, allowed GPS, searched nearby stores. Five-second refresh… results popped up.
No stores nearby available for order.
A single glaring sentence on the white screen.
"……"
I forgot how to breathe. Mind went blank, hands started shaking. Scrolling yielded the same line on repeat. Glitch. Had to be. What era is this—places without delivery?!
Checked the app map for my location pronto.
[Gyeongsangnam-do ○○-gun ○○-myeon ○○-ri ○○-beonji]
"……."
Where the hell am I? Forget that—no stores within 15km of this pension. Only a traditional market 5km away in town. Seoul vibes already.