Mint Chocolate and the Reunion That Tastes Like Chaos
People say that when some like something and others hate it, tastes differ. This expression gets used especially often with food. Since eating is one of the most important parts of human life, it makes sense. In my previous life, people fought about it all the time.
Why would you pour sauce on crispy fried food and make the batter soggy? Turning the perfectly crunchy coating into a mushy mess that slides right off the meat is an unforgivable crime. You taste-blind idiot! What are you even saying? Do you enjoy pain or something, you pervert? When the sauce soaks into the batter, it doesn't just get softer—it seeps into the meat too, creating a deeper flavor! You taste-blind idiot!
Pineapple is best eaten fresh—cool, sweet, and tangy. Who in their right mind would think of putting it on a pizza and baking it in the oven? That's the kind of twisted idea only a demon would have. You taste-blind idiot! What are you talking about? The pineapple on pizza releases its bright juices when heated, cutting through the greasy, heavy flavors of the other toppings. Plus, the heat mellows out its sharp acidity and brings out the natural sweetness. Sweet and salty harmony! You taste-blind idiot!
Anyway, one of those controversial foods—mint chocolate—had made its way into the world I'd reincarnated into. It really proved the saying that people are the same everywhere, even across dimensions. Or maybe the name was the same but the taste was different. This was another world, after all. It was entirely possible.
I'd been a mint-chocolate neutral in my past life, so I wanted to confirm it for myself. I headed to an ice cream shop with Noah.
What’s a mint-chocolate neutral, you ask? Someone who doesn’t mind eating mint chocolate but wouldn’t go out of their way to get it. After hearing one side scream that mint chocolate is the best thing ever and the other side declare it absolutely disgusting, you try it out of curiosity. If your reaction is just hmm… I guess it’s fine? then congratulations—you’re a mint neutral. It’s like the “just eat it” faction in the great tangsuyuk dipping-sauce war.
And so we arrived at the ice cream shop. It was the perfect time for a post-lunch snack. But what greeted my eyes was the scene of a violent battlefield.
“This is supposed to be ice cream? It tastes like that alchemist’s breath-freshening potion!”
“What?! Your tongue’s the one that’s broken! How can you not appreciate this sweet, refreshing flavor?!”
““You people who can’t even taste properly!””
…Yeah. I probably didn’t need to try it after all. Maybe I’d just buy something for Noah and pick a different flavor for myself. Yeah, let’s do that.
I handed Noah some money and told him to get whatever he wanted, then went to order first. Since I had money to spare now, I’d always wanted to try saying that line.
“I’ll have one of everything from here to there, please!”
“I’ll have one of everything from here to there, please!”
A girl’s voice echoed mine at the exact same time. Oh, someone with good taste, I thought. At least until I heard her follow-up order.
I added, “Oh, and hold the mint chocolate.”
She said, “Oh, and add an extra mint chocolate.”
We’d started the same but ended up completely split. Without thinking, we turned to look at each other. The moment I saw her face, my eyes widened and my mouth fell open. I couldn’t say a word.
“Whoa! You’re super cute! Your voice is pretty too! I don’t like picky eaters, though! Mint chocolate is so good—how can you skip it?”
The girl seemed to be complimenting my looks and voice, but none of it really registered. Because her face looked exactly like the person from the vivid dream I’d had last night. No—except for the teal hair, it was identical.
So without thinking, I blurted out the nickname I’d probably used even more than her real name.
“…Seol-babo?”
“…What?”
Ah. I’d just called a stranger an idiot. Sorry about that.
“Sorry. You look so much like someone I know that I accidentally used her nickname.”
I apologized politely.
“…What do you mean? How do you know that name… I mean, that nickname?”
But the girl’s reaction was strange. No way…? Nah, couldn’t be.
I lowered my gaze a little from her face. Down to her chest.
“I’m really sorry. I must have mistaken you for her. There’s no way it’s actually her.”
“What are you looking at while saying that?!”
Of course I was sure. Seol-babo—no, Seol Bakha had been as flat as a washboard. You literally couldn’t tell her front from her back. On the other hand, the girl standing in front of me was clearly wearing armor over a very… generous chest. The volume difference was enormous.
“The person I knew couldn’t be told apart from the front or back. So it can’t be her. Yeah.”
“…Who the hell are you?”
The girl started getting angry at my words. I could even feel a faint killing intent. The funny part was that deep in those teal eyes, I could see a flicker of joy.
…Damn. I had a bad feeling about this.
The girl in front of me really was Seol Bakha. She’d reincarnated into this world just like me, carrying memories from her past life.
“You’re the first person to call me by that nickname in seventeen years.”
A girl who looked about seventeen was talking about something from seventeen years ago. With a soft shing, the girl who was almost certainly Seol Bakha in her previous life drew the greatsword strapped to her back and pointed it at me.
“Looks like we need to have a long talk. Probably not something we should do in front of other people, right? We seem to already know each other, but I think we need to get to know each other even better. Don’t you?”
Um. What do you even say in a situation like this? Bad dreams last night? I thought it was a lucid dream but it was actually a prophetic one? So the dream I had last night was foreshadowing our reunion…?
To be honest, I was happy. My best friend from my previous life had reincarnated into the same world with all her memories intact. But… I couldn’t tell her who I was! The guy she knew had turned into a girl! Knowing Seol Bakha’s personality, there was no way she wouldn’t tease me mercilessly.
Suddenly, memories of what I’d said and done in front of her during high school flashed through my mind, crystal clear thanks to that damn dream. Hmm… time to run.
“There are two possibilities… which one is it?”
Oh no. She was already narrowing it down.
“Lady Levia! This thing called mint chocolate is really deli—”
“See you later, Noah! Something urgent came up!”
Without even properly answering Noah, I wrapped my body in physical reinforcement and bolted.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
“You’ve got the wrong person!”
* * *
Do you remember the characteristics of people who reincarnate into another world? They either have overpowered abilities or talents, or they use knowledge from their previous life to make a fortune and succeed. The same applied to previous-life people!
That’s why, in this world, if it was revealed that someone was a previous-life person or a reincarnator with memories from their past life, they would unconditionally be selected as a Hero Candidate.
The reason I’m saying all this is…
“Stop right there! Tell me who you were in your previous life right now!”
…because the reincarnated Seol Bakha also possessed that characteristic.
Are you kidding me? She’s keeping up with my five-layer physical reinforcement? That meant she was at least equal to—or possibly stronger than—Cesca, a fully matured Master-level swordsman.
My current adventurer rank was A. I remembered how shocked the receptionist had been when I reached it in just two months, calling me the new divine genius and saying I was even faster than the adventurer known as the Divine One. From the circumstances, the “Divine One” that everyone in Minoris had been sick of hearing about for the past three months was this girl.
“I told you it was a mistake! We look alike, sure, but there’s a crucial difference! It’s someone else!”
“Don’t talk about chests!!! I’m definitely bigger than I was in my previous life!”
Whoosh!
Along with her furious shout came the sound of air being sliced. She’d infused mana into her greatsword and launched a blade of energy. The power contained in that slash was no joke!
I instinctively ducked while still running. A massive surge of energy flew over my head and—
Boom!
It exploded in midair. I quickly surrounded myself with a holy barrier to block the shockwave. To make a flying blade of energy explode like that—her mana manipulation was truly impressive.
“Hey! Are you crazy?! If that attack had hit someone even a little weaker, they would’ve died instantly! You crazy girl!”
Instead of running away again, I spun around to face her.
With that scolding, she shot back, “You’re not dead, are you?”
“What?”
Her answer was more shameless than I expected. But her face wasn’t shameless at all. She looked happy yet complicated, with tears welling up in her eyes. One little poke and she’d probably burst into tears.
“Now I’m sure. That tone just now. The way you raise both hands when you fight. You really thought I wouldn’t remember?”
“Hey, hey. Why are you suddenly about to cry?”
Crap. Looks like I’ve been caught.
“Why are you here…? You weren’t supposed to be here! And why are you a girl?! Why are you prettier and cuter than me?!”
Shouting what sounded like both anger and compliments at the same time, Seol Bakha strode forward, grabbed both my shoulders, and started shaking me violently. The force was so fierce I flinched and couldn’t break free for a second.
Wait, why is she so strong?
“Being in this world means you died! What the hell happened?! How did you die?! You idiot! How old were you when you died? Did you get married?! Who was it?! D-did you have kids?! Answer me right now!”
Can’t you at least give me time to answer before asking?! And stop shaking me! I feel like my brain’s getting scrambled!
“S-s-s-stop sh-sh-shaking m-m-meeee…”
“Answer me! Gu Gyumyung!”
Whoa. It had been so long since I’d heard my real name from my previous life. It felt incredibly strange. Especially hearing it from a friend who had also reincarnated. But strangely, it felt good. Not in a bad way—in a really nice way.
I stopped Seol Bakha, who was shaking me harder and harder while demanding an answer, and finally opened my mouth. Since she’d used my real name, I couldn’t deny it anymore.
“It’s been a while, huh? Seol Bakha?”
“Answer the question!!!!!! Who did you marry?! Was it Lee Somin from high school? Or did you meet someone in college and start dating long-distance? I knew it! It was an office romance, wasn’t it?! If you met on a dating app and got married, I’ll kill you!”
Um… why are you so obsessed with whether I got married or not?
“I didn’t get married. I died at twenty-five.”
“R-really? That’s a relief…”
“Why is that a relief?”
“N-nothing! It’s nothing!”
Why are you getting mad?
“A-anyway… it’s sad that you died and reincarnated too, but… I’m really glad we met again like this.”
The anger that had been on Seol Bakha’s face just moments ago vanished completely as she greeted me warmly.
“Pfft.”
Then she laughed.
“Heh… khk… heh…”
“…Just laugh already, damn it.”
In the span of a few seconds she’d gone from crying to getting angry to laughing—she was showing the entire range of human emotions all at once.
“Puhahahaha! Gu-Gyumyung became a girl… heh…! The guy who always acted like the ultimate manly man… ahahahaha!”
Damn it.
“You died without even getting any action, didn’t you? Ahahahaha!”
…How did she know?
“A dense idiot who didn’t even understand girls’ feelings is now a girl. Do you finally understand how women think?”
“Shut up! I have zero intention of becoming a woman on the inside too!”
As if I’d fall to female corruption!
“Still, you turned into an absolutely stunning beautiful girl. At least that makes it a little less unfair! Looking in the mirror every morning must feel fresh and exciting, right?”
“Being pretty is the best, I’ll admit.”
“How can your voice be this cute too? I just want to hug you!”
I flinched.
“D-don’t come any closer.”
“Oh~? What’s wrong? We’re both girls now, so what’s the big deal about a little hug? Hah!”
Seol Bakha suddenly rushed in and wrapped both arms around me, locking me in a tight embrace.
“Mmm. Your hair smells nice.”
“…”
I can’t breathe! Let go! Because of our height difference, my face is smashed into your breastplate and it hurts! Take the armor off if you’re going to hug me, or just let me go! It’s hard!
At that moment, a very instinctive suspicion rose inside me.
I shaped my hand like I was about to flick someone’s forehead, then raised it and aimed precisely at the center of the breastplate Seol Bakha was wearing—right at the chest area.
Then I flicked.
Thud…!
A hollow, empty sound rang out. I felt Seol Bakha’s body, which had been holding me, suddenly go rigid.
“…”
“…”
“So… not just your face—your chest is exactly the same, huh? Isn’t it a bit much to scam people with armor…?”
“S-shut up…!”