The Omnipurpose Restaurant in Dungeon City

Spilled wine cannot be gathered up again.
The underlying meaning is to be careful when doing something.
Seria thought she understood this, but theory and practice are different.
‘Have I made a big mistake…?’
Seria seriously wondered if she was in a situation where she had spilled the wine.
It was because of the three plates in front of her.
“From the left, it’s level 1, 2, and 3.
Please start with level 1 and let me know how it feels subjectively and if you can handle it.”
“Ahaha… okay…”
Three plates containing the unknown food called Tteokbokki.
It takes courage just because it’s a food she’s never seen before, but the problem was that all three were spicy foods.
Honestly, Seria wasn’t used to dishes centered around spiciness.
She was more familiar with spiciness as an ingredient used in medicine or poison rather than food.
The occasional spicy food she had tried was just at the level of a spice accompaniment, never as the main focus of a dish.
“Whew, then… I’ll eat well.”
But she couldn’t just stare at the food she had requested.
It wasn’t just an ordinary order, she had agreed to cooperate with the test in exchange for free food.
Breaking a contract after making one was impossible for Seria, who always preached the importance of contracts to adventurers.
Moreover, hadn’t Kyle recommended it, saying it was so delicious?
She believed that at least, inedible food wouldn’t be served.
‘I’m trusting you, Kyle and owner!’
Seria directed her slightly trembling hand with the fork towards the level 1 plate.
At least level 1 had the lightest color, so it didn’t look too scary on the surface.
The sauce wasn’t thick but watery, so it wasn’t coating the ingredients much.
Seria gathered her courage and picked up a small rice cake.
Chomp!
She put it in her mouth at once.
Chew chew-
Gulp!
While Jin also watched nervously, Seria chewed and swallowed the rice cake and slowly opened her mouth.
“It’s delicious…! It’s much more delicious than I thought!”
“Haha, right? I told you I’d make it delicious.”
The Tteokbokki she tasted for the first time was quite delicious.
Jin laughed at Seria’s excited expression, as if to say ‘See?’
“I think the sweet and savory taste is stronger than the spiciness. I can feel some spiciness, but not at a level that’s too spicy?”
“It’s still level 1. I made it as mild as possible.”
As Jin said, maybe because it was still level 1, it was slightly spicy, but the level was weak enough that Seria could eat it without difficulty.
“How’s the texture of the rice cakes?”
“Yes, it was a bit awkward at first, but as I ate, I found it rather fun and enjoyable.”
This food called rice cakes certainly had a surprising texture, but.
Jin had explained it beforehand, and they were cut small, so it wasn’t too bothersome.
Rather, as she chewed, the elasticity felt by her teeth gave a strange pleasure and fun.
When combined with the sweet and savory sauce, it went down smoothly without any hindrance.
“That’s good. Would you like to try the other things?”
“Oh right, of course.”
This time, Seria unhesitatingly moved her fork to pick up a piece of fish cake.
‘The owner said this was like ham made from fish.’
Although Seria had seen dried fish a few times, it was her first time seeing ham made from fish.
Such a unique and rare ingredient made her curious about the identity of the restaurant again, but.
‘I guess it’s not too late to think about it after eating!’
It was pushed back in the face of appetite for the delicious food in front of her.
Nom!
Chew chew
Seria puts it in her mouth and chews cheerfully, unlike before.
The soft and tender texture as she chewed.
The unique savory and salty taste of fish cake spreading in her mouth was a fantastic combination with the sweet sauce.
‘There’s no fishy smell!’
Moreover, Seria was surprised that although she could clearly taste the fish, there was no fishy smell.
It was enough to make Seria’s eyes widen in surprise, as she had expected the terrible fishy smell from dried fish.
Was it covered by the taste of the sauce? Or was it because of the unique ingredient called fish cake?
Either way, it wasn’t ordinary skill.
Then what about the other ingredients?
As soon as she swallowed the fish cake, her fork targeted another ingredient.

The next thing she put in her mouth was sausage.
As sausage was a familiar ingredient that Seria often ate, she worried if she could feel as special as with the fish cake, but.
Crunch-
‘Can sausage be this tender and juicy?’
The worry disappeared as soon as she took a bite of the sausage.
Elastic casing, encasing soft and juicy sausage inside.
It was a completely different taste from the hard sausages of the dungeon city, dried for preservation.
It was a high-quality product that seemed to be made for taste rather than preservation.
While starting to become afraid of what this restaurant’s identity might be, Seria’s hand was honestly extending her fork towards the next target.
She rolled up the strange curly pasta noodles that Jin had called ramen noodles with her fork.
Slurp-
The noodles, fully soaked in sauce, slipped down smoothly.
But.
‘Hmm… this is more ordinary than I thought.’
Was the shock from what she ate earlier too big?
The noodles, fully soaked in sauce, were certainly chewy and allowed her to fully taste the sauce, but.
It wasn’t shocking enough to be surprised.
Did that thought show on her face?
Jin asked worriedly.
“Do you not like the ramen noodles?”
“Ah, no, it’s not that. It just seems a bit ordinary compared to the other ingredients. Of course, this is delicious too.”
Seria hurriedly explained.
It was ordinary compared to the other ingredients, but still plenty delicious.
To Seria, who was anxious about whether she had hurt the chef’s pride, Jin unexpectedly said confidently:
“Then would you like to try eating the ramen noodles together with the other ingredients? It’ll be completely different.”
“Eat this together?”
Seria tilted her head but followed Jin’s words and put the ramen noodles in her mouth along with other ingredients.
“…!”
Then she clearly felt it.
This was the true way to eat Tteokbokki, the completed form of Tteokbokki!
The noodles that had seemed ordinary were now harmonizing with the other unique ingredients, creating synergy.
Slurp-
Seria started inhaling with this realization.
Thanks to this, the Tteokbokki quickly diminished.
“Phew~ Ah… I’ve already finished it.”
Seria said regretfully after emptying the level 1 Tteokbokki plate in an instant and exhaling a slightly burning breath.
“Haha, I made the amount per plate a bit small. Instead, there’s the next level, so please try that too.”
“Oh, right.”
As if she had forgotten that the amount was made small for each level for the spiciness test, Seria’s face lit up again as soon as she heard there was still more left.
“Level 1 was manageable, right? From level 2, it might be quite spicy, so please evaluate it well.”
“I understand!”
Seria steeled herself once again, but unlike before, she tasted the level 2 Tteokbokki with expectation.
Nom nom-
Chew chew-
Seria seemed to be eating well unexpectedly, but soon there was a reaction.
“Ssssip…”
It started with a small inhaling sound.
As if trying to cool her hot mouth, the sound of breathing continued.
And finally.
“Sssip~ Ha! Owner, this is spicy!”
“Is it very spicy? Too much to handle?”
“No! It’s spicy, haa, I can handle it but, sssip, it’s spicy!”
Seria started shouting loudly that it was spicy.
She inhaled due to the spiciness between every word, sweat was pouring down her face, and she didn’t even notice that her glasses were askew.
But even in the midst of this, her hand continued to move the Tteokbokki to her mouth.
“It’s spicy, hueek, but it’s so delicious my hand keeps moving! Sssip, it’s spicy but I can’t stop!”
“Spiciness is quite addictive.”
The stimulation of spiciness between sweetness and savoriness made the taste not boring and strangely addictive, making you keep coming back for more.
“It’ll be even spicier if you stop.”
Jin said with a grin as if trying to scare her, but.
Even without being told, Seria had no intention of stopping.
Not only was the Tteokbokki so delicious, but she was starting to feel strangely refreshed.
Not physical refreshment, but mental refreshment.
‘It feels like my head is clearing up.’
As she heated up from the spiciness and sweated, at some point she felt her mind go blank and the stress and headache that had been troubling her disappear.
A strange sense of elevation as if complicated thoughts were being deleted and cleanly organized.
Seria vaguely thought it was like becoming a monk who deliberately cultivates their mind through asceticism.
“Ah, if it’s too spicy, try mashing the boiled egg there and mixing it in.”
“The egg?”
Following Jin’s advice was also half reflexive.
“Whoa, this is good. Sssip, the spiciness is reduced and it’s rich and soft.”
The visual might have become a bit messy, but eating it mashed and mixed with boiled egg was definitely delicious.
It’s natural since it’s a combination verified by countless people, but still.
“Heuup, haaa~ I’ve eaten well.”
By the time Seria came to her senses, she had already emptied the second plate.
She was breathing rapidly with a reddened face, trying to cool her mouth, but.
Rather, her expression looked lighter and more comfortable.
Jin handed a cup of drink to Seria as she wiped off her sweat and adjusted her glasses.
“Here, if it’s too spicy, would you like to try this?”
“Heek hek, what, sssip, is this?”
“This is a drink called Cool Peach, it’s good to drink when you’ve eaten spicy food.”
Hearing it was good for spicy food, Seria immediately took the Cool Peach drink Jin offered and drank it.
Gulp gulp
The drink she gulped down coolly was a quite sweet and sour juice with a peach flavor.
And as Jin had promised, after drinking it, the spicy taste lingering on her tongue seemed to calm down for sure.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Whew, yes. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Then shall we try the last level now?”
“Ah.”
That’s right.
For a moment, Seria thought it was all over, but there was still the final level 3 left.
‘Even level 2 was barely manageable…’
What about level 3, which looks much redder just at a glance?
“Sniff sniff, cough cough!”
Just smelling it made her cough slightly from the spicy aroma.
But this too was an inescapable fate.
Seria put a bite of level 3 Tteokbokki in her mouth with a trembling hand, and.
“It’s spicyyyy!!!”
She screamed intensely and breathed fire from her mouth.
“O, owner, thish, ish too shpicy…! Cool Peash pleash!”
Seria whimpered with her tongue twisted from the intense spiciness.
She could tell with just one bite,
Level 3 was incomparable to level 2.
This was like flames rising from hell!
“Hmm, is it completely impossible?”
Nod nod
Seria just nodded while drinking another glass of Cool Peach.
Even if it was a contract, this was really too much.
“Then how about adding this?”
Seeing Seria like this, Jin brought out his hidden trump card.
Sizzle-
“Th, this is?”
“It’s cheese. It goes well with Tteokbokki and will neutralize the spiciness quite a bit.”
It was cheese.
Melted mozzarella cheese covered the Tteokbokki.
As the white cheese covered the red sauce, it even created an illusion as if the flames of hell were being purified to white.
Seria picked up her fork again as if entranced.
Stretch-
The Tteokbokki wrapped in stretchy cheese looked much less evil than before.
It looked manageable now.
‘This should be okay, right?’
After all, Seria had started to become addicted to the spiciness.
Moreover, she couldn’t resist her curiosity about how the Tteokbokki would taste with cheese added.
Chomp!
She put it in her mouth once again.
Of course, it was spicy.
‘But it’s much better than before.’
Because the richness and softness of the cheese masked the spiciness of the sauce.
As Jin said, the flavor combination was good too, making it even more delicious as a bonus.
This is doable! I can do this!
Seria’s fork, now confident, bravely started moving again.
“Gi, give up! Huaaaa! I can’t eat anymore!”
She did give up again before eating even half, but.
Anyway, Jin decided to appreciate that courage.