Charlottes
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Restaurant Of In Between Chapter 1: Unexpected Customers (Beta)
🕑 Added 2024-04-17 20:33:22 +0000 UTCBeta Read By - XxNaRutoUcHiHaxX
—
-Japan, Fuyuki City-
“Finally, the restaurant has finally been renovated.” I said with a smile.
It took almost all of my inheritance money from my late parents and a few months of waiting to finish the construction.
But it was worth the wait.
The reason why it took that long is because the former restaurant needed a serious repair from inside to outside.
It was barely usable,after all,it hasn't been used since my parents’ death, which was long ago.
Anyway, it wasn't time for me to be sentimental, this was the start. A new beginning.
I hope this business of mine turns out to be a success or else, I'd be screwed big time.
I don't have anything to rely on, aside from myself after all, I am a lone orphan
—
Entering my establishment I could already smell the newly painted wood. It has that recognizable smell, which was honestly not a bad scent considering the fact that it isn't overpowering compared to the ones that were used on the walls.
Ugh, those were nauseating
I'm glad my restaurant was mostly wooden, and some cardboard boxes.
Despite being renovated, there were still similarities between the new and the old,like the tables and chairs arrangements which were the same as many years ago. It honestly felt nostalgic.
The restaurant itself wasn't big, as it could only accommodate 3 families at maximum which is sufficient for a starting business.
Well, not really a starting per se, more like reopening after a decade of being closed, but since I have yet to regain the customer base that my parents and I had those years ago.
Either way, I'm hoping some old customers who remember this establishment will at least consider checking out the restaurant again. Who knows, maybe they'll like it and become a regular?
Not to brag, but I'm fully capable of replicating the dishes along it's original flavors that my parents used to make many years ago. They weren’t 5-star chefs, but can anything really beat a home cooked meal?
I don’t really remember to be honest, it has been a long time since I had one….
After their death I took it myself and continued their legacy. My skills in the kitchen aren't any inferior to a professional chef at this point as I never once stop practicing my culinary arts.I'm fairly confident of my ability as a chef and ever since that tragedy that happened years ago, it has always been my goal to reopen the restaurant my parents left for me.
Which is why I'm sincerely hoping that this establishment won't be a failure because not only does this place have significant personal value to me, but if this fails I'm probably going to be living in the streets.
Anyway, as soon as I graduated from our city’s local highschool Homurahara Academy,I had already decided what I'm going to do after, since enrolling in a university isn't one of the things I wanted to do.
As I sat at the restaurant counter I suddenly saw something strange.
At first I thought it was nothing but a trick to my eyes but as the time passed it became increasingly obvious that it wasn't.
I tried to wipe my eyes a few times but it was still there…
“What the heck…?”
My first thought was. ‘Am I going crazy..?’
Because I'm pretty sure no sane person would be able to hallucinate this kind of thing.
[ Restaurant Grade: 1 ]
[ Cooking: Newbie ]
[ Customer: 0 ]
I started pinching myself just to make sure I'm not dreaming or anything, but after a few moments, I understood this was neither a dream nor a fragment of my imagination.
This was as real as it could be.
“Just what the hell is this…?”
After a few minutes of observing and checking out whatever this thing is, eventually I discovered another function it had, which was a store.
I opened the store to browse through the items there and saw some really ridiculous things.
“A hundred million yen for a single soup…?! What the hell even is a ‘century soup’ anyway? There's no way a single bowl of soup could be worth that much.” I huffed at the exaggerated price of a single soup.
Aside from the Century soup, there are other things that seem rather reasonable, for example this ‘Yukihira Style Gohan’ that I could afford just fine.
Most of the things that are presented in the store are ingredients, which is honestly reasonable enough but still. I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be a Rarity separation between these ingredients and some food.
For example, the ‘Yukihira Style Gohan’ was rated as uncommon, while the ‘Century Soup’ was rated as epic.
And that was also the highest grade I could purchase, because the rarity above epic was restricted for me.
Well it's not like I could afford epic rarity food or ingredients anyway.
The cheapest cost at least half a million and with the leftover money I have left in my bank account, there's no way I would be able to afford to buy it.
Either way, I think I'm going to try one of the food in the store since I'm still doubtful of this thing.
I bought one of the Yukihira Style Gohan since it's only 450 yen. It was honestly not a bad price considering most of the city's restaurant food is more than a thousand yen.
As I bought it, a flash of light appeared. After the flash subsided, I opened my eyes and beheld the Yukihira Style Gohan in front of me, hot and freshly cooked.
I couldn't stop my jaw from dropping from shock. Despite accepting the fact that it might be real, deep inside me I'm still quite skeptical whether it's real or not. However, because of this the notion of this being just my hallucination was thrown off the table, because this was real as it could be.
I could feel the heat in the bowl, not to mention that delicious aroma.
Then my mobile phone was ringing and then I went to check what's up with it and saw that exactly 450 yen was taken from my bank account.
“This is without a doubt real…” There was physical evidence and I don't think I could deny it anymore.
I took some chopsticks from the chopstick holder, took a sample of it, tasted it and my eyes widened in wonder.
“Woah, this is way better than I thought..”
While It's not a world class dish, it was still better than any breakfast meal from this city and including mine.
This was way above an ordinary chef like me, but it only fueled my determination to be a better cook that I could do better.
If this was only uncommon I wonder what rare taste like.
As I was eating this delicious meal, the bell to my restaurant door suddenly rang indicating a customer has arrived in the restaurant
I quickly shifted my attention toward the door and saw a man in his late twenties.From what i could perceive, the man appeared to be a salaryman considering the obvious worker office suit he was wearing
There's this general rule of all salarymen being spotted quite easily since most of them have more or less the same outfit.
Honestly, i'm surprised to even see a customer arrive, considering the fact that i just opened the restaurant
The customer in front of me was a fairly handsome middle aged man, with captivating blue eyes. His hair was a dark black color, trimmed to perfection.
I quickly stood up and greeted him with an ecstatic smile. I can't help it after all, he's my first customer and I'd be damned if I wasn't happy. I'm going to do my best serving him the best food I could possibly make and maybe he'll be a regular here.
“Welcome to my establishment, how can I help you?”
He stared at me stunned, he probably didn't expect the owner to be as young as me, which was honestly understandable.
Though caught off-guard for a bit, he quickly regained his bearings.
“R-right, can I have the menu?”
—
It took him a minute to pick what he wanted, after which I quickly took his order and started cooking.
The dish he chose was Katsudon which wasn't anything particularly hard
After several minutes of cooking, I finally presented him the dish which he thanked me for, either out of politeness or instinct.
*??? POV*
"Ahhh, how irritating"
From the tone of the person, you would think he had a terrible day, but it was infact, the opposite. He had successfully secured a massively profitable contract, which is why he spent the entire day working.
It wasn't physically taxing, but mentally he was drained.
After sending off his co-worker Tamura, who was the best co-worker anyone could ask for
Seriously, god bless him
I turned around to walk home, maybe eat some instant noodles, and doze off to sleep.
Well, that was the plan, until I came across a restaurant on the way home which I had never seen nor heard of
'A new place?'
Well, he had just finished a contract, so he had money to spare
Entering the restaurant, I eyed the interior which looked polished and sparkling new. The restaurant was filled with a particular smell only new restaurants were filled with, confirming my doubts that this was a new restaurant.
When I saw the restaurant owner, I was a bit surprised considering he just looked like a teenager. This was probably a family owned business then, but if that's the case then
'Where are his parents?'
Shoving that thought aside, I greeted the kid/owner, I picked up the menu and browsed through it. The menu was filled with common Japanese food like a normal restaurant.
'Let's just have something normal'
So, he picked a katsudon, as the kid took the order and went in the back to cook.
Looking at the kid cooking, I have to admit, I am a bit surprised at his skills and efficiency. The aura and vibes he gave off was just like a professional chef who had cooked for decades and not of a teenager.
Even my inexperienced ass could tell
'He has potential as a cook'
I was broken out of my thoughts as he slid the Katsudon to me, surprising me as it hadn't been that long since I had ordered
It was then that i looked at the Katsudon, that I became shocked
'This aroma, this texture....it's HEAVENLY'
This Katsudon was possibly the best Katsudon he has ever seen in life, and that's even including those ridiculous dishes on cooking TV shows.
The breaded pork strips were cut into perfect even strips deep fried to perfection. The size of the Pork strips were perfect, neither were they too thick to chew properly, nor were they thin to be unable to pick up.
The rice beneath the pork appeared as if it was a collection of bright shining diamonds instead. The egg was cooked to perfection, somehow not even emitting that weird egg smell that most eggs do, and the vegetables were diced and chopped to perfection.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this Katsuon looked straight out of an anime
Taking a bite of the Katsudon, my eyes sparkled as my tastebuds failed to comprehend this absolutely heavenly taste.
It was like mortals weren't even supposed to taste this...this....THIS food of gods!
The pork was a perfect mix of soft and crunchy, as it practically melted in my mouth. A perfect mix of sweet and spicy flavors exploded in my mouth as the vegetables and spices danced around my mouth, which were somehow perfectly balanced by the blandness of perhaps, the softest and most delicious rice i have ever had in my life
'My life is complete'
I was honestly too stunned to even speak
*??? POV end???
“This dish is amazing”
I couldn't stop myself from preening internally, as a cook I'm quite proud of what I do, to hear a sincere compliment from someone felt good.
“Thank you.”
And after that we talked for a bit and got to know his name.
Mikami Satoru.
An average Japanese salary man, I also find out that he's also a bit of an Otaku but I don't judge because I'm the same as well considering I like to read manga to pass time as well.
Although, there are a few things I'm a bit confused about, I have no idea about this fullmetal alchemist thing he was talking about like it was some sort of popular manga, which was weird considering I have never heard of it and I would know of its existence if it was truly popular.
I suppose he's just exaggerating about it, considering the fact that some Otaku like to read manga that isn't popular either because it makes them look unique, so they can brag about it, saying how "under-rated it is", or because they genuinely enjoy it
As my first customer continued his meal, the door once again opened, surprising me. After all, I never expected two customers in a row on the first day.
That's definitely a new record for my new establishment, not that I’m complaining.
I haven't even advertised my establishment as it just opened today.
Not like I could afford to either way.
—
Turns out my second customer for the day was a salaryman as well
I feel like this is going to be a recurring theme.
However, unlike Mikami, this one is a former salary man, saying that he wanted to be a “hero for fun.”
Well, I'm not judging people and their dreams and goals, even if they are a bit childish( and a bit weird), they at the very least enjoy them.
Although…his name is really concerning.
After all, who would name their children Saitama? His parents must have hated him or something.
Anyway, unlike Mikami who didn't really care about how much he spends on food, Saitama on the other hand was a cheapskate. If it wasn't for me persuading him to buy something other than a burger with french fries as it was the cheapest he would have just left.
Thankfully I managed to convince him to spend more money than to just buy the cheapest meal in the restaurant. This was because I was worried about his health, and totally not because I wanted more money.
Nope not all
And just a note, he and Mikami actually hit off, for some reason. Flocks of a feather flock together I guess? Though i suppose in this case it was the similarities between their job or even personalities. Either way it's not my business to interfere.
It was at that moment that another customer arrived
By this point, I had grown accustomed to customers arriving, that i was only a bit surprised when a 3rd customer arrived. Though, that doesn't mean i'm not happy, more customers means more money
I went to greet the new customer, but suddenly paused as I noticed something strange above this customer's head.
[ Kirito Lvl. 2 ]
What…?
It wasn't just me who seemed to see this particular sign above him, even Mikami and Saitama saw it.
Apparently, Kirito noticed and looked confused at our reaction, he awkwardly spoke. “What’s wrong with these npcs…”
I blinked at his wordings. “What do you mean by that exactly..?”
Kirito was surprised by my reply. “Wait, you're not NPCs? You must be players then, if so how did you manage to open a shop so early in the game..? Even in the beta, the shop function is only available after floor 20..”
“Wait, wait dude whatever you're saying doesn't make any sense to me, I'm confused. It's like you're treating this like some sort of game.”
Kirito became even more surprised and confused. “Huh..? But we are in a game! Kayaba Akihiko made this death game so that we can't escape, didn't everyone already know about this information already?”
Okay, we aren't getting anywhere with this, I need some context to understand everything that this guy was talking about.
“Alright, there seems to be a misunderstanding here…why don't you take a seat first and I'll ask you a question and you'll ask me in return fair?”
Kirito was cautious, but regardless he accepted, which was actually a relief that he accepted.
Then after that, we started to talk with my first and second customer leaning closer as they too were curious.
—
Yep, this is official. Apparently Kirito was trapped in a game called Sword Art Online or SAO for short, a massive VRMMORPG that could accommodate ten thousand people, according to him.
To me, it sounded like the beginning of a sci-fi story, anyway aside from being trapped by this obvious futuristic game.
According to him, he was from 2024. That's like 20 years from the future for me!
It wasn't just him either, my other customers are also from different timelines or a parallel world even!
Mikami also was from Japan, but in 2018. There's also a fact that he doesn't know where Fuyuki is because it doesn't exist in his timeline as he said that he found my restaurant in his neighborhood in Tokyo.
There's also Saitama who lived in a separate world entirely, while he explained his world is pretty similar to modern earth.
Which it wasn’t…AT ALL
In the first place, his world didn’t have continents, but rather cities based on letters from A to Z
Though undoubtedly, the most surprising thing about his world was that monsters existed, those supernatural creatures that you could only see in movies or manga.
But one thing was for sure, my restaurant somehow connected these different worlds together and I'm not so sure about how I feel about this development.
I knew for certain that my life won't ever be the same again.
Whether this is good or bad, only time would tell at the result.
—
A/N: I finally got a Beta Reader! The quality of the story will be added another tier now that it ain't just me!
Although updates it would be delayed for a while since I will beta read it after posting it here.
Name Suggestions for the protagonist?
Comments
John Paul
Japanese name, unless he's an immigrant but he Isn't so...
Ethan Farias
Lucas I haven’t seen that used much
