Bab 4: Chapter 4: Slice of New Life
It's been my fourth day, and Samson has received a strange item from Akira. It's some sort of thin square card made out of an unfamiliar purple crystal. One of the sides has an image of someone, most likely the face of a Food Soul. I don't know how, but I could faintly small freshly-baked brownies from that thing. My curiosity peaks again. I follow Samson as he goes through the door under the stairs. It's another hall with a few doors. I check one of them. It's a storage closet containing cleaning supplies. Another one is a storage closet with shelves containing vials of a blue liquid and boxes full of glowing leaves. I recognize them as EXP bottles, mostly small ones and a few medium ones. The leaves are referred to as Beginner Seasoning, but I call them EXP leaves or something like that. "These items are for increasing the skills of the Food Souls," Samson tells me. "That's what Akira told me. I think I just give it to them and they'll level up. We don't have a lot, as you can see, but we'll gain more if we use them wisely and go out fighting Fallens." I close the door. We continue walking to the end of the corridor.
We enter a room, which has a large, very intricate machine connected to a boiler, so I'm guessing it's steam-powered. Behind it is a window, and a chamber is connected to the left side of the machine. It looks like a portal with two rings in the center with a small staircase platform that supports the rings, and anyone can get through them because of the platform's design. The chamber has a small door next to a vertical slot the side of the purple card. The chamber is connected to a tube that leads to the machine. The rings have what appear to be flat pieces of metal shaped to look like utensils and food (plus a smoking pipe) from all over my old world. For example, one of the pieces on the inner ring looks like a cartoon taiyaki on a stick while one from the outer ring looks like a pair of chopsticks. It also has a bunch of gears, cables, dials, and some other things that I don't know how to describe. Samson pulls a switch that is on the right side of the machine, which turns it on, and the rings start rotating at a casual speed. The outer ring rotates clockwise while the inner ring rotates counterclockwise.
He explains, "This machine summons Food Souls, from what a woman named Olivia said. It takes up a lot of power, so I keep it turned off most of the time." He inserts the card into the slot, and pulls another switch on the right. The rings spin very rapidly. Two wisps of light materialize and meet at the center of the rings. There is a powerful gust of wind occurring, pushing me and Samson back, but we resist. Along with the wind, a silhouette appears on the platform. The light and the gust diminish, the machine whirs down, and the rings rotate back in their original speed. The Food Soul in front of us greets formally, "Hello, you summoned me. I am Brownie. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to assist you. I will do my best." Samson replies, "You're welcome. I'm Samson, the Master Attendant of this place. And this" – he picks me up – "is Maolong, our dragon friend." "'Sup, dude?" I − meow, I guess? – as I use a small hand gesture as a greeting.
"That is very unusual. I do not think I've seen a pet like that before."
"Well, I wouldn't call her a pet."
"Eh," I shrug, "I don't mind." I figured someone would call me that at one point.
"Oh, it looks like she doesn't mind being called a pet. Even though you're not an actual one, Maolong, so don't get any ideas."
"I won't. I can take care of myself pretty well."
He puts me down and we head to the living room. Sandwich is playing go fish with Crepe while Milk and Black Tea are having a conversation. Sandwich looks at us. "Hey, Master Attendant, is that the new Food Soul?" "Yes," Brownie answers. "I am Brownie, the new butler for this place. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Brownie is a Magic Super Rare-rank Food Soul with light blue eyes and brown skin. He is wearing a butler's uniform and a matching hat with a ribbon tied around it. The butler has a solemn and very formal personality, and I've read enough fanfiction to know that he rarely lets himself rest. In fact, if you leave him idle enough in the game, there's a voiceline where he nearly passes out from not getting enough sleep. His hair length is between average and short, and is black with the tips naturally fading to a light blue tint. On his back, he carries a massive gun, which is often referred to as either a cannon or a blaster in the fanfiction I read. Though he's not the strongest Food Soul, I'd still hate to mess that butler. His skill is linked with another Food Soul named Napoleon Cake, and his presence activates the linked skill of yet another Food Soul named B-52. I'm not afraid of being near Brownie, but I would absolutely hate to be the victim of his weapon, let alone use it. I mean, that gun is huge – how does he not get knocked back by its recoil?!
Anyways, after that intro, Samson opens the restaurant, and Brownie and Black Tea are given the task of keeping an eye on me while the others manage the Glorywest Grill. Since there's nothing much to do, I ask, "So, uh, do you have something that I could write with?" Brownie asks, "Do you understand what she is saying?" Black Tea replies, "If only. She is a sapient being, but we can't understand what she says, so she tries to communicate with us through charades." I add, "Yeah, it's not very effective, but I try my best." I requested Tom that he would get some paper and a pencil, but he doesn't have any of those items, and Samson hasn't had a chance to buy some new writing supplies yet. Tom did ask Master Attendant, though. I think he'll buy a notepad and a few pencils at the end of the week. Black Tea questions, "Do you have something that Maolong could use to write with, Brownie?" He responds, "I do have a notepad and a pen. Here." He pulls out a pen and a notepad from one of the pockets of his uniform and gives them to me. I write My name is Danny. I mainly go by "Danny RPG," but I don't really care. It's nice to meet you guys, by the way. I give the notepad back to Brownie. They seem unsure of what to say, or they had a hard time reading my handwriting. But, Black Tea replied, "It is nice to meet you too, Danny RPG." Brownie asked, "What does 'RPG' stand for?" I write Role-Playing Games. I'm a fan of them.
There is a brief period of silence, as though they don't know what I'm talking about. Black Tea asked, "Where are you from?" I was going to write that I'm from Lopan, Texas, but things will end up getting suspicious for them, and if I tell them that I got mysteriously isekai'd into a game, they might end up either thinking I'm crazy or they might have a pretty nasty existential crisis. Then again, they already think I'm weird, but I intend to B.S. my way through this one, just to be safe. Instead of telling the whole truth, I write Unfortunately, I can't remember. Brownie asks, "So, you have amnesia?"
I'm not sure. Though, I seem to remember my motor skills very well. It's not like I have any place to go anyway.
"Were you living in the forest before your amnesia?" Black Tea asks.
No. I'm not an outdoors person.
"So, what were you doing in the forest?"
I honestly have no clue. Since we're getting nowhere with this interrogation, can I live with you guys? Please? I don't know how to survive in the wild.
The two Food Souls remain silent. This is the most awkward conversation I've ever had. I don't think anything could top that. Well, except maybe for that one conversation I had, but I forgot what it was about. Black Tea answers, "I will have to talk to Master Attendant about that before answering." There is a commotion happening in the dining room. It sounds like another Dine-and-Dash customer causing trouble. "Wait here," she instructs. Brownie and I stay in the living room. As Black Tea rushes to the front of the house, I glimpse at two customers transforming into a Rabbert and a Rocketero (which are two common types of rodent-like Fallen Angels from Gloriville) before she closes the door. Fortunately, the two Fallen Angels decide to leave after Samson reasons with them.
Two days of typical restaurant management and unimportant slice-of-life stuff later, and Master Attendant scrapes enough currency to begin construction on the Dine-and-Dash arena. During the two days, I notice the Food Souls' roles in managing the restaurant change frequently. For instance, instead of Milk, Black Tea, Crepe, and Tom Yum going out for ingredients yesterday, Hawthorne, Brownie, and Sandwich did that while the others take care of the restaurant and keep an eye on me. Then, after a few hours, their roles change and stays that way for the rest of the day. And it goes like that the day before that too. I remember at one point, when I was watching them work in the kitchen, I heard Akira say, "I've never seen a Master Attendant do that before." He replies, "I didn't want things to become repetitive for the Food Souls, so I let them do different jobs. Otherwise, they might get tired of it." "Seriously?" Akira remarks. "Do you honestly think that Food Souls are going to be like that? Wow. You really don't know much about them." "Then again," Samson adds, "I don't have an Ice Arena, like what you mentioned, so that might be a good reason why I change their jobs like that." He does have a point; Food Souls have stamina which can only be used when working in the restaurant. Once the stamina runs out, they'll be fatigued, meaning they're unable to work anymore, but they can still fight Fallen Angels. In the game, their energy can be recharged by putting them in the Attendant's Ice Arena, but since we don't have one yet, I think changing their jobs simultaneously like that might be an interesting way to save energy for the Food Souls. Also, I wonder if the Food Souls' stamina regenerates on its own by resting or keeping an eye on me. Although it doesn't work like that in the game, it might be working in here. But, I could be wrong. Rice steps into the kitchen with a smile. "Master Attendant," she beams. "Business is, booming.… We'll be able to, build the arena, in no time...!" Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention: During those two days, Brownie and Black Tea explain to the others about my name, so they're not calling me "Maolong" anymore. Feels a little weird, but I don't mind.
The next day is slightly different from the usual. A team of construction workers from probably some local company show up early in the morning to have some discussion with Samson about building the new place. I'm not really interested in what they're talking about, but after twenty minutes, they begin construction. Meanwhile, it's still business as usual for the restaurant. Since nothing much has happened in the last few days, I just spend most of the time either interacting with the Food Souls or sleeping on the couch. Of course, during the day when those guys are working on the construction of the room, I decide to sit on one of the tables of the dining room and watch them like a cat would. Looking through the window, I notice that some of the workers are Food Souls and elves, while the rest are humans. They don't seem aware that I'm watching them; they're really focused on their job.
Hawthorne's voice says, "Hey, Danny RPG." I turn around; there are two customers behind her. She asked, "Is it alright if these two sit in that table?" "Sure," I reply. I get off the table and head to the living room. Crepe is sitting on the couch, reading a book, most likely from the nearby shelf. I look at the stairs. After all these days, I haven't thought about exploring what's up there, weirdly enough. I climb up the stairs, being careful of my steps. It's easier doing it as a human.
Looking at the hallway in front of me, there are some doors on the left and on the right. I open the first door on my left. It's a bedroom not too different from the room that I woke up in when I was brought to Glorywest Grill. Only, there are two beds instead of one. They smell faintly of Black Tea and Milk's scents combined. Are they roommates in this place? Knowing the fandom, that's a valid reason to ship them. I can tell at least one person who's reading this might be getting giddy from that statement. Believe me, so am I. I'm just doing it secretly, so don't tell anyone living in the Glorywest Grill, okay? Of course, it's not like they're going to find out since none of them are likely able to break the fourth wall. I close the door and check the one behind me. It looks the same as the previous room, but with the scent of Samson and Rice. The rest of the bedrooms have one bed each, which either have the scent of a particular character (Crepe, Tom, and/or now Brownie) or no scent at all. However, one of the rooms, instead of a bedroom, is an office, which I assume is where Samson works at besides the kitchen. There is a staircase at the end of the hall near the office, which I'm guessing leads to the attic.
I walk up the stairs and open the door at the end of it. The room is directly below the triangular roofs of the restaurant. There are a few crates which are covered by white sheets. Since the place is relatively new, there isn't much dust gathering. There are three small windows in the room, overlooking different parts of Gloriville. It's nice and quiet, admittedly. Pretty cozy too. I think I found my own bedroom in this place. But, for now, it's probably best to head back downstairs before someone notices that I'm gone.
"Danny RPG?" Brownie's voice calls out.
Too late. Oh, well.
I head back downstairs and head to the stairs leading to the living room. Looking at the room below from the banister, I reply, "I'm up here." "Ah, there you are," Brownie says. "I was wondering where you went." I shrug at his statement. He asks, "What were you doing up there?" "I got curious," I answers in my now-typical dragon speak.
Later that night, I eat a plate of crispy pork. After helping Brownie and Rice clean up the restaurant, I head upstairs to the attic. On my way through the hall, Tom asks, "Where are you going, Danny? Don't you usually sleep downstairs?" I point to the stairs leading to the attic. "Oh, I see," Tom interprets. "You're going to sleep up there, right?" I nod. "Well," he smiles, "Good night." "Good night, Tom," I say in response.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Danny_RPG
Danny_RPG Update 3/14/2022: While updating the writing on all platforms I use for my fanfiction, I'll stop using curly brackets because it's pretty tedious to go through each chapter and put the brackets whenever Danny writes. And, it's get tiring quickly.
Sorry for taking so long to post this on Webnovel. I got pretty busy with other stuff in life. Oh, well, hope you liked this one. Also, since I can't italicize in this site, I decided to use curly brackets as an attempt to make it seem that Danny RPG is writing rather than narrating. (Most people call them "squiggly brackets" but Wikipedia calls them "curly brackets", so I'm going to refer this type of bracket {placeholder} as "curly brackets.")
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone