NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13
In Korea, there’s a cup ramen known as Volcano Fried Noodles.
It features a spicy taste that makes your consciousness drift away, coupled with a subtle umami flavor, and it has become a massive hit among Koreans who love spicy food.
This ramen is so spicy that it’s said to cause you to automatically spill out Korean curses, earning it the nickname ‘Korean Language Injector’.
It’s quite famous that a foreigner, after eating the Volcano Fried Noodles, spewed fire and exclaimed, “Don’t Koreans know moderation?”
With such a level of spiciness, it’s no wonder that Volcano Fried Noodles ranks number one in ramen sales in Korea; the love for spicy flavors among Koreans doesn’t really need explaining.
Of course, there are plenty of people who dislike it.
Some of those Koreans, while playing Silia Online, voiced their complaints.
“Why isn’t there any spicy food in this game?”
It was a complaint about the food.
“If it’s a game made in Korea, shouldn’t there be spicy food?”
“For real. It should at least be spicy enough that you can’t come out of the bathroom the next day.”
“Oh, that’s a bit much.”
While there were spicy foods in the Ardina Continent, they fell short of satisfying Korean palates.
“Grrr…! I need spiciness, spiciness…!”
“Gimme some cayenne pepper!”
“Eek!”
Addicted to stimulating flavors, these players were going crazy.
Players and NPCs panicked and took cover as spicy flavor zombies emerged with wild eyes.
As the world of Silia faced the threat of being destroyed by these spicy flavor zombies, one of the zombies had a brilliant idea.
“If it’s not there, why not just make it ourselves?”
Thus began the project to recreate the spicy flavor.
This wasn’t the first attempt to reproduce the flavors of Earth.
Many players, with different goals other than combat, had already attempted it with a mix of success and failure.
And although not all of them failed, many of those that did share a common trait—they were heavily influenced by modern food science.
They could recreate the flavors, but it involved a ton of effort, or they just couldn’t recreate them at all.
The flavor the spicy flavor zombies sought belonged to this category.
Attempting to recreate the unique umami spiciness of Volcano Fried Noodles with only natural ingredients proved to be a challenging task, causing repeated failures.
However, after countless refusals and relentless attempts, the zombie’s efforts finally bore fruit.
“Woah! What on earth is this flavor?! It feels like my tongue is burning!”
“Ah, you’re not aware… this is what spicy flavor is.”
“Water, give me water!”
“Don’t be foolish! Don’t you know that drinking water after eating something spicy makes it feel even spicier? Drink milk instead!”
“You… did it…!”
With all his hard work, he established a restaurant called Burning Phoenix.
The dishes served were what Koreans called Phoenix Fried Noodles and Phoenix Fried Rice, along with milk to soothe the burning mouths.
Despite that, the Burning Phoenix flourished and became incredibly popular among many Koreans, spiciness enthusiasts from abroad, and even NPCs.
Today, Joanie brought that very Volcano… Phoenix Fried Rice.
“And now, it’s lunchtime for me.”
The bright red fried rice made her mouth water just by looking at it.
Joanie preferred fried noodles over fried rice, but if she brought the noodles to the mountain where the Gravekeeper lived, the noodles would surely swell up and turn into soggy rice cakes.
“…But can I really give this to him?”
As she sniffed the spicy aroma wafting from the fried rice, her mischievous smile faded and her reason returned.
“What if he gets mad for bringing this? If I lose the favor I built up…?”
– Now you worry about that.
– Let’s go~~~
– Don’t you wonder about the party leader?
– For real, I’m drooling here lol.
“You dopamine junkies!”
Of course, Joanie was curious too.
Would anyone react at all after eating this fried rice?
Having prepared this dish out of stubbornness, she found herself hesitating when the moment came to serve it.
“Maybe I could just say I couldn’t bring it today….”
– ???
– ??????
– Me.
– Evan.
– Rock.
“If my favor drops, you won’t take responsibility, right?”
– Why would we??
– Our favor is in the negatives!
– This might be a chance to start from zero, you know?
“Ugh!”
Joanie trembled in frustration.
She had forgotten; these guys were desperate to tease her.
“What if I said I bought it because it’s a trendy food? That’s not a lie, right?”
Joanie, who had been hesitating, finally opened her inventory to put the fried rice back.
“Thinking it over, maybe this isn’t right. Better not give it today—”
[Mission Received! – Give Fried Rice]
– Achieve for 500,000 won!
“Oh, fifty thousand?!”
Are they trying to buy me with money?!
That amount was too tempting to ignore.
Joanie’s eyes trembled at the sight of the mission funds visibly increasing as everyone jumped in.
It wasn’t the money she was after, but she feared what that money represented.
The fact that the mission funds had risen so much meant the flames had been ignited.
If she gave up and canceled the mission, the chat would likely explode beyond fire levels.
“Alright! I can do this… I’ll just…”
With her trembling hands from the burdens of the Phoenix Fried Noodles, Joanie headed toward the Gravekeeper.
“This, this is….”
“….”
“Today, I will give you a meal.”
Trying to speak using the newly learned Granic, Joanie stumbled over her words.
The Gravekeeper silently gazed at the food Joanie presented, then at her.
“…”
“….”
“…”
The gaze was painful.
While she knew there was no physical force behind the look, she felt as if someone was poking her with a needle.
Perhaps it wasn’t a needle but a rusty old sword instead.
‘You want me to eat this? Are you out of your mind?’
The Gravekeeper seemed to be asking that with his eyes.
‘Maybe I should have just given up on everything…’
How scary death may be, was it scarier than dying for real?
As Joanie felt as if her eyes were being poked and bruised, she wished that the Gravekeeper would simply decline the offer.
It wouldn’t matter if he rejected it! He could toss it aside without a second thought!
If that happened, she wouldn’t have to worry about public opinion dropping, and she wouldn’t have to dread death at the hands of an angry Gravekeeper.
It would be kill two birds with one stone—what a win-win situation.
As her heartbeat changed from pounding to thudding and a wave of regret washed over her, the Gravekeeper finally reached out his arm hidden under the cape.
Thump.
“Eek.”
At that moment, Joanie’s hopes were shattered into pieces.
The fried rice, which had looked tempting just moments ago, morphed into something the demons of hell would feast upon, once it landed in the Gravekeeper’s hands.
The boiling lava flowed hotly as tragic screams echoed from hell.
A giant demon stirring the fried rice in a massive pot suddenly looked up and gestured towards Joanie.
‘Welcome. It’s your first time in hell, right?’
“…Gah!”
Joanie felt a gut feeling that if she didn’t stop this now, it wouldn’t be the rice going into that pot, it’d be her!
“Wait a minute—”
But regret always comes too late.
Chew, chew.
In the brief moment she lost focus, the Gravekeeper had already scooped up a spoonful of the red fried rice and stuffed it into his mouth.
‘Please, please…’
Maybe the Gravekeeper was good with spicy food.
It could surprisingly suit his taste.
…Why had she been so stubborn and foolish, anyway?
Joanie’s mind raced between useless hopes and self-reflection.
Since it was too late to turn back, she desperately prayed that her hard-earned favor wouldn’t vanish.
“Cough.”
“…!”
“Cough! Cough! Ha, ha….”
Well, I really messed up.
Seeing the normally stoic Gravekeeper show such a desired reaction made Joanie chuckle bitterly.
“At least he didn’t die in agony…”
Three demons were now beckoning her over.
Joanie quickly opened the settings and dragged the pain sensitivity slider all the way to the left.
“Cough, cough…!”
It seemed the shock was pretty severe because the Gravekeeper’s coughing showed no signs of stopping.
The rising chaos in the chat was accentuated by the harsh coughing sounds echoing from the Gravekeeper.
– Ugh, trash…
– I will report you for child abuse.
– Thank you for using Joanie up until now.
– LOL.
“You all told me to do it! And besides, he might not even be a child!?”
– ?? : Hey, she actually did it just because we said so lol.
– Eh? We never said anything like that though?
– He’s dying, so doesn’t he need something?!
– So you’re achieving the Perkle like this?
“Ah, right, I did forget that…!”
In a panic, Joanie quickly pulled out the milk from her inventory.
She had bought it along with the fried rice at the Burning Phoenix.
“This….”
Swish!
Gulp, gulp!
The Gravekeeper, previously trembling like a leaf, now gulped the milk down at astonishing speed.
Each swallow seemed to stabilize his trembling body.
His previously frantic breaths gradually calmed down.
Sigh, ha…
Although the spicy sensation hadn’t completely subsided, he certainly appeared much better.
That meant Joanie’s punishment was fast approaching.
Joanie immediately bowed her head.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“…”
The Gravekeeper said nothing.
An oppressive silence settled in.
Would she drown in this silence?
As the notorious criminal, Joanie, was nervously scanning the room, at last, the Gravekeeper finally spoke.
“I’m sorry, I meant to say, I apologize, right?”
“…Eh?”
However, contrary to Joanie’s expectations, what came out was not anger.
One could expect him to immediately draw his sword and threaten her life.
– You’re forgiving this?????
– A true human being, Gravekeeper-sensei…
The unexpected gentle response shocked not only Joanie but also the viewers.
However, their amazement did not end there.
“Kana.”
“Y-Yes?”
“My name, Kana.”
The Gravekeeper spoke with a strangely hazy voice.
“It’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone.”
– ???????
– ?????????????
– This was the answer all along???
– 
Amidst a flood of question marks, one comment stood out.
Joanie silently empathized with it.
No one knew why things had turned out this way, but for now, let’s just be thankful that we survived….
The Gravekeeper likes spicy food. Note to self…