Side Story Chapter 16. The Most Delicious Ramen in the Universe
Soon after, the mirror reflected a shop. It was indeed a ramen shop with the word ‘ramen’ included in the name on the sign. But what kind of name was ‘Seol Jihu Ramen?’?
‘Is it a ramen master’s restaurant named after himself the way a famous sushi restaurant is? But what’s up with the question mark? Was it some kind of play in words using his own name?’ If it was the former, the name of the shop would be understandable, but if it was the latter, the owner’s naming sense was quite questionable, so Chi-Woo tilted his head.
“Uh…it’s a bit strange? The signboard is in Korean, but the street doesn’t seem to be in our country. It doesn’t even look like Earth.” As Eshnunna said, if there were foreigners walking around the streets, they would have thought a Korean person had opened up a restaurant in a foreign country. However, they could see not only foreigners but also aliens walking around in the mirror; there were species that could never be seen on Earth.
“Well, doesn’t this mean that there are also people like me?”
“People like us?”
Chi-Woo said it lightheartedly and looked back at Eshnunna with a slightly surprised face. Why did she say ‘us?’ Chi-Woo almost said, “You’re a Liber native,” but purposely swallowed his words. He had often felt this, but Eshnunna had really become an Earthling through and through.
Thus, Chi-Woo instead said, “Yeah. They might have ended up in a different world somehow and settled down there. Or they might be going back and forth between Earth and there.”
“Ah…” Eshnunna gaped and exclaimed.
“Anyway, I didn’t expect it to really show us a place, and there’s no way the mirror would lie to us…” Chi-Woo tapped on the surface of the mirror. It used the infinite loop to scrape up information from the entire universe and answer any question in the world. Thus, whatever this mirror said was 100 percent credible. Then there must be a good reason the mirror showed the image of this ramen shop.
“Should we go?”
“Really?” Eshnunna was delighted by Chi-Woo’s suggestion as she was curious about how it would taste. “Yes, I want to! Then shall I call everyone? To go and eat ramen together!”
“No, it’s fine. Let’s leave them alone since they’re busy looking around the house. We can go have a taste first. If it’s good, we can take them next time.”
Eshnunna’s mouth widened further. She couldn’t believe that she was going on a date with Chi-Woo by herself. There was no greater fortune than this; it felt like she had picked up one million dollars on the ground. Eshnunna quickly clung to him and linked arms with him in case he took back his words. Then, Chi-Woo crossed through space and time to get to the ramen shop.
* * *
Chi-Woo arrived at the place where the mirror reflected in a second. Eshnunna looked around with an eager face.
She asked, “Where do you think this is?”
“Hmm…it’s a city called Eva. It’s not a planet within our galaxy, and it’s definitely not Earth.”
Eshnunna stared at Chi-Woo with curiosity. “How do you know so well?”
“I’ve briefly read some information about this planet.” Chi-Woo shook the mirror in his hand. “I was the one who made this, so there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to figure it out.”
“Well, that’s true. No wonder. Anyway…” Eshnunna looked around and smacked her lips. She could find the store even without looking for it because there was an extremely long line. “It seems like we’ll have to wait.”
“Guess it can’t be helped. Let’s get in line.”
Chi-Woo and Eshnunna went to the back of the line and waited. Still, the turnover rate was fast, so they were able to quickly move forward. After waiting for a while, they saw two people skip the queue entirely and enter the ramen shop.
“Agnes, it’s times like these that make me think that having you as my subordinate has been the best decision of my life.”
“Boss, you flatter me too much.”
“I tell you this every time, but never forgive him. Ting-Ting-Tang-Tang Frying Pan Butt—”
“Haha, are you talking about the nickname? I’ll never forgive him until I die… Wait, boss, what did you just say?”
Chi-Woo looked enviously at the red-haired woman and the lemon-colored-haired woman in a maid’s uniform entered the shop without waiting.
“Please buy a match… It’s a sacred match blessed by Lucuria… Please buy a match…” Then a blonde nun with chubby cheeks in an old and worn-out nun’s uniform approached and asked for others to buy a match with a very pitiful face.
To ease her boredom, Eshnunna kept glancing around while waiting. It was also because there were several non-human beings among those who lined up. Some couldn’t simply be defined as aliens. Eshnunna was no longer the same Eshnunna she used to be. She had maintained her position of Empress for a thousand years with continuous effort. As such, she could sense the energy of those around her and was left bamboozled. There were several beings who could easily look down on even the Salem Empire’s main god, Elephthalia. In short, they were gods at very high rank. What was even more amazing was that such great beings were waiting quietly in line without any complaints.
Of course, they might not want to reveal themselves even though they had power like Chi-Woo, but still, it was shocking that not even one of them voiced their complaints. They all quietly waited as if there was a condition they had all agreed upon beforehand. The more she learned about this shop, the more she became curious about the shop owner.
“I wonder who the owner is…”
“He’s quite an impressive fellow.”
“What? Do you know who he is?”
“I don’t know too well, but I do know a bit. He’s the one who restored the fallen angels.”
“What do you mean by that? Restored the fallen angels?”
“Ah, you don’t know? I’m talking about the Celestial Realm. It was ruined once.”
“What? By whom?”
“By Chaos.”
Eshnunna’s eyes widened at the bombshell Chi-Woo dropped. She had never heard of it before. However, Chi-Woo still remembered that day clearly. It originated from the Sernitas. The Sernitas kept their promise with Chi-Woo. They devoted themselves to faithfully fulfilling the Celestial Realm’s missions and saved the number of worlds 100,000 times greater than the planets they had destroyed. They did such a great job that the Celestial Realm didn’t want the Sernitas to be liberated. Although the Sernitas only obeyed Chi-Woo, not the Celestial Realm, there was no one who was so skilled and obeyed orders so well like them.
However, Chi-Woo was the type to keep a promise unconditionally, so even though the Celestial Realm desperately begged him not to, he summoned the Sernitas to open the way to fulfill their wish and freed them.
The Sernitas thanked Chi-Woo deeply and stepped away, but the Celestial Realm was in complete chaos as the Choi family’s retirement had left an even bigger vacuum in the Celestial Realm’s forces. In a way, it was the Celestial Realm’s fault as they had recklessly expanded their territories without thinking of the consequences when the Seven Stars, whom Chi-Woo had bestowed his strength to, had grown stronger and the Sernitas had done such a good job. If they had steadily built and filled up their force during the leisure time created thanks to Chi-Woo allowing them to use the Sernitas, they wouldn’t have been faced with such a disastrous situation.
Thus, the Celestial Realm, which suffered from a serious lack of manpower, eventually had to implement the plan they had put on hold in the past for a good reason. They not only lowered the selection criteria at the risk of deteriorating quality, but lowered the bar to the extent that anyone was summoned randomly to be a hero. It was evident from a glance that problems were bound to arise. However, the side effect far exceeded the Celestial Realm’s expectations, and during this process, Chaos was born with the birth of the Heavenly King. Then the Celestial Realm collapsed—by the sword of a man who had sharpened and honed his hatred and became Chaos himself. Of course, the Celestial Realm hadn’t stayed still.
[Lord Heavenly King! The Celestial Realm is collapsing! Please help us!]
They had cried desperately for help when they were in crisis.
[Go back.]
However, there was no way that Chi-Woo would have listened to them.
[You brought it upon yourself. Chaos’ outrage is justified, and this happened because of the Celestial Realm. Why should I help you?]
[And I definitely warned you back then.]
[If you come to me one more time, it won’t end with just words.]
However, although he said this, Chi-Woo didn’t do anything besides forcing Gabriel and Laguel to return because it was clear what their future would entail even without him interfering. Thus, the Celestial Realm was shattered by Chaos’ blade.
“Wait a minute. If the Celestial Realm was destroyed, our comrades would…!”
“Don’t worry. Everyone is fine. The Chaos was after the angels, not the Celestial Realm itself.” If Chaos had targeted anyone in his path, Chi-Woo would’ve stepped forward to save his comrades. A clash with Chaos would be inevitable then. However, Chaos didn’t point his blade at any random person, but only the enemies he hated. This was also something that shocked Chi-Woo; judging by how his sense of judgment remained intact, the man must be suppressing himself as much as possible to not be controlled by the chaos. There was no reason for Chi-Woo to come forward after finding out that Chaos wanted to remain human like him.
“Anyway, that’s shocking. I can’t believe the Celestial Realm collapsed…”
“The owner of this ramen shop is the person who helped recover the fate that could not have escaped from Chaos forever. Or to be exact, he was the one who helped Chaos change his mind and let him liberate his fate himself, but still, he is an extraordinary being.” Chi-Woo did not bother to say that if Chaos was born in response to his birth, the owner of this shop was meant to be born with a shining golden fate to face Chaos. Eshnunna was nodding, but she already looked confused. While they talked, it was finally time for Chi-Woo and Eshnunna to enter the shop.
“Welcome~” When they entered the shop, a woman who looked like she had once suffered greatly from a boyfriend with gambling addiction guided them to an empty seat. It was a seat right in front of the kitchen, where they could directly see the cooking process.
“I don’t think their reputation as being the best in the universe is in vain.” When Chi-Woo sat in his seat and smiled dryly, Eshnunna blinked. She seemed to be wondering what he meant when they hadn't even eaten yet. However, Chi-Woo knew as soon as he entered the shop. He felt it when he was waiting outside, but the presence inside the shop was even greater than he had expected.
“Hahaha, we meet again today, Zehirete.”
“You are the same as ever, Azathoth.”
“Kuwawa!”
There was not only an old, great god, but he could even spot a creation god at the ninth celestial rank. Since gods of this level patronized the ramen shop, there was no way it wouldn’t be a food spot famous across galaxies. Then, the woman who had guided them to their seat brought out two sheets of paper. It seemed that they would be served ramens made according to the preferences they marked. Eshnunna had been all smiles since they entered.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course. It’s a place that I’ve only seen on the internet.”
The woman, who came to get their orders, smiled. As they had guessed, it seemed that she was also from Earth.
“Umm. There are so many choices I have no idea what to order.” Eshnunna racked her head and grunted, determined to have the best possible ramen somehow. Then she glanced at Chi-Woo’s mirror. “Can I use that mirror?”
“Geez, do as you please.”
“Yipee! Yes. Mirror, mirror, what is the most delicious ramen here?”
Then the mirror let out a bright light and responded.
—The most delicious ramen in Seol Jihu ramen? It is today’s recommended ramen.
Eshnunna nodded and looked back at the woman. “Do you have today’s recommended ramen?”
“…Excuse me?” Then the woman, who had been looking at the mirror with curiosity, became pale.
“Today’s recommended ramen. Is it not on the menu? But there’s no way that can be.”
“Uh…yes…there is, but…” The woman was at a loss and glanced at the kitchen. It wasn’t only her. Many of the customers eating ramen also looked slightly surprised or smirked with a snort.
‘What, did I say something wrong?’ While Eshnunna blinked in confusion, a fair young man who seemed to be the owner and chef spoke up while he was in the middle of cutting the ingredients. “Dear customer. I’m very sorry, but would you choose another item?”
“Ah…yes. Alright, I’ll do that.” Eshnunna nodded at his very polite suggestion. She thought if they had run out of ingredients, it couldn’t be helped. She dropped the matter and went back to marking her preference on the sheet of paper with all her heart and soul.
“Thank you. Then for you…” The woman, who was about to take Chi-Woo’s order, paused because he hadn’t marked anything.
“I’m curious about today’s recommended ramen,” Chi-Woo said calmly. Since he came here, he wanted to taste the best ramen, and if they didn’t have the ingredients, he was willing to go and get them himself. However, it turned out the issue wasn’t that they had run out of ingredients.
“Yes, I understand. One order for today’s recommended ramen.”
Eshnunna frowned at the head chef’s words. What the? It wasn’t that they had run out of ingredients? But he said no to her? What was his problem? Eshsnunna was about to complain and ask if he was discriminating between customers, but as soon as the chef said he would receive the order for today’s recommended ramen, the whole atmosphere inside changed. The great beings fervently gobbling up their ramen looked at Chi-Woo with visible shock and even stopped eating.
‘What the? What’s happening?’ Since it was Eshnunna’s first time being here, she had no way of following the situation.
“J-Jihu, I think they’re from Earth…” Even the woman, who appeared to be an employee, confirmed the chef’s decision again with a panicked face.
“It’s alright.” However, the young man named Jihu did not correct himself.
“It’s alright?”
“Yeah. The previous customer can’t take it, but this customer can. That’s why I accepted it.” The former was referring to Eshnunna, and the latter to Chi-Woo. After confirming with the young man, the woman gave Chi-Woo a surprised look like the rest of the customers in the shop. Meanwhile, the young man turned around and then held one of the two spears that was placed neatly on one side of the kitchen. He held up not the white spear, but the dark spear radiating a thick, dark energy.
“That spear is—!” The woman exclaimed in terror. The black spear was one the young man only used when he was seriously putting up a fight.
“Then…”
Soon after, Chi-Woo was able to clearly see several pairs of arms stretching out from the young man’s back like an asura.
“I’ll start.”
To warm up his body, the young man stretched his neck from side to side and gave Chi-Woo a small smile. Chi-Woo felt his curiosity rapidly rise and returned the smile. It felt like he was being challenged.
As a result, at this ramen shop, and at this very moment, the golden fate collided against the heavens and the Heavenly King Chi-Woo!
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶