Tokyo, District 20, sunset.
With the sun slowly setting, a small night diner at the end of an alley in an area not too dangerous opened its doors, preparing to welcome its first customers.
It was then that a tall young man, over one meter eighty (6′0″) with a robust build, yawning, pushed the door lazily, making the metal bell hanging above it ring, and with an automatic gesture turned the sign to announce that the place was open.
Although at first glance it might seem like a modest establishment, the diner was not exactly small: it had two floors, in addition to a front garden and another in the back that occupied the entire end of the alley.
However, that very location was also its curse, because most people rarely ventured into such a closed passage, which is why the usual clientele was scarce and nights often passed in silence.
But at that precise moment, in front of the small patio that preceded the entrance, there was a delicate-looking young woman pressing her apparently empty stomach.
Her eyes, tired and tense, reflected restrained hunger and a slight resentment.
"Manager Leonhardt, why can't you open a little earlier? Every day I wake up hoping that it will be you who fills my stomach."
The young woman who spoke had an elegant bearing. Her long black hair, tied with a white band, framed a resentful face with large eyes and dark red pupils.
The navy-blue fabric of her seifuku stood out against the paleness of her skin, and the black stockings that completely covered her long legs added a mature and sober air to her figure. She held a laptop in one hand, as if she had come directly from university or from some literary meeting.
Hearing her, the young man calmly lifted his gaze and pointed to the sign above the entrance. In clear letters it read: "Midnight Diner"
"The famous and beautiful author of the successful work The Metronome in Love, Utaha Kasumigaoka… don't you know how to read?"
A night diner opening at noon would lose all meaning. What would be the point of calling it that, then? Besides, who in their right mind would sleep all day only to open a business at sunset?
Utaha blinked, feeling the comment hit her like a bucket of cold water. However, upon hearing the "beautiful author," her cheeks softened and her mood visibly improved.
"Leonhardt-kun, what I'm saying is… does it really have to be that late? With how good your cooking is, if you opened in the morning and added a little advertising, you would make much more money."
The young man merely shook his head, with the calmest expression in the world.
"Lazy. I don't get up."
"..."
Utaha looked at him in silence.
What a blunt answer… and, absurd as it seemed, there was nothing else to add.
For anyone with common sense, opening a business was a matter of profit, otherwise… why bother opening it?
But for the young man with intense purple eyes, named Leonhardt Weiss, opening the diner was nothing more than a daily habit, a routine that served both to kill time and to find a certain entertainment.
It hadn't been long since he arrived in this world, a strange place that, according to the information he had managed to gather, seemed like a jumble of different animes layered together. His only companion in this new reality was a system that had bound itself to him under the name "Midnight Diner."
Unlike other systems he had read about in novels or imagined, this one didn't impose absurd obligations or deadly punishments (coff, coff, Solo Leveling).
It only asked him to open a diner, log the workday, and maintain business hours. In exchange, randomly, he would receive "food" as a reward. That food could literally come from anywhere, and upon eating it, he could assimilate it directly.
The logic was simple: if it was ordinary food, it served as regular nutrition. If instead it was a special food loaded with some ability, he could absorb it and use it without any risk.
So far, what he had received were mostly normal meals, nothing that boosted his combat strength or made him more dangerous.
From time to time, the system would throw out optional missions; if he completed them, he obtained rewards, and if not, nothing happened.
That lack of pressure made it perfect for someone like him, so he found no reason to reject it.
The problem was the world he had ended up in, specifically the area he was in, which was very complicated. Tokyo, District 20: an area considered "neutral," but that often appeared in the news marked by violence and fear.
There were constant reports of people being devoured by ghouls.
Digging through old newspapers, he had even found records of destruction caused by the Gun Devil. And if that wasn't enough, in the more recent news there were also reports of demons.
"What chaos…" he muttered, summing up in a few words the disaster of the reality he had been forced to live in.
Well, aside from that, the diner finally began to operate.
Leonhardt opened the door that connected to the small patio and, accompanied by Utaha, entered the little house that served as the diner.
The interior was imbued with a peculiar style: a mixture of rustic and medieval, with stone walls and wooden furniture that evoked a countryside tavern, though with modern details that gave it warmth without losing functionality.
Utaha especially liked that atmosphere.
As soon as she crossed the entrance, she walked confidently toward what she already considered her exclusive seat, a corner at the counter by the wall where she had been sitting almost every day lately.
From that position, she could watch Leonhardt's profile and half of his back whenever he worked behind the counter, preparing dishes.
She settled in naturally, while he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"The usual? Rice with Mapo Tofu and sake?"
"Of course."
"In a moment."
Turning around, Leonhardt went into the kitchen.
Utaha placed her laptop on the counter and opened it with an automatic motion, pulling up the document she was working on.
The record made it clear that the last time she had written had been at exactly the same hour the day before, it was evident that only when she arrived here did her work begin.
As soon as she immersed herself in the screen, a small box appeared in the lower right corner: a notification.
When she opened it, she immediately recognized the sender: her editor, Sonoka Machida.
Sonoka Machida: "How's the progress on the new chapter, Utaha? Will you be able to deliver it on time?"
"...."
Utaha looked at the draft she had written and erased, erased and rewritten.
She replied: "Of course there's no problem. Lately I've been lucky enough to find a place where my inspiration bursts out."
"Where?"
"In a diner."
"? More like what bursts out is your appetite."
"That… that too, of course."
"... Anyway, in a while I want to see a part, okay?"
"Alright..."
With a resigned sigh, she closed the chat window, feeling the weight of the pressure that always accompanied her deadlines. However, before frustration could completely take hold of her, an aroma began to flow from the open kitchen.
Grrr~~~
Utaha's stomach immediately protested with an audible growl.
She brought a hand to her belly, trying to hide it, while with the other she rested her chin and fixed her gaze on the kitchen. Every so often she swallowed unconsciously, remembering the taste of the food.
The instant the food entered her mouth, the soft texture when chewing, the warmth sliding down her throat as she swallowed. The anxiety of her appetite seeped even into her gestures, her legs, pressed together under the counter, began to rub slowly with an unconscious movement…
Inside the kitchen.
Leonhardt was calmly preparing Mapo Tofu, taking his time.
And soon the atmosphere was filled with a spicy aroma. He placed the tender tofu, already cut into uniform cubes, into the pan and accompanied it with ground beef, pieces of green onion, a shower of powdered Sichuan pepper, salt, sauces, and other seasonings he added in sequence.
In his hands, each ingredient seemed to come alive, almost transformed.
When he finished and served the dish, the result was something beyond the ordinary: the Mapo Tofu emitted a tempting shine, a warm glow that made one's mouth water just by looking at it.
That was one of the basic abilities Leonhardt had obtained since binding with the system.
His culinary talent, which was already more than decent, had been raised to a supernatural level, to the point of being able to master any food effortlessly and to deeply understand the very essence of cuisine.
The peculiarity of his cooking was even more unique: what he prepared could be consumed by any living being, without limit or restriction. And the more someone enjoyed his dishes, the greater the dependence and goodwill that, almost without noticing, would bloom in their subconscious toward him.
At first he had considered this effect of his cooking a little strange… But, thinking about it calmly, he understood that it was not so different from the natural reaction toward a top-level chef.
The only difference was that the system had turned that phenomenon into a real ability, taken to the extreme and amplified far beyond what was real.
After finishing the Mapo Tofu, he made an extra portion as his own breakfast.
When he came out of the kitchen with the plates in his hands, he found the young woman at the counter almost on the verge of impatience.
Her eyes remained absolutely fixed on the Mapo Tofu, and although she tried to hide it, it was obvious that it was difficult for her to hold back.
If it weren't for the strength of her self-control, she probably would have already stood up to snatch the plate from him.
Utaha followed him with her gaze as he approached step by step, each of his movements amplifying her anticipation. Finally, with a simple gesture but one charged with presence, Leonhardt set the plate down in front of her.
Plaf
"Enjoy it," he said with a slight smile.
Glup~
As she contemplated the almost unreal shine of the Mapo Tofu, with its vivid colors and the spicy aroma that seemed to envelop everything, Utaha felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Her legs, covered by black stockings, rubbed together frantically while an intense blush dyed her face.
Unable to resist any longer, she grabbed the chopsticks decisively and exclaimed:
"Let's eat!"