Chapter 210: Become a Food Fighter for the World (5) "The very foundation of buldak flavor—the blazing spiciness that made me fall into bunsik… I still cannot forget it."
The makguksu she tasted again after a long time was so excellent it made Fedora smile without thinking.
But when it came to the spiciness she loved most, there was still no dish that could match buldak.
"The time I spent in Korea was truly special. Because I was able to see, hear, and feel things I had only known through a television screen. After I regained my memories, I was even afraid I might not be able to return here again, but thanks to you, Jinseo-nim, it was resolved. And..."
Fedora cut herself off mid-sentence and looked around.
She was the only one sitting at the counter seats, and the knights and soldiers seated at tables farther away were all focused only on eating, so there was no one who could eavesdrop on her conversation with Lee Jinseo.
"…since I was able to meet Little Grandfather again, that alone makes me think it was truly right that I went to Korea."
Fedora smiled bashfully, and her eyes met Lee Jinseo's.
"You had some idea that Little Grandfather would be in Korea, didn't you?"
"Yes. Looking at everything so far, the only person who seemed capable of making a food truck this mysterious was him. But there was a chance my guess was wrong, so I didn't say anything until I could be sure. If I had told you sooner, you might have met Rainfolt-nim earlier. But I thought if I made you hope and it turned out not to be true, you would be disappointed even more..."
Lee Jinseo still felt guilty toward Fedora for having hidden the fact that Korea was a completely different world from this one, and various other truths tied to the food truck.
Maybe because of that, he made excuses at length, unlike his usual self, and Fedora watched him with a smile.
"Yes, I understand. So you do not need to feel sorry. I only regret that I could not persuade Little Grandfather."
She finally met Rainfolt, whom she had wanted to see so badly, but she failed to bring him back to his homeland, and regret colored her voice.
"By the way, it looks like things have been going well with the Dean lately. I suppose things worked out?"
"With Great-grandfather… I am fine now. Thankfully, it does not interfere with working together."
At present, Fedora was moving busily, managing the clergy and cathedral knights of the Order who were gathering at Falstead Castle.
At the same time, she was also putting her heads together with the mages—including Painfolt—to participate in improving the invincibility magic Charlotte created.
"And he already knew Little Grandfather is alive. I did not even tell him."
"How did he know?"
"He realized it the moment I called him Great-grandfather."
The smile on Fedora's face turned into a bitter one.
"Right now, with things as they are, it is impossible immediately, but once this is over, I think he will go to Korea no matter what."
"Even so, he seems to be holding himself back a lot. How did you persuade him?"
The Painfolt Lee Jinseo knew would have thrown everything aside and gone to meet Rainfolt first, even if a battle that decided the world's fate was looming.
"I did not say anything special. I explained the circumstances, and he said he understood, then he immersed himself in the work again. His expression was complicated, but perhaps because he learned Little Grandfather is alive, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from his heart."
Fedora turned her body sideways and looked toward the table where Painfolt was seated.
"I will choose this one. What about you?"
"I agree with the Dean. Among the ice creams that contain chocolate, I think this is the best."
"I agree with Julien as well. And I like the strawberry ice cream too."
The three mages discussed seriously while scooping ice cream that gave off a cold haze.
Most mages lived shut up in laboratories and were not active, and most were far removed from binge eating.
So they found Craid's binge-eating training extremely burdensome.
But excluding mages from the battle would be too great a loss, so they sought another solution.
That solution was ice cream—a food that let them replenish mana while comfortably consuming high calories.
"Among the ice creams you chose, none are from Korea."
Ice cream itself was a high-calorie food, but the mages craved ice cream that was delicious yet even higher in calories.
That concern was easily resolved when Lee Jinseo brought ice cream from countries other than Korea.
"Now that I've tried it, I understand why you picked only this country's. The ice cream from the country that uses these strange letters has a different level of sweetness. It's so sweet I wouldn't even dare eat it normally."
It was ice cream from the United States.
The United States is a country so serious about ice cream that, during wartime, it even built and operated ships solely for producing ice cream.
Even for the mages, who had already tasted various ice creams through the food truck, the appearance of American ice cream was a fresh shock.
"Ice cream from the United States is truly… food that exists purely to make you gain weight. I only took a bite, yet the sweetness won't leave my mouth."
"But it is optimal to eat during the decisive battle against Dark Dragon Evelyn."
"That's right. Then everyone has chosen one each, so let us eat."
After the ice cream tasting, Painfolt, Julien, and Mary each pointed to a tub of the type they wanted.
"Ah, but this mint chocolate is excluded."
Painfolt frowned, then shoved aside the tub Julien pointed to.
"Dean?"
"I agree with the Dean. No matter that you chose it, Julien—mint chocolate is a bit..."
"No, none of you know ice cream! You can feel this refreshing taste on your tongue and still not choose it?"
Because of one mint-chocolate ice cream, the ice cream tasting—once concluded—reignited.
"It must be something serious."
"Indeed. I have never seen Julien-nim talk back to the Dean like that."
Lee Jinseo and Fedora watched Painfolt and Julien debate fiercely, curious what they were arguing about.
"By the way, Jinseo-nim, once this battle is over, what do you plan to do?"
"Huh?"
Caught off guard, Lee Jinseo stroked his chin and sank into thought.
"Is it too early? We have not even fought the decisive battle against Dark Dragon Evelyn yet."
"No. I have thought about what I might do after this ends. First… I will try once more to persuade Rainfolt-nim in Korea."
Fedora's eyes widened slightly at Lee Jinseo's unexpected answer.
"Do not set your hopes too high. He may have already left for somewhere else."
"Even just saying that—I am deeply grateful."
"And after that..."
Lee Jinseo was about to say the true reason he had started doing business in another world, but he hurriedly closed his mouth.
The food truck's grade was currently level 99.
The experience needed to reach the final grade—level 100—was enormous, but Lee Jinseo predicted he would reach it easily once the decisive battle with Dark Dragon Evelyn was over.
Then he would be able to choose one wish among several, and Lee Jinseo's choice had been decided since the earliest days he began food truck business.
"Like Little Grandfather, do you plan to remain only in Korea?"
Fedora asked indirectly whether he would not return again.
"That's… huh?"
At that moment, the streetlights that had been illuminating the entrance of Dwarf Town all went out at once, and darkness swallowed the area.
"Oh dear! Did something go wrong with the magic streetlights?"
"Hey! Stop eating and go fix it! You can still think about eating even now?"
"F-fine!"
The dwarves grumbled as they hurriedly set down the food they had been eating, and the mages lit flames in their hands to illuminate the path ahead.
"We turned off the lights to save mana, but we need to turn them back on."
Lee Jinseo extended his right hand to the side to turn on the food truck's lights.
"Your Eminence?"
Just as Lee Jinseo was about to press the power button, Fedora grabbed his left hand and would not let go.
"Just for a moment..."
To avoid meeting Lee Jinseo's eyes, Fedora turned her head the other way.
"Please stay like this. I am asking you."
She did not hear Lee Jinseo's answer, but her voice trembled faintly as if she was already certain what he would choose.
The right hand that held his left was trembling as well.
Elite forces gathered around Falstead Castle for the decisive battle against Dark Dragon Evelyn numbered fifty thousand.
With the ten thousand who came from the Order added, the total became sixty thousand.
From among them, the process of selecting only one thousand of the most elite concluded today after fifteen days.
Even by simple calculation, in a fierce competition with a pass rate under two percent, the primary criterion was none other than food intake.
Except for extraordinary individuals like Craid, the abilities of those gathered here were nearly the same.
So to maximize the efficiency of invincibility magic, what mattered was how much someone could eat within a set time.
Under that standard, pass and fail were decided, and sighs rose everywhere.
"Haah… if I'd finished it all, I would've passed, but I didn't expect the broth to be so hot that it would take longer to drink it."
A soldier looked down resentfully at the ramen broth and toppings left in his bowl.
"I drank too much water midway, so I ate less than usual. Craid-nim kept telling us to be careful with hydration, but I let my guard down."
Another soldier sitting across the table sighed in regret.
The soldier between them rubbed the belly that stuck out from eating to his limit, while scratching the back of his head with his other hand.
"I… passed."
"I knew you would. Fight for my share too."
"And eat for my share too!"
"Don't worry. I'll eat until I feel like vomiting, so just leave it to me."
The three soldiers pressed their outstretched fists together, copying a scene they had seen on a large TV.
In that way, the most elite thousand were selected one by one, but there were also those who passed without even going through the screening.
Dwarves and centaurs known as big eaters from before, and young elves who could devour meat unbelievably well, passed automatically as long as their combat ability was sufficient, regardless of food intake.
"I cannot eat that much. Is it alright for me to pass?"
"There is something called a special recruitment track."
Next, Beryllus—both vampire and elf—also passed without issue.
"And when it comes to seonji haejangguk, you eat more than anyone."
"That's true. Eating the same menu all week could get boring, but if it's food with blood in it, that's different, so it'll be fine."
"You said you left while I was gone. Did you receive some special mission?"
"No. I just looked for some of my kin hiding across the continent. About five followed me, but they're hiding among the insignificant creatures. They hate standing out, so understand."
"How did you persuade them?"
In response, Beryllus pulled out sundae and seonji haejangguk from the Interspatial Storage he kept.
"They finished one plate of sundae and one bowl of seonji haejangguk in no time, then followed me without a single complaint."
Beryllus grinned and lightly dipped a piece of sundae skewered on a toothpick into salt mixed with red pepper powder.
"But it looks like they've all gathered already. They're assembling over there."
Of the sixty thousand, the one thousand who successfully completed the brutal eating were gathered inside the entrance of Dwarf Town where Craid stood.
"Gentlemen."
Craid, appointed as the assault leader who would lead them, spoke in the most serious tone yet.
"Our goal is one: to drain Dark Dragon Evelyn's power as much as possible. To do that, what must we do?"
"Fight!"
"And?"
"Eat!"
"How?"
"As fast as possible! As much as possible! Until the cooks collapse from exhaustion!"
They shouted the words Craid had drilled into their ears until they were sick of hearing them.
Then Craid smiled in satisfaction, pulled out chocolate bars from his pocket one by one, and tore open the wrappers.
"Good!"
Crunch, crunch.
Craid stuffed ten chocolate bars into his mouth at once and chewed without hesitation.
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