To Hell With Being a Hero!

Side Story Chapter 17. Respect

It was then the young man’s movements suddenly changed. He began to move at great speed as if time was winding multiple times faster. His speed quickened until he left only after-images, and these after-images began moving separately on their own. It was as if he was doing instant teleportation from place to place.

“Woooow!” Eshnunna exclaimed. Not only were the ingredients that the man used mystical, but what was more shocking was the young man’s spear techniques. Seeing his dark spear swing across the air, she couldn’t close her gaping mouth. Even Chi-Woo, who had reached the pinnacle of power, gasped slightly because it was as if he was looking at a thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Avalokiteshvara. This was one of the highest forms of praise.

What he saw was like a world in itself. There was no flaw in the man’s movements that Chi-Woo could identify, and Chi-Woo couldn’t hide his surprise at how complete and sublime this world was.

It was to the point he even thought, ‘The universe sure is vast.’ It was the first time he was witnessing such a perfect harmony of movements. Yunael, who also used a spear like this man, couldn’t even compare to him. And if this young man intended it, he could probably kill Ru Amuh in one strike. Soon afterward, the countless hands and spears that filled up the whole shop gradually settled down.

“It’s complete. It’s today’s recommended menu—ramen that I could bet my name on.” Then, the young man placed a ramen steaming with white vapor in front of Chi-Woo. It looked like any other ramen, but after seeing the process that led up to its creation, Chi-Woo knew it had to be anything but ordinary. This dish transcended the realm of art and would be more aptly described as a sort of final-round weapon.

“Me too! Could I also get a bite? Just one scoop? Please?” Eshnunna appeared like she was dying to try this dish. On the other hand, Chi-Woo didn’t say anything. He was locked in deep contemplation, and Eshnunna took his silence as agreement and placed her chopstick into the bowl.

“Uhh! No, you can’t!” Before the young man could stop her, Eshnunna put noodles into her mouth and sucked them in.

“…!” Starting from her tongue, Eshnunna felt an overwhelming wave of flavor rush into her body. There was no other word than ‘wave’ to describe it because as soon as she was hit by it, a vast ocean opened up before her, and each of the waves seemed to be made of the strands of the noodles.

“Noodles!” After being swept by the current, Eshnunna kicked herself off the chair and got up. She raised both arms high in the air and raised one foot. Then she arched her waist into a curve greater than a bow and began to make waves with her body in an S-line.

“Noodles! I am a noddle! A noodle!”

“Ah…” The female staff placed her hand on her forehead and sighed as if she had expected this to happen. The young man smiled bitterly. Though it was quite a funny sight, none of the other customers paid her any attention as if they had also expected this to happen. And rather than Eshnunna, who was wildly dancing by herself, they turned their utmost attention to the man who was raising his chopsticks now.

Slurp. Everyone watched as Chi-Woo sucked in the noodles.

After eating one chopstick amount, Chi-Woo showed no response. He simply stopped his hands from moving again. Then, after munching for a while, he lightly covered his mouth with his hand.

“…No wonder.” Chi-Woo understood why the young man had said that Eshnunna couldn’t bear it. ‘It’s not just at the level of delicious.’

The dish grasped a person’s body and mind with its flavors alone and shook it. Anyone who just tasted it once would be swept by the flavors and be unable to free themselves like a drug addict at the height of their addiction. Of course, it wasn’t like the young man really used drugs in his dish. He simply drew out the taste and flavor in his dish to the fullest so that it broke limits they shouldn’t have. The taste was truly criminal and explosive.

But what surprised Chi-Woo wasn’t just this taste. He simply took one chopstick amount of the noodles, but the condition of his body changed, particularly the infinite loops that were rotating inside him. Currently, his infinite loops were like a motor that could burst at any moment. It became even more so after he wandered across all the parallel worlds and absorbed the destinies of his other selves as the Heavenly King. Thus, his loops were rotating arduously while feeling greatly burdened like an engine locomotive that could go awry the moment he changed directions slightly or hit the brakes. Thus, he had been stabilizing the loops whenever there were any signs of that happening with Choi Lor-Ra’s abilities.

There was a reason he brought back the law of causality he imprisoned. Yet these loops were finding stability by themselves for the first time, even without the help of Lo-Ra. Though it wasn’t as if all the instability had completely disappeared, it noticeably lessened. Feeling this, Chi-Woo moved his chopsticks again.

He hadn’t imagined it or misunderstood. The more ramen he ate, the more the clunky motions of the rotating loops became noticeably smoother, as if oil was being applied to a rusty machine, or a computer having all the useless files sorted out and deleted to release more storage. A ten-year-old computer that had been collecting dust over the years was getting cleaned thoroughly.

After senselessly inhaling his ramen, Chi-Woo drank the last drop of the soup without leaving anything. Thud. Chi-Woo placed his ramen bowl down and exhaled the breath he had been holding.

“This is delicious, sir,” Chi-Woo said.

The young man smiled brightly.

“…I can’t believe it.” The female staff looked at Chi-Woo in disbelief. “Even that kid said to be great cried and wailed for more…” She murmured to herself. It was understandable that she would be surprised, considering that besides the man next door, she had never seen someone remain fine after eating the ramen.

“Will you like another bowl, sir?” the young man asked politely.

“No, one bowl is enough.” Chi-Woo smiled. Then, he lightly patted Eshnunna, who was still dancing while saying she was noodles.

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“Huh? What happened? Why am I like this?”

“Don’t think about it, and just quietly wait for your ramen to come.”

After Eshnunna got back to her seat, Chi-Woo thought hard. He came to this shop out of curiosity and received a gift he hadn’t expected. It was a gift much greater than he had hoped for. If he could solve the matter of controlling his infinite loops by eating this ramen, he would’ve eaten hundreds and thousands more bowls. But it wasn’t to that level. The ramen was of some help, but it didn’t change the fundamental fact that he needed to solve this problem on his own. Nevertheless, this was quite a significant help to Chi-Woo since he was now confident in controlling the loops’ instability without Lo-Ra.

“I don’t know how much I should pay you for the ramen. I received a bigger gift than I expected,” Chi-Woo genuinely expressed his gratitude.

“There’s no need for you to pay me. It’s enough that someone like you tasted my dish,” The young man replied humbly and bowed. Chi-Woo shook his head.

“I can’t do that. I must pay for what I ate.”

“If you insist, then you can give me 10,000 won in Earth money. It’s quite an expensive price for ramen.”

“Haha, are you joking? That won’t even be enough to pay for the ingredients you used. Hm. Let me see, what should I give you…” Chi-Woo wondered and spread out his index finger. Then, a glowing matter formed at his fingertip.

“Yes, I think this will be enough.”

“Huh? Isn’t this…?” The young man accepted the cluster of light and tilted his head. He understood that it was some amazing item, but he thought it would be too greedy of him to accept it and was about to refuse it. It was then seven people wearing hoods over their heads suddenly barged in.

“Accept it!” One of these figures shouted at the young man before he could return the matter.

The young man flinched. “That surprised me. Wait, Sir Gula?”

“Accept it please!”

“Ms. L-Luxuria too?”

The seven mysterious figures all jumped up and down, shouting at him to accept the gift.

“What? Why are you being like this? If it’s divinity, I already gave a lot to you.”

“It’s not just a mere thing as divinity!”

Chi-Woo blinked hard. How could they say that about divinity? And as the young man tried to return the gift, the being named Gula collapsed to the ground and yelled.

“Quit it and just accept the gift. It’s something you won’t be able to find anywhere else in the universe! Please!” And it wasn’t just Gula. The other old gods and great beings were all looking at the young man enviously.

The young man let out a deep sigh and touched the light, wondering what in the world it was.

“This is a bit too much, sir.”

“It’s fine. It's just an appropriate payment,” Chi-Woo said.

The young man still seemed hesitant to accept Chi-Woo’s offer. Then, he noticed the faint dark circles under Chi-Woo’s eyes and clapped, thinking of a good idea.

“Hm. Then, it can’t be helped. But please give me a moment.” The young man rummaged through his belongings in the corner of the store and pulled out something. It was his business card.

“Could you perhaps give me a call with the number on this card? I want to treat you to a more proper meal if there’s another chance.”

“That will be my pleasure.” Chi-Woo was about to accept the card when he stopped. It was because he felt something on the young man’s finger below the card.

‘Isn’t this…?’ It was a ring, but not just any ring; it was a specially made item created for a specific purpose. In simple terms, it was a ring good for men. Chi-Woo glanced at it, and the young man spoke under his breath.

—This is a gift I received from another person. I was told to pass this ring along to another person in need when the situation arises. It’s very effective. I’m sure it will help you.

Chi-Woo couldn’t refuse after hearing this and gratefully received the gift. Truthfully, Chi-Woo had been very concerned these days because, after the time he misspoke, Evelyn had been squeezing everything out of him like a tube of used toothpaste. He thought he couldn’t use his infinite loops every time they went into action, but with this ring, he didn’t need to worry anymore. In bed, he was always on the losing side, but now, he could finally beat her. That was how the Enhanced Ring of Masculine Libido that the Martial God gave to Golden Constellation was passed onto the Heavenly King.

“I need to repay you again after receiving such a good gift—”

“No, no! I’m giving it to you because I am so grateful. It’s really fine—”

Seeing the two continue to exchange gifts, the female staff intervened.

“Sir, could you grant my request then?” she asked pleadingly as her eyes shone. “I just want to try that mystical mirror once.”

“Ah, you can use that any time.” Chi-Woo handed the mirror over, and the female staff carefully accepted it. Then, she cleared her throat and asked, “Mirror mirror. Who is the person that Jihu likes the most among us?”

—Yes. The person Seol Jihu likes the most is…

“H-Hey! Seonhwa!” The young man shouted then. Pop! The mirror that was about to answer turned into a cluster of light and disappeared. Chi-Woo, who had felt a sense of danger as a fellow man, quickly took the mirror back.

“Ah…” The female staff member named Seonhwa looked very disappointed, while the young man named Seol Jihu let out a sigh of relief and turned around. When he saw Chi-Woo wink at him, he looked genuinely grateful. Like that, Chi-Woo managed to maintain the peace and calm of one family.

***

After finishing their meal, Chi-Woo and Eshnunna left the store. Eshnunna appeared very satisfied, but she kept tilting her head curiously.

“How strange. Why does it feel like my memories got cut off in the middle…”

Chi-Woo smiled faintly. He had not only purified her mind and body, but also deleted her memory of tasting the ramen. Since it was a memory and taste she could never bear, that was a much cleaner solution.

“Anyway, it was really tasty.”

“Yes, it really was.”

“It’s my first time seeing someone go so far to make ramen.”

“Me too. Probably no one but that guy can make it.”

Hearing this, Eshnunna stared at Chi-Woo, looking a bit taken aback.

“How unusual.”

“What is?”

“I thought you would say that you could make something of that level for sure. That’s what you say all the time.”

Chi-Woo thought for a moment and replied. “Hm…well, I guess I could imitate it.” However, he wouldn’t be able to do more than that.

“But I wouldn’t be able to replicate its whole essence.”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, let’s say that there’s an AI program that could calculate the output of a very difficult input in one second. What would you think when you see that?”

“Uh…how surprising? Interesting?”

“But what if there’s a human who managed to do that on their own?”

“How amazing? Admirable?”

“That’s it. That’s the difference.” Chi-Woo continued while nodding, “It’s the pinnacle of taste that has been honed through pure efforts and passion. Even I wouldn’t be able to copy that nor attempt to. I don’t have any intention to do that either.” Trying to copy it would be an insult to the art, and as a human, Chi-Woo couldn’t help but admire the level of dedication to one’s craft. Eshnunna couldn’t understand everything he said, but she understood that Chi-Woo was giving his highest praise to the man.

***

After the last guest left and the store closed, Seol Jihu sat in his chair with an uncharacteristically tired face.

“Ha—” He leaned back against the wall and murmured while looking up at the ceiling. “He really is so amazing.”

Hearing this, Yoo Seonhwa stopped cleaning the store and asked, “Hm? Who do you mean?”

“You know, that man who came to our store today.”

Seonhwa had a good guess about who Jihu was referring to.

“How should I explain this? I think I’m missing something. It’s been a while since I tried my hardest…”

Seonhwa looked taken aback by Jihu’s lamentations and immediately retorted, “What are you talking about? We are just selling ramen here. Is there a need to go so far?”

Jihu nodded because she wasn’t wrong.

Seonhwa continued, “Besides, that customer seemed satisfied by what you gave him.”

That was true. The man expressed his admiration for his dish and even gave him a great gift for it. But for some reason, Jihu felt that something was lacking. He didn't know the reason, but after that customer left, he felt a yearning he couldn’t put into words. It also made him curious. What kind of experience, what kind of vision did he see, and what kind of destiny was this man born with that he would possess such an unbelievable level of infinity inside him?

As the owner of a store, he needed to try to maximize the happiness of each and every customer. If he wasn’t mistaken, Jihu was sure that the man had left his store expecting more for the next visit. Though it wasn’t necessary for him to meet those expectations, he wanted to. After tapping on the arms of his chair, Jihu got up.

“Good.” He clenched both fists and said, “Seonhwa, let’s close the store for a while.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I want to do some special training. That customer just gave me inspiration. I feel like I can take my flavors to another level.”

Seonhwa smiled bitterly when she saw Jihu’s eyes glitter. It seemed that he was going to really give it his all. The stars began to shine again.

“I can’t stop you. Do as you wish. But you have to work tomorrow. You know that kid made a reservation for tomorrow, right?”

“Ah, Lady Suna? Of course, I have to do that.” Jihu planned to finish just one more reservation before diving into training, but of course, the process leading to that wasn’t smooth.

“…Give me that.” The next day, a customer visited the store and looked at the necklace hanging around Jihu’s neck in shock. It was the matter of light that Chi-Woo gifted him the day before.

“Are you talking about this?”

“Yes, that! Where in the world did you get that? Anyway, just give it to me!”

“I can’t. It’s a gift.”

“No! Give it! Give it to me! That’s mineee!” And because this customer threw up a whole tantrum to get the necklace, Jihu found himself in a difficult position for a while.