A convenience store somewhere in Seoul.
At first glance, the convenience store appeared ordinary, but there was one unusual aspect to it.
The entire refrigerated food display was… completely filled with Custard Pudding.
No matter how well pudding might sell at this location, it seemed there had to be some kind of mistake.
To confirm this, a meticulous-looking man pointed at the puddings and spoke quietly.
“Boss, what do you plan to do with all of this?”
“There you go again—”
“I told you not to meddle with the orders… but why on earth did you order so much pudding? Who do you think will buy all this?”
“That’s… uh…”
The gruff-looking man, the one known as the boss, scratched his head awkwardly and sighed.
‘If I say this, he’s going to look at me like I’m an idiot, isn’t he?’
Even he couldn’t understand why he had ended up ordering this much pudding.
The reason he ordered so much custard pudding was… simple.
It just felt like he needed to do it.
Well, not exactly “just” for no reason. Although he couldn’t tell what the connection was, after dreaming of something blue as usual, he had this feeling.
‘Is this related to my dreams?’
Thinking about it, it felt a bit funny.
It wasn’t like winning the lottery after having a dream; it was about ordering an absurd amount of pudding instead.
If it was some sort of prank by something… he wouldn’t even know the purpose… but it felt like a somewhat cute prank.
…Initially, it probably felt like he had some inexplicable urge, like being possessed by some force.
“Boss?”
“Yeah, um… if we can’t sell all of it… what should we do?”
At that, the man who seemed puzzled by the whole situation sighed heavily and replied.
“What else can we do? You, Boss, are going to have to buy it all yourself.”
“Come on, where do you think I’ll get that kind of money?”
“Got some savings, maybe? Like a fixed deposit?”
“Break my fixed deposit to cover a bakery mistake? You’re crazy…”
“The crazy one here seems to be you, Boss, for ordering such an absurd amount.”
The man had no retort, so he just let out a long sigh.
“…If we really can’t sell it all, we should probably distribute it to the nearby daycare center. What else are we going to do?”
“You’ll have to pay for the distribution, though, right?”
“I know! I know!”
You wall of a guy!
But the man knew he’d miss him if he weren’t around, so he simply took a pudding from the fridge and tore the packaging open.
Ah, this is delicious.
Wouldn’t someone buy this?
While eating the pudding, the man noticed someone looking at him and muttered quietly.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll record this later. Someone might think you’re the boss.”
“Hmph.”
The man also seemed to realize he was being too observant and averted his gaze just then.
Jingle.
The bell at the entrance rang as a customer walked in.
“Welcome.”
“Welcome!”
The woman in a hood seemed startled by the excessive greeting, shrunk slightly, and nodded politely.
…She also looked a bit surprised upon seeing the man standing by the counter eating pudding.
Anyway.
The woman glanced at the pudding in the man’s hand and then turned her eyes to the refrigerated section.
Approaching it with what seemed like excitement, she picked up the puddings with both hands.
Holding five puddings close to her chest, she went to the cash register, paid for them, and left the store with a satisfied smile, unlike when she came in.
“…Is this pudding unexpectedly selling well?”
“Normally, not a single person comes looking for it…”
Even the man who had been teasing the boss seemed a bit surprised and muttered to himself quietly.
But.
This wasn’t the end of it.
“Hey, this place has pudding?”
“There’s pudding!”
“Yee-haw!”
Though it wasn’t an endless stream, people kept coming to buy the pudding.
Some even came from far away because it wasn’t available where they lived.
By the time this happened, the man criticizing the boss started feeling an inexplicable sense of incongruity, making a strange face. He eventually asked one of the customers buying pudding.
“…Uh, is this pudding famous? There are an unusually high number of people looking for it today.”
The woman, who was happily paying for her pudding, blinked thoughtfully for a moment and then shook her head.
“Not really… I just… had the feeling I needed to buy it.”
“…Is that so?”
Even as she said it, she seemed puzzled herself, picked up her pudding, and rushed out.
The boss, secretly observing all this, chuckled darkly with a sinister grin and said to the man at the cash register.
“Told you it would sell.”
“…Hmm. No idea why, but it seems you were right.”
“Not even a single word of acknowledgment, huh.”
Still, the boss seemed cheerful, seeing this as a new source of amusement to tease the man with for a while.
However…
…The muttering of the customer who left just now was really bothering him.
“She said she bought it because she felt she had to.”
Since he himself had ordered it because he felt he should, it all felt strange.
‘Could this be fate?’
Could I have just missed my destined partner?
“Boss, I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but I doubt that’s true.”
“I know, alright!”
The boss stared at the refrigerated food display, now noticeably empty.
He had previously wondered what to do with all the pudding, but now a good amount of it had already been sold.
Whatever it is, what does it matter?
It sold, that’s it. It sold.
The boss burst out laughing and patted the bewildered man on the shoulder. The man wanted to say something but shut his mouth when he saw the puddings selling off right before his eyes.
For some reason, watching puddings being sold made him feel like eating one himself.
The man sighed inwardly and greeted the next customer.
It seemed like the peaceful little incident at the convenience store in Seoul had come to an end.
*
Recently, something has been making me feel strange.
…It wasn’t the chunks of meat I’ve been eating.
I’ve already overcome such memories entirely with the dishes prepared by Chef Kim Cheon-soo.
The thing making me feel so odd is… the pudding that keeps appearing in my dreams.
…No, I did have that deep impression from eating Chef Kim Cheon-soo’s pudding, and even thought about wanting to eat it that day, but isn’t this a bit weird?
I’m starting to worry whether Jelly might turn into pudding.
Of course, since the pudding only kept appearing in my dreams,
My body can’t actually turn into pudding… right?
I kept pondering the cause but… couldn’t pinpoint anything that stuck out.
If I had to guess, it started with that thought of wanting to eat pudding, which might have influenced my dreams.
But shouldn’t I be dreaming of steaks and chicken instead of pudding?
I want chicken and steak more than pudding, after all.
While lying in bed thinking about these things absentmindedly,
The door opened and Chef Kim Cheon-soo entered with a mouthwatering smell.
I turned my head to acknowledge his presence, and Kim Cheon-soo placed a large bowl on the floor, then said:
“…I made it on the way.”
With that mumble, he disappeared just as quickly as he had come.
What he left behind when he suddenly disappeared was…
Behold!
None other than pudding!
The bowl was filled to the brim with an impressive amount of pudding.
It looked even better than the pudding I had that day.
Clearly, that time he had only whipped it up in a hurry. This time, it was prepared with real intent.
…Even if it was served in a plain dish because of our dear piggy Little.
Wait a moment.
Why did he only leave the bowl?
Where is the spoon?
Is he asking me to eat it with my hands?
As I felt a slight rage rising at Kim Cheon-soo,
The door opened again.
Looking at the source of the sound, I saw Kim Cheon-soo approach with a spoon in hand.
“Guess I forgot this.”
I trusted him!
I wanted to believe so, but this felt… unusual.
Is he normally this considerate?
No… he is skilled at cooking but usually not so attentive to these kinds of details, right?
But… did he really come back just to deliver this one spoon?
“Enjoy it.”
I took the spoon from his hand and blankly watched him walk away.
…What is going on here?
Although I could tell myself it’s fine,
The situation felt somewhat unsettling.
Still,
They say even the most beautiful mountain is enjoyed after a meal.
So I decided to focus on enjoying the pudding he had left behind.
Jelly had already gathered around the pudding, so I used the spoon to block it from them.
I stopped the jellies and fed them the pudding by putting it into their bodies.
While feeding them the pudding, I felt something peculiar.
Every time I consumed a singularity, it turned into jelly like this, did it not?
But there were no signs of this pudding behaving the same.
Upon reflection, wasn’t Jung-sik closer to something I spat out to suppress some uncontrollable force?
Does that mean I might be feeling it again and need to spit something out?
I don’t know.
…I really wish there was some kind of status window or something.
Doesn’t my voice bring up a status window?
Is the norm that I can’t speak because that’s how it works?
It was such a thought that made me wonder if I’ve been reading too many novels, but I kept eating the pudding while burbling with the jellies.
Well, as long as my mouth doesn’t keep growing here, isn’t this a good thing?
After finishing the large bowl of pudding with the jellies, I patted my stomach — not that it protruded — and left the room with the Sphere.
Thinking about it now,
Does he… not need to eat?
Does he consume electricity or something?
Having such absurd thoughts while entering the management room,
Han Seori was seen pressing her temples with a worried expression, likely bracing for a headache.
Sensing danger, I started backing away slowly,
“Aah, you’re here.”
But Han Seori noticed my presence sooner.
