Chapter 97
I was shocked.
Because the food that had been piled high on the table was already almost entirely gone, showing the bottom.
Square Hawaiian Pizza, Soy Protein Chicken, Chlorella Sushi, Seaweed Tempura, Fried Cricket Ramen, Nasi Goreng Stir-fried with unidentified meat and soy sauce...
Everything had disappeared, leaving only traces behind.
The culprit was happily devouring even the last remaining cookie for dessert.
Om-nyom-nyom-
Of course, since they were eating so quietly, it didn't actually make this sound. It was just a way to express it, if I had to.
My pupils trembled as I stared at the dining table.
My god, does that Make Sense? Is that even possible with a human stomach?
It felt like they had practically eaten everything all by themselves.
Dragon President hadn't really touched the food in the first place, other than chugging beer and picking at a few Snacks.
Tony also hadn't eaten much, as he was busy having a Gun and Sword Debate with Dragon President, and later sprawled out to rest due to an Unfortunate Accident.
I... honestly ate quite a lot compared to the others.
I was hungry, and lately it felt like my appetite had strangely improved.
Normally, one Medium Meal Pack was enough to make me full, and when I was really saving money, I could somehow endure two meals with just one medium pack,
but these days that doesn't fill me up, and I have to devour about a large pack before I feel like my body has Taken in enough energy to be satisfied.
It wasn't a strange thing.
I had been doing a lot of physical work lately, and my food intake must have automatically increased to replenish the calories I burned from overexerting myself.
Especially since I had been using the Microchip frequently as of late.
I didn't know much about Brain Science, but I think I vaguely heard in my Previous World that “a significant portion of the human body”s energy is used by Brain Cells.'
And the Mental Switch was embedded in my brain, a cyberware Implant that used Brain Nutrients as power every time it activated.
Since it sucked up glucose from my brain every time, I had no choice but to devour various things in a very hungry state to replenish the consumed calories.
But even I had only eaten quite a lot “compared to the others”.
Objectively speaking, I hadn't managed to devour that much.
I was busy talking about various things with Dragon President.
I did lift my spoon or fork whenever I had a spare moment, but since the food wasn't that tasty, I didn't put that much in my mouth.
In the first place, my reason for coming to this company Dinner was less about filling my stomach and more about asking my Workplace Superior and colleagues about the secrets they were hiding, and making up my mind after hearing their answers.
Considering the total amount of food, what I ate was at most 15 percent? Or was it 20 percent? It would only be about that much.
Which meant that the remaining 80 percent or so had been almost entirely devoured by the person in front of me.
Om-nyom-nyom-nyom-
A Hand Movement that was incredibly elegant even when just picking up a cookie, yet there was an astonishing speed of chewing and swallowing it almost as if inhaling once it was in the mouth.
It was an unbelievable sight for me, who could roughly guess what that cookie tasted like.
It was probably a dry, crumbly snack baked with a mix of Artificial Butter and Fake Flour... with an indescribably foul taste.
How could they pop those into their mouth one after another without a single Change in Expression?
While I was standing in front of the vending machine on my First Day of Work, I knew it from the moment they recommended Green Tea Cola to me, claiming it was delicious.
Their sense of taste must have been severely warped due to a Genetic Problem or an Implant Defect.
Or else they really had a constitution that could suck up and devour anything like the Pink Monster in the game.
Otherwise, it was a sight that simply couldn't be explained!
As I stared with my mouth hanging open in shock, the protagonist of this grand meal finally finished, elegantly wiped their seemingly clean mouth with a napkin, and looked this way.
They raised their sanpaku eyes through their Dark Blue Hair.
Even though it was just a blank stare, my heart sank.
Even though I thought I had gotten used to it while working together for the past few days, there was something about Sey's Chilly Atmosphere that was hard to adapt to.
As I forced myself to suppress the urge to roll my eyes because it was difficult and Awkward to meet that gaze, Dragon President gathered the cleaned plates on the table into one spot and spoke.
[Fufufu, Sey's stomach is truly a great mystery. How so much food fits into that Slender Body... Not for nothing, I didn't choose Tommy John's as the company Dinner Venue just because it's cheap and has large portions, you know?]
I nodded as if possessed.
Certainly, Tommy Jones, which had terrible-tasting food but guaranteed large portions, seemed to be the perfect restaurant for Sey's immense appetite.
I had no idea they were such big eaters until now.
I had often seen them buying sesame sticks or Green Tea Cola from the Vending Machine Siblings, Ken and Bobby, and bringing Snacks to eat during work, but...
I just thought they ate Snacks frequently; I never imagined it was all foreshadowing.
We had worked together for a few days and even eaten together in the Rest Area, but they hadn't shown such an incredible Display back then, which made it all the more surprising.
My god, to think my Senior Colleague was a rising promising mukbang star.
If someone just filmed a video of them puffing up their cheeks like a hamster while eating, on that Delicate Face, and uploaded it to a Net Streaming Site, how much traffic would it get...!
Towards me, who was still unable to escape the shock, Dragon President opened his mouth.
[Sorede (So), Nakamura-kun.]
"Uh... yes?"
[I think it's about time you spoke up.]
"About what?"
When I couldn't understand, he gently reached out and stroked my shoulder and back as if telling me to snap out of it.
Ddu-du-du-duk-.
I snapped to my senses.
I jumped up from my seat after receiving Dragon President's Special Massage, which always made my body feel incredibly refreshed—so refreshed that it was a problem.
"Aaaagh!"
[You said you had something to say when we met. You've asked various things so far, but... there's something else you “really wanted to say”, isn't there? Isn't it about time you talked about that?]
...As expected of the Dragon President.
As if his ridiculous and clueless Demeanor up until now had all been a lie, he once again showed sharp insight at such a crucial moment.
That was right. I still hadn't brought up what I really wanted to say, the reason I wanted to meet and talk.
The secrets the employees of Dragon's Lair were hiding...
Besides Sasha Dragon or Sey, Tony also had a lot of strange quirks when you talked to him.
His suspiciously extensive knowledge in the Territory of Net Sites or Mechanical Engineering, for one, was noteworthy, and it wasn't just once or twice that I had seen him suddenly Leave his post during work or have a Secret Conversation with shady assailants.
It was only because his competitors, Dragon President and the Head Bartender, were so overwhelmingly Suspicious that he was relatively overshadowed. In reality, if you looked at him separately, Tony—no.
Antonio, the Bartender called the 'Magician' at the bar, was also clearly not an ordinary person, and it was a given that he was hiding his own secrets, big or small.
That was why I thought I had to find out something, anything, this time around, and that I had to Ask Directly.
I believed that if I couldn't find out about whatever my Employer and the other employees were hiding, if I couldn't tear down the wall preventing trust from forming between us, it would be difficult to become a True Dragon's Lair Employee.
“That was what I had thought.”
But looking back... I was also building a wall with secrets.
Hadn't I realized it while talking with Dragon President that I too was wearing a mask?
The experiments at the Militia Secret Research Institute, the Microchip switch in my head, my origins, and my Relationship with Headquarters... and so on.
I also had a Formidable number of things I was hiding.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, I was the most Suspicious person among the bar employees.
For me to not reveal my own secrets while asking others to Tell me what they were hiding... wasn't that too much of a Double Standard?
That was the reason I couldn't easily open my mouth, even though many questions remained.
Prying into others' secrets while hiding my own was a shameless act, but not asking would continue to weigh on my mind.
If not now, it didn't seem like there would be another opportunity for all of us to gather like this and have a Serious Talk for a while...
And yet, I couldn't just Recklessly spill my secrets to clear the air first either.
One wrong slip of the tongue, and my head could literally fly off.
I was caught in a dilemma, unable to do this or that.
After I, of all people, had confidently sent a text saying, “Then let”s meet and talk. I have something to say too,'
It was an Ironic Situation where I couldn't smoothly deliver what I had to say when the time actually came.
Did he perhaps notice my frustrated inner thoughts?
Dragon President poured beer into his snout and said.
[I can roughly guess, Nanno Tameni, for what reason you're agonizing over this.]
"Is... that so?"
[Of course. Nothing escapes my eyes. As it happens, there's a Perfectly Suited Solution for this very occasion.]
Had he really figured out my worries as I stared at him with half disbelief and half expectation?
Du-dung!
Dragon President played that usual loud drum sound through his Helmet Speaker and shouted in the Heightened Atmosphere.
[Minna (Everyone)... I wonder if you've Ever heard of
Truth or Dare
before!]
I was left speechless by the Unexpected Answer.
That's, I mean...
...Isn't that the Truth or Dare?