Leaving the Alchemy Room, Kai headed toward the front desk.
"Here is the list, and please add the Honey Points," he said, handing over everything to Miya, along with his employee card.
As Kai handed over the items, Miya checked everything while eyeing the human named Kai with suspicion. Over the past few days, the human had been unusually quiet—he hadn't asked about the Soul Revival Pill again.
However, that only made Miya more suspicious.
Just yesterday, she had heard that some of the souls from Blue Wing Town hadn't arrived in the Underworld. Investigations revealed that some monster souls were being forcefully devoured.
Coincidentally, Kai had arrived very late to work yesterday, and the day before that was his day off. Who knows what he had done during that time?
Miya was certain that the human standing before her had used some kind of Evil Soul Arts to devour the souls of monsters.
However, she didn't dare make any move—after all, her cousin refused to believe her suspicions. But Miya was convinced: the human named Kai was already possessed.
"Recently, a few new items were added in. Wanna check them?" she asked, baiting Kai, intending to gather evidence herself since Lyra wouldn't support her.
"Oh? Is there anything good?" Kai asked with interest. The last time he had checked the exchange list, he saw many useful and amazing things—like the Grade 6 Strength Potion, which could instantly raise one's physical body to Bronze Level.
[Exchange List
Strength Potion (A): 1M points
Phantom Fruits (A): 2M points
Sun Essence (B): 500K points
Pill Spirit (B): 150K points
Knowledge Sea (C): 100K points
Broken Knowledge Sea (E): 5K points
Fairy Fruit (D): 2K points
Furnace (D): 80K points
Beast Flames (D): 150K points
Earth Flames (A): 5M points
Fire Stones (E): 1K points
Soul Cleansing Dew (E): 800 points]
Browsing the list, Kai didn't see anything new or useful—only two items had been recently added: Soul Cleansing Dew and Fairy Fruit.
Of the two, he only recognized Soul Cleansing Dew, as it was used in refining Soul Revival Pills. As for the Fairy Fruit, he had no idea what it was.
While Kai was checking the list of items available for exchange, Miya carefully observed his reaction.
After all, she was the one who had added both Soul Cleansing Dew and Fairy Fruit at the last minute to see how the human named Kai would respond.
However, Kai didn't react much. He had only read about Soul Cleansing Dew in books, and he was completely unfamiliar with Fairy Fruit.
Seeing that the human didn't react upon seeing the Fairy Fruit, Miya felt a bit disappointed and began to doubt herself.
Could it be that he really isn't possessed? Or… does he already know I'm suspicious of him and is hiding it?
"Here, you now have 45 points," she finally said. Since the one possessing the human wasn't taking the bait, Miya didn't push further and returned his employee card.
Kai took back his card and left the Honey Pill Shop. It was around 5:00 PM, and he was starving, so he headed toward the Hunters Market.
Entering the market, Kai walked for a while before arriving at the ramen stall. Although the owner's attitude was terrible, the ramen was delicious.
"One large bowl, please," he said, sitting down and placing his order.
"That voice sounded familiar…" Oliver said to Omar as the two continued devouring the monster meat.
"Maybe your ears are ringing. Boss, another order of ribs," Omar said, ordering another serving and continuing to stuff his face.
Since the ramen stall had curtains, Kai didn't see Oliver or Omar.
Receiving the order for a large bowl, Tom got to work. First, he prepared the noodles, then added broth to a bowl, dropped in the noodles, and finished it all off with seasoning and meat.
"Here," Tom said, handing the bowl to Kai. He looked at him for a moment, then replaced his chopsticks with a fork.
Getting his bowl of ramen, Kai didn't wait a second and dug in.
"So, how's my ramen?" Tom asked out of nowhere as Kai was enjoying his meal.
"Slurp It's good—unlike the one I had back in Kenton City," Kai replied honestly while slurping his noodles.
Ever since the Unification of the World 20 years ago, people had taken to wearing whatever skin or identity suited them at the moment.
Like a Chinese guy running a ramen shop claiming to be Japanese, or the owner of a cosmetics shop saying they were originally from Korea. Or white men who changed their cultural identity several times a day—Brits in the morning, Europeans by noon, and Americans by evening.
This was just one of the many strange issues the world faced after the Unification of 2003.
So in his entire life, Kai had never tasted authentic Japanese ramen—until he met Tom.
Hearing Kai's heartfelt words, Tom smiled inside. He had spent his youth in the Allied Forces, fighting against the Resistance. After the unification, he went through years of therapy. Just a few years ago, he finally settled down, got married, and became the father of two beautiful daughters.
But unfortunately, his wife had died during childbirth while giving birth to their second daughter.
After her death, ramen became his passion, as his daughters loved it so much.
Just as things were starting to piece together, the Ascension Program occurred, and he was teleported to the Ancient World.
While Tom was reminiscing about the past, Kai finished his bowl of ramen and stood up to pay.
After paying, he moved the curtains aside—only to see two familiar faces.
"Didn't I tell you I heard a familiar voice?"
As Kai saw them, both Omar and Oliver also noticed him.
"Kai! What are you waiting for? Come and join us!" Omar called out excitedly—now the bill would be split three ways.
"Boss, two more orders of ribs! Kai, I have to tell you, these ribs are amazing. Here, try some."
As soon as Kai sat down, Omar handed him the remaining ribs on his plate.
"Coming right up!" Anthony—the stall owner—hurriedly pulled two ribs from the makeshift smoker and served them happily.
Customers like Omar were rare; in just half an hour, he had sold more ribs than he usually did in a whole day.
"How much longer before the brisket is ready?" Omar asked impatiently as Anthony placed the ribs on the table.
It had already been half an hour, and he still hadn't gotten his brisket.
"Don't worry—it'll be ready soon," Anthony replied before returning to tend to the brisket.
"It's good!"
Trying the ribs, Kai was surprised—the meat slid right off the bones. It was perfectly cooked, not dry at all, and still juicy and flavorful.
"I know, right? Wait till you try the brisket."
A few days ago, Omar had tried Anthony's brisket and fallen in love with it.
Today, he and Oliver had come specifically for the brisket, but since they had to wait, Omar had ordered the ribs—and they turned out to be great too.