Mid-tier Star Region, Demu Star.In the waiting area of a high-end restaurant, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy sat with a deep frown, clearly in a bad mood.His name was Dong Boyun—a typical internet-addicted teenager.
It was the weekend, and he had planned to spend it playing Dungeon Quest with his friends. But just as he got home, he was hit with "terrible news": the whole family was going out to eat with another family, and he had to tag along.
Dong Boyun was something of a foodie. Although disappointed that his gaming plans were ruined, he perked up a little at the thought of delicious food.
However, after waiting in the restaurant's lobby for nearly an hour and a half, that sliver of joy had been completely worn away.
He knew he had to behave well in front of his parents' friends, so he kept staring at his smart device screen, trying hard to distract himself and suppress his frustration.
As he scrolled out of boredom, a brand-new, rounded square app icon caught his eye.
The icon featured a halved purple sweet potato cheese ball—its outer layer a glossy, rich purple, and the inside a creamy, tempting cheese. On top of the icon, a shimmering highlight effect made it look even more mouthwatering.
Purple sweet potato cheese balls were a trending snack. Dong Boyun had just eaten some that morning. Now, after waiting hungry outside the restaurant for over an hour, the sight of that irresistible snack instantly brought back the creamy, silky texture to his mind.
Without thinking, Dong Boyun tapped the "Download" button.
Thanks to Demu Star's well-developed public infrastructure, free Wi-Fi was everywhere and fast. The app downloaded with a quick "whoosh."
It was only then that Dong Boyun glanced at the app's name.
"Tasty Match & Clear."
What does that mean?
Dong Boyun was completely confused but tapped the app open anyway.
A 3x3 game board appeared on the screen, each cell holding a delicious-looking snack.
He counted three different snack types: purple sweet potato cheese balls, salted egg yolk pastries, and plum jellies.
All were his favorites. Dong Boyun couldn't help but swallow a little.
—This layout had been carefully planned by Chu Qing. The three elements needed to have clearly contrasting colors to prevent players from getting irritated by visual confusion. These three snacks—purple, yellow, and teal—were very easy to distinguish.
What was this? A game? Why did it look so different from other games? Still puzzled, Dong Boyun kept watching.
Just as he finished examining the board, a tutorial message popped up as if it understood him:[Welcome to the Tasty Cottage! You must be the legendary Organizer who can tidy a chaotic house until it sparkles. I've been waiting for you for so long!]
Next to the message box appeared a chibi girl with straight bangs and a huge, cute face. She looked out of the screen with sparkling eyes, filling Dong Boyun with an inexplicable sense of duty.
He laughed at himself for that thought, but also started wondering—how exactly does one make the messy house "spotless"?
The little girl smiled with sparkling eyes:[No need to feel nervous, Organizer! I'll now show you the basic way to tidy up the Tasty Cottage.]
The two leftmost columns of the 3x3 board lit up with highlights, while the rest of the screen dimmed.
The girl slid over next to the highlighted squares and waved her tiny hand:[Now, try swapping the purple sweet potato cheese ball and the plum jelly!]
The highlight narrowed down further, leaving only the two specific tiles.
Dong Boyun reached out and dragged the purple sweet potato ball over to the plum jelly tile.
Instantly, the dimmed area lit back up. As the snacks collided, he heard a faint crinkle of packaging and a satisfying drawer-sliding sound. Then, three of the same snack in a row disappeared from the board.
[Well done! Just like that, match three of the same snack in a row to store them in the snack cabinet. Once stored, they won't clutter the board anymore. Now, swap the falling plum jelly with the salted egg yolk pastry to complete this stage!]
Ah, so that's how it works. Not too hard.
Dong Boyun narrowed his eyes, confident now.
The dim overlay vanished, marking the end of the tutorial.
He quickly spotted another set of three matching snacks and performed the swap.
Again, that delightful organizing sound rang out, and the matched snacks disappeared.
The screen darkened slightly, then sparkled with digital fireworks and realistic sound effects. A round results panel popped up, lighting up three golden stars in the center.
[Congratulations on clearing the stage!][You've earned a perfect three-star rating on your first try and unlocked a special trophy reward!]
A trophy?Achievement?
Dong Boyun's eyes sparkled with excitement. He rubbed the trophy in the center of the screen, curiosity piqued.
—Just like Chu Qing had anticipated: in this interstellar era, games were only just beginning to take shape, much like the early days of gaming in her original timeline. Trophies, achievements—these addictive little features were things the innocent star-people had never seen before.
After admiring the trophy screen, Dong Boyun exited back to the game, full of interest, and tapped on the next level.
Only now did he realize: this game he downloaded by accident was surprisingly captivating—and full of originality.
No time to think further. The next board, now 5x11 in size, had already loaded.
Another tutorial popped up.
The little girl struck a new pose, half-lying in midair with her cheeks resting on her hands. She beamed:[Welcome back, Organizer! Thanks to your help, the snack cabinet is finally functioning! But we still need more plum jellies. Can you help gather some more?]
The goal for this level popped up: [Collect 85 plum jellies.]
With the pop-ups fading away, the expanded board came into focus.
Dong Boyun noticed that there were now five snack types: plum jelly, salted egg yolk pastry, purple sweet potato cheese ball, hawthorn cakes, and chocolate cakes.
His eyes widened.He felt even hungrier now.
Yet, somehow, despite being tempted by all the snacks, his brain focused entirely on how to beat the level.
He did a quick mental calculation: if each match of three counted toward the total, just six successful clears would do it.
With quick movements, he eliminated 9 plum jellies in rapid succession.
Then, as he continued, a tiny robotic arm appeared on the board.
Dong Boyun: Huh?
Right on cue, the chibi girl explained:[Organizer, just now you cleared four of the same snack at once, earning you a special item: a Mini Sorting Arm! It can collect six items at once—try using it now!]
As she spoke, a mini animation played above the text box, demonstrating how matching four identical snacks created a sorting arm, which then swept a row clean.
Dong Boyun filed that away and tried swapping the sorting arm with a nearby snack.
Boom—six snacks disappeared in a row, accompanied by that satisfying rustle and drawer sound.
So cool!He'd just cleared six snacks at once—including three plum jellies—leaving only two to go.
Dong Boyun grinned in satisfaction.
But the tutorial had only said the arm could remove six items—it didn't say how. Why had it cleared a horizontal line and not vertical?
His curiosity piqued, he avoided matching plum jellies for a while and instead created another Mini Sorting Arm using a different snack.
This time, he swapped it with a tile above it—and sure enough, it cleared a vertical line.
Just as he suspected!
Dong Boyun was delighted—like a student guessing the teacher's next quiz question and getting it right.
He grinned as he cleared the final two plum jellies and watched the triple-star result screen appear again.
At that moment, someone tugged his arm.
His dad, laughing in disbelief: "Kid, I've been calling you for ages. You didn't hear a thing? You're this into a game? Weren't you just saying no smart-brain game could compare to full-dive VR?"
Dong Boyun reflexively wanted to argue. But when he thought about it, he realized—if he compared Tasty Match & Clear to Dungeon Quest... he couldn't honestly say it was the worse game.
His mom chuckled and gently pushed him forward. "Come on, let's go. Didn't you just say you were starving?"
Dong Boyun mumbled, "Not really hungry anymore."
His mom raised an eyebrow. "What? Are games feeding kids now?"
He hunched his shoulders and didn't reply.
If he had to choose right now between eating and continuing the game—he'd pick the game without hesitation.
But he also didn't want to get smacked… so he quietly kept that to himself.