Kaizen stood up from his corner table, gathering his empty bowls and plates.
He scraped every last bit of egg yolk from the bowl with his spoon. He drank every single drop of terrible coffee until the cup was bone dry. He even wiped the tray down with a napkin to make sure no crumbs remained.
'Leave no trace. A good NPC never leaves a mess for the developers to clean up.'
He walked back to the counter to return his tray, feeling slightly more human now that his stomach had something in it.
"Thanks for the food," Kaizen said, bowing slightly in gratitude. "It was... efficient."
Helga did not look up from her work. She was scrubbing a pot with the intensity of a woman trying to erase evidence from a crime scene.
But as Kaizen turned to leave and head for the exit, a gruff voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Oi. Twig."
Kaizen froze mid-step. "Yes?"
Helga wiped her hands on her stained apron. She reached under the counter and pulled out a plastic bag that looked surprisingly heavy.
She slammed it onto the counter with a loud thud.
"Take it."
Kaizen blinked in confusion. He leaned over and peeked inside the bag. Two fresh apples that were not bruised. A wrapped sandwich with actual meat visible through the clear plastic. A hard-boiled egg.
"For the road," she grunted without looking at him. "You said you are hiking to visit family. You will pass out halfway up the trail if you do not eat properly."
"I... uh..." Kaizen stared at the bag like it was a foreign object. "Is this free?"
"Did I ask for money?" She scowled at him. "Now give me your water bottle."
Kaizen fumbled with his backpack and pulled out his empty plastic bottle, handing it over.
'She is going to fill it with water. Hydration is key for hiking. Thank god someone is looking out for me.'
Helga unscrewed the cap. She walked over to the massive, steaming cauldron labeled Industrial Strength Morning Brew.
Glug. Glug. Glug.
She filled the entire one-liter bottle to the very top with scalding hot, pitch-black coffee that looked thick enough to be used as paint.
Kaizen watched in slowly building horror.
'Coffee? For a hike? That is a diuretic!'
'I am going to be desperately dehydrated in twenty minutes!'
'My heart is going to explode from caffeine overdose!'
She screwed the cap back on tight and slammed the bottle down next to the plastic bag. The plastic warped slightly from the intense heat.
"Fuel," she stated simply, as if that explained everything.
Kaizen looked at what was essentially a lethal dose of caffeine in liquid form. Then he looked at the ladle hanging from her belt, the same ladle that had just violently concussed a faculty member moments ago.
"Thank you," Kaizen squeaked out. "I... I love coffee. It is practically my blood type."
He reached out and carefully took both items from the counter.
The plastic bag was warm to the touch. The bottle radiated heat against his palms like a tiny furnace.
Kaizen paused.
He stood there in the middle of the cafeteria, holding the warm weight against his chest.
Something strange happened inside him.
A feeling, not a system glitch or a notification popup, spread slowly through his chest. It started somewhere in his stomach and moved up to his throat. It was warm. It was heavy. It was soft and unfamiliar.
What is this feeling?
He racked his brain desperately. He tried to remember the last time someone had given him a packed lunch with extra food. He tried to remember a mother handing him a sandwich, or a father handing him a water bottle before a trip.
Static. Empty static.
Nothing came up.
In his fragmented memories, there was only the cold blue light of a game menu screen. There was only the script text. Student #4, proceed to Class A.
Nobody had ever given him extra food just because he looked hungry and thin. Nobody had ever cared whether he passed out on a hike.
He was just a background asset in the game. If he fainted, the system would just despawn him and spawn a new generic student to take his place.
But Helga... Helga actually saw him as a person.
Kaizen bit his lip hard. His vision blurred suddenly. A single, traitorous tear escaped from the corner of his eye and rolled down his cheek.
"Hey!"
Helga's voice was sharp and alarmed. She waved the ladle aggressively like a weapon.
"What is with the waterworks, you little shit?! Are you saying my coffee smells bad?! Why are you crying in my cafeteria?!"
Kaizen sniffled pathetically, quickly wiping his face with his sleeve.
"No... no, it smells great..."
"Then stop leaking everywhere! You will salt the oatmeal!"
She looked genuinely flustered now, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. She clearly was not equipped to deal with emotional students having breakdowns.
"What is wrong with you?!"
"I just..." Kaizen looked down at the sandwich in the bag. "I remembered my aunt. She... she used to pack me lunch exactly like this before school."
It was a complete lie. A generic backstory lie pulled from thin air. But it felt strangely nice to say it out loud.
Helga snorted loudly. She crossed her massive arms over her chest.
"Hmph. Well, she sounds like a sensible woman with good priorities."
She gestured at the plastic bag with her chin.
"I gave it to you because you looked like a stray dog about to keel over and die. Better to eat this than waste your money on that useless, overpriced garbage they sell out there."
She pointed a thick thumb toward the exit, gesturing toward the fancy Arcane Exchange café with its magically floating croissants and pretentious waiters in bow ties.
"Those fancy shops? All flash and sparkle. No substance. Tasteless garbage," Helga spat with disgust. "A growing boy needs real food with actual nutrients. Not mana-infused air puffs that cost fifty Crowns and disappear after three bites."
Kaizen smiled. A real, genuine smile that actually reached his eyes and crinkled the corners.
"You are absolutely right," he said, clutching the bag tighter against his chest. "This is much better than anything they could sell."
Helga scoffed loudly, turning her back to him to hide whatever expression was on her face.
"Get going already. Before I change my mind and charge you for the bag."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Kaizen bowed again, deeper this time with real respect, and walked out of the cafeteria with his precious cargo.
The morning air outside was still absolutely freezing. The wind still bit at his exposed face with sharp teeth. But as he walked toward the mountain trail that led out of the academy grounds, holding the warm coffee bottle against his chest, he did not feel cold at all.
For the first time since waking up in this terrifying world full of overpowered students and deadly plot events, he did not feel like an NPC.
He felt... real.
He felt like a person who mattered to someone, even if that someone was just an angry lunch lady with a ladle.
Kaizen looked down at the plastic bag one more time, then smiled to himself.
"Alright," he whispered into the cold morning air. "Time to steal a legendary sword and try not to die."
He adjusted his backpack straps and started walking... towards his destiny.