Chapter 76
The start wasn’t bad.
I sold skewers like crazy to the customers who were terrified by the lucky letters.
Thanks to having a single menu item, the ordering time was drastically shortened.
The twins and Mo Hae-in flew around carrying plates frantically, and system windows popped up like crazy.
[You have received 500G for selling a Flame Lizard Tail Skewer.]
[You have received 480G for selling a Flame Lizard Tail Skewer.]
[You have received 490G for selling a Flame Lizard Tail Skewer:]
[You have received 510G for selling a Flame Lizard Tail Skewer.]
The maximum sale price including tips was 700G, but currently, the prices were hovering around 500G.
Perhaps because the restaurant environment was poor, the tips weren’t high.
In fact, it was an environment where tips shouldn’t even be possible, but I managed to get some solely through the taste of the food.
But scraping together a few pennies in tips wasn’t important.
What mattered was speed.
If I pushed the sales with overwhelming speed, I wouldn’t have to regret the lack of tips.
I keenly observed the outside of the restaurant.
The line was growing endlessly. In contrast, the speed at which the customers in the hall were eating was too slow.
Of course, since it was a skewer, it was faster than the average meal speed, but it wasn’t to my satisfaction.
They should leave immediately after finishing their meal, but the customers were staying for a long time, chatting with empty skewers left on their plates.
The downside of S2P was that food could only be sold inside the restaurant.
I had tried all sorts of experiments in the game placing tables in the front and back yards, or extending the restaurant carpet outside but in the end, sales were only recognized inside the building.
In this situation, the only way was to further increase the turnover rate by making them eat and leave quickly.
’I have as many as three employees.’
Since I had hired the twins, the labor costs were considerable.
And although I had set the business hours until 8 PM, I planned to close early once all 500 prepared skewers were sold
That way, I could leisurely handle some chores and enter the dungeon at night to conquer the upper floors.
I decided to prescribe a drastic remedy.
"Captain Mo."
"Welcome... You’re about to say something crazy again, aren’t you?"
"No. I’m just thinking of increasing the turnover rate."
I whispered to Mo Hae-in.
"Let’s remove the chairs."
Mo Hae-in’s pupils shook violently. She asked back as if she couldn’t believe it.
"Remove the chairs...?"
"Yes, the chairs. From now on, this is a standing restaurant."
From then on, every time a customer left, I removed their chair and stacked it on the second floor.
Sure enough, once the chairs were gone, the customer turnover rate rose dramatically.
Customers who wanted to chat a bit after eating their skewers couldn’t adapt to the radical structure without chairs and vanished after floundering for a bit.
But this alone wasn’t enough to satisfy me.
"Captain Mo.
"What now..
"Let’s remove the tables too."
"...Is this even a restaurant?"
"It’s a standing restaurant."
Once the tables were completely gone, the population density of the restaurant became packed.
People ate exactly their skewers and exited promptly.
Along with the satisfying turnover rate, sales skyrocketed endlessly.
However, the constant flood of customers was hell for the novice part-timers.
The Fire Dragon twins, who had lived their lives merely threatening adventurers in front of dungeons, looked as if their souls had halfway left their bodies.
Still, they worked hard.
Ella showcased aerial serving while flapping her wings, and Elun scurried diligently between the customers.
"Plates! We will soon run out of plates! Little Lamb, what shall we do! Ah, welcome!"
"Skewers, skewers, skewers.."
The two of them bustled about, delivering skewers and clearing plates.
I took the pile of plates Ella was carrying and headed to the kitchen.
Facing a mountain of dishes, I put on rubber gloves.
[Passive skill ’The Body Remembers’ has been activated. Production speed increases by 120%.]
The production speed increase applied not only to cooking but also to dishwashing.
I knocked out the dishes at high speed and finished them in an instant.
As I placed skewers on the clean plates and put them out, the twins served them breathlessly.
Watching the process run like a well-oiled machine, Dominic commented.
"Roasted Chestnut, an industrial revolution is taking place in this restaurant."
Was that a compliment? It might not have been, but I chose to take it as one.
Mo Hae-in and the twins were so frazzled they couldn’t even look toward the kitchen.
I whispered softly to Dominic.
"Thank you, Mr. Dominic."
Then Dominic asked with a low laugh.
"Do you need a lot of customers to come?"
"’Yes. The more, the better. And the more tips they give."
"I see. I should contribute a little as well."
I snapped awake at the ominous remark. It was the moment just before a Pudding Slime caused an accident.
"It’s alright, Mr. Dominic. I’ll try to do it with my own strength. I’d be embarrassed if I only received help."
Before Dominic could even answer, I showered him with praise for being the best colleague.
It was just as I finally managed to get the answer that he would trust Roasted Chestnut and wait.
Ring-ring!
The sound of a classic telephone rang.
’Right, this game had phones too.’
There were cases where customers ordered food by phone, or villagers provided important information.
Of course, 90% of them were useless prank calls or nutritionally void conversations.
Despite being busy, since it was the first call, I decided to answer it.
It had been so long since I used an old-fashioned telephone instead of a smartphone that it felt awkward.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end was silent for a while.
Static continued to crackle, and just as I was about to hang up thinking it was a prank call..
Suddenly, a voice came through the receiver.
- Ah! Finally connected! There are so many cases where communication doesn’t reach, so I didn’t expect it this time either.
It was a man’s voice with a tone that pretended to be very refined yet sounded somewhat boastful.
My intuition told me he wasn’t a village NPC.
I listened quietly to see what he was saying, and the opponent spoke surprisingly normally.
- I would like to order food via mail order. Is that possible?
However, perhaps because the phone connection was poor, noise kept mixing in, making it hard to hear the voice.
Did he live in some remote wilderness?
The stock of skewers had already dropped below 150. Even without delivery, they were expected to be sold out by the afternoon.
Business was going well, but since it was the first order, I thought I’d send one as a commemoration.
I took out a notepad and asked.
"Please give me your address."
- Please send it to PSR B1919+21! It is the Pulsar Sector!
It seemed he was an alien customer.
In S2P, as the restaurant prospers, its fame eventually spreads beyond the village.
The range from which customers visit gradually widens, and city customers or foreign customers visit; if the restaurant’s reputation exceeds 990 points, alien customers also visit.
They appear briefly like an Easter egg just before the ending.
But to receive a phone order from an alien customer on the first day of business.
’I’ve never done mail order for an alien before.’
Even in the game, it was just an Easter egg, so the alien customer’s appearance wasn’t described.
I only knew that if you sold food to an alien customer who came wearing a hood, they would leave a large tip.
Since there had been so many bugs since entering S2P, I replied calmly first.
"Uh... I’m sorry. First of all, today is the first day of business, and our restaurant doesn’t deliver to space."
- Oh, how can this be! I thought I could definitely receive it at PSR B1919+21! Is it really not possible?
PSR... I didn’t know where that was, but there was no way to send it to space.
"I’m sorry."
The opponent made a crying sound.
Literally, he said "sob sob sob" with his mouth...
He didn’t seem like a normal alien.
Maintaining emotional distance in my heart, I signaled the timing to end the call.
"The shop is busy. If you come to the restaurant next time, I’ll give you great service."
- Since I cannot go myself... it cannot be helped.
The opponent, who muttered in a gloomy voice, suddenly began to laugh, "Hehe, hehehe."
- Still, I was happy to hear your voice directly! Hahaha!
’Should I hang up?’
just hang up.
I had entertained him just in case he might visit in a spaceship, but seeing as he said he couldn’t come in person, I felt I could
Just as I was about to hang up without hesitation.
The opponent spoke hurriedly, as if he could see my appearance.
- I am a long-time fan of yours! I will keep watching you, Little Lamb! Well then..."
Beep-beep-beep.
The signal indicating the call had ended followed.
I stood still for a moment, holding the phone.
"Roasted Chestnut?"
"...Ah, Mr. Dominic."
"Was it a call from someone you know?"
I didn’t know how to answer.
He seemed to be an NPC that didn’t exist in S2P, so where on earth did the call come from?
Setting aside the fact that the opponent’s mental state was strange, the last words he left kept bothering me.
A long-time fan...
The expression "long-time fan" didn’t suit a chef of a restaurant that had just opened today.
The most unsettling part was the statement that he would keep watching.
Because it reminded me of the black blocks that appeared whenever a trial ended.
’■■ is impressed! He watches you with ceaseless interest.’
Recalling the black block text I had seen last, I flinched and put down the phone.
"Trainee! We’re out of plates!"
Snapping back to reality at Mo Hae-in’s shout, I quickly ran to the sink.
Now was not the time to worry about a strange phone call.
Deciding to look closely at the text that appears when this S2P ends, I began the piled-up dishwashing once again.
3:30 PM
All 500 skewers were sold.
Having earned a huge sum, we became incredibly wealthy.
Now we could go down to the village and enjoy luxury shopping, but before that, there was something simple to handle.
The customers were in an uproar when I announced the end of business.
"Skewers! I have to buy skewers!"
"Aaaah... I’m going to become unhappy..."
They were gripped by the obsession that they had to buy the food because of the lucky letters.
I gathered them together and handled them.
"No, to think such a thing happened! Our restaurant knows nothing about it. Even such malicious and terrible text... could it have been the work of a competing shop?"
First, I played dumb, claiming I knew nothing about the lucky letters.
"If you look closely at the letter, it says ’visit within today’s business hours! Didn’t you all visit the restaurant within business hours? It will be fine, so you don’t have to worry."
I soothed them, saying it was okay even if they didn’t buy and eat the food.
"If you come again tomorrow, I will give you even more delicious food."
And I finished with a promotion, giving a business smile to the customers who had finally calmed down.
[Business has ended.]
- Sold Food: Flame Lizard Tail Skewers (500)
- Revenue: 249.560G
- Current Restaurant Reputation: 20 points
- Customers’ One-line Reviews:
"Trashy restaurant. The owner is crazy for money."
"If you endure it, it’s a feast of touching taste."
"It’s really delicious but the seating is too uncomfortable. A restaurant where staff and customers stand equally."
"The staff is delicious and the skewers are kind!"
"Heavenly taste and hellish interior."
"This review was first written in Mornveil, England..."
The maximum reputation score was 1,000 points.
To have gained 20 points even after turning it into a standing restaurant meant I had held my own quite well.
The food must have been delicious.
Taking pride in the lizard skewers, I looked around the hall.
Mo Hae-in and the twins were sprawled out, exhausted.
"Everyone, good work."
Mo Hae-in looked at me, but as if she didn’t even have the strength to say anything, she just sighed and sprawled out again.
The twins, who had sold 500 skewers from their first day of part- time work, already had blurry eyes from sleepiness.
Still, things were flowing well according to plan.
’I should make something even more delicious for the Captains and the twins tonight.’
Especially since the twins had only tried skewers, I planned to show off my skills.
Just as I was about to tell them to rest while I went to the general store.
Suddenly, a system window appeared.
[Today’s Quota: 249,000G]
Displaying an absurd quota amount.