Chapter 68

I opened my eyes to the shrill notification sound.

‘They’re here.’

The moment I saw the system window in front of me, I knew the time had finally come.

Once you reach Level 10, the restaurant owner visits the next morning and grants you permission to enter the dungeon.

That’s also when the daily quota system unlocks.

Just thinking about having to hand over my precious gold to the owner already made my heart ache.

If it weren’t for the quota, there were countless things I could do with that money.

I was getting out of bed, still thinking about money.

“…?”

Dominic was nowhere to be seen.

After glancing around for a moment, I immediately sprang out of bed.

Then I tore through every corner of the room.

“Dominic-ssi? Where are you? Please answer me, Dominic-ssi….”

I muttered Dominic’s name while searching everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found.

At least he wasn’t in the room.

I hurriedly threw open the door and ran down the hallway.

‘He’s downstairs, right? He has to be.’

Dominic had never once left my side until now.

A terrible possibility filled my mind.

‘If he got his memories back….’

I’d turned him into pudding, but he was still the most terrifying calamity of them all.

He would regain his memories someday—but not now.

I still hadn’t come up with any countermeasures.

At this rate, I’d be the one who unleashed a calamity upon the world.

‘And I already destroyed the place he could return to.’

Samra had said Clean3 had been shut down.

The butlers were ultimately beings bound by the Trial as well, so after pushing me into CallOVo after the ending, they had most likely disappeared along with Clean3.

If his memories returned now…

He wouldn’t leave me alone. Or the Special Mission Team. Or the Trial. Perhaps not even the planet Earth itself.

The “Master” had made it abundantly clear in CallOVo what kind of being he truly was.

The sight of him slicing open his own palm with his own hand.

That moment when death and resurrection repeated over and over….

Halfway down the stairs, I braced myself against the wall.

My vision swam, and I couldn’t place my feet properly.

I desperately tried to steady my breathing, but my legs refused to cooperate.

“…!”

My body lurched.

Just as I was about to tumble down the stairs—

“My, my! Careful now.”

Someone caught me.

“Your footing is rather unsteady.”

I immediately froze with a foolish expression.

“Roasted Chestnut! Are you alright?”

A deep, pleasant voice asked in urgent concern.

Dominic was…

…on top of a table on the first floor.

Still in the form of a pudding slime.

The moment I saw his soft, squishy body, relief washed over me so strongly that my strength nearly gave out.

‘There’s still time.’

Only after regaining my composure did I look at the person supporting me.

A man with long, blazing crimson hair cascading down to his waist helped straighten me up.

Dark, sturdy horns rose from both sides of his head.

“Hoh. So you’re the new chef. You’re quite the young little one.”

The man with reptilian eyes bared his teeth in a smile as his arrogant voice rang out.

“I am the master of this place, Infernum.”

I stared blankly up at the owner of the restaurant.

This wasn’t the worst-case scenario I’d feared.

But it wasn’t what I’d expected either.

A slime and a fire dragon together… I never imagined I’d witness a combination like this in my life.

For now, I greeted him almost by reflex.

“O sovereign of the great fire dragons. This mortal humbly offers you greetings. I am Little Lamb.”

The line had been drilled into me through endless playthroughs of the game.

Originally, it was dialogue you only learned late in Sla2Plate.

Only after completing various side quests and learning the proper etiquette for dealing with dragons would you obtain it. Yet I recited it the moment we met.

Satisfaction spread across Infernum’s face.

He openly displayed his approval as he praised me.

“Impressive. You are one with knowledge.”

His brilliant crimson eyes, like gemstones set into his face, rested upon me.

“But you are no mortal, are you? You are but a newborn child.”

Calling a twenty-four-year-old grown man a newborn child didn’t quite fit.

And then there was what he’d said about me not being mortal.

Infernum clearly perceived me as something other than human.

I recalled the new title I had received.

Young God….

Personally, it still didn’t feel real to me, so I’d just been thinking of it as something like a second class advancement.

‘Come to think of it, why haven’t I gotten an Epic Quest yet?’

Surely closing three Trials wasn’t the end of it, yet nothing else had happened.

Maybe it had something to do with the system window mentioning that its power had been exhausted.

Hoping the Epic Quest would arrive before I cleared Sla2Plate, I mulled over Infernum’s words again.

Calling someone a Young God wasn’t something an ordinary NPC could do.

‘Then again, if he were an ordinary NPC, Dominic wouldn’t have any reason to be here with him.’

In CallOVo, Dominic had treated NPCs as beings beneath even insects.

There had to be a reason he’d left my side and come downstairs to meet Infernum.

I voiced what seemed like the most reasonable conclusion.

“Pardon my impertinence, but… Your Majesty, are you perhaps a god?”

The moment he heard my question, Infernum burst into hearty laughter.

His flame-like, wavy hair swayed along with it.

“Hahaha! I am no god. But I am a being infinitely close to one.”

Was it because he possessed a certain ‘rank’ that he could see Dominic?

I still didn’t fully understand what rank actually meant.

The first thing that came to mind was something obvious and visible.

I compared Kwak Hanmuk’s red hair to Infernum’s crimson locks, but the feeling was completely different.

‘Then again, Captain Kwak dyes his hair.’

I remembered him complaining that he needed to touch up his roots.

In any case, aside from having red hair, I couldn’t think of any obvious similarities between the two.

At least, none that I knew of.

“Little one. How did you come to my restaurant?”

I pushed thoughts of Kwak Hanmuk aside and focused on Infernum again.

“I wished to become a chef, and so I came to reside within Infernum-nim’s domain.”

“Hmm.”

Infernum narrowed his eyes before snapping his fingers.

Whoosh.

Flames burst into the air, and a contract appeared.

It was the Restaurant Lease Agreement.

Beneath the large text reading Monthly Rent: 1G, there was a line of tiny fine print.

The monthly rent of 1G only applied before the restaurant officially opened.

The moment I entered the dungeon, gathered ingredients, and began business, the monthly rent would become a daily quota, and that amount would continue increasing as more business days passed.

From then on, the true hellish business would begin.

If you failed to meet the daily quota, you had to offer one of your teammates as food for the monsters.

And in a five-person party, losing even a single member made clearing the upper floors of the dungeon impossible.

The moment someone died, the ever-increasing quota would become impossible to pay.

One by one, your teammates would be devoured by monsters until total annihilation became inevitable.

And that monster…

…was the fire dragon Infernum sitting before me.

Sla2Plate was, in truth, one enormous restaurant built for Infernum alone.

“Little one. Have you looked over the contract carefully?”

With a heavy heart, I answered.

“Yes….”

“Starting today, I intend to grant you access to a new domain. But, little one… it would be best if you stayed away from such dangerous places.”

Instead of advice, couldn’t I get some kind of children’s special discount? Maybe a massive discount on the daily quota?

Suppressing the nonsense threatening to escape my mouth, I smiled instead.

“Thank you for your concern. But I wish to fulfill my dream of becoming a chef.”

Infernum clicked his tongue.

Just then, Dominic, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, crossed the table and approached me.

“You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t bring myself to wake you, Roasted Chestnut.”

“Dominic-ssi….”

My heart had nearly stopped first thing in the morning.

Next time, I honestly wished he’d wake me even if he had to beat me awake.

And if being a slime made physical violence difficult, then at least he could block my airway.

I looked back and forth between Infernum and Dominic before cautiously asking,

“If I may ask… what were the two of you discussing so early this morning…?”

At the same time, I checked the time.

It felt strange that Je Hyun-oh and the captains hadn’t come downstairs despite all this commotion.

The moment I looked at the system window, I froze.

In Sla2Plate, everyone goes to sleep at midnight, and the day officially begins at 6:00 AM.

Sleeping and waking are forcibly controlled by the system.

Which meant I had woken up before the system’s designated wake-up time.

‘Wait… why?’

I had no idea what kind of bug had caused this.

Dominic answered politely.

“I entertained our guest in your stead while you slept, Roasted Chestnut. Wouldn’t you agree that the finer the restaurant, the more attentive the service should be? Infernum-ssi possesses remarkably broad knowledge, so it was a thoroughly enjoyable conversation.”

“Indeed, little one. I sensed an unusual aura and came early to investigate. Fortunately, this gentleman welcomed me in your place.”

Infernum looked at Dominic with a hint of respect in his eyes.

“I heard the two of you are traveling together. It is unfortunate that you happened to enter my domain.”

It didn’t seem like Infernum knew Dominic’s true identity.

It felt more as though Dominic had deliberately concealed himself.

Either way, if Dominic had been entertaining the guest in my place, there wasn’t much I could say.

‘I’m sure he has some purpose.’

I couldn’t ask him outright in front of Infernum, so I changed the subject instead.

“Um, Infernum-nim. I have one request.”

“What is it?”

“Would you permit us to enter the dungeon during the daytime as well?”

“The daytime dungeon?”

Infernum asked in surprise.

Infernum looked genuinely surprised.

The reason players entered the dungeon at night in Sla2Plate was because of the fire aura.

During the day, when the sun was up, the dungeon’s fire aura intensified, greatly increasing the stats of the monsters under the fire dragon’s dominion.

A monster on the first floor of the daytime dungeon possessed combat power comparable to a monster on the ninety-ninth floor of the nighttime dungeon.

Because of that, the daytime dungeon was originally additional content that players tackled only after seeing the ending.

Yet here I was, asking Infernum to unlock an area that was normally entered only after reaching level 99.

Infernum clicked his tongue and tried to dissuade me.

“Little one. The daytime dungeon is too dangerous for one such as you.”

He wasn’t wrong.

If you died inside the dungeon, you were immediately swallowed by it and became food for Infernum.

That was one of the reasons Sla2Plate was so difficult.

Outside the dungeon, no matter how many times you died, you’d revive at the restaurant lodging.

But in the most dangerous place of all—the dungeon itself—the moment you died, you became a monster’s meal.

The daytime dungeon was especially deadly.

But the greater the danger, the greater the reward.

“Come, have a cup of tea with me instead. I heard you brew excellent tea.”

Surely he wasn’t talking about the leaf tea.

It was the only tea I’d brewed since arriving in Sla2Plate.

I looked at Dominic.

He simply wiggled his ears as if to say he knew nothing about it.

I addressed Infernum once more, doing my best to remain respectful.

“It’s only simple leaf tea, so it isn’t worthy of serving to Infernum-nim. I hope to make this restaurant flourish even further and one day serve you truly wonderful dishes.”

“Hmm.”

“My own skills are still lacking, but fortunately my companions are exceptionally capable. I believe we’ll be able to safely gather rare ingredients even from the daytime dungeon. I ask for your permission, Infernum-nim.”

Infernum gazed steadily at me.

“Little one. Do you know what happens if you die in the dungeon?”

“I do.”

“So you wish to become my food?”

His pupils narrowed even further.

Infernum kept his eyes fixed on me for a long while.

When I didn’t answer, he slowly narrowed his eyes and murmured,

“Yes… if I could eat you, it would be enjoyable for the first time in a long while….”

His blunt admission of his appetite was unsettling, but I wasn’t particularly afraid.

I’d already experienced true terror the moment I woke up that morning.

And besides, this was exactly what I’d expected.

I knew Infernum’s true nature.

In the game, Infernum would stop at nothing in pursuit of the finest cuisine.

When I remained standing there calmly, Infernum let out a faint chuckle.

“Do as you please.”

He extended a finger toward me.

A thin strand of flame drifted from his fingertip and touched the back of my hand.

A sharp sting ran through me as a crimson crest was branded onto my skin.

Without thinking, I glanced over at Dominic.

His body was shimmering as though he were in a foul mood.

Since he and I were bound by contract, I wondered if he disliked me forming a connection with another being.

Judging by his reaction, he seemed exactly as displeased as I’d expected.

Still, he also seemed to understand that it was necessary to clear the Trial, so he let it pass.

“Little one. I look forward to the day you find your way onto my dining table.”

Flames erupted around Infernum as he disappeared.

Only Dominic and I remained on the restaurant’s first floor.

I held out my hand toward the pudding slime sitting atop the table.

But instead of climbing onto my palm, he simply looked up at me.

The pudding slime stared at me intently before speaking.

“The dish you promised to serve me, Roasted Chestnut.”

The brilliant gleam radiating from him sent a chill down my spine.

Dominic made his request with impeccable politeness.

“Could you cook that Fire Dragon for me?”