"Why?"Kanzaki Rei asked.
"Explaining the reason is a prohibited action."Gyūma shook his head.
"Alright. Then what other rules are there?"
"Second rule: if you haven't received an order slip, do not leave the break room," Gyūma continued.
"Then how do we deal with… biological needs?" Rei asked.
"Employee meals will be placed in your locker on schedule every day. As for using the toilet—your only chance is to make time while you're out delivering."
Gyūma shrugged his broad shoulder blades.
"Very humane of you," Rei nodded appreciatively.
"Be grateful. If the boss hadn't changed, you wouldn't even get employee meals—just scraps and slop," Gyūma replied, clearly catching the sarcasm.
"…When did the boss change?"Rei immediately followed up.
Thinking of that aristocratic woman who radiated charm just by standing there, his instincts sharpened.With Shiyuki Tsukasa's presence, she was either a major boss or a critical NPC.
"Thr—"
Gyūma had just spat out the first syllable when it stopped.
Its thick lips clamped together unnaturally. Its entire body stiffened, like it had been injected with an overdose of sedatives.
But its eyeballs shook violently, bloodshot and bulging.
A strong stench rushed into Rei's nose.
He looked down—and saw a puddle of dark yellow liquid spreading beneath Gyūma.
Rei realized something abnormal was happening, but he knew too little.
Rather than panic blindly, it was better to wait and observe.
Thud.
Five minutes later, Gyūma's eyeballs finally stopped twitching.
And the first thing it did upon returning to normal—
Was kick Rei.
The force was like being hit by a speeding truck. Rei had no chance to resist—he was sent flying straight into the wall.
"Cough—!"
He gagged violently, a metallic sweetness flooding his throat.
"You bastard! You almost got me killed!"Gyūma roared.
"I didn't do it on purpose," Rei said hoarsely.
"I know. Otherwise you'd already be dead."Gyūma snorted.
"Remember this. Don't ask about the boss ever again."
"Got it."Rei nodded.
He tried to stand, but searing pain exploded in his chest. His vision went black.
That kick had broken at least three ribs.
"You're finished, human brat."Gyūma looked at him with pity.
With injuries this severe, Rei clearly couldn't work.
Is this really a newbie instance?Rei cursed inwardly.
Triggering death flags over a single sentence. Sanity dropping anytime, anywhere. The only NPC he could talk to might kill him at any moment.
If this was the average difficulty of a beginner dungeon, the game's survival rate was genuinely terrifying.
"I'm finished… but what about you?"Rei coughed.
"You'd have a hard time delivering all the orders alone, wouldn't you? And no one would give you massages anymore."
Gyūma stared at him with bloodshot eyes, trying to find even a trace of weakness in Rei's calm expression.
It found none.
"This is the first time I've seen a human like you,"Gyūma muttered, then turned toward the wall lockers.
It spat out a key and opened one of the cabinets.
Inside the door, Rei glimpsed a photo stuck to the metal—It looked like an ox-horse wearing a maid outfit.
"Drink this."
Gyūma hooked a bottle out with its horn and dangled it in front of him.
A translucent glass bottle, filled with over half a bottle of murky, viscous liquid. Countless hairy worms swam inside, appearing and disappearing.
"Name: Ascension Hairy Moss – 53°""Type: Item""Quality: Refined""Effect: Rapidly restores the user's injuries. Slightly increases Strength and Constitution. Slightly decreases Spirit and Perception. Chance to enter a Drunken state.""Remarks: Ingredients include sorghum, wheat, water, hairy bloodworms, fecal moss, and things you really don't want to know.""Quality tiers (lowest to highest): Inferior, Common, Fine, Refined, Perfect, Legendary, Epic, Mythic."
"Ascension Hairy Moss…"
Rei accepted the bottle, his expression complicated.
It really felt like the system was hinting at something—and he had evidence.
Without much hesitation, he twisted off the cap and took a huge gulp.
The stench, like concentrated hydrochloric acid, made his head spin.
But worse were the worms crawling down his esophagus.
They bit into muscle and mucous membranes with their mouthparts, then spewed sticky vomit to seal the wounds behind them.
The sensation—both painful and itchy—didn't stop until they were completely digested by stomach acid.
The brief torment alone would have been enough to make the most hardened spy spill everything.
And after the pain—
A surging warmth flooded his body.
Rei couldn't help scratching his exposed skin. He felt swollen all over, like a suckling pig stuffed and roasted whole.
"Pretty intense, right? This is premium stuff I got through special channels. You got lucky," Gyūma bragged.
The noise annoyed Rei. He simply opened his character panel.
"ID: Kanzaki Rei (modifiable)""Level: Lv.1""Strength: 17""Constitution: 15?""Spirit: 9""Perception: 8"
Strength and Constitution had increased by 3 points.Spirit and Perception had dropped by 2.
Numerically, it was a profit.
And he hadn't entered the Drunken state—his luck wasn't bad.
He touched his chest. The broken ribs had already healed, though a dull ache remained.
In the real world, no medicine—no matter how expensive—could achieve something like this.
And here, it was just a delivery worker's private stash.
No wonder this game was designed to filter out the extraordinary.
Rei felt even more anticipation for the future.
"Don't forget—you owe me two thousand," Gyūma said, utterly ruining the mood.
"What's our salary?" Rei asked.
"One thousand a month. Plus bonuses."
"Alright. I'll pay you back at the end of the month."
Rei agreed readily.
Debts you don't have to repay immediately always feel great.
"Alright. Let's continue with the job rules."
Gyūma nodded, as if nothing unusual had happened at all.
"Third rule: you are forbidden from speaking with the person who plates the food."
"And if the order's wrong?"
"Then put it back on the cart and return to the break room. Wait for it to be plated again."
"Understood."
Rei noted carefully—It was forbidden to speak, not forbidden to communicate.
"Fourth rule: after 7 p.m. every night, loud noise is strictly prohibited."
"Fifth rule: do not disclose anything about Bloody Restaurant to outsiders, and do not tell employees about anything outside the restaurant—except me."
"Isn't that overlapping with the third rule?" Rei asked.
"You're just not allowed to talk to the plating staff. You can still talk to other employees. That said, I suggest you keep contact to a minimum—saves you trouble."
"That's about it. Stuff like not stealing food, not adding ingredients to orders, delivering on time—I won't bother explaining. You should already understand."
Gyūma licked its lips, sounding a bit thirsty.
Rei immediately stuffed the bottle into its mouth.
Gyūma tilted its head back and drained the remaining liquor in one go.
"Since you're a quick learner, I'll give you one more tip."
"Be bolder out there."
It raised a hoof and patted Rei on the shoulder.
"You're an employee of the restaurant."