In a word, I was thoroughly rejected.
My sister left with a greeting.
On the other hand, I was almost in tears.
Actually, being rejected like this wasn’t in my plan.
Because of that, I was secretly hurt.
The problem was that I was so full of expectations that I only thought about the good side without any basis.
‘So this is life.’
A bittersweet feeling filled my mouth.
It was a truly bitter taste.
‘Hoo! I guess sometimes a rejection is necessary.’
I swallowed my gloom and pondered the results.
As a result, I didn’t completely fail to acquire the item.
Now all that’s left is. Frog leg soup flavor.
The taste of earth after the rain.
The taste of morning dew.
The next best thing.
Deprived of choice, I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should aim for the next restock.
I had no confidence to pour those strange flavors into my mouth.
“Come and get it! Buy one bottle of soy sauce and get one free!”
Just then, I saw an employee on the opposite side holding a paper funnel and using it as a megaphone.
I was already wondering what to do.
‘This is a good thing. Let’s buy what I need first and get my head straight.’
And I resolved to be even more vigilant as a result of this incident.
With a determined heart, I headed straight for my next destination.
“A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Manager is giving away discounts behind the boss’s back!!”
The employee raised his voice again, saying it was a closing sale.
‘All lies.’
The boss was over there at the counter, watching this with a warm smile.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the promotion that didn’t make sense.
I seemed to have quickly forgotten the rejection I had just faced.
Anyway, soy sauce.
‘Soy sauce?’
Before being possessed into this world, I often ate dishes seasoned with soy sauce.
Because of that, I was very knowledgeable about soy sauce.
Old memories led me straight to the purchase.
“I’ll take some soy sauce too.”
“Little miss, you need soy sauce? Here, here are two for the price of one.”
“Thank you.”
Because they were giving one free, the soy sauce was selling like hotcakes.
Emboldened by this, the employee further promoted the product.
“This time, we’re also selling seasoning made by drying twenty different ingredients. Come on, this is your only chance. We’re having a really great sale. Come and get it!”
A really great sale.
The promotional phrase strangely caught my ear.
And the employee’s words sparked in my head as if a light bulb had turned on.
‘That’s it!’
I hurried to the seasoning display.
I picked out only the seasoning packets with a large sign saying they contained king crab and put them in my basket.
It was to prepare for what was to come.
As I recall, one of the festival judges was definitely a king crab fanatic.
Not in a way that openly used king crab, but in a subtly added way.
‘Alright, I’m going to focus on one person!’
No matter what anyone says, I just need to pass the preliminary round.
I will definitely get the item ‘Love Goggles’.
“Wow! This little lady knows what’s up? You’re going to be a big success.”
I was embarrassed by the sudden praise.
I frantically waved my hands as if all eyes were on me.
“Ah, no, I’m not.”
“No, you are! Someone who’s shopped before knows how to do it. Buying this, you have a great eye. Well, is there anything else you need?”
“Um!”
Actually, there was.
The item I had put on hold earlier.
Ah, should I ask about that?
“Excuse me, about ‘That Taste We Know’. It’s out of stock, when will it be restocked?”
“Oh dear, what should we do? The restock of that product is delayed due to distribution issues.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And if other types are out of stock now, we can’t guarantee when they’ll be restocked.”
Oh no, it never rains but it pours.
In the end, I guess I’m destined to drink those strange potions.
“Well, if you buy something else, I can give you a slight employee discount.”
He whispered as if he was giving me a special benefit, covering his mouth with one hand.
I knew this was a sales tactic.
It’s rare for someone who has no connection to me to be kind for no reason.
It would be profitable for him to sell even one more item.
Above all, it was like a windfall for me to get an additional discount.
Then, well. I guess I have to.
“I’ll buy it!”
In the end, I compromised with reality.
“That’s an excellent choice! I’ll tell the cashier about the discounted amount separately.”
“Thank you, mister.”
“Hey, my name isn’t mister, it’s Raymond. May God’s glory be with you, little miss.”
As expected, regardless of age, he didn’t like being called mister.
Seeing the virtue of giving me an additional discount, I decided to call him by his name.
“May God’s glory be with Raymond too.”
I responded with a greeting and hurried away.
“Miss, you seem to be getting more curious these days.”
Anne opened her mouth cautiously as she examined the things I had bought.
“Really? I don’t know!”
I pretended not to know.
I had bought strange potions, so it was understandable that she would be suspicious.
However, there was no need to tell her that I was participating in this National Foundation Festival to get a reward.
If she knew that I was interested in the ‘Love Goggles’ item, she would misunderstand that I had a crush on someone.
‘Then that would be passed on to Dad.’
Just thinking about it made me dizzy.
I didn’t want to cause any more confusion.
“Well, it’s a time when you have a lot of questions. I had times like that too.”
Anne spoke as if she understood everything when I didn’t show any particular reaction.
And.
“Miss, back then.”
The atmosphere flowed as if Anne’s memories, which could have gone wrong, might continue.
I shrugged my shoulders for no reason.
“Ahem, Anne, sorry, but I’m very tired from going out for a while, I should go to bed early today.”
Anne smiled, reading my expression. It meant that she wouldn’t disturb my time any longer.
“That’s right. Shopping is surprisingly physically demanding. Go upstairs and rest comfortably.”
If I had only gone shopping, I wouldn’t have been this tired.
Being rejected by my sister subtly scratched my heart and may even disrupt my next plan.
I couldn’t tell Anne about this even more.
“Okay, I will. You rest too, Ann.”
How many steps had I taken after turning around?
I couldn’t move forward and hesitated for a moment.
“Hey, Ann.”
“Miss, what’s wrong? Did you forget something?”
“This festival. I guess Dad won’t be able to come, will he?”
Anne seemed a little flustered, but she answered my question well.
“Ah! I haven’t received any separate contact. Are you disappointed?”
“No. He’s so busy. I’m not disappointed at all. I’m going to bed now. Good night, Ann.”
“Yes, Miss, sweet dreams.”
If the weather wasn’t good, Dad often couldn’t come even on my birthday.
Moreover, in the game setting, Dad’s visit was made unexpectedly, so even I couldn’t guess.
So it wasn’t uncommon for there to be no contact.
I tried to suppress my emotions and went up the stairs.
In fact, saying that I wasn’t disappointed at all was,
A lie.
I quickly cleared my head when I returned to my room.
I judged that it would be much better to accept reality than to be tied to something I couldn’t do anything about.
‘Even if it’s a game, I can’t do everything the way I want.’
If that were possible, I wouldn’t be doing this.
I just need to do my best in what I can do.
When I carefully shook the potion bottle in my hand, it made a shimmering sound and emitted a mysterious light.
Somehow, it felt like a greeting.
Welcoming me back here.
The first thing that caught my eye was ‘Frog Leg Soup Flavor’.
The green liquid really seemed to be dyed in frog color.
And what about ‘The Taste of Earth After the Rain’?
The unknown color of dark brown made me feel stuffy in my mouth even before I ate it.
‘Um, just looking at the name, dew seems to be the most normal.’
It wasn’t on the recommended list, so it didn’t seem like I could expect much flavor.
Anyway, I didn’t think about it any further and decided on the order.
I decided to take special measures.
‘One, two, three!’
I plugged my nose and poured the two liquids that were expected to taste the worst into my mouth at the same time.
It was bearable because I swallowed it without smelling it, but as expected, my throat was parched.
It was as if I was chewing a mouthful of boiled egg yolks.
‘Cough! I should have brought some water.’
I was completely careless because it was a shimmering liquid.
I pounded my chest, but the stuffiness didn’t go away easily.
Just then, the last remaining ‘Taste of Morning Dew’ came into view.
The transparent liquid shimmered in the bottle.
‘Maybe this will quench my thirst.’
A small hope sprang up.
The moment I hurriedly opened the lid and poured the liquid into my mouth.
“Ugh!”
I ended up crying out.
This time, I felt a burning sensation as if my esophagus was burning.
Anyway, the parched throat was resolved in a strange way that was the opposite of hope.
And since I also gained stamina, I had achieved my goal to some extent.
But it was a pain I didn’t want to experience twice.
‘It’s called Karky Pool, right? Wow, it’s really effective.’
The knee wound had disappeared without a trace.
As if there had never been a wound from the beginning.
Thanks to that, my anxious heart was also relieved.
Just as the wound had healed, I had a vague expectation for the future, moving forward from the past.
And the remaining period until the National Foundation Festival is three months.
It was not enough to increase stamina with potions alone.
Therefore, I planned to focus on improving my stamina for the remaining period.
After a hearty meal, I headed straight to the martial arts gym.
“Hey, kid. If you’re here to play around, go back. This isn’t a place for kids.”
A man with a fierce look frowned as he scanned me up and down.
The master, Ken.
He committed the discourtesy of sending me back at our first meeting, judging only by my slender appearance, but later he would call me his favorite disciple and even make me a scouting offer.
Perhaps because I already knew, his attitude didn’t feel bad.
‘But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to let it go.’
Originally, with things like this, taking the initiative is the most important thing.