111 Delicious Meal

—Fufufu. You were formidable opponents. Yes, I admit it. You pushed me to my limits. A true battle to the death. Indeed, a fight worthy of that name. Yet, before me, your efforts were meaningless. Hahahaha! I have finally won! From this day forward, you have etched absolute defeat into your very being before me!

The body aspect is acting strangely.

What is this guy even doing?

Is his head overheating?

{Information aspect, how long has this guy been like this?}

Shh!

Good girls don’t look!

{Ah. The body aspect has wandered into forbidden territory.}

Yes. I’ve gone too far.

Thus, those of us left must survive stronger than ever.

{Body aspect. I won’t forget you for about three minutes!}

Instant ramen!

{Instant ramen... Hungry...}

Didn’t forget the Body Aspect in an instant?

{Not entirely untrue.}

[Hey, isn’t that a bit much?]

{Body Aspect!?}

Idiot. Did you snap back to reality!?

[No, that’s the thing—idiot! Isn’t that obvious? If you snap back to reality, you still look like an idiot.]

Huh?

{Did I get it wrong?}

[Should we go full OHA NASI for a moment?]

Gee, gee, a brief outburst.

Well, the Body Aspect’s mood rising is understandable.

After all, the fire dragon’s scale removal has finally been completed.

As the Body Aspect said, it was intense.

Scale removal from the fire dragon and three eels.

Extremely difficult.

To be honest—

The time spent on scale removal exceeded the combat duration.

Time is irrelevant without a clock. It's all perception. The battle requiring focus may have actually taken longer than it felt.

Besides, though they said it was difficult, the one who actually performed the task was the body's designated agent.

Meanwhile, the information specialist and the magic specialist trained in skill refinement while exchanging idle talk.

The body supervisor came by periodically, saying they were bored and requesting a change. The answer, of course, was no.

But refuse.

The body is singular, and the responsibility for it remains mine—so ultimately, I am the one who becomes fatigued. Still, is it not merely a matter of mindset?

It's like bringing to life a child's fantasy of having another self to shove homework onto.

— Hmph. But I have completed it.

Congratulations!

{Congratulations!}

Thank you! Thank you!

Then let's eat right away.

—Oh, I’ve been waiting for you!

{NAMAZU, eel, and this fire dragon}

The flavor must have evolved as well!

[Me, if I eat this, I'll say, "Mmm, delicious!"]

{No. That's a bad sign.}

Thus, tasting it firsthand!

Hmm.

Hmm?

Hmm.

[Mixed feelings]

{It's hard to call it bad, but hard to call it good either—a delicate balance...}

Like a white fish with no seasoning.

[Ah, I get it.]

{This definitely has the potential to transform with soy sauce.}

Does soy sauce exist in this world?

[Not really, I think.]

{You know, telling a Japanese person to live without soy sauce? Impossible.}

Subculture and soy sauce—both are sources of pride for Japan.

[Back when I was human, I never cared about such food. But becoming a spider made me realize it.]

{That's right. Japanese food was incredibly delicious.}

Don't give up!

[Information Specialist?]

Soy sauce might not exist in this world!

But a substitute seasoning might!

{Even without seasonings, a good meal would do...}

{That's right. All we've eaten so far were raw monsters.}

Monsters aren't even food to begin with, are they?

{Huh!?}

{Noticing that—you're a genius!?}

Exactly.

I was a genius.

{Seriously? I was a genius? If I'm a genius, I can do anything, right?}

Precisely!

Today, this moment, I declare a resolve!

To escape this Elro Great Labyrinth—so I may eat proper food!

{Oh!}

I've had enough of tasteless monsters!

{I'm done with stinking meat!}

{I'm tired of poison!}

A healthy life begins with healthy food!

[More delicious things!]

{How about something sweet sometimes?}

Sweet things... I want them.

[Ah, I want chocolate...]

{Chocolate might not be available, but fruits should be...}

Ah... I've been avoiding thinking about it, but I can't anymore.

[My body is craving sugar!]

{When the body manager says it, it sounds seriously alarming.}

Fine.

I'll go full-fledged and aim for something a little more arachnid.

[Ah, well, that's to be expected.]

{If I want to communicate with humans, after all.}

After all, living like this—eating monsters until I die?

[That's not what I want!]

{I want to eat delicious food!}

Right?

Human-made meals should be far tastier than living monsters!

I'm quitting being a spider!

[Arachne is just a spider, after all.]

{But seriously, even if I became Arachne, do you think I could communicate with humans?}

That’s where willpower comes in.

{Remember how bad my social skills are.}

[Hey, I can’t recall the last conversation I had when I was human…]

When was the last time I even spoke to someone?

{It was so long ago, I can’t remember.}

[Am I okay?]

I—willpower.

{Wait, does Japanese even work here?}

Ah.

[Ah.]

{This is going to be tough.}