Eddie turned around, wondering if everything until now had been a dream, and he had finally woken up. But behind him were still the stairs leading to the basement of Eddie’s Inn.
He turned back around. The front was still his convenience store, exactly as it had been right before his possession.
“…Huh.”
The ramen corner, fully stocked without a single gap, the triangle gimbap, gimbap, and sandwich corner, the lunchboxes arranged by type underneath, the snacks, jellies, hangover cures…
It was exactly the same as his convenience store, which he always kept perfectly organized due to his inherently neat personality.
There was even a microwave, even though there shouldn’t have been any electricity. As if possessed, Eddie approached the microwave and pressed the start button. With a whirring sound, 30 seconds were automatically set, and the microwave began to turn.
The orange light illuminating the inside of the microwave was vivid.
Wait, how is this working without electricity?
Suddenly struck by the question, he hurriedly checked the back of the microwave, but there was no power cord to be seen.
“Hoo…”
Eddie went ahead and checked the coffee machine as well. An iced Americano, large size, which he thought he would never drink again. He tore open an ice cup, placed it under the machine, and pressed the Americano button. With a familiar whirring sound, a familiar aroma brushed past Eddie’s nose.
Of course, the coffee machine also had no power cord. Furthermore, there was no need to supply water or coffee beans.
Foods with short expiration dates, like triangle gimbap, didn’t have expiration date stickers at all. No, there were no expiration dates on anything.
When one triangle gimbap was taken from the display case, a new triangle gimbap immediately filled its place. The same was true for ramen, snacks, and so on. It was as if everything was an automatically running factory.
“Hooo…”
Eddie was dazed for a while. He kept making sounds like “Hoo, hooo,” as if that was all he could say.
A convenience store where you don’t have to worry about first-in, first-out or organizing inventory. And it looked like charging was free. Could there be such benefits in the world?
Benefits?
“Ah.”
After thinking for a moment, Eddie belatedly had a great realization.
This was his possessor’s benefit. The past few days, when he had grumbled about having “a possession with nothing to show for it,” suddenly felt like a past life.
This was a secret, but Eddie remembered quietly muttering, “…Status window,” around two days after his possession. Of course, there was no such thing in Hero Arthur Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well, which was a classic fantasy.
And this was perhaps much, much better than the status window he had timidly called out to see if it existed.
No, it was good.
In his previous life, it was one of the many convenience stores scattered throughout the world, with four in his apartment complex alone, but in this world, there would only be one convenience store.
“Ah!”
Eddie also had another realization.
The past week of suffering, when he had racked his brains over the pathetic menu, had become meaningless.
Why bother developing dishes made by modern corporations to suit this world’s tastes, experimenting while considering their palates?
All you had to do was boil water or microwave it!
“Cough.”
Eddie hurriedly covered his mouth.
Was he shocked? Was he suddenly happy to see the convenience store he had been so familiar with?
No.
Eddie couldn’t hide the twitching corners of his mouth. Of course, no one was watching now, but he felt like a bright, capitalist smile would burst out before he knew it.
“…Jackpot.”
He could feel the jackpot energy.
Eddie suddenly had an idea and quickly ran to the ramen corner. Recent convenience stores had a trend of countless new products appearing and disappearing, and unlike in the past, there were products with various flavors.
Of course, among them, there were strong contenders that maintained their traditional popularity while preserving the flavors of the past, but there were always emerging powerhouses.
Yes, for example, that ramen that he also liked very much, and that he used to eat with cheese on stressful days.
Eddie smiled wickedly as he found the problematic ramen with a fire-breathing character drawn on it.
Eddie first created a large menu on the wall. He wrote down the simple and meager menu first: French fries, fish fries, fruit platter. Then, he added a new menu underneath.
[New! Fire Chicken Noodle]
Next to it, he wrote down draft beer, the only alcoholic beverage at Eddie’s Inn. There were various types of alcohol in the convenience store, but he decided not to add them to the menu right away.
“Ah.”
But as if remembering something, Eddie wrote milk under the beer. If the Fire Chicken Noodle did well, this would be essential.
Looking at the menu, which had grown quite a bit, Eddie smiled contentedly. Of course, it was still lacking as a restaurant and pub menu.
There were far more items in his infinitely replenishing convenience store, but if he supplied too many items from the start, there was a high probability that it would become neither one thing nor the other.
Because all of it would be unfamiliar food to the people of this Reneba Empire.
But why Fire Chicken Noodle out of all the menus?
Because the first impression had to be strong, no matter what anyone said. Especially in a place where customers had no expectations for the food, word of mouth was even more important.
Fire Chicken Noodle was perfect for that kind of menu. It was a menu that could bring both taste and buzz.
Business was similar to a marathon, where consistency was important, but the difference from a marathon was that the first start was also important. He was now at the starting line, and he had chosen the menu after careful calculation.
“Hmph, Eddie, what on earth is this?”
The first day he made Fire Chicken Noodle, Gerold couldn’t help but ask what it was as soon as he tore open the sauce packet and smelled the intense spicy aroma.
“It’s the guy who will open the door to Eddie’s Inn’s new beginning.”
“Yes?”
“Well, just know that.”
It was difficult to explain. Unlike Eddie, Gerold didn’t even recognize the existence of convenience stores, and he firmly believed that there was just a basement door that wouldn’t open in that place.
Since it was awkward to explain, he vaguely glossed over it, and Gerold, a loyal employee, nodded without asking Eddie any further.
Such a good guy.
He was quite tall and had a good physique, even bigger than Eddie, but he listened so well and acted so kindly that he couldn’t help but look cute.
Eddie suppressed the urge to pat his head and watched the Fire Chicken Noodle being completed.
The Fire Chicken Noodle, which he had eaten after a long time, had a taste that blew away the accumulated stress. Perhaps because his current body was less resistant to spicy flavors than before, it felt spicier than usual, but this was something you had to overcome with mental strength.
“Hmph, Eddie. It’s too spicy.”
Gerold’s face turned bright red after taking a bite.
“Drink this.”
Eddie handed him the Banana Jar Milk that he had prepared in advance. Gerold took the milk without checking and gulped it down. Then, he widened his eyes.
“Eddie, what on earth is this…”
“Delicious, right?”
Even while struggling with the remaining spiciness, Gerold nodded. There was a reason for longevity. Eddie, who felt proud for no reason even though he hadn’t made it himself, shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll put that refrigerator at the entrance, so give one to each customer who comes in as a service.”
Banana Milk was not on the menu. But in the future, anyone who visited Eddie’s Inn would be able to taste one.
It was a so-called “loss leader.”
Moreover, it was one of the infinitely replenishing items for Eddie, so there was nothing to lose since it was free anyway.
If he failed even with this, then he was truly someone who shouldn’t be in business.
Eddie clapped his hands.
“Let’s get started.”
It was a new beginning for Eddie’s Inn.
Of course, not everything went smoothly from the start. In the first place, Eddie’s Inn didn’t have any customers who could be called regular customers.
In the end, he needed customers to spread the word, but the problem was that most of them were customers who wanted to stay overnight rather than restaurant customers, so no one paid attention to the menu.
Even the occasional customers didn’t show much interest in the menu. They ordered and drank French fries, fish fries, or beer out of habit.
Since he couldn’t just serve something that wasn’t ordered, Eddie patiently waited for an opportunity to introduce the new menu.
Of course, the policy of giving away free Banana Milk was still in effect, so customers received the Banana Milk one by one with dubious expressions.
Most of the people who stayed overnight had no ties to the empire or were travelers from other regions, so even if they tasted the free milk, the chances of them coming back tomorrow were low, so he often wondered if this was effective, but he thought that he couldn’t expect to be full on the first spoonful.
And finally, the opportunity he had been waiting for came.
“Hey boss! Three beers and any appetizer!”
It was the second week of Eddie’s possession. Around the first week of full-fledged business, someone finally took the bait.
Watching them toast and chant “For Hero Arthur, for Wizard Boram, for Augustine of Divine Power, and for the Emperor,” Eddie smiled warmly on the outside.
“Gerold, one Fire Chicken Noodle.”
It was a devilish smile.