Mr. Gong is not only good at cooking

"Besides, I know! I also know that Sakura likes Shirou! So I've been forcing myself to keep my distance from Shirou all this time! Even though I do!"

As if venting her frustrations, Rin Tohsaka #2 loudly proclaimed her care and sacrifices for Sakura, tears streaming down her face.

"What can we do, being born into a family of magicians! What can we do about an alliance made two hundred years ago! I don't even have a reason to go to the Matou family to see Sakura! What excuse can I use to go!"

Inside the restaurant, Matou Sakura, having listened to Rin Tohsaka's second self-narration in its entirety, tightly gripped the hem of her dress.

So, my sister has always cared about me this much?

Riko shrugged and said, "Ultimately, isn't this just being tsundere?"

Emiya Shirou nodded: "Yes, that's tsundere. I can't help but be so harsh on themselves! I can't stand by and do nothing, I have to go and have a good chat with my other self!"

After saying that, he continued to say to Touma Kamijou on the other end of the phone, "Touma, never mind, I'll go there myself."

"Hey, are you closing the shop?"

"There are only ten minutes left. I hope no guests will come. That's all for now. I'll hang up now. There are some things that need to be said in person."

Emiya Shirou hung up the phone and asked the three girls in the restaurant, "Are you guys coming or not?"

Yu Meiren rolled her eyes: "Boring, I'm not going."

Riko shook her head as well: "I'll just watch from here."

Melette said softly, "Shirou-nii, I can't..."

"Alright, you guys keep an eye on the shop. There shouldn't be any more customers. I'll be right back!"

Emiya Shirou pulled out a time-travel card and muttered, "hensin!"

Then it disappeared into the restaurant in a white light.

Immediately afterwards, the restaurant's wind chimes rang.

"Hey, there's another restaurant here. I didn't expect there to be a restaurant on the first floor. It wasn't there during the closed beta."

Meanwhile, in a parallel world, outside the gates of the Fifth War's Emiya family residence, a dark figure, transformed into a spirit particle, stood silently across the street.

On the deserted street, a red-haired boy walked towards them without any warning.

Sisterly affection.jpg

Second update is here, please start reading.

Chapter Sixteen: Yu Meiren: I can't bake bread, I can only make sandwiches.

"Boss, one sandwich, please hurry, I need to get to the next location."

A young man dressed in a plain navy blue long-sleeved shirt and carrying a multi-functional black vest walked into the restaurant, ordered a long dish without any hesitation, and sat down at a table near the glass door to wait.

He rested his elbows on the table, propping up his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

The sword on his back looked ordinary, like the kind of initial weapon given to a newbie by the system when they first enter the beginner village.

He waited for about a minute, then turned to look at the shop assistants in confusion, only to find that they were all staring at him.

"What's going on? The NPCs in this shop..." the boy muttered under his breath, then said loudly, "Give me a sandwich, please."

Riko immediately looked at Yu Meiren: "Does Sister Yu know how to make sandwiches?"

Yu Meiren pointed to her face in surprise: "Do you think the words 'can do' are written all over my face? Can't you do it?"

Riko shook her head decisively: "No, do you know how to make it, Meruet-chan?"

"I don't know how to make it either."

Yu Meiren frowned and said softly, "What do we do now? What's a sandwich? If I knew how to make food, I should be able to."

Riko immediately pulled out her phone: "Let me search! Google—sandwich recipes! Found it, Sister Yu, look!"

Yu Meiren took Riko's phone and began to read carefully: "Hmm, two slices of bread, with vegetables, meat slices, or ham, cheese slices, spread with butter or salad dressing, or you can spread cheese or peanut butter. I understand, I completely get it."

Yu Meiren nodded calmly, then returned the phone to Riko and said to the boy sitting by the door, "Please wait a moment, sir, we'll make it for you shortly."

Riko and Meluet immediately gave Yu Meiren a thumbs up and said in unison, "Go for it, Yu Meiren!"

"Hmph, easy peasy. Watch me, I'll definitely do a better job than Shirou... well, at least as good as Shirou!"

Yu Meiren went to the kitchen and began rummaging through drawers and cupboards.

"Where are the bread slices? Where's the meat? Ham will do too! Ugh!!! This is so annoying!!! Don't tell me I have to buy them all again!!"

Just then, the kitchen TV suddenly turned on by itself.

"Hello, esteemed Yu Meiren."

"Um, who are you?" Yu Meiren looked up at the TV warily.

"I'm Yui, the restaurant's fairy. How can I help you?"

"Ah, oh, Shirou went to battle with his other self. Now a customer has come to the restaurant and wants a sandwich."

"I understand. According to Manager Emiya's settings, you have the second priority to use the restaurant. Now, I will transfer your acting manager authority to you so that you can prepare food for the guests."

"Please wait a moment. I don't know about this setting. When was it set?" Yu Meiren asked in confusion. Shirou is really something. He didn't even inform me of something like this beforehand!

"This was set up by Manager Emiya last night."

Last night? That is, before reopening?

"So, are there a third and fourth picks?"

"No, you are the only designated agent store manager."

For some reason, Yu Meiren felt a strange little happy upon hearing these words, so much so that the corners of her mouth gently turned up, revealing a stunning smile.

"So, I'm a store manager now?"

"Yes, but it's just an agency, though the permissions are the same. Do you need me to explain this to Manager Yu?"

"Not now, let's make sandwiches for the guests first."

"Okay, store manager, you just need to imagine the ingredients you need, and the restaurant will generate them automatically."

Tsk! So convenient and amazing, yet Shirou still treats everyone to meals for free and allows credit! He'll go bankrupt sooner or later!

Yu Meiren thought for a moment and said, "I'll have bread slices first!"

Then a bag of high-gluten flour appeared in the locker.

Yu Meiren was dumbfounded.

"what is this?"

"flour."

What's it for?

"To make bread."

"I..." Yu Meiren took a deep breath, then forced a smile and said, "If I don't know how, can't you just provide bread?"

Yui was silent for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "You don't know anything at all?"

Yu Meiren shook her head: "No."

"Do you simply not know how to make sandwiches, or are you completely clueless about cooking?"

"Completely clueless... Ugh! Couldn't you just give me a slice of bread or some meat? I'd pick it up for you!"

"I understand. It's not impossible, but for the sake of the restaurant's reputation, I can't be so irresponsible."

Yu Meiren was instantly enraged: "Then what use are you!"

“…I provided your game console,” Yui said, feeling wronged.

"Oh, well... never mind then, isn't there any other solution? Wouldn't it damage the restaurant's reputation even more if the customer left?"

Yui was silent again, then said, "I understand. I'll prepare a fully prepared sandwich for the acting store manager right away."

"Hey, not bad!" Yu Meiren smiled approvingly.

The next instant, a plate of tuna sandwiches and a glass of milk appeared on the kitchen stove. Yui politely reminded them, "The price is $98."

"Yui, that's great!"

Yu Meiren happily carried the plate out of the kitchen and, amidst the admiring gazes of Riko and Meruet, served the food to the melancholy boy.

"Guest, please have your meal."

The boy nodded politely, picked up the sandwich, and took a bite out of half of it.

Huh? What the heck is this? My stats have increased? And this is tuna? Does Sword Art Online even have tuna? Aren't they all original food ingredients?

The boy was a little confused, but he still chose to finish the sandwich first and then drink every last drop of milk.

I checked again, and my attributes had indeed improved; I even leveled up!

What the heck is this? Is it a hidden Easter egg?

This restaurant is indeed one that did not appear during the previous closed beta test.

After all, although the first floor is very large and there are many towns, the young man, as a gaming expert, had already figured it out clearly back in the closed beta and found that this restaurant did not exist.

However, the fact that this restaurant appeared after Kayaba Akihiko's speech made the boy suspicious.

Eating it will level you up? This doesn't seem like the demon's premise at all! There might be a trap here!

Who knows, the shop assistants might turn into monsters and start attacking me in a minute!

The boy opened the panel and began to check the status of the restaurant, but to his surprise, he found that the restaurant staff did not have any symbols at all!

It's neither a player, nor an NPC, nor an enemy!

Strangely, the bottom right corner of the panel clearly displayed: "You have logged out of the game."

???

Didn't they say it was impossible to log out?!

The boy was completely dumbfounded.

What on earth is going on?!

His various emotional fluctuations, as seen by Yu Meiren, represented a possibility.

Guest, no, you don't have any money.

Hey? This is my first time being a store manager, my first time making food. It's supposed to be two firsts, two joys, but why did these two joys encounter a penniless guy who didn't bring any money?

"Sir, you don't mean you didn't bring any money, do you?"

Yu Meiren revealed a "kind" smile.

The boy looked at the panel with a bitter face; the message still indicated that he had logged out of the game and could not operate it.

This is impossible to do, how can I pay you!

What's going on with walking to the end?

"I...please give me some time, the game has a bug...oh no, it's me that's bugged...no, anyway, something's bugged, and I can't pay right now."

"There's no way to pay?!" Yu Meiren's voice suddenly rose several octaves.

"I really can't give it to you right now..." The boy was still in a daze.

Two blood-red swords appeared in Yu Meiren's hand: "I'm giving you one more chance to rephrase your words. I hope you cherish it."

The boy swallowed hard, his heart pounding.

This monster is obviously a higher level than me. It could kill me with a single sword strike. What should I do? If I get killed, I'll really die!

Riko then said, "Sister Yu, let's forget about it. Didn't Shirou say that the guests could exchange things of equal value?"

"An equivalent exchange? Fine, the original price is $98, I won't give you anything more. What will you offer in exchange?"

The boy was even more confused. What? $98? Shouldn't you want me to pay with Cornet?

Oh my god. What on earth is going on? Please, someone tell me!

And what's that thing in the corner? Is it a TV? It must be!

They were using cell phones just now, weren't they?!

What the hell is going on?! Is this still Sword Art Online?! Or is it a data bug that turned it into a completely different game?!

"Ring ring~"