My enhanced sense of smell was quite useful in real-life situations as well.

I could distinguish and smell dozens of different scents.

I’ll have to properly utilize this in dungeons later on.

As I was making this resolution, Levinas said to me with a surprised expression.

“King, it seems like there are really a lot of rich people in the world!”

“Why?”

“I’ve never seen food being wasted like this before!”

Levinas was astonished.

It was also my first time witnessing such wastefulness.

Given that this department store was a place only the wealthy could afford, the extravagance of the people here was extreme.

Perhaps the department store was still out of our league.

I gently patted Levinas on the shoulder and suggested,

“Let’s go somewhere else, Levinas. If we stay here any longer, we’ll start to smell like this place.”

“Yeah! Let’s explore other places!”

As we turned to leave, I locked eyes with a woman standing at the entrance.

She had a cart with a food waste bin on it, and she was the manager of the place.

“You kids shouldn’t play around here. It’s dangerous,” she warned.

“Sorry…”

I apologized instinctively, aware of how rude it was to intrude on someone’s workplace.

“Are we going to get scolded? Is Levinas going to get scolded?”

Levinas nervously glanced at the woman.

She realized that we understood our mistake.

“No, I’m not going to scold you… Are you two hungry?”

“Yes, we were thinking of buying something to eat at the department store,”

I responded, showing her the 6,000 won in my pocket to indicate we were customers intending to spend money.

“Hmm… You won’t be able to buy much here with that amount.”

“That’s… actually, I have an extra 2,000 won…”

Even as Levinas presented the additional money, the woman simply shook her head.

“The minimum price for food here starts at 10,000 won. It’s going to be difficult for both of you to find something to eat.”

The luxury of the department store was beyond our reach.

The cheapest food exceeded 10,000 won, mocking our inability to afford even the simplest meal.

“Sorry… We’ll just leave then…”

I hoped she would let us leave without further issue.

I looked up at her, almost pleading, but she wasn’t inclined to let us go just yet.

“Hey, I have a lot of food with me, do you want some?”

“Food…?”

“Yes. I work at a place with a lot of food. You can pick and eat whatever you want, no problem.”

The place the girl worked at was a food waste disposal site.

The “food” she was referring to was likely discarded food waste.

‘This is bad!’

To be told to pick up and eat anything.

Even for someone who had lived a tough life like me, it was a dreadful act I had only done a few times.

Was she saying this to punish us?

I clasped my hands together, apologizing to the girl.

“I’m sorry…”

“For what?”

“For entering without permission…”

I expressed my apology to the woman with my entire body, but she simply looked back at me, unfazed.

“You’re not supposed to enter, but it’s not a big problem.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. More importantly, don’t you want to eat something delicious?”

The girl once again pressured me to eat the food waste.

Any hope I had was scattering away like dust.

Food waste really tastes horrible.

It’s the most dreadful taste in the world.

My shoulders drooped and reached out towards the bin.

Maybe if I showed that I was eating earnestly and reflecting on my actions, she might forgive the still young Levinas.

“Just, wait a moment…!”

Before I could grab the mixed food waste, the girl grabbed my wrist.

The sudden contact made my ears and tail stick up.

Why did she suddenly grab my arm?

Puzzled, I looked up at the girl, eyes wide.

“Why?”

“You shouldn’t touch this. It’s dirty.”

“But we have to eat, don’t we?”

“What?”

The girl answered three beats late.

The way she rolled her eyes left and right looked odd.

“Isn’t this what you’re telling us to eat…?”

“No, no! I was talking about something much better!”

“Uh…?”

So, she wasn’t telling us to eat the food waste.

Confused, I just blinked my eyes.

Only the sound of Levinas’s stomach growling could be heard beside me.

—

—

Min Chaewon brought the kids back to the buffet.

As a mere part-time worker, she didn’t have the authority to give the children food, but she could buy it for them.

Although it was an expensive buffet, and it might cost her three days of part-time work, Min Chaewon didn’t really care.

Just seeing the kids eat to their hearts’ content would make her happy.

‘Really, what a world.’

How could they think of eating discarded food waste?

Like it was normal?

Min Chaewon, who had lived a normal if not affluent life, couldn’t even imagine it.

“Kids, I work here, okay? Eat until you burst.”

“We, we don’t have money, so…”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about money… Eat your fill.”

Before Min Chaewon could finish, Manager Choi Kyung-seok approached her.

He was there to scold her for taking too long to dispose of the food waste.

“Min Chaewon.”

“Yes?!”

“What are you doing…”

Choi Kyung-seok paused and looked down to see two dirty-looking kids staring up at him.

“I’m sorry, but the kids looked so hungry, I thought I’d buy them something.”

“Buy them something…?”

Who’s buying something for whom?

These kids might look poor, but they are vvip members of the department store.

Choi Kyung-seok knew.

He knew that every time people from the Yeomyeong Guild shopped at the department store, they accumulated mileage under ‘a certain child’s’ name.

Wasn’t it said that the mileage accumulated was in the hundreds of millions?

The child before him was more than just a vvip member of the department store.

‘I must treat them with the utmost respect.’

Quickly straightening his clothes, Choi Kyung-seok stood before the children with the most polite demeanor he could muster.

“You’re vvip members of our department store. I am Choi Kyung-seok, the manager of this buffet.”

“Vvip? King, what’s a vvip?”

“It’s something incredible, but I’m not a vvip…”

Gyeoul looked puzzled, head tilted in confusion.

The capable Choi Kyung-seok realized that Gyeoul was unaware of her status.

‘Did the guild not tell her?’

Protected by the Yeomyeong Guild, yet strangely poor.

There must be a reason for it.

Choi Kyung-seok decided to keep the fact that guild members were making purchases under the child’s name a secret.

“Didn’t you visit our department store before?”

“Yes, but…”

That wasn’t with my own money.

Gyeoul hesitated before swallowing her words.

“On that day, you became a vvip member of our department store.”

“Ah…”

Since she was with Yeoreum, perhaps.

She might have became a vvip as part of her group.

Gyeoul nodded, making sense of the situation.

“As a vvip member, you can enjoy this buffet for free once a month.”

“Really? Can Levinas do it too?”

“Yes, of course.”

Delighted by the fact that she could use the buffet for free, Gyeoul’s tail wagged happily.

Levinas grabbed Gyeoul’s tail excitedly and jumped up from her seat.

“Amazing! Foodie really gave us a lot of food!”

“Uh, ‘Foodie’?”

“Yeah! There’s so much food, so it’s Foodie!”

Choi Kyung-seok silently listened to Levinas and Min Chaewon’s conversation.

He didn’t quite get it, but it seemed Min Chaewon had solved a problem.

Knowing that she wanted to become a regular employee at the department store, Choi Kyung-seok thought it might be good to write her a recommendation.

After all, she knew how to make a vvip customer happy.

—

—

After eating their fill at the buffet and following Choi Kyung-seok’s guidance, they moved to the lounge.

Because of Levinas, the staff brought over many dolls.

I didn’t understand why they insisted on giving me a doll too, but I just assumed it was part of the vvip treatment and just held onto the doll.

‘Incredible.’

Being a vvip meant receiving treatment that left one’s eyes wide in astonishment.

It was all thanks to Yeoreum.

I felt like I should be even nicer to Yeoreum when we got back home.

“King, can’t we just live here?!”

“That’s not possible. This treatment isn’t due to our own abilities.”

It was vvip treatment thanks to Yeoreum.

It was right to end it with this one time.

Levinas seemed to understand this and didn’t throw a tantrum.

“Yeah! Actually, Levinas likes being at home with everyone more!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! And the dolls at home are better!”

It was nice to hear Levinas say that.

At that moment, as I smiled at her, the lounge door opened, revealing a familiar woman.

“Gyeoul?”

“Ah.”

It’s Yeoreum.

My tail wagged gently at the sight of her.

“Wow, Gyeoul and Levinas, you’re playing here?”

“Yes. We shopped a lot last time and became vvips. The department store treated us really well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they gave us snacks and played with dolls with us.”

Women in suits had played with dolls with Levinas.

Seeing their blushing faces, it didn’t seem like they were forced to play.

“The department store treated you well?”

“Yes, at first I thought we had to eat food waste, but that was a misunderstanding.”

“Uh, food waste?”

“Yes. It tastes horrible.”

Yuck.

Just thinking about it is horrifying.

My ears and tail drooped.

Yeoreum, too, paled at the thought of the taste of food waste.

Indeed, food waste was the worst kind of food.

—

5/5 Enjoy the chappy!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep