Chapter 93

“There’s really a lot of people here.”

“It seems more crowded because it’s Saturday. The supermarket will be closed this Sunday.”

From Saturday morning, I went to a large supermarket with Professor Cheon to do some shopping.

On weekends, I prioritize sleep over meals, so getting up early like on weekdays isn’t easy at all.

“What time did your friends say they would come?”

“Haru said he might come after 6 PM. Yuna will bring him earlier by car.”

“Is there anything you want to eat for dinner?”

“Anything. Something fresh.”

“That fresh stuff. Thanks to Name, there’s no dish I haven’t tried. But at least my appetite has returned, so that’s good.”

“Is the potion still far off? I’m getting a bit sick of this…”

“It takes a long time for the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to approve it. Please hang in there a bit longer.”

Products directly processed from mana often had harmful effects on the human body.

Even though it would be possible to develop and sell cognitive enhancement potions with current technology, they don’t due to the side effects that follow.

I could see a corner selling red ginseng juice aimed at students preparing for exams.

I understand that the country strictly regulates mana potions for similar reasons, but it’s still disappointing.

After passing through the fruit and vegetable section and the meat section, we entered the snack section.

I handed over the shopping cart I was pushing and decided to choose snacks for the pajama party.

“How many should we buy?”

“Bring just enough to eat. We need to have dinner too.”

“Okay.”

Professor Cheon parted ways for a moment to look for groceries for dinner.

It’s been a long time since I last had snacks.

My personal favorite snack is sfogliatine glassate, commonly known as nunette.

It’s sometimes derogatorily called “human feed,” but that only reflects how good it tastes.

‘Do they not sell it here?’

Unfortunately, it seems that in this parallel world of 2051, the illuminati-like secret societies eradicated the trend of human domestication.

That’s all nonsense and likely just a result of a lack of commercial viability leading to discontinuation.

Entering the crowded corner filled with people, I noticed a conspicuous sign that read:

[Snack Unlimited Filling Event!]

I see they still do such events.

People were enthusiastic about trying to stuff as many snacks as possible into their bags as part of a periodic clearance event.

Usually, the best you could do was stuff four or five, but those with tactics managed to fit seven.

It would have been great if there were snacks I liked, but unfortunately, they were all things that didn’t match my taste.

Amidst the adults, a little kid was struggling to fit snacks into his bag.

At this rate, the other side of the bag looked like it was going to burst.

And when the stacks finally collapsed, the child sat down on the floor and began to tear up.

“Do you need help?”

“Ugh… huh?”

“Can I have the bag for a moment?”

Since everything would be caught at the register, I couldn’t expect to use magic or aura.

But as long as I could somehow keep it stable until the register and only release it at the moment of payment, that would be alright.

“I’ll help you put in one snack at a time if you hand them to me.”

“This one doesn’t work well…”

“Hurry up and give it to me.”

I was using electrostatics.

By inducing dipole polarization in the snack bag and using a subtle application of aura to make the snacks stick together, I kept it steady.

Once I stacked up to five snacks, it seemed there was no longer room in the bag to stack more.

“Shall I keep going?”

“Yes, I’ll stack them higher.”

I let aura seep into the surface of the snack with each one I stacked.

Before the child could even place another snack on top, they automatically stuck together.

“More… more! I can’t do any more, sister!”

When the fifteenth snack was placed, the child made a face of discomfort.

It was disappointing that we could have stacked more.

“We set a new record, right?”

“Yes!”

Once we moved the bag with the tower to the register, I returned to the snack section where Professor Cheon was waiting.

“Still haven’t chosen?”

“How about Homerun Balls? They’d be perfect to eat while watching a movie.”

“If you have something sweet, there has to be something salty too.”

“Then I’ll choose this one too. Here.”

Our next destination was the clothing section.

We decided to buy additional clothes in preparation for the upcoming spring and summer. But there was an even more important goal.

“It would be nice to have various animal-themed pajamas.”

“Since it’s a supermarket, they probably won’t have a wide variety.”

I planned to gift animal pajamas to Yuna and Haru.

Initially, I wasn’t fond of wearing animal pajamas, but now I felt uncomfortable in any other loungewear as if I couldn’t live without them.

I had grown accustomed to the very fabric. Explaining it was really difficult.

Just like how it’s hard to sleep without my usual pillow, this had become a kind of cherished clothing.

Anyway, I felt it was a waste for only me to enjoy this comfort, and I wanted to introduce it to the kids as soon as possible.

“Do you need any help finding a product?”

“Um…”

Cats immediately caught my eye, without needing to ask.

“Do you sell any bear or pig animal pajamas?”

“They aren’t displayed, but I’ll check the stockroom to see if we have them, please wait a moment!”

While the staff stepped away for a moment, I started to look through the items Professor Cheon had brought.

“Is this for dinner?”

“I’m thinking of making tortillas and strawberry canapés with this. Is that okay?”

“The kids will hate bell peppers. Let’s leave this one out.”

“Haha, I get it. So Name doesn’t like bell peppers, huh?”

“No, not me! The kids!”

“Still, they eat mushrooms, right?”

This guy didn’t seem to be listening to me at all.

I couldn’t really complain in front of someone who was laughing heartily, so I just tried to smile along.

In fact, I didn’t like bell peppers either.

* * *

[Then I’ll wait for you outside at five!]

“Yeah, oh Yuna, just a moment before you hang up.”

[Why?]

“You don’t need to bring pajamas when you come.”

[If I don’t have pajamas, how do I sleep? Do I sleep naked?]

“It’s not like that. I bought pajamas for you as a gift. By the way, they’re animal pajamas.”

[Wow, really? I’ve always wanted to try wearing one of those!]

“Then let’s hang up and see each other later.”

[Okay! I’ll finish my homework in advance.]

Haru left a message on my personal phone.

After finishing my call with Yuna, we prepared to head back home.

“It’s nostalgic. I remember when I was younger, we had pajama parties at school.”

Professor Cheon took his hands off the steering wheel, closed his eyes, and reminisced.

He had originally insisted on driving manually, but since I came to this house, he had been driving only autonomous cars.

“Did you spend the night at school then?”

“Yeah. It was fun watching movies late into the night with the teachers and friends. That was already 40 years ago.”

“That sounds pretty good. But I think it would be a bit hard for our class. The boys and girls don’t get along very well.”

“Haha, that’s the same everywhere. Once you actually play together, it’s fun, especially at your age.”

“Well, maybe that’s true.”

“When we get home, let’s have lunch first, and then we can clean the oven. It’s probably really dirty because we didn’t clean it after using it the last time. And we should take this chance to clean the bathroom too.”

Professor Cheon seemed to be an incredibly domestic person, likely because he had been living alone for a long time.

They say a man living alone often leads to a chaotic home. I could easily picture him having cozy tea times even when I wasn’t there.

“I looked at your bank account, Name, and you really have a lot of money. What kind of broadcast are you doing that gets so many sponsors?”

Professor Cheon occasionally showed interest in the broadcasts I did.

I never revealed the broadcast name and platform each time he asked.

“Um… I’m playing a game where I raise cats?”

Since the game’s direction had shifted to raising Adella, I thought it would suffice.

“Are you playing a game like Nintendogs and Cats?”

“Nintendogs…? What’s that?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t know. It was a game that was popular when I was a kid. It was a game on a handheld console where you raised dogs and cats.”

“Ah… I think I know what you’re talking about.”

It seemed like I vaguely recalled memories from a past life.

“How did people find it fun before virtual reality existed?”

“No, when you played it, it actually felt like you were raising them, and it was fun. We’d take them for walks and participate in competitions. But I still don’t think it’s a game worth watching others play. Trends nowadays are really confusing.”

“The desire to raise pets hasn’t changed, whether back then or now. Professor, have you ever raised a dog or a cat?”

“I had one. A Pomeranian named ‘Choco.’ Would you like to see a photo?”

“Yes, I’m curious. But the dog’s name is Choco?”

“Why?”

“That’s a bit strange, isn’t it? It sounds like naming a person ‘Cyanide’…”

“Hahaha. Now that you mention it, that does sound strange.”

Professor Cheon took out his phone and opened a file stored in his gallery to show me.

It was clear he had treasured that dog, as there were over a thousand related photos.

“It’s been over ten years since he crossed the rainbow bridge. It’s never easy to say goodbye to a pet you’ve shared many years with. That’s why I haven’t raised any other pets. So, Name, you have to live longer than I did, okay?”

Having lived alone for so long, he must have had countless memories with Choco.

Even when I scrolled down, it seemed there was no end to the photos, indicating how significant that presence was in his life.

It was even hard to find pictures where Choco wasn’t the main focus.

The only thing I could find were screenshots related to magic circles or academic papers, and photos from hikes with the graduate students in the lab.

I couldn’t find a family photo at all. I had heard he had a younger sibling, but it didn’t seem like they had a good relationship.

“Professor Cheon, did you ever think about getting married in the past?”

This world also had a dark period when the birth rate fell to 0.6.

If Professor Cheon was from that time, it wouldn’t be unusual for him not to have married.

“I did. I had someone I loved and thought about getting married.”

“Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be?”

“It wasn’t so much that it wasn’t meant to be, but it just wasn’t my fate… By the way, aren’t you hungry, Name?”

“Uh…? Yes.”

“Since we should eat something delicious for dinner, let’s keep lunch simple with some grilled dried fish and seafood pancakes.”