"I think… you should cool off a little."
Ryuji spoke flatly, reaching a conclusion after carefully watching Ikumi's expression.
And at that mont, Ikumi finally realized—fully realized—the absolute nonsense that had just co out of her mouth.
Her face, already flushed, deepened into a shade bordering on crimson.
And then, inexplicably…
Steam started rising from the top of her head.
Literal, visible steam.
Ryuji stared, caught completely off guard.
"…Seriously?"
He didn't let it show on his face, of course. Outwardly, he remained blank as a sheet. But internally—
Ani is wild.
Really. What else could he say?
In a world where food worked like narcotics and cooking battles had the stakes of gladiator duels, a girl physically steaming from embarrassnt? Totally par for the course.
What, you want logic? Go back to the three-dinsional world.
"You've snapped out of it? Great. Then get going."
He waved her off like a teacher excusing a student from detention.
"I've got Erina in this world, little miss at princess. I'm not looking to add another flavor to the nu."
With that, Ryuji stepped back and returned to his room, leaving Ikumi standing in the hallway, ntally shattered.
She clutched her burning face with both hands, nearly hyperventilating.
Sure, most of what just happened was because of the hallucination—the taste-high from that god-tier at—but there was no denying it:
She'd gotten turned on.
That sha?
Absolutely real.
"…I—I'm sorry!"
She bowed quickly, voice cracking, then turned and bolted from the room, face buried in her palms.
She looked like a delinquent girl running from her first heartbreak. Which, to be fair, wasn't far off.
Once she was gone, Ryuji calmly began collecting the dishes.
As expected, he didn't even have ti to sit down and enjoy a proper post-cook break.
Just as he opened the house's laptop and queued up a movie to decompress, the door opened again.
And this ti—
Erina walked in.
Arms crossed, chin lifted, posture proud.
Her every step echoed with the authority of soone born into power.
She didn't co alone—two security guards had escorted her to the door, and then backed off without a word.
Now, standing in the doorway, Erina looked down her nose at Ryuji, who was slouched in a computer chair, one leg casually over the other like he owned the place.
But the blush on her face completely gave her away.
"So, aren't you going to explain all this to ?"Ryuji pointed at the bodyguards around them and the luxurious room.
"Hmph, I have nothing to say to you."Erina turned her face away instinctively, but still motioned for the bodyguards to leave.
Once they were gone, as if afraid Ryuji might realize how much she cared about him, she spoke up again.
"Who knows? It's been so long—you might've already turned into one of those zombies."
She puffed up her cheeks in frustration, looking adorably annoyed.
"That, huh…"
Ryuji didn't say anything else. Instead, he stood up, took her hand, and pulled her into a sudden hug. Erina let out a small gasp before he kissed her—deeply, without hesitation.
Her lips were just as soft and dreamy as he rembered. Her response was just as fiery as before—there was not the slightest trace of doubt in her. The taste, the warmth, the sense of finally being ho again—it all overwheld Ryuji. So, for once, he didn't push for more. He just held her tightly, as if never wanting to let her go again.
"I thought you were dead… Do you have any idea how worried I was? Why didn't you co for all this ti?"
Those were the questions Erina wanted to ask—but in the end, she said nothing. She had cried enough. Since Ryuji had returned, there was no need for more words. All that remained was to accept it—and prepare for their future.
This Erina, transford by her ti in the "7 Days to Die" world, was no longer a naive girl.
Life, death, gain, and loss—nothing makes soone grow up faster.
She had been through it all. Expecting her to remain a sheltered, spoiled princess now? That would be insulting.
But Ryuji hadn't forgotten what he needed to say.
"Sorry for making you wait."
At that, Erina could no longer hold it in. She hugged him tightly and finally let her tears fall.
After a while, she wiped her face and looked at him, her expression calm but determined.
"Can you go ho? Can you take with you?"
Ryuji hesitated. While he could travel between worlds now… he didn't know his own world's coordinates. He had no way to return.
"No. I can't."
"Then stay here," Erina said without missing a beat. "At the very least, learn to cook. You don't have to be amazing, just good enough to graduate. I'll help you. If you can graduate, Grandpa won't be able to object. If that doesn't work, then we'll elope—start over in China."
She laid out her plan plainly, never once ntioning marriage, but Ryuji knew full well—this was her way of planning their future together.
As for that talk of eloping? Total nonsense.
Sure, the Nakiri family had other successors. But why choose hardship when an easy life was on the table?
It wasn't that she couldn't let go of luxury. She just wanted her mother and grandfather to genuinely give their blessing.
As for her father… well…
Honestly, if her father showed up right now, she'd probably pull a stone axe from her inventory and give him a little "gentle" tap. And with no murder weapon found, she'd walk away free.
But… cooking?
That was a bit much for Ryuji.
"Ehhh, maybe not. I an, I get that this is my dear fiancée's plan to help marry into the Nakiri family, but I have my own way of making Erina Nakiri into Erina Nakamura—though I admit, that sounds a little weird."
He laughed at his own joke, but before he could go on, Erina snapped back.
"What's so weird about that?!"
Ryuji imdiately gave her a teasing look. She quickly covered her mouth, cheeks flushing red.
"You jerk!"
She gave him a light punch, then fell silent, waiting for his explanation.
"Well, since I was able to appear here, I'm guessing you've realized I can travel between worlds, right? So… it's only natural that I've picked up so powers from those worlds, don't you think?"
As he spoke, a fla ignited in Ryuji's palm. Erina yelped and instinctively leaned into him—but quickly regained her composure, observing the flickering fla with sharp eyes.
She tried to sniff out any trace of fuel, any chemical scent in the air—but there was nothing.
Which only confird it for her: this fla was conjured from nothing.
"There really isn't any sll of fuel… So this is your new ability? Honestly, I'm more impressed by your inventory cheat. Still, this is definitely crazy."
Erina pouted slightly, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, yeah, just conjuring fire isn't all that impressive. But that world also had longevity elixirs and a bunch of other magical stuff. Oh, and—this."
Ryuji pulled out the seasoning packets he'd bought. The mont they were freed from their packaging, Erina's expression changed completely.
She took them from him, sniffed them carefully, and her face grew more and more serious.
Because these were scents she had never encountered before.
"These spices… Co with ."
She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him off the bed. The two bodyguards at the door exchanged "we saw nothing" looks as she briskly led Ryuji into the kitchen.
She navigated the kitchen with practiced ease, pulling ingredients from the fridge and diving into experints imdiately.
Ryuji explained everything he knew about the seasonings—their flavors, their use cases—while Erina tried various combinations with intense concentration.
Before long, the kitchen was filled with rich, tantalizing aromas—and that's when Ryuji suddenly realized sothing.
He wasn't immune to this.
The scent of cooking at and spices made his heart race. It reminded him of the days he spent with Erina—coming ho from work, hugging her from behind while she cooked… her belly already slightly rounded.
But that peaceful, dostic image didn't comfort him.
It struck him like lightning.
"No… That's not just a mory!"
Ryuji snapped out of it, realizing he'd just slipped into a hallucination.
"This is getting out of hand…"
He looked speechlessly at Erina, who was still fully absorbed in cooking. He'd always been affected by her dishes before, sure—but only after tasting them. This ti, all it took was the sll, and he was already drifting into a vivid illusion.
What he didn't know was that ever since she saw him engulfed in flas back then, sothing inside Erina had changed.
She had awakened.
Her culinary skill had evolved—reaching a level that went beyond mastery, transcending into sothing else entirely. She had discovered the core truth that governed all worlds where cooking was more than just food:
Infusing emotion into cuisine.
That was why Ryuji had been pulled into a mory—not by magic, but by flavor. By emotion. By her.
"So who's the more unscientific one now?"
Realizing this, Ryuji imdiately focused on resisting the effect. The aromas still tempted him, of course, but they no longer dragged him into illusions.
Still, to be honest… it was agony.
And to make matters worse—
He looked over at the two female bodyguards collapsed on the floor, cheeks flushed, their bodies squirming in visible discomfort.
Ryuji was honestly at a loss for words.
Were these won really capable of protecting anyone? And this kind of cooking… wasn't it basically a biochemical weapon now?
Soon enough, a full-course al was laid out before him. Ryuji didn't dare take a single bite. Erina, however, had no such hesitation. Under his watchful gaze, she carefully tasted her own cooking—and then...
Nothing happened.
Ryuji stared, stunned. He'd been half-expecting her to faint on the spot, and he'd be left carrying her off in a flustered panic followed by a passionate scene or two.
Wasn't that what he'd been holding out for all this ti?
"Huh? This turned out way better than I expected."
Erina's tone was calm as she arranged the dishes. The seasoning Ryuji had brought was genuinely effective. If this could be mass-produced, she might actually marry him—rather than make him marry into the Nakiri family.
But then she noticed Ryuji's disappointed expression and blinked, confused.
"You're… what's with that look?"
She stopped mid-sentence, her face suddenly going red again. Her expression turned into a pout of exasperation.
"You pervert."
Still, she took another bite. Then, with cheeks flushed, she started panting—right in front of Ryuji.
His eyes lit up.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
~~~~~~~
Bonus chapter every 200 PS.
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