Ch.9388 – Hypermarket

“There are so many people here.”

“It’s probably more crowded because it’s Saturday. All the supermarkets will be closed this Sunday.”

I came to the large supermarket with Professor Cheon early Saturday morning to do some grocery shopping.

On weekends, I value sleep more than meals, so getting up early like on weekdays wasn’t exactly easy.

“What time did your friends say they’d come?”

“Ha-ru said she could come around 6 PM. I’ll pick up Yu-na by car before that.”

“Is there anything specific you want for dinner?”

“Anything. As long as it’s fresh.”

“That fresh food obsession of yours. Thanks to NoName, I’ve tried cooking everything under the sun. Still, I’m glad your appetite has improved.”

“How much longer for the potion? I’m getting tired of eating like this…”

“FDA approval takes time. Just hang in there a little longer.”

Products directly processed with mana were often harmful to the human body.

With current technology, they could easily make and sell pills that improve intelligence using mana, but they don’t because of the side effects that follow.

I can see a corner selling red ginseng extract targeting students preparing for exams.

I understand why the government strictly regulates mana potions for similar reasons, but I can’t help feeling disappointed.

After circling through the fruit, vegetable, and meat sections, we entered the snack aisle.

I handed over the shopping cart I’d been pulling and decided to go pick out snacks for the pajama party.

“How much should I get?”

“Just enough to eat. We still need to have dinner.”

“Okay.”

Professor Cheon briefly separated from me to look at more groceries for dinner.

It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve had snacks.

My personal favorite snack was sfogliatine glassate, commonly called “nunettine.”

It’s sometimes disparagingly called “human feed,” but that nickname exists because it tastes so good.

‘Don’t they sell it here?’

Unfortunately, in this parallel world of 2051, some secret global organization like the Illuminati must have eliminated it, perhaps objecting to the domestication of humans.

That’s all nonsense—it was probably just discontinued due to poor commercial performance.

As I entered the crowded aisle, a large sign caught my eye.

[Unlimited Snack Bag Event!]

They still do these events, huh.

People were enthusiastically trying to stuff as many snacks as possible into bags as part of a periodic inventory clearance event.

Usually, fitting four or five items was optimal, but skilled people managed to fit in seven.

I wish they had snacks I liked, but unfortunately, none matched my taste.

Among the adults, a small child was struggling to fit snacks into a bag.

At this rate, the opposite side of the bag looked ready to burst.

When his carefully stacked items collapsed, he sat on the floor and started tearing up.

“Need some help?”

“Sniff… huh?”

“Can I see your bag?”

I couldn’t use magic or aura since they’d catch it at the checkout counter anyway.

But maintaining it until checkout and then releasing it right at the moment of calculation should be fine.

“Hand me the snacks you want one by one, and I’ll pack them for you.”

“This isn’t working…”

“Tsk, just give it to me quickly.”

I’m using static electricity.

By inducing dielectric polarization in the snack bags to make them stick together, I’m maintaining them with precise aura control.

After five snacks were packed in, it seemed impossible to fit any more into the bag.

“Keep going?”

“Yeah, I’ll stack them on top.”

With each addition, I infused aura into the snack’s surface.

Before the child could even place a snack on top, it automatically moved and stuck firmly.

“No… no more, big sister!”

The child protested after the fifteenth item was stacked.

I could have stacked more, but oh well.

“We set a new record, right?”

“Yeah!”

After helping move the tower of snacks to the checkout counter, I returned to the snack aisle where Professor Cheon was waiting.

“You still haven’t chosen?”

“How about Homerun Ball? Perfect for watching movies.”

“If we have something sweet, we should have something savory too.”

“Then I’ll get this too. Here.”

Our next destination was the clothing section.

We planned to buy extra clothes for the upcoming spring and summer. But there was an even more important purpose.

“I hope they have a variety of animals.”

“Being a supermarket, they probably won’t have many options.”

That purpose was to gift animal onesies to Yu-na and Ha-ru.

At first, I wasn’t keen on wearing animal onesies, but now I feel uncomfortable wearing other indoor clothes to the point of rejection.

I guess I’ve gotten used to the material. It’s really hard to explain.

Like how it’s difficult to sleep without your usual pillow, this is a kind of attachment clothing.

Anyway, this comfort was too good to keep to myself, so I wanted to introduce it to the kids as soon as possible.

“Is there a specific product you’re looking for?”

“Hmm…”

The cat onesie caught my eye immediately without having to ask.

“Do you also sell bear or pig onesies?”

“They’re not on display, but let me check if we have any in storage. Please wait a moment!”

While the clerk was away, I examined the items Professor Cheon had gathered.

“Is this for dinner tonight?”

“I’m thinking of making tortillas and strawberry canapés. Sound good?”

“The kids won’t like bell peppers. Let’s skip these.”

“Haha, alright, alright. I see NoName doesn’t like bell peppers.”

“No, it’s not me, it’s the kids…!”

“But you eat mushrooms, right?”

This guy clearly has no intention of listening to me.

I couldn’t curse at someone laughing in my face, so I just smiled along.

To be honest, I didn’t like bell peppers either.

* * *

[Then I’ll come out at five and wait for you!]

“Okay, Yu-na, before you hang up, just a sec.”

[What, what?]

“You don’t need to bring pajamas.”

[How am I supposed to sleep without pajamas? Sleep naked?]

“That’s not what I meant. I bought you a pajama as a gift. It’s an animal onesie, by the way.”

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

“Okay, I’ll hang up and see you later.”

[Okay! I’ll finish all my homework before I come.]

Ha-ru has her own phone, so I left her a text message.

After finishing the call with Yu-na, we prepared to head back home.

“This brings back memories. When I was young, we had pajama parties at school.”

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

He used to insist on driving manual cars, but since I came to this house, he’s been using self-driving cars exclusively.

“So you spent the night at school?”

“That’s right. It was fun staying up late watching movies with teachers and friends. That was already 40 years ago.”

“That sounds pretty nice. But it might be difficult for our class. The boys and girls don’t get along well.”

“Haha, that’s the same everywhere. But kids your age tend to have fun together once they actually start playing.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“When we get home, let’s have lunch first, then clean the oven. It’ll be quite dirty since we didn’t clean it last time. And we should also clean the bathroom while we’re at it.”

Professor Cheon was incredibly domestic, perhaps because he had lived alone for so long.

I heard that when men live alone, their homes are usually a mess. But I imagine he probably spent his time having cozy tea times even before I arrived.

“NoName, I saw your bank account, and you have a lot of money. What kind of broadcasts do you do that people donate so much?”

Professor Cheon occasionally showed interest in my streaming.

Each time, I gritted my teeth and refused to reveal my streaming nickname and platform.

“Cat… raising game? Something like that…”

Since the game’s direction had shifted to raising Adella.

“Do you play something like Nintendogs+Cats?”

“Nintendogs…? What’s that?”

“Ah, you wouldn’t know. It was a popular game when I was young. A game where you raise dogs and cats on a handheld console.”

“Ah… I think I know what you mean.”

I vaguely remember it from my previous previous life.

“When virtual reality didn’t exist, I wonder what people found fun about those games?”

“No, it was actually fun if you tried it. It felt like you were really raising pets. Taking them for walks, entering competitions. I didn’t think it was a game worth watching others play, but today’s trends are certainly difficult to understand.”

“I guess the desire to raise pets is the same then and now. Have you ever had a dog or cat, Professor?”

“I did. A Pomeranian named ‘Choco.’ Want to see a picture?”

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

“Why?”

“Well, it’s strange. It’s like naming a person ‘Cyanide’…”

“Hahaha. Now that you mention it, I see your point.”

Professor Cheon took out his phone and showed me a file saved in his gallery.

With over 1,000 related photos, it was clear how much he cherished this dog.

“It’s been over 10 years since he crossed the rainbow bridge. Saying goodbye to a long-time companion is never easy. That’s why I never had another pet after him. So NoName, you better outlive me, understand?”

Having lived alone for a long time, he had built many memories with Choco.

Even after scrolling down endlessly, there seemed to be no end to the photos, showing how significant Choco was in his life.

It was actually harder to find photos where Choco wasn’t the main subject.

The only exceptions were screenshots related to magic circles or academic papers, and photos of hiking trips with graduate students from his lab.

There were no family photos at all. I heard he had a younger sibling, but they probably weren’t on good terms.

“Professor Cheon, did you ever consider getting married?”

This world also had a grim period when the birth rate dropped to as low as 0.6.

If Professor Cheon was from that era, not getting married wouldn’t have been particularly unusual.

“I did. I had someone I loved, and I considered marriage.”

“I guess it wasn’t meant to be?”

“Rather than not being the right person, it wasn’t the right destiny… Anyway, NoName, aren’t you hungry?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“Since we’ll be eating lots of delicious food for dinner, let’s keep lunch simple with grilled yellow croaker and seafood pancakes.”