Momonga, Eat Up

Within the Ninth Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

This was the resting area for guild members and high-ranking NPCs, equipped with every living facility imaginable, including meeting rooms, a beauty salon, cafeteria, bar, dance hall, and baths.

Someone had originally suggested that since it was meant to be a residence, they should make it the best possible. They had then spent a great deal of time building all sorts of facilities. In truth, though, they had been useless. In the game, they were nothing more than a small map, and no one could actually enjoy any of it.

But transmigration turned the impossible into possible. When Momonga and the others teleported here, they discovered that these facilities had become real and could now be used.

"Mm, this is really good. Herohero, you should try some too."

"It really is good, but I think this piece tastes better."

"Your tastes are so weird, Herohero."

"What can I do? I'm a Slime now, aren't I? My sense of taste can't compare to yours."

The Supreme Dining Hall, which had never been used since its construction, had finally welcomed its first use.

Three figures sat side by side at the table, with countless delicacies from land and sea spread before them. Two of them were rapidly wiping out everything on the table. They moved so quickly that only afterimages flashed past, and the food vanished from the maids' sight in an instant.

"Faster, faster! The plates are empty already."

The maid NPC beside them watched the scene with sweat on her brow, then continuously urged the maids responsible for serving food to speed up. If the rate at which they served dishes could not keep up with the Supreme Beings' eating speed, she would be far too incompetent as a maid.

"By the way, Momonga, why aren't you eating?"

"Yeah, this bowl of chicken soup is incredibly fresh. Want to try some?"

"Ahem, no need. I'm not hungry yet."

Momonga looked at the food shoved in front of him, then at the two people who were eating what was in their mouths while eyeing what was still in the pot. His teeth itched with irritation.

He knew their behavior was perfectly normal. Back in the real world, for corporate drones like them who left early and returned late every day, with the occasional bout of overtime, even a raw cabbage placed in front of them would have tasted delicious. Not to mention the gourmet food carefully prepared by Nazarick's chefs. The fact that they could still talk to him while eating was already pretty impressive.

But Momonga was still upset.

He was Undead. He couldn't eat!

With this damned skeleton body, he could not eat or drink. Anything he swallowed would immediately leak out through his chest.

Even if he used a magic item to keep the food from falling out, as an Undead, he had no sense of taste. He had tried it before. Spicy, salty—it made no difference. He could not taste anything at all.

"Ah, right. I forgot you can't eat in your current state, Momonga."

"Sorry, Momonga. I forgot for a moment that you can't eat."

Naiyuan and Herohero suddenly said that while continuing to eat.

"I..." Momonga nearly died from rage on the spot.

"Alright, alright, no more jokes. Here, take this."

Seeing that Momonga was about to explode, Naiyuan stopped teasing him. He reached into the black void in the air and rummaged around for a moment before tossing something to him.

At the same time, he waved his hand, dismissing all the maids around them.

"What is this?"

Momonga looked at the white cube before him, then turned to Naiyuan in confusion.

"It's a Pay-to-Win Item called [Disguise of the Undead]. It lets an Undead disguise itself as a human for three hours. It's a pretty useless item."

Naiyuan explained it to Momonga. It was a little trinket he had received when spending money on rare items back then. He had not cared much about it at first, but when he thought about transmigrating in the future, he had kept it anyway. It might come in handy someday, after all.

"Does this thing really work?"

"Why not try it and find out?"

Momonga looked at the item in doubt, but Naiyuan's words made him stop thinking about it. Right. Things could not get any worse than this.

He activated the item with his magic power, and Momonga felt a strange sensation of being wrapped up. It was as if a thin film had completely covered his skeletal body.

It feels a little tight, Momonga thought.

But as though it understood his thoughts, the areas where the film had felt tight immediately changed and loosened.

Herohero said, "It looks pretty good."

Naiyuan said, "Looks like that money wasn't wasted."

"I..."

Hearing his companions' discussion, Momonga slowly opened his eyes. Yes, eyes.

As his eyelids opened, a familiar sight appeared before Momonga: the dining table, the food, and Naiyuan and Herohero standing nearby and commenting on him.

"A body... a real body."

Momonga stretched out his hands. They were no longer the familiar skeletal hands, but real arms of flesh and blood. He could even clearly see the veins protruding beneath his skin. Everything felt so real.

"Not bad, right? Come on, take a look for yourself."

Naiyuan smiled, then pulled Momonga up from his chair and quickly brought him before a nearby mirror, letting him see his new appearance.

What appeared in the mirror was no longer the skeletal Undead from before, but a blond-haired youth who looked no older than seventeen. His handsome face made Momonga freeze for a moment, and he could not help reaching out to pinch his own cheek.

"It hurts."

That long-lost sensation stunned Momonga again. Pain—something so ordinary, yet it felt as though he had not experienced it in a very long time. It was the feeling that constantly reminded him that he was alive.

"Hahaha! This is amazing! The feeling... all the feelings are back."

Momonga could no longer hold back and burst into loud laughter.

The passive effect of [Forced Calm] did not trigger. He was no longer the Undead Suzuki Satoru. He was Suzuki Satoru, a human. Thus, the Undead passive could no longer affect him.

"Momonga looks really excited. Well, that makes sense. Suddenly becoming Undead must have been hard for him to accept."

Herohero watched Momonga's laughing figure with some emotion. He understood very well why Momonga was so happy.

"Even though we transmigrated, the two of us are still alive. But Momonga became Undead. He may not show it on the surface, but I know he must have been suffering. He can only watch us enjoy things, after all. An Undead cannot enjoy anything, and cannot even have intense emotional fluctuations."

As Naiyuan watched Momonga gesticulating wildly, he secretly activated a recording item while speaking to Herohero.

"Alright, Momonga. If you've calmed down enough, come eat with us."

Once he saw that Momonga had settled down, Naiyuan pulled him back to the table.

"Okay, eat. Today, I'm going to eat my fill."

"Hey, hey, slow down. Don't choke."

"Urgh! Urgh! Urgh!!"

"No way, you really choked! Hurry, drink some water."

"Whew, I'm alive again."

"How can you still laugh? You nearly became the first transmigrator to choke to death."

"Haha, I'm happy. Happy that I'm truly alive."

"Forget it, Naiyuan. Momonga won't be able to settle down anytime soon."