And that’s the end of V1! Look forward to the start of the next volume~
Translated by: TaffyGirl13
Side Story: A great surprise attack during dinnertime—the daily lives of the main characters
Time: Evening, during the break time before night classes start.
Location: Shalom’s central dining hall.
Dispatched reporter: Lan Qi (TL/N: the author)
Currently, it is 6:17 PM during mealtime. From the scene, we can see the main characters already having retrieved their food and returned to their seats. Next, we’ll be going deeper into the scene for a direct capture of the main characters’ dining table and reveal their unknown ecological secrets. (Makes it sound like this is the Animal Planet channel…)
Lan Qi: Good evening, everyone! How has your day been? Could we interview you for a moment?
Everyone: (Returns cold gazes) No.
Lan Qi: (Smiles brightly) Does anyone want to get killed off in the next work?
Everyone’s inner thoughts: This is tyranny…
Lan Qi: This activity is meant for everyone to better understand you all. Please be a bit more cooperative! Alright, let’s stop the idle chatter and first take a look at everyone’s dishes—Fu Xing, what did you order?
Fu Xing: (Somewhat flattered) Mn, yeah, this is the pasta meal ordered from the counter. And these ones here are battered oysters, kung pao chicken, and chicken cutlet, which I grabbed from the self-service section.
Lan Qi: (Nods in praise) This truly has the unified spirit of Chinese and Western elements. These dishes display cultural exchange and harmonization of races— (Receives a hit on the back of the head) Ahem! May I ask why you made two trips rather than directly ordering everything together?
Fu Xing: Because I wanted to eat the red wine minced meat sauce from the pasta, it’s really delicious! But since I already ate Western food in the afternoon, I decided to go back and grab some Chinese food too.
Lan Qi: You can grab a bowl of white rice and put the pasta’s mince meat sauce on top to pose it as braised pork on rice. Can you eat this much?
Fu Xing: Anything I can’t finish can just be packed up and brought back to the dorm to eat.
Leon: (Mutters with a scowl) The things you brought back last time are still in the refrigerator.
Fu Xing: Ah? Last time? Which time?
Leon: That time when it was Indian cuisine day…
Emerald: Wasn’t that for dinner last Wednesday? I bet that curry has practically become slime already!
Momiji: Those two dishes are basically the same as mucus from sinusitis, thick and yellow. Oh, if the colour was a bit lighter, it would be like something else. You know, from below—
Everyone: Could you shut up?
Lan Qi: (Shoots Leon a sympathetic look) Erm, then Leon, what did you order?
Leon: Red wine beef stew meal.
Lan Qi: How is the taste?
Leon: Not bad.
Lan Qi: Ah, does Leon have anything you hate eating?
Leon: No.
Lan Qi: Then why are there so many carrots left?
Leon: (Silent for three seconds) …A coincidence.
Fu Xing: As if! He hates eating carrots the most! He leaves the carrots behind every time! Last time when I noticed and commented about it, he smashed the carrots into a pulp with the sauce and went to dispose it—
Leon: (Glares fiercely) Do you also want to be smashed into a pulp and be dumped together with that spoiled curry?
Fu Xing: (Changes topic) Ahem, um, Emerald, what are you eating? Introduce it for us!
Lan Qi: Hey, don’t steal my job!
Emerald: I ordered a large plate of caesar salad, as well as vegetable soup and fruit juice.
Lan Qi: Sounds really healthy. Is it for the sake of being able to live longer and gather more money?
Emerald: I don’t like the taste of meat. The flesh of a killed life form carries the poison of resentment with it. It does not have much effect on the average person, but elves are very sensitive to this taste.
Lan Qi: You finally have a slightly elf-like characteristic.
Emerald: (Smiles) According to the phone conversation, the interview fee is costed per second. I will send the bill to your company, with the postage on you.
Lan Qi: Just you wait…Momiji, what are you eating?
Momiji: Miso ramen.
Lan Qi: Reminiscing the taste of your hometown?
Momiji: Yeah. This brings up memories of my thirteenth boyfriend, who opened a ramen shop in Kyushu.
Lan Qi: Wow, how romantic. I didn’t think Momiji also had a pure and innocent side.
Momiji: But although he kept up a ramen shop, his little guy couldn’t be kept up for long…
Lan Qi: (Ignores) Taeharu, what did you order?
Taeharu: Udon! I love its soup; it has a subtle sweetness. The naruto is very yummy! They’re in a flower shape today!
Lan Qi: Taeharu is really adorable. Then the other child-like fellow, Rocort, is eating…
Rocort: Brownies, dark forest cake, macarons, mushroom pizza, smoked chicken breast, German pudding, cheese, taco, corn cake, red bean mochi, and—
Lan Qi: Slow down, why are there so many dessert-type things?
Fu Xing & Emerald: He’s just like that. Don’t pay him any mind.
Lan Qi: Even stubborn human children aren’t picky to that extent. Your dishes would make all parents go crazy.
Rocort: Is that so? Then it’s really lucky that I don’t have that kind of burden. (Continues to happily eat)
Lan Qi: Then Zhu Yue, you ordered—eh?! So red! Why is it this red?! Is that chili powder?!
Zhu Yue: (Puts her chopsticks down in embarrassment) I ordered Thai-style sweet and sour noodles, as well as a small plate of cayenne pepper chicken…
Lan Qi: It’s not spicy?
Zhu Yue: It’s fine. It’s not that I simply like spiciness, I just think the flavor is amazing when this cuisine is emphasized by spiciness …
Lan Qi: You truly can’t judge a person by their appearance. You don’t seem like you have such a heavy taste.
Flora: That’s not surprising. If you look at her hard drive, you’ll know that she has a heavy taste.
Zhu Yue: Flora!
Lan Qi: I think I heard something? Flora, what about your dinner?
Flora: (Looks towards the kitchen’s back door) It’s about to come.
(Five brownies struggle to carry a wooden boat-shaped plate on their shoulders. It’s filled with a luxurious combination of sashimi as well as dozens of shrimp skewers. There is a large fish head placed boldly at the end of the boat. The five small fairies unsteadily bring the boat of sashimi over to Flora and carefully place it down in front of her. Everyone’s eyes widen, their gazes gathering on the boat. Even students from other tables are casting sidelong glances and whispering to each other.)
Lan Qi: …What is this?
Flora: Sashimi boat.
Momiji: They have this dish? How come I didn’t see it on the menu?
Flora: An expert orderer never chooses based on the menu.
Zhu Yue: How can this dish be ordered?
Flora: Watch the process of the head chef having a lover’s rendezvous late at night in a mass of flowers and obtain proof. The secret is not being too clear while negotiating. You have to hint instead to give the other party unlimited space for imagination while letting their mind make it up themselves.
Everyone’s inner thoughts: That’s blackmail, right…
Flora: No need to pay attention to the details. Just hurry up and continue your questions. Student Brad, you’re eating a thick cut of roast beef, seasoned roast chicken leg, orange pork chop, and rack of lamb, right?
Brad: That’s right—why do you know?
Flora: I just happened to guess it.
Lan Qi: Brad, your eating habits are very distinct, all meat. A standard carnivorous male.
Brad: Real men should be heartily drinking wine and eating meat.
Flora: In reality, because he’s been suffering a deficiency in vitamin C recently, he’s been bringing back a bunch of bananas to the dorm each time.
Brad: Yeah, it’s really annoying if I end up with cold sores—Wait, why do you know this too?!
Flora: I just happened to guess it. Anyways, are you the only one bothering us for no reason?
Lan Qi: What bothering! It’s interviewing! And yes, it’s only me.
Flora: Then why is there another human in the dining hall? (Points at a petite, pale figure sitting alone at a table not too far away. Their table is filled with tons of dishes and empty plates).
Lan Qi: Oh! It’s hamster!
Brad: Is your brain dead? That’s a human.
Lan Qi: Hamster is her name! Idiot! Do you know who that is?! She’s an important art editor!! Everyone, go and pay your respects!
Brad: Why do we need to do that kind of thing?
Lan Qi: If you all want your face to be blocked by the title on the cover or you want to get displayed in an embarrassing and vulgar position, it’s fine to be a bit less courteous too.
Everyone’s inner thoughts: That won’t do.
(A bunch of people move over to stand at Hamster’s table).
Lan Qi: Master Hamster! I never imagined I’d see you here! Why are you quietly eating alone in this place?
Hamster: I came to collect material for work, and I’m eating while I’m at it.
Lan Qi: What dedication to your work! It’s really moving—Eh, did you come alone? This table of stuff…was all eaten by you?
Hamster: (Nods)
Lan Qi: That’s really astonishing! Master Hamster, could you help introduce your dishes to us?
Hamster: Mhm. I ate meatbuns, yoghurt, a banana, ten tomatoes, a bento (chicken leg, spinach, stewed radish), Koala’s March cookies, BL manhua, chocolate, lemon tea, a passionfruit, beef noodles…
Lan Qi: Can outsiders eat the dishes here too?
Hamster: Nobody said they couldn’t.
Fu Xing: Isn’t that too much?!
Hamster: As an art editor, I naturally use up a lot of strength. Eating this kind of amount is a very logical thing.
Momiji: Taeharu, what are you looking at?
Taeharu: The manhua on the table. Its contents are quite unique. I didn’t think that after bathing, men help each other wash down below—
Momiji: Taeharu! Put the book down!
Fu Xing: …Did I see that wrong? Zhu Yue, did you just steal one of the volumes and put it in your bag?
Zhu Yue: No! Um, it was an accident!
Emerald: Hey, where’s Lan Qi?
(Lan Qi is currently in the food section frantically plundering food.)
Lan Qi: If I had known earlier that I could eat, I would have brought a few insulated lunchboxes for storage!
Hamster: Please help grab another two buns and a container of yoghurt for me.
Everyone: (Fury begins to rise in their hearts, veins bursting from their foreheads). Security! Security! Kick these two people out immediately!
~Taffy Translations~ 
I think I’ve said it before but Flora really is scary. But the author definitely makes scarier threats!
I can’t say this enough, thank you for translating this novel! I love it a lot and I really look forward to continuing with the series. Probably I will wait until you’ve completed Volume 2 before I start on that because I don’t want to torture myself waiting for updates. In the meantime, I’ll take you up on that offer for other recommendations for friendship-focused stories. If possible completely translated ones but I know that’s a lot to ask. I already plan to read more of what you’ve translated and I’m already reading Yu Wo’s works so you don’t need to recommend any of those. It’s so nice to find another person with this kind of taste!
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I’m glad you’re enjoying the series so far! I’m nearly done with the main story for V2 (I might skip the Side Story and do it later since this one isn’t quite chronological or related to the main story…still deciding), so you won’t need to wait long :)
As for recommendations, it might be good to hop onto the Discord server to ask. I know a few people there are also huge fans of novels like these and they might have recommendations that I haven’t necessarily read. :) (Yu Wo is the best though ahhhh I love her writing so much <3)
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