The item that he was looking at wasn't one of the specialties of the store, it wasn't even one of the regular menu items.
It was something that was listed on the side as an appetizer and was something that most people would gloss over when looking through this menu.
The item that he was looking at was a baked potato.
This baked potato wasn't even one of the main items on the menu, it was an item that was off to the side because it was considered an appetizer that one could order before their meal.
However, the moment that the researcher looked at this menu, his eyes were immediately drawn to it.
For him, potatoes always had a special place in his heart because he had grown up on a potato farm, so for the first eighteen years of his life, potatoes were all that he knew. It had once been his favourite food, but after moving away from the farm, he had completely forgotten about them once he had gotten wrapped up in his research.
The ironic thing was that his research had been what had destroyed his family farm in the end which had created a rift between him and his family in the end. When it had all been over, he no longer had a home to return to since his family no longer accepted him.
However, in his mind, he had never forgotten the one thing that his mother made for him whenever he had been down.
She had always had time to make him a baked potato no matter what and that in turn would always cheer him up because he knew that this baked potato represented her love for him.
However once he had been kicked out of his family, he had no longer been able to savour that taste anymore.
But seeing it now, he couldn't help thinking of his mother once again and all the things that she had done for him.
With a gulp and a moment of hesitation, the researcher suddenly raised his hand to call the waitress who was Yami standing on the side.
Yami came over and gave the researcher a dirty look which made him reveal an awkward smile, but she still asked him, "Can I take your order?"
The researcher pointed at the baked potato on the menu and said, "Can I get one of these?"
Yami looked at where he was pointing and she raised a brow as she asked, "Are you sure that you only want one of those? The baked potato that we serve is just an appetizer, it definitely won't be enough to fill you up by itself. Are you sure you don't want to order some entree with it?"
However, to her surprise, the researcher immediately shook his head in a determined manner before saying, "I just want this."
Yami looked at the researcher for another few seconds with a look that clearly said that she thought he was crazy, but she still took his order in the end before saying, "Please wait a moment. I'll go submit your order."
The researcher nodded before turning back to look around this restaurant.
In the direction that Yami walked off in, he could see the open kitchen which was a strange concept to him, but he could see that based on the chef cooking inside, he really was a skilled person. After all, he could only see that single chef that was cooking and it seemed like he was cooking for the entire restaurant alone.
This restaurant was by no means small since there were easily over fifty tables that were in this restaurant and almost all of them were filled. For one single chef to make all these meals, he must be some kind of superhuman.
While the researcher had been looking around the restaurant, Yami had come back with a pitcher of water and a glass, along with several napkins for the table. Yami placed the glass on the table before pouring a glass of water out and then also leaving the pitcher on the table.
When the researcher saw this, he immediately knitted his brows as he said, "I didn't ask for this. Please take it away."
Yami was surprised once again since this was a complimentary service that they offered, most people didn't even think twice about this.
Seeing that Yami was just standing there, the researcher was a bit afraid since he remembered what had happened before. So instead of the sharp tone he used before, he spoke in a much more gentle tone as he said, "I didn't order this, so please don't charge me for this."
Hearing this, Yami understood why the researcher wanted her to take the water away, but she didn't do it in the end. Instead, she just said, "It's free."
Then without even turning back, Yami went back into the kitchen.
The researcher was taken aback because this had never happened before in his world.
His world was one where food had been replaced with pills and pastes, so since stores couldn't charge people for food, they took to charging people for the second thing they needed most after food. They started charging people for the water.
There were many stores that had done the same as this store where they brought water and charged you for the water after the fact. That was also why the researcher had been so firm when he denied the water earlier.
Looking around, he saw that no one had said a thing in response to this and they were all happily drinking the water provided to them. It seemed like the culture in this other world really was different from the culture in his world.
After that, the researcher looked back at the pitcher of water that was in front of him and couldn't help looking at the yellow fruit wedges that were floating in the water.
He wasn't unfamiliar with these yellow fruit wedges that floated in the water because they existed in his world, however, he was unfamiliar with the concept of putting these yellow fruit wedges in water.
In his world, the yellow fruit wedges were known as lumos and they were famous for how sour they were. But even with how sour they were, they had discovered that these lumos were a good source of vitamin C, which was a very important vitamin in human metabolism.
Back in the age before food pills and pastes were made, there were many times where sailors would mysteriously contract a disease named Sailor Rot. It was a strange disease which almost seemed like the sailors were rotting from the inside out.
It had puzzled doctors for many years before they finally discovered the existence of vitamins.
They learned that vitamins were an important part of human nutrition and severe lack of one vitamin was enough to cause serious problems with the body, namely the lack of vitamin C.
To counter this problem, they took the lumoses that were high in vitamin C and created an extract pill from the essence of these fruits. This pill contained high amounts of vitamin C from the extract, but it also concentrated the sourness of the lumos fruit, so it was too sour for most people to eat.
If it wasn't for the fact that they would die if they didn't eat them, most sailors would have preferred not to eat these lumos pills.
Now they were using these lumos fruits to make water…
Still, as a scientist, he couldn't hold back his curiosity for the cuisine of this world, so he poured a cup of the lumos water and hesitantly took a sip.
When the water passed through his lips and down his throat, the scientist couldn't believe the taste that was in his mouth.
He had had lumos pills before, so he knew just how sour they were, but this water was completely different from the taste that those lumos pills had. He had been prepared to spit out the water the moment the sour taste filled his mouth, but he found that he couldn't help taking a second sip.
It was the exact same taste as the first sip, but for some reason, this second sip seemed even more refreshing compared to the first sip.
This lumos water didn't have the intense sour taste that he had been expecting, but rather it was nothing more than a hint of sour that was dispersed among the water, which actually made it even more refreshing. The more he drank of this water, the more it felt like his throat and tongue was waking up.
After just a few glasses, his stomach couldn't help gurgling as it demanded food.
The scientist's face instantly turned red when this happened and he quickly looked around, but he saw that no one had noticed to which he let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that no one had noticed, but this was something that everyone was used to after coming to this Between World Restaurant. There was no one that hadn't been subdued by the food here before.
After he finished off the entire jug of water, the scientist couldn't help looking back at the kitchen to see if his food was done yet.
When he turned his head, coincidentally, there was Yami who was coming out of the kitchen with several plates in a server tray. She moved through the restaurant and placed the other dishes on the other tables before coming over to the table of the researcher to put his dish down.
This was the dish that the researcher had been staring at the entire time while she had been moving through the restaurant. It was a potato that had a fork sticking out of it that was releasing steam the entire time.
When it had been placed right in front of him, he couldn't help giving a gulp when he smelled the scent that came from it.
With his appetite being stirred by the lemon water that he had just drank, he really couldn't hold back any longer.
Without any hesitation at all, he pulled the fork out of the potato and poked at it a few times to break off a piece of the golden brown baked potato. Looking at the perfect sheen on it, he couldn't help giving another gulp before putting that one bite into his mouth.
The moment that one bite of potato touched his tongue, he immediately swallowed it without even chewing even though there was a burning sensation that came from his throat.
As soon as he had that first bite, he couldn't help looking down at the baked potato in front of him in a daze as he muttered, "What is this?..."