"Wait a moment... do I regret?" the young man asked himself in surprise. Was he mourning the world he was about to destroy?
No, he wasn't. He had a duty to fulfill, no matter how much he loved the taste of the food. He continued his thought.
As he was lost in thought, his gaze fell upon the red drink that had just been dispensed from the machine. The red liquid that looked like blood.
At first, he thought it wouldn't taste like blood, having once tasted blood at a party with blood-consuming humans, and he didn't like it.
"What kind of water is this?" he asked the owner.
"It's roselle juice," the shopkeeper replied.
"Roselle juice?"
"It's sweet and sour. Try it slowly."
Since the owner had to take care of the other customers, he couldn't come out to see Chunn, but he was seriously concerned about Chunn, afraid that the young man might faint again.
"Don't worry, this time I won't faint," he replied, waving his hand.
The owner paused for a moment, reflecting on the fact that he had encountered only one strange customer today, but this one was particularly peculiar.
Chunn slowly lifted the glass to his lips, touching the red liquid with his tongue before taking a sip. He steadied himself and controlled his tongue and throat muscles, slowly swallowing the liquid to avoid choking.
This should not be just a drink, he thought to himself. It should be a sacred offering. The taste is so exquisite. How do people around here drink it so casually?
The sweetness of the drink led before giving way to sourness as it went down his throat, and a fragrant aroma lingered in his nose after he drank it. He had never experienced such complex flavors in food before.
This planet may have been underdeveloped in terms of technology, but in terms of food taste, it was truly remarkable. If there was an index for food development alone, it would surpass the standard of the entire universe. It should be classified as a developed planet, a planet that has reached the highest level of food development.
Chunn was surprised that no one from other planets had come to visit here before and try the food. This taste was not only delicious but it should also be considered a cultural heritage of the universe.
"Please report the progress," a voice suddenly said in his head.
Startled at first, Chunn looked around before realizing that it came from the communication device he carried. He quickly pressed the button to communicate with the destination, adjusting his voice to sound normal.
"Um...waiting for the right moment," he replied.
"Understood," came to the reply, and the call ended.
Chunn glanced at the dish in front of him and then tilted his head to look at the sky for a few moments. It was almost noon and time to press the button to detonate the solar storm and make this planet disappear.
This exquisite taste of food was literally the last meal before this planet became the Galaxy expressway, and it was truly sad.
He finished eating the last grain of rice, stood up from the table, and walked out. Before leaving the restaurant, he looked at it again, just as the shop owner raised his head. The two of them caught each other's eye.
Chunn smiled and nodded his head, and the shop owner smiled back and thought to himself, "Although he was a somewhat strange customer, he was a cute customer. He finished all the food neatly and even stacked the dishes carefully. He even bowed before leaving. I wonder if he was Japanese, but he spoke Thai very clearly."
Meanwhile, in Chunn's mind, although it was his first and last meal on this planet, he would never forget the skill of the shop owner in creating such exquisite food, which gave every ordinary person on this planet the opportunity to taste it. This would be a meal that he would never forget.
"Alright... it's time to detonate this world,"
Chunn thought, turning to look at his briefcase.
Wait, where did my bag go!?
Chunn suddenly woke up, wondering if he had left his bag and umbrella behind…
"Sirrrrrrrr !!!!"
shouted the shop owner as he ran after Chunn with his umbrella and briefcase.
"You left your things at the shop, sir."
"Thank you very much," Chunn said as he received his items.
"Did my food taste so good that you forgot your things, sir?" asked the owner with a little laugh.
"Something like that," replied Chunn.
"Then come back and eat here again sir," said the owner. "I'm open every day."
Chunn looked at the briefcase in his hand, his voice sadder than it should be. "You're open every day?" he asked.
That made the shop owner wonder why Chunn was sad about a restaurant is open every day. But even though he was curious, he didn't ask anything.
After returning the forgotten items back to his customer, the shop owner headed back to his restaurant.
Chunn remained standing alone on the uphill road, watching until the shop owner disappeared from his sight. Then he looked at the important bag in his hand and gazed up at the sky, where the sun was climbing to the center of the sky.
It was time to say goodbye to this world. Even if the food tasted good, today had already been determined to be the last day of the world.
Chunn opened his bag and took out a metal device. He buried the sharp end of that thing into the ground at the top of the hill and pressed the switch button. The light signals on the device flashed two or three times and then connected to the communication device in his ear.
"Signal connected to the sun, ready to initiate detonation process. Please confirm, yes or no."
"Yes," Chunn replied.
"Please enter the employee code of the authority of the intergalactic expressway."
Chunn responded more slowly than before.
"Please enter the mission code."
Chunn answered, even slower than before.
"Please enter the security code."
Chunn thought for a moment, then answered very slowly this time.
"Please enter the security code again, as it has exceeded the specified time limit."
Chunn responded again, still slow but not as slow as before.
"Confirm employee identity, confirm mission, confirm security code. The solar storm bomb is armed and ready to detonate. Shall we proceed?"
Chunn looked towards the top of the hill. Although he couldn't see it, he knew there was a coffee shop where he liked to drink in the morning and a restaurant where he had just eaten.
In truth, he had never known about this star before. The people he worked with barely knew it either, even though they traveled throughout the galaxy often. This was the farthest outer planet, far from the center of the galaxy, let alone the center of the universe.
Whether this star existed or disappeared, no one cared. No one would be sad if it disappeared tomorrow. In fact, Chunn himself was the same, but that was three hours ago. Not now. Because now he felt truly regretful at the thought of this star being erased to make way for an expressway that might never be used in this remote corner of the galaxy.
But Chunn shouldn't hesitate because he had no choice. There was no other option. There was no other way to preserve this world, even just a little bit. He was the one sent here to do this task. His duty was his duty. He was sent here to detonate this star. His regret towards the star was one thing, but his responsibility towards his duty was another.
Chunn looked at the detonator that was ready.
And then he gave the command.