Chapter 2

Chapter 2

First Steps in the British Empire

"Repeat after me. Kim Cheoljin."

"Kim Chual? Kim Chol-jin?"

"No, no. Kim! Cheol! Jin!"

"Kim! Cheol! Jin!"

"No, seriously. Sigh. Just call me Jean like usual."

"Okay, Jean!"

What on earth am I doing here with the snot-nosed kid from next door? I tossed aside the twig I'd been scribbling on the ground with and let out a sigh.

"But, Jean. Why are you suddenly teaching me this? Is there some meaning to it?"

"There is, a very profound meaning. It's my identity, you see."

"What's an identity?"

"It's... there's a word like that. If you're curious, go ask the school teacher."

"I don't go to school, so Jean, tell me!"

"I don't have time for that. I have to hurry and deliver the newspapers."

Groan. I shoved away the freckled girl clinging to my waist and pounded my back. Then a full scene unfolded before my eyes.

Four-wheeled carriages racing down the roads spewing exhaust, trams crossing the city center, antique brick buildings. Women in long dresses with cinched waists holding lace parasols, gentlemen in round, narrow bowler hats.

A scene that looked like it had popped straight out of a 20th-century European silent film I'd watched for a school assignment.

That's right. The place I woke up in after collapsing from a stroke was a world completely unfamiliar to a modern person.

This is probably Britain somewhere between the late 19th and early 20th century.

And it seems I've been possessed, the kind of thing you only see in web novels. Well, being alive is better than dying from a stroke, so I should be grateful for this too.

"Jean! Are you coming back late again today? I'm bored."

"Not sure. I really have to go around a lot of places today."

"Aren't you tired? Working so hard?"

"Tired? I don't know about that."

Besides, there was one incredibly good point. My body had completely changed. From a late-30s uncle with a belly and bad eyesight, to a fresh and sturdy new body of a mid-teen white boy.

In this world, when I woke up in the morning everything was clear? And my eyes, nose, and mouth were extremely handsome too. Handsome enough to chew up any movie actor I'd seen in the entertainment industry. So I had no particular complaints about this new body.

"Jean! Jean! Look over there! The royal cavalry! The Queen's guards!"

"Yeah, I see them. Hold your breath so you don't eat dust."

Dugudugudugu. Dozens of light cavalry came running from far away, then brushed past right in front of my eyes in an instant. Just looking at that, you can tell how old and uncivilized this modern society is. In reality I rode around in a wheeled Porsche, but here a real legged Porsche is roaming the roads. Ugh, that bastard even flung shit on the street.

Anyway, my name here is Jean-Paul Durand. Nickname is just Jean. You're saying it's a French name, not British? Don't ask me. Maybe my great-great-grandfather was taken prisoner in the Hundred Years' War or something.

And the name of this kid stuck to me is Emily Brown. A little kid living next door who's a bit over ten. Being white, she looks well over 15 at a glance, so I wonder if she's lying about her age.

Of course, except for not having a beard, I also look quite old for my age, so I'm in no position to talk about others. As is common with people of this era, it's hard to guess age just from appearance.

Oh right, besides the possession, there's something even more surprising.

[ Emily Brown: Hehe, I like Jean! I want to eat candy again! / Emotion: Joy / Satisfaction: - ]

The fact that the status window from my previous life followed me here too. And one more interesting point—

"Tada! Sweet candy!"

"Wooow! Candy suddenly came out of your hand! Jean, are you a magician?!"

【 Exchanged 1 Point for 'Traffic Light Candy'. 】

【 Remaining Points: 72,097 】

The fact that I found a use for the points that I couldn't figure out at all in my previous life.

That is, it was currency for 'exchange'. Exchange for what? Food ingredients.

Literally, I could use points to purchase various food ingredients or seasonings that I ate in modern times. As long as the points allow, there's no limit on the purchase quantity. It feels like if I earnestly wish for what I want, it comes true? Isn't that amazing?

What if I get caught using the ability openly? Anyway, taking out something this small is just thought of as doing magic. They don't even notice. And I haven't used it except when soothing this kid yet.

"You eat it all. And you can't say I gave you this, okay? Then I'll give you more next time."

"Yeah! I really like Jean so much! Let's get married later!"

"A little kid says all kinds of things. Come back when you're an adult."

How did I find this ability? While tearing into tasteless British rye bread, I earnestly prayed 'Please let me eat some chicken and cola!' and suddenly it popped out of my palm. At that time my eyeballs almost popped out for real.

Just praying makes food appear, seriously. Why didn't I think of this in my previous life? Of course, back then I could eat as much delicious food as I wanted anywhere as long as I paid money, and I enjoyed cooking myself, so there was no need for such imagination.

Besides, in my previous life I had so much money that I didn't even need to exchange points for ingredients. With one click on my phone, everything would arrive at the door in the early morning, so why bother?

But this place is an uncivilized modern society separated from modern civilization by a hundred years. Various industrial products and foods that were easily obtained in my previous life are absolutely unimaginable here.

So discovering the point exchange ability was no different from a savior for me who had fallen into the past. It was probably from then. That I started quickly adapting to this old and inconvenient pre-modern society.

If it weren't for this ability, I might have died from stress rather than a stroke.

I raised the bicycle's lever. There was no more time to waste if I was to deliver the remaining newspapers.

So I went around shouting.

"Extra! Extra! The first Nobel Prize winner will be announced soon! There's a tremendous prize money at stake! If you're curious, buy this newspaper for 1 penny!"

What can I do? I need money to live here too. Especially these days, I need quite a lot of money. Because Mom got asthma from the smog filling every alley.

It was that kind of era.

* * *

"Cough, cough."

"How is it? Is there any improvement?"

"Ahem, not much different from last time. I'll prescribe aspirin again this time. It's a new drug that has an amazing effect on fever and pain. Imported all the way from the German Empire across the sea."

The doctor took a medicine bottle out of his doctor's bag and poured a handful into a paper packet. I frowned seeing that.

Since the era is the era, there are no exact regulations on taking medicine, so it's all up to the doctor's whim. I was suspicious whether that medicine was the proper amount, or if it was a lethal dose, or even if it was genuine medicine.

"Including the medicine cost and house call fee, it's 6 shillings."

"Here it is. Thank you for coming a long way."

"Hmm, take good care of your body. If circumstances allow, I recommend making chicken soup with honey and lemon. It's a good prescription that my grandmother often made for me. Ahem, though I don't know if circumstances will allow!"

The doctor bastard looked around the shabby house, then grabbed his coat and hat and hurriedly fled. I threw a fist at his back. 6 shillings, what a rip-off.

But in this era, even this was something to be grateful for. There were many cases where there wasn't even someone pretending to be a doctor. Since this is London, there's at least a bastard like that.

It would have been nice if I could exchange points for medicine too, but unfortunately that didn't work no matter how many times I tried.

"Jean... Cough, where did that money come from again? Cough."

"I delivered more newspapers. Gibson said he needed extra hands just in time. You know. Once I deliver them, they sell out quickly. I made a decent amount going around Baker Street. Fortunately, there were a few extras that would sell well."

"Cough, a cold like this will get better if I just sleep for a bit..."

"Hey, Mom. That's not true. You have to stock up on medicine when you have it. You never know what might happen in this world! Here, drink a cup of water, quickly!"

There's another blessing I've gained here. Getting the 'real' family I so desperately wanted. In my previous life I lived calling a nun Mom, but here it's a real family mixed with blood.

Of course, the nun is also no different from a mom to me. I miss you, Mom. Still, just in case, I wrote a will so that all my previous assets would go to the nun, so that's a relief.

Anyway, a real Mom who loves me more than anyone despite frequent illnesses, a poor plumber Dad, and me. The three of us living huddled together in an old boarding house is the daily life of our Durand family.

By the way, there are too many people coughing around these days. It's all because of that damn smog. The exhaust spewing from factory chimneys was gnawing away at people's lives.

If I could take out even modern medicine with the point exchange function, it would have been a bit better. For example, penicillin. But when I looked into it, that medicine hadn't even been developed yet.

What an uncivilized era. I let out a deep sigh.

"Well, but the doctor's words are right too. To get healthy, you have to eat well first."

How can you get better from illness just eating rye bread or tasteless boiled potatoes that are our family's staple? There's a saying that strength comes from rice. It's the story that the happiness hormones secreted in the brain when eating delicious food strengthen the immune system.

I thought carefully. Now that I've adapted to this world quite a bit, it seemed okay to start utilizing my cheat key. Continuing to let it rot is too wasteful, isn't it?

Of course, in this era, I must unconditionally avoid suspicious behavior. Even if the Enlightenment and scientific thinking have spread, there are still people in some rural areas who believe in the occult or supernatural phenomena, and there are even those so immersed in novels like Faust that they believe the devil is roaming around. Well, my ability is a supernatural phenomenon, but. Ahem.

Anyway, so after the first time I exchanged points for chicken and cola and ate them, I tried not to use the point shop as much as possible until I was confident it was safe. Giving Emily candy a few times to soothe her was all. If I really didn't want to eat rye bread, I'd secretly hide and tear open a triangle kimbap.

But to make money quickly, utilizing this ability was ultimately the best. That is, I had to become a chef here too.

With my cooking skills that were considered quite skilled even in modern times, if I showcased foods that people of this era have never encountered before, I think I'd succeed big time.

But what about the ingredients? The seasonings? There will be many things that can't be obtained in this era, right?

"Hmm... Wouldn't it be okay to just pull seasonings from the point shop and use only the ingredients from this era for the rest? I don't think anyone would suspect it."

Finished products like chicken or pizza consumed over 100 points per summon. With the roughly 72,000 points I have now, that means I can only eat chicken about 720 times.

But if I only summon seasonings, the situation changes. From roughly testing, even very simple industrial products are at most 10 points each.

Excluding chicken, cooking oil, eggs, milk, flour, etc. that can be easily obtained in this world, summoning only seasonings like pepper, garlic powder, salt, chili powder, starch, baking powder didn't even take 50 points.

"And once you summon seasonings, you can make the same finished product over and over again. The cost-effectiveness is on a completely different level."

Shall I test it at least? So I decided to show my skills for the first time in a while. First, I called Emily from next door, gave her a few pennies, and had her buy ingredients. Meanwhile, I fixed up the stove in the house kitchen.

Compared to a modern kitchen, there are more than one or two shortcomings, but I organized it enough to be able to cook. Sweeping and wiping, just taking proper care of hygiene is half the success.

Fortunately, among the ingredients I can summon, there were things that act as natural disinfectants just by mixing with water.

Baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice. Long live modern science!

"Jean! Here's the chicken! But why do you need so much? Is there something to celebrate?!"

"Well, maybe there will be soon. You'll find out before long."

"I'm curious! Tell me quickly!"

"Wait. Sometimes waiting brings greater happiness."

"Okay! But what Jean says is always too difficult!"

Anyway, I cut the chicken into pieces suitable for marinating. The first cooking attempt since coming to this world. At the same time, this was also a possibility for my future.

Think about it, when am I going to make a living just delivering a few newspapers? Pocket change that all goes to three or four days' medicine costs.

So I resolved. Let's succeed here just like in my previous life, utilizing this special ability that allows me to freely supply the modern ingredients I know.

I'll open a restaurant in this world. And succeed like a dog. My current actions were the first step for that.