A night at the Isekai Ryoken

Where in people eat, drink, and and generally socialize.

Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    It's a normal night at IR and that means Landers, a good number of them. Sitting at tables, sitting at the counter. And hey cooking smells fill the main dining room/bar area. The waitresses bustle about from here to there and take care of customers. The Cait Sith behind the bar is genial and chats with the Landers who are there drinking and snacking. The owner of the establisment Hifumi stands watching it all and occasionally talking to customers or dipping into the back to make something that is etiher off menu or requires his personal attention to finish unlike the soups and breads which are made in the morning and serve all day.
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

The door to the Isekai Ryokan opens and a petite human girl wanders in wearing an elaborate dress - not something particularly weather appropriate for the cold weather. Standing just inside she gazes around with dull red eyes. When someone comes to take her slippers she just looks at them silently for a moment before taking them off and handing them over. She then proceeds to the bar and sits down.
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    The waitress is a bit confused when Seliana doesn't follow her to one of the heated tables but shrugs when she goes to the bar. Hifumi smiles and heads on over when he spots the 'Adventurer flag' on inspect. "Hello there." he says "Welcome to the Isekai Ryoken where we offer a taste of Japan." he says with a smile. "What may I get you?"
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

As Hifumi approaches Seliana does not have much of a reaction, but after he poses the question she seems to unfocus as she inspects her debuffs. Seems the current one is Thirst. It has only just started to slowly tick her HP down. "I guess I need something to drink." She looks around. "I'm not sure what though. Just something cheap, I guess?"

She touches her veil and removes it into her inventory so that her face is clear. Her skin is an ashen white grey color, and her hair is a darker granite grey. Her face does not show much expression as she stares, occasionally blinking at Hifumi.
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi blinks a little "Uhm sure." he says and pours and sets a fruit juice on the counter. "You know for just thirst if you're really worried you can get water most anywhere." he says "Same with food, you can just eat menu food if you want but the whole kind of point here." he says "Is that we hand craft our food and drinks so you get you know... taste." he licks his lips "You doin okay?"
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

Seliana blinks a few times, "Oh, right." But she still takes the fruit juice and takes a small spit. She pauses after the first drink and then looks at the glass a little closer before drinking some more, is she drinking a bit more quickly. After it is about a quarter gone she sets it down and blows out some air in a sigh. "Am I doing okay?" she repeats the question, her voice throughout the conversation so far has been flat. "I'm fine. Fine as we can be." She then looks around the room at the cheery adventurers and relaxing Landers, it seems there is a fairly happy mood, but it doesn't quite seem to penetrate Seliana. Looking back to Hifumi she asks. "Do you really want to know? Is this a part of your job here?"
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi smiles "I do actually want to know if you want to share." he says "I'm the owner, I only have one job here, I cook all the food." he winks "I also make the juice." he shrugs "But given that some find this a curse, and others such as myself a blessing." he shrugs "I do want to ensure that as many people as possible can have as good a time as possible living here for however long we get to." he does say get to rather than have to.
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

"A blessing? Really?" She says, face still not showing much expression. But she continues, "I've joined a guild. They are doing a lot to help me. I suppose people would consider that good." She takes a few more sips from her drink and sets it down again. "I doubt it matters though. I don't know if anything we do matters." She then looks into Hifumi's eyes with her own dull red eyes, "People say I should make a better place for myself. Others say I should find a calling or passion. I've done it before. I've worked hard all my life. It did -nothing- in the end." And as she says the word 'nothing' her face shows the first sign of expression as she grimaces slightly and a very faint red glow shows in her eyes before fading just as quickly.
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    Mizuki doesn't WEAR shoes, and so doesn't have to think about whether this fantasy world follows western or eastern culture and whether to take them off! YET ANOTHER PERK OF BEING A CAT!

    She's sitting in a corner trying SOME FOOD, maybe INTROSPECTING. But her ears perk up and turn towards the others as she hears someone having a conversation with the owner.

    Someone is in hurt! THIS is a problem for... AN AWKWARD NERD! Well okay, it's not, but an awkward nerd is what you get. Mizuki stands up and turns towards them. "Do you really feel that way? Then what's the point of telling us about it? It's not going to matter... And more seriously, and I apologize if your life really WAS so sad... but even if you're trapped in here by events you had no control over... aren't there people out there whose lives you've touched? Even if you're not a teacher or a parent or a doctor or something... Friendly encouragement, a kind word... or heck, even times you were mean and made someone's day /worse/, that still /mattered/ to them, didn't it?"

    She tilts her head, tail twitching curiously.
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

Turning to look at the were fang Seliana just blinks a few times as she listens. "I don't think my saying this will matter." She replies before picking up her drink to take a few more sips. "I grant you that things I've done will have had ripples in the world. A world that doesn't exist anymore. A world that I've lost." Seliana looks down at her glass as she gathers her thoughts, face still impassive. "If the world is gone, does what we did matter?"
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi makes a face at Mizuki "Because I asked." he says "And yes, for many of us this is a blessing." he turns and puts some yaki skewers on a charcoal grill that sits in a window between the kitchen and bar. "For example, I had one bad night." he says "And that one bad night made it to where I couldn't do this." he waves his arms to the dining room and bar. "I wanted a to run my own place, cook food that had an impact on people. Made them happy." he says "And now, that I'm stuck in here." he smiles "Well now I get to do that." he says "And no it wasn't a bad night were I lost my money or desire to cook or anything." he says before questions can be asked he's answered them it seems. "I lost the physical ability to do this. Now I can." he pours Seliana another juice. It tastes of fruit because it wasn't made with a menu it was made with those two hands that poured it.
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    Mizuki blinks. "You think the world is /gone/? Are you a solipsist, or...? Or are you speaking in a more physical sense, like, if your light cone never touches someplace, it functionally doesn't exist?"

    She turns the chair around to face this way and sits back down, legs crossed, arms folded. "It seems to me like worst-case, we can't KNOW if we'll escape. Or if a world like THIS can be simulated, who's to say we won't escape only to secretly be in the Matrix?"

    She shrugs. "In any case, the Scales might find a way out, or perhaps we'll be put back in the real world by events beyond our control, reinforcing the whole nothing-we-do-matters lesson."

    The cat sighs and hangs her head. "Not knowing is, perhaps, the worst part. As much as it'd hurt to know, for absolutely certain, I'd never see my family or friends again... at least I could grieve and move on, and work on making a life here. And if we knew for absolutely certain a guarunteed way out..."

    Mizuki shakes her head and looks at Seliana again. "For the sake of argument, though: Suppose the world IS gone and we're here, forever. Then won't things you do here matter? Or do you expect to be regularly transported to new worlds, where you don't know anyone and have to start all over?"
Silver Knight
Isekai Ryokan

Silver Knight another has been drawn here by the food, real food? You do not have to ask Silver Knight twice he's been living off soggy soda crackers for far too long. The Silver Knight is old as far as VR players go very old, he's been around since Fragment and was a gamer long before that. He listens to the conversation as he comes in.

"My personal experience is these worlds are not one of illusion they are real and can reach back. As for our situation now we have become those we have chosen to be. We still have much to learn about our situation before anything can be confirmed."

There would be a pause.

"It has also been far too long since I have had true food. I would like to order the daily special."
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

As her glass is refilled with juice Seliana takes it again and continues to drink, even though the debuff she was suffering from was already removed. She looks up at Hifumi as he uses his experiences as an example. Seliana sets the glass down as he talks about having lost the ability before and now regained it here, and she hums slightly. "So you already lost things before. For you it seems like another chance?" She then looks down at her small hands and the delicate long black painted fingernails she has. "I always worked hard to make sure I was setup. I never really knew what I wanted. I did what I thought I should be. I never had something like what you wanted. Not really."

She pauses and then looks at Mizuki as she expounds on her ideas. She impassively watches as the were fang goes through different emotions as she considers the possibilities. As the question is posed Seliana blinks a few times. "Here forever? It does seem like that is the case. We cannot even die it seems." And she is silent again as she sips on her drink while she considers further.

"I really don't know. If this world vanishes completely, like a dream, then did what I do here matter? Even if it does effect this world?" She considers further. "I didn't expect my life to end before. My old world to disappear. I guess I can only consider it a possibility something like that will happen again..?"
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    Mizuki scratches the back of her head. "Y'know, don't people usually see not dying as a good thing?" ^-.-^ "And this isn't, like, the bad monkey's paw kind where your broken shell of a body is forced to keep feeling until you're driven mad by constant, excruciating pain; we respawn the picture of health!"

    She takes a breath and then tilts her head to the side curiously. "If we get back to the old world and this one vanishes... hopefully, we'll all be there again too." And hopefully no Freaky Friday business, thanks for pointing out THAT possibility, Prophy! "That will mean all the friends you made here will be there too!"
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi puts a few skewers of cluckcluck yaki on a plate in front of Seliana "Eat." he says "You look like you need it." not the food itself but the flavor. He's found eating real food has impacted a lot of players. "I hope never to leave." he says with a smile "But that is my own dream not something I wish for any who do not love this world." he says and nods to Silver "If you'd like a table I'll ask you to inventory that armor, you'll damage the tatami, same if you decide you want to rent a room. I won't ask you to take it off if you wish to sit at the bar." he says as he slips into the kitchen coming out with a bowl of udon. "Udon is the special of every day as it is a taste of home." he says "And welcome to the Isekai Ryoken where we bring you a taste of Japan." he grins and sets a glass of juice next to the bowl of Udon. "Would you like some yaki or grilled eel?" he asks and turns his attention to Mizuki

    "And did you want drinks, food, both?" he asks with a smile "Just here to chat with people? Here for a room?"
Seliana
Isekai Ryokan

Seliana silently accepts the skewers and raises one to her mouth to nibble, she pauses and then eats with an increased speed, her face still impassive as she listens to Mizuki. "I suppose people do consider the idea of not dying a good thing." She pauses as she continues to eat for a bit, "I wonder if people will still feel that way later."

She looks from the new arrival of the Silver Knight to Hifumi and then back to Mizuki. "You do have optimism." She says in the flat tone that she normally speaks in. "I guess.. it doesn't matter to me, but maybe you feel it matters to you." Then she muches some more before saying, "I need to think about this." Although her facial expression remains neutral and her voice still lacks inflection.
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    Mizuki observes, "Y'know, before I talked to someone in here who was, outside, in their 70's and 'waiting to die' I didn't think about getting old and dying either, but are you actually looking forward to dying? Think about that, too."

    She scratches her head. "Maybe part of it is optimism because I'm in a nice world that was built to be fun, but part of it is that I also know this is a computer program built by people, and people make mistakes. No way is kidnapping thousands of people going to be 'the perfect crime' -- it seems much more likely that there will be an oversight we can exploit /somewhere/."
Silver Knight
Isekai Ryokan

Silver Knight says "I would like to rent a room for the night if there any any aviliable." He will make for the bar without complaint as he moves to sit down there. The Knight seems a bit lost in thought at this point. He'll wait on his order at this point. The man seem to be lost in thought.

"You presume the one who did it is human."
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    After those parting thoughts, Mizuki stands again and moves to take a seat at the bar. "Alright, so I have to wonder: What does eel taste like?"

    She looks back at the newcomer who... wears a skull faceplate, apparently. He doesn't SOUND as edgy as his helmet looks though, huh. "If it wasn't human, what could it be?" she sounds like she doesn't consider that a likely possibility.
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Does deliver a bowl of udon and a glass of juice, along with the question of if Silver wanted grilled eel or cluckcluck. "I'll thank whoever did it regardless." he says with a smile. "It's a bit fatty, picks up a good taste of char from the grill, and is a less than mild white fish." he says with a bit of a shrug. "It has a rich sweet sauce that goes with it." he offers to Mizuki
Silver Knight
Isekai Ryokan

Silver Knight says "I would have the eel with the udon."

Silver Knight thinks on the eel.

"I would suggest trying it if you have not before. As what might have? What indeed, just to presume this is a game would be folly." He doesn't seem to elaborate on this at all.
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    Mizuki blinks. "...Good to know, but I was trying to imply I'd like to order some." Beat. "I'd like to try some eel, please."

    She looks over at Silver Knight. "If you're going to play the cryptic game, you might want to swap that armor out for a wizard robe and hat and beard. Get the whole mystic cryptic /thing/ going on."

    She looks back over the bar. "Of course I know that when we live here 24/7, it's not 'just a game' anymore, but some parts of it do very much still run on game rules."
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi puts some eel on the grill, the sweet smell of the sauce mixing with the fat of the eel as it drips onto the coals. "Ordering is always a help." he winks at Mizuki and laughs warmly, obviously just giving guff. When the eel is cooked a plate goes before Mizuki along with a glass of juice. The second plate joins Silver's Udon in front of him. "You'll have room one, which is the first on the left after you go into the garden." he says "Please do ensure you inventory your armor rather than leaving it on the tatami. I'm sure I will get armor stands at some point but inventories are good." he has apparently had complaints from the girl who manages the rooms.
Silver Knight
Isekai Ryokan

Silver Knight actually laughs at the comment. "I would make a poor wavemaster." He doesnt' say much more on the matter as he'll wait for his food and he will dig in. The helmet stays on the good thing is his lower face and mouth is clear to eat without an issue.
Goldenblade
Isekai Ryokan

Goldenblade enters the Ryokan and catches the smell of the eel sauce, which she loves. She makes her way over to the bar, and will settle into an unoccupied chair with a weary sigh, stretching her arms over her head and yawning as if just waking up. She peers around at the others present, and mumbles, "Good morning."
Mizuki
Isekai Ryokan


    Mizuki chuckles in return. She doesn't even know this guy, but his laughter and the way he says it conjures up a mental image of a knight being a poor wizard and it's funny. "I used to play Infiltrator. Overwhelm them with debuffs and then try to finish them while they're scrambling to counter it... Thought I'd try a more PvE-focused DPS build this time."

    She takes a bite of the eel. "Huh. Yeah, kinda reminds me of tuna, or swordfish, or bluefish, but not quite the same as any of them." She takes another bite, savoring it, letting the smell fill her nose as well. Snnffffff. "Thank you for this experience."

    Her ears turn back towards the entrance, "Hey, Goldenblade, how're you today?"
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi nods to Golden "Hey, what can I get you?" he asks as he is working the grill with eel and has been talking with folks and cooking those bar snacks.
Goldenblade
Isekai Ryokan

Goldenblade smiles to Mizuki, says, "Hey!" As to how she is, she says, "Just waking up. One thing the game seems to fix," she adds with a laugh. "I used to take an hour and two coffees to get really awake. Must've been a physical problem rather than a mental one." To Hifumi, she says, "Ah, I love anything with eel sauce. And do you have the beer yet?" It should only take a few days at most to age, so if they pursued that after the discussion before, it may be ready.
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi "I've got beer, and other hand crafted drinks, but they are Lander made and so it costs more than my menu crafted drinks." he says and puts a plate of the grilled eel infront of Golden, along with a bowl of rice, she did say it was breakfast after all.
Goldenblade
Isekai Ryokan

Goldenblade alas doesn't have a lot of money, so she will have to go with, "Just water, then, thanks." She gives a brief benediction in thanks for the food, then digs in with gusto. Real food after months of menu food is so, so satisfying. "By the look of things, you guys have been up all night? I just woke up, so I'll eat and run, if you don't mind?"
Hifumi
Isekai Ryokan

    Hifumi offers juice as well if she wants something with more flavor. Gives whichever the decision is. "Feel free to hang around, I'll be up in a while to start cooking." he says with a laugh.