PRB | Chapter 2

Name: Eddie.

Occupation: Owner of “Eddie’s Inn,” located in the central square of the capital.

The inn, with its rather uninspired name, was merely a fleeting location in the original story. It was described in just one line:

[“Eddie’s Inn, located in the central square of the capital, was a leisurely inn with minimal income despite its prime location and cleanliness.”]

That was it.

Naturally, there was no description of the innkeeper Eddie, nor any explanation of why the inn had such low income despite its great location.

And Eddie, or rather Lee Junghoon, the former convenience store owner, suddenly found himself reincarnated as the innkeeper Eddie.

From being a convenience store owner tucked away in an apartment complex to the owner of an inn with a great location but somehow deserted.

Should I be happy about this or sad?

“Well, I’m grateful for a second life, but…”

Eddie muttered in a barely audible voice.

The former Lee Junghoon, now Eddie, took exactly two days to adapt to this absurd reincarnation. During that time, he was holed up in a corner, too overwhelmed to think about the original story or anything else.

The first thing he accepted was his own death.

Death.

Sometimes his friends would jokingly say he was working too hard and would die young.

But he never thought he’d actually die like that.

“Sigh.”

Eddie let out a deep sigh. He remembers the last moment clearly. The searing pain in his stomach. No, it wasn’t even pain. It was just hot. It was such a brutal sensation that he thought it might have been a blessing to die quickly without prolonged suffering.

When he decided to become a convenience store owner in his twenties, his parents initially tried to dissuade him. They suggested he become a stable civil servant, but he insisted on creating his own successful store.

He paid his part-timers minimum wage and holiday pay, working more himself to cover the costs. He worked full-time during the day, except for night shifts, handling all logistics and refrigeration alone.

He thought that once things got on track, he could expand the store and have more leisure. He endured, thinking he should work hard while young.

“…”

A sigh of helplessness escaped him.

If he had known everything would end so meaninglessly, he might have followed his parents’ advice and prepared for the civil service exam. Maybe then he wouldn’t have died so meaninglessly, and he wouldn’t have reincarnated into this world.

“Ugh…”

Tears he had been holding back finally burst forth.

What should I do? My mom must have been so shocked she fainted. I hope she doesn’t grieve too much.

It’s said that the greatest unfilial act is to die before your parents, and he had done just that.

Eddie cried for a long time. For two days after reincarnating, he cried continuously, overwhelmed by the sorrow of everything, without even having the time to marvel at being in a fantasy world or to explore what kind of world this was.

And on the third day, he shook it off and got up.

Crying wouldn’t change anything. He had grieved enough; it was time to move. Eddie, or rather Lee Junghoon, was too proactive and positive to be mired in emotions.

“Eddie, are you okay?”

Gerald, the inn’s only employee, managed the inn perfectly while the owner locked himself in his room, drowning in sorrow. Eddie smiled brightly at the loyal employee, who looked worried to death.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

He had no idea what the original Eddie was like. This reincarnation didn’t come with any benefits, like retaining the original Eddie’s memories.

He only learned Gerald’s name when Gerald said, “Eddie, still hungover? It’s me, Gerald,” when Eddie didn’t recognize him on the first day.

At least he got a language patch and reincarnated into a handsome, well-built body. That’s something.

Though his role in the original story was practically nonexistent.

“Sorry for making you work alone, Gerald.”

Eddie said cheerfully. Gerald shook his head.

“Not at all. You never really helped anyway.”

His voice held no resentment towards Eddie, as if it were only natural.

“…”

Eddie kept his mouth shut, worried he might seem suspicious. Somehow, it felt unfair. He used to be a diligent store owner who handled all sorts of odd jobs.

Anyway, since he reincarnated as an innkeeper, he found himself running a business in this life too.

In his previous life, he thought, “I’ll succeed and become a store owner with multiple branches!” But in this life, his mindset shifted to, “I’ll just run a clean, well-located inn and make a living.”

“Are you going to die young?”

As his friends often joked, it seemed he really worked himself to death.

He didn’t want to die young again, so his life’s goal became “live long and prosper.”

However, that resolve wavered a bit when he checked the inn’s ledger.

“Gerald?”

“Yes.”

“Is this really our inn’s monthly income?”

Gerald glanced at the ledger Eddie was looking at. The ledger, automatically recorded by magic, unfortunately couldn’t be tampered with.

“Yes.”

“…”

Oh my.

What is this tiny, precious income? Even if a squirrel sold its hoarded acorns, it would make more than this!

Of course, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but the income was pathetically low compared to the location.

Moreover, the first floor was supposed to be a restaurant and tavern, but most of the income came from guests staying at the inn, with virtually no income from the restaurant and tavern.

No wonder the first floor, which operated as a restaurant during the day, was always empty.

“Menu!”

Eddie urgently called out, and Gerald quickly brought the menu.

The menu at Eddie’s Inn was just a single sheet.

It claimed to be a restaurant and tavern, but the menu was so thin that Eddie was a bit taken aback.

[Menu]

French Fries
Fried Fish
Fruit Platter

[Drinks]

Beer

“…”

That was it. A menu with no pictures or descriptions was practically telling customers to get lost because what they wanted wasn’t there.

It was a menu that destroyed the natural structure of this fantasy world, where restaurant customers became tavern customers, and tavern customers became inn guests.

While Eddie’s Inn had the advantageous trait of a great location, it wasn’t the only inn around, and its restaurant and tavern were far less competitive than others.

No wonder it earned so little despite its good conditions.

Did the Eddie he reincarnated into not see any problems with this inn? How could he leave it like this?

“…Sigh.”

Eddie was deep in thought. How should he fix this?

Although Gerald was a jack-of-all-trades, capable of cooking and cleaning, deciding what new menu items to add and what to focus on for the inn’s new beginning would require a lot of thought.

“I’ll need to advertise too… Ugh.”

Without the memories of the reincarnated Eddie, he had no idea about the tastes of the Empire’s citizens or what they liked, which added to his worries.

He needed to know what they liked to prepare.

Or should he develop a completely new menu that didn’t exist in this world? If so, what should he offer to make people like it?

Gerald, who had been silently watching Eddie agonize over the menu for days, finally brought it up exactly a week after Eddie’s reincarnation and five days into Eddie’s business worries.

That day, Eddie was once again staring at the pathetic menu and a sheet of parchment, pondering what new menu items to add and how to promote them.

It was a matter of his second life, so he had to be cautious. Even though he couldn’t find an answer, he was stuck on the menu for a long time.

“By the way, Eddie.”

“…Yeah?”

“About that basement I mentioned before.”

Basement?

He didn’t know what Gerald was talking about, but Eddie, lacking the memories of the original, pretended to know.

“Oh, that basement. What about it?”

“It’s still not opening. Even with my magic, it won’t budge. You said you’d check it out last time.”

Eddie had never heard of a basement in the inn. In the original story, there was only one line about the inn, so all the information was new to him.

He remembered it only because he was the type of reader who considered missing a single letter a sin. If someone had skimmed through, they might not even remember that one line.

A basement, huh? If it didn’t open even with magic, what could he do? But if he had promised to check it out before, there must have been a reason, so it seemed better to take a look.

“But Gerald.”

Eddie, about to ask Gerald something, closed his mouth. Seeing Gerald’s puzzled face, Eddie awkwardly smiled and brushed it off.

“…It’s nothing.”

There are two ways to annoy people: one is to stop talking mid-sentence. But even in such an irritating situation, the loyal Gerald didn’t scold Eddie for stopping mid-sentence. What a loyal employee.

…Still, it was strange no matter how he thought about it.

What Eddie had been about to ask Gerald was, “But Gerald, how do you use magic?” He stopped himself, worried it might seem suspicious.

In the world of “The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Well,” mages were extremely rare.

Affinity for mana was something one had to be born with, and even if someone had that ability, magic was usually the domain of nobles, so commoners rarely had the opportunity to learn it.

Even Boram, the mage in the hero’s party, was born with talent but came from a great noble family.

Yet Gerald, a mere employee at the insignificant Eddie’s Inn, could use magic?

He didn’t know the extent of Gerald’s abilities, but in a world where being able to use magic made one a highly valuable asset, it was remarkable that Gerald, a lower-class worker at an inn, could use magic.

“Hmm.”

Well, it’s something he could figure out slowly. Rushing would only cause problems, especially for someone like him who had reincarnated with nothing.

Eddie decided to check out the basement Gerald mentioned. Staring at the menu wouldn’t suddenly give him any ideas, so he might as well take a break.

Usually, the basement of such a building would be used as a storage room or a wine cellar, but Eddie had long given up any expectations for this wretched inn, so he didn’t expect a fancy wine cellar or a storage room filled with impressive items.

He just hoped the locked door would open, and with that modest hope, he headed to the basement.

And when Eddie went down to the basement, he found, contrary to Gerald’s claim that the door wouldn’t open, an entrance with no door at all, wide open.

It was illuminated by an incredibly bright light he had never seen since reincarnating into this world.

“…Huh?”

Lighting in this world was usually candles or magical lamps. Even expensive magical lamps didn’t emit such intense light, so something was off.

The light was so strong that the usually dark basement stairs were quite bright from the indirect lighting.

After hesitating for a moment, Eddie slowly began to descend into the basement. As he went down the creaky old stairs, he was met with a sight he could never have imagined.

“…”

What is this?

Eddie rubbed his eyes. But even then, the scene before him didn’t disappear.

Bright, intense lighting that didn’t fit this world. Although there was no music playing, the quiet interior was filled with the soft hum of refrigerators and freezers, and the shelves were packed with goods, leaving no empty space.

This was a space all too familiar to Eddie.

Specifically, to Lee Junghoon, the convenience store owner.

“…Why is my convenience store here?”

Just like that.

The small, tidy convenience store that Eddie had worked so hard to maintain in his previous life was sitting right there in the basement of Eddie’s Inn.