Meat Mountain

Meat. Meat. Meat.

In front of us, thick steaks were piled into a mountain on the table.

"Wow, in VR this is quite a sight… Gulp."

"The overpowering smell of meat fat and sauce… I'm drooling yo. What's happening to our real bodies yo? We might be getting drenched yo."

"Details don't matter! Let's eat!!"

I knew the proper manners involved cutting it, but I skipped even using a knife, stabbing a whole steak with my fork and biting into it.

Juicy!

Along with the tenderness, the meat juices mingled with sauce and spread through my mouth. The rich, fragrant smell of onions and the taste of meat filled me completely. Salty. A bit sweet. A tiny bit spicy. And the slippery texture of fat, the sticky richness. My tongue was overwhelmed by a complexity that synthetic meat never had.

"… Deli… cious… gulp, chomp…"

"Nom… bite… yo!"

Just chewing without being able to bite through was happiness in itself!?

Wait, it's tender but I can't bite through! Sinews? So this is what sinews are!! Formed meat doesn't bother making these!! This is the real deal, high-quality natural meat!!

"Pah, no good! I can't bite through! Hey, you have to cut this smaller with a knife! It's just too tough to eat!"

"Ngho! Ngho! … RRRIP!! Munch munch! Gulp! Can't do something that wasteful yo!! I'm eating this whole yo! I will yo!"

"Whoa, you bit through it. How'd you do that?"

"Grind your teeth sideways and pull yo. Tria can definitely do it yo!"

Alto was wildly tugging at the bitten meat with her neck and fork.

I looked at the meat I'd let go of. There was indeed a small hole from my bite marks. A small hole. But a hole — meaning theoretically, if I made enough of these, it would tear.

… Can I do it…? No, I will!!

"Chomp!! … Nnngh, mm, mm, mm!"

Rip, rip — my teeth gradually tore through the sinews. After several bites and tugs, past a certain point — RRRIP! The meat tore and fit into my mouth.

"…!!! Gulp, munch! Swallow… Ohhh, my throat, my throat, I just swallowed meat! This feeling of it slightly catching on the way down, wow, amazing, meat! I just ate meat! I just ate meat!! This sense of victory is insaaane!!"

I'd never eaten anything like this in my life. I could feel dopamine flooding my brain.

"Heh, Tria-chan's eyes are sparkling yo. Yes, that's meat! This is what meat is yo!!"

"Don't act like a senior just because you swallowed first!"

"Too bad yo! I've actually eaten natural meat before yo! About a quarter as thick as this, basically cardboard-thin, but still yo!"

"Seriously? You were a senior all along? Meat senpai!"

It was chashu in ramen, apparently.

Using natural meat for that — how luxurious.

"Ahhh, my jaw is getting tired. By the way, what kind of meat is this?"

"Who knows yo? I just asked for meat, lots of meat piled high, and this came out yo."

"Faster to ask. Excuse meee. What kind of meat is this?"

When I asked the waitress NPC, apparently it was Lizardman meat.

There'd been a large shipment just earlier.

"… They were this delicious yo. Definitely hunting more yo."

"Agreed. Let's hunt a lot. Oh, did you know? Penpen can cook too."

"Seriously yo. Definitely getting her to make things yo."

"… Hey, there's a chance other monsters are tasty too, right? In stories like this, Orc is usually delicious. I hunted orcs the other day so they definitely exist!"

"! True yo!! Next is Orc yo!!"

I reached for the second piece. Felt like I could eat infinitely.

"Hey, I finished with the equipment! … Oh, are you two still eating?"

"O-oh… Penpen. Well, you see, my stomach is, full…"

"Yo… I-I can still eat yo… I'll eat yo…"

Just felt like it.

My stomach was stuffed like I'd taken a satiation supplement, and my body was rejecting more meat. Such delicious meat, but my mouth, my throat, refused. The meat got cold…

I'd devoured about 3 pieces, savored the 4th, cut the 5th smaller with a knife, and started just poking at the 6th. Now here we were.

… Felt like meat might come back up my throat.

Uh, how many left? 9 pieces? Seriously? And Alto still has 7?

"Hm, are you two frozen? Your hands stopped."

"Guh! I've been provoked yo! Uoooooh!! I can still do this yo! Compared to swarms of monster parents, this is nothing yo! Guts!!"

"Ah, Penpen, want to eat my share?"

"Is that okay? Then I'll take it."

Penpen sat down. She elegantly wrapped a white napkin around her neck, readied knife and fork, and licked her lips.

Stab, chomp! Stab, chomp! Stab, chomp!!

She stabbed one piece each with knife and fork, stuffed them in her mouth in big bites, and swallowed. Wow, amazing. The meat was rapidly disappearing.

"Thanks for the meal! … I'm full now!"

"Ohhh. Thanks Penpen. I mean, I still wanted to eat more, but my body just refused…"

"!? I'm so sorry, Spirit-sama! Tria is so inadequate!"

"Oh, it's not Tria's fault. I just ordered without thinking ahead…"

Also, the voice directly in my head. So this is how it feels.

"… Uuuu."

"Maybe you should give up now, Alto?"

"Bwehhh… I wanna eat the meaaat…"

She cried. Face-down crying. A manly cry.

"I get it, but don't cry. Just because you couldn't finish the meat…"

"But… but yo…!!"

"Oh, you can put leftovers in storage."

"" !? ""

That was an option!!!!!!

Alto immediately stored the half-eaten meat. Hey, return the plate properly. Also, your face is all greasy, wipe it… Oh, me too. Wipe wipe.

…

Yeah, I know it's late to ask, but what the hell is happening? I'm actually full… This is way beyond taste replication.