Wyn pops out of a portal from a wall. Unfortunately for him, it opens at such great height that sends him face down. He takes a few minutes screaming his pain away before looking for Yu. He looks left to find a corner of the floor and other souls coming from the portals. He then turns right and there Yu is, a few meters away lying face down on the ground. Wyn quickly makes his way toward Yu.

“Are you still alive?”

“Argh! It’s so painful I can’t move. Give me a minute,” Yu mumbles as his face is still on the ground.

Patience doesn’t sit well with Wyn when he’s nervous or excited. He rolls Yu over, pokes him on his arm and belly a few times.

“Fineeee,” Yu gives in.

At this point, the wounds on Yu’s face are completely healed. Looking ahead, directly opposite to the wall, the two see a long black metal fence. It turns with the corner and continues to stretch straight, all from a single fence. The bars are thick and have spikes on the top end. In front of the fence, stand demon cats. These cats are spread out along the fence, two for every few kilometers. They look human-sized from afar. Behind the fence, there seems to be nothing but whiteness. Curious, Wyn and Yu walk toward the fence. They can see more clearly that these demons are human child-sized, yet what beyond the fence is still not visible. The cats are the same species and color as CATOTO, but their heads look proportionate to their respective bodies. Height is not the same between the two demons. The one on the right is a bit taller than the one on the left – though, both of them are thick alright. Another unusual sight is, the demons are wearing chef uniforms complete with chef hats. They’re armed with black metal spatulas longer than their height. The cats don’t talk even though Wyn and Yu are standing right before them. Other souls are starting to make their way to the same demons.

“Uhm…we are the black wristbands. How can we go in?” Wyn asks.

“Pfft. First of all, no demons here call them wristbands, just bands. Secon…” the right demon speaks in a teenage voice before getting interrupted by Yu.

“But CATOTO called these wristbands.” Yu contests.

“Secondly, to get in, just say so. Make it a command”

“Why would CATOTO call these wristbands?” Yu demands he gets an answer.

“CATOTO is good at his job with the introduction and all, but he is not very smart.” the right demon replies,”

“Then get us in. Me and him here.” Pointing at himself and then Wyn, Yu gives a command.

“Wait wait!” Wyn tries to stop Yu’s command with his.

The two demons walk up behind both Wyn and Yu, spatulas in their mouths, down on all fours, and signal them to get on their backs. The demons take one command at a time. If the first task is not complete, the later command is neglected. Wyn carefully hops on, while Yu excitedly jumps on his demon.

“ARGH. Be gentle,” the left demon complains, muffled and also with a teenage voice.

“Oops! Sorry,” says Yu.

The demons proceed to jump, so high that they make it to the other side of the fence before quickly jumping back to where they were.

“Wait! What if we want to get out?” Wyn asks from the other side of the fence.

“Demand us and we will get you out,” the left demon replies.

“Why are they all orange tabbies?” Wyn ponders to Yu, who’s distracted by something else.

“Turn around! Look!” Yu speaks, as he tries to pivot Wyn around.

“Woah,” Wyn exclaims.

Before their eyes is a massive white area full of souls and demons alike. There’s one remarkably enormous wooden table that curves its way throughout the room, much like a snake. Wooden bar stools are lined up on each side of the table. Even the table curves have seats on both sides. Above everything is a large ceiling that makes the room look significantly shorter than level zero. That said, the ceiling is still more than high enough to not be an issue to taller souls. Under the ceiling, there are what resemble circular light fixture holes. Each of the holes aligns perfectly to the seat underneath. The area is so large and busy that Wyn and Yu cannot fixate their eyes on one thing. There are noises of utensils hitting the plates all around. Demon cats of various breeds and sizes, though all chunky, walk around the aisles between the seats to keep things in check. As the men get closer to the table, the aroma of food starts to hit their noses. The mixture of scents from different dishes is making their stomachs growl.

“Where are you from?” Yu asks Wyn.

“Originally Tideland, now Hell," Wyn responds playfully, using this as a way to gauge Yu's reaction.

“Oh cool! The Tideland part, I mean. Never been there but heard a lot about the food. What dishes should I try?”

“Well, you can try ‘ka na moo krob’, it’s my favorite dish.”

“What’s that? I don’t think I will be able to remember the name.”

“Just try anything you find interesting.”

“You know where I’m from?”

“Yes. Based on your last name, you’re from the hentai haven.”

“YES!” Yu answers with a big smile, “So, what is your favorite Japp ‘pan’?”

“Er, if it’s ‘pan’ as in dish, then sashimi!”

They proceed to find a side of the table with two empty seats next to each other. Wyn plans to sit down and observe other souls for instructions, but as he and Yu sit down, the holes on the ceiling open. A strange contraption descends slowly from each hole. Startled, Wyn quickly peruses to see what others are doing, while Yu is captivated by the device. Before Wyn can take note form his surroundings, the device awkwardly snaps on his forehead. He has to turn his head straight for the device to be in place. The grip tightens and Wyn momentarily blacks out. The next thing he sees is a screen, as big as a thirty two inch television. Quickly it comes to Wyn that this place is a virtual reality where souls can place orders. The room is white and the screen has a black background. There’s nothing else here but him sitting on a white stool at a white one-person table. The screen shows the cuisine selection menu by country. At the top, there’s a search box. Wyn touches the box and voice commands the system. Just as when he was alive, he would try out the simplest dish to determine the quality of a restaurant.

“Pad kra prao with omelet.”

After placing one order, he realizes he can order more. In the basket, he has four dishes in total – ‘pad kra prao’, ‘ka na moo krob’, ‘som tam’ with sticky rice, grilled pork neck. Normally, the first two don’t go well with the last two, but Wyn doesn’t care as he’s hungry. He chooses a spoon and a fork for utensils. He then confirms his order and suddenly, he blacks out again. When he comes to, he sees the dishes and utensils are already in front of him. He also notices a metal strap across his thighs that wasn’t there before. It appears he can’t escape until he’s done with his meal. He turns to Yu, but the device is still on his head. Wyn takes this opportunity to observe the device despite his growing hunger. The device on Yu’s forehead is egg-shaped with a set of wires with plastic suctions on the tips. These suctions attach to Yu’s head, front and back, from within the device and outside. The furthest they go is slightly above Yu’s eyebrows. He notices the same metal strap on Yu’s thighs as well.

Since Yu seems to be taking his sweet time, Wyn starts to munch down on ‘pad ka prao’. He looks around as he’s eating. He can see souls either enjoying their meals or wearing the devices. He turns to notice an obese soul with a device on her head. It seems these devices can resize to achieve the best fit. He then glances over to a lean soul but with a big belly getting out of his seat. The soul talks briefly to a demon before they both take off somewhere. Despite not being visibly evident, demon cats’ legs are immensely strong. Wyn gulps at the sheer strength of the demons as he’s fearful for Yu’s safety. He now turns his attention back to Yu whose device is lifting up. On the table in front of Yu, a portal appears. One dish, one drink, a spoon and chopsticks come out of the portal. The portal looks exactly like the portals he has seen before but smaller.

Yu regains consciousness and then asks in confusion, “What just happened?”

“What took you so long?”

“I freaked out, like screaming-in-there freak out. I also had trouble navigating the system.”

“You’re a new gen. You should be more acclimated to technology than me.”

In front of Yu is a Tide dish called ‘laab dib’, which is literally raw spicy minced pork salad. The dish is usually is taken with sticky rice, which Yu didn’t order. The drink he has is coconut juice, which also doesn’t go well with the dish. But what triggers Wyn most is the chopsticks.

“You know we don’t use chopsticks.”

“Oh? You should've told me that before!”

“But you…,” Wyn pauses before realizing that this is indeed his fault, “Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Why did you order the dish?” Wyn asks curiously.

“It looks like sashimi,” Yu replies, as Wyn hits his face with his palm.

As predicted, Yu finds the dish unbearable. The spices, the taste, it’s all too much for him. Wyn feels sorry for Yu as he himself would never dare to try the dish himself in any realm. However, what both of them missed the first time was the small button below the last picture of any selected dish that would pop up a thorough written description of the dish on press – something they will never pick up on. Yu tries to call down the device to change the dish for something else, but it doesn’t descend until a chubby male soul sitting next to Yu speaks up.

“You have to finish all the plates you ordered. Only then you can place new orders through the eggheads,” a nearby male gray-banded soul whose belly is getting big explains.

“Could you tell us more about how all of this works, like the thigh strap, demon riding, and so on?”

The soul takes a deep breath before continuing to explain with a big smile. Once the plates are empty, the device comes back down. The strap retracts and this is the only chance to leave the table. While a soul is ordering more food within the device, a portal sucks all the empty plates away. In the order room, the soul must order at least one item before checking out. As for riding a demon, this is the only transportation mode on the first level. To get to another region or section of the level, give a command to a demon, stating clearly the region of destination.

“If you can’t remember all this, you can always ask for more info from the demons around here. Be sure to be specific though,” explains the same soul. “Oh! Under the table, if you touch it, you can feel that it curves right underneath your belly. That curve gives you an idea of how big your belly’s getting. If it touches the curve then you’d better stop eating. Fight your hunger and deflate or else you’ll go kaboom!”

“Don’t be greedy. The more you eat without stopping in between, the worse your hunger is too! You can take your time. There’s no time limit.”

Wyn and Yu thank the man with great gratitude for this information is crucial for their survival on this level. Right away, they slow down their consumption. They turn to each other to discuss how to approach the level.

“So, how long are we going to be in this region for?” Wyn asks.

“Hmm. How about trying out all the dishes we dreamed of back then?”

“Let’s go with that. Also, I want to see what Gluttony looks like,”

“Oh yeah. Let’s make sure we get to see him before we leave the level.”

The two say aloud what other dishes they have in mind. As they consume more to satisfy their hunger, their bellies are beginning to bloat. Wyn is now on his eleventh dish, while Yu is working hard on his thirteenth. After Wyn finishes his last plate, he gets off the stool with some difficulties. Yu finishes a bit later. He gets up from the seat but falls rolling on the ground. A black bombay is able to stop Yu with a single foot. As Yu stands back up, he and Wyn look at each other’s belly. They want to wait until their stomachs shrink but their hunger is calling out for more. Then Wyn comes up with a theory.

“What if we go outside the fence?” Wyn suggests.

“What do we gain from that?” Yu questions Wyn.

“I’m not really sure but remember how we couldn’t see what’s in here from the outside? Maybe, the condition applies within the fence only.”

“How do we get there? We can’t run right now.”

Wyn winks once then walks to the closest two demons around. With a command, Wyn takes off on a siamese, followed by Yu who is on a sphynx.

“Eww,” Yu complains.

In a few minutes, they’re already at the fence where the same two demons stand. Wyn gives a command, telling them to get him and Yu out of the area. Without hesitation, the cats comply. The moment they’re in the air, both Wyn and Yu’s bellies shrink by the second. Just when they land, the big bloated bellies disappear completely.

“Let me lick your brain!” Yu says, delightfully.

“So,...we can cheat the system, it seems.” Wyn concludes, using his arm to stop Yu from advancing closer to him.

“How is this allowed?” Wyn tries to ask the demons.

As an honest person, he finds the exploitation to be distasteful. The demons don’t utter a single word, only shrug off Wyn’s question.

“Why are you upset? It’s a good thing! We can keep doing this,” Yu speaks.

“I know, but I don’t want to get into any trouble. Do we get any trouble for doing this?” Wyn asks the demons again.

“No. As far as we know. You are not the first to do it,” the left demon replies.

The answer puts Wyn’s mind at ease.

“Why are you sniffing yourself?” Yu asks.

“I don’t smell food on my clothes. Good!”

Both now look forward to traveling to a new region. They discuss where to go as they walk toward the wall. There, they choose the North Americaneo section of the level. Two portals appear, but before they enter.

“What if I enter your portal?” Yu asks.

“Valid question. Wanna try?” Wyn responds.

Yu walks over to Wyn’s portal and steps in with his foot. A loud ‘BEEP’ goes off from Yu’s band. The souls nearby are looking at them. The two cover their ears with their hands. The very same two demons approach them at lightning speed. The left one pulls Yu off Wyn’s portal, again, not uttering a single word. The ‘BEEP’ stops.

Just as they’re ready to leave, Wyn asks, “What happened?”

“You cannot enter someone else’s portal,” the right demon answers then takes off along with the left one.

“And what if someone else is completely inside my portal, what would happen?” Wyn yells out his question.

“The demons on the other level will send them back here,” the right demon pauses, answers Wyn’s question, then proceeds to catch up to the left demon.

Wyn and Yu continue their food-venture on the first level with the Americaneo region.