Biggu Wakako-Zake Omuni-Sekai
Omniworld
chapter 2
by
Questathana
It has been 26 years since Wakako Murasaki arrived in this world; her daily routine as a salarywoman has started to end for today, and it has become her norm. All while her work time was ending, music was played in her head, being the song “The Path Home from Happiness” (Shiawase no Kaerimichi as the original Japanese transliteration), and she soon headed out of her office area. Her stomach soon rumbled, as if on cue, for a tasty treat to devour, preferably with a nice alcoholic beverage to accompany the food, at some sort of eatery. She briefly took out her phone on the sidewalk to check any interesting places to eat at that she has either not visited at all or has rarely been to. Eventually, she found a location with a menu that made her lick her lips in desire.
Wakako arrived at her destination soon after, as her big, yellow eyes looked down once more on the menu, this time in person, to make her final decisions on her meal tonight. She then showed a bright red blush on her face with a similarly huge, goofy grin that almost completely hid her nose, as if she belonged in some sort of cartoon. One or two stray brownish blond hairs of hers caught her attention for a moment as she brushed them away before proceeding. There was still a bit of uncertainty about her order, as she did not want to order and eat too much, wasting a lot of hard-earned money she needed, or acquiring any more noticeable weight, according to others. Finally, she would speak to the waitress and order “One already fried, planet kebab with a regular glass of beer on the side, please~.”
Living in Omniworld (or Omnui-Seakai, as the Japanese transliteration) meant that the population lived in the biggest world containing life, which has every other planet as often inhabited, seemingly randomly spawning small spheres that come in all kinds of shapes and are usually edible, too. Since they are small, tasty, and usually contain life, most consider them a form of meat. As technology evolved over the years, there have been ways to detect where these tiny planets spawn, the most delicious ways to prepare them for consumption, and even ways to observe or interact with the inhabitants. People of Omniworld found that planets are tastiest and often make devourers feel powerful in a way, if those spheres are still inhabited when consumed. Having them raw lacks variety in taste and may not always be the most delicious, so a solution would be careful preparation or having a different form of sphere than the traditional sort.
Having a planet already fried means it tastes like being fried by a chef, but since it was found that way, it is both rarer than usual and still has living beings covering it. This meant the meal would be a bit more expensive for Wakako than usual since she ordered it that way, so she made a mental note to save it for special nights like today. She also wanted it to be a kebab because, although the minuscule inhabitants would no doubt be harmed by the stabbing of an impossibly immense stick to them, this office lady could eat her meal in an easy and civilized way that involves minimal interaction with her oily fingers touching the planets still filled with a lot of life on them. Lastly, she ordered a plain beer with her meal to have a delicious, alcoholic beverage that helps the food go down and pairs well with it in a seemingly perfect way that blends the flavor of the meat with a non-meat in the intended way.
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Meanwhile, a salaryman named Ren Minato had an almost identical role to Wakako Murasaki, who had been heading to a restaurant by himself as well. However, there were two big differences between the two: their genders and their sizes. This man always thought of himself as so short that he must have been born at the wrong size, but had no idea just how true that would be, leading to a downfall not just for him but to his entire planet as well. Ren was actually on a planet that came into being in Wakako’s world, meaning his size was practically microscopic there. That was not quite the whole truth, as he and the rest of his people lived their entire lives for the most part. While that planet was being transported into Omniworld in some kind of in-between space, which in itself takes billions of years, but can seem instantaneous for both them and the bigger people surrounding them.
His planet was being transported over several billion years in a particularly unusual way that gave that livable sphere a great deal of heat over time. The majority of species on this planet had enough time to evolve to adapt to this hot weather that seemingly fried their whole planet. One such species was a version of humanity almost identical to Wakako, except for the sheer size difference between the two. Ren, like most of his planet’s population, thought a seemingly lone fried planet filled with life was not unusual because that was the reality they were all used to. Well, it was not until one fateful day that Mr. Minato headed to that restaurant, and the surroundings of their world changed drastically, as evidenced by the view of the sky above that entire human race.
Everything seemed a blur of shapes and colors for the most part, as the universe around the life on that planet became impossibly massive. That entire world seemed to be in a panic as the news, scientists, and even conspiracy theories went wild with numerous ideas that seemed ridiculous to practically everyone. No one knew who to follow, and especially not Ren Minato, who was practically glued to his phone, looking at different variations of information as the constantly changing sky above him seemed too much of an eye-straining distraction to focus on. However, that all changed after a relatively small amount of time passed, as it seemed that one shape in the sky stood more impactful than the rest, a pillar of immense size that went through the core of the entire planet, leaving a worldwide catastrophe in its wake.
The death toll quickly went from several million casualties to billions of deaths as observed around the globe. Ren was lucky enough to survive it all so far, but unlucky enough to live on a planet that was being fractured in real time. Many hundreds of millions were instantly crushed into mush by the unnatural pillar, entirely made of wood, which went straight down from one side of the world to the other. It somehow kept the entire sphere they lived on in place, with cracks in the ground in various parts, leading to great tsunamis originating from the ocean and lava leaking onto inhabited landmasses. That caused several casualties as other related methods followed, sort of like a domino effect. A large area of the planet seemed unaffected by the displacement of the entire world, as if it were being preserved by a relatively weak worldwide force field that remained standing, only being stabbed by an impossible toothpick of sorts.
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Wakako waited for what seemed like a long time for a relatively simple meal, as if time slowed down slightly because of her hunger. This lady held the planet kebab by the small toothpick attached to it, delicately keeping the tiny spheres intact and somewhat connected. Then she took her first bite, making sure to crunch hard enough to break through the weak force field but not to eliminate the whole protection. She barely spoke out loud this evening, but she was still speaking a lot in her head. Thoughts like “Mmmm, I can taste a little popping sensation on my tongue, as it must be some of the itty bitty civilizations of micros~.”
That office lady would bring that bit of the planet around her entire maw, making sure to get a good taste of it. Plus, it was hard for her to keep it in just one position of her mouth, as it kept her tongue and mental state distracted enough by this constant movement. She did not pay any extras for screens to see the tiny inhabitants and their surroundings, so she was unaware that much more was popping across her entire mouth than just those cities, including landmasses, bodies of water, and even lava itself. That was not much of a concern for her as she just wanted a tasty meal that was not too unhealthy, and that was matched. Next she thought “It certainly feels like a nice interesting texture, with the blending of the planet on my cheek, but boy oh boy it’s getting a bit hot with all that lava, must take a sip too…”
Wakako took a sip of her beer, with the remains of the planet still spread a bit throughout her open maw, and it all seemed to go together perfectly as intended. She briefly let out a pleased noise that sounds a lot like “Ahhhh~,” but it could have been “Pshū~” as a Japanese transliteration, because I suppose it depends on who you ask heard her make it, but most of who heard it would soon be digested. She continued to take bites of her fried planet kebab and drink from the same glasses of beer over and over again, only taking a few pauses to slowly but surely enjoy the mix of flavors together. Eventually, she finished her meal, and the worries of her somewhat annoying colleagues, nagging boss, and other concerns briefly left her mind. She was truly happy now, and while one could use their imagination enough to realize Ren Minato likely suffered an unfortunate fate, that was none of Wakako Murasaki’s concern.
The End for now, but what next?~