Chapter 2: The Thunderbird’s Offer

A palm-sized card spun slowly in the air, demanding attention with its glow.

“Still not ready? I’m waiting here!”

The talking bird, now settled on a stool by the bar, jabbed a wing at the cup, urging me with frantic energy.

Left with no choice, I slid the cup across to the bird.

“Ohhh… this fragrance is beyond words!”

I’d wondered how it could grip a cup without hands, but it managed just fine, using both wings to hold and drink.
The sight of it plunging its beak into the steaming tea, sipping eagerly, was so bizarre I couldn’t look away.
When else would I see a bird sipping tea from a cup?

“Mmm… this scent fills my entire being. It’s like my exhaustion just vanishes!”

Flash.

A burst of light erupted from the spinning card, and soon after, its text shifted.

[Registerable menu: Silverwing Herb Tea (HOT)]
[…]
[Effect: Fatigue Recovery]
[Rating: (+1)]
[Thunderbird – Nearly retreated to its egg in rapture ★★★★★]
[Preferred customer type: Nature-based, Avian]

I hesitated, then reached out for the card.

It glided into my hand as if it had been waiting.

Thunderbird?

I glanced between the card and the bird, its beak still buried in the cup at the bar.

Is that thing the Thunderbird?

“Ha… it’s been ages since I tasted a tea this fine. Sorry for the commotion. My mind was consumed with drinking it—I lost all sense. Could you tell me the name of this tea?”

I peeked at the card and answered.

“Uh… it’s Silverwing Herb Tea.”

“Oh! So this is the legendary Silverwing Herb, brewed into tea? I thought it was extinct across dimensions, lost forever, but it’s thriving here! What a privilege.”

“Extinct across dimensions…?”

“I’m not sure if I even have enough to pay for this. Name your price. What do you want?”

I was baffled that my little pretend-play tea was getting such grand treatment.

It’s talking about payment?

“What… could I even take?”

“Hmm, you drive a hard bargain. Testing my ability to pay, eh? Don’t worry! I’m leagues above those petty gods managing minor dimensions!”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Did it just call itself a god?

“I’m seriously asking.”

At my insistence, the Thunderbird clamped its beak shut. It eyed me up and down with suspicion.

“Now that I think about it…”

As if noticing for the first time, it slowly surveyed the shop.

“Are you… a ‘newborn’?”

“Even if you ask that… I just woke up here one day. I know nothing.”

My words seemed to jolt it—its head feathers shot upright.

“Nothing at all? You didn’t wish with all your heart to come here? Who was the god that brought you? They didn’t explain anything?”

“Honestly… I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I never wished to be here, and I’ve never met any ‘god.’”

The Thunderbird flapped its wings in a frenzy at my response.

“If… if that’s true, this is a crisis! But you served me tea so expertly!”

“That’s just because I’ve been trapped here so long, bored out of my mind… You barged in and demanded it, so I handed it over.”

“Good heavens! This is unheard of! It shouldn’t happen!”

Hearing the bird validate my plight filled me with unexpected relief.

‘Yeah, exactly. This shouldn’t be happening.’

Maybe I’d been waiting for someone to acknowledge it.

To confirm how unnatural my situation is.
To tell me it’s normal to feel this strangeness.
That I’m normal.

“Let’s figure this out. Why are you here?”

The bird stroked its beak with a wing, lost in thought.

I didn’t want to interrupt, but I was burning with questions.

“Uh… can you tell me where this place is? You seem to move through here freely, but I can’t escape. Could you maybe send me back to where I came from?”

The bird gave me a quick once-over and shook its head.

“That’s impossible. You don’t belong to my dimension. Only the god of your dimension can send you back.”

“A god…”

There it goes again with “dimension” and “god.”

What god? The one managing my dimension? Like some “God” or “Buddha”?

“I don’t follow any religion.”

“Ho-ho-ho.”

A clear, chirping laugh echoed, like a bird’s song.

“Doesn’t matter if you believe or not. Dimension-managing gods exist regardless. Just like you manage this little shop.”

“…”

“Here’s my theory: you’re likely a soul your dimension’s god ‘misplaced.’ You’re a lost wanderer.”

“I’m lost?”

“Did you make a desperate wish before ending up here?”

“A wish…”

“That wish probably included a specific time and place.”

“Time and place…”

“If only I could go back to that day, that moment…”

“I-woon, I need to talk to you about something.”

Is this happening because of that wish?

“You’ve got something in mind, don’t you?”

The bird nudged me with a knowing tone.

“Maybe… but the wish I made has no connection to this place. I don’t even know where this is.”

“Exactly. That’s why you’re lost.”

Thump. The bird tapped the bar lightly with its wing and went on.

“I hate to say it about my own kind, but gods can be fickle. Maybe your dimension’s god overheard your wish and tried to grant it, intending to take you to that time and place. But!”

“But?”

“They lost you. Or got it wrong. That’s why you’re here.”

If I’d just arrived, I’d have called this nonsense—or bird chatter. But I’d long grown accustomed to the bizarre.

“So how do I find my dimension’s god to get back? Can you track them down? You mentioned paying for the tea—maybe that could be the payment…”

“That’s… also impossible. I don’t know your dimension. How could I pinpoint your god?”

“…”

“There are countless gods, from minor to supreme. Many I don’t even know. Finding one specific god among them is nearly impossible.”

The bird compared it to finding a nameless stranger in a crowded city.

“Oh…”

The despair I’d fought to keep at bay started creeping back.
I’d been clinging to the hope that I’d get home someday.

But now, it felt like there wasn’t even a grain of hope to hold onto.

“Now, now, don’t give up yet.”

A large wing loomed over me, casting a shadow.

“Your god is probably scouring the dimensions for you right now. Losing a resident is a massive blunder. Gods are fiercely attached to their dimension’s souls. They’re likely in tears searching for you.”

It meant to comfort me, but it didn’t help.

“But… if they’re searching so hard, shouldn’t they have found me by now? I’ve been stranded here for ages.”

“Well, places like this, floating in the gaps, aren’t exactly rare. It might take time.”

“Places like this?”

“I stumbled on this place by pure chance. Lucky for me, ho-ho.”

“Chance?”

“There are thousands—tens of thousands—more places like this than hairs on your head. Some have never been visited by a god since their creation.”

The more the bird talked, the further my heart sank.

“But look, I found this place, didn’t I? You summoned me.”

The bird gently lifted the teacup and held it before me.

“This is your key.”

“The Silverwing Herb Tea?”

“Not just the tea. Keep crafting drinks like this, and their enticing aromas will lure gods passing nearby.”

“Lure them here…”

“One of those gods might recognize your soul. If you’re lucky, your dimension’s god could show up. And then…”

“I could go home!”

“Precisely!”

The bird chirped brightly and clapped its wings together.

But my excitement faded as a core issue hit me.

“The only drink I can make… is Silverwing Herb Tea.”

I stared at the transparent card.

[Preferred customer type: Nature-based, Avian]

That line stood out.
Doesn’t that mean no matter how much Silverwing Herb Tea I brew, it’ll only attract avian gods like this Thunderbird? If my god isn’t a bird, it’s useless.

“Then you should take my payment!”

I was dead serious, but the bird brushed it off casually.

“Oh, my manners! I haven’t introduced myself. I’m the Thunderbird, administrator of the □□ Dimension.”

“Sorry, what? What dimension?”

“The □□ Dimension.”

“…”

It was speaking, but I couldn’t catch the name of its dimension.
It wasn’t like hearing a foreign language—it was as if my mind refused to process it.

“Uh… okay. I’m Gong I-woon. I don’t know my dimension’s name, sadly.”

“Gong I-woon!”

My name sounded like a clear birdsong when it said it.

“So, Gong I-woon, you’re pretty clueless about all this, aren’t you? I’ll offer you a fair payment. You won’t regret it!”

“Please, go ahead.”

Even if it tried to trick me, I wouldn’t know.
Honestly, the talk of gods and dimensions was already payment enough.

It wouldn’t offer money, right? Money’s useless here.

“Ho-ho-ho.”

The bird chirped brightly, eyeing the shop inside and out.

After a long pause, it finally proposed its payment.