She froze for a brief second the moment her teeth broke through the crust, her calm and expectant expression began to take a huge turn.
Her eyes widened as the crisp shell gave way with a clean sound before releasing a rush of heat and juice.
The garlic and pepper bloomed instantly on her tongue, not sharp or overpowering, but warm and rounded, as if the flavor had been waiting for that single bite to be released.
Without any control she chewed slowly without realizing it, her brows knitting in confusion as the savoriness lingered instead of fading, each bite somehow tasting as good as the first.
The people watching her, including those inside the jeep which is like a minibus, were confused and curious about whether the taste was really that good.
What drew their attention was not the seller itself since he looked shabby, nor the fried chicken itself.
It was only the girl, since she was very pretty. One could even say she would rank among the prettiest girls in her school.
Seeing such a girl take a bite with that expression while standing in front of a strange looking man made them doubt what they were seeing.
"Hey, is this some new kind of promotion method?" a guy asked the friend right beside him.
"Beats me," his friend replied with a shrug.
"Looking at the way he's dressed, he doesn't look like he could even afford a decent set of clothes, much less hire a beautiful girl for promotion."
"I know right? Should we try a bite too? The smell has already reached us, and it doesn't seem bad," he suggested, nodding at the end.
"I'll just buy one. I'm not really fond of oily food, especially fried chicken, but I'm curious about the taste," his friend replied as the two of them walked over.
Back to the girl and by the time she swallowed, her hand was already reaching for another piece.
The surprise was still written all over her face, because it did not taste like the street food she sometimes ate.
If she had to describe it, the taste was worlds apart from every fried chicken she had ever eaten. When the two men arrived, they each ordered one piece.
"Fifteen pesos each," he said.
"Oh, that's cheap,"
The two said at the same time as they handed over the money, and he gave each of them a piece.
After taking a bite, it was clearly not an act. Even their expressions changed as they devoured the food, chewing them like wild animals.
"I want another one," one of the guys said as he held out his money.
"Me too, but I want three instead of one," the other followed.
His friend looked at him deeply as he tried to understand if he heard it right, "I thought you weren't very fond of oily food?" he asked, confused.
"Oh? Really? I must have forgotten," he laughed, not caring at all that he had contradicted himself.
"Sure," John said with a smile as he took their payment and handed them their orders.
Seeing this, the crowd could no longer contain their curiosity. The seller looked too shabby for it to be real, yet what they were witnessing could not be ignored.
One by one, people began to place orders. As soon as they tasted it, they realized it was not just good, it was truly amazing.
The flavor was rich and overwhelming even though they had eaten fried chicken in many places before, they could confidently say that the taste of this fried chicken surpassed every other fried chicken they had ever tried.
"I want one."
"I'll take two."
"Hey, kid, can you give me three? I'll pay an extra thirty pesos."
...
More and more people began to swarm around him. In response, he crossed his arms and smiled wryly.
"I'm sorry, I think that's all for now. How about coming back tonight to buy more?" he said with a smile, knowing he could earn again later.
Hearing this, the crowd was disappointed. Those who had already tasted the chicken wanted more, while those who had not even managed to get a bite, yet had smelled it, were the most frustrated of all.
"Ahh, I'm too late," an elderly man said with a deep sigh.
"Damn, that chicken tastes better than KFC."
"Not just KFC it's better than everything. Even my mom's homemade cooking can't compare to this."
"Hey kid, if you plan to come back and sell again, can we pre order?" a driver asked.
Hearing the man's concern John just smiled in reply, "Yes, I think that's possible."
"That's great," the driver said as he took out his phone and looked at him.
"Ah, yes?" John replied.
"Aren't you going to show me your page?" the man that looked like a driver asked, since that was usually how things worked.
"Oh, I don't have a page just text me, my number will be enough," John replied.
"Alright, what's your number?"
"It's 09xxxxxxx."
After saving the number the driver sent his order. John's phone dinged and when he saw the message, he was shocked.
"Twenty pieces of fried chicken? Uncle, can you really finish all of that?" he asked in disbelief.
"Of course not I'm not the only one eating," the man said with a laugh.
"Not only are you selling it at a very low price, but the taste is also excellent. It's definitely worth buying more than twenty pieces."
Seeing this, the others who had not ordered yet as well as those who would be heading home late at night, wanted to do the same.
After getting his number, each of them began listing their orders.
After that, he said his goodbyes and walked back toward his home. What surprised him was that as soon as he looked at his phone, the messages began to pour in.
Reading through them, he realized he had received over eighty pre ordered fried chicken orders.
"Dang, I really struck it rich in my second life. Dying was actually worth it," he said filled with happiness.
His first life had been like hell, nothing but work after work, buried in debt just to pay rent and to feed himself.
Believing that the system might have been caused by the drugs the original owner of the body had consumed, he felt strangely happy about it.
"I should buy one kilogram of marijuana to keep the system active," he said with a smile.
[Host, I am not activated or related to drugs at all, so please do not bother consuming any. It is very bad for your health] - the system explained, accompanied by a warning.
"Oh, really? How could I not think of that," he said with a laugh.
Since no hallucination could bring something into reality, he stopped worrying about the system's origin.
As long as it allowed him to do what he wanted, it was not really a problem. After arriving outside the apartment, he saw Claire talking with a guy.
When she noticed him she glared at him while snorting softly, she just turned away completely ignoring him.
John did not care about this as he walked up the stairs and headed to his room.
After reaching his doorstep he counted his earnings and before anything else he claimed his reward.
Reward: ???