I Ate My Way into Being Myself

My brother gave his life to save me. His last words were just one sentence:

“Stay alive, and eat your way through the whole world for me.”

Seven years later, I became a food blogger, but I couldn't taste a thing.

An earthquake sent me tumbling into a deadly food maze.

The rules: one dish on every floor. Don't eat it, and you die.

I awakened a special ability, [Taste]:

Once I eat something, I can see the lives and memories behind the food.

Blood in the rubble, cries during a fire, the things people cling to at the end of their lives...

Every bite contains someone else's whole life.

The maze is ruled by a mysterious head chef, who has lived here alone for seven years.

Legend has it he ate all his memories and emotions.

On the seventh floor, he served me a bowl of the egg fried rice I loved most as a child.

He said, “I've been waiting for you for seven years.”

He had forgotten who I was.

But when I swallowed a mouthful, I tasted his tears.

It turned out this maze, this bowl of rice,

was made by my brother, who spent seven years eating himself away completely.