Chapter 52: Can I Eat It Now?

"It's okay! If you eat something delicious, the bad dreams will fly away too. Let's eat rice cakes!"

He was the type to call for rice cakes whenever he was in a good mood, whenever he had a scary dream, or simply because he was bored.

...Though it was only ever rice cakes he wanted to eat.

Anyway, today he planned to show them a new flavor.

"Boss, why is this red bean called 'pat' and not a bean?"

Go Nam-tae’s brain stalled at such a profound question.

Isn't a bean a bean, and a red bean a red bean?

Fortunately, Toto took over the answering.

[Red beans were originally called red beans.]

[It is just that the names are separated because their colors and uses are different.]

"The uses are different? But Boss said he makes rice cakes with this red bean too! He made rice cakes with beans too!"

[That is...]

Danhong’s infinite questioning left even Toto speechless.

In the meantime, Go Nam-tae quietly slipped away.

It was only within the yard, anyway.

Danhong, who had chased after him, watched Go Nam-tae take out the red beans and chirped.

"Boss, why are you only taking out half of the red beans?"

"Why do you think?"

"Ah! You're going to make two kinds of rice cakes!"

The clever Danhong clapped her hands and flew around in the sky.

One of them was indeed a rice cake, but...

Go Nam-tae smiled instead of answering.

Even if it wasn't a rice cake, it would be the best food to captivate that picky eater's palate.

Danhong began to fuss, holding a mallet.

"I’m going to pound the rice cakes! You guys get ready to pound the rice cakes, too!"

They say you shouldn't even drink cold water carelessly in front of the kids.

Go Nam-tae, who looked like he would be hearing that phrase for a long time after making one joke, quickly changed the subject.

"No, this time I’m just going to steam them. The mallet is for next time."

"Hehe, I like injeolmi!"

'Don't you like all rice cakes?'

It was a relief that there were so many varieties of rice cakes.

Go Nam-tae suddenly thought of basic rice cakes made with a mallet.

It was the first thing that came to mind when thinking of rice cakes.

However, he pushed it back for the sake of new pleasures.

The variations he could make with red beans alone were endless.

For the kid who sang songs about rice cake, Go Nam-tae first made red bean paste.

It was almost finished once he lightly crushed the beans that crumbled at the slightest touch.

Rice flour was always available, just like tofu.

"Boss, what is the name of this rice cake?"

"This is red bean sirutteok."

"Ah! Then the one we ate last time was bean sirutteok?"

"That’s right, isn't it?"

"Then is this called red bean paste? Are you putting this on the bottom instead of beans?"

When it came to rice cakes, Danhong was nothing short of a prodigy.

The day might come soon when Danhong says she will make rice cakes by herself.

Go Nam-tae entrusted the assistant role to the future rice cake master.

"That's right. You just have to spread the red bean paste properly, then layer the rice flour on top, then layer the red beans again, and stack it layer by layer."

"Then let's stack it 10, no, 100 stories high!"

Go Nam-tae seriously thought about whether a rice cake stacked 100 stories high would cook through.

...Perhaps it might be possible with the flame fairy's ability.

But that would have to be promised for later, in the distant future.

For now, Go Nam-tae didn't have the confidence to make such a steamer.

Go Nam-tae gently folded the opinion of the greedy little thing.

"Since it's our first time, let’s start with 5 stories. It would be even better if you watched the fire to make sure it cooks evenly, Danhong."

"I will watch it the best!"

Red desires fell without mercy.

Heung-bok followed her around, diligently picking up jewels and putting them into her pocket.

After entrusting the rice cakes to Danhong, Go Nam-tae started his second dish.

After using 'Pulverize' on the red beans he had taken out first, he made red bean water.

As he was kneading the rice balls while the porridge was boiling in the cauldron, he suddenly thought of his childhood.

His father, who was boiling red bean porridge on the winter solstice, solemnly ordered Go Nam-tae.

'Nam-tae, I forgot to pick up the rice balls. Can you go out and find a few?'

Young Go Nam-tae, completely tricked by his father, rubbed his eyes and searched the grass, only to return empty-handed.

But when he returned home, rice balls were bobbing on top of the red bean porridge.

His father winked at the surprised Go Nam-tae.

'I went and found the rice balls, too.'

Go Nam-tae was truly amazed by his father, who found dozens of them when he couldn't find any after searching for a while.

Although he was a little puzzled as to why the rice balls tasted like rice cake.

Did he only learn the secret of the rice balls a year, or another year later?

Watching Go Nam-tae laughing to himself, Danhong tilted her head as much as she could.

"Boss, you look happy!"

"Yeah... Guys, do you know what this is called?"

"Since it’s round, it’s a round rice cake!"

'Since it rolls around, it’s a rolling rice cake!'

'Since it’s white and round, it’s a ball rice cake!'

Go Nam-tae pondered for a moment whether the kids, who were diligently saying their own names, really needed the correct answer.

"...Everything you guys said is also correct. But on Earth, they call this 'saealsim'."

"Why is it saealsim (bird's egg heart)? If it's a bird's egg, it should have a yolk!"

Young Go Nam-tae hadn't known this clear truth...

Ahem.

"Because it resembles a bird's egg? The name isn't important. Now, isn't the rice cake almost done?"

"Ah, I'll go check if it's all cooked!"

While Danhong dashed off to check the rice cake, Go Nam-tae put the mountain of rice balls into the cauldron and stirred.

Soon, the rice balls bobbed up, and today's new dish was completed.

Danhong also announced the completion of the sirutteok and showed a sharp ambition.

"Boss, let's do 10 stories next time! I think I can do it well!"

"..."

It seemed like he would have to make a large steamer that could hold 10-story sirutteok for Danhong.

While the rice cakes were steaming, Go Nam-tae scooped out the red bean porridge first.

Everyone’s bowl was filled to the brim with porridge.

[Boss's Red Bean Porridge : Grade - Green]

[Consuming 1 bowl increases mental resistance by 20%]

[Grants nightmare and fear resistance]

[Effect of blocking evil spirits]

[When taken long-term, improves mental stability and concentration]

[※Caution : If consumed in excess, parts of the body may discolor to a red bean color]

Since there was almost no limit to excessive consumption for Go Nam-tae and his kin, there was practically no side effect.

Though, he didn't know about others.

"Everyone, let's eat."

The kids, who had been waiting for just those words from Go Nam-tae, buried their noses in their respective bowls.

Danhong, who liked to follow the Boss, held a spoon, Ha-eul's family licked with their tongues, and the Sasin-su dived right into it.

Danhong, who ate a rice ball soaked in red bean water, shared her impression first.

"From today, I love red bean porridge!"

Whether it was because of the rice balls or she just liked red bean porridge, it seemed the number of foods she liked had increased by one.

Seeing the kids eating well, Go Nam-tae made a mistake.

"When it comes to red bean porridge, there's a fairy tale the kids like the most."

"What is a fairy tale?"

Go Nam-tae, having dug his own grave, finally crossed that river.

"A story kids like. It usually starts like this. Once upon a time..."

A while later.

'Where am I? Who am I? ...No, where is this? Who am I?'

"Red bean porridge granny, goodness gracious!"

'Tiger, roar!'

'Chestnut, plop!'

'Turtle, crunch!'

'Millstone, bang!'

"Cow dung, splat!"

'Straw mat, roll!'

'A-frame carrier, stride, stride!'

"Tiger, splash!"

"Hahaha!"

Go Nam-tae hadn't known.

The enormous popularity of the red bean porridge granny and the tiger.

No, the addictiveness of it!

"Roar, Granny, Granny, I won, so I'm going to eat you!"

He had just followed his father.

The kids who were giggling were truly cute.

Even though he had searched for the rice balls after being deceived by his father, he was happy remembering the memories of how he had liked it like this, too.

For just a very brief moment.

The chestnut jumping, the turtle biting the nose, the millstone thumping the head, the cow dung tripping the feet, the straw mat rolling, the A-frame carrier delivery, and finally the splash!

That much was fine.

...He hadn't expected to repeat that 100 times.

It would have been fortunate if that was all.

"Tiger, splash!"

He had to keep time with the kids' singing game.

Fortunately, the rice cakes they made today saved him from what could have been a million repetitions of the singing game.

Watching Heung-bok skillfully flip the steamer, Go Nam-tae promised himself again and again that he would not even breathe a word about other fairy tale series.

...Would he really?

Come to think of it, this was the first rice cake he was making since the steamer was restored.

Every day, Danhong and Heung-bok secretly put the pieces together, and the steamer was restored earlier than expected.

When the rice cake wearing the crumbly red beans revealed itself, all the kids waited with their plates.

Just the smell and the shape were a success.

It would have been nice if he had made it 10 stories high, just as Danhong said.

The system proved it once again.

[Boss's Red Bean Sirutteok : Grade - Green]

[When consuming 50g, stamina recovery (small amount), Luck +1]

[Shares the same effect with allies within a 5m radius]

[Effect doubled during rituals/blessings]

[When taken long-term, luck increases, probability of avoiding disasters increases]

[※Caution : If consumed in excess, your body may smell like red beans]

It seemed that the green-grade foods all had slight side effects.

It seemed he would need to learn the limit of 'excessive consumption.'

"I should try sending these to Guild Master Park Ki-beom before Kim Gu-bok."

[Yes, that would be for the best.]

[I expect the range of excessive consumption to be quite wide, but it seems confirmation for ordinary people is necessary.]

The eyes of the kids who received the layered rice cakes widened.

"Is this supposed to be eaten all at once?"

Go Nam-tae hurriedly stopped the kid who was trying to open his mouth as wide as his greed.

"You have to break off a little at a time and eat it as much as fits in your mouth."

Gasp!

The kids' mouths dropped open.

A contest of who had the bigger mouth began.

A while later.

"Kyaaaaa! I love sirutteok!"

The second love of Danhong, who falls for things easily, was born today.

But had he mentioned it before?

That this red bean sirutteok was the only thing his father, who didn't usually enjoy rice cakes, liked.

Go Nam-tae didn't hold formal memorial services, but he often set aside food his father liked when he missed him.

He didn't care about things like food to chase away ghosts or anything like that.

Go Nam-tae placed a plate of the prettiest, most neatly cut rice cakes at the end of the table.

The little one, who had been spinning in the sky in a frenzy, tilted her head looking at the plate without an owner.

"Boss, whose is that?"

"My father."

"Ah!"

Danhong covered her mouth in shock.

At the same time, the other kids’ eyes widened as they stared near the plate.

Go Nam-tae waved his hand.

"No, he's not really here. My father already passed away."

"...But you said his grave might be somewhere in the labyrinth."

Plop, plop, the kid dropped jewels again.

Now Go Nam-tae could vaguely distinguish the color of Danhong's jewels.

Dark red when she cried, bright red when she was excited and happy.

The kid's slightly dark jewel instead comforted Go Nam-tae's heart.

"It's okay. I will definitely find the grave. ...This is just a sign of longing. I’m just putting down the food he might have eaten with me and reminiscing for a while. And I’m going to eat this rice cake again later."

"Is that so?"

Danhong, who had been thinking hard about something, shared her own rice cake.

Then, she got a leaf from Heung-bok and placed the rice cake on it.

"This is for mother."

Danhong’s eyes, watching the rice cake quietly, began to shake more and more.

A child who had been driven out.

The longing for home and family was overwhelming.

Just as Go Nam-tae was about to reach out his hand, Danhong looked at him desperately and asked.

"H, how long do I have to leave it out before I can eat it? Can I eat it now?"

Jewels of a color that looked between darkness and brightness, looking anxious, dropped one by one.

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