Sang-woong spoke firmly.
“I have seen your intention, you should be leaving now. I need to prepare for business.”
The Village Head’s face turned bright red.
“What kind of nonsense is this? You’re kicking people out without even offering a single cup of tea? How can a young man be so rude and impolite?”
He raged uncontrollably.
But Sang-woong met his outburst without flinching.
“Please stop yelling in a restaurant and just leave.”
As Sang-woong responded more firmly, the Village Head realized resisting further was useless. He stood up with an exasperated expression.
Unable to hold back his anger, he slammed the restaurant door wide open as he left, even slamming it so hard that the frame rattled.
Sang-woong thought the Village Head wouldn’t return for a while after this.
But that was just wishful thinking.
The next day, the Village Head brazenly opened the restaurant door again as if nothing had happened.
He sat down and repeated the same unreasonable demands and baseless complaints from the day before.
Sang-woong even thought it might be easier to talk to a wall.
But since Sang-woong remained firm and unyielding until the end, the Village Head changed his tactics.
From then on, he began appearing during the busiest lunchtime, when the most customers came, and started causing trouble.
Sang-woong bit back his rising anger and forced himself to maintain a calm expression.
He served the table where the Village Head was sitting, bringing chicken and fresh side dishes.
What was even more aggravating was that the Village Head complained endlessly about how bad the food was, yet still ate everything without leaving a scrap behind.
Sang-woong thought maybe the Village Head would be quiet while eating, but he was not someone to be underestimated.
Even while eating, he made every possible noise as if to disturb others.
“Don’t you serve water here? I’ve told you once already, but you just don’t listen!”
“I said I hate green onions! Why do you keep putting them in and acting like an idiot?”
“What the hell? Why does today’s food taste so bad? Are you discriminating against customers or something?!”
Sang-woong showed no reaction, silently focusing on his work, which only further enraged the Village Head until he crossed the line.
“You spit in the doenjang jjigae, didn’t you? What’s this little lump here? You bastard! I said a few words wishing you well, so how could you spit in the food for customers? Hey, look at this! Isn’t that a cockroach?!”
The Village Head, panting heavily, pulled out a black mass from the stew.
Sang-woong was stunned to see it.
Anyone could tell it was the shape of a cockroach with legs.
Even the initially angry customers were shocked by the situation and quietly put down their breathless spoons.
They looked at Sang-woong and the kitchen with disbelief.
Because the kitchen was open and appeared spotlessly clean, it was hard to believe a cockroach came out of such a pristine place.
But with the bug right in front of them, no matter how clean it seemed, continuing to eat was impossible.
Sang-woong took a deep breath to calm his anger and approached the Village Head.
Instead of speaking, he silently pointed with his finger toward a corner of the restaurant.
There, a CCTV was installed.
Seeing the CCTV, the Village Head’s face instantly turned as pale as a blank sheet of paper.
Like a frozen lake in the winter wind, his complexion became ghostly white in an instant.
The customers sensed something had happened just by watching the Village Head’s change in expression.
They picked up their chopsticks again and resumed eating.
Sang-woong crossed his arms and stared coldly at the Village Head.
It was an unspoken pressure telling him to stop making a fuss.
“Ah, ah! Maybe it’s because my eyes are a little dim. The doenjang jjigae color was a bit strange. Haha, I guess I misunderstood.”
The Village Head forced a weird smile and stirred the doenjang jjigae with his chopsticks.
Unlike his previously aggressive tone, his voice was now subdued.
Sang-woong kept his arms crossed, glaring silently.
Unable to endure the situation any longer, the Village Head took out the payment from his pocket and slammed the money loudly on the table.
Without looking back, he hurriedly left the restaurant.
As Sang-woong cleared the dishes from the table the Village Head had occupied, his expression darkened.
He knew well that the Village Head wouldn’t come back for a while after this incident—but he also knew better than anyone that he wouldn’t quit over such a disgrace.
He would surely devise another scheme.
Why was the Village Head so obsessed with the Development Fund?
After a brief moment of thought, Sang-woong reached a conclusion.
He was just jealous.
The land originally belonged to the Village Head.
Though it had beautiful natural surroundings with streams and valleys, the land was a blind spot with no roads, making it unsellable.
Moreover, there was the problem of Mutant Animals.
Animals infected by Dungeon Atmosphere were damaging crops and even attacking people.
Their physical abilities were enhanced, so ordinary hunters couldn’t catch them, and hiring Hunters required huge expenses and time.
Even if the Hunter Association was requested, it was uncertain when a team would be dispatched.
Thus, nobody wanted that useless land.
The Village Head desperately tried to find a buyer at a price much lower than the market value, but when that didn’t work, he even approached Sang-woong’s father.
On his father’s recommendation, Sang-woong bought the Field without much thought.
He had never even visited the land himself.
His father wouldn’t suggest something bad, and with his busy Hunter life, he had no time to spend money—so he simply bought the land with saved-up funds.
But everything changed when a specialized dungeon hospital moved in and a new road was opened.
With the road, the previously useless land instantly increased in value several times over.
With the Field now accessible and cultivatable, one could make a great profit farming anything—from orchards to rice fields.
And on that land stood Sang-woong’s restaurant.
Though in a remote location, the restaurant was always full of customers.
Being the biggest beneficiary of all these changes, Sang-woong was the biggest victim—or rather, the one the Village Head was most jealous of.
So it was clear that the Village Head wouldn’t back down after such humiliation.
He would come back with grudge and vengeance.
But worrying about it in advance would only cause stress.
If he came again, Sang-woong just had to deal with it.
He was confident he could handle it twice as well.
After the lunchtime rush settled, Sang-woong was about to catch his breath when his phone rang.
Seeing the caller’s name, a smile naturally spread across his face.
One of the best changes since taking care of Lee Hye-won was that his younger brother, Park Hae Jin, and he had started communicating more.
Things he couldn’t do in his previous life, he now wanted to love and care for even more.
The familiar voice of his brother Park Hae Jin came through the receiver.
“Hyung, are you busy?”
Leaning back in his chair, Sang-woong answered with a tone of comfort despite his fatigue.
“Ah, until just a moment ago I was swamped with orders, but now I finally caught my breath.”
Park Hae Jin sounded genuinely surprised.
“Looks like the restaurant is doing better than expected? Judging by the location, I wouldn’t have thought business would be good. Interesting.”
Sang-woong smiled with quiet pride and replied, as if it was obvious.
“My food is so good it easily overcomes a remote location.”
Park Hae Jin burst into laughter.
“That’s right. Hye Won said she was really surprised after eating your food. She said it was the best she’s ever had and praised it a lot. When I ate it, it wasn’t quite that good though. Haha, but the food was really delicious.”
His teasing tone was apparent at the end.
Sang-woong shrugged and said,
“I upgraded a bit this time. The rice was always good, but now the stew has a much deeper flavor. Especially since I started using freshwater shrimp broth, more customers have been coming. I guess that’s why I’m more worried now.”
He responded with a genuinely troubled expression.
Park Hae Jin, confused, asked,
“Why? More customers should be good, right?”
Sang-woong answered nonchalantly.
“Not really. If I wanted to make money, I wouldn’t have opened a restaurant in such a quiet place in the first place.”
Park Hae Jin sighed briefly.
“True, if you’d just stuck to being a Hunter, you’d probably be living quite comfortably by now.”
Sang-woong replied in a relaxed voice.
“I’m living comfortably now too. Anyway, what’s up? If your message is this long, there’s definitely something going on. Need money or something?”
Though his tone was teasing, genuine concern for his younger brother was clear.
“No, not money this time.”
Park Hae Jin hesitated a moment before speaking carefully.
“I heard that the kids who live in your building recently started YouTube?”
Sang-woong was surprised by the volume of his voice.
“How did you know that?”
“Oh, that’s because Hye Won said she was making a Music Video with those kids.”
Park Hae Jin added more seriously.
“Starting from composing the song to completing the Music Video, they filmed the whole process and uploaded it as content.”
Sang-woong thought for a moment, then stroked his chin with interest.
“I’m not good with that stuff, but that sounds like a pretty good plan.”
Park Hae Jin, relieved, replied.
“I think so too. It’s a pretty good idea. I sometimes check it out, and the video editing is pretty good. There are cats and dogs, cute pets, and the shots are really beautifully done.”
He continued with emphasis.
“And more than anything, it’s important that Hye Won has finally found something she wants to do. She’s been worried so much all this time. Sending her to you was definitely the best move.”
Touched by his brother’s sincere words, Sang-woong chuckled and shrugged.
“Hahaha, you don’t know, but I’m the one who made it happen.”
Park Hae Jin smiled broadly.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just say it’s thanks to you. Anyway, I called because I need a favor about that YouTube thing.”
Sang-woong leaned closer to the phone, curious.
“What is it? What kind of favor?”
Park Hae Jin spoke with a slightly regretful tone.
“I heard they’re still filming only with the one camera you bought them before. No matter how talented they are, there’s definitely a limit to making good videos with just one camera. I want you to support them a bit this time. They’ll probably need a good camera, a drone, and lighting equipment. Since you’re practically the CEO of our company, push it hard this time.”
Sang-woong laughed out loud at his brother’s request.
It could have been seen as brazen, but Sang-woong liked that his brother trusted him like that.
“Hahaha. When did I get promoted to CEO of the company?”
Park Hae Jin laughed slyly.
“Well, since you put in all the investment, it’s basically the same as being CEO. Want me to get you a business card that says CEO?”
“No thanks. I’ll just be the ‘tall gentleman behind the scenes’ who secretly helps out.”
Sang-woong replied generously.
After a brief pause as he thought it over, he made up his mind.