I hadn’t paid attention to the kimbap shop for a while, so today I was walking along the adventurer street.
By now, even I had become a proper blacksmith, and the smell of iron drifting from everywhere no longer felt unfamiliar.
By the way, I wonder if the shop is running well?
Since it was my first visit after opening, I felt a little nervous.
I’d heard that the adventurers were absolutely crazy about it.
Just thinking about it made my shoulders rise without me realizing.
By this time, there should be a long line…
“Huh?”
For some reason, the door to Kimbap Heaven was closed.
It hadn’t even been a full week since we opened.
We had said we’d stay open without a single day off for a month, so what on earth was this situation?
I was so dumbfounded that I just stared blankly at the shop.
“Mr. Fabir!”
When I turned around, Cayton was walking out from the Adventurer’s Guild.
Perfect timing. I could just ask him what was going on.
“Since when has the shop been closed?”
“You didn’t know? They suddenly announced yesterday that they were temporarily suspending operations. Because of that, the disappointment among adventurers is no joke.”
Temporary suspension.
Something serious must have happened.
“I need to find out what’s wrong right away.”
I immediately headed to the Blue Horse Company.
As soon as I entered the company building, the interior was buzzing in a completely different way than usual.
“It’s Mr. Fabir!”
The ones who recognized me were none other than adventurers.
For some reason, adventurers I’d never seen inside the company before were gathered in the lobby today.
“That’s the person who made Kimbap Heaven, right?”
“They say that young man really created Kimbap Heaven? He looks younger than I thought.”
Even the merchants coming and going started paying attention to me.
That was proof of just how big an impact Kimbap Heaven had made.
To think they closed the doors when business was this good.
No matter what problem arose, the Blue Horse Company—which was at the top of the industry—wouldn’t have just sat on their hands.
My questions only grew.
“Welcome. Mr. Fabir.”
Had he heard I’d arrived? Michael, the manager of the company, suddenly appeared in front of me.
“Please come inside. Mr. Welper is waiting.”
Michael looked like he had been desperately waiting for me.
He must have been extremely anxious since he couldn’t reach me.
Judging by his reaction, a major problem had definitely occurred.
I immediately followed Michael’s lead to Welper.
As soon as I entered the room, Welper spoke urgently.
“We’ll skip the greetings—hurry and sit down.”
“Is it a problem big enough to put greetings aside?”
Welper let out a deep sigh before opening his mouth.
“We can’t get any more seaweed.”
As expected.
It was something I had somewhat anticipated.
If there was no ingredient, even the Blue Horse Company would be powerless.
“Please tell me the details.”
“There are many complicated reasons tangled together, but the biggest cause is that demand exploded.”
As kimbap became popular, everyone must have tried making it themselves.
Since all seaweed was imported, when demand skyrocketed, supply couldn’t keep up.
Even if the price soaring was a secondary issue, there simply wasn’t enough quantity, so the shop couldn’t operate.
“The seaweed we brought in earlier is already completely gone. It’s largely my fault for not building up reserves.”
“No, it’s not. No matter how thoroughly you prepare, unexpected variables always appear.”
This is why doing business is so hard. Even if you prepare meticulously, an unforeseen variable can blow everything up.
Especially with food ingredients, inventory management is truly difficult.
Predicting demand is hard, and if you just pile it up in the warehouse, it will eventually rot.
The best is to procure necessary ingredients fresh from nearby.
“We urgently sent people to the East Continent, but it looks like we won’t be able to get seaweed for the time being.”
It was regrettable, but if we couldn’t guarantee when the shop could reopen without seaweed.
Michael added,
“Just today alone, dozens of people came to the company begging us to reopen soon.”
“Adventurers?”
“Including yesterday, it’s more than half of all adventurers registered with the guild here.”
So that’s why the lobby was full of adventurers. It meant they were desperate enough to come here in person.
“We need to do something quickly.”
I can’t just sit still like this.
Once I decided to open the shop, I have to run it with responsibility.
I have to find a way somehow.
“Hmm…”
First, let’s think about an alternative menu.
What can I make with the ingredients we have right now?
Flash!
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head.
“Ah! I’ve got it!”
Welper’s eyebrows shot up.
“Is that true?”
“There’s a menu I can make with the ingredients we have right now! We’ll renew the menu and at the same time give the shop a completely new look!”
“So you’re saying we launch a different menu instead of kimbap? If it can replace kimbap, I’m all for it.”
“I think the impact will be far greater than that.”
“R-really? What on earth is this dish?”
I grinned confidently.
“It’s bibimbap!”
Bibimbap.
An indispensable dish in Korean cuisine, one could call it the flower of Korean food.
Warm rice topped with various fresh vegetables, fried egg, minced meat.
Then finally add fragrant sesame oil and gochujang, mix it all together vigorously—and it becomes pure bliss itself.
***
“Bibimbap?”
When the adventurer Jack tilted his head, his companion could barely contain his excitement as he spoke.
“It’s hot-off-the-press news I just heard at the Blue Horse Company.”
“They really said Mr. Fabir is preparing a new menu called bibimbap?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s great that the shop is reopening, but… what kind of food is bibimbap?”
“Uh, well…”
Just like with kimbap, it was a food they were hearing about for the very first time in their lives.
“Who cares what it is—as long as Mr. Fabir makes it, it’ll be delicious.”
“That’s true, but… will it be okay?”
“Well…”
Silence suddenly fell.
Kimbap had been insanely delicious. It was a shock in itself.
The problem came afterward.
After eating kimbap, people completely lost their minds.
By the time they came to their senses, dozens of people had already seen them drooling with a stupid grin on their face.
The dignity they had maintained as adventurers collapsed in an instant.
High-ranking adventurers worked as promotional models and enjoyed fame and honor.
Because they were idols to many, they had to maintain decorum.
They had left an indelible dark mark on themselves.
Fortunately, they weren’t the only ones.
If they had been alone, they would have become the butt of jokes among their comrades.
The companion adventurer shrugged.
“So what if we lose our minds a little? Everyone just thinks of it as mental training. Eating Mr. Fabir’s food slightly raises mental strength anyway.”
“True, rolling on the dirt floor and being soaked in sweat is our daily life—so passing out on the street is no big deal. Hahaha.”
“Ha, hahaha.”
Again, silence descended.
The wave of reality hitting them was unavoidable.
To think they couldn’t stop eating kimbap even while enduring this—it was terrifying addictiveness.
Would bibimbap really have that level of impact?
At that time, the adventurers had no idea just how big a ripple bibimbap would cause.
***
Early dawn.
“I’m gonna be late at this rate.”
Jack hurriedly left the house.
Adventurers were terrifyingly quick with information, so most of them had been eagerly waiting for this very day.
Sure enough, a long line had already formed in front of the shop to taste the new menu called bibimbap.
“Over here!”
Jack joined his companion and got in line.
“Why are you so late?”
“It’s still the crack of dawn.”
Even though he had come out much earlier than before, the line was already this long.
Buzz buzz.
The very front of the line grew noisy.
“Looks like they’re about to open.”
Jack’s heart was pounding.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this excited. Probably the moment he passed the adventurer exam.
Every day he rolled around in dungeons and camped outdoors, living a hair-raising life.
Adventurers chased romance.
No matter how hard it was, they could endure because it was something they started out of love.
But that only lasted a while.
In the harsh environment, romance gradually faded.
They felt fulfillment as adventurers and received growth and rewards, but that wasn’t enough.
There is a limit to living on passion alone.
Eventually they lost motivation.
The hard bread and combat rations they ate every day filled the stomach but not the soul.
The exhausted adventurers needed healing.
They needed to recharge their depleted energy.
And then, Kimbap Heaven had appeared like a gift from the heavens.
With just one fragrant, delicious kimbap roll, Jack felt his motivation flare up again.
He felt like he could do anything.
He had truly been happy eating kimbap every morning.
But then.
‘This is bad! Kimbap Heaven is closing!’
His heart sank.
For whatever reason, they had announced a temporary suspension of business.
That was when he realized it.
He could no longer live without delicious food.
His tongue refused to go back to how it was. It had already burrowed deep into his daily life.
Anxiety washed over him.
His fellow adventurers were stomping their feet just the same.
In the end, some couldn’t hold back and went to the Blue Horse Company to beg.
‘Please reopen the shop! We need healing!’
‘We want to eat delicious food! It was our only joy in life!’
But all they received was a vague promise to do their best.
While they were sinking into depression,
a ray of hope arrived.
‘They’re changing the signboard right now!’
‘They say they’re reopening with a new menu!’
The new signboard was dazzling.
The place that adventurers who needed healing had been longing for.
Healing Restaurant
And today, “bibimbap” makes its debut.
“Next customer.”
Finally, it was Jack’s turn.
“One bibimbap, please.”
With trembling hands, Jack opened the packaged bowl. Inside, various ingredients were neatly arranged.
“Beautiful.”
Red gochujang.
Green vegetables, orange carrots, brown minced meat, egg strips in yellow and white—and the colorful, fresh ingredients harmonized like a painting.
Gulp.
Jack swallowed hard and picked up the spoon.
His heart ached at the thought of having to mix this beautiful creation, but for the sake of taste he steeled himself.
Scrape scrape.
He carefully mixed everything so the contents would blend evenly.
The fragrant sesame oil and the sweet-spicy scent of gochujang mingled, stimulating his salivary glands.
Finally, it was time to eat.
He scooped up a big spoonful and brought it to his mouth.
Chew chew.
“!”
Tears streaming—
Tears dug into his cheeks and flowed down.
“D-delicious.”
I’m happy.
Those words were enough.
Sniff sniff.
“This is too delicious! Sob.”
“It’s an overwhelmingly moving taste!”
“Damn it! Making a grown man cry! Ugh.”
The area around the shop turned into a sea of tears.
A dish that made grown men cry!
Every adventurer on the street was drenched in happiness, savoring this moment.