Chapter 17: I Should Have Seen It

Besides Kim Gu-bok and his wife, there was someone else who had been eating the corn for several days straight.

It was the first customer, Park Yu-seok.

Since the shop had become a chaotic bustle from the second day onward, the couple didn't even realize their very first customer had returned.

Park Yu-seok had visited Kim Gu-bok’s shop throughout his entire break.

Although the price had tripled from the initial cost and was a bit burdensome, he opened his wallet immediately, sensing that it would all sell out while he was still hesitating.

Even if he was only D-rank, a hunter was still a hunter.

Since it was a profession where one essentially risked their life, this level of spending wasn't a massive luxury.

He wanted to buy more out of greed, but on the third day—today—a quantity limit of three per person had been imposed.

"I should have bought more that day!"

Regretting his first-day mistake all over again, Park Yu-seok placed the corn into the steamer.

Rattle, rattle!

The sound of the pot lid clattering incessantly as the water boiled made his heart flutter.

He didn't realize how agonizing it was to wait for corn to cook.

Thinking back on how lucky he was on the first day, he felt a renewed sense of regret for buying so little.

Still, he had to take comfort in the fact that he bought some before they sold out.

Gulp.

He kept swallowing his saliva.

'Can I take it out now? Should I? Should I take it out? Let's take it out!'

Unable to resist the scent, he pulled the corn out even though it probably needed a bit more time to cook.

It wasn't called "addictive corn" for nothing.

Plus, a few more modifiers like 'Ultra-Super-Mega-Nuclear-God-Tier-Delicious' had been added to its reputation, and it certainly deserved them.

"L-Let's eat!"

It didn't matter if it was a bit crunchy and undercooked.

Park Yu-seok's eyes grew hazy as a honey-like heaven filled his mouth.

The second and third pieces were, of course, devoured in an instant.

He patted his stomach with satisfaction and went to bed.

However, that night, Park Yu-seok groaned in agony.

Even when his leg was nearly severed after becoming an Awakened, it hadn't hurt this much.

After staying up all night in pain, Park Yu-seok eventually pointed to the corn as the cause.

He vowed that as soon as he could get up, he would write a new review about the 'Cursed Corn.'

But the moment he woke up after briefly losing consciousness, his body felt perfectly fine, as if the pain had been a lie.

It wasn't just fine; strangely, he was overflowing with energy, feeling as if he could fly.

"This is weird..."

Park Yu-seok forgot his vow to edit the review and headed out for his scheduled plans for the day.

He was a perennial repeater who had failed thirteen times.

Now that the Association employees recognized his face, it was a bit embarrassing, but he couldn't miss the rank-up evaluation day.

Park Yu-seok participated in the evaluation feeling like he was walking on air.

There were five items in the rank-up evaluation:

Stamina, Mana, Strength, Agility, and Combat Power.

Through years of practical training in the labyrinth, his stamina, strength, agility, and combat power had surpassed the standard points, but he had always tasted the bitterness of failure in the mana category.

The machine that measured a hunter’s mana looked similar to the resource mana tester.

It used more complex technology, but regardless, the color displayed showed the mana level.

It passed red, orange, and yellow...

That was the limit for D-rank.

He had never seen a green light before.

But today, the gauge shot right past the yellow bar and...

Twinkle, twinkle—a green light was shining.

"Uh..."

Not just Park Yu-seok, but the other examiners were so shocked they could only stare blankly for a moment.

A short while later.

The color of Park Yu-seok’s hunter ID changed.

Green, C-rank.

From today on, Park Yu-seok was a C-rank hunter.

It was all thanks to his mana gauge—which had been lacking by an inch, no, two inches despite his frequent trips to the labyrinth—filling up all at once.

Park Yu-seok calmed his excitement and analyzed himself calmly.

Including his illness last night...

The puzzles pieces clicked into place.

The shop owner couple, who looked somewhat naive, were the greatest contributors to this joy.

He had already seen it was selling well, but a shop like that needed to thrive even more.

Only then would the hunter supplying the goods continue to do business there.

Park Yu-seok stared at his hunter ID in a daze before opening the Hunter App again.

- I am Park So-and-so, and I was a perennial D-rank hunter. I always failed the rank-up evaluation due to mana disqualification...

It was the first review revealing the effects of the Ultra-Super-Mega-Nuclear-God-Tier-Delicious Addictive Corn.

***

Is there a crop that permanently increases mana?

Of course there is: crops of orange grade or higher.

Such crops are quite rare, and they have unique appearances and tastes.

Is "unique" the right word?

They are bitter, astringent, fishy, and revolting... one must undergo extreme hardship that utterly crushes the human taste buds.

One forces themselves to eat it just to gain mana.

Furthermore, one only gains a tiny amount of mana through 'long-term consumption,' so this was truly a revolution.

Comments began to appear on Park Yu-seok’s post.

- Nice lie. lol.

- Your mana rose in three days? Did you really only eat corn?

- You guys believe this?

- I know that corn! I don't know about mana, but I felt energized too!

- Labyrinth crops naturally have stamina buffs.

- So it's true that they're labyrinth crops.

- Do you know how much the fine is for selling labyrinth crops with fake grades or origins? A small shop like that would just go bankrupt.

- Isn't it substantial enough just to have a stamina buff? That means it's at least orange grade.

- But that person is insisting it's yellow grade. Does that make sense?

- You have to eat orange grade for a long time to even feel it. There's no way a D-rank would suddenly become a C-rank.

- His stats might have been at the peak of D-rank right before.

- That makes sense.

- Then it's not thanks to the corn?

- He said he was sick the day before. How do you explain that?

- You believe that?

- First of all, selling yellow-grade crops for 30,000 won makes no sense.

- They really are selling them though?

- Where is that place!

It was rare for such a heated reaction to pour out on the Hunter App, where all sorts of labyrinth crops were listed.

Occasionally, it might happen for a rare item auction.

But because a heated debate was unfolding over 'mere' corn, those hearing the news for the first time began to take interest.

"Should we go too?"

"They say it's already closed. I checked, and there’s a limit on the number of items per person."

"They said it's 3. The size is big, so that should be fine, right?"

"But I'm a bit worried."

"Why?"

"What if an 'open run' happens?"

"...Then should we go now and wait in a tent?"

The rumors took flight and spread.

***

"A powerful and energetic morning!"

[...]

Beep, beep, beep, beep!

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

Only Toto remained quiet; the reactions of his familiars were enthusiastic.

"Everyone, we're going to make tofu today!"

Having heard Ko Nam-tae’s delicious explanation the day before, their eyes were full of anticipation.

Ko Nam-tae retrieved a large millstone from the warehouse.

It was a millstone used since his great-grandmother's time, but every single carved groove was as sharp as if it had been made yesterday.

The beans he had soaked out of greed had increased to a full basin.

"Ah!"

He brought the millstone stand and finished the preparations by placing it over an empty basin.

[Boss's Millstone]
[Grinds ingredients - Adjustable grind size]
[Preserves the ingredient’s mana to the maximum]
[Auto-grind mode - Auto-speed adjustment]
[Maintains cleanliness automatically after use]
[Automatic restoration]

He wasn't even surprised anymore.

Every single item in his house was an artifact.

The millstone, which was one of the oldest items in his house, was a top-tier item.

Thump, thump!

The moment the well-soaked beans entered the millstone's mouth, his fingertips trembled.

The beans flowing from the spoon were sucked right into the hole.

At that moment, the millstone began to turn.

It rotated when beans entered and stopped when it was empty.

It was truly an automatic millstone.

Even its processing power was excellent.

It didn't miss a single bean poured in clumsily by the Four Divine Beasts, grinding them all at once.

Excited by the automatically turning millstone, Ko Nam-tae shared a story he had heard from his father.

"This handle is called an 'eocheoguni.' What would happen if a millstone didn't have a handle? That's why when people are dumbfounded, they usually say 'this is eocheoguni-less' or 'this is absurd.'"

Whirrr.

The millstone was turning perfectly fine on its own.

Absurdly so.

At that moment, the millstone stopped.

The basin full of beans had all been ground.

The ground beans had doubled in volume once again.

Without exaggeration, it was enough for Haeul’s entire family to swim in.

"Now, we’re going to squeeze this to separate the liquid from the solids."

His house also had an old hemp bag.

That hemp bag, patched together from scraps, was originally a memory of his father.

'Your mother made this!'

Whenever that hemp bag got a hole, his father would patch it over and over again.

Of course, it too had been transformed as if it were brand new.

[Boss's Hemp Bag]
[Separates solids and liquids when passing through the bag.]
[Liquid transparency can be adjusted]
[Solids are completely separated from the bag.]
[Maintains cleanliness automatically after use]
[Automatic restoration]

Ko Nam-tae silently thanked the mother he couldn't even remember.

'Thank you for the perfect juicer.'

After pouring the soy milk into the pot and starting to boil it, he gave the Four Divine Beasts the duty of guarding it.

"Call me when it starts to boil. Soy milk boils over really easi—oh, wait, never mind."

The Boss’s Cauldron had a function that prevented boiling over.

"Anyway, let me know as soon as it boils!"

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

Ko Nam-tae left the cauldron to the Four Divine Beasts and returned to empty the hemp bag.

The moist, ivory soy pulp revealed itself.

The remaining spectators showed interest.

"This is called 'biji,' and it’s actually really delicious!"

The only things going into the soy pulp stew were chili peppers and kimchi, but he didn't doubt the taste.

Ah, the Earthworm meat would also play a part.

After starting the rice, he boiled the milky water from washing the rice and added the Earthworm meat.

He threw in the kimchi and added a bit of home-made soy sauce stored in an old soju bottle.

He brought dried chili peppers and ground them into powder.

At that moment, Haeul’s family scurried backward all at once.

Watching them flee from the scent of the chili powder, Ko Nam-tae realized his mistake.

It was a relief he noticed before putting it in the stew.

'For kids,' 'For adults.'

It was a major turning point where his cooking split into two versions.

Finally, he added the soy pulp and let it simmer—the soy pulp stew was complete!

Right on time, a signal came from the Four Divine Beasts.

'It's boiling!'

Ko Nam-tae ran, carrying a spatula and a ladle of brine.

Little by little.

As soon as he added the brine to the boiling soy milk, it began to clump into soft curds.

Now, here was the choice.

Soft tofu or firm tofu?

Why even worry about it? Obviously, I have to eat both.

Unfortunately, one important tool was missing.

It was also something that had originally been there, but it was a tool that had disappeared like the wooden porch.

Ko Nam-tae scooped out a large bowl of soft tofu first and went outside.

He cut wood, drilled holes, aligned the surfaces, and used a skill.

'Joint!'

[The Boss's Tofu Mold has been crafted.]

This was it.

In the meantime, the tofu had set perfectly.

He laid the hemp cloth in the tofu mold and poured in the clumpy tofu.

All that was left was to put the press on top.

Normally, he would have to wait like this, but the 'Hemp Cloth' solved it.

The moment he set the shape with the press, the moisture was sucked out and the tofu was finished.

Thud!

When Ko Nam-tae flipped the mold to release it, the warm tofu revealed itself.

"It's done...!"

The golden light shining from the tofu did not catch Ko Nam-tae’s eye.

[You have created a new dish by processing crops.]

[Boss's Tofu...]

Ko Nam-tae, who had already reached his limit, swiped away the status window.

"Everyone, let's eat first!"

While Ko Nam-tae was being happy over the even more abundant dining table, Toto quietly pulled up the status window.

[Boss's Tofu: Grade - Green]
[15% Mana Buff per 100g]
[Increases Mana Recovery Speed, Increases Mana Digestion Rate]
[Increases Mana, Stamina, and Intelligence upon long-term consumption]
[※ Warning: Healing Crisis - Temporary lethargy, insomnia, and mood swings may occur - Warning: Tears]

...He should have seen it.

For the first time since coming to the labyrinth, Ko Nam-tae almost cried.

Actually... a few tears did leak out.