Chapter 23: State-Level Power Chili Pepper

I caught lovesickness.

Not for a person, but for an animal.

The one driving me restless is the black cat I still haven’t managed to befriend.

The black cat?

Since the first day I fed it, I haven’t seen it again.

Only an empty tuna can remains.

The relief is that the can is completely clean, so it doesn’t seem like it’s starving.

“I want to see the black cat… Maybe today I can sneak a peek from afar? But will it even show up…?”

I even tried hiding a little farther away to watch, but somehow it sensed me and didn’t show its face at all.

No matter how free-spirited cats are, after feeding it every day for several days, would it really hate me this much?

“But I think it probably does.”

It’s obviously not a dog-like friendly cat.

From the very first sight, it was full of suspicion, and in that short time, I even got a few hisses.

Still… I want to befriend it.

“That’s it! If you don’t want to come, then don’t! But today, I will definitely sneak a peek!”

Day by day, hour by hour, I narrowed down the time when the black cat and Hindungi would appear by checking if the tuna can was empty.

The window I secured was between 2 PM and 4 PM.

After lunch, when I was busy with farm work or other chores, they’d come by to eat.

“That’s why I didn’t see you before. Hmph.”

(Owner, what are you doing?)

“Shh! Ambushing.”

(If you’re bored, why don’t you clean the Poultry House? Didn’t you say you’d take care of it a few days ago?)

As I stationed myself at the Poultry House, watching outside the fence, Goldie approached and gazed at me quietly.

Feeling awkward under Goldie’s stare, I grabbed a hoe and began carrying chicken droppings out of the Poultry House.

Goldie supervised, watching if I cleaned thoroughly.

It felt like the roles were reversed.

(Thanks, chick.)

Goldie gently patted my calf with his right wing.

It’s really my job as the Owner, but the feeling was strange.

Goldie is smart enough to have a proper conversation, so I feel like he could handle this himself.

Still, seeing the chickens happy after cleaning the filth and laying down fresh straw to make a cozy home was rewarding.

(Owner, I’m back. It’s the one I mentioned last time, chick.)

Following Goldie’s wing, I turned my head and caught sight of moving black-and-white creatures beyond the Poultry House fence.

The usual black cat and Hindungi.

Watching them gobble down the canned food I provided—their only meal of the day—made me feel a bit sorry.

“But still, I want to see them.”

At first, I only wanted to observe from afar secretly, but seeing them only through the fence left some parts hidden, sparking a desire to see them fully.

Grabbing the Poultry House door, I peeked my head out from behind it and quietly watched.

“So cute. I want to pet one sometime.”

They say human desire is endless, right?

With nothing blocking my view, I wanted to get closer and touch them.

Sneaking forward, the black cat’s ears twitched.

Hindungi had already noticed and wagged his tail excitedly.

They were within reach.

Three steps would be enough to pet it.

One step.

Two steps.

Prrrrr.

Hiss!

The black cat’s fur, which had been smooth, puffed up instantly.

Arching its back, it bounced back to put distance between us.

Its tail puffed out like a raccoon’s.

I sighed with regret but then felt a soft brush of fur against my calf.

Hindungi had quietly come over and was rubbing his head against my leg, showing affection.

“Such a cute one.”

I ruffled Hindungi’s head roughly with my hand.

Soft fur slipped through my fingers.

Sure, it’s soft, cute, and lovable.

But things that come too easily are usually less satisfying than those hard to get.

So, I must pet the black cat someday.

From then on, every day at 2 PM, I sat around the Poultry House waiting for them.

In the first few days, the black cat fled with a hiss just when I was one step away.

After that, even when I got very close, it didn’t run away immediately.

It only scratched and ran off if I reached out to touch it.

Since I succeeded in getting close, the scratches on the back of my hand are marks of honor.

“I should prepare a secret weapon.”

The day of the showdown.

I touched my pocket and checked if the secret weapon I had brought was still there.

“It’s here.”

Then I waited for the black cat and Hindungi where I left the tuna can.

They appeared.

This time, waiting in a different spot, the black cat hesitated for a moment but then eased its guard and slowly approached.

“They say you don’t touch a dog when it’s eating, but today I will definitely pet you.”

I muttered my resolve aloud.

As if understanding my words, Hindungi stopped eating and briefly looked up to meet my eyes.

But today, I wasn’t interested in Hindungi.

I only looked at the black cat whose ears twitched.

Hiding one hand behind my back, I carefully reached out to the black cat with the other.

As expected, it hissed immediately.

Since there was still plenty of canned food, it didn’t leave right away but threatened me instead.

“Whoohoo. Do you know what this is?”

Showing the hidden item behind my back, the black cat relaxed its curled back and licked its lips.

“You know it? You must have eaten this somewhere else before.”

Yes.

My secret weapon was Churu—the treat cats go crazy for.

As soon as I opened the Churu package, its aroma spread quickly.

The black cat’s whiskers twitched forward.

Although pretending not to care, it seemed to want the Churu badly, its ears constantly twitching.

“Here, if you want this, come over.”

I shook the Churu in my arms, tempting the black cat.

It seemed conflicted, stretching and pulling back its front paws repeatedly.

You want it, don’t you?

“Do you hate me that much? Then you can’t have it.”

I waved the Churu in a big circle, swirling it right in front of the black cat.

Minho’s Churu Aroma-Emitting Skill!

The effect was amazing!

The cat, entranced, followed the Churu with its head and began stepping forward without resistance.

Eventually, it passed over the hand waiting to pet it and slipped into my arms where the Churu was.

Purr~

The black cat purred contentedly as it eagerly licked the Churu.

You little thing, you really are a cat after all.

Seizing the moment, I stroked its head, back, and all the way down to its hips.

What a precious reward!

“I should have bought Churu sooner. It’s this simple.”

Hindungi sat quietly nearby, patiently waiting until the black cat finished the Churu.

As I gently stroked the soft fur, I felt myself drifting into a daze.

Usually, cats and dogs that meet on the street often can’t stand each other.

“How did these two end up traveling together?”

Lost in these idle thoughts, I suddenly realized the black cat had slipped away.

It quickly disappeared into the distance.

Hindungi looked back once and followed the black cat away.

“Well, I’m satisfied with this much. From now on, I’ll always have Churu ready.”

Still amazed that I actually petted the black cat, I opened and closed my hand several times before leaving.

The green peppers I had picked earlier weren’t connected to my bond with the cats, but they were A+ top quality.

Since what I needed was ripe peppers, I shared them with the people of Chilcheon-ri to taste.

Some said the subtle sweetness and crisp texture were perfect and even asked if I could sell more when I harvest again, which made me proud.

Then, a few days ago, the peppers I had left unpicked gradually shifted from deep green to a reddish hue, and most of them were fully ripe.

Usually, green peppers are eaten raw, but as they ripen, they get spicier, so when they turn red, I dry them to make chili powder.

They have to be fully ripe to produce chili powder with a good color when dried under the sun.

“They look well ripened. I should harvest all of them. Let me check the info.”

[ Pepper – A+ ]

Luxuriously grown, fully ripened peppers.

Grown on fertile land imbued with the power of the Earth Spirit and nourished with healthy Chicken Manure fertilizer.

Raised on the Owner’s kind words, they didn’t develop much spiciness.

The description was similar to other agricultural products I had harvested before.

But again, there was no information about a permanent stat increase.

Maybe because I didn’t bond with them, or perhaps peppers don’t have stats at all…

“If Ddakkongi’s prediction is right, these peppers should have gotten stat boosts since they’re well ripened. That’s disappointing. Huh…?”

Since A+ is the highest grade with no room for improvement, I expected only good remarks, but the last sentence was strange.

[ Raised on the Owner’s kind words, they didn’t develop much spiciness. ]

“What does that mean?”

The eggs and peanuts I raised before had high grades because I gave lots of positive words and cared for them sincerely.

Of course, I also bonded with them.

This was the opposite of what I expected, so I decided to test the spiciness by biting into one.

“Sss, ha. Considering they ‘didn’t develop much spiciness,’ this is pretty spicy. Sss.”

Not having brought any water, I calmed my tongue with air and saliva.

The red pepper definitely fulfilled its role.

That means it could get even spicier.

Since Koreans enjoy spicy food, if domestic peppers are spicier than Cheongyang Chili Pepper, they’d be even more sought after.

“Then let’s interpret the info straightforwardly.”

Because they were raised on kind words, they didn’t reach their full spicy potential.

Conversely, if they heard unpleasant words, they might bring out more spiciness?

To verify this, I had no choice but to experiment myself.

I finished harvesting the fully ripe red peppers as planned and would test on the few remaining less ripe ones.

Unfortunately, the others were already halfway ripe, so it wouldn’t be a perfect experiment but would at least allow comparison.

Let’s see.

Let’s see.

“Maybe I should break it down more specifically.”

I decided to divide the experiment into several conditions.

First condition: Red peppers raised only with kind words. Since I had already harvested them, I had enough samples.

Second condition: Peppers that received neither good nor bad words.

Third condition: Peppers whispered bad words to see if their spiciness increased.

Fourth condition: Peppers cursed at harshly to compare with the third condition.

Since I already had the first condition, I divided the pepper field into three sections for the experiments.

To clearly mark the boundaries and prevent the peppers from falling over, I used stakes to create partitions.

“In about five days, I should see the results. This is going to be interesting.”

Day five.

I headed to the pepper field to check their condition.

Just as expected, on the fifth day, all the remaining peppers had turned a bright red and ripened well.

Because I normally don’t curse, the fourth condition—harshly cursing the peppers—was a truly difficult experiment.

Let’s see.

“I hope the results are worth the effort. Hoo, I’m nervous. Let’s check the results.”

The first to check was the second condition—the peppers that received no attention.

[ Pepper – A- ]

Luxuriously grown, fully ripened peppers.

Grown on fertile land imbued with the power of the Earth Spirit and nourished with healthy Chicken Manure fertilizer.

They grew up without any kind of attention.

Therefore, their taste doesn’t differ much from green peppers.

No difference from green peppers…

That’s disappointing.

Without good words, and with no words at all, they seem to have been degraded.

The average grade, A-, was lower than the red peppers I had harvested before.

Someone else might be satisfied and grateful with an A- or higher.

But having already harvested many A and A+ peppers, my standards had risen, and this felt lacking.

Next, I checked the peppers grown under the third condition—those whispered bad words.

For the experiment, I had only whispered bad things to these peppers.

“You’re so weak, you’d fall without a stake.”

“No matter how spicy you are, you’re still milder than an overripe Cheongyang Chili Pepper, huh?”

“You’re angry, aren’t you? You’re mad? That’s why you’re turning red, right?”

Saying things to peppers that I’d never even said to people filled me with guilt and self-reproach.

I even thought I saw the chili leaves trembling.

Did bad words have an effect?

The result of the third condition:

[ Pepper – A ]

Luxuriously grown, fully ripened peppers.

Grown on fertile land imbued with the power of the Earth Spirit and nourished with healthy Chicken Manure fertilizer.

Particularly, they got angry and became poisoned with venom due to the Owner’s mockery, making them among the spiciest peppers in the world.

Eating them would make you angry at their spiciness.

Average grade: A.

One step higher than the peppers that received no words.

Fortunately, the info gave me a clue.

It said the peppers got mad and filled with poison, which made them spicier.

Then what about the result of the last condition, where I cursed harshly?

As I picked those peppers, information windows popped up.

The first window shocked me enough to widen my eyes.

The grade I glimpsed made me open my mouth in disbelief and stand there dazed.

If someone was nearby, I would have raised my chin and carefully closed my mouth.

Reading the info windows slowly, I finally realized.

“This is it. A chili with the power of a national authority.”