Chapter 38: Pretending

How Long Do I Have to Keep Pretending I Don’t Know?

Pottery shards were scattered beneath the furnace.

The item that had shattered was none other than the rice cake steamer.

Why on earth had the steamer, which had been placed so carefully, ended up broken!

Toto delivered some good news.

**[The Boss’s Steamer possesses an auto-restoration ability.]**

**[If you gather the pieces together, it will return to its original form.]**

"Even the broken parts can be restored?"

**[As long as the shards haven't been ground into powder and scattered, restoration is possible.]**

'Wow!'

Almost everything that could be considered an antique possessed an auto-restoration ability. It was ironic that the older an item was, the closer it became to being brand new.

"But I still won't be able to use it tomorrow, right?"

**[There are so many fragments that it will likely take some time.]**

**[However, if you arrange them even roughly in their original shape, the restoration will be easier.]**

Go Nam-tae raised both hands and shook his head.

"I’m really no good at puzzles. Let’s just gather them for now."

At those words, the Sasin-su and Ha-eul’s Family looked ready to jump in immediately.

"Ah, wait. It’s dark out; you’ll get hurt. Let’s do it when we wake up tomorrow."

As he turned to leave, Heung-bok’s leaves trembled as he apologized.

'I’m sorry. I should have caught it...'

"Why are you sorry? I probably just didn't set it down properly."

'But still...'

"It’s really okay. It’s not like it’s completely destroyed. Anyway, it’ll be back to normal soon, so don’t worry."

"Haha," Go Nam-tae laughed awkwardly and patted Heung-bok. If he didn't, it looked like Heung-bok might burst into tears from guilt.

Suddenly, Nam-tae noticed Ha-eul looking up at Heung-bok and shaking his head.

"You shouldn't do that. It’s not Ha-eul’s fault."

'Yes...'

As Ha-eul bowed his head to the Boss, he firmly stepped on one of Heung-bok's leaves. Despite the fact that Heung-bok could have easily swatted him away with a small tendril, he simply let himself be stepped on.

A secret conversation took place behind the Boss’s back.

'What is it?'

'There’s something. Something interesting.'

'Is that so?'

Indeed, if an enemy had appeared, things wouldn't have been this noisy.

"Since I was planning on making some jars anyway, let’s try making a steamer as well."

Ha-eul rubbed his head against the leg of the Boss, who was trying his best to soothe his disappointment.

'It better be more interesting than waking the Boss up in the middle of the night!'

Ha-eul’s eyes glinted.

"We’ll clean up tomorrow. Let’s go to sleep!"

*Clack.* The door closed.

The Boss’s house soon returned to silence.

'...'

*Peek.*

*Scuttle.*

Something darted out from under a giant leaf.

A tiny creature began to sob in front of the broken steamer.

— I-I’m sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen...! I'm so sorry...

From a distance, it was a living being that sparkled like a tiny firefly. However, upon closer inspection, a delicate human form could be seen within. Inside the small flame, a quite lovely girl was hidden. The girl sobbed as she began to fit the broken pieces together.

— I-I can fix it myself!

*Clatter, clatter.*

The girl groaned and worked hard, very hard. Unfortunately, much like Go Nam-tae, the girl had absolutely no talent for puzzles. Even if she were good at them, the uneven shards simply wouldn't stay in place.

— *Sniffle.* T-This isn't working. I'm a bad fairy... I broke the delicious bowl...

Every time the girl sobbed, something fell from within the flame.

*Roll, roll.*

Small, beautiful beads began to mix among the pottery fragments.

Then, a coincidence brought a stroke of luck. A rolling bead seeped into a gap between two shards, and a *click* echoed as they snapped together.

— Huh? Uh... Uh-oh!

The girl’s eyes widened. Two separate fragments were now perfectly joined as if they had been one from the start.

— I-I did it! I did it! I put it together!

At this rate, she was going to wake the Boss again.

*Rustle, rustle!*

The pumpkin leaves shook violently.

— *Gasp!*

Only then did the girl realize what she was doing. Covering her mouth, she looked toward the house. Fortunately, the owner didn't seem to be waking up again.

The girl began to touch the shards once more. But this time, instead of sobbing, she continued with a different whisper.

— Does the soft, delicious stuff come out of this delicious bowl?

*Roll!*

Small jewels began to roll among the shards again. It seemed the jewels didn't only fall when she was crying.

Instead, the sound of her gulping and swallowing was quite loud.

*Clatter, clatter.*

The girl tried to put the pieces together all night, but in the end, that initial stroke of luck never returned.

***

*Crash.*

The sound of shattering was miserable.

Go Nam-tae stared blankly at the scene of the fragments flying and let out a hollow sigh. It was the greatest obstacle he had faced since becoming the Boss.

**[......]**

Even Toto couldn't offer much advice this time.

*Thud— !*

This time, even the sound of the break was heavy. It felt as if the weight of failure was fully contained within the pieces that hadn't even managed to shatter properly.

'It’s purely because it rained this morning!'

He tried to make an excuse, but it was nothing more than the pathetic lament of a tree frog. The list of his past failures flashed through his mind.

The first time, something resembling a jar came out collapsed.

The second time, they were either half-baked or covered in pits.

The third time, the glaze had run down and melted like chocolate.

"Huh? This one is!"

There was one that finally seemed to have a proper shape. However, the moment he lifted it, the neck snapped right off. Looking inside, the interior was cracked like a dry rice field.

There was another one that looked okay. But when he flipped it over, it had collapsed like a landslide.

It was 100% a bust again. This was already the fourth failure...

Finally, the thing that had "almost" become a jar flew through the air in a parabolic arc.

*Thud— !*

Another piece was added to the graveyard of failures.

"Why did I say I’d make jars again...?"

To his fourth lament, the same fourth answer returned.

**[It is to store kimchi and fermented pastes.]**

"..."

That was why he couldn't give up and was spending his time like this. The wooden kimchi containers he had thrown together were usable, but they couldn't be better than a proper jar. Above all, the soul of fermented paste was the jar.

Had he really said he’d make a steamer while he was at it? Talk about jumping the gun; he had vastly underestimated the difficulty of making a jar.

Actually, he had a reason to. It had started out so smoothly.

Making the clay had been easy. The materials were everywhere near the house, the Sasin-su handled the refining, and the filtering was bypassed with a skill. He even unlocked the **[Knead]** skill, which he hadn't been able to activate even with wheat flour. Thanks to that, the difficulty of the task dropped to "Low."

Forming the shape was also a somewhat difficult task, but it wasn't a problem for Go Nam-tae. He even made a pottery wheel himself and fashioned decent vessels from the start. He had been so excited when smooth, evenly thick, plump, and elegant jars were coming out.

Obtaining glaze should have been difficult as well, but Heung-bok had brought some well-rotted humus from somewhere, so he didn't even have to search for it.

Kneading the clay, forming the shape, applying the glaze, drying, and even building the kiln. Every step had been smooth sailing.

However, the essence of making a jar was the firing! The final process was a literal ordeal.

'Production skills aren't omnipotent, after all...'

At least thanks to the production skill, he was only getting stuck at the final stage. The key was fire control, and the only way to figure that out was through repetition.

"That's enough for today."

Go Nam-tae raised his hands and stepped back. He had decided to make meju today. He still had the homework of succeeding with a jar before the meju was finished, but he’d get it eventually. After all, the shapes were getting better each time... And if it didn't work, he had the final resort of asking Kim Gu-bok to buy one for him.

Aside from the jars, the process of making meju had been slightly delayed because he was preoccupied with the matter regarding Park Seong-yeon. Seeing as there had been no response for several days, it seemed like a refusal. Or, considering Kim Jae-won was also quiet, it might be that they just hadn't made a decision yet.

'Should I look for another way?'

He felt he needed to find a solution before his hometown was swallowed by the Erosion Zone.

Heung-bok picked up large sacks of beans one by one and set them down by the water tap. Heung-bok and the Sasin-su, who moved in perfect sync just by looking at his eyes, finished giving the beans a clean bath.

As Go Nam-tae set the beans to cook and turned around, Heung-bok shook his leaves.

'Boss, I... I want to eat rice cakes. Could you make some today?'

For Heung-bok to request rice cakes! Rather than actually wanting to eat them, it felt more like he understood the Boss’s feelings and was trying to match the mood. Of course, rice cakes weren't a bad thing for Heung-bok.

"Sure, shall we make a new kind of rice cake today?"

'A new rice cake!'

'More delicious food!'

*Wiggle, wiggle!*

The others also responded enthusiastically. As if they wouldn't have eaten it otherwise.

Even if the steamer was broken, he could still make rice cakes. As mentioned, he had a wooden steamer. However, the taste of rice cakes from the **[Boss’s Steamer]** was about 2% lacking, so to speak. Still, a rice cake was a rice cake.

Since there was a special request from Heung-bok today, he planned to make an even more special rice cake. Baekseolgi could be transformed in endless ways.

"This is Kong-seolgi!"

The first was a Baekseolgi studded with black beans that resembled a Dalmatian.

"This one is Hobak-goji-seolgi."

Golden grains were embedded throughout it.

And for the third, he mixed both. But he couldn't call this a true variation.

Go Nam-tae asked playfully as he opened the fourth steamer.

"Do you guys know what happens when you hit a rice cake?"

Their heads tilted. Faced with those innocent eyes, Go Nam-tae felt a bit embarrassed. ...But why be embarrassed? He really was going to hit them!

"Watch, I’m going to strike it like this!"

The moment the cake mallet appeared, an explosive response erupted.

'Me too!'

'Me too, me too!'

The Sasin-su really... they loved striking things. They already had their own specialized pestles because they loved using them so much. Once Go Nam-tae demonstrated once, they immediately took over and began pounding with the mallet. He thought he should probably make mallets just for them.

*Thump-thud, thump, thump-thud!*

Through a thorough "striking," a new kind of rice cake was born. The white body became slightly translucent, and the crumbly texture became chewy. If you pulled it, it would stretch like taffy before snapping back.

'This is it!'

It would be a shame to eat it just like this. He divided the mass in half, then cut those into smaller pieces and coated them with sweet, roasted, finely ground bean powder. For the other half, he added boiled corn, pounded it again, and then coated it with bean powder.

"This side is Injeolmi, and this side is corn Injeolmi. Here, everyone try some."

Everyone popped the golden Injeolmi into their mouths, and colorful fireworks seemed to explode in their eyes.

*Gulp!*

He thought he heard the sound of someone swallowing from somewhere. Then again, since everyone was eating heartily, it was only natural.

Even Heung-bok, who usually only tasted one, was already taking a second. No, wait, were those one, two, three Injeolmi hanging like fruit from his tendrils?

"Oh, Heung-bok, you like Injeolmi?"

*Quiver.*

Heung-bok’s leaves trembled. It was as if he was embarrassed to have been caught. Nam-tae felt bad for not giving him much before; he couldn't have Heung-bok feeling self-conscious like this.

"Eat as much as you want, Heung-bok. You like the ones with the powder, right? Take some more Kong-seolgi too. I should make more of the other rice cakes as well."

*Rustle!*

Heung-bok’s leaves shook violently, and even his roots seemed to shift.

"Do you like it that much, Heung-bok?"

Heung-bok flinched and shook his leaves.

Go Nam-tae turned away with a smile. At that moment, the area beneath the leaf where Heung-bok had covered the rice cakes shifted again.

'...How long do I have to keep pretending I don’t know?'