Irim picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork.
He put it straight into his mouth without dipping it in any sauce.
The crisp frying batter shattered, and the tender pork loin inside melted softly as he chewed.
Irim’s tongue couldn’t taste anything.
Yet his nose faintly caught the nutty aroma unique to fried food.
Irim felt like jumping with joy.
It was no longer just an illusion; it was certain.
He had regained a tiny bit of his sense of smell.
Just being able to smell a little made the happiness of enjoying food grow immensely.
Irim picked up another piece of sweet and sour pork and this time dipped it deeply into the sauce before eating.
‘The sour-sweet, rich sauce must be spreading all over my mouth right now.’
As he imagined the taste, he faintly caught the sharp, piercing scent unique to the sauce.
The sticky sauce soaked into the crispy batter of the sweet and sour pork and mingled with the pork inside.
Before the sweet and sour pork even slid down his throat, Irim scooped up a huge chopstick-full of jjajangmyeon and shoved it into his mouth.
He couldn’t taste it, but the properly mixed aromas of the two dishes stimulated his nose, and he had never felt happier.
Gulp!
After swallowing, Irim opened the small dish of soy sauce that had come with the sweet and sour pork.
‘Eating it just dipped in plain soy sauce would be too bland.’
Irim brought some vinegar and chili powder from the kitchen and mixed them into the soy sauce in just the right amount.
This was the proper way to enjoy sweet and sour pork.
He dipped a piece deeply into the prepared soy sauce, put it in his mouth, chewed, and imagined the flavor.
The rough, sour-salty taste of the soy sauce paired unbelievably well with the greasy sweet and sour pork.
‘This time, dip it in the sweet and sour sauce first, then once more in the soy sauce.’
This method maximized the flavor of the sauces.
The two sauces mixing in his mouth created a mysterious synergy that explosively drew out all kinds of tastes.
While eating, Irim suddenly dunked half the remaining sweet and sour pork completely into the sauce.
Sweet and sour pork had long suffered from the debate of whether to pour the sauce over it or dip it.
Irim belonged to both the pouring faction and the dipping faction.
That’s why he liked leaving half soaked in sauce and dipping the other half.
He ate so absentmindedly that before he knew it, the entire bowl of jjajangmyeon and the small portion of sweet and sour pork had vanished.
‘Wow. It’s been a while since I ate this much.’
After the accident, Irim hadn’t enjoyed eating, but those around him had always known him as a big eater.
In the past, this amount would have been nothing; he could easily have finished jjampong and fried rice on top of it.
Irim cleared away the empty dishes and stepped outside to help his stomach settle.
“Hmm.”
He breathed in the dawn air deeply.
Even air carried different scents depending on the time of day.
Morning air was different from dawn air, lunch air from evening air, and night air was different again.
Irim especially loved dawn air.
So deep down he had hoped he might smell that scent too, but it seemed it was still too much for now.
‘This is a little scary.’
Having walked quite far from home, Irim suddenly looked around and rubbed his shoulders.
The alley in front of his house was scheduled to become a road soon, so there were no streetlights.
Yet because he was excited about regaining his sense of smell, he had come this far without feeling scared.
‘I should just go back.’
Irim started walking quickly back the way he came.
But then.
Waaaaaaaaa.
Huaaaaaaaa.
From somewhere came the sound of a child crying.
‘Ugh.’
A chill ran down Irim’s spine, and he practically ran home.
Even after Irim disappeared, the crying continued for a long time.
At the hour when Irim had fallen into deep sleep.
A new post appeared on Real’s fan cafe.
The poster’s nickname was “Maengho.”
The title read:
Cleared Marina’s Hideout!
***
Marina’s Hideout was a quest that no one had ever cleared before.
Thus the aggro from the title was considerable, and many people flocked to the post.
The content was as follows:
[Hello everyone. This is Maengho, currently playing in Tirko Village.]
Today I cleared Marina’s Hideout. Hehehe.
It was insanely difficult, but somehow I did it.
As a reward I got the Warrior skill “Earth Rend,” and if you add me as a friend on the Korean Integrated Server under “Maengho,” I’ll show it to you right in front of your eyes.
Ah! One important thing.
Marina’s Hideout is a disappearing quest~
Once someone clears it, it can never be repeated.
That means no one else can ever clear this quest, and that also means no one besides me can ever use “Earth Rend.”
With this, I’ve gotten a little closer to being 100 billion won ahead of everyone else, right? ㅋㅋ?
Since the quest is gone anyway, I’ll tell you how I cleared it.
You must NOT kill Marina’s main body. Behind her there’s a cross wall; break that and Marina’s corpse is there.
You have to kill the corpse.
Actually I only found out thanks to Rice who came with me ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
I thought he was just a cook, but that person is seriously amazing.
Oh, and Rice even solo-cleared a hidden quest.
He seemed to calm Marina’s soul by making some kind of food; I’m not sure exactly how it worked, but he said he got something insane from clearing the hidden quest ㅋㅋ
Anyway, it was a dream-like day.
Rice.
Today was really fun! You’re so cool!
Comments poured onto Maengho’s post at terrifying speed.
At first many said it was just an attention-seeker making up delusions for clout.
But then comments started appearing that Luke, Karen, and Xyle were no longer showing up in the village, and eventually Maengho’s post was proven true.
Because of that, the comments were flooded with questions about who on earth Rice was.
People who knew Rice puffed up their shoulders and left comments.
– Sinking: I’m the one person who was partying with Rice until just a while ago.
– Eater: As expected of Rice. He shines wherever he goes ^^ By the way, all the armor Rice is wearing was made by me ㅋㅋ Proud.
– MachoKing: Oh! Rice hyung! The amazing hyung who one-shotted the Killbequeen!
Meanwhile, Yu Mirae, who had played until late dawn before logging out, was lying in bed reading the post.
“Wow. Rice is incredible.”
She had known from their first meeting that he wasn’t ordinary, but she hadn’t expected him to surge forward this much.
“He’s a really unusual case. He’s not even playing to kill the Demon King, yet he attracts every single issue.”
Rice was already fairly well-known for teaching recipes to the pig restaurant and reviving the brewery.
And now he had gone and cleared a quest no one else had managed, right in front of everyone.
“I should leave a comment too.”
Lying face-down on her bed, Yu Mirae tapped away on her smartphone.
– Melina: Rice. It’s so hard to see your face these days! I want to eat the food you made again!
After rereading her own comment, Yu Mirae muttered with a serious face.
“Does this make it too obvious that I like him? Eh, it’s just a game, whatever.”
She rolled around on the bed, then lay spread-eagle, staring up at the luxurious chandelier on the ceiling.
It was not something you’d normally see in an ordinary family’s daughter’s room.
And it wasn’t just the chandelier.
Every piece of furniture in her room was unmistakably high-class.
“By the way, should I keep doing the part-time job?”
After Irim quit, working had become utterly boring.
She hadn’t realized it before Irim arrived, but once he left there was an emptiness.
The head chef’s grumpiness wasn’t great, and the cheapskate boss was annoying.
“I need to think about this seriously.”
Yu Mirae was muttering to herself when…
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on her door.
“Mirae-ya. Are you sleeping?”
Hearing the gentle voice from the other side, Yu Mirae answered.
“I’m not asleep~ Come in.”
The person who opened the door with a huge smile was Yu Sunjae.
He was the wealthy artist who had gone to Jeongmyeong Restaurant yesterday and been treated to perilla-oil makguksu by Irim.
Yu Mirae was his granddaughter.
Yu Sunjae sat on the edge of the bed, and Yu Mirae immediately climbed onto her grandfather’s lap.
While stroking the head of his granddaughter whom he wouldn’t mind even if she poked his eyes, Yu Sunjae asked.
“How’s the part-time job lately? Not too hard?”
“It’s fine. Just a little boring, that’s the problem.”
“Are you working tomorrow too?”
“No, it’s my day off.”
“That works perfectly. Will you help Grandpa tomorrow?”
Yu Mirae shot up.
“Right! Tomorrow is Grandpa’s new exhibition, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Could you serve some food to the guests? I’ll give you a very thick allowance.”
She didn’t have any particular plans anyway, so Yu Mirae nodded.
“Okay.”
“Thank you, my granddaughter. Grandpa lives because of you.”
“Hehe. How’s your tongue lately? Still the same?”
Yu Sunjae nodded.
“I’ve been to the hospital so many times, but there’s no improvement. Still, yesterday I had truly delicious food.”
“Eh? You can’t taste anything, how can you eat delicious food?”
“A certain young chef taught me that food can be eaten with the eyes, with aroma and texture, and with memories too.”
“Wow~ That’s cool.”
Yu Mirae was genuinely moved by those words.
“Ah, when there’s a chance later, shall we go see him together? If you try the food that chef makes even once, you’ll be completely hooked.”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
Yu Mirae couldn’t resist anything tasty.
Neither Yu Sunjae nor his son had much appetite, but Yu Mirae alone was exceptional.
“Then let’s go out together tomorrow. Don’t stay up too late or serving will be hard. Go to sleep now.”
“Okay. Good night~”
“Alright.”
Yu Sunjae left his granddaughter’s room.
Yu Mirae sat on her bed and mulled over what Yu Sunjae had said.
“Food is eaten with the eyes, with aroma and texture, and with memories. That’s cool.”
She became very curious about who that young chef could be.
11 a.m.
Creak.
***
The door of Jeongmyeong Restaurant opened and Irim walked in.
Today too, Im Jeongmyeong was already at the restaurant.
“I told you to rest at home, why do you keep coming?”
Im Jeongmyeong teased Irim.
“Haha. My body was itching to move.”
Irim put his bag down at the counter and headed to the kitchen as usual.
But the kitchen was piled high with cucumbers.
“Huh? What’s all this, boss?”
“Cheolho dropped them off just a while ago.”
Park Cheolho was the man who ran the junk shop next door and was like an older brother to Im Jeongmyeong.
Lately he said the junk business didn’t suit him anymore and was focusing more on farming.
Irim roughly counted the cucumbers.
There had to be more than thirty.
“These… if we don’t eat them quickly they’ll all go bad. What should we do?”
“Let’s eat lunch first and think then.”
“Shall we? Is there anything you’d like?”
“No need to work hard today. Let’s eat out.”
As he spoke, Im Jeongmyeong took out his smartphone and called someone.
“Hello. It’s me. Yeah. Today’s the new exhibition, right? Ah, so I didn’t forget. Don’t be upset, why would you say that. Hehe. Anyway…I was thinking of stopping by to appreciate the works and fill my stomach at the same time. Your arms are…
…….What? Oh, really? Hold on a second.”
There’s always food at exhibition halls, isn’t there.
Im Jeongmyeong’s voice dropped low during the call.
Irim watched his expression carefully.
After pondering something, Im Jeongmyeong spoke again.
“I’ll call you back soon.”
He hung up and asked Irim.
“Irim-ah. By any chance…….”
Im Jeongmyeong started to ask something, then shook his head.
“No, never mind. I’d just be making you suffer for no reason.”
“Boss. Whatever it is, if it’s something I can do, I’ll do anything, so please tell me without holding back.”
To Irim, Im Jeongmyeong was like a benefactor.
So he wanted to do anything within his power.
Seeing Irim respond like that, Im Jeongmyeong carefully continued.
“Could you perhaps come with me somewhere and make about 100 servings of noodles?”
“Of course.”
When Irim nodded readily, Im Jeongmyeong smiled brightly.
“Then I think we can use up all these cucumbers.”