-Wooooooo~!
A massive roar of cheering echoed from the stadium in the distance.
Zack almost looked back, but he had a Task he needed to figure out first.
The cousin who would solve that Task was grumbling as if he wanted to be heard.
“Whew! Honestly, I only came because Zack called. Truly.”
Hearing this, Zack shrugged his shoulders as if it were ridiculous.
It was Hermes, the messenger of the gods, who possessed the ability to arrive in the blink of an eye no matter who called.
For someone who spent every second of the day scurrying across the world, he sure was acting like he was doing a great favor.
Perhaps sensing Zack’s thoughts, Hermes murmured while glancing at him.
“But seriously, I really didn’t know… It’s not like I check the Western Heaven entry list every single time.”
‘I doubt that.’
Zack countered his words in Sign Language with a look of annoyance.
‘But you must have been watching me closely enough to report to Father every day.’
“…You knew?”
Hermes gave a thick-skinned grin.
Zack snorted at the sight, finding it absurd.
At this, Hermes sounded a bit frustrated and grumbled.
“Hey, what am I supposed to do when your Father calls me every day? Call him once in a while, you punk. If you hate calling, at least send a text. You unfilial brat.”
It wasn’t that Zack hadn’t expected this when he came to Western Heaven.
His Father was the type to worry a lot, despite not even being able to greet him properly…
He had strayed off-topic for a moment.
Right now, confirming that fact wasn’t the priority for Zack.
‘So, is he here?’
“…Who is ‘he’?”
Hermes tried to feign ignorance one last time.
But no matter if he was the Deity of lies, it was difficult to hide the truth that was already sensed.
Reading Zack’s murderous gaze, Hermes continued slyly.
“Ah… It hasn’t been long. He arrived today. Today. I’m telling you, I only found out today too.”
‘In the form of a beggar?’
“He originally likes wandering around looking like a beggar… From the looks of it, he’s caused some trouble, hasn’t he?”
Hermes let out a little chuckle.
Even though they were both troublemakers, Hermes and ‘him’ were of a different breed.
Unlike Hermes, who caused trouble with a shameless face according to a plan, he was a beast who followed his instincts, unpredictable in where he would bounce next.
Hermes shook his head as if fed up with Zack’s fierce glare.
“I really don’t know. You don’t think I’m close with ‘him’, do you? Just because we’re cousins doesn’t mean we’re all close.”
‘Tell me everything you know.’
“…I heard a story that he asked for cooperation from this side, the Oriental Tourism Promotion Institute.”
At Hermes’ words, Zack squeezed his eyes shut.
He regretted avoiding the truth despite the various clues, telling himself it couldn’t be.
A famous Artist under the jurisdiction of the Greco-Roman Divine Realm Bureau.
A special performance held specifically by coming all the way to the Seocheon Flower Garden.
Intruding into the stadium and even turning the Makgeolli into wine.
With the continuous incidents and accidents, he was now certain that ‘he’ had arrived.
“Don’t be so disappointed. He’s a guy who lives up to the title of ‘God of Wine’, after all.”
Hermes offered words of consolation, but Zack’s face showed no sign of brightening.
As Zack remained silent with his face covered by both hands, Hermes began to chatter away with what he knew, as if wanting to comfort him.
“Still, you’ve ‘bloomed’ a lot, haven’t you? Hades was really happy. As expected, a child who has grown a bit needs to leave the house to develop.”
“…….”
“Hades worries about you so much. He calls me every day to ask what you’re doing, if you’re sick anywhere… Ugh, it’s tedious.”
“…….”
“If you’re not going home, at least call! If only for my sake, being stuck between a father and son, please.”
“…Hermes.”
“Huh?”
Did someone just call his name?
Hermes looked at Zack, wondering if he had heard a hallucination, but Zack raised his downcast eyes and they flashed.
Hermes instinctively gulped at that sharpness.
‘Bring that bastard in front of me before you leave.’
“What?”
Was it because of Zack’s murderous intent that his heart felt like it was dropping, even though the words were spoken in Sign Language?
‘Bring that crazy Dionysus to me!’
Zack’s movements were violent.
Hermes almost let out a hiccup.
“Wow, this is insane.”
After the match ended, the spectators who received the food couldn’t help but let out exclamations of awe.
Fresh Kimchi that was sweet, salty, and refreshing, and meat that melted the moment it entered the mouth….
Furthermore, three types of drinks were prepared.
“What is this? Why is there wine in the Seocheon Flower Garden?”
The grape wine served instead of Makgeolli was of the highest quality.
Grape wine that had passed the strict inspection of the Meal Service Team was distributed along with rice punch and Jade Lake.
The spectators and athletes relaxed while drinking sweet and sour beverages according to their preferences.
[Those who have finished eating, please cast your vote for the winning team in the ballot box prepared in front of the platform.]
The weight of the kimchi measured right after the match was also displayed on the monitor.
The one that achieved the highest quantity was the Chae Seok Team.
A Meal Service Team athlete chewed on meat while recalling the moment the Chae Seok Team was doing the Kimchi Season.
“No, it’s like the cabbage isn’t even heavy to them. They each came carrying an armful, right? And then they were just slathering on the seasoning, and when they put it down, they were stacking it up this high, and this high!”
The Meal Service Team athlete seemed excited again while reminiscing about that scene.
Another athlete who was reminiscing alongside them shook their head as if exhausted.
“…Next time we do Kimchi Season, we should just call them.”
It was an Outdoor Event where they discovered each other’s unexpected talents in many ways.
The spectators who participated in the match also couldn’t stop talking.
“It’s my first time handling that much cabbage in such a short amount of time.”
“I was so exhausted halfway through that I started eating the cabbage raw.”
“What?!”
It was a time for small and pleasant conversations.
However, Mujae, who should have been bragging about his thrilling experience, kept his mouth tightly shut.
Instead, Yuksugwi became the narrator, his eyes flashing like lamps.
“You all know how long barbecue takes, right?”
As the Goddoger with fifty million Subscribers for meat alone, Yuksugwi was an excellent talker.
“This isn’t something that just happens in a snap! Absolutely not. Earlier, as soon as I sold all the meat, I thought, ‘This is a disaster, if I don’t prepare now, I won’t have anything to sell tomorrow!’ so I had some barbecue in progress.”
Yuksugwi, reenacting the situation with his facial muscles and gestures, also looked like his excitement hadn’t subsided yet.
“Even so, it had been less than an hour, so it was meat with bright red blood dripping from it, but when Mujae saw it, he said this.”
“Yuksugwi…”
Mujae tried to interrupt Yuksugwi’s words as if he were embarrassed, but it was no use.
“He said, ‘Um, would it be okay if I tried touching it with my bare hands?’!”
“Bare hands?”
Hallakgung-i frowned as if doubting his ears.
Clap! The excited Yuksugwi struck his lid-like hands together to make a clapping sound.
“That’s right, bare hands! I didn’t understand, so I asked back, ‘What?’, and he said again, ‘I’ll go wash my hands thoroughly.’ Hahahaha!”
Yuksugwi laughed, his vocal cords vibrating, as if it were still absurd thinking about it.
“It’s a barbecue turning over bright red charcoal… It’s not like I was asking about the hygiene status. So I said, ‘At least wear Gloves,’ and gave them to him. But do you know what he said?”
“What did he say?”
Yuksugwi’s brilliant performance wasn’t over.
He hunched his large frame as much as possible and imitated Mujae’s voice.
“‘No, I don’t think it will work well if I wear Gloves.'”
“No way….”
“And then, before I could stop him, thud! Mujae’s bare Hand touched the meat!”
“Hahaha….”
“I can tell just by looking, whether it’s cooked or not.”
The mysterious eyewitness account experienced by the meat expert was only just beginning.
Hallakgung-i nodded and reacted as if it were very interesting.
“From the part where Mujae’s Hand touched, the color started changing rapidly! Then, grease started to drip, drop by drop~ I’m telling you.”
“Wow….”
“A little later, the grease started pouring out, and wow, the barbecue was finished in an instant!”
“Really??”
“I’m serious! Otherwise, where would I have gotten that massive amount of barbecue?!”
Yuksugwi shouted, his surprise still not calmed.
Hallakgung-i looked at Mujae suspiciously at the unbelievable story.
Whether he couldn’t withstand his friend’s intense gaze, Mujae finally opened his mouth.
“…No, since it was an emergency, a strange thought suddenly occurred to me.”
“So?”
“Do you remember when we went to Revelation Hell before? When we were making fertilizer.”
Mujae had caused a strange phenomenon back then too.
He had created the fertilizer used in Revelation Hell in an instant.
With a face still lacking certainty, Mujae explained in a small voice.
“I had this thought. What if my Brown Thumb ability… is something that ferments things?”
“Fermenting!?”
Hallakgung-i’s face made a sound like a squashed frog at the unexpected word.
Mujae also laughed as if it were a bit ridiculous.
“No, I know it sounds crazy too….”
“His ability is….”
Before they knew it, Yuksugwi was repeating the heroic tale to other Shinsomis.
Sensing the atmosphere, Hallakgung-i and Mujae, who had stepped slightly away from everyone, continued their conversation in whispers.
“Your Brown Thumb ability was originally something that made plants wither.”
“Right.”
“And then you made fertilizer….”
The expression on Hallakgung-i’s face turned strange as he spoke.
It was difficult to state the commonality between the strange phenomena.
“…And this time you cooked meat?”
“So, I wondered if this was some kind of ‘fermentation’ that makes time flow faster.”
Mujae spread his palm wide toward Hallakgung-i.
A soft, youthful palm of someone who died before turning sixteen.
“…Could it be that something like microbes are crawling around on my hand!?”
“…….”
Mujae’s eyes widened as if he wanted to discover something, and Hallakgung-i’s eyes grew even smaller.
But even after peering into it for a long time….
“…It’s just a palm.”
There was nothing.
With a small sigh, Hallakgung-i offered words that were reasonable for the situation.
“You didn’t get burned, did you? Even if you’re one of The Dead, the Otherworld feels the same as This World.”
“Ah, that’s fine! It wasn’t as hot as I thought.”
“That’s a relief!”
Yuksugwi, who had just finished spreading the grand tale once more, cut back in with a bright smile.
To him, today was a very lucky day.
“Thanks to you, it seems I’ll be able to participate in the night market today. Thankfully.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m very grateful that you shared the meat so suddenly.”
“How should I handle the payment….”
“Aiyoo, don’t say such disappointing things!”
The corners of Yuksugwi’s mouth didn’t leave his ears as he waved his hand at Hallakgung-i’s question about payment.
He stretched his arm toward the spectator seats and shouted.
“With this amazing advertising effect, business will be a hit! Not to mention the supply of stock. If anything happens in the future, please call me!”
“…I appreciate you saying that.”
“The voting results are out!”
It was the second match of the Outdoor Event, and the end was finally in sight.
Mujae and Hallakgung-i stood up again to announce the results of the match.