The Poison Demon and Bungeoppang (3)
Wait a moment.
Skill unlock?
【Congratulations. A new skill is being unlocked.】
-Skill being unlocked:
The Poison Demon's Medicinal and Poisonous Herb Field lv1+@
"Student! How much is this shop?"
"……."
"Student?!"
The bungeoppang cart owner ajumma asked.
I quickly snapped back to my senses. I can't check the skill here.
At the message that I could retrieve my poison herb and medicinal herb field, I momentarily lost my composure.
I spoke to the owner.
"Sell this shop to me."
"This is expensive. Don't take it lightly."
"How much is it?"
The owner seemed to calculate for a moment.
Then showed three fingers with a meaningful expression.
"……Three hundred thousand won?"
"Hey! What! Three million won!"
What?! That's too expensive!
The owner added.
"The bungeoppang machine, the cart, and training fees. I should really be charging five hundred thousand, but I'm in a good mood so I'm giving you a discount."
"……."
All I have is the three hundred thousand won that the delinquent bastards gifted me.
Swish.
I looked at the delinquent guys.
They grasped my intention and avoided my gaze.
"Pig, did you hear that?"
"……What?"
"Can't hear well? Come here, I'll pierce your ears."
Swish. I raised my hand.
Pig shouted in horror.
"Th-three million won, I don't have that either!"
"I heard everything. Prepare it."
Pig looked tearful.
That's when Short Skirt grabbed my forearm.
"Excuse me……. Oppa."
"Oppa?"
"Over there for a moment."
An eye signal to go to the side.
We moved away from the shop a bit.
"What is it?"
"Three million is ridiculous."
"Why?"
Short Skirt held out her phone. It was a search screen.
[Bungeoppang Maker Rental]
-Rental fee: 170,000 won
-Cart free
-Ingredients, dough, and mix included
……What, that ajumma?
How dare she try to scam me?
Creak!
Instantly, the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art activated and my eyes were dyed with poison energy and blood light.
"Ahhh……!"
Then Short Skirt began trembling in fear, shivering.
Oops. My energy is like a nightmare to ordinary people.
I quickly dispersed my internal energy and went to the ajumma.
"It was one hundred seventy thousand won. Ajumma."
"What?! Who said that!"
"I searched it all up."
"Th-that's the shoddy stuff. My shop is high quality-."
"I'm not buying."
I gave the ajumma five thousand won, grabbed two more bungeoppang, and left the shop.
"Well done. Short Skirt."
"Th-thank you."
"Eat."
I bestowed one bungeoppang to the greatest contributor.
【Short Skirt is delighted. +2 Happiness】
Interesting.
I bullied them and even took their money, yet they're happy again over one bungeoppang.
Do they like a single word of praise saying 'well done' that much?
"Since Short Skirt's contribution is great, today's convenience store schedule is canceled."
"Th-thank you."
"Everyone, applause for Short Skirt."
Clap clap clap!
【Short Skirt is delighted. +2 Happiness】
"You may leave."
"Thank you. Goodbye."
"Pig. Except you."
"……What?"
All the delinquent friends left, and only Pig remained by my side.
Pig with an expression as if the world had collapsed.
"……."
Pig seemed afraid of what I might do next, lowering his head and glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
"Keep that up and your eyes will roll back."
"I'm sorry."
"You worked hard. This is a gift."
Rip.
I fairly split one precious bungeoppang and held it out.
The body full of red bean paste is mine.
The tail without red bean paste goes to Pig.
"……Huh?"
"Are you moved? You may cry. I permit it."
【Pig is delighted. +1 Happiness】
***
With Pig's help, I completed the payment for the bungeoppang machine and cart.
A message flew to my phone.
'Your order has been confirmed.'
A message to come to such and such place tomorrow.
Hmm, I guess I have to go there in person.
I sent Pig home, and I also returned to my room.
Mother wasn't home, having gone to work, it seemed.
Good.
Thump thump.
-Unlocked skill:
The Poison Demon's Medicinal and Poisonous Herb Field lv1+@
Shall I go in?
By the way, what is this '+@'? It seems like something tremendous.
When I raised my energy and concentrated, a message naturally came to mind.
【Would you like to move to The Poison Demon's Medicinal and Poisonous Herb Field lv1+@?】
There's no need to hesitate. Of course. Move!
***
"Ahh! How welcome!"
This tangy smell of medicinal herbs and poison herbs.
Certain. This is definitely mine.
Behind me was a door rippling like a water surface.
I must have moved through this door.
With an excited heart, I stroked the leaves of the medicinal herbs and poison herbs.
Sprout sprout. Welcome, master.
Yes, yes. I'm glad too.
Forgetting even my dignity as the Poison Demon, I rubbed my cheeks against the grass blades.
This feeling, this texture! My heart swelled.
【You experience great joy. +500 Happiness】
I looked around. It was certainly my field, but many parts were different.
"First of all, this place where the field itself exists is a separated cubic space."
The bright sun and clouds drifting by as well.
But at the edges of the hexahedron, it was cut off as if sliced with a knife, that kind of strange scenery.
Peculiar.
Still, the good points are clear.
"Being separated means it's safe."
I was worried that perhaps the Murim Alliance Leader, Evil Path Alliance Leader, or a bastard like the Heavenly Demon might capture Jang Pilsam and torture him to find out about this field.
I can leave such worries behind now.
"Does it even rain here?"
I'm not sure, but I wasn't worried.
When I touched the soil, it was moist.
And my field is originally quite large.
Deep in the Otae Mountain.
I carefully selected an unknown valley overflowing with spiritual energy.
"From here to way over there."
It's all my field.
I tried walking step by step. However.
Thunk!
Huh? What's this?
Something like a glass wall was crossing my field, blocking me.
"Can't I pass through?"
I groped the glass wall to check its width.
"Barely…… Two furrows?"
In this vast field, only about two furrows had been unlocked.
"lv1 only permits this much, is that it?"
Should I try to break it?
Bang!
I kicked with all my might, but this wall didn't even budge.
I swallowed my disappointment while rubbing my aching foot.
"Damn it."
If I go to the far end, there's the Thousand Year Green Ginseng (千年綠蔘) that I gifted to Jang Pilsam, and lots of other precious things!
But who am I?
I survived even from the Sacheondang Family, facing annihilation, and became a supreme master of the Gangho. The Poison Demon.
Rather than feeling frustrated, I focused on the situation before my eyes.
"First, let me check the medicinal herbs and poison herbs I can get my hands on."
Since I had planted them sparsely to receive spiritual energy well, the quantity wasn't much.
"Still, it's okay for now."
All kinds of medicinal herbs and poisonous herbs.
From medicinal herbs that cure diseases to poison herbs that, if you poison someone, can even melt all their internal organs.
Among dozens of other varieties.
Compared to what's at the far end of the field, it's lacking.
But still, it's like my treasure vault full of precious things the world has never heard of or seen.
Pluck-!
I pulled out one medicinal herb.
Looking at its size and color, it seems like it still needs time to properly display its efficacy.
The remaining time in the Murim Tower is currently about 1 year and 6 months.
"It looks like it will take several years to fully grow."
There's not enough time.
Hmm.
I raised my internal energy to sense the spiritual energy.
"……!"
This is amazing?
The concentration of spiritual energy seemed several times thicker than where the field originally was.
At this rate, it will grow much faster.
"Plus, if I make and spread my secret fertilizer, it will grow even faster."
Let's see, let's see.
The necessary materials should be here.
I walked around the furrows and checked several medicinal herbs and poison herbs.
"It's a bit lacking."
Unfortunately, the common medicinal herbs that were easy to obtain in the Gangho weren't in my field.
You need to mix various medicinal herbs for the effects to multiply.
Anyway.
"It will be solved once I enter the Murim Tower."
It all comes back around to the Murim Tower.
If anyone asks about the Poison Demon's future, tell them to look at the tower.
"I need to quickly sell bungeoppang and make ten million won."
While inspecting the surroundings, I saw something strange beyond the glass wall.
"What's that?"
I pressed my face close to the glass wall to check.
I saw another door like the entrance I came through.
"Ah! Was the pattern attached behind the poison herb and medicinal herb field referring to that door?"
Two doors.
One is behind me, the entrance and exit from the real world to the herb field.
Then that door is?
"An entrance to another world!"
If it's another world at this time…….
"The Murim Tower?"
I couldn't close my automatically opening mouth.
If that door is a passage directly connected to the Murim Tower?
I no longer need to be bound by permissions from organizations like the National Murim Tower Headquarters or troublesome procedures.
It's a hard story to believe, but my heart was beating too fast to dismiss it as mere vague imagination.
Let me calm down.
Hasty expectations becoming blind desires tend to invite mistakes.
At the same time, doubts endlessly arise in my mind.
"Can I be certain it's real? Or can I definitively conclude it's a door leading to the Murim Tower?"
If I bet everything on the wrong possibility, the price might be unimaginably high.
A tremendous blessing and a dangerous trap.
Nevertheless.
"I will try entering."
A clear opportunity.
I don't have the fault of throwing away even the option itself because I'm afraid.
Then I need to quickly raise the level of my herb field and remove the sealed glass wall.
"In the end, collecting Happiness Points is the core."
I organized my thoughts and sat cross-legged in the dirt field.
I'm thinking of training here from now on.
Since it's a place full of tremendous spiritual energy, cultivating my internal energy here will double the effects.
And, crunch!
I also chewed and swallowed the medicinal herb I had pulled out.
【The Great Law of Reversal (易行) is applied. Medicine (藥) becomes Poison (毒).】
-Immunity To Ten Thousand Poisons lv2 resists the poison.
-Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art (天毒血神功) has sensed the poison in your body. Internal energy increases.
Wait for me.
Murim Alliance Leader, Evil Path Alliance Leader, Heavenly Demon.
And.
Bungeoppang.
***
The next day.
"You're going to make bungeoppang?"
"Yes."
"You?"
"Yes."
I came to get the bungeoppang machine.
The boss who does rentals looked about sixty years old and kept looking me up and down.
"Hehe……. Usually, ajummas come."
"Is that so?"
"This is the first time a young man has come to sell……."
The boss seemed quite flustered.
"I like bungeoppang."
"Are you going to make it and eat it all yourself?"
"I have to sell it."
"This isn't an easy job."
"It will go well."
"……."
The boss looked at me intently, then asked again.
"Have you ever sold it before?"
"This is my first time."
"Have you made it before?"
"No. I paid for the ingredients and recipe, so won't it work if I just make it as instructed?"
I answered confidently.
I'm someone who can make even those difficult medicines and poisons with my eyes closed.
Something like bungeoppang.
However, the boss shook his head.
"This requires know-how. It doesn't become delicious just by doing it. If you suddenly just make it according to the recipe, you'll only suffer losses, right?"
It was a sincere statement.
Three bungeoppang for 5,000 won. You have to sell 60 to make 100,000 won. If you sell 600, that's 1 million won.
There are ingredients provided here.
But it's not enough to make hundreds, so I'll have to buy more additionally.
Then the rental fee and ingredient costs keep going out.
Plus, I have to calculate the opportunity cost of just getting a part-time job instead.
Hmm.
That's right.
"Is there a secret?"
"Hmm……."
The boss stroked his chin.
If this gentleman also demands money, saying it's some secret technique or whatnot.
I'll just ignore him.
However.
Scratch scratch.
The boss wrote an address on a memo pad and held it out along with his business card.
"Go to this place."
"Where is it?"
"There's the best master among the bungeoppang artisans I know. Should I call them the absolute master of bungeoppang?"
……Absolute master?
"Thank you."
"That person is eccentric. I'll introduce you, but I don't know if they'll teach you."
"Thank you."
"Leave the machine and cart here until you've learned everything. When you think you've got it, come back then."
"Understood."
I nodded.
Seeing my expression, he said.
"If you're worried, should I cancel what you paid for?"
Give back the money? Even in my previous life in the Gangho, this wasn't common.
This man is really kind.
"No. I'll come back."
"Alright. Go on."
So I came out with just a single memo paper.
It's quite a distance.
Beep.
I took a bus.
If I used Lightness Skill, it would be quick.
But there's no need to use Lightness Skill and attract attention in this downtown area, not the outskirts like father's factory district.
And the place I arrived at.
"Ooh!"
I could recognize the absolute master at a glance.
Because more than 20 people were lined up in front of that person's cart.
"Amazing, really."
It wasn't even a good location.
Rather, a corner of an alley that's hard for people to find.
Yet so many people are standing in line.
My eyes widened as I looked at them, then I stood at the end of the line.
The absolute master was just an ordinary old woman. Someone who looked about seventy years old.
Quilted floral clothes, a scarf on her head, arm warmers, and cotton gloves on her hands.
However, since the absolute master was wearing them, not a single thing looked ordinary.
1,000 won per piece?
The price is incredibly cheap, too. What profit is there from this?
Shortly after, my turn.
"How many do you want?"
The master asked.
There was no cream bungeoppang or anything like that.
Only red bean bungeoppang, one path.
Swish.
"Three, please. And……."
Swish.
I handed over the business card the boss gave me.
The master glanced at the business card once, then looked at me.
"He sent someone again?"
"This is my first time coming."
"I won't teach you. Why would you try to learn something like this? I don't want to. I won't."
She flatly refused.
"Please teach me just a little. I'll help you work."
"What help is there needed in making bungeoppang? You'll just get in the way. Take this and go away."
She put five bungeoppang in a bag and gave them to me.
After that, the master didn't even look at me.
"Here……."
"Never mind. Just go."
I held out 5,000 won, but she didn't take it either.
Hmm.
20 people were lined up again.
Let me step aside first since I shouldn't interfere with business.
"……Just how delicious is it that they line up like this?"
The smell is the same, though.
Are they lining up because it's cheap?
Crisp.
"……!"
No!
It's different! Definitely different.
The degree of crispness and the sweetness of the red bean filling.
Not the lingering sugar taste in the mouth, but the very concentrated sweetness of red beans could be felt!
A taste that strikes the sense of taste and smell with the Big Dipper Eighteen Steps!
【You feel great satisfaction. +100 Happiness】
Goodness!
A real absolute master!
I immediately lined up again.
"Master."
"I said I won't teach you! I said no!"
"Please don't be like that……."
"Go away!"
I was pushed away again.
One more time.
After lining up again.
"Master-."
"Argh! Go away! I'll call the police!"
"……."
Sigh. It's not working.
I gave up on lining up and decided to just stay around and wait.
I carefully observed the hand movements for making them, the timing, and the amount of mix batter and red bean filling added.
The sun set gradually.
Around quitting time would be the hot time when bungeoppang sells best.
"Business is closed for today. I'm out of ingredients."
The master seemed to have used up all the ingredients she brought, and busily started organizing her cart.
Would it be okay for me to help now?
Will she refuse again?
I wish something dramatic would happen…….
As I was thinking that, and about to approach.
"Hey, old lady! You have to pay back the money!"
Two rough-looking thugs approached the master, glaring at her.