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Chapter 2
Fortunately, I was allowed to choose whatever kind of food I wanted to sell.
“Hmmm… what should I make?”
Honestly, there weren’t many menu options suitable for this old, cramped stall.
Since it was by the roadside, it needed to be something people could casually eat while passing by, and judging from the setup, anything with a complicated cooking process was impossible.
And since it was winter…
“It has to be bungeoppang, right?”
The moment I finished thinking it, the system window burst open with flashy fireworks effects and displayed a new message.
Menu “Bungeoppang” selected!
You have received a ‘Beginner Bungeoppang Kit.’
⇒ Claim Reward
Still dazed, I clicked “Claim Reward,” and a notification popped up saying that a “Worn-Out Bungeoppang Mold,” “Bungeoppang Batter,” “Sweet Red Bean Paste,” and “Cooking Oil” had been added to my inventory.
“You received a gift, meow?”
“It gave me the basic ingredients to make bungeoppang. Wait a second…”
I opened the inventory and checked how the ingredient icons were displayed, then clicked “Detailed View” for the materials I’d just received.
And then I realized something incredible.
The fish-shaped pastry mold was just a shabby two-slot mold, but the rest of the ingredients had a shocking description attached:
Auto Refill Available.
Auto refill?
Does that mean ingredient costs are free?!
“No way…!”
So this was why everyone desperately wanted to awaken!
Unable to contain my excitement, I waved my fists wildly in the air.
“Seriously, are you that happy, meow?”
“Of course! Do you know how important cutting ingredient costs is in business?!”
Right. So what if the shop was old?
I just had to work hard and sell well!
Thrilled by the thought of free ingredients, I began forcing my brain into full optimism mode.
“Alright! Life’s short. Let’s just do this!”
I burned with motivation.
For some reason, I had a feeling things would work out.
And feelings like that were always wrong.
“Isn’t this way too cruel?!”
I had spent all night practicing making bungeoppang and opened the shop first thing in the morning, but not a single person passed by.
So much for my good feeling.
The only things visible in front of me were a few dead leaves rolling across the road with the wind.
“I knew the location was the problem.”
At my complaint, the cat simply yawned lazily.
It had insisted we open here, yet it didn’t seem worried at all.
“With business this bad, are you really sure you can grant my wish?”
“You humans truly have no patience, meow.”
“It’s not that I lack patience—!”
I snapped and raised my voice, but the cat only stretched itself and told me to wait.
Ugh, fine.
As long as my wish came true, who cared if the business failed or not?
And then—
“Hello! How much are the bungeoppang?”
“Oh! Hello! They’re 1,000 won each!”
“Wow, it’s been forever since I had bungeoppang, right?”
“Seriously. We’ll take two!”
Two hours after opening, a passing couple finally approached with interest.
My first customers!
I carefully placed the prettiest fish-shaped pastries into a bag and handed them over when the woman tilted her head.
“But you only have red bean filling?”
“For now, only red bean bungeoppang is available.”
“Ah… that’s too bad. Thank you though! Hope business goes well!”
After my first customers left, I stared at the pastries.
‘It really is a little disappointing with only red bean filling.’
A proper bungeoppang shop should obviously have both red bean and custard flavors.
But the stingy system had only given me ingredients for red bean filling.
Worse still, unlocking the next menu item required a condition:
Sell 500 pastries.
“Well, at least there are only 498 left… huh? Why didn’t the number go down?”
I definitely sold two, but the system still displayed “0/500.”
Did I do something wrong?
As I blinked in confusion at the incomprehensible system, the cat lying in the corner suddenly sprang to its feet.
“You startled me! What’s wrong?”
“Finally, a customer has arrived, meow.”
“A customer? Where?”
Following its gaze, I spotted someone approaching from afar.
“You must give food to that human, meow!”
“T-That person?”
He looked terrifying at first glance.
Huge build. Thick beard.
Despite the freezing weather, he wore a suit without an overcoat and even had sunglasses on, making him look even scarier.
I awkwardly shook my head.
“He definitely looks like an awakened person…”
“It must be that human, meow! Hurry up and go!”
When I hesitated, the cat started aggressively pushing against my legs.
“Stop hesitating like a grub, meow!”
“Ugh! If it weren’t for my wish, I swear—!”
Half-crying, I stuffed some freshly golden-brown bungeoppang into a paper bag and ran after him.
He walked so quickly that he had already gotten pretty far away in that short time.
“E-Excuse me! Wait a second!!!”
At my shout, he paused and slowly turned around.
He was built like a mountain. I had to crane my neck way back just to look up at him.
“What is it?”
“Ah, um… I opened a shop today!”
Hesitantly, I held out the bag of bungeoppang.
He lifted his sunglasses slightly and looked down at it.
“I wanted to give you one as an opening gift…”
“An opening gift?”
“Yes! Just so you can try it.”
At my words, he slowly shook his head.
“I’m a Hunter. My sense of taste is duller than normal people’s, so I don’t think I’m the right person for taste-testing.”
Then, after giving a polite nod, he turned as if to leave.
Panicking, I grabbed onto him.
“Just once! Could you please just try one bite?”
I hadn’t sold a single thing today…
I’d spent the entire day making these…
And it was my grand opening day…
As I muttered gloomily, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly before finally accepting the bag.
“…I just need to try it, right?”
“Yes! Of course! No pressure at all!”
Letting out a small sigh, he pulled out a pastry and cautiously took a bite.
Crunch—
The crispy outer shell cracked apart and disappeared into his mouth.
At the same time, he let out a low gasp.
“…No way.”
What?
Was there a problem?
Was the inside undercooked?
Was the outside too crispy?
“It’s insanely delicious!!!”
Huh? D-Delicious?
Before I could process his reaction, he suddenly sprinted toward my stall.
Startled, I hurried after him only to see him grabbing bungeoppang from the tray and shoving them into his mouth.
“WOOO! SO GOOD!”
Making bizarre sound effects, he devoured the pastries with one in each hand.
The pile on the tray vanished rapidly.
“Um… would you like me to make more?”
“Yes! Please!”
A passerby stopped briefly as if witnessing something horrifying, then quickly turned around and disappeared.
‘A huge bearded man aggressively stuffing fish-shaped pastries into both hands… yeah, that probably does look scary.’
I forced an awkward smile and poured batter into the mold again.
After some time, the man finally finished demolishing the mountain of pastries and smiled sheepishly.
“Haha… I guess I got a little carried away.”
“Not at all. It’s nice seeing someone enjoy them so much.”
“Since awakening, this is the first time I’ve tasted something this flavorful… By the way, so you’re a Production-Type Hunter. I had no idea.”
Huh? Production-Type?
It was the first I’d heard of it, but I couldn’t exactly deny it, so I nodded vaguely.
“I’m Yoon Kanghyuk, head of the Security Management Team. I work on the first floor of the Hunter Management Bureau, so I suppose we may see each other again.”
“Oh, I’m Jung Haneul. Nice to meet you.”
No wonder he was built like a tank…
He was a security officer at the Bureau.
And apparently the team leader, no less.
“Ah, it’s already this late. I should get going.”
After checking the time, he frowned slightly and suddenly pulled out a thick wad of cash from his wallet.
W-Wait!
That’s way too much!
“T-This is too much!”
“It’s just a token of appreciation. I truly enjoyed the food. Well then.”
With a casual farewell, he disappeared.
And somehow, I just stood there blankly.
Slowly alternating my gaze between the stack of bills in my hand and the completely empty tray, I swallowed hard.
So what this meant was—
“Hunters can actually taste my food?”
The dulling of taste caused by awakening was supposed to be an unavoidable side effect.
No item in existence had ever solved it before.
But if Hunters could taste my bungeoppang…
“Isn’t this absolutely huge?!”
Eureka. Unbelievable. Completely insane.
A calculator started spinning rapidly inside my head.
“Alright. Time to completely redo my sales strategy!”
I quickly cleaned up the stall and shouted “Return!” to go back home.
First, I needed to change my target audience.
Not ordinary people passing near the Hunter Management Bureau—
But awakened individuals.
Hunters.
And the price, which had been 1,000 won per pastry, was immediately raised to 10,000 won.
These weren’t ordinary fish-shaped pastries anymore.
They were basically items.
“Need a new price sign… and a label saying they’re for awakened people…”
Humming happily as I reviewed my changes, one very important thought suddenly hit me.
How was I supposed to advertise that my bungeoppang were special items for Hunters?
“Stopping random people like today is way too inefficient…”
No matter how good a product was, it meant nothing if nobody knew about it.
Hmm…
I flopped onto my bed and thought deeply.
A good method…
‘If they’d just try it once, they’d all realize how amazing it is.’
Wait.
If they only needed one bite…
A brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
Hunter Management Bureau free tasting event.
Let’s do this.
