TRUFT 13

Chapter 13

“Huff— huff—”

Hong Gisu exhaled sharply.

He had almost died.

‘If it weren’t for the enhancement…’

He would already be dead.

Originally, it was a one-time-use skill, but thanks to the enhancement, the shockwave became stronger, allowing him to use it one more time.

And he ended up being saved by Kim Howon—the very person he had felt inferior to.

“Gisu! Are you okay?”

Even though he himself wasn’t in great condition, Kim Howon rushed over to check on him.

“…I’m okay. Thank you.”

“Come on! We’re teammates.”

Teammates.

Right.

‘Feeling jealous of a teammate…’

They had to trust each other to clear raids.

‘And Kim Howon clearly became vice team leader because of his effort and talent.’

Didn’t he just save him?

From Kim Howon’s perspective, it was the result of immense talent and hard work.

‘Instead of being jealous, I should’ve just worked harder.’

“Yeah… thanks, Howon.”

Hong Gisu decided to open his heart to Kim Howon, who was the same age as him.

“Busy, busy!”

Yuna muttered as she used her tiny hands to plate and pack takoyaki.

“Busy, busy! Super busy! Dad, one takoyaki order’s ready!”

“Yeah, I’ll serve it!”

“Young master, three takoyaki!”

“Yes! Busy, busy…”

Ah.

After hearing Yuna say “busy, busy” over and over, I unconsciously started repeating it too.

As I continued making takoyaki, a familiar voice called out.

“Boss—!!”

It was Kim Howon.

“Oh, long time no see.”

“Right? We’ll take 30 servings of takoyaki!”

“…That would use up all the ingredients.”

“Oh… then 10 servings?”

“Haha, no—it’s fine. There’s no line behind you, and we’re about to close anyway. Let’s just sell everything and wrap up on a good note.”

“Oh! Thank you!”

“No problem. Please have a seat over there.”

“Okay! Ah, and… would it be possible to talk for a moment later?”

I smiled and answered.

“Of course.”

“Wow…! This is seriously delicious! This takoyaki is amazing!”

Kim Howon clapped as he praised it.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Boss, this is really good. I can see why Howon praised it.”

A man named Hong Gisu clicked his tongue in admiration.

I smiled faintly to myself.

‘Their 분위기 (atmosphere) feels different from earlier. Did something happen in the gate?’

“You’re the one who helped Howon, right? Thanks to you, I gained a great subordinate. Thank you.”

The leader of Team 1 patted Kim Howon’s back and expressed his gratitude.

‘That guy’s going to go far.’

Team Leader Jisuwon.

He’d probably rise to B-rank soon and make a name for himself.

‘He has an ice-type trait. I know exactly how good that is.’

Because I have it too.

‘When Jisuwon becomes B-rank, what happens to Kim Howon?’

Will he become the team leader?

Or will someone else take over?

‘Well, whatever happens, he’ll handle it well.’

I could see it.

Before long, Kim Howon would make a name for himself. No doubt.

‘He has both the talent and the effort.’

Anyway, after thanking me for the food, Jisuwon and the rest of the team left.

Only Kim Howon and I remained under the parasol, and he spoke.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Because of you, I was able to reach this point. What you said before really helped me.”

“I’m glad, but I didn’t really do anything. You did it yourself.”

I smiled brightly.

Last time I saw him, there was a shadow over his face—but now he looked much brighter.

“I appreciate you saying that… but it’s definitely thanks to you. And I can’t really explain it, but I feel like the reason I advanced to D-rank is also because of you.”

“No, it’s not. It’s all because you did well. You’ll keep doing well in the future too.”

“…Thank you.”

Kim Howon’s eyes reddened.

We’d probably see each other often from now on… hopefully he wouldn’t get like this every time.

“Ah, I should get going—I have a report to write. I’ll visit again after seeing your Insta. Thank you so much!”

“Sure, I hope to see you again soon. And thank you too.”

“Huh?”

“It just feels nice to have gained a regular customer.”

“Ah…! A regular. That’s right. I’ll definitely become a regular! Thank you, boss!”

“Alright, enough with the thanks—get going.”

“Yes! Thank— I mean, thanks!”

“Haha…”

What an interesting guy.

And such a kind one.

“Uncle!! We’re going to Gyeongju, right?!”

“Ah… yeah!”

At Yuna’s excited call, I instinctively ran over.

Our next travel destination was Gyeongju.

‘There’s a lot to do there.’

Ancient Silla.

A place where history breathes.

It had many such titles, and the city itself put a lot of effort into tourism—there was plenty to see.

‘History museums, Donggung and Wolji, Cheomseongdae…’

It would be a great experience for Yuna.

“Hehe.”

“Hahaha.”

Yuna and my older brother laughed in turns.

“What are you so happy about?”

“There’s an amusement park in Gyeongju! I heard the roller coasters there are super fun!”

My sister-in-law fell silent.

Her expression clearly said: ‘You’re in your thirties—what are you even doing?’

“Uncle! I wanna do that!”

“What?”

“Board games!”

“…Shall we?”

It would take about four hours to get to Gyeongju.

‘I cast a bit of magic to turn the car into a fully autonomous vehicle, so I can play too.’

So… why not play a game?

“Wait here.”

I reached into my subspace and pulled out several board games.

Among them—one every Korean knows well: Yutnori.

‘There are games like Game of Life and others…’

But Yutnori is the most fun for me.

“Hehe, I like Yutnori!”

A traditional Korean game where you move your pieces based on how many sticks land face-up, and the first to complete a full lap wins.

‘Traditional games really are the best.’

“I’ll team up with Uncle! Dad and Mom can be a team!”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright!”

Our team picked the red pieces; my brother and sister-in-law picked yellow.

“I’m the youngest, so I’ll throw first!”

“…Sure.”

Yuna declared she’d go first because she was the youngest.

‘Well, technically, if you count my time in H, I’m the oldest… so no matter how you calculate it, we go first.’

That’s right.

“Here I go!”

Clatter—

“Geol!”

She got Geol—three spaces forward.

“Nice one, Yuna!”

“Yeah, Uncle! Thank you!”

Their turn.

My sister-in-law threw—

“Yut!”

Four spaces—and another throw.

But they needed Do to take the shortcut.

“Geol!”

“Yes!!”

Yuna and I jumped up together.

“Uncle! If we get Gae, we can take the shortcut!”

“That’s right! Trust your uncle!”

“Okay!!”

I threw the sticks.

No magic—because that would ruin the fun.

“Please… Gae!”

Thud—

Clatter—

“Abyo!!!”

“Yes!!”

It was Gae—perfectly landing us on the shortcut.

Now we just needed 10 more spaces—or two consecutive Geols—to win.

‘Unless they roll Mo twice in a row, we’ve got this.’

But then—

“Mo!”

“Mo!”

“Geol!”

My brother’s team suddenly completed a full lap.

Now, unless we got consecutive Yut or Mo… we’d lose.

“Please… please!”

Thud—

Three sticks.

“…No…”

Now even one Do from them would end it.

‘Please… back-do.’

“We win—!”

My brother threw.

Clatter—

“Woooah!!!”

Yuna cheered.

One marked stick flipped—Back-do!

“Move back one!”

After moving back, our turn began.

We had to get Yut or Mo.

“Yuna. Let’s do this.”

“…Okay!”

She threw.

“…Mo!!”

All four sticks face up.

A comeback victory.

“Uncle!! We won!!”

“One more round!”

“…Why? Let’s play Game of Life!”

My brother glared at Yuna.

She had instantly rejected his rematch request.

“Let’s stop at a rest area first.”

“Sounds good!”

“And you two are paying, right?”

“…Fine. We lost, after all.”

“We’ll win next time—then you guys pay.”

I smirked.

This kind of playful betting made things even more fun.

“Hehe.”

Yuna grinned, holding so-tteok so-tteok and tteokbokki.

“So good!”

“Give Uncle a bite?”

“…Okay! One rice cake and one sausage!”

“Thanks.”

She gave me some—so I must be important to her, right?

“It tastes even better because you gave it to me.”

“Right~!”

It really did taste great.

“Alright, let’s head back to the truck and eat while playing more games.”

“Okay!”

“Here we go!”

Even Game of Life ended with our team winning.

So my brother and sister-in-law had to pay at the second rest stop too.

“Phew… let’s take a break. Enjoy the scenery.”

As we exited the highway, trees filled the view beautifully.

‘And buildings too.’

As we got closer to Gyeongju, traditional-style tiled houses appeared more frequently.

“So cool!”

Yuna said, opening the window.

A refreshing breeze flowed in, lifting our spirits.

“Let’s rest the first day when we arrive, and start selling from the next day.”

“Sounds good.