novelraw Chapter 14 : The Tip
Chapter 14 : The Tip
Chapter 14 - The Tip
The day I won money gambling at the martial arts demonstration.
I could tell from Captain Hook's rotten expression.
That that bastard would unconditionally harm the brown-haired kid.
That's why I had made up my mind to definitely give the kid a tip if I met him.
But of all things, to think I would witness that child being beaten to death.
It's the brown-haired kid dealer, beaten to a bloody pulp and limp on the ground.
Damn it. Is he dead? I think he's dead.
'Fuck.'
A small sense of guilt rose up in my heart.
Because even though the kid refused, I stubbornly insisted and placed the bet.
But to think the result of that was the child's death.
Before long, two selves began to collide in my head.
The self of the outsider, telling me not to interfere and to go on my way, and the self of the modern person, saying a child shouldn't die like that.
'Should I help, or not?'
While my thoughts were racing like this,
“That bastard Flaco. We went out of our way to help him, and yet.”
The thug who was glaring at me said,
“That's why I said we should avoid anyone involved with Jeros. I told you nothing good comes of it.”
The thug next to him replied.
“No, but still! Haa. That bastard Flaco, acting all high and mighty just because he's Hierarchy 2.”
“……”
In the end, I decided not to say anything to them.
Because the self of Ian the outsider, who pursues practical benefits, had won.
'Let's avoid useless interference.'
I feel sorry for that kid, but no matter how much mana I've learned, my opponents have an organization behind them.
A confrontation must be avoided at all costs.
And more than anything,
I have no…… obligation to save that child.
That child's sin was selling me a betting ticket and being weak enough to be beaten to death by someone.
I remind myself once again that this is a medieval fantasy world where, if you are ignorant and weak, you have no choice but to suffer.
'Yes. It's not my fault.’
Like the countless murder scenes and corpses I have seen since crossing over to this world, this moment is no different.
However,
But why,
'Fuck.'
Why does this curse keep lingering in my mouth?
“Outsider. Didn't you see Flaco last night?”
I was snapped out of my thoughts by the thug's voice.
I moved my gaze from the child and looked at the bastard.
While wary of me, that bastard was swaggering over as if he would pounce at any moment.
But the other thug stopped him.
“Stop it, Milton. The guards will be coming on patrol soon. Let's go back and talk first.”
Despite his companion's dissuasion, the bastard named Milton glared at me for a long while,
“Let's go.”
He said, and left the spot.
Crunch, crunch.
……Crunch.
As the sound of them stepping on the snow grew more distant, my tension slowly melted away and I became certain.
'That ugly bastard named Milton. He definitely knew.'
When he asked me why I was still alive, I was half in doubt but the word 'Flaco' came out of his mouth precisely.
He definitely knew that Flaco was going to attack me last night.
If that's the case, could it be that bastard?
The main culprit who made Jeros late.
'He said there was a fire at the fence.'
I think that's it.
Seeing as that bastard definitely said, 'we went out of our way to help,' there's no doubt.
'Dammit.'
I was so preoccupied with Flaco that I failed to notice that Flaco wasn't the only one hostile to me.
'To think that Flaco and Captain Hook's gang were involved.'
I may have managed to win Flaco over, but those bastards are on a different scale. They're not just individuals.
A group that runs all the bad businesses there are to run in this frontier town.
Bastards who make money from the red-light district and gambling dens while claiming to be an Adventurers' Guild on the surface.
'But why me?’
For a moment, I had the clumsy thought, -'Isn't 3 shillings an amount they could just give away?'
'It's because of Jeros.'
Jeros, whom they consider a sworn enemy, and me, who confidently earned 3 shillings with him backing me up.
It makes sense that they'd see me as a thorn in their side.
And what's more, unlike a skilled person like Jeros, I'm just a weak outsider.
I'm in the perfect position to be messed with.
'What should I do?'
I thought about it, but there's no answer.
It's not like I'm going to return the money I won, nor am I going to apologize and reconcile.
There's no choice but to ignore them as much as possible like I did just now and deal with the situation as it comes.
Well, that's that, but,
'That kid's corpse……'
Just then, I saw two guards coming on patrol.
Cleaning up corpses on the street is the guards' job.
I approached the guards and spoke.
“Soldiers. There is a child's corpse in the middle of the road over there.”
The guard looked at me and clicked his tongue first.
“Where?”
“Over there.”
“……Outsider. How do you know if he's dead or not.”
“What?”
What is this bullshit.
A person is sprawled out, beaten to a bloody pulp with their eyes open.
“From what I see, it looks like he's not dead yet. George, what do you think?”
“Hmm. I think so too. Looks like he's perfectly fine and alive.”
“See, right? Then that's that, so piss off, outsider.”
“No, but even so, he looks like he's about to die?”
“Then the next person on duty will take care of it. Stop being a pain and hurry up and piss off!”
The bastards ignored me like that and went on their way.
Now that it's come to this, a thought occurs to me.
'Should I be the one to clean it up?'
I heard there's a public crematorium on the north side of town.
But unfortunately, it's in the opposite direction from the general store.
I need to buy ingredients, go back, and prepare for the lunch service.
After deliberating, I found a compromise.
'Let's at least close his eyes.'
Even if I don't do it, another guard will just throw him in the crematorium.
I approached the child's corpse.
He died with his eyes open, but snow was continuously piling on top of him—
“Cough!”
“!!”
Ah crap, you scared the hell out of me.
What the. He really wasn't dead.
So those bastard guards weren't joking?
'Was he just unconscious with his eyes open?'
Anyway,
This kid is tough to kill.
To think he didn't die even after being beaten like that.
I thought he was bound to die from that last soccer kick.
“Cou... gh......”
The child stopped moving, as if he had fainted again with his eyes open.
An appearance that anyone would mistake for a corpse.
“Haa.”
I sighed without realizing, and my breath plumed in the air.
Looking now, I could see a very faint wisp of vapor coming from under the kid's nostrils.
Breath. A fading breath.
I could see it.
'Ah, so those guard bastards saw that and judged that he was alive.'
Just then, a very small voice leaked from between the kid's lips.
“Mo……m.”
Dammit.
I lost.
Ian lost, and Lee Han-cheol won.
Because before I knew it, I had hoisted the child onto my back and was running to the shop.
……
I lit the fire in the kitchen and laid the child down nearby.
And after taking off my coat and covering him with it,
'Shop Window!'
[Satisfaction : 78] x 1pt [Recognition : 16] x 10pt
[Rice (150g) : 5pt]
[Napa Cabbage (1 head) : 3pt]
[Radish (1) : 3pt]
..
.
[Garlic (5 cloves) : 1pt]
.
.
I pressed 'garlic' twice in a row.
10 cloves of garlic materialized in mid-air.
I caught them, crushed them with a knife handle, then mixed them with milk and poured it into the child's mouth.
I was worried he wouldn't take it or wouldn't be able to swallow, but thankfully, it went down.
'This should be enough for the body temperature buff to kick in.'
I brought a bundle of crushed herbs from my room and spread it evenly on the areas that were beaten to a pulp.
Only then did the child's body begin to shiver.
'He must have really been on the verge of death.'
As the fading embers of his life rekindled, a sense of relief spread through me.
It seems that once I decided to save him, I had become desperate without realizing it.
However, once the urgent situation was over, I started to worry about the upcoming lunch service.
If nothing else, I should have at least bought pumpkins, potatoes, and rock bread.
'Because even though the Shop Window has onions, it doesn't have the rest.'
The only things I can get from the Shop Window are the ingredients handled at my parents' shop.
Since it's all just vegetables and seasonings used in a gukbap restaurant, it had onions but no pumpkins or potatoes.
'And there's no meat either.'
Actually, this is the most frustrating part.
It has everything else, but just no meat.
It's also the reason I went through all that trouble with Flaco.
If I were to deduce the intention of this user-unfriendly system, it would probably be this.
'Obtain the meat yourself.'
Of course, this could just be my wild guess.
Just like how 'Regular Customer' was unlocked, meat might also be unlocked on the Shop Window's list.
Therefore, considering all these possibilities, I have been frugally saving up my points without using them.
Experiments to figure out other buff effects are necessary, but I judged that it would be better to save up points to prepare for an unknown future.
Anyway,
As of now, the lunch service is ruined, and the Shop Window can't solve it.
If that's the case, it would be better to focus only on what I can do right now.
'Let's focus solely on saving this kid.'
I was planning on giving him a tip in the first place, but I've ended up giving him a much bigger tip than expected.
Guuuurgle.
A thunderous sound came from the child's stomach.
Just how much must he have starved for a sound like that to come out.
'Damn it.'
I remembered the garlic milk I had fed him a moment ago.
I had fed it to him thinking of the garlic's body temperature buff, but I felt a little sorry for feeding him something like that on an empty stomach.
Should I have added some sugar?
Just then,
“Ah!”
A dish that I could make using the Shop Window came to mind.
And a very good dish for recovery, at that.
“Porridge!”
Until now, I had only made the shop's dishes I learned from Bert, and Western-style food like the Fondue Bread.
The thought of making a 'Korean dish' of my own, rice porridge, made my mouth start to water again.
How much I had held back my desire to eat steamed rice in order to save points.
'No. Get a grip. This is food I'm making to save that child.'
But the feeling that the corners of my mouth were rising was not just my imagination.
[Rice (150g) : 5pt]
It consumes a whole 5pt for 150g of rice, so the cost-effectiveness is very low, but there's enough justification to spend it.
'Since I've made up my mind, let's spend it boldly!'
I tapped 'rice' on the Shop Window twice.
If you're asking why twice, it's to make one for myself as well.
Two paper cups appeared in mid-air, and when I snatched them, I could see the rice inside the cups.
It was rice that had been milled in the Korean style.
“Wow. How long has it been since I've seen rice.”
For a moment, in a wave of emotion, I completely forgot about the little kid,
But I gathered my composure and started cooking.
I vigorously washed the rice in water.
It's best to let it soak for about an hour, but I have to make it into porridge right away.
Scrub, scrub.
I drained the water and poured the rice into a cast-iron pan.
And after putting another pot of water on to boil, I looked for sesame oil in the Shop Window…
..
[Sesame Oil (4.5ml) : 2pt]
..
.
Looking at the volume, it seems like a single-use, delivery-type portion, but it's filthily expensive.
This is why I didn't rashly experiment with the Shop Window buffs.
Well, I can't take it back now.
I purchased one sesame oil and squeezed it out over the rice in the cast-iron pan.
Squeeeeze.
A very savory aroma strongly pierced my nose.
The feeling of my brow furrowing without me realizing it.
“Kuh. This is it.”
Next, I stir-fry the rice until it's fragrant, and when it gets stiff, I pour in a little water and stir-fry it again.
After repeating this process three or four times, the grains of rice became plump.
The fact that their color became translucent was a bonus.
At this timing, I poured in the pre-boiled water with a whoosh.
Bubble, bubble.
I stirred until it reached a suitable viscosity, then ladled out just my portion into a separate bowl.
I decided to simmer the child's portion more thoroughly to make it easier to swallow.
'Mine is done!'
Basic white rice porridge.
The first rice, and the first Korean food, I've had in a very long time.
My mouth is watering on its own.
Without thinking, I considered buying soy sauce from the Shop Window,
But I shook my head, took a pinch of the coarse salt I had bought earlier, and sprinkled it on.
If I can save points, I should save as much as possible.
— Son. You shouldn't skimp on food.
Suddenly, it felt like I heard my father's motto, and I became sad.
Father. In a world where life and death hang in the balance, that's not as easy as it sounds.
I erased my stray thoughts, lifted the bowl of porridge, and brought it to my nose.
Sniff. Sniff.
I can feel the savory, warm, and soft aroma.
My mouth filled with saliva.
Hah, I can't take it anymore.
Just as I lifted a spoonful of rice porridge and was about to slowly put it in my mouth,
< You have cooked a Korean dish for the first time. >
< A new function will be unlocked. >
For the first time in a truly long while, I heard the sound of an unlock.