novelraw Chapter 15 : Naba (1)
Chapter 15 : Naba (1)
Chapter 15 - Naba (1)
A truly barren medieval world to live in.
Here, my only hope is my special privilege, my system.
That welcome system voice was heard.
< You have cooked a Korean dish for the first time. >
< A new function will be unlocked. >
I stopped the spoon full of rice porridge from entering my mouth and opened the system window first.
It's the 'unlocking' of a new function, no less.
This is no time to be eating.
'Adding meat to the Shop Window's list would be the best. Or another use for the points.'
But all these hopes of mine were off the mark.
Because a new tab had already been added to the top of the system window.
[Shop Window] [Regular Customer] [Quest]
As soon as I saw the word 'Quest', a sigh escaped my lips.
A system window and quests.
In a way, you could see it as a setting like a mass-produced fantasy novel,
but based on the game 'Belkazium' that I played, it was extremely unfamiliar.
'Quests?'
The game 'Belkazium' had no such things as set quests.
You just had to protect the starting nation from being destroyed,
And there was only the broad framework of saving the world from the demon race.
Other than that, it was the kind of user-unfriendly game that had absolutely no set objectives or systemic quests.
On the other hand, it was also a game with a high degree of freedom where you could do whatever you wanted until the ending.
'Haa. I hate myself for having fallen for such a novel system.'
Suddenly, my stomach burns with regret.
Because if I had known I'd be dragged to another world like this, I would have never played it.
“Sigh.”
What's the use in regretting.
It's already too late.
I erased my stray thoughts and tapped [Quest].
[Quest]
-------(Quest List)-------
< [1] Raise the Inn (Step 1) >
└ Objective : Hire an employee.
└ Reward : New system unlocked
< [2] Spread Korean Food (Step 1) >
└ Objective : Sell Korean food and obtain Satisfaction points 10 or more times. (Progress : 0/10)
└ Reward : 1 additional Regular Customer slot
“Hoh.”
Actually seeing the quests, my interest welled up.
When you say 'quest', it's a matter of course that it gives an objective and a reward.
So I was looking forward to seeing what kind of reward it would give, but to think it's a reward that strengthens my special privilege and unlocks a new system.
I'm very pleased.
'Looking at it now, the fact that [Regular Customer] was unlocked by receiving Recognition twice could also be seen as a quest.'
Does this mean I can now see the unlock conditions for these systems in advance?
But separate from the good rewards, the objectives themselves look incredibly tough.
'Hire an employee, and sell Korean food.'
Currently, I have the status of an outsider.
How am I supposed to hire someone as a member of the lowest class in this world?
Furthermore, selling Korean food is also a predicament.
What was the reason I had only sold the dishes I learned from Bert and my self-developed Fondue Bread until now?
It was to sell food that suited the palates of these Western medieval bastards.
But would it be easy to sell Korean food to bastards like them?
No, forget whether it suits their taste, they probably won't even try to put it in their mouths, saying it's food they've never seen before.
Weren't these the same medieval guys who showed revulsion at first just by looking at the visuals of the improved pumpkin soup and Fondue Bread?
It's obvious they'll reject the unfamiliar visuals of Korean food.
'A quest to sell Korean food to those bastards, and even hire an employee.'
It doesn't look easy.
Difficulties are expected.
However, who am I!
A gamer who has chewed, torn, and tasted the world's shittiest game, 'Belkazium', where inconvenience is the main content, for 10 years.
No matter how difficult the quest, I will find a way to clear it.
Because unlocking my special privilege is directly linked to my survivability.
Therefore,
'First, let's eat. You have to eat to live.'
I poured my time into the quest window with the rice porridge right in front of me.
I guess I failed to abide by the Korean saying, 'Even sightseeing at Mt. Geumgang is best after a meal'.
I stirred the still-warm rice porridge and took a big spoonful.
'Hmm. Should I try selling rice porridge first for the quest.'
It costs a lot of points so I'd have to sell it at a high price, but the visuals are similar to a stew, so maybe there'll be less resistance.
–A thought that came to mind again, but,
'First, let's just eat, damn it.’
Suppressing the gamer instincts that kept popping up, I finally put the steaming spoon in my mouth.
Tiririring!
This is not a system sound.
It was just a melody that played in my head.
'Delicious!'
Because an explosion of dopamine, flowing like an electric current along my brain and nerves, struck my central nervous system.
The subtle sweetness from the softly spread rice grains and the saltiness of the coarse salt create a harmony that is truly marvelous.
A taste that makes your body shiver gently and brings a slight tear to your eye!
Once again, I feel the greatness of Korean food.
As expected, for a Korean, it's all about the rice!
Rice is the best! Korean food is the best!
After that, it was a trance.
I used the surging adrenaline and my cold hunger as a driving force and kept spooning it up.
On one hand, I wanted to eat slowly, feeling it would be a shame for this one bowl to end so quickly, but I just couldn't do it.
Because it was so delicious.
And just like that, the wooden bowl was empty in an instant.
Just then,
< Strength rises by a minuscule amount. >
< Flexibility rises by a small amount. >
The buff effects came in as expected, and I couldn't help but be extremely surprised.
Putting aside the flexibility, which I think I got from the sesame oil.
'Strength!? Is it that Strength?'
The game 'Belkazium' is classified into three types: main stats, sub stats, and special stats.
Main stats are the most important for growth and are hard to raise, so if you can raise them, you have to do so by any means.
But special stats are countless in number, their calculation formulas are complex, and their effects are relatively weak, so even I don't know them well.
For example, things like the vigor and concentration from sugar.
But 'Strength' is one of only four main stats–
'When raising a physical dealer, it's a core stat for which the term 'Tier 1' is not enough!'
That Strength has increased.
It's truly unbelievable.
Even if it's not a persistent, artifact-class buff,
And even if the expression describing the increase is 'minuscule amount', as far as buffs go, it is without a doubt a top-tier buff.
'If I sell a rice dish, how much on earth should I charge for it?'
No wonder it cost 5pt for 150g.
There was a reason it was expensive, and now that it's come to this, I'm getting greedy again.
'If I eat a certain amount of this too, the duration will be extended, won't it?'
Sugar and garlic.
Didn't they have an effect where the duration was extended when you ate a certain amount?
'But, thinking about the extension effect, it feels even more expensive.'
With garlic, I could buy it once, get a buff effect each time I ate a clove, and get an extension effect if I ate them all.
But with this rice porridge, even though I consumed one portion of sesame oil and one portion of rice, there was no extension effect, only the buff effect.
So it felt extremely expensive.
'The price is a shame.'
Just as I was having that thought.
A new system voice was heard.
< By consuming the completed Korean dish 'White Rice Porridge,' you obtain a bonus effect. >
< Health Regeneration rises by a minuscule amount. >
< Health Regeneration will not drop. (3 hours) >
“……?”
My god. What is this now.
I received a huge shock when I first discovered the Shop Window, and this moment is no less surprising.
'Completed Korean dishes have a bonus effect too!?'
Damn it. I should have just made Korean food from the start.
Wondering if I could buy meat with points someday or if I could buy stats or skills–
I had been saving up points with these thoughts!
'To think that my habit of saving money, in games and in reality, would become a problem.'
— Son. You shouldn't skimp on food.
Father. Please be quiet.
Because I'm regretting it immensely right now.
— Son. Get some other hobbies besides games, will you.
……Of course, 'Belkazium' is a free-to-play game.
“Haa.”
A sigh escaped my lips without me realizing, but I switched my train of thought as quickly as possible.
'No. It's a relief that I found out now.'
Because moving forward on a better path is more important than regretting the choices of the past.
This too was a teaching my parents had given me.
I stroke my chin and look through the Shop Window.
To picture the Korean dishes I can make.
'First, I can make napa cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi.'
Then kimchi fried rice would also be possible.
Of course, it would cost a tremendous amount of points, but now that there's a bonus for completed Korean dishes, I have to try it.
I'll have to make it soon.
'Of course, after leaving aside the points I need for the business.'
And also leaving aside points to prepare for future system unlocks.
Yeah. Let's leave just a little more.
— Son. When it comes to food, you shouldn't skim—
Please be quiet!
Anyway, returning to the main point,
If the effect of white rice porridge is 'Health Regeneration', then this too is an extremely good effect.
In the game, it produced high efficiency as a sub stat.
What if I feed such a white rice porridge to that kid dealer?
'Ah, that's right!'
Only then did I remember that I was still simmering a bowl of white rice porridge.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late.
The rice porridge had softened to a perfect consistency for feeding a patient.
I moved it to a wooden bowl and checked the child's complexion.
'The garlic's body temperature buff must be circulating.'
A bit of color had returned to his skin, which had been so pale it looked like a corpse's.
His body, which had been shivering, had also returned to normal, so it seems he has avoided dying from hypothermia.
It seemed it would be difficult to feed porridge to an unconscious person, so just as I decided to wait until the child woke up,
Knock, knock.
I heard someone knocking on the shop door.
The time had come to bow and scrape apologetically to the customers coming for lunch.
'Today is another tough day.'
I equipped my face with a servile expression and walked to the shop door.
Creeak.
“I'm sorry, customers. It seems business will be difficult for lunch today.”
“What!?”
When I said that I had run out of ingredients and there was nothing to eat but smoked meat,
It was the soldiers, turning back while coolly spewing curses about their wasted trip.
My mood wasn't great, but it was my fault and my choice, so I just accepted it.
'Did I do something unnecessary after all?'
I was feeling so proud of myself for saving the kid just a moment ago, but now that I'm getting cursed at, a person's fickle heart turns again.
'……Let's just blow off any customers who come from now on.'
Since I can't do business anyway, it'll be more comfortable to just close the door and not answer.
And so, when I returned to the kitchen,
“!”
The child, having seemingly regained consciousness, had his eyes half-open.
Still in pain, he looked around with a deep frown, and his eyes met mine as I stood at the kitchen entrance.
“Y-You are……”
I could feel indignation in the child's voice, but he seemed to swallow his words.
It's understandable.
He must have thought he was going to die for sure, but he survived.
And when he came to his senses, he saw the man who had driven him into a deadly situation.
Wouldn't the phrase 'saved by my enemy' be a perfect fit?
'Hah.'
I don't know.
What the right thing to do is.
My thoughts were complicated, but I picked up the wooden bowl of rice porridge from the sink and handed it to the child.
“Here. Eat.”
“……”
The child looked back and forth between me and the bowl with suspicious eyes.
Guuurgle.
As another thunderous sound came from his stomach, he tried to take the wooden bowl.
But,
“Ugh!”
He stopped reaching out his arm and grimaced in pain, as if the beaten spot hurt.
“……”
I swallowed the word 'dammit' internally and picked up a spoon.
'Right. Let's just think of this as a tip.'
Since I decided to save him.
Let's at least feed him the rice porridge I made.
I took a spoonful of rice porridge, blew on it to cool it, and held it out to the child.
“Eat.”
“……”
The brown-haired kid, hesitating until the end.
“This isn't the food from around here, so I don't know if it'll suit your palate, but if you want to live, eat.”
The child just looked at me for a long while and I met his gaze with an expressionless face.
Before long,
The child's large eyes began to waver.
Welling up.
The water that had filled his eyes began to overflow and stream down.
I don't know what he was thinking, but after crying in streams like that,
He soon opened his mouth a little.
I put the rice porridge in the child's mouth.
The kid seemed to be in pain, as if even moving his mouth was difficult, but he managed to chew and swallow the porridge.
“Is it edible?”
Nod.
“That's a relief.”
It's a relief. Genuinely.
……
For quite a long time, I ignored the sound of customers knocking on the door and fed the child porridge.
Then, as if the Health Regeneration buff was circulating through his body, the child's complexion improved even more.
“……”
“……”
An awkward atmosphere flowed between the now-conscious child and me,
and to break the silence that had dominated for a long while, I, the adult, decided to step in.
“Name?”
“It's Naba.”
“Naba?”
“Yes.”
That's a unique name.
“Age?”
“I'm 10 years old.”
10 years old by international age, which would be 11 or 12 in Korea. In other words, an elementary schooler.
To think a child that age was selling gambling tickets and almost died.
As expected, the medieval fantasy world is harsh.
“I assume you don't have parents.”
“No.”
I heard that most of the kids in this town are the children of prostitutes.
This kid probably went under Derek's wing to survive somehow after his mother died.
It's a cruel reality.
“……”
And a reality even crueler than this,
Is that nothing will change even if this child recovers in my shop and goes back outside.
Meaning, he's destined to be killed by Captain Hook Derek anyway.
“Sir Outsider.”
“?”
“Thank…… you.”
You were put in a life-threatening situation because of me, and you're saying thank you?
Is he pure because he's a child, or is he just foolish.
“What are you thankful for?”
“The food I ate a moment ago. Of all the things I've eaten in my life, it was the most…… delicious food.”
“……”
To think that plain white rice porridge was the most delicious thing in his life.
Just as a bitter laugh was about to escape,
BANG, BANG.
For a customer, the sound of knocking on the door was rough.
“Ian! It's me!”
It was the voice of this shop's real boss.
I told Naba to wait a moment and went to greet Jeros.
Creeak.
A sharp gaze.
It's amazing that he can make those narrow eyes even narrower.
“I heard you didn't do business for lunch today. Why is the door closed?”
Jeros, extremely pissed off, got straight to the point.
“Good timing. I had something to discuss with you anyway.”
“It better be a topic I can accept.”
I let Jeros into the shop, locked the door, and we entered the kitchen together.
Soon, Naba and Jeros's eyes met, and Naba's face filled with terror.
Furthermore,
“……Why is Derek's kid here? You'd better explain yourself well, Ian.”
Jeros's atmosphere also grew more murderous.
Money-crazy Jeros, as expected.
Since 80% of the shop's profits go to him, not doing the lunch service must be a sensitive situation.
Therefore, I have to explain to him how the current situation can be connected to financial gain.
Of course, I had the logic prepared.
“I was in the middle of an interview.”
At my words, Jeros frowned.
“What? An interview?”
“Yes. As a clerk for our shop. We've gotten busy, so we were short on hands.”
Since the shop has become a popular spot, I have to hire someone.
And the quest just so happened to tell me to hire an employee,
So isn't this killing two birds with one stone?