Chapter 135

Kang Jin stood in front of the kimchi storage room holding bags filled with dandelion roots and canned dandelion greens.

“Come back to play again soon.”

“I’ll visit often.”

As Kang Jin spoke, he suddenly looked around and asked:

“By any chance, could you call Dewrang?”

“Dewrang?”

“Yes,” replied Kang Jin.

Hearing this, Manbok shouted loudly,

“Dewrang! Dewrang!”

After calling out several times, they heard rustling from one side of the forest as Dewrang emerged.

Snort! Snort!

Dewrang shook its head noisily while Manbok turned to Kang Jin.

“Why do you need Dewrang?”

“I want to buy some feed for it.”

“Feed?”

“It has piglets too, but there’s nothing for them to eat.”

Although Kang Jin had seen wild boars for the first time yesterday, he found their gesture of digging up dandelion roots to repay his kindness quite admirable… And hearing about Dewrang’s piglets tugged at his heartstrings. Both humans and animals feel the same pain when unable to feed their young.

“That makes sense.”

“I’ll be back soon after stopping by JS Finance, so please wait here.”

“All right then.” Kang Jin nodded at Manbok’s words, put down his luggage, and entered the kimchi storage room using his membership card.

Kang Jin felt slightly perplexed upon entering the convenience store within JS Finance.

“You don’t have any pig feed?” Kang Jin asked, receiving a nod from the employee in response.

“The convenience stores for animals sell feed, but human convenience stores do not.”

‘Well, that makes sense.’

Upon reflection, it was obvious. Convenience stores in the mortal realm might carry pet food, but they wouldn’t stock pig feed. Moreover, since this particular store is located within JS Finance, they only stocked items suitable for consumption by human ghosts.

‘By the way, animal afterlife? Do animals have their own separate afterlife like humans?’

As Kang Jin pondered this, he spotted some boxed lunches on one side of the store.

‘I could buy lunch boxes to feed the pigs, right?’

A single box would satisfy a person, but for such large pigs, it wouldn’t even make a dent in their hunger.

“By any chance, do you know where I can buy pig feed?”

“There’s a place specializing in animal feed near Oh.”

“Oh…you mean the afterlife?”

“Yes.”

“But…can’t living beings go there?”

“Some people have gone there, but it seems impossible for you until death.”

Kang Jin pursed his lips at the employee’s response before asking:

“Then, is it possible to order pig feed from the Livestock Convenience Store and receive it here?”

“Certainly.” The employee pulled out a piece of paper. “How much would you like me to procure for you?”

“How much does a ten-kilogram bag of pig feed cost?”

“It’s one million won.”

Kang Jin’s face slightly stiffened when he heard it cost one hundred thousand won. It was more expensive than he anticipated.

“It seems quite pricey?”

“Yes, since it’s for spiritual beings in the afterlife, the price is higher.”

Kang Jin hesitated momentarily upon hearing this explanation. Noticing his hesitation, the employee suggested:

“Would you like me to compare the prices with pig feed from your world?”

“Is that possible?”

“Just a few keystrokes on the computer.” The employee quickly typed and then said, “In your world, it costs around ten thousand won for 25 kilograms.”

“Ten thousand won?”

“Yes.”

With no other choice, Kang Jin nodded as if confirming the decision.

“So… I’ll have to purchase it from my world.”

“That would be the best course of action.”

“I apologize for asking so many questions…”

The employee shook his head at Kang Jin’s response.

“It is only natural to provide this convenience for the owner of One Meal Restaurant.”

“Is it because I’m the owner of One Meal Restaurant?”

“I too was once a ghost.”

“Oh… Have you visited our restaurant before?”

In response to Kang Jin’s question, the employee shook their head.

“Not One Meal Restaurant but the Underworld Restaurant located in Busan.”

Kang Jin nodded understandingly and turned towards the counter display. On one side were individually packaged bags of rice.

“How much is the rice?”

“One kilogram bag costs five thousand won, and a five-kilogram bag is eighteen thousand won.”

‘Since pigs are omnivores, they should eat rice too, right?’

Kang Jin picked up a five-kilogram bag and placed it on the counter.

“That will be eighteen thousand won.”

After paying, Kang Jin hastily left the convenience store and approached the kimchi storage area outside. As soon as he arrived, Manbok spoke up:

“You bought rice?”

“I figured I’d have to buy feed from Lee Seung’s place, so for now, I got some rice. Pigs eat rice too, right?”

“Those two will eat anything they can chew.”

Following Manbok’s words, Kang Jin placed the bag of rice in front of Dewrang.

“Next time, I’ll bring something you really like.”

Upon hearing this, Dewrang sniffed the bag. Carefully taking it in its mouth, it glanced at Kang Jin before dashing off into the woods.

“That bag is likely safe since it’s from the JS Convenience Store. Just make sure not to let them eat the packaging,” Kang Jin advised.

“Got it. See you later.”

“I’ll bring more feed today or tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Seeing Manbok’s longing gaze, Kang Jin waved his hand.

“I’ll be back!”

As Manbok raised its paw, Kang Jin turned and opened the door to the kimchi storage room.

Click!

“Please come again soon.” With Kang Jin’s cheerful farewell, lunch customers exited the restaurant with smiles on their faces.

Although there were fewer patrons during weekdays, quite a few people visited over the weekends since Kang Jin rarely took days off. Of course, “quite a few” still meant only four tables filled at lunchtime.

However, Kang Jin preferred it this way. If more guests came, he would struggle to cook and serve all by himself, causing customers to wait longer.

Four tables were just enough for Kang Jin to manage by himself during lunchtime.

Made 110,000 won from lunch sales…not bad.

If he could make this much money at dinner as well, it would be over two million won per day, which satisfied him greatly. Once his internship ended, he planned to fully focus on running One Meal Restaurant.

“I’ll need to hire someone part-time after my internship ends…”

Kang Jin was confident about the success of One Meal Restaurant. Having worked various part-time jobs in restaurants, he knew the secrets to their success.

Firstly, the food must taste good. Secondly, it should be both affordable and delicious. Thirdly, the dishes should have unique flavors enticing customers to visit.

And One Meal Restaurant fulfilled all three criteria.

The food tasted great, and the prices were reasonable.

Affordable. Of course, depending on what food guests request, prices could vary due to the cost of ingredients, but it wouldn’t be marked up unnecessarily for profit.

As for uniqueness? That’s also covered. Simply making whatever dish the guest desires…there’s nothing more distinctive than that.

Moreover, Kang Jin was confident he could serve delicious meals based on the recipes from the cooking practice room. The taste is guaranteed if prepared according to those instructions.

In other words…Kang Jin firmly believed his restaurant would never fail financially with this approach.

However, physically, it would be demanding. Serving lunch, dinner, and dealing with ghosts—three busy periods each day.

“I’ll need to find another part-time worker…

Once the internship ends and the restaurant officially opens, managing everything alone will become impractical as business picks up. Even for someone experienced like Kang Jin, handling cooking, serving, and cleaning all by himself would be overwhelming.

Once business picked up, it would be impossible for Kang Jin to handle all the customers alone. Even though he had experience working multiple part-time jobs simultaneously, handling cooking, serving, and cleaning by himself was too much to ask. Customers wouldn’t appreciate long wait times either.

“But if someone works here, they might start seeing ghosts…”

Working at the Underworld Restaurant could accumulate ghost matter, leading individuals to perceive ghosts. Moreover, accumulating ghost matter could also have detrimental effects on their health.

Kang Jin pondered this briefly, sighed, and shook his head.

“I guess I’ll have to manage everything myself.”

While making money and having successful sales were desirable, Kang Jin didn’t want to compromise the health of any potential part-time employees just to run the restaurant.

As Kang Jin finished tidying up the hall and started washing dishes, he heard the door open.

Ding!

Kang Jin looked up to see the man who had visited yesterday evening entering the restaurant.

“Welcome.”

The man, Hwang Minsung, glanced around as Kang Jin greeted him.

“You on break?”

“It’s fine. Please have a seat.”

Hwang Minsung sat at an empty table. Kang Jin then addressed him:

“If you’re not in a hurry, I need to finish washing these dishes first.”

“Go ahead.”

With Hwang Minsung’s consent, Kang Jin completed his dishwashing before joining him in the hall.

“Thank you for coming back again.”

“You remember me?”

“I might forget a one-time visitor, but I always try to remember guests who return.” Kang Jin smiled warmly at him.

“What would you like to eat today?” Kang Jin asked.

Hwang Minsung glanced at the whiteboard nearby and responded:

“Can I order anything from this menu?”

“I can make any dish using available ingredients here.”

Hwang Minsung studied the menu board while replying:

“I’ll have spicy rice cakes, please.”

“Sure thing. Oh! If you have any specific preferences, let me know.”

Nodding, Hwang Minsung shared his request:

“Please make the ramen noodles slightly softer, as yesterday. Add plenty of fish cake but only two rice cakes. And for the boiled egg, cook it until the yolk is just set, not fully hard-boiled.”

Is he asking for ‘ramen with rice cakes’ instead of ‘spicy rice cakes’?

Kang Jin muttered internally before clarifying:

“You mean like the half-boiled eggs you find in Japanese ramen?”

“A bit less cooked than that, so the yolk is still runny.”

Kang Jin nodded at Hwang Minsung’s request before asking, “By the way, why only two pieces of rice cake?”

“I don’t really like rice cakes.”

Confusion crossed Kang Jin’s face at Hwang Minsung’s response.

“Should I leave them out altogether then?”

“But spicy rice cakes need to have some rice cakes in it.”

Kang Jin looked puzzled by his answer but quickly smiled and nodded understandingly.

“Gotcha.”

As he turned toward the kitchen, Kang Jin raised an eyebrow.

If he doesn’t like rice cakes, why order spicy rice cakes? And if he dislikes them, shouldn’t he just not include any instead of specifically asking for two?

Two soft-boiled eggs?

Kang Jin muttered to himself and shook his head.

I should respect individual preferences.

Even though kimchi is consumed by most South Koreans, there were still some who didn’t care for it. Similarly, someone could enjoy spicy rice cakes despite not liking regular rice cakes. It was slightly unusual but understandable.

Once inside the kitchen, Kang Jin started boiling five eggs with a bit of salt and vinegar added to the water. Boiling one egg or five took the same amount of time, so he figured why not make more?

He then heated up another pot on the stove to prepare the spicy rice cakes. Once done, Kang Jin served them to Hwang Minsung.

“Here’s your spicy rice cake dish.”

Hwang Minsung took the spicy rice cakes from Kang Jin and gently pressed his chopsticks on one of the eggs.

Crack!

As soon as he felt the chopstick penetrate the shell, the egg split open, revealing its runny yolk that oozed out slowly. Seeing the perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg brought a smile to Hwang Minsung’s face. He nodded while slurping up some noodle strands soaked with sauce.

Delicious.

Still smiling, Hwang Minsung picked up both ramen noodles and fish cake together for another bite. As he watched him enjoy the spicy rice cakes, Kang Jin went back into the kitchen. There, he cracked an egg, chopped some green onions, and made a simple egg drop soup. He served it in a small bowl and handed it to Hwang Minsung.

“Please have this with your meal.”

“Thank you.”

Following Kang Jin’s suggestion, Hwang Minsung took a spoonful of egg soup and smiled.

“The pepper and green onion flavors complement each other nicely.”

“It’s simple yet appetizing,” agreed Kang Jin.

Hwang Minsung nodded appreciatively. “Indeed.”

As Hwang Minsung continued eating, Kang Jin went back to the kitchen. There, he prepared the dandelion roots and arrowroot tubers Manbok had given him. The dandelion roots were as impressive and large as the ones they’d harvested before.

You can sell these for some pocket money.

Kang Jin chuckled, recalling what Manbok said when they dug up the roots.

“I’ll put it to good use.”

With two roots, if sold well, he could earn around five hundred thousand won.

With this money, I can buy Dewrang’s feed and treats for my hyung.

And whatever remained would be his allowance.

“It’s nice having a rich brother.”

As Kang Jin pondered these thoughts, he heard the door open.

Ding!

Kang Jin looked up at the chime to see a middle-aged man entering the restaurant.

“Welcome…” Kang Jin trailed off as his face froze. The newcomer dropped down on one knee right in front of Hwang Minsung.

“President Hwang! Please spare me just this once!” The man pleaded with his forehead touching the floor.

Hwang Minsung sighed while eating spicy rice cakes, then clicked his tongue disapprovingly.