If You've Been Hit, Hit Back
If you've been hit, you hit back.
In the apocalypse, I was never a defender.
Out there, just holding the line would never keep you alive.
When your opponent was catching their breath, you had to drive the blade into a place they never saw coming.
That was how I survived.
I still haven't hung up my hunting days.
"Anyone up for overtime tonight?"
"Huh? Overtime?"
"But we already closed the shop."
"The shop's closed. The business isn't."
"What does that even mean?"
"We're running a second shift. Triple overtime pay. Plus a same-day bonus on top. Who's in?"
"Me!"
I was recruiting party members for a new hunt.
Jinwoo and every single one of them joined the party.
"I'll go get ready too."
"Be right back."
The two other owners joined as well.
In the blink of an eye we had more than ten party members assembled.
"Alright, you heard me. Everyone grab your ingredients."
"Hang on—grab them and go where? We already closed everything down."
"We're relocating."
"Relocating?"
"That's right."
Jinwoo's eyes went round at the word.
He won't get it just from an explanation.
Better to show him than tell him.
I hooked a corner of my mouth into a smile and turned the key in the truck.
"Sitting still and waiting for customers was never my style. Let's go stretch our legs."
Vrrrooom! Three food trucks roared to life and rolled out.
"This is pretty far from the festival, though?"
"Exactly."
We took a wide detour around Shinsigaji.
Past Jang On-gyu's main strip—blazing lights, pounding music—and into the thick darkness of the outskirts.
This was the zone originally scheduled to host the festival night market.
It was also a place I knew well.
"Wait… this is…"
"Where our food trucks used to park."
The very ground I had once sold food from.
"They said they were going to redevelop it into a park, but it's still like this?"
"Redevelopment, my ass. They just wanted us gone."
"Whoa. Is that really how it went? That's cold."
"That's just how the world turns sometimes."
The world didn't always turn in beautiful ways.
The scene in front of us proved it.
Redevelopment? Real work would take years. So the city had left it open as a night-market space—or so they claimed.
As if that would help.
Jang On-gyu had set up his own private board right in the heart of Shinsigaji for his stores. This place had become abandoned land in all but name.
"Wow… this place is actually tragic."
"Yeah. Tragic."
Jinwoo clicked his tongue as he stared out the window.
Scattered streetlamps. Dusty tents with flies for customers.
People had forced their way in because a night market was supposed to open, but the street without a single guest looked drained of life.
Not a customer in sight. Not even an ant.
The shadow hiding behind the festival's glitter.
Screeech.
We parked the trucks dead in the middle of that empty stretch—right in the darkest spot.
"Looks perfect, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. It's so dark that when we light up the food trucks, they'll look even brighter."
"Exactly. That's the idea!"
Brother Jang from the Hong Kong restaurant climbed out and surveyed the surroundings.
His eyes lit up.
He could read it at a glance—where the business would flow, where the foot traffic would hit, what more we could do.
The man really did have a killer nose for this stuff.
"Alright, I'll handle the lights first."
"Sounds good. I'll fire mine up while I get the stall ready."
I flung open the side of the truck.
The interior lights that had been sleeping in the dark snapped on with a sharp pak.
Brilliant light flooded the deserted night-market street.
"We're going to show them. You don't buy the board with money. You take it with skill."
If Jang On-gyu had sucked people into his territory…
I was going to cut that flow right here.
The place he had deliberately ignored and left to rot.
The place where we had first planted our flag—lighting the most spectacular fireworks of all right here!
What revenge could be cleaner than that?
"Brother Jang. Brother Woo. Ready?"
"Hell yes! Let's give this night market some CPR!"
"This is gonna be fun. If we blow it up here, that Jang On-gyu guy's gonna grab the back of his neck."
Mischievous, yet grimly determined smiles settled on both brothers' faces.
I took my place in the kitchen.
And called the system.
Activating skill Trap.
Stacking skill Trap.
Trap Type: Continuous Olfactory Lure
Trap Type: Impulse Stimulation
Trap Type: Footstep Delay
This wasn't just about us succeeding.
We're the bait.
The powerless vendors who had come full of hope because a night market was opening.
I had woven a board big enough to hold every last one of them.
Powerfully stimulating the appetites of passersby.
Powerfully stimulating the impulses of passersby.
Passersby's footsteps linger longer in this zone.
This was my board.
If we couldn't sell on top of it, that would be the real surprise.
"Jinwoo, music too. We need the festival vibe."
"Yes, Chef!"
Thunderous music and mouth-watering aromas exploded across the silent night market.
The defensive battle was over.
From this moment on, it was a siege.
Blood began to circulate through the dead street.
The night market that had been shut out of the festival's main strip and left sleeping in darkness.
A massive crowd slammed into it like a tidal wave.
With a festival going on, the prep work was basically already done. All I did was light the fuse.
We met the surging customers head-on.
"What the hell? Why are there so many people here?"
"The smell is insane. Yo, there's a spot over there! Sit!"
The fly-ridden tents filled to capacity in seconds.
Merchants who had been just dusting their stalls wore dazed expressions.
Some pinched their own cheeks, wondering if it was a dream.
It wasn't a dream.
The flood of orders and the endless chime of payment notifications proved it was real.
"Boss! Five skewers here!"
"Over here too! Wait—Boss! These are all burnt!"
That was when the scream came from the skewer stall nearest our truck.
Unable to handle the sudden rush, the skewers on the grill were turning black and smoking.
Smoke rising, customers shouting—one step away from a total mental collapse.
I know exactly why.
Customers coming is good. But you have to be ready to receive them. Flailing when something hits out of nowhere is just human nature.
That's why experience matters.
The problem is the process of gaining that experience.
A customer who walks away once never comes back.
"I'm so sorry! Really, truly sorry! I'll remake them right away!"
The owner was sweating rivers, scrambling in panic.
I set down my wok and shot a look at Harang beside me.
"Harang, mind holding the fort for a second?"
"Yes, Chef!"
I jumped down from the truck and headed for the skewer stall.
If I'm going to help, I help thoroughly. That's my way.
Someone might call it being a sucker.
But my eyes go there. What am I supposed to do about it?
I can't just walk past this kind of thing.
So what else is there? You move.
"Boss, step aside for a second."
"Huh? Wait—Chef Kim?"
"At this rate you'll lose every customer. Let me give you a hand."
I snatched the tongs from his hand.
A mess of a grill. Flames dancing wild and free.
It was a familiar sight to my eyes.
Back in the apocalypse, grilling was the first thing—and the thing I did most.
In apocalypse cooking, the basics were always grilled. No real prep, so what seasonings were you going to use?
Which meant, by default, I had no choice but to become a god of open flame.
"This is how you use fire."
Sizzle!
I dumped the burnt skewers into the trash and laid out fresh ones across the grill in a clean row.
Just grilling them won't cut it. You have to dress them in fire.
I needed to create what people call fire flavor.
Activating skill Ingredient Strengthening.
Target's flavor is enhanced.
Whoosh!
Oil dripped onto the charcoal and a massive pillar of flame erupted.
"Whoa…! That's dangerous!"
"No. You have to use this too."
The owner recoiled in shock, but I didn't so much as blink.
Instead I stirred the flames with the tongs, bathing the skewers in fire flavor.
"Whoa! Look at that! It's a fire show!"
"That's insane."
Every eye locked on us.
With dazzling handwork I flipped the skewers.
Crispy outside, juicy inside.
What they call crispy-outside-juicy-inside.
The timing to lock in the juices was pure instinct.
Tap, tak.
I dunked the skewers in the sauce pot and returned them to the fire.
Sizzle.
The sharp-sweet smell of caramelizing sauce mixed with the Trap skill and detonated into explosive synergy.
Trap has been strengthened.
Didn't see that effect coming. Haha.
Pleasantly surprised, I plated the finished food.
"Alright—perfectly grilled skewers coming out!"
In a flash, twenty skewers were cooked to perfection.
Golden color, glossy sauce running down them.
And that final, appetite-shredding scent of fire!
"Go on, try one. For waiting so long, one free for each of you. Right, Boss?"
"Y-yes! That's right! On the house! On the house!"
I handed the freshly grilled skewers to the stunned customers.
The moment they took a bite, their eyes went perfectly round.
"Whoa… what is this flavor?"
"Boss! Ten more skewers! No—make it twenty!"
"Beer! Bring the beer!"
"Where am I supposed to get that from?!"
"Then go buy some! This is the side dish!"
The reaction was explosive.
The skewer-stall owner couldn't close his mouth.
"Ch… Chef Kim? What the hell are you, really?"
"What am I? Just a guy who cooks."
I grinned and handed the tongs back.
"You've got the feel for it now, right?"
"A-a little."
"Don't panic. Think of it as playing with the fire. If it gets scary, just step back. Better than burning the food."
"You explain cooking like you're talking about a hunt…"
"Haha. Maybe a little."
I could see he was the type who learned just by watching once.
Eyes that learn by looking.
He had only been startled because it was his first time.
The man clearly had natural instincts.
"Alright then—row while the tide's coming in. For reference, I've prepped more for freebies, so pass those around however you like."
"Ah, got it."
"Don't think of them as a waste. If it really bothers you, call it tuition. Now go get 'em!"
"Y-yes! Thank you! Really, thank you!"
"I'm out!"
Life returned to the owner's eyes.
The dying night market was breathing again—alive and thrashing like a fresh-caught fish.
At the same moment, inside a sedan, Jang On-gyu.
He clutched his throbbing temples and thought.
Today is just too damn cursed.