The Wish Flower Blooms, Fertilized by Your Deepest Desires
Han Ji-woo's gaze shifted to the Wish Flower as he checked the message.
"No way, for real?"
Incredibly, the Wish Flower had reached 100% growth and was blooming vibrantly. A soft glow emanated from its adorable, pretty yellow petals.
Reading the message again slowly, Han Ji-woo finally realized the truth. The nutrient that made the Wish Flower grow was literally his own wishes.
The Wish Flower is analyzing which of your collected wishes it can fulfill.
The Wish Flower is filtering out wishes it cannot fulfill.
The Wish Flower is selecting the wish with the highest priority among those it can fulfill.
Han Ji-woo swallowed hard as the system messages kept popping up. He had no clue what wish the flower would grant or how it would do it.
The Wish Flower has completed its analysis. We will grant your highest-priority wish.
The flickering light from the Wish Flower intensified with the message. Soon, the flower itself dissolved into light, and something emerged from within.
In its place sat a small earthenware crock about the size of a watermelon.
Han Ji-woo rushed over to check it out. The lidded crock had a name inscribed on top.
[Universal Jang Crock]
"Universal Jang Crock?"
Curious about what it did, he quickly opened the info window.
[Universal Jang Crock]
Close the lid and visualize the sauce you want—it will fill the crock completely. No usage limits.
"God almighty!"
Han Ji-woo, an atheist, was suddenly calling on a higher power. The Universal Jang Crock was an insanely overpowered item.
Startled by his sudden roar, Osgeelro Haiban dropped his hammering and came rushing over.
"What happened?!"
His sharp eyes locked onto the Universal Jang Crock clutched in Han Ji-woo's arms.
"Aha! So it's a lowly earthenware pretender! I'll smash it to pieces with this hammer right—"
"Do that, and your own thick skull won't stay intact either!"
Osgeelro faltered at Han Ji-woo's unusually aggressive tone.
"Wh-what?! Have you been bewitched by that earthenware fiend?!"
"No! This is seriously the most amazing item ever!"
"Is that so? ...But wait, you just said my thick skull wouldn't stay intact? What do you mean by that?"
"Thick skull means your head."
In other words, smash the crock, and Osgeelro's head gets smashed too—a terrifying threat. Now that he understood, Osgeelro felt deeply offended, but he was also curious just how incredible this crock must be to provoke such a reaction.
"Show me how it works, then."
"Everyone, gather at the table first."
The group sat around the table as Han Ji-woo instructed.
"Alright~ This is the Universal Jang Crock. Osgeelro, you don't know what gochujang, doenjang, or ssamjang are, right?"
"Skip the explanations—show me already!"
Osgeelro's eyes filled with anticipation. Ever since arriving in the Hidden Space, he'd enjoyed satisfying meals every time. So he was excited to see what delicious food this crock would produce next.
"Watch this~"
Han Ji-woo placed his hand on the lid and thought to himself,
What I need right now more than anything is ssamjang.
With the grilled beef ready and Pao's freshly harvested lettuce on hand, ssamjang would make the meal perfect.
'Ssamjang' fills the Jang Crock.
Jackpot!
Confirming the system message, Han Ji-woo hurriedly lifted the lid. Inside was a crock brimming with vibrant red ssamjang.
"There we go!"
Overjoyed, he scooped a heaping spoonful onto a plate. Then he closed the lid again and visualized another sauce.
Gochujang! I have gochugaru—can't eat without gochujang!
It was bizarre, really. Koreans made gochujang from gochugaru, then dipped more gochugaru into it for the perfect bite.
'Gochujang' fills the Jang Crock.
His hands moved swiftly to open the lid once more. The ssamjang was gone, replaced seamlessly by gochujang. Hallelujah—nay, Namu Amida Butsu. Unlimited access to any sauce he wanted, anytime!
This was more valuable than any treasure he'd acquired since entering the Hidden Space.
"Heh heh heh."
Letting out an ecstatic chuckle, Han Ji-woo scooped gochujang onto another plate and confidently picked up a lettuce leaf.
"Okay, everyone follow my lead."
Osgeelro and Pao grabbed lettuce leaves as instructed.
"This is lettuce. Spoon some rice on it, add beef, a bit of ssamjang, and wrap it up like this."
They all followed his lead, diligently wrapping their ssam. Lucy had no hands, so Han Ji-woo made her a mini version.
"The most important rule: eat the ssam in one bite. That's how all the flavors blend perfectly. Some amateurs half-ass the wrap and take two bites—I can't even watch. Now, dig in!"
Osgeelro and Pao, who'd been waiting for the word, shoved ssam into their mouths. Han Ji-woo fed one to Lucy too.
Munch. Munch. Munch.
Chew. Chew.
The three of them widened their eyes almost simultaneously, genuinely awestruck by their first taste of ssam!
Savoring their reactions, Han Ji-woo finally took a bite himself.
Munch munch.
As his jaws worked, the ssam burst, spilling out rice, tender beef tenderloin, and spicy-salty ssamjang that mingled perfectly. The subtle sweetness of the rice, the rich juices from the beef, the crisp crunch of lettuce, all unified by ssamjang in an explosive synergy of flavor.
Kuhhh!
Han Ji-woo clenched his fists, trembling in bliss. He'd never dreamed, when kidnapped into the Hidden Space, that he'd enjoy proper Korean meat ssam here!
Gulp!
"...Delicious."
Meat and ssam were eternal truth. With just lettuce and ssamjang, any meat was divine. Take spicy pork stir-fry: great on its own, but wrap it with rice, ssamjang, and garlic? Game over. Pork bulgogi, dakgalbi, samgyeopsal—same deal!
"This is incredible!"
"Best thing I've eaten, Master!"
Nyaaooo!
Osgeelro, Pao, and Lucy were thrilled too. From there, the group devoured their meal like they could eat forever.
* * *
The next day.
Checking the Dungeon Prison via the crystal orb—just in case—Ferrofero widened his eyes.
"Wh-what in the world is that?!"
Something impossible, something that shouldn't happen in the crystal orb, was unfolding.
The Orc Village in the Dungeon Prison had rice paddies and fields. Not to mention livestock barns. And the scale was massive—vast enough to call it enormous.
Looking closer, fields stretched beyond the village too. Orcs and other Dungeon Prison monsters were busily tilling them.
A single goblin oversaw them all.
Goblins were low-grade monsters; no other beast should obey one. But behind Pao stood the Ogre King, arms crossed, watching for any defiance.
Thus, all monsters obeyed Pao without question.
Ferrofero zoomed in on the bizarre goblin's face.
"Th-that's Han Ji-woo's pet, isn't it?!"
He clearly remembered seeing Han Ji-woo summon it in the Dungeon Prison. He'd thought he'd left it behind, but it vanished, so probably summoned to the Hidden Space.
But how was it back here, commanding monsters to farm?
The monsters got a brief break from fieldwork. Orcs lit bonfires and started cooking—roasting potatoes and fish, nothing fancy, but revolutionary for monsters used to raw meat.
Other orcs sliced watermelons. Meanwhile, Pao washed rice in a pot from the Hidden Space and cooked it—mimicking Han Ji-woo from memory. The result was disastrous: burnt bottom, undercooked top. But for Pao, it was a valiant effort.
All the monsters gathered for mealtime. Pao served his rice only to Turkan and the Ogre King—the pot was too small for more.
"Lettuce on. Rice, fish, ssamjang in. Wrap, eat."
Pao taught them the ssam method Han Ji-woo had shown him. He'd grabbed ssamjang with the pot.
Turkan wrapped decently, but the Ogre King's huge hands struggled with grunts.
Both were stunned by their first ssam.
"Truly delicious. Queeek!"
"...Lettuce too small. Need bigger ones..."
They offered their highest praise.
The rice was half-raw, but these monsters had never tasted well-cooked rice anyway—and they weren't foodies—so all were satisfied.
This led Pao to a massive misconception.
"Me... talented at cooking?"
Gulp!
Ferrofero, watching via the crystal orb, swallowed hard.
Truth be told, since becoming manager here, his appetite had vanished. No time or situation for enjoyment.
Until the 27th Heroes arrived. Starting with a fish, then even churros lately, his gourmet desires had reawakened.
He'd suppressed them by recalling his plight. But witnessing a mukbang like this made his hunger explode.
"This is a prison—I can't go there!"
He yelled, then snapped to his senses a beat late.
"N-no! Ughhh. What's wrong with me lately?! ...More importantly, how did that goblin get into the prison?!"
As Ferrofero puzzled over it—
Whoosh!
Pao, finishing his meal, waved goodbye and vanished.
A grim hypothesis formed in Ferrofero's mind.
"No way... that thing can travel freely between the Hidden Space and Dungeon Prison?!"
This was seriously, catastrophically wrong.
"..."
Ferrofero furrowed his brow deeply in thought.
"I can't let this stand. Even if it costs half my lifespan, I must kill that human."
Grinding his teeth, Ferrofero opened the Manager Shop. His small room transformed into a display of various items.
He grabbed one without hesitation—the shop's priciest, one-of-a-kind item, costing 50 years of the buyer's life.
If Ferrofero had less than 50 years left, buying it would kill him. But cat tribe lifespans averaged 200 years, and at nearly 50, he'd still have over 100 left.
"I'll take this!"
After paying the steep price, he checked the item's name.
[Creator's Authority: 10-Minute Usage Rights]
It allowed 10 minutes of using the dungeon creator god's power.
* * *
"...It's cracked?"
In the Hidden Space's Salt Mine, Han Ji-woo's group stood tensely before the black rock. A crack had appeared overnight, making it look ready to shatter.
Then—
Crack-crack-CRACKLE!
A deafening sound rang out as even larger, deeper fissures spiderwebbed across it.