One for the Master, Two for Respect
"One—for our Master! Two—let us revere him! One."
"Our Master!"
"Two."
"Let us revere him!"
"One."
"Our Master!"
"One."
"Revere—hup."
The arm that had shot up immediately drooped back down.
"One."
"Our Master!"
"One."
"O-our Master!"
"……."
"……."
"……."
"Why didn't you say two?!"
Tteoksoon-i's arm trembled with frustration.
"Two."
"Let us revere him! Heok—heok—"
I sat in my chair, gazing steadily at Tteoksoon-i.
"The way you shouted right after saying you couldn't hear it? Looks like that's what you've always wanted to say."
"N-no way, Master!"
I shook my head firmly.
"How insolent. How utterly insolent. I cherished you so dearly, treated you like my own daughter."
"I-it's really not like that!"
"Really?"
"Yes! How could I ever think that of our sky-like Master!"
"Really, truly?"
"Truly, I swear! It was just my pure loyalty toward you—"
"Tsk tsk tsk. A serpent's tongue."
"I-it's really true!"
"Oh ho. One."
"O-our Master!"
"Two."
"Let us revere him!"
"One."
"Our Master-r!"
"One."
"Guhhh—"
"Oh ho. Not answering? One."
"O-our Master!"
"Two."
"Attack him!"
"…? Attack him?"
"Ah, my pronunciation slipped…"
"So your true feelings slipped out, huh?"
"……."
"Oooone!"
"Hiiing…"
Tteoksoon-i's face crumpled into a pouty mess.
Time to cut the teasing short. It wasn't a big deal anyway, and customers kept pouring in like waves—better wrap it up.
"Ahem. Rise and get back to work."
"Yeees…"
She slumped like seaweed, all limp and droopy, her lips puffed out in clear grievance.
I crooked a finger at her.
"Come here."
"Yeees…"
"I only scolded you because I care about you, our Tteoksoon-i."
"…Really?"
"Of course. You know how much I treasure you, right?"
"……."
"Tsk. Why no answer?"
"…Not sure."
Her lips pursed like a bird's beak. Maybe I went a bit overboard with the prank.
"Here, a present."
I pulled a strawberry candy from my pocket.
"Waaah!"
Her sulky face bloomed into a grin in an instant.
"Thank you!"
"The scolding's the scolding. You'll listen better from now on, right?"
"Yes, Master!"
"Ahem. Keep it secret from Gold Sun. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"Off you go."
"Yes, Master!"
"Boss."
"Yes, Boss!"
Tteoksoon-i skipped out, humming, and resumed serving. Looks grown-up on the outside, but a total kid inside. Felt like coaxing an elementary schooler.
Baek Bal Baek Jung, who had been covering serving duty, glanced at me warily before slipping into the kitchen. He plopped down awkwardly and slipped on rubber gloves.
"Ha… haha, shall we get back to the fun of dishwashing?"
"……."
"Oh, and for the record, I didn't say a word about that."
"……."
I said nothing, just stared at him pointedly.
"I-I'm serious! If anything, I—"
Precisely—above his head.
Baek Bal Baek Jung's rambling didn't quite register. Because a heart had popped up above his head with a pwing.
"……?"
A heart? Out of nowhere?
"When Hura suddenly collapsed, I was just worried—"
"Baek Bal Baek Jung."
"Yes?"
"What's that above your head?"
"Pardon? Above my head?"
He glanced up at his own head, then looked back at me with utter confusion.
"What do you mean above my head?"
"The heart."
"Heart?"
Baek Bal Baek Jung swiped at the air above his head. But the bizarre heart passed right through his hand like it was visible only to me, landing on his ridiculous turban.
"Ah. Aah. You mean this turban? Sharp eyes you've got."
"Huh?"
"These stripes are part of a big heart design. Hard to tell when it's folded, but you spotted it."
"…That was a heart?"
"Yep. Unfold it, and bam—huge heart. They sell 'em at that clothing shop. Wanna go together later?"
"N-no, not that. Like, literally a heart floating above your head."
"…Pardon?"
He peered up again. Nothing there, judging by his blank stare back at me.
Guess it's really just me who can see it.
"Ah, never mind. Back to work."
"Ah, yes…"
Baek Bal Baek Jung shot me a weird look—like I was nuts—and resumed washing dishes.
…Talk about unfair. What's with that heart?
Related to when I collapsed? The system said my Cooking Charm hit level 10. Something about an ability awakening.
I pulled up my skill window right away.
[Skill - Cooking Summon Lv.10 0.01%]
[Skill - Cooking Charm has reached Level 10.]
• New ability has successfully awakened.
• You can now visually confirm whether a target is affected by Cooking Charm.
• on/off toggle available.
Aha. I glanced at the heart floating over Baek Bal Baek Jung's head. That must be it.
"……."
…That's it?
Handy to visually check who's charmed, sure. But after all that fanfare for the awakening? Felt like there was more.
I checked the skill window again. Sure enough, the description continued.
• You can issue one command to targets affected by Cooking Charm.
"Eh?!"
Issue commands?
"N-no way… testing it."
This wasn't some movie.
Clink-clink.
I snuck a peek at the Middle Eastern tycoon washing dishes over there. Perfect test subject nearby.
Let's try it.
"Baek Bal Baek Jung."
"Y-yes?!"
He startled, having been peeking at me.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Hm…"
I stared at him steadily, then issued a command.
"Mind doing a handstand?"
"Pardon? Handstand?"
"Yes. A handstand."
"Out of nowhere?"
"Yes."
"N-no thanks. Why would I—"
But despite his words, his body obediently flipped into a handstand.
"……!"
"Wh-what the? What's going on?"
Baek Bal Baek Jung's eyes bulged like saucers, mouth agape. I released the command in a daze.
"Uh… that's enough."
Crash!
"……."
He lay there stunned, blinking up at me. I was just as shocked. Didn't think it'd actually work. Was just messing around.
Stepping past him—still frozen on the floor—I wandered out of the kitchen in a trance.
I scanned the customers eating at the simple tables.
"……!"
Dozens of hearts popped up above their heads. A legion of hearts. Waves of hearts. A forest of hearts.
All these people… if I commanded them to handstand, they'd do it right now?
"Ha, haha…"
This is straight-up broken.
…Should I test a group handstand?
No, snap out of it, Hura. What kind of horror show for the customers!
"Master!"
That's when Gold Sun came barreling in.
"What? Something wrong?"
He'd ignored the line at the counter and rushed straight to me. Looked urgent.
"Why no candy for me?"
"……."
My eyes met Tteoksoon-i's across the room. She flinched, turned away, and busied herself serving.
…Must've bragged already.
* * *
Early morning. Or rather, the wee hours before dawn. Pitch black outside still.
I'd slept over eight hours, yet up this early. Early bedtime and full-dive login last night left my head crystal clear.
I bolted straight to the kitchen upon waking.
More important than the Cooking Charm awakening: the boss's tteokbokki sauce. No matter how real the game felt, nothing topped real life.
That missing 2% seasoning to perfect it—I rummaged through the kitchen cabinets at the crack of dawn, hauling everything out onto the table.
Salt, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, mayo, sesame oil, chili powder, soybean paste, gochujang, vinegar, mirin, and more.
I sampled each one.
"Hmm… no."
"Not this."
"No! Absolutely not!"
I tore at my hair in frustration.
A magic seasoning that elevates the dish without overpowering it, even in tiny amounts. That's all I needed, but nothing fit.
"Anything else?"
Rummage rummage.
Double-checked every cabinet.
"…Huh?"
Deep in the back, in a shadowy corner. A small bottle I'd never noticed.
"What's this? Never saw it before."
I reached in and pulled it out.
"Whew, dusty."
I dusted it off and read the label.
"……!"
My eyes widened. Joy bubbled up.
"Yes!"
How'd I forget this? It existed! That magical white powder from real life too!
Tap. I scooped a bit onto my finger and tasted.
"Yes… this is it."
This umami! Tames sour and bitter, boosts sweet with savoriness, draws out natural flavors!
The grand arbiter of taste balance and harmony!
"This is the one!"
I clenched my fist tight.
* * *
"Morning, Boss!"
The boss, mid-cleaning, jumped in surprise.
"Oh my! Why so early?"
Makes sense—I'd come an hour ahead of schedule. Clock showed 9 a.m.
"Coming early doesn't mean extra pay time."
"I know. Don't worry."
I washed my hands, tied on my apron, and got to it.
"About the tteokbokki, Boss."
"Sure~ what is it?"
"Want to add something. Mind taking a look?"
"Oh, sure. One sec~"
I quickly washed the cooking board and set it up for tteokbokki. Boss finished cleaning and joined me, eyes full of curiosity.
"What're you adding?"
"Well, I was mulling it over on the way home yesterday."
Familiar motions: pulled out the boss's signature sauce and poured it on the board.
Splash. Added rice cakes and fish cakes.
"Your tteokbokki's the best I've ever had."
"Hehe, thanks~"
"Made me greedy for more."
"Greedy?"
"Yeah. Thought that amazing tteokbokki could level up even further."
"Hm… really?"
I'd phrased it carefully not to offend—treading on her hard-earned recipe as a newbie after just two days. Touchy for any chef, tied to pride.
If someone tweaked my recipe willy-nilly, I wouldn't take it kindly either.
"Oh, you said we could discuss if you had other ideas. Just floating it out there. Haha…"
I glanced nervously. But she smiled warmly and nodded.
"Go ahead. Better to show results than talk— that's why you're here early cooking, right?"
"Ha, haha, yes."
No rookie she was. Decades in the food biz—saw right through me.
"Not changing seasonings or ratios. Just adding one thing."
"One thing?"
"Yes."
I sprinkled the pre-measured 'white powder'—scaled perfectly for this batch.
"Oh my!"
Like snow tumbling off branches, she gasped in awe.
Rest of the process identical. Just that one addition, as promised—the missing 2%.
Finally, tossed in chopped green onions and served her a portion.
"Give it a taste."
"Okay."
She picked up a piece of tteok, savoring it thoughtfully.
My mouth went dry, throat tight. Sweat beaded, fingers fidgeted.
In that tense moment, her eyes went wide.
"……!"