Concentrated Haru Juice for Sis-in-Law
After spending 50 years cooking solely in the other world, Haru continued her inertial cooking routine back on Earth. It was something she was already good at anyway, and with the variables of Towers and Hunters making it impossible to grow money through stocks or coins, that was the reasoning.
Thanks to Yui, her Level 2 cooking AI, it was practically a free ride, but her main body was pulling off grueling labor—clocking in at 10:30 a.m. and out at 10 p.m.
What to do... Should I tough it out and save for the clone, or buy something else?
The money Haru had on hand right now was the 500,000 won from her Lee Ha-neul days, plus the 75 million won compensation she'd received a few days ago as a victim of the Tower collapse. But she had no real place to spend it. It wasn't enough for a Han River-view apartment, buying a car felt off, and dressing this body in luxury bags or clothes would just be ridiculous.
So, adding the finance/business upgrade seemed like it could multiply her idle cash, but Level 1 felt unreliable.
"My bodily fluids are already insanely potent anyway..."
You haven't overused God's Droplets for a long time. Until someone receives the blessing of God's Droplets, buff effects increase enormously (tens to hundreds of times)!
After more than ten days had passed since Elmu—the Crimson Parrot chick—powered up on the day of her regression, the Concentrated Holy Water passive triggered again.
Fearful of being dragged to the basement if she overused her fluids, Haru had only added tiny amounts to her stocks. Since the person she planned to give her fluids to was a civilian—not a Hunter or monster—it didn't seem like the boosted effects would cause any major issues.
"Alright, let's buy this first!"
God's Droplets has grown from Lv 1 to Lv 2!
Rank: ???
By the grace of the Goddess of Gastronomy, your bodily fluids (sweat, saliva, blood, secretions, etc.) gain various special effects!! Effects double when added to food, and vary based on the owner's condition.
Caution: Does not apply to self!!
(NEW!) Bodily fluids are now automatically stored in inventory without manual collection.
(NEW!) Similar types of fluids can now be concentrated!!
Introductory Bonus: Discarded fluids from the past 1X days have been added to inventory!!
It didn't feel like the level-up had made the effects stronger per se. Things like sweat or urine—stuff that was kinda gross to handle—were now in potion bottles in her inventory. Blood and saliva seemed to auto-collect daily in fixed amounts.
"What's this concentration function?"
In the inventory window, items with similar buff effects glowed the same color.
Swoosh!
The dozens of potion bottles compressed into just a few.
"Ahh... So that's how it works... What a useless purchase."
It was a level-up that only improved convenience, like disinfecting chopsticks or prepping wet towels.
But if it auto-stores... does that mean even if I pee, it goes straight to inventory?
As Haru thought, even if she peed on the floor, it wouldn't show up to others' eyes. It was evening now, so she slipped into the bathroom and peed on the floor to test.
Trickle trickle—
"Huh? Pee came out though???"
'Haru's Lemonade' has been added.
Yellow liquid still pooled on the floor, but a new potion bottle appeared in inventory. If collected intentionally, she could now get up to twice as much daily fluid volume compared to Level 1.
That's still too much hassle...
One more curiosity lingered.
Ughhh...
She squeezed her eyes shut and peeked, confirming its identity.
The bottle contained something like brown coffee grounds.
"If you didn't know, it looks kinda drinkable..."
Chinese, huh...
A full course could let her feed all five types of her fluids.
Blood adds spicy, so basic jjajang and spicy jjajang—two of those...
She'd said it was okay to come over when they first met, but this was pretty sudden—yet Hee-yeon responded surprisingly cleanly.
Then we can clock out together at night and make three servings each in the morning?
With inventory, just dump all fluids into Hee-yeon's food when she's not looking!! It'll be super intense flavor though!!
"Eek!!"
No one knew about God's Droplets yet, but it hit too close.
"Urk. This married woman...!"
Unsettled but resigned, she agreed to provide the "payment(?)."
She nailed it again.
The next morning, Yoo Hee-yeon's steps were light as she headed to work for pre-opening prep. She'd tidied the house since cute hedgehog-like Haru was coming over, and arrived at the shop.
People were already milling about in front, so she just nodded and went in. Inside, she saw Park Sun-ja with two other men. Both middle-aged, younger than Seong Chan-ho—one plain, the other hugely obese.
The fat one, who seemed higher-up, slicked back his wig-like permed hair and approached Hee-yeon.
"Hello. I'm Jin Mu-kyung, department head from Seongga Food."
"Yoo Hee-yeon, working in the kitchen here."
When he offered a handshake with the hand that had touched his greasy hair, she instinctively stepped back and bowed at the navel.
"Oh, you're an employee here? You're so pretty I thought you were a celebrity part-timer, haha."
"Ah... Yeah, I was on a show."
"President's been busy with business lately, so I haven't seen you. Sorry about that."
His lecherous eyes scanning her face and upper body creeped her out.
Who asked what you do?
She was glad she'd worn high-necked clothes. He kept wandering distractingly, peeking during opening prep, which annoyed her... but the production crew arrived quickly, so she focused on cleaning.
Ding!
An hour before opening, Haru and Bang Aji entered. They exchanged greetings with the Seongga Food guys and started prep.
"Today's meat... total average."
Lee Haru had a rough idea why Department Head Jin and his lackey were here but ignored them and did her job quietly.
Probably here for a shoulder massage.
When Shin Do-young asked about Seongga sauce and you clapped back, Seong Chan-ho got pissed.
So what if he did?
In the dining area, Park Sun-ja was posting a notice that the shop original Slippery Pork Stir-fry Set A was temporarily suspended due to circumstances.
"Aigoo..."
The crew, sensing broadcast potential, asked Park Sun-ja how she felt.
Nice nice. Build-up's going well. Just gotta find that during cleaning soon.
Before opening, Bang Aji revealed she was from the Awakener Center and cleared up rumors about Lee Haru.
Now to position the two Seongga Food guys and Aji strategically. Sun-ja, Haru, and Hee-yeon discussed, but it went Haru's way.
"Aji, help with dishes and assisting in the kitchen. The other two, just serving or moving ingredients."
Haru's choice kept the two men out of the kitchen. She planned to share the Slippery Pork Stir-fry recipe on a tube site eventually, but not give them hints.
Plus that Jin Mu-kyung...
He'd get busted for sexual harassment at work in a few years—she wanted him away from the women.
Aji's a Hunter so he avoids her, but keeps eyeing Hee-yeon like easy prey, that pig.
"Is it okay with just us two in the kitchen???"
The men were disappointed by the unexpected assignment, but this wasn't Saint Burger—they had to obey the boss.
"Yes. There's assisting anyway, just help with heavy lifting or moving stuff!"
"But that assistant looks new to kitchens—is that okay???"
Defying expectations, lunch service was tough but went smoothly. They'd cleared some tables, and Aji kept watching Haru in the kitchen, so she figured things out.
"Phew, hurdle cleared. Boss, you worked hard too. Any complaints???"
Park Sun-ja's lips trembled at the different results from when three cooked.
"...None."
"Saw most customers clean their plates."
Break time hit, so Aji and Haru headed to the rooftop storage for Elmu healing time. As they were about to leave, voices drifted through the rickety door.
"Seongga Food folks, huh. Want me to handle it???"
"They're here to help, so let's leave 'em... Gotta scout other spots for Elmu soon."
Heading out to pretend acquaintance, suspicious talk leaked.
"Boss. Heh heh, kill this girl too? She's the food truck chick from Incheon..."
"Ooh... Even bustier than that married one? But look at her. She's the final boss."
Cracking the door, they were sexually harassing photos of Seongga Food job applicants.
"Aji, Telepo and record video."
"Yes."
Oblivious to being live-recorded, Jin Mu-kyung and his toady kept vulgar banter.
"Whoa... Boss, where'd you get girls like this..."
"Alba from the tteokbokki joint near our company."
"Gorgeous at 20, but high school grad no experience."
"Dongbaekjeong maknae daughter, runaway."
"That 40-year han-sik place?? Han Ui-ji? Han family."
"She was ashamed, didn't say... But I dug it up. Dongbaekjeong kid? President'll approve."
"Address... two-room with boyfriend? Waste..."
"Thrill makes it better???"
"Out-of-towner must be lonely, heh heh..."
Game over. Not middle schoolers, full-on... Pfft!
Haru was thrilled—the topic girl was her fave, and she'd gotten leverage.
Descending from the roof toward the restaurant, Seong Chan-ho guarded the door, small camera in hand.