The Management Office

"Chief, did you see this?"

"What is it?"

Park Seong-geun and Jeong Ye-ji, employees of the Bukhansan National Park Management Office, were having lunch. While scrolling through her phone, Ye-ji suddenly turned her screen toward him.

On the screen, a man stood at the peak of Bukhansan, holding a single-use plastic cup filled with cold noodles. The sweat dripping down his face and his drenched clothes made it obvious how grueling his climb had been. But the naengmyeon in his hand, topped with a thick layer of slushy ice, looked like it could banish the heat in a single bite.

Behind him, the panoramic view of Seoul was absolutely breathtaking. Without a moment's hesitation, the man gave the noodles a quick stir, slurped them down with gusto, and gulped down the icy broth. He ate with such relish that Park Seong-geun found himself swallowing hard, his mouth watering in unison—and that was despite the fact that Seong-geun was currently in the middle of eating his own lunch.

The peak of Bukhansan, the man's sweat, and the ice-cold noodles blended together into a picture-perfect scene.

"He makes it look so good, right?"

"Yeah."

"But apparently, someone is selling those at the peak."

"What?"

"Look at the hashtags."

Wait, this isn't right.

His sense of duty as a National Park Management Office employee flared up. If a hiker prepared cold noodles themselves and ate them at the peak, there was no issue. As long as they weren't cooking on the mountain, eating pre-prepared food was perfectly fine. That was why so many hikers packed vegetables, fruits, and lunchboxes.

But selling food inside a national park without a permit? That was an entirely different story. Selling food without a license violated both the Natural Parks Act and the Food Sanitation Act. This was something that required immediate enforcement.

"Let's head up after lunch. Romance is one thing, but breaking the law is another."

Park Seong-geun climbed all the way to the peak. Just because he was a park employee didn't make the climb any easier. Hiking was just as exhausting and breath-stealing for him as it was for anyone else.

Pant, pant, pant, pant.

Maybe I should have just pretended I didn't see it. No, it's better to nip this in the bud.

When he finally reached the peak, a massive crowd was standing in a long line. It was a highly unusual sight for a mountain summit. Normally, people took a break and admired the scenery once they reached the top; standing in a single-file line was practically unheard of. Yet here, a long queue snaked across the rocky peak. And at the end of that line, a young man sat behind a folding table, handing out items.

Seong-geun marched over to the young man.

"We're from the National Park Management Office."

"Oh, hello there! Nice to meet you."

The young man greeted them with a bright, welcoming smile.

What's with this reaction?

It was completely different from how illegal vendors usually behaved. Normally, the moment park officials showed their faces, vendors would scramble to pack their goods and bolt. After getting caught once or twice, they would stop showing up altogether. Because of that, the management office had never taken it too seriously. Occasionally, some stubborn vendors would play dumb and claim they did nothing wrong, but a hefty fine usually shut them up real quick.

Selling goods, vending food, foraging wild herbs, breaking branches, or starting fires in a national park were all punishable offenses under various environmental laws. Selling food added a violation of the Food Sanitation Act to the list, and street vending could also be penalized under local ordinances.

By all accounts, the mere mention of the "Management Office" should have sent this young man running in terror. Instead, he was acting like he was glad to see them.

Is he out of his mind?

"Under the Natural Parks Act, engaging in unauthorized commercial activities in non-designated areas of a national park is subject to an administrative fine."

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

"I'm saying you can be fined for selling things here."

"Right, but what exactly do you mean by that? I don't quite understand."

"I am telling you that you cannot sell goods here!"

"But I've never sold a single thing here."

"What? You've never sold anything? I am literally witnessing you sell goods right this second!"

"I'm not selling anything. I'm just making deliveries."

"Excuse me???"

"Is delivery banned in national parks? These people ordered in advance. I simply brought their orders up here and handed them over. Is that a crime?"

"That... that's..."

As Seong-geun stammered, Jeong Ye-ji quickly chimed in to back him up.

"We saw you taking money! We have video evidence of you accepting cash."

"Have you never heard of cash on delivery? Weather on the mountain is unpredictable. If it rained today, neither I nor the customers could have made it up here. If they paid in advance, they'd be the ones losing out. I chose cash on delivery to protect my customers. Is that a crime too?"

It wasn't a crime. There was no law against delivering food to a mountain. The problem was that it didn't look like a simple delivery service at all.

"Then show us the delivery requests from your customers. Do that, and I'll let you off the hook."

"Bring a warrant. Otherwise, you're asking me to violate the Personal Information Protection Act."

"What?"

"I said, it's a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act. You're asking to see who ordered what, how many portions, their phone numbers, and their addresses. If you want to audit private customer data, go get a warrant."

The two park officials stood frozen, utterly speechless.

Gong In-bae smoothly turned to the next man in line, who had been listening intently to the entire exchange.

"You're here to pick up your order, correct?"

The man, who had been waiting desperately to buy his cold noodles, nodded vigorously.

"Yes, yes, yes! I ordered it on Instagram yesterday!"

In-bae smoothly handed him a pre-packaged plastic bag.

"Here is the water naengmyeon you requested. That will be 10,000 won, delivery fee included."

The park officials couldn't even argue. Every single portion was indeed individually packaged. He wasn't preparing or pouring anything on-site. All he did was hand over pre-sealed bags.

I guess... it really is a delivery, not a sale.

Still, Seong-geun couldn't just back down like this.

"Encouraging hikers to litter is a violation of the Waste Management Act."

At Seong-geun's words, In-bae pointed a finger toward the side. There stood massive trash bags, with general waste and recyclables meticulously sorted and organized.

"Of course we have to protect the environment. I'm a nature lover, after all."

In the end, the two officials had no choice but to turn around and hike back down.

Was it just a temporary fix?

Unlike Park Seong-geun, the officials who came next were far more overbearing and aggressive. In-bae tried every excuse in the book, but none of them worked anymore.

In truth, he had previously instructed his customers to create Instagram accounts and place orders there. He told them he could only sell to them if there was a record of an order. He had set up an Instagram account and accumulated orders so that if the authorities pressed him, he could show them the records and argue he was only up here for deliveries. In fact, that was exactly what he did. The only problem was that they didn't buy it.

The park officials, completely ignoring his protests, left without taking immediate action that day. But the very next day, they returned with a document that systematically dismantled every single one of his legal loopholes. They proudly claimed their legal team had drafted it.

For now, it was a formal warning. It stated that while they would let him off with a warning this time, any continued business operations would result in immediate criminal charges.

Having spent most of his life as a powerless pushover, In-bae's survival instincts told him not to push his luck any further. He nodded immediately and packed up his gear.

Normally, he would have had to pay a hefty fine. In exchange for waiving the penalty, they forced him to sign a written pledge promising never to engage in commercial activities or deliveries on the mountain again. Only then was he allowed to descend.

It had been exactly one week from the day he started to the day he shut down.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he had no choice. It was a literal goldmine that cleared one to two million won in pure profit every single day, but those middle-aged park rangers were now permanently stationed at the peak. And he had signed that pledge.

On his Instagram page, which he had used to take orders, comments flooded in from disappointed hikers looking for him.

He posted a notice explaining that due to various circumstances, he could no longer continue operations.

When he informed the gimbap and naengmyeon restaurant owners that there would be no more bulk orders, they expressed deep disappointment. He also visited the elderly ice cream wholesaler to break the news. The old man looked genuinely saddened.

"Oh dear... you worked so hard. I can't believe it had to end like this."

"It's alright, Grandfather. I learned a lot thanks to you."

"Those bureaucrats... picking on a young man just trying to sell a few ice creams. Tsk, tsk."

It wasn't just a few ice creams, Grandfather. I was selling a thousand a day.

"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble for you."

"Trouble? Nonsense! You were a wonderful customer who bought up so much of my stock."

"Thank you for being so kind to me. I'll make sure to drop by again."

"Sure, sure. Drop by whenever you're in the neighborhood. I'll always have a free ice cream waiting for you."

"Thank you. I will."

After saying his goodbyes to the wholesale owner, In-bae returned home.

Now, it was time to balance the books. There was no credit or outstanding debt. Since he had paid for all his inventory upfront in cash, every single bill in his possession was pure, unadulterated profit. Everything in his pockets and his inventory belonged entirely to him.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

He emptied his pockets and pulled out every last bill stored inside his Inventory. Thick stacks of 1,000 won, 10,000 won, and 50,000 won bills began piling up on the floor. He sorted the cash by denomination and began counting. The 10,000 won bills made up the largest stack, followed closely by the 50,000 won bills.

There were exactly 119 sheets of 50,000 won bills, 517 sheets of 10,000 won bills, and 382 sheets of 1,000 won bills. The grand total was 11,502,000 won.

Holy crap.

He had cleared over ten million won in a single week. It was mind-boggling. Having never seen or touched such a massive sum of money in his entire life, he was utterly at a loss for what to do with it.

Should I deposit it in a bank? I don't know. Let's just keep it in my Inventory for now.

At the very least, there was zero risk of losing it if it was locked away in his dimensional storage.

He spent the next few days idling around his house. When he was selling ice cream on the mountain, his mind would race with business plans the second he opened his eyes, sending him sprinting up the trails without a moment's hesitation. Now that his routine was gone, he felt a strange sense of emptiness.

He didn't know what to do with himself. He spent his days sitting on the wooden platform in his yard, staring blankly into space, studying English, or mindlessly scrolling through YouTube.

If he had never tasted the thrill of his mountain business, this idle lifestyle would have felt perfectly normal. But now, it was excruciatingly boring. He genuinely missed his life on the mountain. He missed the long lines of eager customers, the thumbs-up they gave him, and the heartfelt compliments about how delicious and refreshing his food was. He missed those days when he was simultaneously building his physical stamina, earning a fortune, and having the time of his life.

Above all, it had been incredibly fun.

He couldn't go back to the mountain, and the stagnation was suffocating.

How should I spend the rest of this school break?

It had only been a little over a week since summer vacation started.

What else can I do before school starts again?

While browsing the internet, a travel advertisement caught his eye.

A trip? Maybe I should go on a trip.

He had never gone on a proper vacation in his entire life. He had never even seen the ocean. There had been no one to take him on trips, no one to show him the sea. Even when his school went on field trips, he had to stay behind because he couldn't afford the fee. He had missed out on everything.

But now, he could go. He had the money, he had the time, and most importantly, he had the desire. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠made up his mind to go.

He didn't bother setting a strict itinerary. His starting point would be Jeju Island. His plan was simple: fly down to Jeju Island, take a ferry back to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mainland, and leisurely explore different regions as he made his way back up north.

Once he made the decision, everything fell into place seamlessly. Honestly, there wasn't much to prepare anyway. He had no set schedule, and anything he might need could either be bought on the road or was already safely tucked away inside his Inventory.

Next stop, Jeju Island.