Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Land, Wrong Encounter
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“…………………………Yes?”
My head went ding—no, boom!
It was a pretty fresh shock.
Even when I got hit in the head with a bat swung by some thug back in my twenties, it hadn’t hurt this much.
“Our goal at Molrangmol is to build the tallest skyscraper in Korea… no, in the entire world.”
It was an incredibly reasonable statement.
With Molrangmol’s potential, it wouldn’t be strange at all.
However.
From the perspective of Haneul, who had been listening, unease began to creep in inevitably.
So, what about the Molrangmol branch in Baekya Castle?
Would it become unnecessary?
…That would be a bit of a problem.
At this point, Molrangmol could be considered the core of Baekya Castle.
Every day, countless people came to buy Molrangmol gear and merchandise.
Naturally, Baekya Castle was like a department store.
There were hardly any customers who only shopped at Molrangmol.
It inevitably meant they used the other facilities too.
The incidental revenue generated by Molrangmol was enormous.
Thanks to that, Haneul had been planning to expand and relocate Molrangmol within the first half of the year…
And now, in this situation, she was suddenly being told to vacate?
It was a bolt from the blue.
Of course, if told to leave, she’d have to.
Even without Molrangmol, Baekya wouldn’t collapse.
It would just be regrettable and sad.
It’s always the most heartbreaking when something given is taken away.
The financial hit wouldn’t be negligible either.
Haneul tried to steel herself after somehow accepting it.
But humans are awfully fragile in moments like this, so she ended up imagining the worst-case scenario for no reason.
Once is hard, but twice?
Maybe Molrangmol would find another, better partner than Baekya in the merchandise business too…?
The possibility was low, but not zero.
They might not make a partner at all and go independent.
If that happened, the blow would be massive.
Especially now, when they’d perfectly laid the foundation to sweep the entire merchandise market pie.
She couldn’t give up on the merchandise business even if she died.
What if, just maybe, the relationship between Molrangmol and Baekya broke off?
As Haneul’s mind went from distant to dizzying.
“So, let’s keep working well together going forward.”
He extended his hand.
He was smiling now, right…?
The disguise magic made it impossible to see his expression, which hurt deeply.
“…Ms. Haneul?”
“Ah, yes! Of course! We’re the ones who should be asking!”
Haneul clasped his hand with both of hers and shook it politely.
No matter how she thought about it, there was only one thing she could do.
She had to stick by Molrangmol’s side as hard as possible until the end.
Even if it seemed a bit desperate, for Baekya to achieve the best growth, that was the optimal path.
“Oh, speaking of which, I have a favor to ask of Baekya.”
“Yes. Anything.”
“Could you look into some land for me?”
“Land? What kind…?”
“A really, really big plot. And preferably not too far from Gyeonggi Province.”
**
Crazy.
How could something be this delicious?
“Ha.”
Seo-hyun let out a hollow breath as she bit into the special dragon skewer.
A single 100g serving cost a whopping 130,000 won.
It was a devilishly expensive price for a mere snack, yet the line was insanely long.
She’d had to stand still for a full 30 minutes.
And the one grilling the skewers was a mini golem.
Talk about ridiculous.
No matter how intelligent a B-rank monster was, how smart could it be?
At best, like a monkey or a dolphin.
Practically a five-year-old kid, and these pathetic things were doing the cooking.
“…….”
In the end, all they did was grill it.
Gulp!
Why was it so delicious? It was subtly wounding her pride.
An exotic snack you couldn’t find anywhere else in the world.
Thinking about it, 130,000 won was actually cheap for dragon meat.
Sinwol Pavilion definitely couldn’t rest easy.
The competitiveness was overflowing.
Right now, it was just a simple snack, but what if they hired a chef somewhere?
‘They might steal the number one restaurant spot we’ve held for years.’
Seo-hyun made a serious face and bit into another snack.
Crunch!
The crunchy texture spreading through her mouth. Wow… so damn good.
Sweetness bursting through the crispiness.
Just when she thought it wasn’t too much, the nutty flavor spread.
“How did they make this?”
It was candy made from dragon claws.
Weird. The dragon claws supplied to Sinwol Pavilion didn’t taste like this.
A bit of a delicacy, maybe.
An extremely polarizing flavor.
Like cilantro—some people couldn’t eat it no matter what, ingrained in their genes.
And Seo-hyun was one of them.
No, most people were like that.
Countless studies published by scholars proved it.
‘It was definitely an unusable ingredient.’
Crunch crunch!
But this one kept going down nonstop.
In the blink of an eye, she’d polished off two candies, smacking her lips in regret.
The taste was addictive. Should’ve bought more.
Some special processing?
To uncover the truth, she poured mana into her eyes.
The special eyes that had elevated her to her current position.
Eyes that pierced through cooking.
Her secret technique that analyzed every ingredient used.
“Hmmmmm…….”
She unleashed it, staring right through the candy.
‘Nothing. Can’t see it.’
No particularly novel ingredients. Just coated in chocolate—that was it.
Ah, whatever.
Having properly hit a wall for the first time in a while, Seo-hyun wandered aimlessly.
Her motivation seemed drained. But she was glad she’d come.
Because she’d confirmed it clearly.
Molrang Park’s food was a threat to Sinwol Pavilion.
And one more thing.
Woooong!
The construction site visible not far outside the glass window was another gain.
‘Didn’t know Quantum was collaborating too.’
Quantum, in this field?
Her head rang. It meant Molrang Park was that promising.
Yeah. Definitely promising.
Lots of novel attractions, delicious food… They might take the world’s number one theme park spot soon.
But then, shouldn’t Sinwol do something too?
Zenith, Hwayeon, Sinwol.
The three of the Five Great Guilds without links to Molrangmol.
Hwayeon was a total write-off, so pass.
Zenith focused more overseas than domestic, so pass.
And Sinwol.
It was common knowledge, even to stray dogs, that Sinwol dominated Korea’s food industry.
‘Something’s up…….’
A competitor’s emergence was always scary.
Not just any competitor, but a diamond-grade powerhouse.
Backed by Quantum, Baekya, JH Bank.
Even from afar—no, just glancing—it was clear they’d take some of Sinwol’s pie.
So, how would Sinwol respond?
Seo-hyun cautiously recalled Sinwol’s executives.
Yeah. Hopeless. Totally hopeless.
They weren’t the type to partner with Molrangmol.
If they felt threatened, they’d grind people down to come up with something better.
Not as notorious as Hwayeon, but Sinwol had some similarities.
No major corporation didn’t chew through people, after all.
‘Driving me crazy.’
Suddenly, a dark future appeared vividly to Seo-hyun.
There’d been something similar just a few months ago.
All-nighters developing a new menu item.
Good thing it succeeded—if it had failed…
Gulp.
Ugh, horrifying.
The real horror was that it might happen again.
“…….”
Wait, thinking about it, this pissed her off.
Sinwol Pavilion wasn’t even her shop—she was just an employee. Why was she thinking from the company’s perspective?
Her train of thought suddenly branched in a new direction.
Sinwol Pavilion’s owner was Sinwol Guild.
Naturally, all the chefs working under them were employees.
Seo-hyun was the same.
That’s why she was head chef, not owner-chef.
‘Maybe I should job hunt.’
Job hopping was all the rage these days.
Seemed like a lot were going to Baekya.
But actually going to Baekya herself? Nah.
They wouldn’t have a restaurant that could match her pay.
Or Molrang Park…?
Yeah, that’d be tough too.
Molrangmol hadn’t posted any job openings anyway.
From what she’d heard, they paid employees generously.
Insane average salaries. Though the headcount was small.
Might as well toss in a resume.
It was trendy these days—apply elsewhere while still employed.
If it worked, great. If not, whatever.
Worst case, she’d stick it out at Sinwol Pavilion.
“Ah… whatever. Life’s too harsh.”
Nothing in the world was easy.
Seo-hyun realized yet another life truth, who knew how many times.
Wandering aimlessly, she found herself at the center of Molrang Park.
‘What’s that?’
A peculiar sculpture caught her eye.
[Molrang Calibur: Grace of dawn to the one who draws it.]
A sword embedded in a rock.
That was probably… Molrang Tail?
It looked like they gave a prize to whoever pulled it out.
Seo-hyun felt a strange curiosity but cleanly gave up.
‘Line’s too long.’
No way she’d even try.
Instead, she decided to watch others attempt it.
“Kid, come here. Sis’ll show you how.”
“No way! Sis is weak!”
“Tsk tsk tsk. You don’t get it. Sis stayed up nights researching this weapon.”
A sibling pair, looking a decent age apart, bickered before their challenge.
The little one looked elementary school age, the sister…
‘Feels kinda familiar.’
Like someone who’d burned their life away working.
Heavy makeup, but dark circles still visible.
“Watch sis closely. You infuse it with mana and…”
Ziiing……!
“O… oh!”
Maybe because of the woman’s mana, Molrang Tail seemed to lift a bit.
Thud!
But only that far. Nowhere near pulling it out.
“…think that’ll work?”
Tsk tsk, Seo-hyun clicked her tongue without thinking.
Theory and practice were different—this girl didn’t know that.
If knowing the method made it work, every dog and cow would be a top chef like her.
With that thought, Seo-hyun turned to leave.
“…….”
“…….”
Somehow, their eyes locked perfectly.
Did she hear that?
Awkward five-second eye contact.
What now? Apologize?
Rolling countermeasures in her head, she finally.
“Ahaha…….”
Gave an awkward laugh, bowed her head quickly, and turned away sharply.
Whew. Close call.
**
Pat pat.
“Let’s see… Definitely the friend you mentioned earlier……”
Before bed, in my free time again.
I rolled around on the bed, browsing the monster encyclopedia.
I was searching for a specific monster.
The key to mass-producing Molrang Tory, or at least likely so.
Fortunately, I found it easily.
It was pretty famous in Banmi Gal, so I’d heard the name.
At the same time, infamous as one no one had ever tamed.
And I planned to be the protagonist.
The first one to tame it.