Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: The Dalgoona Gentleman (1)
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The next day.
At an interior worksite in a multi-family housing complex.
The Heavenly Demon was stuffing piles of construction waste and materials into waste bags. Having spent the entire morning cleaning the site spotless, he hopped on the Lamas and returned to the store.
"You're right on time."
Jang Chaewon, who had been sorting estimates, set her notebook down with a tap-tap.
"Let's go grab haejangguk for lunch today."
"Haejangguk?"
"Yeah. On the way here, I saw a Kimcheon Gukbap chain place opened up at the intersection up ahead."
"What's that?"
"Oh, it's a pretty famous gukbap chain. They sell all kinds of haejangguk."
The Heavenly Demon shook his head.
"I haven't even drunk any alcohol. Why haejangguk?"
Remembering the perilla seed haejangguk Kim Chanwon had brought to the housewarming party before, the Heavenly Demon shook his head again.
"Don't like it? Gukbap?"
At Jang Chaewon's question, the Heavenly Demon let out a hum.
There were renowned inns in the murim, but none sold gukbap. Street vendors occasionally boiled it in huge pots and sold it, but he'd never tried it.
"The perilla seed haejangguk from before didn't quite suit my taste. I'll just have jjajangmyeon."
"Haejangguk doesn't just mean the stuff you eat after drinking. Things like bone haejangguk or blood sausage haejangguk are called haejangguk too."
"Lunch should be simple."
Jang Chaewon stood up, grabbing her outer jacket.
"Perfect then. Nothing simpler than gukbap, right? You can slurp it down quick. Come on, let's go try some new food."
New food?
At that, Nameless, who had been lying in the storage room, rolled out quickly and spoke up.
[In that case, I can't be left out. I'll do my best to evaluate it without damaging the credibility of my restaurant intel.]
"You can't eat gukbap."
Nameless shook its head at Jang Chaewon's scolding.
[I can judge the taste just by observing the changes in people's facial muscles during the meal.]
Then, looking at the Heavenly Demon's face, Nameless drooped.
[Of course, it's useless for you, Heavenly Demon, since your face never changes.]
"Hmm."
The Heavenly Demon, standing with an impassive expression, nodded.
"Fine. We'll go once."
* * *
"Ugh."
The Heavenly Demon emerged from the Kimcheon Gukbap restaurant, patting his belly.
If the perilla seed haejangguk from before had been light and rich, the bone haejangguk this time was stimulating and appetite-whetting.
Jang Chaewon smiled, looking at the Heavenly Demon's full, satisfied expression.
"How was it? Tasty, right?"
"Not bad."
When the Heavenly Demon, whose praise was saltier than salt, said "not bad," it meant at least 8 out of 10.
Jang Chaewon walked ahead with a pleased look, then suddenly spotted people gathered in front of a residential park.
"What's that? Some kind of performance?"
Getting closer, she saw a handcart set up, and most of the crowd were little kids.
"That's..."
The Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes at the tongs and burner on the handcart.
They were exactly the same as the ones Yu Eunho and Han Hojo had brought yesterday.
[Oh? A dalgoona street vendor popped up.]
At that moment, Nameless on the Heavenly Demon's shoulder spoke up curiously.
[Dalgoona's a nostalgic food; you don't see places selling it anymore. Guess the kids find it novel.]
Up close, a skinny middle-aged man was handing out dalgoona to the children.
He didn't look that old, but his white hair and wrinkles made him seem quite worn out.
"Huh, free?"
Jang Chaewon blinked as she approached the handcart. A sign next to it read, "Free for kids."
[He must really like kids. Giving away dalgoona, which takes a lot of effort, for free. And letting kids who want to try make their own.]
But watching the scene, the Heavenly Demon scoffed.
"Quite a trite trick. It's an outdated method in the murim."
"What?"
The Heavenly Demon stared coldly at the clustered kids and the middle-aged man.
"Buying favor with snacks, then scouting kids to kidnap. It's a common tactic the Hao Sect's dogs use on naive children."
In that instant, the area around the handcart felt like time had frozen.
"What the..."
The middle-aged man, who had been smiling warmly at the kids, shook his head.
"Kids, Uncle's not a bad guy..."
"Waaah!"
Like pigeons scattering, the dozens of kids around the handcart fled in all directions, screaming.
The middle-aged man froze like a mannequin as the kids ran off shrieking.
"Uncle's not a bad guy..."
Mumbling, he couldn't bring himself to say "No, I'm not," and hung his head.
He looked like anyone could see he was tormented by guilt.
"S-Sorry."
Jang Chaewon bowed to the middle-aged man, then glared daggers at the Heavenly Demon.
"Apologize already. He was just giving dalgoona to kids."
"To complete strangers?"
"He's just generous because he likes kids. What kidnapper drags around a handcart advertising 'free dalgoona'?"
"Storekeeper, look at his face. He's reflecting on himself."
The middle-aged man the Heavenly Demon pointed to still had his head bowed.
His expression was twisted somewhere, pained.
"Likes kids? Don't make me laugh. This guy's got an agenda."
"You really..."
Jang Chaewon, genuinely angry, started toward the Heavenly Demon for his loose talk, when—
"You're right. Spot on."
"Huh?"
As Jang Chaewon gaped, the middle-aged man bowed his head.
"He's correct. I'm a bad guy. Giving dalgoona wasn't for the kids—it was my own selfishness."
"What do you mean...?"
Jang Chaewon blinked in bewilderment, frozen.
But the middle-aged man said no more, pulling his handcart away feebly.
* * *
A few days later, near a commercial district.
After lunch at a popular sundae gukbap spot, the Heavenly Demon walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Jang Chaewon through the residential alleys.
"How was it? Sundae gukbap was good too, right?"
"Not bad."
"Hmm. That response is about 7.5 points."
As Jang Chaewon calculated the Heavenly Demon's satisfaction score with a regretful look—
"You! You sold this dalgoona?"
The park in the distance was rowdy, people gathering.
"What, a fight?"
Getting closer, Jang Chaewon saw a fat man grabbing the middle-aged man's collar by the handcart, yelling.
It was the same guy from before, treated like a kidnapper by the Heavenly Demon.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Huh?"
"Our kid got a stomachache from this!"
The fat man slammed the yellow dalgoona piece onto the ground and shook the middle-aged man's collar.
"What're you gonna do? My daughter threw a fit saying her stomach hurts after eating this!"
"I-I always use fresh sugar bought that day..."
"Bullshit. You registered as a street vendor to sell this? Huh? Do you even manage hygiene?"
No one registers a cart giving away dalgoona for free.
Fed up, Jang Chaewon scowled and stepped forward.
"Mister, does this look like business? He said it's free."
"Who're you?"
"Just passing by?"
Out of retorts, the man started quibbling.
"Free? So it's okay to hand out junk food for free? Know this violates food hygiene laws? Can you manage ingredients in this heat? Hygiene?"
Grabbing the collar again, he bellowed.
"What if food poisoning or some epidemic happens? Wanna eat prison food?"
"S-Sorry."
The middle-aged man bowed, looking like he had no words even with ten mouths.
"Sh-Shall I compensate?"
With trembling hands, he pulled out his wallet from his inner pocket. But it only had a couple of ten-thousand-won bills.
"You mocking me?"
Staring at the wallet, the man kicked the handcart repeatedly.
Thud. Clang.
Glaring at the scattering sugar and items, the fat man shouted.
"Sell this crap again, and I'll sue!"
"Hey! What's with the rudeness?"
As furious Jang Chaewon rolled up her sleeves at the rude man's actions—
"N-No, it's fine. Really."
"No, it's not. He's just nitpicking. What stomachache from dalgoona made of melted sugar..."
"No. It's all my fault."
Staring blankly at the shattered tongs and burner, the man hung his head.
Jang Chaewon couldn't comprehend the middle-aged man's behavior.
"What did you do wrong, mister? Nothing at all."
"Hmph, probably a weakling escaping reality."
The Heavenly Demon, now beside Jang Chaewon, muttered flatly.
"Ignore him, storekeeper. No hope for redemption."
"You gonna talk like that? How rude!"
"He's... right."
"Huh?"
As Jang Chaewon flustered, the middle-aged man hesitated, then spoke ashamedly.
"I've been a wastrel since youth. Married young, but wasted days drinking meaninglessly."
Staring at the dalgoona tongs the kids left behind, he spoke in a trembling voice.
"After wrecking my leg on a motorcycle, I didn't work. Wife did, I drank at home. Scum husband, but she never blamed me."
Deep, long shadows fell over his eyes as he recalled the past.
"One day, drunk, my kid pointed at dalgoona sold by the playground. Begged to buy some..."
His bowed head trembled at the fingertips.
"When I didn't, the kid squatted by the cart endlessly. I ignored it. Then... the kid was gone."
Jang Chaewon covered her mouth.
The man she'd suspected of kidnapping was the victim himself.
"Wife confronted me for the first time when she found out. I just stood there stunned."
Regretful tears now flowed from his eyes.
"Divorced eventually, lived alone. Did deliveries, odd jobs... Saved up to wander selling dalgoona... the dalgoona my kid loved..."
Jang Chaewon was speechless; Nameless silent.
It was a heartbreaking tale too painful to hear, but the Heavenly Demon's face was indifferent. No, he even scoffed at the man.
"Trite story."
"Heavenly Demon, you..."
"Foolish humans always gain enlightenment after mistakes."
His face brimmed with superhuman dignity.
"But the price of this mistake was greater than expected."
The middle-aged man shuddered.
The Heavenly Demon's words were spot on. He'd made a foolish error, earning lifelong torment.
"Even so, you have no right to judge another's life."
As Jang Chaewon bristled, the Heavenly Demon said flatly.
"No human lives without regrets. I spoke not of right or wrong."
Then, eyeing the bowed, trembling man, he muttered.
"Reaping what he sowed."
Harsh words, but Jang Chaewon could say no more.
Reaping what he sowed.
As the Heavenly Demon said, the man lived in hell, consumed by his past sins.
* * *
Talon Dungeon.
A unique place with no monsters except the boss, Moth Monkey, at the center.
Yet known as one of the most dangerous C-grade dungeons.
Because without strong ranged attack skills, you could get trapped inside by its unique traps.
[The Talon Dungeon is like a rule dungeon in that sense. But grasp the rules, and there's an easy way through.]
Nameless on the Heavenly Demon's shoulder gazed up at the massive dungeon curved like an eagle's talon.
[From entrance to exit, metallic walls lining the passages generate unique patterns periodically. Use a ranged skill to destroy the wall exactly along the pattern, and you pass easily.]
"Simple."
The Heavenly Demon entered the curving Talon Dungeon entrance.
Immediately, a snaking tunnel like a serpent appeared. Dim light from the ceiling, walls and ceiling of dark brown metal.
It resembled a metal tunnel at a glance.
[Yes. With ranged skills, it's a breeze. Patterns can get complex sometimes, but failures allow retries, so no danger.]
"Can't comprehend."
The Heavenly Demon said as he entered.
"Retries possible, so why dangerous?"
[That's without ranged skills. No ranged attacks means getting trapped.]
"Trapped."
[The walls generating patterns harden and strengthen closer you get. Eventually, even monomolecular cutters can't cut them.]
"Hmm."
[Awakeners without ranged skills have a way: treasure hunters' plasma cutters. But they're insanely expensive, and no relics here, so no one brings them.]
The Heavenly Demon didn't fully grasp the gear Nameless mentioned.
Usually he let it slide, but the unfamiliar "plasma cutter" piqued his interest.
"What's this cutter?"
[Equipment emitting superheated plasma beams to slice things. Simply put, generates immense heat to melt, pierce, or cut targets.]
"Hmm."
Then, far ahead on the opposite wall, glowing shapes appeared.
Close up: palm-sized sunflower-like patterns.
The first pattern.
"Heat to melt, pierce, cut targets."
Now the Heavenly Demon understood why Nameless called it simple.
"Demonic Blaze Extreme Finger!"
Channeling energy, thick green light poured from his finger onto the wall.
Like a lightsaber from a movie blasting out.
Sizzle! Boom!
The Demonic Blaze Extreme Finger precisely carved out the sunflower pattern in an instant.
[Heavenly Demon, you'll never need to buy a plasma cutter in your life.]
Nameless admired the smoking, melted wall.
The Heavenly Demon, freely unleashing the intense positive extreme finger force of Demonic Blaze Extreme Finger. He had plasma cutter fingers.
"Hmph, as if I'd stay here forever."
Nameless shut its mouth at the Heavenly Demon's flat reply.
A user who would someday leave.
Computations showed high probability. But it didn't want to accept it as obvious.
Instead, Nameless changed the subject.
[About Demonic Blaze Extreme Finger. The light shade varies each use. Why?]
"Depends on energy output."
Plop.
As he spoke, the severed pattern dropped from the metal wall to the floor.
[Heavenly Demon.]
Staring at the shiny silver sunflower metal piece, Nameless said to him.
[Could you bag this for me?]
"Any use?"
[Just... personally, I'd like to collect it.]
Nameless pleaded earnestly at the Heavenly Demon's annoyed look.
[Please?]
Humming, the Heavenly Demon bagged the fallen sunflower pattern.
Not hard, but the obvious intent made him hesitate.
[Thank you, Heavenly Demon.]
Afterward, en route to the center, patterns appeared unfailingly on blocked walls.
Stars, flowers, trees and plants; cars, airplanes... even modern vehicles.
Each time, the Heavenly Demon sliced them effortlessly with Demonic Blaze Extreme Finger; Nameless requested and bagged the pieces.
"Boring."
The tunnel stretched endlessly, patterns continuing. As the Heavenly Demon yawned wide, Nameless's eyes sparkled.
[The next pattern ahead is the last before the center.]