The Heavenly Demon's Dinner Party (2)
The owner of the restaurant, who had maintained a dignified demeanor while dealing with the Chaeungchul, broke into a wide smile the moment he saw Min-ga and shouted with genuine delight.
“Mint Choco Pineapple Pizza-nim! It is an absolute honor to serve you!”
To recite that long, ridiculous name without a single stutter… Was the owner of this place close to the current Mount Hua Sect Leader? Even more shocking was the fact that the owner greeted the Heavenly Demon Baek Hwaryeong with the same warm smile.
It wasn’t that he simply didn’t know who she was.
“Good to see you, Heavenly Demon-nim.”
“Indeed. Min-ga told me you are a skilled chef. I shall look forward to it.”
“My skills are humble, but I will give it my all.”
He remained perfectly composed even though he knew her true identity. No matter how much of an outsider he was, he had to know how terrifying the Heavenly Demon was. How could he act so casually?!
Could it be that the owner of this restaurant was actually a martial artist capable of standing on equal footing with them?
While Chaeungchul trembled with shock as he watched the owner greet Min-ga’s group, a waiter approached and placed a dish in front of him.
“This is the appetizer. It’s made by simmering pumpkin with cow’s milk…”
Chaeungchul only half-listened to the explanation before picking up his spoon. This wasn’t exactly a relaxed situation where he could leisurely enjoy a meal, but refusing it would look far too unnatural.
“Mmm!”
The moment the pumpkin porridge-like dish touched his tongue, Chaeungchul let out an involuntary sound of delight. It was delicious. The soft, comforting texture blended perfectly with the rich nuttiness of the milk and the subtle sweetness of the pumpkin. It couldn’t be called an ultimate delicacy, but it was more than enough to awaken the appetite. He could already understand why one of his acquaintances had insisted this place was worth visiting at least once.
If only those stinging gazes weren’t fixed on him, he could have truly enjoyed the food in peace.
Chaeungchul did his best to ignore the stares from Min-ga’s group and continued moving his spoon. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Min-ga and her companions had truly come here just to enjoy a meal. Though every one of them carried a terrifying aura, that only showed itself when battle was at hand. When delicious food was placed before them, they were simply ordinary people enjoying a meal.
It was a rather disappointing realization for Chaeungchul, because their conversation was far too mundane.
“Yes! This is exactly what this seat desired!”
The Heavenly Demon smiled brightly as she ate, a complete contrast to the cold, ruthless expression she usually wore in the Murim.
“The world truly changes so quickly.”
Dang Yunok stared at the dish before him with wide eyes.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Didn’t I tell you? The food of the divine spirits doesn’t suit modern tastes.”
“Ugh. They’ve become so picky. In the old days, you could win them over easily just by giving them divine spirit food. What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? We must change our approach. Or perhaps you should learn to cook yourself instead of relying on Taoist magic.”
“I don’t have the confidence to make anything better than this.”
“What does that matter? Think about it carefully. This seat will focus on the food.”
“What? Baru! We’re both divine spirits, so we should figure this out together!”
The woman and the young girl—who Chaeungchul didn’t recognize—chattered away about being divine spirits or whatever while grumbling. They couldn’t actually be real divine spirits, right? They must be joking. There was no way sacred beings like that would associate with people who practiced the vicious Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“Mmm…”
And at the center of this bizarre group, Min-ga was frowning deeply, lost in thought for some reason.
What is it? What is she thinking about? This is strange. Why can’t I hear her voice clearly? Is she saying something important?!
Chaeungchul strained his ears desperately, trying to catch every word from Min-ga.
“What more is there to say? If it’s delicious, it’s delicious. What else do you need?”
“This is difficult.”
The feeling of “delicious” was extremely personal and subjective. Putting it into words wasn’t easy. If she had more experience doing so, it might be different, but she usually ate alone and felt satisfied alone. There were times she ate with Enry, but it was always Enry who made a fuss, not her. So being asked to explain was quite troublesome.
Frowning in genuine distress, she felt a surge of resentment. She had come all this way to enjoy delicious food, yet now she couldn’t fully focus on it. Enry had said that if she was going to do MyTube, she should record her meals, so she had turned on the stream. But if she had known this would happen, she would have focused on eating instead of broadcasting.
Still, she couldn’t exactly turn it off now. She would have to come up with some kind of solution. Maybe asking someone else to describe the taste wouldn’t be so bad.
“Baek Hwaryeong. Can you explain the taste of this dish?”
“Out of nowhere?”
“It’s a bit much to just bury your face in the plate and only move your spoon, isn’t it?”
Seeming to agree, Baek Hwaryeong crossed her arms and pondered for a moment before declaring loudly.
“It is delicious. What more needs to be said?”
Of course you would say that. You’ve probably never eaten with others either. I expected too much.
Hmm. Then perhaps my benefactor…
“It tastes like pumpkin blended with milk.”
A direct and obvious answer, as expected. It was correct, but not the kind of explanation the picky, whiny, and dramatic viewers were hoping for.
Alright. Then Baekju. What about you? Among this group, you interact with others the most and seem to have the most refinement. You should be able to give a decent description.
When her gaze landed on her, Baekju blinked rapidly, her hand holding the spoon trembling as she turned her head away.
“Ah. Um. That is. Well…”
“Never mind. I’m sorry.”
If she looked like she was about to faint from the pressure, there was no way she could force her. The one who could probably speak the best in this group was Han Seo-woo, but he had already said he didn’t want to appear on stream, so she couldn’t ask him. That left only Baru.
Would this one be able to give a proper explanation?
With that anxiety, she turned her gaze. Baru, who may or may not have been listening to their conversation, lifted her head from spooning up the milk porridge. There was still some porridge on the corner of her mouth, suggesting she had been completely absorbed in the taste.
“Hmm? What is it? Why are you staring?”
“I’d like you to explain the taste.”
“It’s savory! It’s sweet! It’s delicious! Is that enough?”
It wasn’t as detailed as she had hoped, but it was cute, so it was fine. Sigh. There was no helping it. She would just have to rack her own brain desperately.
“If Baru doesn’t want to, this one cannot force her.”
You damn bastards. All of you gathered here because you like me, yet none of you are willing to cut me any slack. Fine. I don’t want to worry about you lot anymore.
Whining internally, I adjusted the camera so the viewers could watch Baru eating. Immediately the chat exploded.
Since it seems to please all of you, that’s good. Now leave me alone and watch her. This one will simply enjoy her meal in peace.
Throughout the meal, which he ate under the constant fear that a single misstep could mean death, the information Chaeungchul managed to gather wasn’t particularly useful. To be precise, while the information had value, it was the kind that would make others doubt his sanity if he reported it.
Things like how the cruel and cold-hearted Heavenly Demon had a massive weakness for cute things, or how she was suffering because she couldn’t enjoy fine dining properly in the Divine Cult. If he reported that, people would probably just say he had gone mad from overwork. He himself would have given the same response if a colleague had said something similar.
It wasn’t important enough to risk his life trying to convince anyone. The most valuable piece of information he had heard so far was that Dang Yunok and two divine spirits were living together on Mount Hua.
Even one Min-ga was already too much to handle, and now they had even more power added to their side. It gave the madmen who wanted revenge on Mount Hua a real reason to try and wipe them out. But if they actually tried to carry it out, it would be nothing short of suicide. If even one Min-ga was difficult to deal with, touching the current Mount Hua would lead to the complete annihilation of the Murim Alliance that very day.
He wished they would realize that the current Murim Alliance was no longer one of the absolute powers of the Murim, but merely a weak organization barely surviving under the mercy of others.
How had the once-great Murim Alliance fallen so far?
Sigh. It seemed he had heard everything worth hearing. It was time to leave.
“Owner, could I get the bill?”
The moment Chaeungchul stood up, trying his best to act natural—
'Since this one has shown you mercy, make sure to deliver the message properly when you return.'
A voice rang directly inside his head. It was a transmission.
Chaeungchul trembled as he turned his head and found Min-ga looking straight at him. She had known from the very beginning. She had simply chosen to overlook it. She didn’t want to spill blood during a meal.
'Answer me.'
At the voice urging him for a response, Chaeungchul nodded frantically. Min-ga smiled at him. The moment he saw that smile, his legs gave out and he collapsed back into his seat.