Kimchi Stew
Click.
Kim Dohyun pressed the button, and the flashlight went dark. With that, the day's business was finished.
Ever since he had started luring hunters in with the light, more and more of them had begun finding their way to the convenience store. Today alone, two separate parties had come through, and thanks to them the magic stones were piling up handsomely.
But the real work starts now.
Hunters heading home were bound to cross paths with others along the way, and the convenience store was sure to come up. By now, word of this place has probably spread about as far as it's going to. If he meant to seize that opening and earn even more magic stones, he needed a wider selection of goods stocked and waiting.
Dohyun turned the problem over. What should I add this time?
Getting out of the Tower, and earning enough beyond it to actually live, would take a breakthrough product—something capable of pulling in far more magic stones than anything he already sold.
Let's see. That video on Nertube, about the things from outside the Tower that hunters missed most... Ah!
Now that he thought of it, he remembered a ranking of the foods hunters struck with homesickness craved above all else. Number one was definitely... that, wasn't it? Which means the products I need to buy are...
A convenience store, smack in the middle of the forest on the Tower's tenth floor!
The first time Lee Jihwan heard it from hunters coming down the Tower, he snorted.
Homesick hunters seeing things again, no doubt.
But even the most skeptical man starts to wonder when the same rumor reaches him again and again, and from more mouths than one. Every hunter he met brought up the convenience store, and Jihwan found himself wavering.
Could it actually be real? No. Impossible. A convenience store in the Tower? This isn't even a supply base...
He wanted to wave it off as nonsense, yet the stories were so vivid he couldn't quite shake them.
Bottled water and gimbap, they say. Water I could almost believe. But gimbap—those seaweed rice rolls—would spoil in no time.
Logically, it was absurd. In the end, though, Jihwan decided to see the rumor for himself.
The tenth floor.
Every member of the party cutting through the forest wore a face full of discontent, and they had reason. To anyone watching, Jihwan looked like a man who had swallowed a baseless rumor and was dragging the journey out for nothing. His people had been itching to clear the Tower and get home; in their place, it wouldn't have been strange if their mouths had jutted out a full ten feet.
Jihwan wasn't unaware of it. He cleared his throat, more than once.
"Ahem. Still, a rumor doesn't spread that far without some reason..."
"And if there's anything suspicious in the Tower, reporting it to the guild master is our duty..."
Unlike usual, not one of them answered. Awkward now, Jihwan shut his mouth.
Maybe I should break out the liquor I've been saving.
Drinking was forbidden on a Tower climb, but there were exceptions. When morale needed a lift and the leader permitted it, a little alcohol was allowed.
I'd meant to save it for further up, but...
Then one of the members collapsed in a heap, and the party had no choice but to stop. Jihwan's face twisted.
Again?
Not long ago, one of them had come down with homesickness, and his strength had been failing badly ever since. The Tower's mana seeped into any hunter whose heart had grown weak. A firm mind could resist it, but few stayed firm before the alien landscape of a world so far from home. Homesickness struck hunters especially often. Rookies caught it so regularly that it had come to be treated as a kind of initiation.
Once it took hold, the Tower's mana disturbed both mind and body, and a hunter's strength dropped sharply. In the worst cases they saw hallucinations and drew weapons on their own allies, so hunters did everything they could to keep their hearts steady. This time, though, the one who had fallen ill was a rookie. There was only so much that could be done.
Do I give up here...?
Jihwan let out a quiet sigh. Some hunters kept climbing through homesickness if they still had strength left, but the way this one had been collapsing day after day made it plain they would have to abandon the ascent. The thought of weeks of climbing coming to nothing left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"We'll rest here a while, then move on."
The members nodded and settled into the shade of the nearby trees. A few dug bottled water from their packs and helped the homesick rookie drink.
"Captain. The rookie's condition isn't good."
The vice-captain came over and said it quietly—a roundabout way of telling him they couldn't climb any farther. Jihwan said nothing.
They had hunted magical beasts and gathered magic stones on the way here, but they were still far short of their quota. Meeting it meant climbing higher.
Even so, I can't just leave the rookie and go on...
He had just settled the matter and was about to announce that the climb was over when a voice cut in.
"C-Captain! Look over there!"
One of the members raised a hand and pointed into the forest.
"What's got you so worked up..."
Jihwan followed the finger—and froze. Through the brush stood a building that had no business being there.
"A c-convenience store!"
The shout brought the others crowding in.
"What? There's actually a convenience store?"
"Where? Where is it?"
"I-It's real! A c-convenience store!"
The words stood out clear as day across the sign overhead, and Jihwan's eyes went wide.
Th-The rumor was true?
"E-Everyone, move out toward that building."
At their leader's word, the members shouldered their packs.
"To think there'd really be a convenience store."
"They say bottled water goes for one gram of magic stone. Think it's true?"
"And gimbap too? Five grams a roll, they say, but who cares. I'm buying two—no, three."
The sagging mood turned lively in an instant. Light had returned to the homesick member's eyes; some of his strength had clearly come back. Hope swelled in Jihwan's chest.
At this rate, maybe we won't have to abandon the climb after all.
He meant to resupply the party with gimbap and water here. It would cost magic stones, but calling off the ascent would cost them more.
As they drew near, he saw that the fluorescent lights were working, just as the rumors claimed.
Fluorescent lights, in a Tower where electronics don't work...
"Welcome."
A man bowed politely in greeting. This had to be the one the rumors said worked at the store. Caught off guard, Jihwan bowed back.
"Ah—hello."
"Is there anything you're looking for?"
"I heard you sell gimbap and bottled water here. Is that actually true?"
He asked it half in hope, and the answer didn't stray from what he had expected.
"Yes, that's right. Gimbap is five grams of magic stone, and bottled water is one."
So it really is true...
A thrill ran through Jihwan.
This isn't something only I should know. He had to get word to the guild master before anyone else. He even began to think he might have to end the climb here and report back. The schedule would slip, but given how important this information is...
"C-Captain!"
Jihwan turned at the vice-captain's call.
"M-May we buy something?"
The members were waiting on their leader's order. Every eye was shining; all any of them wanted was to buy the gimbap and water and devour them on the spot.
These guys...
"Fine. You lot. We eat lunch here, then we move out."
At that, the members swarmed the gimbap and water at once. Jihwan watched them with a pleased look—then noticed the homesick rookie standing blankly, staring off to one side. He walked over.
"Hey, rookie! Why are you just standing there? Hasn't your strength come back yet?"
"C-Captain..."
But the rookie kept staring at the same spot, as if Jihwan hadn't spoken at all.
What on earth is he looking at...?
Jihwan followed his gaze—and froze.
"K-Kimchi stew?"
There on the shelf sat the kind of packaged instant meal you only ever saw outside the Tower.
Th-The rumors said they only sold gimbap and water... Had they added new products in the meantime?
Unlike the flustered Jihwan, the rookie picked up the kimchi stew with trembling hands and carried it to the counter.
"I-I'd like to buy this."
"Of course. That'll be ten grams of magic stone. There are spoons and disposable plates here too. Oh—we added tables not long ago, so you can eat over there. The microwave's right beside them."
Spoon and plate in hand, the rookie went to a table and opened the microwave.
Beep. Beep!
Whirrr!
At the sound of the microwave running, the members clustered around the gimbap and water all turned as one. Every face was struck with disbelief.
"A microwave... in the Tower?"
"And this smell... that's kimchi stew, isn't it?"
Beep. Beep!
The microwave shut off. The rookie took the kimchi stew and poured it into the disposable bowl, and in an instant the deep, fermented scent of kimchi flooded the store.
Gulp. Gulp. In the stillness, the sound of swallowing rang far too loud.
The rookie lifted a spoonful.
Slurp.
"Kyaah."
The little cry alone carried the clean, stinging heat of it. Without a word, the rookie brought spoon after spoon to his mouth.
"D-Damn it. I-I want some too!"
Unable to hold out any longer, the vice-captain grabbed a pack of kimchi stew off the shelf and brought it to the counter.
"E-Excuse me. I'd like to buy this as well."
"That's fine, but... are you sure?"
"Sorry? What do you..."
The man from the convenience store, who had been tilting his head, went on.
"I didn't get a chance to mention it earlier, but we have instant rice too. You might want to get some with it..."
"...!"
Every member's eyes went wide. The rookie savoring his kimchi stew stared at the man from the store with eyes that couldn't possibly open any wider. He muttered.
"...There's instant rice too?"