I'm Trying to Warn You
Kang Yeon stared at Baek Mi-ong with a look of utter confusion. Baek Mi-ong smiled gently and said,
"Might we speak for a moment?"
His voice carried a strange mix of nostalgia and genuine delight. Jin Seol-hyang shot her master a puzzled look. The expression on Baek Mi-ong's face was one she had never seen before.
"Master, is something wrong?"
Baek Mi-ong gave her a kindly smile and lightly patted her shoulder.
"Seol-hyang, go on ahead and enjoy the festival."
"But Master…"
"Don't worry. Young Master Kang and I simply have a few things to discuss, as if we were old friends."
Jin Seol-hyang still eyed Kang Yeon with lingering suspicion, but at last she turned and reluctantly walked away. The two men kept their silence until she had completely vanished from sight.
"Do you know of a place where we might talk privately?"
Kang Yeon continued to study Baek Mi-ong. The older man stroked his beard and replied,
"No need for concern. I mean you no harm. It's only… that people who came from different stars under the same sky sometimes have things they ought to share."
Different stars under the same sky.
The phrase struck a strange chord deep in Kang Yeon's chest.
"Then allow me to show you to the inn's rear courtyard."
Kang Yeon and Baek Mi-ong made their way to the rear courtyard of the West Lake Number One Inn. The space held a quiet that felt worlds away from the clamor of the festival. The distant music of instruments and the laughter of the crowds only sharpened the stillness here.
Baek Mi-ong settled onto a chair off to one side and looked around the courtyard.
"A beautiful place. I think I understand why you chose to settle here."
Kang Yeon spoke carefully.
"Did you… truly come from there? From the Earth of the future?"
Baek Mi-ong answered as calmly as if he had prepared the words long ago.
"Yes. I lived in Jongno-gu, Seoul Special City, Republic of Korea. I was just an ordinary cook."
"What year, exactly?"
"Let me see… the time I lived in was 1975."
Kang Yeon let out a hollow laugh.
"I see. I lived in Gangseo-gu, Seoul Special City. The year I came from was 2002, and I've been awake in this world for more than twenty years."
"Oh? How wonderful. Meeting a fellow Korean after all this time."
Strength drained from Kang Yeon's legs. He dropped heavily onto a chair in the pavilion and let out a long breath.
"How… how did you recognize me?"
Baek Mi-ong poured tea into a cup, smiling with a face full of nostalgia.
"Chicken and beer, tteokbokki, gimbap… don't you miss them? Ah, and that pork cutlet you made was truly excellent. It tasted just like the ones from that famous Western-style restaurant in Myeongdong. The demi-glace sauce especially was magnificent."
He paused and looked up at the sky.
"That was a flavor no one born in this world could ever create."
The tension drained from Kang Yeon's shoulders. There was no longer any need to hide. Instead, a deep sense of relief washed over him—he had finally met someone who shared his circumstances.
"How long have you known?"
"From the moment I took the first bite of that pork cutlet. The unique texture of the breading, the special sauce built on a demi-glace base… and above all, the way the meat had been pounded—that was the deciding factor."
Baek Mi-ong took a sip of tea and gazed into the distance. His eyes held the weight of fifty years.
"It was late autumn of 1975. I was an ordinary cook in Seoul—a forty-two-year-old middle-aged man running a small restaurant in Jongno and living a quiet life."
His voice grew deeper.
"That day, just like any other, I went to the early market for ingredients and was on my way back when… the sky seemed to tear open. When I came to, I was here."
Kang Yeon nodded. He had gone through something similar.
"At first I thought I would go mad. I couldn't understand the language, the writing was different… and more than anything…"
Baek Mi-ong gave a bitter smile.
"I missed my family. My wife, my fifteen-year-old daughter, my twelve-year-old son… Knowing I would never see them again, I wanted to die more times than I can count."
Kang Yeon's chest tightened. He had at least been young and alone when he arrived; the pain of a man who had left his family behind must have been far greater.
"How… how did you endure it?"
"Cooking. Cooking works anywhere. At first I made simple dishes on the street and sold them. I recreated kimchi jjigae and doenjang jjigae with this world's ingredients. The taste wasn't quite the same, but…"
Baek Mi-ong laughed softly.
"People loved it. Said they'd never tasted anything so strange, that the aroma was unique. Word began to spread."
"And that is how you became the greatest chef in the Central Plains?"
"Haha, that was pure luck. One day a wealthy man tasted my cooking and asked me to become his personal chef. That was the start of everything."
Baek Mi-ong exhaled a long breath.
"But I never learned martial arts the way you did. The people of this world revere strength, yet I decided to live by cooking alone. That was the best I could do."
Kang Yeon sighed heavily.
"That might have been the better life."
"True. If I had properly learned martial arts I could have done more. But then I would not be the man I am today. It was because I devoted myself solely to cooking that I came this far."
Baek Mi-ong's expression turned serious.
"I never acquired power like yours, but I traveled this world in my own way. My reputation as the greatest chef of the Central Plains allowed me to roam every corner of the land. And I discovered something."
He looked Kang Yeon straight in the eye.
"There are more people like us."
Kang Yeon's gaze sharpened. Every sense in his body went on high alert.
"More? People from the future?"
"Yes. I have personally met five. If you count those I confirmed indirectly, the number exceeds ten."
Baek Mi-ong folded his fingers one by one as he explained.
"In the Northern Sea there is a former economics professor who runs a massive trading company. In the Southern Man region, a former Korean medicine doctor who has made a name for himself with his medical skills. In the Western Regions, a former engineering student who builds strange machines…"
"How… how are they living?"
"Each in their own way. Some live in quiet seclusion. Others have used their knowledge to amass wealth and renown. But…"
Baek Mi-ong's voice dropped.
"The problem is that some of them have begun to harbor ambitions of dominating this world."
Kang Yeon frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Baek Mi-ong drew a small jade token from his robes. Under the moonlight it glowed with a soft light. Etched into its surface was a peculiar pattern that recalled the longitude and latitude of Earth.
"This is a token. It was made twenty years ago at a secret gathering held on Mount Hua. Twelve people from the future gathered there that day."
"A secret gathering…"
"At first it was nothing more than a friendly meeting. People in the same situation sharing stories of home, asking after one another's well-being… But some of them began to think differently."
Baek Mi-ong sighed.
"They said that with the knowledge and information we possessed, we could change this world. No—that we must change it. And one of them in particular…"
"Who?"
"I don't know his name. Everyone used aliases. But he already seemed to have built considerable power. Moving through the shadows of Murim, growing his ambitions…"
The Blood Shadow Tower flashed through Kang Yeon's mind.
"So you sought me out to recruit me to your side?"
Baek Mi-ong shook his head.
"No. I was simply… curious about the choice you had made."
He smiled.
"You are the most successful of us all, are you not? The Absolute Martial God who rose to the highest seat in Murim is you."
Kang Yeon gave a wry smile.
"That was never what I wanted. I simply accepted my fate."
"To survive, no doubt. In this world of the strong devouring the weak."
Silence settled between them for a moment.
In the distance, fireworks burst into the sky. The festival was reaching its peak.
"Have you been looking for a way back?"
"Why? Do you want to return to the time you came from?"
At Baek Mi-ong's question, Kang Yeon hesitated for a long while before slowly shaking his head.
"No. I… I have already put down roots here."
Warmth entered his eyes. Beyond the inn he could see the lights of West Lake and the people living among them.
"Uncle Jo Hwan is like a father to me. Jo Seol is a real little sister. The same goes for Jo Un. And…"
Kang Yeon looked toward the inn.
"Nang Hyeon, Jang Mu-eon, Jin Mu-gyeong… every one of them is precious to me. This is my home now."
Baek Mi-ong looked satisfied.
"An excellent choice. Truthfully, I feel the same. Seol-hyang is my disciple, but after fifteen years together she has become like a daughter."
He smiled, thinking of Jin Seol-hyang, who was no doubt still wandering the festival grounds.
"She's stubborn and proud, but soft-hearted underneath. Losing to you today will be a good experience for her. She has learned that there is no end to the culinary arts."
"Then why are you telling me all this?"
Baek Mi-ong's expression darkened once more.
"I'm trying to warn you. I've heard rumors that some of the outsiders have begun to gather. They mean to seize power in this world."
"Who, specifically?"
"I cannot say for certain yet. But I am sure they have taken notice of you. The name Absolute Martial God is far too famous. And…"
Baek Mi-ong lowered his voice.
"I have also heard that the movements of the Blood Shadow Tower have grown unsettling of late. Since a new Tower Lord appeared, they have been preparing something in a systematic fashion…"
Kang Yeon's face hardened. So it was connected to the Blood Shadow Tower after all.
"The Blood Shadow Tower has already been dealt with."
Baek Mi-ong looked mildly surprised.
"Is that so? They have already stretched their hands this far?"
"Yes."
Just then, Jo Seol's clear voice rang out from a distance.
"Oppa! So this is where you were! The guests want more of your cooking! Especially that West Lake native roasted duck from earlier!"
"We're out of duck. Should I make something else?"
Jo Seol came running into the courtyard, breathless. She had run so hard that her cheeks were flushed pink.
"Oh? Elder Baek Mi-ong is here too? Ah, right! Nang Hyeon oppa said he wanted to treat the elder to some roasted duck as well!"
Kang Yeon rose to his feet.
"I should go. The guests are waiting."
At that moment Jin Seol-hyang also appeared, heading for the inn.
"Master! Are you inside? The people from the inn are looking for you outside. Everyone is clamoring to treat you to a meal!"
At Jin Seol-hyang's excited voice, Baek Mi-ong stood as well. Quietly, so that no one around them would notice, he pressed the small jade token he carried into Kang Yeon's hand.
"When you need it, come find me with this. Those of us who came from different stars under the same sky ought to help one another, don't you think?"
Kang Yeon accepted the token with a complicated expression. It felt heavy in his palm.
"Thank you. But I…"
"I know. You want to live quietly. But the affairs of the world do not always go as we wish. Keep it, just in case."
Baek Mi-ong returned to the festival grounds with Jin Seol-hyang. Watching their retreating figures, Kang Yeon fell into deep thought.
"Oppa, what are you thinking about?"
Jo Seol tugged at his sleeve.
"Ah, nothing. Come on. The guests are waiting."