The Dark Chocolate Prize
“N-no way….”
Jungwoo had expected defeat, but he never imagined the gap would be this overwhelming.
The lunchboxes Jungwoo had sold numbered a mere two.
But in the same time, Seia had sold a staggering eleven.
“Hehe. Seia won!”
“Haha, that’s right. Seia won.”
“Whoa— it’s chocolet—!”
And not just any chocolate. It was dark chocolate.
She would get to eat that delicious treat.
“Daddy will buy you some on the way home.”
“Do you have to buy a lot?”
“…Will you even be able to finish them all?”
At those words, Seia’s face clouded with momentary confusion.
Even at her young age, Seia was quite quick on the uptake.
Why was Daddy saying something like that?
If there was food to be eaten, Seia never hesitated.
That was simply who she was.
“Seia can eat them all!”
“Hehe, alright then. I’ll buy you so much you’ll get sick of it.”
In truth, while Seia had sold the lunchboxes at an absurd speed, Jungwoo hadn’t been particularly slow himself.
He had sold two, after all.
“Here, the empty lunchboxes.”
Lee Yeon-seo, who had been listening to their conversation from the front, returned two containers to Jungwoo.
“Thank you. Did they suit your taste?”
“Yes. They were incredibly delicious. I enjoyed them very much.”
“I enjoyed mine too, boss.”
“I’m glad you both liked them.”
Normally, the conversation would have ended there.
It was the most common exchange between a seller and a customer.
“By the way, do you happen to have a business card?”
“A business card?”
Would he ever have a use for one?
Writing Seona’s Restaurant CEO on it felt strangely awkward.
“Haha… Unfortunately, I don’t have any business cards.”
“Ah, then please take mine.”
The card she handed over read:
[VK Guild Guild Leader: Lee Yeon-seo]
“VK… Guild?”
“Yes. Have you heard of us?”
It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite recall what kind of guild it was.
Still, the fact that Jungwoo—who had almost no interest in the hunter world—had even vaguely heard the name meant it was quite famous in those circles.
Why would someone from such a place ask for his card and then offer theirs?
As the question lingered in Jungwoo’s eyes, Lee Yeon-seo gave a brief explanation.
“The lunchboxes were incredibly good… so I was wondering if we could set up a regular supply contract.”
“A regular… supply contract?”
It was a completely unexpected turn.
He had considered the possibility of bulk orders, but he hadn’t anticipated someone wanting a steady, ongoing supply.
Besides, today was only their first day.
He hadn’t been running the stand here for very long, and today’s menu might very well be all he had to offer for now.
“Ah, this is a bit sudden. Haha…”
“Take your time and contact me whenever you’re ready.”
“Yes, I will. Thank you for thinking so highly of us.”
“Oh, not at all. They really were that good.”
To receive such praise on the very first day.
“Angel— that was so delicious! You’ll be here tomorrow too, right?”
“Yes! I’ll make yummy lunchboxes tomorrow too!”
“Haha, actually my restaurant is closed tomorrow.”
“Ah, I see. That’s too bad. So you run a restaurant?”
“Yes, it’s called Seona’s Restaurant. It’s a small place.”
So she really did run a restaurant.
Next time, he would have to visit in person and try the freshly made dishes.
“Well then, thank you for the meal.”
“Take care on your way back.”
With that, the two customers left.
Jungwoo had wondered how long it would take this time, but the lunchboxes sold even faster than before.
It hadn’t even taken a full thirty minutes.
The speed was almost disappointing in how effortless it felt.
It seemed Jungwoo’s lunchboxes had received a better response than he’d anticipated.
The feeling of slowly earning recognition from the wider world was far more satisfying than he had imagined.
When Jungwoo and Seia began their second lunchbox sales of the day.
The secretary, carrying the three lunchboxes she had purchased, headed somewhere specific.
Her destination was the very place that had ordered her to buy them.
“Guild Leader, I’m coming in.”
“Come in.”
The secretary entered with the lunchboxes.
Waiting inside to greet her were Park Geon-su and Seong Ye-eun.
And finally, Yuhyeon as well.
All the core members of the guild had gathered in the guild leader’s office.
“Here are the lunchboxes you requested.”
“Mm, good work. You may leave them there.”
“…Yes.”
The secretary left the office with a slightly regretful look in her eyes.
The reason she had bought three lunchboxes.
Yuhyeon hadn’t been there earlier.
So she had bought one extra for herself, only for Yuhyeon to suddenly appear.
“Hm? You bought one extra?”
“Ah… yes.”
“Hehe, our secretary really is quick on the uptake.”
Yuhyeon was the kind of person who came and went like the wind, making it nearly impossible to know his whereabouts until he actually showed up in the guild leader’s office.
“Elder.”
“Hm?”
Yuhyeon said while looking at one of the lunchboxes.
“That one doesn’t appear to be mine.”
“What makes you think so?”
“The secretary didn’t know I was here, so I suspect she bought it for herself.”
“Oh, I see. That makes sense. Is that true?”
Yuhyeon looked at Park Geon-su with an expression that said he was hopeless.
There was no way this experienced, seasoned man didn’t already know that.
He was simply indulging in a brief moment of mischief.
He wanted to hear the secretary say with her own mouth that she had wanted to eat the lunchbox.
“……”
The secretary was hesitating as well.
Ever since she had first visited Seona’s Restaurant with Park Geon-su, she had eaten at many different places.
She had been to the famous Provan Restaurant and many others.
Yet none of them had left much of an impression.
They were simply familiar flavors—exactly what she had expected.
However, she didn’t consider Seona’s Restaurant particularly special either.
Her personality simply wasn’t the type to judge an entire establishment after eating there only once.
“That is…”
Even so, she couldn’t answer easily.
It would be simpler to just admit it, but somehow it felt like she was betraying her own long-held values of doubting and guarding against everything.
“Hehe, never mind. Go ahead and eat. It’s good, but it tastes best when eaten fresh.”
“…Understood.”
Once the secretary had left, Yuhyeon spoke with a fed-up tone.
“Your hobbies are quite wicked.”
“Hehe, so you noticed too?”
“I noticed as well, you know?”
“…You two. There is one very big misunderstanding you both seem to have.”
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
A chill filled the air as cold mana began to permeate the entire room.
“I paid for your snacks.”
“…I see.”
“…That’s right.”
“Still, the fact that she hesitated before answering is quite satisfying.”
“What do you predict will happen?”
“How would I know? It’s simply quite interesting to watch someone change in their later years.”
It was exactly as he said.
Changing a person was an incredibly difficult thing.
For someone in the twilight of his life, it was rather entertaining.
“Now, shall we eat?”
Seong Ye-eun already knew about Park Geon-su’s capricious and mischievous nature, so she paid it no mind.
What mattered right now was the lunchbox right in front of her.
When she opened the lid, she was greeted by an appetizing array of dishes.
The food at Provan Restaurant wasn’t bad, but that was the extent of it.
It simply wasn’t bad.
A flavor that had nothing wrong with it.
“It’s bulgogi?”
“Bulgogi is good.”
“This should be quite enjoyable.”
These were dishes made with the finest ingredients one could obtain.
The sweet and savory seasoning created a beautiful harmony with the tender meat.
It was a flavor that made choosing a relatively lower-quality meal like a lunchbox feel completely worthwhile.
Just like the one he had eaten earlier, it seemed the owner of Seona’s Restaurant was improving his cooking skills day by day.
And it wasn’t just these three who felt that way.
The secretary, who had brought an extra one for herself.
It had been the same when she ate the seaweed soup last time—the taste was undeniably familiar.
Yet it somehow felt special.
Familiar, yet special.
Two things that should be difficult to reconcile were coexisting perfectly.
“Well… it’s good.”
She was the type to acknowledge what deserved acknowledgment.
It was simply that her standards were higher than most people’s from the very beginning.
“…With that, let’s head to the training room for now.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
After finishing their meal, Park Geon-su, Seong Ye-eun, and Yuhyeon emerged to find that the secretary had already vanished, leaving behind only a spotlessly clean, empty lunchbox.
“Well, I suppose we don’t need to hear the answer after all.”
The lunchboxes sold out in the blink of an eye.
Before heading home, there was one thing left to do.
“Dark chocolet—”
Seia, victorious in their bet, was humming about dark chocolate.
‘Hehe…’
Jungwoo watched her with a wicked little smile.
He was curious what kind of face Seia would make after eating dark chocolate.
There was no place selling chocolate inside the lounge.
He had looked around for somewhere nearby, but unfortunately, in this hunter-heavy district, dark chocolate was hard to find outside of convenience stores.
There wasn’t even a shop that specialized in chocolate.
The city center wasn’t that far, and since their original schedule had been from eight to ten, they now had plenty of time to spare. They could afford a quick trip into town.
After collecting the returned lunchboxes and getting back into the car, Jungwoo and Seia headed toward the city with the cool breeze blowing in.
“Eek, it’s cold!”
Before long, Seia shivered slightly from the chill. Jungwoo let out a small chuckle and closed the window for her.
They arrived in the city center shortly after.
This was the first time they had come here in the evening.
Just as the shopping district had been bustling earlier, this street was now filled with crowds of people strolling about.
“Wow…”
Songs drifted out from every direction.
The constant murmur of countless voices.
Faced with a sight she had never seen before, Seia was rendered speechless.
It was the same street she had seen last time, but the nighttime version looked completely different.
However, there was one fatal drawback.
There were simply too many people.
Seia had wanted to look around more, but the dense crowd refused to grant her any clear view.
“Seia, do you want to see better?”
“Yes… but everyone is so tall!”
Seia stood on her tiptoes, but nearly everyone around her was easily twice her height.
Even if she jumped with all her might, she couldn’t see a thing.
“My little girl?”
“Yes?”
“Hold on tight, okay?”
What was she supposed to hold on tight to?
Was it Daddy’s hand?
The moment Seia tightened her grip on her father’s hand, her body suddenly floated up into the air.
Once lifted, her eye level never dropped back down.
“Now that I think about it, this is the first time Daddy’s given you a piggyback ride, isn’t it?”
“Piggyback?”
“Yeah. This is called a piggyback ride.”
It wasn’t difficult at all.
All he had to do was lift the incredibly light Seia and set her on his shoulders.
“How is it? Can you see well now?”
“Wow…”
Seia was so absorbed in taking in the changed view that she couldn’t even answer her father’s question.
The streets lit by neon signs, people wearing all kinds of clothes.
Both over there and over here, the scene perfectly matched the phrase “night street.”
It was dazzling and brilliant.
The city looked even more beautiful and radiant at night than during the day, all captured in a single glance.