Chapter 12
In front of the food stall.
Hong Mangi pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked his bank balance once again.
There’s more than 150 million won in my account….
A faint grin appeared on his face as he slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Guess I don’t have to keep making nothing but ramen anymore.
With that thought, he quietly summoned Poming.
“Chef! Did you call me?”
Poming appeared with sparkling eyes.
The little fluffy creature wriggled its tiny body before immediately clinging to Hong Mangi.
Hong Mangi lightly patted Poming on the head.
“I’m pretty sure I whispered your name, but now you just pop out automatically?”
“I know what you want before you even say it, Hyungnim!”
“Hyungnim?!?!”
“I heard some customers talking the other day, and it just rolls right off the tongue! What do you think, Hyungnim?”
“Hyungnim is a little much. I’d prefer ‘Summoner.’”
“Yes, Chef!”
“Ha….”
Apparently, Poming was the type who absolutely had to mess around one more time whenever he was corrected.
Still, whatever.
He was cute, so Hong Mangi let it slide.
“I think we should come up with some new dishes today.”
“Oooh~! New dishes!! Did you have some kind of change of heart?”
“No, nothing like that. I just have money now, so I thought we could start using higher-quality ingredients.”
“Money?”
Poming’s eyes sparkled as he jumped into the air.
“Really?! Does that mean our place is finally going to become an insanely awesome food stall?”
“Ha… What the hell is an ‘insanely awesome food stall’ supposed to be? Where did you learn that?”
Hong Mangi thought for a moment before muttering,
“But… what kind of high-end food can you even serve at a street stall…?”
Poming crossed his arms and made an extremely serious expression.
“Hmm! Obviously, if you want high-end food, you need expensive ingredients!”
“Well, I think we can afford them now.”
“Then beef? Something like premium Korean beef!”
“We can’t exactly start grilling steaks at a street stall.”
“Hmm… Then seafood is definitely the best option!”
Hong Mangi nodded.
“That’s true, but I want something with a little more impact.”
Poming answered confidently.
“There is something!”
“There is?”
“Yep!”
“What?”
“From now on, we sell lobster ramen!”
“Lobster… ramen?”
Hong Mangi stared blankly at Poming.
“Is lobster ramen really something you’d sell at a food stall?”
“Come on, Chef! Think about it! People these days love ‘premium street food’!”
“Why?”
“Food with its own story! Something you can brag about and tell people later! Don’t you get it?”
“Ah….”
He wasn’t exactly wrong.
Why would someone save up several months’ salary just to enjoy an expensive fine-dining meal for a single day?
For the memories.
And for the story they could tell afterward.
Poming passionately waved his little front paws.
“Street food, but luxurious! Lobster ramen, grilled abalone, Korean beef brisket udon! If we serve stuff like that, people are definitely going to pay attention!”
Hong Mangi crossed his arms and thought about it.
“…Grilled abalone and brisket udon, huh.”
After thinking for a moment, he nodded.
“That might actually work.”
“Right?! Right?!”
Poming excitedly wagged his tail.
“Chef! Then should we make today a special ‘Premium Food Stall Day’? If we start with lobster ramen, I can come up with a few more dishes too!”
Hong Mangi chuckled.
“Sure. We have money now, so we might as well give it a try.”
Poming excitedly waved his little paws.
“All right! Then today’s!! Special!! Premium menu!!!”
His fur practically puffed up with confidence as he announced,
“The first dish is! The one I mentioned before! Beef! Bris! Ket! U! Don!”
Poming cutely emphasized every syllable of beef brisket.
“Luxurious Korean beef brisket! Tender and soft, placed perfectly on top of the udon! It’s the perfect premium noodle dish for customers who don’t like ramen or just aren’t in the mood for it!”
Pointing one paw toward an imaginary bowl of udon, Poming continued enthusiastically.
“Just imagine it! Rich katsuobushi broth with thick, springy udon noodles. Then the Korean beef brisket goes sizzle, sizzle as all that delicious flavor melts right into the broth~!”
His eyes sparkled.
“And when you take a bite? What happens? You’ll feel a ‘Kyaaah!’ rising from deep inside your chest because it tastes so good!”
Hong Mangi quietly replied,
“You’re the one who’s best at making that ‘Kyaaah!’ sound.”
“That’s right~! But once you try it, Chef, you’ll be going ‘Kyaaah!’ too!”
“Okay. Next?”
“Second dish! Butter-Grilled A! Ba! Lone!”
Poming excitedly waved his tiny paws.
“Fresh whole abalone! In butter! Sizzling away!!”
“Add some garlic and soy sauce too! Make it rich, savory, and salty!”
Poming spoke with an utterly blissful expression.
“Then you take one bite! And that juicy abalone fills your whole mouth!”
“Are you filming a commercial or something?”
“Did we get a sponsorship offer?”
“No. I was just saying.”
“Okay, really? Well, if we ever do get one, you’d better negotiate my modeling fee properly, all right?”
“You’re… joking, right?”
“Ahem. Anyway, Chef, this dish goes perfectly with alcohol too!”
“Fine, fine. Then what’s the last dish?”
Poming raised both front paws high and struck what appeared to be a lobster pose.
“Since we might get a commercial offer someday, should I practice in advance?”
“Ha… Fine. Go ahead. Do whatever you want.”
“Ahem!”
Poming gave him a playful wink.
“Everyone! You eat ramen all the time, right? But! Ordinary ramen is now a NO! A whole! Lob! Ster! Goes straight inside! The! Ra! Men!”
Poming jumped excitedly.
“A huge lobster dives straight into the ramen broth~! Plenty of plump shrimp and mussels too~! All coming together into a rich, spicy seafood broth~!”
Just imagining it seemed enough to make Poming’s tail wag.
“Chef! Wouldn’t one bite of this make you feel like you don’t even need a fancy restaurant anymore? Doesn’t it feel exactly like that?”
Hong Mangi crossed his arms.
“That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration.”
“Hehe~ You don’t trust me?”
“No, no. I trust you.”
Poming gently swayed his tail before giving one final summary.
“All right! Today’s menu! Let’s review! Number one! Beef brisket udon! Tender Korean beef brisket with a rich, deep broth!”
“Number two is butter-grilled abalone. Rich, savory, salty—the ultimate seafood dish.”
“And number three? Lobster ramen! The absolute king of luxury!”
By now, the two of them were perfectly in sync.
Poming waved both paws and gave another adorable wink.
Hong Mangi chuckled to himself.
He really does know how to make food sound delicious.
Hong Mangi began rolling up the stall’s canopy.
“All right. For the time being, we’ll go with that ‘premium food stall’ concept you mentioned.”
Poming bounced excitedly.
“Waaah~! Chef~! I’m getting excited just thinking about it! I’m nervous too!”
“Sure, though I have no idea if customers will even come.”
Hong Mangi suddenly stopped while lifting the canopy.
“Wait….”
Poming, who had been happily running around, froze.
“What is it, Chef?”
Hong Mangi crossed his arms and slowly said,
“You were talking so excitedly that I think I got swept up in it for a second.”
“About what?”
“Now that I think about it, we don’t have any of those ingredients. If we’re going to sell abalone, brisket, and lobster, we need to go to the seafood market and buy everything right now.”
“Yes! Let’s go! We can buy everything super fresh!”
Hong Mangi sighed.
“Then when are we supposed to open the stall? We’d have to skip business today.”
“Hmm… Is the timing that bad?”
Poming blinked.
Hong Mangi considered the choices in front of him.
First, if they wanted to open for business today, they would have to stick with their existing menu, such as seafood ramen and hagfish.
Second, if they wanted to introduce the new premium dishes, they would have to give up on opening today and go buy the ingredients first.
After remaining silent for a moment, Poming spoke.
“Chef, since you’re rich now, can’t you just order directly from a wholesale supplier?”
“Direct delivery from a wholesaler?”
Poming jumped up.
“Hunters are busy these days! I’m pretty sure there are companies that deliver premium ingredients directly near dungeons for busy modern people and busy Hunters!”
“Ah, really?”
“Actually, one of the Summoners I briefly served a very long time ago used that kind of service all the time… so I remember it! He was such a good person too… Sob!”
Hong Mangi rubbed his chin with one hand.
“There are services like that….”
They were more expensive than ordinary seafood markets, but there were indeed premium ingredient delivery services aimed at D-rank Hunters and above.
In other words, as long as you had enough money, you could have the ingredients delivered immediately.
Hong Mangi thought about his bank balance.
Well over 100 million won.
“Chef, stop worrying and just spend it! We’re running a high-class business now!”
Hong Mangi let out a short sigh.
“I’m not worried about the money. It’s just that those services are usually only available to D-rank Hunters and above….”
Hong Mangi was F-rank.
Even though he had defeated dungeon bosses twice, he was still officially an F-rank Hunter.
There was a chance the delivery company might refuse him.
Whether Poming understood his concern or not, he raised both paws into the air.
“I see! Well then, I hope you somehow manage to get the ingredients for us! I already feel like a true VIP chef! I’ll start getting everything ready while we wait for the ingredients! Hoo!”
Poming was already overflowing with excitement.
And truthfully, Hong Mangi was feeling excited too.
Ah, whatever. Let’s just do it.
Hong Mangi pulled out his phone and called a Hunter-exclusive premium ingredient delivery company.
“Yes, customer. What ingredients would you like?”
“Three kilograms of Korean beef brisket, ten wild abalones, two lobsters, katsuobushi broth, and….”
Hong Mangi thought for a moment before adding,
“Please add some premium seafood udon noodles too.”
“Yes, sir! Including delivery, your total is 1.7 million won.”
“I’ll pay. But… is it okay if I’m F-rank?”
“You’re an F-rank Hunter? Goodness….”
The owner of the delivery company let out a sigh over the phone.
“Well, serving F-rank Hunters can be a little difficult for us. We’ve had some who couldn’t pay on time, and as you probably know, the overwhelming majority of F-rank Hunters are poor and don’t exactly have much of a future… So from our perspective, it’s a little….”
“Ah, my name is Hong Mangi. I recently defeated the boss of the BX Dungeon in Songpa-dong, and… well… if it’s difficult, I can pay you a little extra.”
“What? Hong Mangi? Hold on a moment.”
He could hear people whispering to one another on the other side of the call.
“What was the name of that Hunter everyone’s talking about on the Hunter forums right now?”
“Hong Mangi.”
“Is this really Hong Mangi?”
“Yes, it is. That F-rank Hunter who supposedly tore through two entire dungeons by himself.”
The delivery company owner’s tone changed instantly.
“You’re practically a future VIP customer! We’ll give you a special ten-percent discount.”
“You can deliver to me? Then you can send it right away, correct?”
“Of course! You’re going to become one of our major customers! Which dungeon are you heading to today that you need everything so urgently?”
“Ah… I’m going to run my food stall.”
“Oh… that’s unexpected. Well, either way, we’ll send everything immediately!”
“Please have it delivered within an hour.”
“Absolutely! Thank you for your business! Your fresh ingredients will be arriving shortly!”
He was unbelievably polite.
It was the kind of treatment Hong Mangi never would have received back when he was just another ordinary F-rank Hunter.
After ending the call, Hong Mangi looked at Poming.
“Looks like you can start preparing.”
Poming nodded proudly with a satisfied smile.
Hong Mangi switched on the lights of the food stall and muttered,
“All right. Let’s welcome some new customers today.”
