Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Foaming! Gukbap. You can make gukbap, right...?”

Foaming nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, then casually looked up at the sky.

“Is it going to rain?”

“All of a sudden? Why are you talking about rain?”

“My back is aching strangely. It feels exactly like rain is coming.”

“Wait, your back was hurting? You should’ve told me!”

Foaming narrowed its eyes at me.

“It’s not exactly that... It would probably get better right away if someone gently gave it a nice, smooth massage. Hmm... It only needs a little smooth rubbing...”

Now I understood.

This summon loved physical affection.

Ha.

A long time ago, the dogs back in the countryside used to act exactly like this.

Whenever they saw me, they would immediately roll over and demand that I rub their bellies.

They used to make such a fuss about it.

Those memories slowly came back to me as I reached out and placed my hand on Foaming’s cloud-like back.

“All right, all right. Here! Is this what you wanted?”

Rub, rub.

“Nyahat! As expected! You have healing hands! I’m completely cured! Ta-da!”

Foaming wiggled its butt from side to side.

When you make it this obvious, it’s honestly not that cute anymore...

That was what I thought.

But Foaming might sulk if I said it out loud, so I kept it to myself and gently petted it instead.

“All right. Then you can prepare the gukbap now, right?”

“Foamiiing~~!”

Oh, right.

We had a customer now.

If ingredients suddenly started floating through the air on their own, it might start unnecessary rumors.

It would probably be better if I handled the ingredients myself.

“Tell me what we’re making and what ingredients I need to take out. I’ll prepare everything.”

“Yes! Ahem... Back in my day, I served up quite a few bowls of gukbap, you see. I even joined raids with Hunters who tried to use me as a tank, only to completely destroy their party formation. Sob.”

Well, obviously.

Foaming might have been an SSS-rank summon when it came to cooking,

but its attack power wasn’t even zero.

It was practically negative.

“I see. Okay. Got it. But rather than talking about that right now, could we hurry up and make the gukbap?”

“Yeees! Then today we shall make Soul Beef Radish Gukbap!!!!!”

Foaming continued confidently.

“I already know exactly what ingredients we have! You just have to prepare them!”

“Yes!”

“First! One hundred and fifty grams of beef!!!!!! For soup! You know what I mean, right?”

Huh?

Know what?

When did I ever buy beef?

The only meat we had was thinly sliced pork belly....

“We don’t have beef. Do you mean brisket? When did we ever buy something like that?”

“Ah! Then, hmm...”

“Thinly sliced pork belly is all we have.”

“Oooh! That’ll work!!! Take it out immediately!”

Thinly sliced pork belly in gukbap?

I had no idea whether that was actually okay.

But for now, I would just do what it said.

“All right! Next! We don’t have much time, so I’ll tell you quickly!”

“Good. That’s exactly what I want.”

“One chunk of radish!”

Luckily, we at least had radish in the refrigerator.

It was one of the most basic ingredients for making broth.

[THUNK— TAK— THUNK]

I chopped it roughly.

The pieces weren’t pretty, but they were simple enough.

Then I held them up.

“Here. What’s next?”

“Just a little bit of the end of a green onion! One spoonful of Dashida! Three spoonfuls of soup soy sauce! You have minced garlic, right? Just two chopstick scoops!”

“Okay! What next?”

I started moving around even faster.

“Next, take out the pepper. And water... We need water... Is that a tumbler over there?”

Foaming pointed toward my tumbler sitting alone in a corner.

“Yeah.”

“Fill that completely!”

The tumbler held 550 milliliters.

Since it said to fill it, I guessed we needed exactly 550 milliliters of water.

“Done!”

Foaming pointed toward the frying pan.

“Sesame oil first! Three turns left! Three turns right!”

I placed the old secondhand frying pan on the stove and turned on the gas.

Ha... Even though I’m just following instructions, this is no joke.

I was only acting as Foaming’s hands and doing exactly what it told me to do, but beads of sweat were already forming on my forehead.

[SIZZLE—]

As the oil began to heat, Foaming spoke.

“All right! Add the daesam!”

“Daesam?”

“Thinly sliced pork bellyyy~!”

I picked up the meat and placed it into the frying pan.

The slices sizzled and slowly stretched out as they cooked.

A smell rose from the pan that reminded me of the back alleys near Sadang Station after work.

“That’s it! Now add the garlic!”

Tap, tap, tap.

The meat started to shine as it cooked.

The minced garlic melted into the oil, spreading a familiar aroma throughout the kitchen.

Ah.

I remembered this smell.

I knew what it reminded me of.

The radish soup my mother used to make at home.

The kind that warmed your stomach when you came home late at night and ate a bowl.

“All right! You’re starting to get the idea now, right? Add the radish toooo!”

“Here? But this is radish soup. Why are we frying the radish in the pan?”

“What? Wait... You don’t trust me? I’m Foaming! SSS-rank!”

“R-Right. I was just asking. Of course I know that much.”

Truthfully, I didn’t know at all.

But I pretended I did.

“Like I said, the radish also needs to be lightly stir-fried! It would feel lonely if only the meat got fried!”

Foaming blew warm air over both of its little hands while staring at me.

Of course, blowing on them wasn’t going to make its hands warmer....

Still, every little thing it did was ridiculously cute.

I placed the large piece of radish onto the cutting board and started slicing it.

“Ah! Not too thick! Bite-sized pieces, moderately thin! Yes, yes! Just like that!”

Under Foaming’s strict supervision, I finished slicing the radish and placed it into the pot.

Then I added the meat from the frying pan.

Foaming excitedly spun in circles above the pot.

Bubble, bubble.

The radish began softening as it cooked lightly in the pork fat.

“Now add the water! Don’t pour it all at once. Slowly... slowly!”

I poured in the water exactly as Foaming instructed.

Hot steam rose into the air.

The smell was incredible.

My first dish.

Made with my own hands.

Just that thought alone made me feel amazing.

“Now we have to bring out the umami! Dashida! Ah, it’s over there, in the drawer on the right! Yes! That one!”

I added one spoonful of Dashida just as Foaming instructed.

It felt as though the broth instantly gained more depth.

“Hehe! Now it finally feels like gukbap! Oh, right! Add the green onion now too! Then one round of soup soy sauce, a few shakes of pepper! Ah... yes! Perfect!”

Maybe it was because of Foaming’s rhythmic way of speaking, but a smile naturally formed on my face.

“Gasp! It’s finished. Taste it!”

Foaming stared at me with its round eyes full of expectation.

Wanting to satisfy that expectation, I took out a small spoon, scooped up some broth, and tasted it.

Kyaa.

“...It’s good.”

I clasped both hands together tightly.

“It’s savory, but also refreshing... It tastes like my mother’s dinner table at eight in the evening.”

“Right? Right? Exactly! Kyaa~ So moving!”

I put the spoon down.

This bowl of gukbap wasn’t for me.

It belonged to Baek Jongsu, who was waiting outside.

That middle-aged man whose story I knew nothing about.

I filled a rice bowl to the brim with steamed rice, then placed it onto a tray together with the gukbap.

Warm.

Deep.

Filling.

One comforting bowl.

“Making gukbap was so much fun! Summoner—no, Chef! Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was still a precious cooking journey!”

Foaming left those words behind before disappearing with a pop.

Its twelve-hour summoning time must have ended.

Good work, Foaming.

Through the fogged-up window of the small food stall, I could see the dark night street outside.

A silent street without a single person in sight.

Holding the gukbap, I walked toward the customer who was waiting for me.

Toward Baek Jongsu.

No.

Toward Baek Jongsu’s soul.

A steaming bowl was placed in front of Baek Jongsu.

Thin slices of pork belly rested on top of the broth, releasing a gentle layer of oil.

The clear yet deeply simmered radish soup gave off a rich, savory sweetness.

Hong Mangi, an F-rank Hunter and the owner of the stall, quietly pushed the bowl toward Baek Jongsu.

“Give it a try.”

Baek Jongsu said nothing.

He picked up his spoon.

Slowly.

He scooped up a spoonful of broth and swallowed it.

At that moment, his nostrils flared.

The umami touching the tip of his tongue.

The broth was deep and rich, yet not heavy.

A faint scent of garlic lingered throughout it, while the flavor remained clean without even a hint of unpleasant smell.

The ingredients themselves were nothing special.

But perhaps because the seasoning had been used so well, the broth carried a deep, savory flavor.

Baek Jongsu slowly closed his eyes.

Then he muttered in a very quiet voice.

“Yeah... That’s right. This was the taste.”

He lifted his spoon again.

This time, he scooped up some thoroughly cooked radish and a slice of pork belly together with the broth.

He placed it into his mouth.

The radish gently broke apart on his tongue.

The savory pork fat blended into the broth.

Soft.

Yet the flavor grew deeper the more he chewed.

It was the kind of taste that naturally made you want to mix rice into the soup and take another spoonful.

Once again, he muttered.

“Ah, this is it... Yeah. This is the one.”

Baek Jongsu closed his eyes as if savoring the flavor.

Then memories surfaced.

When he was young,

after returning home from a long, exhausting day,

there would be a warm bowl of gukbap his mother had prepared waiting on the table.

When he was older,

he would sometimes come home drunk.

His mother, barely keeping her sleepy eyes open, would come out and say,

“Why don’t you at least have a spoonful of soup before going to bed?”

Her voice.

“...Yeah.”

After silently reliving those memories for a moment, he smiled and took another spoonful.

When was the last time he had tasted something like this?

No.

When was the last time he had shared this kind of warmth with someone?

“I thought I was doing perfectly fine on my own....”

“But food eaten alone never really tasted good.”

One bowl of gukbap.

One ordinary meal.

How many moments like this had he missed?

How many times had he turned away from moments like these?

He had grown used to eating alone.

He had convinced himself that being alone was easier.

But—

“I guess... what I really wanted was to eat dinner together with someone.”

He had realized it far too late.

So late that there was nothing he could do to turn things back anymore.

The moment that thought crossed his mind—

Drip...

Drip....

A tear fell onto the rough hand of the middle-aged man in his fifties.

“Ahem!”

Worried that Hong Mangi might have noticed, Baek Jongsu cleared his throat.

Then he quickly wiped away his tears.

[SLURP—]

He finished the entire bowl without leaving even a drop.

After quietly swallowing the very last bit of broth, he slowly placed the bowl down.

“Kyaaah. That was killer!”

He said the taste was amazing.

Then why was he wiping away another tear?

At that exact moment—

His body began to slowly fade.

“Huh... Looks like I can finally head to the afterlife.”

Baek Jongsu spoke with a relieved expression.

He stared at his hand as it gradually disappeared and gave a faint smile.

“Finally... It’s done.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you very much.”

Hong Mangi silently watched him, his hands neatly folded together.

A Hunter heading toward the afterlife.

Hong Mangi simply stood there and watched as Baek Jongsu slowly disappeared.

After finishing his final meal, Baek Jongsu’s soul continued to fade away.

Before vanishing completely, he added one final sentence.

“That last meal was wonderful. Truly.”

“Thanks to you, I can finally walk the road to the afterlife without a single regret.”

With a content smile and a voice filled with gratitude, Baek Jongsu disappeared.

Hong Mangi stared at the empty place where he had been.

He silently bowed his head for a brief moment.

Then he thought—

One bowl of gukbap... can sometimes be someone’s final wish.

At that moment—

A new reward appeared before him.