NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
Dungeon Food Truck Owner – Chapter 18
“I had a customer!”
Late at night, after finishing her business, Ji-eun happily exclaimed while sitting on a bench in Hangang Park.
It felt like a miracle.
She had entered the dungeon with the mindset of “Let’s just try one more time,” and there she was, actually cooking and selling food to a customer.
She had refunded the money she initially received because she was so grateful that the customer enjoyed her food, finishing every last grain of rice and piece of kimchi.
The customer, insisting that a refund was unnecessary, had resisted, but Ji-eun had pushed back firmly to give the refund for one reason.
“To be honest, if I hadn’t gotten even one customer today, I was thinking of not entering the dungeon for a while.”
“Just… it’s been so hard for a month. I haven’t cried like that in front of anyone since my grandmother passed away.”
Sitting on the park bench, still smiling brightly, Ji-eun looked down at Kamang, who was watching her, and continued.
“Because I had so few customers, it’s funny how people tend to blame themselves for problems that are really just due to their surroundings not helping.”
“I know. My mind understood that, but I kept doubting myself. Is it because my luck stat is zero? Or is it because I’m not good at cooking? I even thought maybe the dungeon had decided I shouldn’t receive customers, but that’s not the case anymore.”
“Right? I’ve been working really hard. I’ve never been insincere about cooking! And I’ll keep doing that.”
Ji-eun felt a bit regretful that she hadn’t been able to prepare the cheese tonkatsu set the customer wanted due to time constraints.
She couldn’t even properly thank the customer who asked her earnestly, “What can I do?” before the closing time came and she left the dungeon.
“That customer looked so shocked and flustered at first, but the moment he took a bite of the tonkatsu I made, he looked so happy.”
The customer kept getting up and sitting down, wondering if what he was seeing was real.
What a thrill it was to see a customer who was skeptical when the food they ordered was finally brought to the table, finish their food in its entirety!
“It made me realize that I wasn’t wrong, that I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I was grateful for that.”
After saying this, Ji-eun stretched her arms out and yawned, making a sound of contentment while her expression remained bright.
After the wave of pride washed over her, returning to reality outside the dungeon brought her exhaustion.
Having woken up at 6 AM and worked tirelessly until midnight for a month, preparing to welcome customers in the dungeon, she felt amazed that she had managed to endure it all. Now that she had successfully served one customer, the aches she had been putting off came rushing back.
“Let’s take a break for just three days, okay?”
“I also need to go to the hospital, and I want to prepare the things I thought about while waiting for customers in detail.”
“No way. After finally adjusting to this pattern, do you think I could wake up at 6 AM after taking a week off?”
“So that’s why you kicked me with your foot?”
Hugging Kamang, who protested as if he were wronged, Ji-eun stood up, shivering from the now-chilly riverside breeze.
Pulling her hoodie over her head, she slowly made her way home.
Though her body felt heavy, her heart was light on her way back.
However, Ji-eun, who had planned to rest for just three days, fell terribly ill with a cold the very next day.
Due to overexertion, she was bedridden, coughing incessantly, and unable to even think about going to the hospital.
“Cats show signs of illness just as quickly as humans do.”
Unlike usual, Ji-eun didn’t insist on pushing through.
At this point, she couldn’t argue if she made a foolish mistake like cutting herself with a knife. Given the situation, it was best to rest completely until she recovered.
For Ji-eun, who was feeling this way, Kamang searched online for cold water, soaked a towel, and kept placing it on her forehead, changing it whenever it dried. Thanks to Kamang, she was finally able to get out of bed on the second day and go to the hospital.
At the hospital, she had her temperature taken and learned she had the flu, requiring not only fever-reducing medication but also an IV.
After a few hours, Ji-eun returned home, staggering, and hugged Kamang, who had been waiting for her anxiously, before collapsing onto her bed.
After sleeping soundly for half a day and finally regaining some strength, she woke up to a rumbling in her stomach.
“I’m so hungry…”
She hadn’t eaten anything substantial since the first day of her illness, aside from medicine and water.
However, she didn’t feel like preparing a grand meal. Opening the fridge, she spotted some carrots, onions, and zucchini she had bought on the way back from the hospital.
After rummaging through the kitchen drawers, she found a can of tuna. After a moment of contemplation, Ji-eun decided on tuna egg porridge for her meal.
She lightly washed and chopped all the vegetables, drizzled sesame oil in a pot, and stir-fried them before adding the right amount of water and three pieces of kombu.
Her hands began to move faster as she dropped uncooked instant rice into the bubbling pot. After removing the kombu, once the rice had softened, she drained the oil from the tuna and added it, along with two tablespoons of tuna sauce, then poured in the beaten eggs while stirring, and boiled it one more time to complete the soft egg porridge.
As Kamang shook his head at the pot full of porridge, he said:
“I’ll make a lot and reheat it whenever I get hungry…”
Thinking back, Ji-eun realized that despite being sick, Kamang had never once complained about being hungry while taking care of her.
If she was this hungry, how much more must Kamang have been?
“I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of you. Let’s eat.”
The tuna egg porridge, steaming and emitting a savory aroma, looked glossy and smelled wonderful.
Sprinkling some sesame seeds and adding a touch more sesame oil deepened the fragrance, and for the first time since feeling unwell, Ji-eun began to feel her appetite returning.
Without thinking about who would go first, she and Kamang blew on the porridge to cool it down. As she took a spoonful, the rich flavors of the savory tuna and egg filled her mouth.
A collection of savoriness!
It wasn’t overly rich, and being made into porridge made it smooth and easy to swallow.
She also took out some kimchi from the fridge and enjoyed it together, feeling her energy returning to her body that had been drained from the cold.
“Eating really makes a difference.”
Taking her medicine regularly and eating porridge for every meal, Ji-eun felt her body recovering enough to resume normal activities by the fifth day.
During that time, all she had done was lie in bed, watch backlogged dramas with Kamang, or thoroughly read the Hunter bulletin board.
[@@@@Looking for party members for floor 3@@@@]
[Sharing a story about getting lost in the dungeon]
[Today’s photo of Song Juhyeok.jpg]
[Selling miscellaneous items, cool offers welcome]
[Did anyone else see the food truck?]
[↑ Just ignore the troll]
The Hunter bulletin board was constantly filled with numerous posts in real time.
There were posts about where to obtain various item materials, recruiting parties for hunts, following every move of top-ranked hunters, and many trading posts for buying and selling items.
Additionally, there were many useful guides on strategies for monsters in beginner dungeons and information on dungeons that had been explored so far.
Lying in bed with her short-term strategy notebook where she had written down important information, Ji-eun’s eyes fixed on one article.
“Ranking No. 1 Song Juhyeok makes a rare public appearance. Announcement regarding the uncharted area of floor 5 coming soon?”
“Is the progress of the floor 5 hunt accelerating?”
“Cheongmyeong Guild states, [We are preparing for a floor 5 hunt in a completely different manner.] An official statement released…”
“Taebaek Guild announces, [The floor 5 hunt is not something that can be decided by just one guild.] An official statement released.”
It was an official article from the Hunter community, complete with related video clips.
Hastily playing the video, she saw the familiar face of the first customer she had met on floor 4.
“I will provide more details regarding the floor 5 hunt later.”
Unlike the time when he had received a sandwich with a smile, Song Juhyeok’s expression now was very cold and serious.
Could this be the same man who had bought a sandwich for 1 million won? His demeanor in this official setting was starkly different from the friendly persona he had shown in the dungeon.
“Oh, right! The Gate Stone!”
Remembering the Gate Stone she had forgotten about, Ji-eun adjusted her posture and fell deep into thought.
No matter how she considered it, the Gate Stone wasn’t something she should possess.
Initially, she could enter the dungeon using her own skills, so it was entirely unnecessary for her.
From what she had learned, the Gate Stone was an item that appeared with an extremely low probability, like reaching for the stars.
The most recent trade of a Gate Stone had been purchased at an astronomical price by the Taebaek Guild.
The moment she put this sought-after Gate Stone up for auction, the risks that would unfold before her were numerous.
Asking a level 1 non-combat awakened person how they obtained such an item would inevitably reveal her skills to others.
Running a food truck inside the dungeon could seem suspicious, but she hoped people would merely perceive it as a fascinating ability. She absolutely couldn’t allow any exploration at the guild level regarding how the food truck could move inside the dungeon.
Especially, she had to keep information about her skills hidden.
If word got out that her passive skill level was [Owner’s Discretion], allowing her to freely move anywhere in the dungeon, including uncharted areas after visiting once, what kind of reactions would the guilds have?
Ji-eun had planned to sell only on floors 1 and 2, avoiding the eyes of high-level hunters to conduct her business comfortably.
The biggest obstacle to that plan was none other than Song Juhyeok, her first customer and the only person she had encountered from floor 4 and above.
“Wait, the floor 5 hunt?”
Ji-eun hurriedly reviewed the article again.
The 5th floor, which had been closed for 20 years.
She had been there.
And she knew the exact location of that dungeon.
The suffocating heat and the ominous red flames that seemed ready to consume everything around her.
The moment she stepped inside, an unsettling sensation washed over her—the [Sanctuary of the Corrupted Fire Elemental King].
Ji-eun’s expression turned serious.
‘Before they notice and approach… it’s better to go meet them first.’
Sometimes, to obtain what you want, you need to be bold.
As she gazed at Juhyeok’s face on the screen, Ji-eun fell into deep thought.