By Zephyria Relieved that the store was intact, Eui-jae went to the kitchen to check on the broth. It had simmered down a bit, but… it was still decent. Sa-young, who had followed Eui-jae, peeked over his shoulder as Eui-jae clasped his hands together and prayed.
“What are you doing?”
“Be quiet.”
Eui-jae didn’t particularly believe in any religion, but today he decided to offer his thanks to Buddha. The warm smile drawn on Min-gi Seo’s fan came to mind. And he remembered how terribly he had treated that Buddha. He offered his thanks and apologies in his heart several times before slyly opening his eyes.
“You don’t look like a religious person.”
“Shut up, it’s just for today.”
“A fair-weather believer, too.”
Eui-jae internally prayed for forgiveness for Sa-young’s irreverence, not particularly for Lee Sa-young’s sake, but because he was worried about getting caught in the crossfire.
Eui-jae, who had gone back out to the front and grabbed an apron, put on all the equipment for preparing the store and called out to him.
“Hey.”
“Lee Sa-young.”
There he goes again…. Eui-jae glanced at the Gas mask, but since he had been kind enough to bring him here quickly, he obediently responded to Sa-young’s request.
“Lee Sa-young, don’t touch anything in the kitchen.”
“Can’t I even look?”
“Do you want to create a mass poisoning incident at the Hanover Soup Restaurant?”
“I’m wearing a Gas mask and gloves.”
Sa-young cheerfully waved his hands, clad in black leather gloves, but willingly went out of the kitchen. Eui-jae glanced at his retreating figure and took out the necessary ingredients.
“Lee Sa-young—”
“Yes, what is it?”
“What time is it?”
“4:40.”
“……”
“…Hyung?”
20 minutes until opening?
Eui-jae slowly looked around the kitchen. The dinner shift was much busier than the morning. Moreover, these days, they were holding discussions about J at the Hanover Soup Restaurant, so there were a lot of customers. He looked at the ceiling for a moment to calm himself, then stared blankly at Lee Sa-young standing in the hall.
He’s wearing a Gas mask and gloves, so it should be okay, right? Eui-jae shook his head, horrified by the thought that had crossed his mind. The potential disaster was a problem, and he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Sa-young was terrible at cooking. Sa-young probably knew this, which was why he had willingly moved away.
Is my motto of safe and diligent operation of the Hanover Soup Restaurant about to collapse? It was at this moment, as Eui-jae, the reliable part-time worker who had become a pillar of the Hanover Soup Restaurant, despaired.
“Hello— I’m back.”
“……”
“This is… the Hanover Soup Restaurant that the Vice Guild Leader frequents! Congratulations on escaping the field safely, customer!”
A round thing suddenly popped out of Eui-jae’s shadow. Eui-jae couldn’t take his eyes off the cheerful figure, who was making a visor with his hand and looking around. He forgot to say the customary greeting and grabbed Min-gi Seo, who had just emerged from the shadow, and said urgently.
“Min-gi Seo.”
“Yes.”
“Can you chop?”
“Excuse me?”
“No, you don’t have to be good. If you’re A-grade, you should be able to do a decent job.”
“Customer, I think that’s a generalization.”
Min-gi Seo protested timidly, but he was thoroughly ignored by Eui-jae, the monster spawned by the Hanover Soup Restaurant. Eui-jae slammed a wooden cutting board and a kitchen knife down with a thud and gestured to him.
“Chop these green chili peppers and put them in this container.”
“Excuse me?”
“You can take an apron from over there and put it on.”
“Yes? Y-yes….”
“If you start tearing up, I’ll lend you goggles, so just chop them for now. We don’t have time.”
As Eui-jae gave instructions with fire in his eyes, Min-gi, who had been dazedly repeating his questions, realized that he couldn’t escape and hesitantly nodded.
“I understand, so could you please put the knife down and speak?”
“Why, are you afraid I’ll stab you with it?”
“……”
“It’s more efficient to prepare for business than to stab you and wipe up the blood, so let’s move quickly.”
It seemed that the customer had a knack for saying terrifying things without batting an eye. But Min-gi Seo, a working man of will, couldn’t collapse here. He still had one task left.
“C-customer. But shouldn’t we lift the Weakening Curse first?”It won’t affect business, so let’s do it tonight.”
Min-gi almost collapsed again at those words. Let’s do it tonight, the customer was ordering him to work overtime without a second thought, and for some reason, the dark gas mask of his wicked boss seemed to overlap with his face.
Min-gi Seo fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a thin, long rectangular piece of leather, emphasizing that he had a scroll.
“If you cut this in the middle with the knife you’re holding, it’ll be…”
“This is a kitchen knife.”
“…Then I’ll ask for something else.”
Eui-jae bent down slightly and took out a small pair of scissors that had been left inside. It was from Ha-eun’s stationery set, but at some point, it had become useful as a knife for opening packages. The handle had a cute ribbon pattern, which contrasted with the grim face of the part-time worker who was rushing to open the store.
Snip—
As soon as the leather was cut, Eui-jae felt his body lighten.
He looked at Min-gi with a questioning gaze, and Min-gi nodded vigorously before quickly taking an apron from the basket in the corner of the kitchen and putting it on. Eui-jae also washed his hands cleanly and put on a sanitary cap, apron, and gloves.
It was fortunate that he had started cooking rice before going to the center. He opened the rice cooker, stirred it, and began to transfer it to stainless steel rice bowls.
[Unique trait, Hand of the Skilled (S+), is activated.]
[Trait proficiency has reached its limit.]
Eui-jae frowned. Proficiency achievement or whatever, he didn’t have time, and he couldn’t see anything with the white window popping up.
‘Don’t obstruct my view.’
He ignored the System notification and stubbornly pressed the rice into the bowls. A moment later, fireworks suddenly exploded in front of his eyes!
[Congratulations! A new trait is blooming!]
[Trait, Combat Fused with Daily Life (S), has been acquired.]
A person who gains a new trait while serving rice. That was Cha Eui-jae. He had unexpectedly gained an S-grade trait that all Hunters craved, but he didn’t look pleased. He was grateful, but suspicious. Besides, he didn’t have time to check the details, not for a part-time worker at a store about to open.
‘I have to open the store in 10 minutes, so don’t bother me and get out.’
The System seemed to know this and kindly displayed a direct explanation.
[Trait: Combat Fused with Daily Life (S)
For me, housework is war. A trait for you who can’t give up housework or combat. Attack power, attack speed, and agility increase when performing actions classified as housework.]
…It was too good a skill to ignore. Eui-jae stopped the rapidly moving rice serving.
‘Actions classified as housework?’
Housework would include cooking, cleaning, laundry, and so on. Then… Eui-jae looked at the hand holding the rice paddle. Cooking is housework. Putting rice in a rice bowl to set the table was naturally included in housework.
[Trait, Combat Fused with Daily Life (S), is activated.]
As if to confirm, a trait activation notification popped up. For some reason, the hand holding the wooden rice paddle felt lighter. With this trait… 5 o’clock opening, possible! The hand holding the rice paddle began to move wildly as if dancing.
Meanwhile, Min-gi Seo, who was behind him, was agonizing with tears welling up under his sunglasses.
The topic of his 110-minute debate was, ‘What size and how should I chop the green chili peppers?’ It would be nice to have a sample to follow, but all he had was a cutting board, green chili peppers, and a kitchen knife. He thought he should remove the stems first, so he was smartly tearing off the stems with his hands wearing nitrile gloves.
He felt a chill run down his spine from the tremendous energy.
‘Something… is there.’
It was an intense momentum and pressure that he couldn’t dare to look back. Surely it was just the customer behind him, but how could the atmosphere change so suddenly? Could it be that he was angry because he couldn’t serve the rice and couldn’t make it in time for the opening? Surely, he’s not going to get rid of me for not doing my job properly?
He had to check, but the fierce momentum was too frightening. Min-gi Seo swallowed hard.
‘…No! Even if he’s excited, he won’t kill me.’
Didn’t Cha Eui-jae say it himself? It’s more efficient to prepare for the opening than to kill you. It had gone through a somewhat distorted filtering, but the meaning itself was similar. The intense energy was getting stronger and stronger. Min-gi Seo believed in his words and carefully turned his head. And,
Min-gi Seo opened his mouth without realizing it.
‘Ah….’
Cha Eui-jae was still serving rice from the commercial rice cooker.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap―
But very quickly. The speed was so fast that it looked like he had multiple arms!
‘…Asura?’
It even seemed like a golden halo was shining behind him. It was like he was doing a sword dance, no, a rice paddle dance. Cha Eui-jae put down the rice paddle and then threw the lids of the rice bowls like throwing stars. Tap tap tap tap. They all landed on the rice bowls without missing a single one. If the PD of a Master of Life program saw this, they would kneel and beg him to appear on our program.
‘Is that… the pro of Hangover Soup?’
It was too good to watch this alone! It should be passed down as a video for generations. It was just as Min-gi Seo was about to slyly take out his phone.
“Seo Min-gi.”
“Yes, customer… G-Guild Leader?”
Min-gi Seo was so surprised that he jumped in place. Lee Sa-young, a figure who was completely out of place in this old Hanover Soup Restaurant, was standing at the boundary between the kitchen and the hall! He had definitely escaped with the customer, but Min-gi Seo was creaking like a broken robot because he didn’t expect him to follow him to the store.
“Why don’t you do what you’re told properly.”
“Yes. B-but I didn’t know what size to cut them….”
As Min-gi Seo hesitated and answered, a small sigh escaped from the Gas mask. Min-gi Seo was seriously considering whether he should learn more than 30 skills necessary for operating the Hanover Soup Restaurant, even now.
“That, rice.”
“Yes, eh?”
“Move it.”
As Sa-young gestured slightly to the warmer, Min-gi Seo hurried to the mountain of stacked rice bowls. The Hanover Soup Restaurant part-time worker, who had become a crazy housework master, was focused on his own work without any nagging. Min-gi Seo, who had put all the rice bowls in the warmer, wiped his tears with his sleeve and said smallly, as if he was wronged.
“Still, I… I did the customer’s work quickly.””
“……”
“Exactly according to the grade the customer requested, exactly.” And I didn’t get caught this time.”
“Uh-huh, good job.Min-gi Seo, who had been thinking of mourning his daily life of suffering under a wicked boss, was surprised by the unexpected answer and froze. Min-gi Seo stammered with an incredulous face before barely asking back.
“Yes? I didn’t hear you correctly?”
However, the face of the Gas mask, which had been facing him until just now, was turned towards the customer. Min-gi Seo was filled with emotion that a small miracle was happening in his Guild life, moving slowly.