Have a Meal Before You Go - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Editors: Aaghna, Stomatopoda

“I am a graduate of this quarter . ”
The secretary handed over the portfolio file . The head of the Awakening Society, Yoo Jin-soo, took the file . He had just returned from a meeting and looked rather exhausted .
“I can’t take a break with this job,” he grumbled to himself under his breath .

“Let me see . ”

The first quarter of the year had passed and the graduates of Cypher School were excellent . There was a special trio among the graduates, known as the ‘Rookie 3 . ’ The first page of the file had photos, personal information, and brief descriptions of them .

‘Kim Mi-jin’ .

A 17-year-old girl who awakened with healing powers . She was only a 3rd class awakener, but it was highly likely that she would rapidly improve to a class 2 . The area she wanted to apply for was Seodaemun, but unfortunately, there was already a healing awakener in Seodaemun .

“’My father is on the upper and lower teams’… ah yes, the daughter of the god of food . ”

However, he thought it would be better to send her to Jung Hyung-joo, a gentleman in Seocho .

‘Lee Joo-myung . ’

Twenty years old this year . An offence focused damage dealer and flame magic awakener, classified as class 3 . High potential for growth . The area this individual applied for was Hongdae… at the side of the blade queen, Lee Yoon-ah .

“One of the damage dealer slots needed to be filled when I checked a few days ago . You can send this one to Lee Yoon-ah . ”

The problem was the last rookie .

“Uhhh…”

‘Ryu Shin . ’

He looked at the young man . The picture showed a young man with a cocky expression, standing with his tongue out and middle finger lifted .

“Ha…”

This person was the biggest problem so far . Twenty years old, and the best of all the graduates this quarter . His ability was called ‘wolf man’, a close combat ability . He was a second class awakener, and very likely to grow . The code name given to him was ‘War Wolf’ . There were two things unique to him .

The first was that he was the younger brother of “Yaeger,” the first-degree awakener who went missing ten years ago .

The second thing was that . . Yoo Jin-su looked at Ryu Shin’s file again .

‘Hmmm . ’
“There’s another problem regarding him?”

The secretary nodded at Yoo Jin-su’s words .

“Yes, Chairman . He fought with the mercenary captains of each region . ”

“Oh my god . So, what happened?”

The secretary lifted the paper he was holding and recited its contents to the chairman .

“I beat down the mercenary captains of Sinchon, Hongdae, Seocho and Gangbuk, and am now going to Seodaemun . ”

“…”

Yoo Jin-su breathed out in a deep sigh .

“What the hell is going on these days?”

* * *

Cheol-ho went grocery shopping every morning . He carefully picked out the ingredients and put them in his basket . Today’s menu was stir-fried spicy pork . The Kingpin’s meat was one of the best types for stir-fried spicy pork, but sadly it was all eaten earlier . Luckily there were a lot of types of meat that could replace it . The most ideal cuts were from Big Pigs, or Ataho . Belto wasn’t bad either, although fortunately there were a lot of Big Pig pork belly being sold at the market .

‘There’s a lot of produce . ’

In other words, there were a lot of Big Pigs out there . It would be very suspicious if the men he saw in the magic stone mine appeared frequently . First, Cheol-ho bought a lot of the good quality pork belly . These days, Tangerine ate more and more, and she would regularly finish three servings by herself . It was as if there was a black hole in her stomach . As he was walking, Cheol-ho stopped at a children’s clothing store that caught his eye .

It was time to buy some clothes for tangerine . He was on his way back to the restaurant, having carefully chosen the clothes, when he saw a crowd of people gathered by a building .

“Hmm?”

The building looked familiar . He slowly realised… wasn’t that the headquarters of the Temple Mercenaries? Cheol-ho wandered towards the building .

“Get out! Let’s have a fight!”

A man was shouting in front of the building .

“……Hmm?”

His hair was light blonde . He was a man with a lot of piercings on his ears, and had ten rings on both hands . Cheol-ho observed the situation with interest .

“Kang Hyuk! Come out! Let’s have a fight!”

‘Kang Hyuk?’, Cheol-ho thought .

‘The new leader of the Temple Mercenaries . ’

It was the name of the man who became the new leader after Cheon Tae-jung retired and returned down to his hometown . But anyway, who’s that man with the yellow hair?

“Who is he?”

When Cheol-ho asked one of the onlookers, the middle-aged man replied in a cheerful tone .

“You’ll know when you hear him speak”

Hmm? Soon the yellow haired man was shouting again .

“I’m Ryu Shin! I’m a second-class awakener, a man who is willing to refuse the association’s offer and be a mercenary! Come on out! Let’s have a fight! If you beat me, I’ll join the mercenaries!”

That’s a weird introduction . It was the brash spirit of a young man . Unexpectedly Cheol-ho didn’t hate it . The door, which had been tightly closed, opened and a mercenary stretched out his head from behind it .
“Hey little boy! Our captain is out!”

After saying that, he slammed the door again! The man who had declared his name to be Ryu Shin laughed loudly .

“The Temple Mercenaries are afraid of me! Now that Cheon Tae-joong has retired and a coward has become a new general, it’s obvious! Hahahaha!”

Bang!~

The closed door opened again . A black-haired man walked out of it, turning his neck side to side .

“What son of a bitch is making such a racket in broad daylight?”

It’s Kang Hyuk . Cheol-ho smiled at the sight of the man . Even at first glance he appeared to be qualified to replace Cheon Tae-jung . He looked to be in his mid-twenties . His bulging eyes and thick lips were instantly recognisable .

‘That’s Kang Hyuk . ’

“Come, you are Kang Hyuk!”

“Don’t call our captain’s name so recklessly,” Kang Hyuk answered in a quiet but strong tone .

“Let’s have a game!”, the yellow haired man stubbornly cried .

“We don’t fight meaningless battles, kid . “

“Hmph! The tiger is retired and the fox is in charge!”

“…”

Kang Hyuk drew his sword from the sheath at his waist .

“I’ll have to cut out your tongue . ”

The two men glared at each other .

Ryu Shin’s body slowly changed . Hair covered his flesh and sharp claws extended from his nails . Werewolf class . This sort of ability is one of a kind to the class . On the other hand, Kang Hyuk stood unmoved, pointing his sword at Ryu Shin . Kang Hyuk was a master of swordsmanship . However, the werewolf seemed to have an advantage, although his lesser age and experience was a factor that couldn’t be ignored .

kang!~

A large spear embedded itself in the ground between the two, vibrating from the force . The two people preparing to fight paused . A weary faced Machangsa stalked through the crowd .

“Phew… this city is never quiet . Stop it!”

Cheol-ho looked at them and smiled again .

Youth .

Passion .

Like a bud after the rain, the next generation was moving quickly .

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It was that night that the trio found a restaurant .

“…”

Cheol-ho looked at the three people in front of him . Kang Hyuk, Ryu Shin and Ma Changsha . Kang Hyuk and Ryu Shin’s faces were bruised and swollen, and it looked like they had fought .

“Did you two fight?”

“Strength isn’t shown by the use of weapons . True strength should be shown using the fist,” replied Machangsa, while shrugging his shoulders .

“Who won?”

Machangsa grinned and pointed towards Kang Hyuk’s side with his chin . That was unexpected .

“Sometimes experience is more than strength,” Machangsa said, sitting down .

“Take a seat . ”

At Machangsa’s command, Kang Hyuk and Ryu Shin seated themselves at his side .

“Sir, please give me some soju and some snacks . ”

“Oh, yes . The menu for today is stir-fried spicy pork .   Would you like some?”

“Stir-fried spicy pork is good . ”

Machangsa gave a friendly smile . The two who sat beside him said nothing .

First stir-fry the pork belly on a well-greased frying pan . Sometimes the stir-fried spicy pork dish has more vegetables than meat . It was the kind that Cheol-ho hated the most . Stir-fried spicy pork should have plenty of meat . Three generous servings of pork belly were added to the frying pan . Come to think of it, they were all hard working people .

“Hmm . ”

Cheol-ho took out more pork belly and put it on the frying pan .

sizzle~

In total, more than five servings of pork belly were placed on the frying pan, sizzling in low oil . A vivid popping sound came from the oil while the pork was frying . When the pork belly turns white and looks like it’s done, chop the onion, cabbage, and chili into small pieces . Even if you add various vegetables according to your taste, they usually taste good . Pork belly is an adaptable ingredient .

In the meantime, the sauce will be made in a separate bowl . Mix chili powder, red pepper paste, soy sauce, and sugar to make a thick, basic sauce . Cheol-ho finished the marinade with minced garlic and sesame oil .

Here we go . Now pour the sauce over the ingredients cooking in the frying pan . Mix it well and cook it until it is done .

sizzle~

As the white steam rose, Cheol-ho didn’t hesitate to pick up the frying pan and plate the food . He sprinkled sesame seeds over the finished stir-fried spicy pork, and it was finally done . The stir-fried spicy pork had piled up on the plate, and looked like a mountain . Cheol-ho headed to the table holding the big stir-fried spicy pork dish and a bottle of soju .

“Oh . ”

When the mountain of stir-fried spicy pork appeared, Ryu Shin, who had a sour look on his face, opened his eyes wide . Kang Hyuk did the same .
“Come on, you two have to settle your disputes . ”

Machangsa stood up from his seat, looking at Cheol-ho .

“I’ll go first, sir . I’ll pay in advance, here . ”

“Oh . Goodbye . ”

Machangsa left, leaving the two other men . The two men just sat still, not saying anything .

Hmmm .  

Cheol-ho observed two people with curious eyes . Suddenly, the yellow-haired Ryu shin spoke .

“I lost, so I’ll join the mercenary corps . ”

“No need,” Kang Hyuk simply answered back .

“Why? Don’t you need me? Everyone needs me . I’m a second-class awakener . ” Ryu Shin spoke with a hint of embarrassment .

“Don’t think that the sky in your world is everything,” Kang Hyuk muttered, gazing at the sky .

“What? What do you mean?”

Kang Hyuk opened his soju and poured it into a glass . “It means you should learn that you’re not as mighty as you think . ”

“…”

Kang Hyuk finished his glass of soju and got up from his seat .

“…”

Ryu Shin sat still, blinking . “Wow,” he muttered in a low tone . Then, he poured soju into his glass and stood up as well .

“So cool . ”

Cheol-ho looked at the stir-fried spicy pork they hadn’t touched, and picked it up . He didn’t hear any news about Ryu Shin for the next few days .

Some time later, there was news that a second-class awakener had entered the Temple Mercenary Corps . He thought this generation of Temple mercenaries would become very powerful . The problem was, as they grew stronger, the enemies were also getting stronger .

Recently, news of dungeon activity had increased .

*This translation belongs to Centinni . *

< Spicy and salty (2) > 

Editor: Aaghna

The cute little troublemaker opened her sapphire eyes . She was in her perfect human form . Her silver coloured hair covered half of her face .

Tangerine yawned as she left her bed . It was quite early in the morning . She was surprised that it was still dark outside .

These days, Khan has taught Tangerine to wash up before going to bed and after she woke up .  

‘If I do not wash,  am I a bad kid?’

Thinking over it, she shook her hand in the air .

‘No . I’m a good girl . ’

The advanced water spirit appeared and looked at the small girl in front of it . The spirit flew over the little girl’s head and poured water on her .

The girl’s body was soaked in water in an instant, and then completely dried up when the spirit disappeared again .

The girl stood up excitedly and patted her stomach as if she was proud .

“yay!”

She walked around clumsily .

‘Dad seems to have had a nightmare again today . ’

She could hear him groaning with a contorted look on his face . The little girl went up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek .

Her brother was sleeping in the corner . She tried to wake her brother up the way he used to wake her up . But then she suddenly shook her head because she wanted him to sleep more .

Then she stepped outside .

The girl walked towards the bathroom and looked at the toilet .

“Water . ”

She was thirsty and tried to drink water from the toilet . But then she shook her head .

“Brother said this water is dirty . ”

The girl walked towards the restaurant’s door and went out .

“hm?”

There was an interesting thing in front of the restaurant . It was like a small blue oval hole . The girl tilted her head and put her hand into the hole .

“Yay! Yay!”

After putting her hands in once again, she gradually put herself into the hole as she seemed to be having fun .

-Poof

The girl’s body disappeared in the blink of an eye .

* * *

“…… . ”

Cheol-ho opened the door of the restaurant and stood still with a cigarette in his mouth .

He raised his head up and looked at the sky . It was pretty early but it was probably around 6 in the morning .
“Uhhh… . ”

He saw the small gate in front of him .

He had heard that there were a lot of gates these days, but he didn’t expect one to be here…

It seemed that the troublemaker kid had vanished in there .

“Whew . ”

Cheol-ho stretched his hands from side to side . Anyway, raising children wasn’t easy .

Of the six classes he mastered, one ability was called “Absolute Resolution . ” 

It compressed the air around Cheol-ho .

Now the gate was hidden perfectly .

No one would find it . One wouldn’t even notice the gate until they walked into the alley and came into the restaurant or left through the alley .

Cheol-ho sighed once again and entered the gate .

-Argh!

Soon the gate swallowed Cheol-ho’s body .

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Inside the gate was a huge maze . The place was dark and smelly . Cheol-ho checked the gate that was behind him once again .

“Excellent dungeon . ”

The maze-type dungeons were quite popular . Dungeons were made everywhere, even when Cheol-ho was on the Esfan continent .

Where the hell did this troublemaker go? Cheol-ho walked through the maze .

‘First let’s explore the dungeon quickly . ’

The popular method was to leave a mark or thread on every corner you passed by, but Cheol-ho didn’t like to do such troublesome things .

The new method developed by Cheol-ho was like this .

-Bang!

You could break down the wall .

The punch created a huge hole in the wall .

After all, the boss is in the center . If you break it, you’ll reach it faster this way .

-Bang 

The walls collapsed in vain . Cheol-ho roamed all over the place, breaking down the walls without any hesitation .  

‘Shall I use the dragon ball?’

Among Cheol-ho’s treasures, there was also a tool for finding people . It was probably stuck somewhere in the subspace .

He thought about using it for a moment but then realised that the dragon ball would not work on because she was also a dragon . Cheol-ho kept breaking the wall with his fists .

-Whooo!

Then, he saw a monster running towards him from the labyrinth . Cheol-ho lept from the ground and hit him on the back of its head . The monster in front of him was called the Hell Cow .

“A Hell Cow?”

The Hell Cow was a monster that was somewhere between a human and a cow . It was a monster, but it looked exactly like a human being when it was standing or walking .

“Hell Cow huh…”

Cheol-ho frowned .

Hell Cow was a monster who was at the vanguard of the Devil’s army .

‘In terms of this world class, it would be about a class six . ’

And the leader of the Hell Cow would be a monster that Cheol-ho had never seen .

* * *

Deep in the labyrinth, two deep red eyes shone ominously . A torch lit up in the heart of the maze that was covered in darkness .  

The identity of the two eyes was a monster of a big stature . It had huge muscles bulging all over the body that were threatening to burst . There were two sharp, giant horns on its forehead .

It is a Minotaur .

He was the boss of the maze .

His eyes were fixed on a stranger in front of him .

The trouble was that stranger .

The stranger was a little child who stood less than a meter away . But that little child’s movement looked familiar . What is that? Cheol-ho realized that there was something floating next to the child .

‘The water spirit?’

It was not a lower or intermediate level but a high level spirit . The Minotaur paused .

“Hahahaha!”

The monsters in the labyrinth that circled the little girl fell at his feet .

-Thud!

-Cough
The Hell Cow was covered by the Spirit of Water, and the whole body collapsed as it was drowned in the water . The girl patted her stomach and laughed whenever the monsters fell .

“haha “

The Minotaur felt chills . Is that the new Devil?

Although he wasn’t dead, he was stunned . The girl was quite frightening .

“Let’s play again!”

The girl walked past the minotaurs, tapping her belly .

‘A class master . ’

Minotaurs were rare monsters with intelligent abilities . Not only could they communicate, but they also had a smart thinking ability .

However, even with that ability, the minotaur couldn’t identify the little girl .

‘First, I’ll kill you . ’

-Thud

The Minotaur began to run with a roar .

No matter how strong an Awakener was, Minotaurs were at advantage in close combat fights .

-Boom boom!

As he ran, he heard a foreign sound .

-Bang!

-Bang!

-Bang!

-Kaang!!

“Hm?”

The sound grew closer and closer . Suddenly, the heavy wall that was standing right next to him broke down and an arm popped out of it .

“Ah!”

The Minotaur was beaten by the arm in the wall . After five layers of wall fell on him, the world turned black .

* * *

After a few hours, the Minotaur came back to his senses . He blinked his eyes to get rid of his blurry vision .

In front of the Minotaur stood a man with a girl in his arms . He rubbed his eyes slightly and concentrated on the figures before him .

“Long time no see . ”

The man spoke in the language of the Esfan continent .

The Minotaur thought he had heard that voice somewhere . Tilting his head, he asked,

“Who are you?”

The minotaur’s eyesight recovered completely and it could see the man in front of him clearly .

“…… . ”

I’ve seen him somewhere . But where?

Suddenly the Minotaur remembered one man whose name was stuck in his head .

He was a man who had been slaughtering countless of his own people and stirring the battlefield . No one knew, but this man’s name was stuck in his head .

No way .

“M-Miro Lycas?”

“Your memory is better than the memory of a dragon I know . ”

When they met, Khan didn’t recognize Cheol-ho right away . Khan was unlike every other dragon he had met .

“woo-woo!”

Minotaur jumped up in surprise .

“You were probably one of the guys who came to Esfan with the Devil’s army, right?”

Minotaur shook his head while avoiding his eyes .

“No, you’re mistaken . ”

-False

Cheol-ho’s ability, Detect eye, exposed the truth .

Cheol-ho, without saying anything held the two horns of Minotaur in both his hands . The two horns were pulled off his head with a terrible sound .

The Minotaur tried to roar and struggle, but somehow no sound came out of his mouth .

Looking closely, the deadly aura from Cheol-ho’s hands was blocking the Minotaur’s mouth .

“The child is sleeping . ”

Minotaur nodded in pain . It was only then that Cheol-ho released his hand from it’s mouth .

“I was a part of the Devil’s army!”

-Truth

Cheol-ho facepalmed .

“And when the Devil fled through the breach of the dimension, you were lucky enough to escape . ”

“That’s right!”

-Truth

“Then you went to see the Devil, right?”
The Minotaur nodded, terrified .

“Yes . ”

“Hah… .

Cheol-ho frowned .  

“Well I returned ten years ago and went back to the Labyrinth and never came out! It’s the truth!”

-Truth

“Don’t you know anything about the Devil?”

“I don’t”

-Truth

“Even about the Devil’s status?”

“No, I don’t know! As far as I know, the Devil has been sleeping to restore his strength since he returned to the world ten years ago . ”
-Truth

It must be true .

Suddenly the Minotaur asked in surprise and curiosity .

“Hey Miro Lycas . Have you invaded this labyrinth?”

“No . The whole labyrinth seems to have fallen into a different dimension . It’s a place called Earth . ”

And that fact means that Cheol-ho’s hypothesis was almost certainly correct .

‘Is he connected with the Devil?’

The Devil of the past did not die .

Technically speaking, the Devil was not dead .

But he was able to survive a near death caused by Cheol-ho and the elder-class Dragon of the Ice Age Aramir Lantero, who was an immortal .

The Devil’s resistance was dumbfounding .

But then coincidentally or inevitably, he ran away through a gap in a dimension created nearby .

Cheol-ho saw a world through the gap .

It was the earth .

“Hmm…… . ”

Cheol-ho turned around and walked out of the maze with Tangerine in his arms .

He had mixed feelings .

The Minotaur was relieved to see Cheol-ho leaving .

Cheol-ho turned his head .

“Oh . ”

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When Khan opened his eyes, he realized that it was still early .

Tangerine was sleeping next to Khan . Tangerine had returned from the great adventure while he was asleep, but Khan didn’t know about that .

Khan looked at the cute sleeping Tangerine and kissed her on both cheeks . He then patted her hair and kissed her forehead .

He headed to the kitchen with a yawn and saw Cheol-ho cooking with a look of excitement on his face .

“Cheol-ho . ”

“…… . ”

“Cheol-ho?”

“Hmm?”

Only after calling several times did Cheol-ho turn around .

“That seems to be burning . ”

“Ah . ”

What was being fried in a frying pan was a thick, tasty-looking chunk of meat .

“Oh dear . ”

Cheol-ho flipped the meat on the frying pan . Fortunately, it didn’t burn . Flip it over to the other side and start frying again .

“Sit down . Let’s have breakfast . ”

Khan nodded at Cheol-ho’s words .

“It looks delicious . What kind of meat is it?”

“Oh its beef . ”

“Cow beef?”

“There is such a thing? Wow . ”

Cheol-ho fried the large chunk of flesh properly .

The meat was very well marbled, and it’s simply best when fried . If you want to feel the taste of fat to the limit, it would be best to grill or roast it .

The meat was rich in fat so when it was put into your mouth, it melted .

Suddenly Khan saw something boiling in a huge pot in the kitchen .

“What’s that?”

“Hmm?”

Cheol-ho shrugged his shoulders as he looked toward the pot .

“It’s called oxtail soup . There’s something like that . We have to boil it for a long time . We can eat that around dinner time . ”

Cheol-ho placed a thick steak on both their plates .

Choel-ho craved something spicy and salty when he was stressed out . He brought out a lot of cheongyang chilli peppers[1] .

Cheol-ho chewed it with the chilies in his mouth . He then sprinkled a lot of salt on the steak and cut it into bite sizes .

“…… . ”

Khan was tempted by the look of it so he also put a lot of cheongyang peppers in his mouth and chewed them . He then sprinkled some salt and ate some steak again . But after a moment, he held his stomach and ran into the bathroom .

“Argh!”

Spicy and salty .

***
Cheongyang chilli peppers[1]- Cheongyang chili peppers look similar to regular Korean chili peppers, but are many times spicier . The chilli is a local speciality of Cheongyang City in South Korea .