Until it was time to head to the restaurant, I was watching NetXlix on my laptop as usual.
I enjoyed shows like Korean gourmet tours too, but the one I loved and watched the most was, of course, this one.
It was a Japanese restaurant drama about an owner suspiciously fond of the late night, who was stylishly called “Master.”
The skill to whip up whatever the customer wanted without a fixed menu.
The regulars who were captivated by that skill and came to chat in hushed voices.
Before I knew it, that style of business from the drama’s Master had become my dream, my final destination as a chef.
So, when I retired later on, I wanted to settle down in a suitable countryside and run my own humble little restaurant.
The kind of place only those in the know knew about, radiating a vibe where you’d share even a single bean with the regulars.
Of course, doing that required a decent chunk of money. Quite a lot, actually.
So I turned off the drama I’d been enjoying and grabbed my restaurant uniform.
My name, Gang Jinwoo, was proudly embroidered on the chest.
It was a place I’d finally settled into after drifting through various food service jobs.
With my career history and connections up to now, it was personally a workplace I was quite satisfied with, but—
“Anyway, going to work is inherently a hassle.”
But I had to go. For my beautiful retirement, if nothing else.
I steeled my resolve and reached the staff entrance.
And the moment I opened the staff door, thinking, *Let’s work hard today too*—
my vision was swallowed by light.
The light was so blinding that I thought I’d gone blind for a moment, and I lost consciousness…
When I opened my eyes again, I had been transported to another world.
Today marked exactly two months since I’d been so abruptly sent to another world.
Today was the historic opening day of my restaurant—a long-held dream, a place where I was the owner.
*Open.*
A semi-transparent hologram window would appear before me whenever I thought “open” in my mind.
I summoned the status window, an ability of unknown origin, to prepare for business.
=====
Name: Gang Jinwoo (35)
Race: Human
Traits: [Hand Taste Lv.Max], [Cold Resistance Lv.3], [Flame Resistance Lv.7]
Skills: [Mana Market Lv.1], [Beginner Spirit Magic Lv.1]
=====
Unlike the status windows I’d seen in fiction, it was far more spartan, showing only the truly necessary information.
I still vividly remembered shouting “status window” with a *believe it or not* mindset when I was first transported, and getting startled when it actually appeared.
What had puzzled me when I first saw the status window were my traits and skills.
Among them, [Hand Taste], [Mana Market], and [Beginner Spirit Magic].
They were hard to grasp with modern sensibilities, but fortunately, the status window wasn’t so stingy.
When I tapped on the trait and skill names, additional explanations unfolded in a scroll.
=====
[Hand Taste Lv.Max]
You have reached a master’s level of skill through long culinary experience.
The umami of dishes prepared by your hands increases!
*When cooking with ingredients obtained from [Mana Market], the food will gain additional effects!
=====
One might wonder if such an effect made any sense, but back on modern Earth, debates over “hand taste” had existed too.
Especially in South Korea.
In the cultural sphere from Central Asia to East Asia, cooking ingredients with bare hands was common.
However, finishing entire dishes with bare hands—excluding bread or noodle dough, or simply mixing ingredients—
and even using hands instead of tools when tools were available—South Korea was the only country that did that.
Some may say I’m ignoring the hand skills of the Indian brothers.
But cooking with bare hands under a beautiful philosophy, with no hygiene issues, delicious, and even refined?
“Venerable Jeonggwan, just who in the world are you…?”
A documentary that had become a hot topic on NetXlix, *Chef’s Table*.
In this documentary that closely covered master chefs from around the world and showcased their skills, there was someone who widely spread the prestige of Korean cuisine and the concept of hand taste.
At a time when interest in vegetarian cuisine was only now rising, Monk Jeonggwan of Korea had been consistently creating top-tier vegetarian dishes for decades.
After Monk Jeonggwan’s episode aired, Korean temple food along with his cooking methods became positively trending topics.
After that, debates had erupted over whether this “hand taste” was real or not.
I was on the side that believed hand taste existed, but honestly, it hadn’t mattered much.
*I’ve got a status window now. What can you guys do about it?*
Status window, simply GOAT.
Next was [Mana Market], which was a skill, not a trait.
Since it had been mentioned in the additional description for [Hand Taste], I examined it carefully.
=====
[Mana Market Lv.1]
Mana dwells within all matter in the world.
Food ingredients are no different. Exchange your mana for ingredients!
*Possesses a synergy effect with the trait [Hand Taste]!
=====
When I activated [Mana Market] in my mind, a scrollable window appeared before my eyes.
「Onion」
「Green Onion」
「Potato」
「Carrot」
▼
Scrolling down along the arrow continued to reveal ingredient items.
But past a certain point,
▲
「Chili Pepper」
「Celery」
「Apple」
「???」
「???」
▼
▲
「???」
「???」
「???」
「???」
「???」
▼
It became packed with items marked 「???」 like this.
After experimenting here and there since arriving in another world, I found that nothing besides food ingredients was registered in the market.
And the way to fill those 「???」 slots was to physically come into contact with ingredients in this other world.
For example, I obviously knew about an ingredient called eggplant.
But because I hadn’t actually touched it in this other world yet, no matter how much I searched or looked through the items, I couldn’t find eggplant.
*Today… it’s chili peppers.*
I selected 「Chili Pepper」, a manageable ingredient.
I felt the ambient mana gathering toward me.
Unlike common sense on Earth, mana dwelled within all matter in this world.
This meant that if I understood the composition of any ingredient well enough, I could create that ingredient using mana as currency.
By this world’s standards I was an outsider, so I wasn’t exactly sure, but that was how I understood the phenomenon for now.
After a brief focus, my body felt a bit tired. It meant my magic power had drained.
And before me appeared a box’s worth of chili peppers.
Crunch—! Crisp!
I plucked a fresh-looking chili pepper and ate it.
A sweet yet tingling spicy flavor coated my tongue.
*No matter how many times I use this, it’s amazing.*
Personally, whenever I used this magic, I thought of the controversial Internet community poll: “Receive 1 billion won VS receive one bowl of jajangmyeon every day for life.”
Of course, unlike the Jajang-Jajang Fruit, this magic couldn’t drop ingredients wherever I wanted…
Even so, exclusively for a chef, this was magic with cheat-tier performance, far beyond merely valuable.
If my total mana was 100, purchasing one box of ordinary vegetables like this consumed what felt like 5 to 10.
Unless I went crazy spamming jajang-jajang flurries, the exchange rate was more than enough to run a small restaurant.
This was also why I, freshly transported and with nothing to my name, had traveled to the nearest city, Silvaerin.
I needed to build up common social knowledge too, but more importantly, I had to come into contact with as many ingredients as possible to expand my exchange catalog.
I purchased various other ingredients I’d need for today besides chili peppers.
More than half my mana drained out, but that was fine.
It wasn’t like I was going to fight anyone; I just needed to leave a bit of mana for spirit magic.
I had learned [Beginner Spirit Magic] without even realizing it.
It hadn’t been there at first, but the spirits took a liking to the ingredients from [Mana Market], so I got friendly with them after feeding them.
Thanks to that, I could freely use fire, water, or cold without needing to light firewood, which was incredibly convenient.
*Shall I start prepping the ingredients?*
My restaurant opened in the evening.
So starting from now, just past lunch, I could leisurely do my prep work.
*You can’t get full on the first spoonful, but since I’m at it, I hope at least one customer shows up…*
With a fluttering heart, I started my knife work.
***
Early March, before winter’s lingering traces had fully faded.
A luxurious carriage was traveling toward Silvaerin territory, in the far north of the empire.
Save for the lack of a particular house’s coat of arms, it was outwardly identical to a noble’s carriage.
By custom, if a person of noble rank traveled by carriage to another region, advance notice was absolutely required.
This was because the etiquette and reception of nobles were quite strict, and time was needed to prepare.
Therefore, visiting some territory without prior notice usually meant it was either a relative’s house or one’s own house. Typically one of the two.
Even though darkness was gradually falling, this carriage did not stop its wheels—it was the latter case.
With silver hair like fine silk, deep and clear blue eyes, and a pure white impression like the snow-capped northern mountains—she, Isilla Silvaerin, rested her chin on the carriage window and admired the scenery.
*The Academy opening is soon; Dad will be so surprised if I show up, won’t he?*
Contrary to her haughty expression that seemed capable of freezing a person with just a meeting of eyes, Isilla was affectionate, spoiled, and a bit of a prankster.
Of course, she couldn’t show such a side at the Academy, so she used a “social personality”?… but she was only human.
A human couldn’t live forever hiding their true nature.
She needed time to vent the stress accumulated from Academy life.
So Isilla had returned to her hometown even though the Academy opened in two weeks.
The Academy’s summer break was relatively short, so if she didn’t stop by the main house during this winter break, she might not be able to visit her hometown for a whole year.
Isilla gazed blankly out the window, roughly estimating the time remaining until arrival.
Having traveled this road since birth, the geography was already drawn in her mind.
*3… 2… 1! Now!*
She counted to three and looked to the right; the wall of trees that had blocked the view until moments ago disappeared, and an open lake filled Isilla’s vision.
“Hiyaaa…”
She let out a pleased exclamation before she knew it. It was Kalian Lake, the pride of Silvaerin territory.
Created by the melting perennial snow of the northern mountain range, Kalian Lake was deep, but its color was the true spectacle.
The white perennial snow of the mountains reflected on the deep blue water, creating a beautiful gradation.
While Isilla was lost in the lake’s beauty, the carriage had already reached a fork in the road.
“Young miss, which way should I go?”
The coachman, too, was someone she had personally hired from the Academy for today’s surprise visit.
Since he wasn’t a Silvaerin house coachman, Isilla had to direct him.
The left road led to the city, but continuing straight on the right would bring them to an open clearing with an unobstructed view of the lake.
It was a hidden spot Isilla had often visited on outings since childhood.
“Take the right road and let’s enjoy the scenery for a bit before heading down.”
“Understood~”
The sun would set soon, but she wanted to take in more of her hometown’s scenery.
The carriage wheels rattled over pebbles and such, but even that was part of the joy of returning home.
The clearing they arrived at was unchanged, as if time had stood still. Isilla stepped off the carriage with an excited heart and took a deep breath.
“Haa… wonderful.”
The coachman, too, was marveling at the natural wonder.
Just then, the setting sun made the ripples on the lake sparkle.
The lake dyed in orange hues was more beautiful than any expensive jewel.
After quietly admiring it for a long while, Isilla felt the surroundings gradually growing dark.
“Shall we head down now?”
“Yep.”
They would be later getting to the city than expected, but the time had been worth it.
A forested path thick with trees became much darker at night than the plains, making it hard to see one’s feet.
Therefore, the carriage had no choice but to slow down.
Creak— creak!
“Hmm… may we stop for a moment, miss?”
“Is something wrong?”
“The carriage wheel seems a bit unstable. I think I need to check it…”
Even to Isilla’s ears, the rattling had grown worse than before.
“I understand. Let’s take a look.”
Stopping the carriage midway, the coachman surveyed the wheel with practiced hands.
Then he shook his head back and forth and spoke to Isilla.
“I’m sorry, but… the wheels are very unstable. We came in a hurry from the academy, and the road was bad, so some of the spokes have broken as well. I don’t think we’ll be able to continue like this…”
“Ah…”
The coachman reported the carriage’s condition with an apologetic look.
However, since it had been Isilla who had urged him on the entire way from the academy to Silbaerin, she could hardly scold him for poor maintenance.
There was not much farther to go until Silbaerin.
But the problem was not the distance—it was that night had fallen.
Isilla trusted the security of her family’s territory, but there was still the possibility of bandits, however slight, and there were dangerous magical beasts that only moved at night.
Moreover, the place where they had stopped was right in the middle of Kallian Forest.
It was a situation where magical beasts might attack at any moment.
Isilla realized that she was in a more dangerous predicament than she had expected.
Though Isilla ranked near the top in the academy’s magic department, she had little real combat experience.
On top of that, she also had the coachman to protect, which made the burden all the heavier.
“Understood. Let’s look for a place nearby where we can camp.”
“Yes… I’m sorry, my lady.”
“It’s all right. I’m partly responsible for rushing you… so it’s fine.”
Isilla and the coachman quickly sorted their belongings and searched for a campsite.
Just as they were growing more and more exhausted after failing to find a suitable spot no matter how hard they looked, a faint light glimmered in the distance.
Isilla slowly approached the light.
It was not the gleam of a magical beast’s or animal’s eyes, nor was it moonlight, but an orange glow.
Like the lights of a restaurant illuminating a city in the evening…
The light was closer than she had expected. After walking only a short distance, the source revealed itself.
“What is… this building?”
The building standing boldly in the middle of the forest was completely different in design from the houses one occasionally saw in villages.
Its unfamiliar appearance made it impossible to tell at a glance what kind of building it was, but soon Isilla became certain that it was a restaurant.
‘The smell… it’s rich, but clean.’
Because a delicious aroma wafting from inside the building stimulated her nose.
Isilla sniffed, taking in the scent.
It was the familiar aroma of chicken soup, yet far cleaner and deeper.
Mixed into it was the scent of some unknown aromatic herb, and merely smelling it made her feel as though something deep within her body was heating up.
After unconsciously standing there and smelling it for quite some time, Isilla came to her senses and called the coachman.
The coachman, too, swallowed hard as the scent grew stronger the closer they came to the restaurant.
Common sense could not explain why such a strange restaurant stood in the middle of a forest, but that was not important right now.
What mattered was that they had found a place where they could safely spend the night,
and that, whatever it was, it smelled unbelievably delicious.
“It seems… we should stay at this inn for tonight.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Isilla and the coachman opened the restaurant door and went inside.
“Is anyone here…?”
“Welcome!”
Black hair and black eyes. A truly rare Easterner greeted them warmly.