I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 29

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Lucrative Talent in Abundance — Episode 29
Kimchi Jjigae Specialty Restaurant.
A popular spot packed shoulder-to-shoulder during lunch hours.
Kimchi stew bubbled and steamed on the table, wisps of vapor rising into the air.
“Is it all right if we eat somewhere expensive?”
The Branch Manager asked with a hint of reluctance.
“Since you’ve been treating me to expensive meals, I’ve been missing simple food like this.”
At those words, the Branch Manager laughed.
“Ha. You have such a gracious way with words, In-ha. Makes it worthwhile to treat you. Come on, let’s eat.”
The Branch Manager ladled some stew into a shallow dish in front of me.
Kimchi, pork belly, thick-cut tofu.
I ate a spoonful of it all together with the broth.
‘There’s no emptiness in the taste.’
My palate had grown sharper lately.
Now, even when eating without thinking,
my mouth naturally breaks down each ingredient.
Fermented kimchi, pork shoulder, garlic, soy sauce, vegetable stock, and even the faint aroma of sesame oil.
A B-grade Talent: Korean Cooking.
This change had appeared since I acquired it.
Without even thinking, my tongue recognizes everything first.
‘This is fun.’
It wasn’t inconvenient at all.
Rather, I was growing accustomed to it.
Just as I had when I first gained my Go talent.
Learning about a new field — unfamiliar yet feeling familiar —
was quite enjoyable.
“By the way, the CIELBank Integrated Preliminaries are being held all in one week—Monday through Saturday, right?”
The Branch Manager asked slowly as he scooped rice.
“Yes. I’ll need to take some paid leave.”
“Of course you will. That’s what paid leave is for.”
The Branch Manager smiled warmly.
“I apologize. It will be inconvenient when my substitute comes in…….”
“Why worry about that? Just focus on winning, In-ha. One of my staff is about to become a professional Go player—does anything else really matter?”
“……Thank you.”
“I’ll talk to the dispatch team lead for you. Don’t worry.”
I lowered my head and quietly ate my rice.
A strange warmth spread through my chest.
Perhaps.
The Branch Manager was supporting and believing in me even more than my own parents did.
“Right, In-ha. Has anyone from the Biryong Tournament organizers contacted you?”
“No, they haven’t.”
The Biryong Tournament.
The largest amateur Go competition in the country.
Organized by an anonymous sponsor.
Prize pool reaches thirty million won.
I heard it operates under a Challenger Playoff System.
“That’s strange. They usually post the announcement around now and call the top-ranked players.”
“Really?”
“You need to hear from them soon so you can win it before your Point Promotion, In-ha.”
Starting with the Integrated Preliminaries, promotion points are awarded based on performance.
Twenty points for reaching the quarterfinals.
Forty points for the semifinals.
Sixty points for the finals.
Eighty points for reaching the Round of 32 in the main tournament, and one hundred points for the Round of 16.
Accumulate one hundred promotion points and you can qualify through points.
‘My current points stand at ten.’
Five points from winning the President’s Cup Open Division.
Three points from winning the Namwon Chunhyang Cup.
Two points from winning the Sudam Cup Gyeonggi Province Open Division.
Reaching the finals or main tournament in the Integrated Preliminaries would give me a real shot at qualifying this year.
That’s when it happened.
Bzzt. Bzzzzt.
My phone vibrated. The number was unfamiliar.
“Don’t worry about it—just take the call.”
The Branch Manager gestured dismissively, lifting a spoonful of broth to his lips.
I shifted slightly to one side and answered.
“Yes, hello?”
—Hello. Is this Kim In-ha’s phone?
“It is, but if I may ask—who’s calling?”
—This is Kim Jae-young from the Korean Baduk Association. I’m calling about the Biryong Tournament, and I was wondering if you had a moment to talk.
My eyes widened. I glanced at the Branch Manager.
That call he’d mentioned was coming soon.
It was actually happening.
“Yes, of course. I’m available.”
As soon as I spoke, his voice came through with details about the Biryong Tournament.
—The Biryong operates under a Challenger Playoff System. Normally, challengers compete against the defending champion, but since Kang Jun-seok, our current titleholder, has just become a professional, the championship seat is vacant.
In other words.
A challenger system with no champion.
—So this time, Park Jun-su, who’s ranked first among amateurs, will defend his position, and Kim In-ha, ranked second, will face a challenger who’s come through the preliminaries. If you win that match, you’ll advance to the final championship against Park Jun-su. Best of three games.
Which meant.
One game in the Challenger Playoff.
Three games in the final championship.
In essence, I could aim for the title without playing that many games at all.
In the worst case, winning just one game would give me second place.
A minimum prize of fifteen million won.
Effort versus reward—nothing could compare.
—By the way, in addition to the champion’s prize of thirty million won, a Small Car will be awarded as a bonus. Will you participate?
“Yes, I’ll participate.”
Not a moment of hesitation.
To think I could win tens of millions of won and a car by winning just a few games.
My heart was already pounding.
—Understood. I’ll send you the details by text.
Click.
After I hung up.
Only one thought kept running through my mind.
‘…This is too good to be true.’

* * *
On the way home from work.
I stopped by a neighborhood mart to do some shopping.
My hands were full of groceries.
‘Today is Mom’s birthday.’
Looking back, I’d never once prepared a warm, home-cooked meal for my mother as an adult son.
Since coming of age, the most I’d done was give her a little spending money a handful of times.
So.
This time, I’d decided to set a proper table with my own hands.
Using this Korean Cooking talent of mine.
‘If I don’t use it now, when will I ever use it?’
I came through the front door and headed straight for the kitchen.
I pulled ingredients from the refrigerator and laid out everything I’d bought.
Seaweed, beef, short ribs, glass noodles, assorted vegetables.
The menu was already decided.
Japchae, seaweed soup, braised beef short ribs, pan-fried vegetables, and fresh kimchi.
The dishes that usually grace a birthday table—the ones my mother loved.
“Let’s get started.”
First, the braised beef short ribs.
I prepared the ribs by draining the blood.
Then I grated pear, apple, and onion to make the marinade.
The seaweed soup.
I roasted the beef until the oil rendered, then added the seaweed and roasted it once more.
The japchae was perfect.
The sweet potato noodles were cooked tender, and the vegetables were lightly sautéed over high heat to bring out their color.
The pajeon was thin and delicate.
I’d minced chives, zucchini, and peppers fine, then fried them until they turned golden brown.
And last, the quick kimchi.
Red chili flakes, fish sauce, garlic.
I’d adjusted the proportions by feel.
Thanks to the talent, even my unfamiliar hands moved with surprising grace.
I picked up a piece of each dish with my chopsticks to taste.
“……This is delicious.”
A smile escaped before I could stop it.
Better than I’d dared hope.
I’d been slightly worried about having only a B-grade Talent in Korean Cooking.
But this was remarkable—good enough that you’d trust it from any restaurant.
One dish after another filled the table to capacity.
That’s when the front door opened.
Mother and Father came home from their outing.
My mother rushed toward the kitchen at the smell of food and the clamor, then stopped dead in her tracks.
“W-what is all this?”
She stared at the table with wide, vacant eyes.
Then she looked at me, apron tied around my waist, and asked again.
“Did you……make all of this yourself?”
She had every reason to be shocked.
A son who’d never cooked anything but instant ramen.
She never could have imagined I’d make a spread like this.
“It’s your birthday today, Mother. I wanted to make you a warm, home-cooked meal with my own hands.”
Mother’s expression remained stunned.
Whether from shock or emotion, she couldn’t seem to process it yet.
She looked completely dazed.
Father, who’d followed her in, glanced over the table and let out a soft exclamation.
“Did you really make this? This is like fine Korean court cuisine.”
I smiled and gently pulled out a chair for them.
“Please, sit down. The rice is ready.”
Mother sat down in a daze.
I opened the rice cooker and scooped fluffy white rice into their bowls.
I ladled out the seaweed soup I’d prepared earlier.
“When did you learn to cook?”
“Just by watching, Mother. I grew up under a cook as skilled as you.”
I smiled smoothly and set the soup bowl in front of her.
“Please eat while it’s hot.”
“R-right.”
Mother carefully lifted a spoonful of seaweed soup.
She took it into her mouth, and her expression softened.
“It’s delicious……”
After that, there were no more words.
Just quiet, steady spoonfuls, one after another.
She tried the japchae, tasted the braised short ribs.
She didn’t say each one was delicious out loud, but her chopsticks never stopped moving.
‘They say watching someone eat fills your own stomach…… so this is what that feels like.’
Then, suddenly.
Mother set down her chopsticks quietly and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.
“Why are you crying?”
Mother smiled.
Yes.
She was crying and smiling at once.
“It’s just…… your food is so delicious.”
I laughed playfully.
“Don’t get too emotional, or I’ll be in trouble. If I’m going to do this every year, you’ll end up crying every time.”
“This boy and his clever tongue.”
My mother laughed through tears at my joke and gestured for me to take the seat beside her.
“Sit down. Let’s eat together.”
I took a seat beside Mother and picked up my spoon.
Never mind the taste of the food.
I was happy—sitting side by side with my mother and father, sharing this meal.
‘I should do this for them more often.’
Filial piety isn’t something grand or complicated.
It’s just family gathered in one place.
A child preparing a warm meal for their parents.
Isn’t that what true filial piety is?
As the meal was winding down in that warm, harmonious atmosphere,
I ventured a question.
“How did things go with the shop location?”
I’d heard Mother was making a final decision on it today.
Mother took a sip of water and nodded.
“I signed the contract.”
“Where?”
I asked carefully.
Mother seemed to have lingering feelings about the old In-ha Bunsik location.
Or rather, the real reason was probably that it required the least initial capital.
That’s why I’d given her the money I’d saved.
To widen her options, even if only slightly.
But I left all the decisions entirely to her.
“Near the building where In-ha Bunsik used to be—remember that real estate office that always had the big signs?”
“The one inside the alley? Next to the convenience store?”
“That’s the one. A space opened up there, and I got the contract at a good price.”
Mother smiled with satisfaction.
‘Not bad at all.’
I felt the same way.
Location-wise, it was solid.
But the biggest relief was that we weren’t taking over the old In-ha Bunsik spot itself.
That meant no more of the high-handed treatment she’d endured before.
Though there was one thing—
“Isn’t that right next door to In-ha Bunsik?”
Two minutes’ walk at an adult’s pace.
Close enough that you could practically touch noses if you stumbled forward.
Mother nodded calmly.
“Yeah, well… my daughter-in-law is still running the snack bar, but apparently she’s about to close it.”
“She’s still running it?”
“That’s what it seems like. I’m not going to worry about it.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“The In-ha Bunsik owner is going to hate this, isn’t she?”
“Let her hate it.”
Mother cut through the matter decisively.
“When she pushed us out, where was her conscience? We don’t owe her any consideration.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
Father immediately backed her up.
I looked at them both, stirring my spoon in silence for a moment.
Then I smiled quietly.
“…Our mother really is something.”
Mother laughed along with me.
“Of course. Whose mother do you think I am?”
Our laughter filled the kitchen.

* * *
Saturday afternoon.
I exited through Exit 4 of Sinchon Station.
It was rare for me to come out to Seoul on a weekend.
But today I had a special appointment.
Yuzuha : I know this is a difficult favor to ask… but would you be able to meet me just once? I’ll come to where you are!
A DM from professional Go player Saeki Yuzuha.
Her Korean was awkward, perhaps.
Or maybe it was just the way people her age spoke.
The abbreviated, subject-dropping style of her speech caught me off guard, if I was being honest.
But setting that aside.
‘She said she had concerns about Go.’
Her words were clumsy, true.
But beneath them lay an urgency I couldn’t ignore.
Enough that she’d reach out to me—just an amateur, not even a professional.
‘I don’t know why me, exactly.’
But that sincerity.
It had brought me here.
“It should be over there.”
I wandered up the street.
Young couples everywhere.
Shops crammed shoulder to shoulder.
A typical chaotic Seoul weekend scene.
I walked for a while along the narrow alleys.
As I drew near the meeting spot, a figure came into view in the distance.
Long, unbound hair and a white one-piece dress.
Tall and graceful, hands folded neatly before her.
Composed yet striking in silhouette.
Yuzuha.
Truly, she was the kind of presence that drew every passing eye—an undeniable, superior existence.
I caught sight of a man stealing a glance at her, only to break into a cold sweat under his girlfriend’s withering stare.
‘That’s just instinct…’
The thought had barely crossed my mind.
“Over here!”
Yuzuha spotted me and waved brightly.
In that moment.
Unwanted gazes turned, one by one, toward me.
The emotion in those eyes.
Envy. Perhaps even jealousy.
As a man, I knew that look well.
‘Ah.’
Without thinking, I felt a surge of pride.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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