They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 10

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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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10. Seasoned Spinach (2)

“Is it really finished?”
“Of course.”

As I dropped the spinach into the bubbling water, the stiff leaves wilted instantly, their color deepening into a vibrant jade green. After blanching for about thirty seconds, I immediately plunged them into cold water to halt the cooking.

“Now I just need to season it and we’re done.”
“That… quickly?”
“Absolutely.”

I gently squeezed the spinach with my hands to remove excess moisture, then transferred it to a mixing bowl.

One spoonful of minced garlic, one spoonful of soy sauce, one spoonful of sesame oil—I added them in sequence. As I tossed everything together, the nutty aroma of sesame oil rose delicately into the air.

“Seasoned spinach is one of the easiest side dishes in the world!”

Finally, I sprinkled sesame seeds over the top, and fine white specks settled gently onto the verdant greens.

“Perfect!”

At my announcement, Jang-seung stared intently at the mixing bowl.

“It’s done?”
“Yes. Would you like to try it?”

Hae-tae then tapped the counter with his plump front paws.

“Not you—I go first, meow.”
“Hae-tae, come on…”

I held a single strand of spinach on chopsticks up to Hae-tae’s mouth. His eyes sparkled as he opened wide. The moment the spinach disappeared inside, his tail shot straight up.

“How is it?”
“Meow-owww…! The nutty sesame oil aroma awakens the palate, meow.”

Hae-tae’s tail shot up straight as he let out a long, satisfied cry. This response meant delicious!

“It’s delicious!”
“The seasoning is perfect, meow.”
“Is there anything lacking?”
“Not at all, meow! Give me another one, meow!”

I pressed my palm against Hae-tae’s eager mouth and turned my head toward Jang-seung.

“Jang-seung, please try a bite as well.”
“May I open my mouth?”
“Yes, of course!”

Jang-seung hesitated shyly before carefully opening his mouth wide. Through the cracks in his bark-like surface, I could see straight through to his interior.

‘Growth rings…?’

I trembled slightly. Centuries of time were preserved within him, intact and whole.

“I apologize if it frightens you.”
“Not at all. Let me add the seasoned spinach now!”

The moment I placed the seasoned spinach inside, Jang-seung’s eyes widened in wonder.

“Delicious!”
“Really?”
“Ji-gu, you should taste it too.”

My heart racing with anticipation, I rolled up the seasoned spinach and placed it in my mouth.

The spinach, lightly blanched, burst with a crisp snap. Though slightly tough with a hint of raw grassiness—not quite perfect—the sesame oil wrapped around the roughness with a homey warmth.

“Wow…!”

The sharp bite of garlic was also softened by the sesame oil, creating a subtle, non-aggressive depth that filled my mouth with rich umami. This is more than enough!

“Will this be acceptable as is, Jang-seung?”
“More than sufficient, indeed.”

I retrieved a plastic container and carefully arranged the seasoned spinach inside.

‘The completion of a dish is in its plating!’

As the saying goes, the first taste of food comes not from the tongue but from the eyes. The neatness of presentation matters far more than one might think.

I arranged the spinach stems to lie evenly and scattered sesame seeds across the top with a delicate hand.

As the lid sealed shut with a satisfying click, a sense of accomplishment washed over me—as though I’d just pressed the completion button on a lengthy quest.

I lifted my gaze toward Jang-seung and offered a smile.

“Jang-seung, shall I give this to you now?”

“Please do.”

I placed the container into a paper bag printed with “Hyang-suk’s Side Dish Shop” and extended it toward him.

“Your seasoned spinach is ready!”

As Jang-seung accepted the paper bag, the bark-like texture of his face shifted, and a smile bloomed across it.

“Lastly… thank you for helping me create a cherished memory. I’m glad I came.”

Jang-seung raised his hand, holding the paper bag. Even that single gesture carried a weighty presence.

“…Will we meet again someday?”
“I cannot say. But if fate allows, we shall surely meet once more.”

Beneath his calm and measured voice lay a subtle melancholy. I watched his departing silhouette as he left the shop, then bowed respectfully.

“Please visit us again!”

As the door clicked shut, the peculiar energy that had lingered in the shop dissipated.

“…It feels like a tornado just swept through here.”

I murmured to myself as I turned toward the Kitchen. But then—

“Hae-tae!”

Hae-tae had buried his face in the mixing bowl, eagerly devouring the seasoned spinach.

‘…That glutton.’

***

Jang-seung. Nine hundred years old.

A guardian deity created by humans to protect the village.

For countless ages, he had stood sentinel in one place. Listening intently to the voices of the villagers, he had watched over them in quiet solitude. Then one day, a small ripple disturbed his peaceful existence.

‘Mom! Mom!’
‘Yes? Arin.’
‘What is this huge tree?’

The girl tilted her head back as far as it would go, gazing up at Jang-seung. He looked down at the small child—still delicate and fragile, the last child remaining in this village.

‘It’s a guardian deity that protects our village.’
‘A guardian deity?’
‘Yes, Grandfather Jang-seung will protect you, our Arin.’

Words spoken merely as a hollow comfort, pitched to a child’s understanding. Yet Arin, who had embraced those words with genuine faith, came to Jang-seung every day to bare her heart.

‘Guardian deity. Guardian deity.’
‘….’
‘My mom is sick. Can’t you help her so she won’t hurt?’
‘….’
‘Mom won’t even eat the side dishes she likes….’

He could not afford to give his heart to such a child. It was a prayer he dared not answer.

‘Dad says my mom will go up to heaven…. He says I need to prepare my heart. Why does it have to be that way?’

Watching the small, young child struggle to hold back tears, Jang-seung felt acutely how powerless he truly was. A deity who could not even offer words of comfort.

To become a Divine Being meant never involving oneself in human affairs for personal reasons.
To harbor private emotions toward humans meant abandoning one’s existence as a Divine Being.

So I should never have given my heart to Arin. Yet despite this, Jang-seung abandoned the life of a ‘Divine Being’ and spoke to a human—in human form, no less.

“Hello.”
“…Who are you?”
“I’m someone from the neighboring village.”
“Why do you talk like that?”
“My parents taught me to speak this way.”
“…Your speech is funny.”

And so they drew closer—not as human and Divine Being, but as human and human.

Speaking to each other with complete candor,
Laying bare their innermost thoughts,
The boundary between Divine Being and human dissolved.

Time passed, and when Arin had grown into a proper adult, what she handed to Jang-seung was none other than a wedding invitation.

“This is a wedding invitation.”
“…Marriage?”
“Yes. I’m getting married. To someone I love. So… I really hope you’ll come. You’re the most precious person to me.”

A guardian deity cannot escape the roots from which it was born. To break free required the resolve to abandon everything—far more than simply renouncing a Divine Being’s existence.

So I called upon the Company. I asked them to grant her a gift, to let me leave this place.

“Your divine power may disappear entirely. Are you certain?”
“I am.”
“Why would you so readily cast aside your divine qualifications for a mere human?”
“I don’t know myself.”

Jang-seung recalled Arin’s radiant smile. He hoped her light would always shine brightly upon the world.

“Perhaps, in protecting the village, I naturally came to care for a human.”

And so, clutching a paper bag, Jang-seung set out to keep his promise with her. She sat waiting on the old bench where they had always talked together, illuminated softly by a single streetlamp.

“Arin.”
“Yeah. When did you get here?”
“This.”

Jang-seung handed her a paper bag.

“What is this?”
“Side dishes.”
“Side dishes?”
“Your mother made them. You used to brag about them all the time, saying they were your absolute favorite.”

He extended his hand as casually as he could manage, but the tips of his fingers trembled ever so slightly.

“Wow…! It’s the seasoned spinach I love most. But I’m on a diet for the wedding, so I can’t eat it right now!”
“You can eat it later.”

Arin stared into the paper bag for a long moment, then lifted her gaze to meet Jang-seung’s.

“But why are you suddenly giving me this?”
“You said you haven’t been eating well lately.”
“That’s true, but… you’ve never given me anything before.”

Jang-seung nodded slowly.

“You said your body wasn’t feeling well. Is something really wrong?”

Concern flickered in Arin’s eyes as she looked at him. He lacked the courage to meet that gaze directly. He turned his eyes slightly away and spoke in a low voice.

“There’s nothing wrong.”
“Really, truly nothing?”
“Yeah. So… congratulations on your wedding.”
“Still, it feels nice to be congratulated by my closest friend.”

Those words struck something deep within his chest. This was the last time. He would never see her again.

“Arin.”
“What?”
“Arin.”
“Why, why are you calling me?”

Arin tilted her head in confusion. Jang-seung’s voice was laden with an inexplicable, heavy sorrow.

“Will you remember me?”
“Of course I will. What kind of question is that?”
“Of course, of course….”

Those words satisfied Jang-seung.

“And I, too, shall remember you always.”
“…What?”
“Arin.”
“What are you saying….”

That was the moment. Before Arin could finish speaking, all the divine power that had dwelt deep within Jang-seung’s being began to scatter like sand. His breath grew heavy and labored, and the human form he had struggled to maintain crumbled away with it.

The transformation began at his fingertips. Thin fragments, like bark, slowly drifted away on the wind.

“Arin.”

His voice brushed past her ear like a whisper of wind.

“I shall remember you for all eternity.”

Arin reached out without thinking. She had to hold on. If her hands did not grasp him, he would vanish forever.

But Jang-seung firmly pushed her hand away. As his body grew ever more transparent, his smile became all the more tender.

“Where are you going…?”

Arin’s voice trembled. Yet he could say nothing more. All he could do with his remaining strength was reach out and touch her cheek.

“I wish I could have continued to protect you. I wish I could have stayed by your side….”

As Arin’s trembling gaze blurred, Jang-seung vanished into the countless starlight of the heavens.

At the same moment, Arin stood motionless, staring into the empty air, then slowly blinked once.

Click.

A sharp snap of fingers. My consciousness wavered for a moment before snapping back, and my body swayed slightly.

“Huh…?”

Arin steadied herself and looked down at the paper bag in her hands. An unfamiliar yet strangely familiar emotion churned within her, leaving her dizzy.

“Why was I here…?”

She turned around absently. A hazy memory flickered at the edge of her recollection.

“Originally, Jang-seung should have been here…”

Her trailing voice carried an emotion even she couldn’t explain, one that brushed across the tip of her tongue like a whisper.

Arin murmured as she stared at the container of side dishes inside the bag.

“It’s spinach seasoned with sesame…?”

***

The next day.

“This is really boring…”

I rested my elbows on the table, gazing blankly out of the shop. The quiet afternoon was filled only with the ticking of the clock’s second hand.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh.”

A young woman opened the shop door, glancing around uncertainly. Her neatly tied hair and composed expression caught my attention.

“Welcome to Hyang-suk’s Side Dish Shop!”
“Is this the place…?”

She looked around, and our eyes met. Then she carefully held out a paper bag.

“This is the bag you use here, right?”
“Oh, yes. That’s right!”

For some reason, her expression carried a peculiar sense of relief.

“I had your spinach side dish, and it tasted exactly like my mother’s cooking. I’ve missed it so much…. Will you be selling it today as well?”

‘…So it’s that customer.’

The person Jang-seung had wanted so desperately to protect—it was her.

“Yes! We’re selling it today. I’ll pack it for you right away.”
“I see…. Owner, I’ll pay with my card then.”
“Of course. I’ve received your card.”

Even after the transaction was complete, she lingered at the shop entrance, hesitating.

“Um…. If you sell the spinach side dish regularly, could you let me know?”
“Of course!”

She gently bit her lower lip as if holding back tears.

“Goodness, why am I like this. Thank you so much. I’ll come again.”
“Even if I don’t call you, feel free to stop by whenever you want the spinach side dish. I’ll prepare it specially for you.”
“Owner, thank you.”

A gentle breeze drifted into the shop. Riding that wind, a wooden hand quietly appeared before the praise sticker board.

The hand pressed a spinach-shaped sticker onto the board, then awkwardly formed a heart toward me in gratitude. The hand then sparkled like grains of sand in the sunlight before scattering and vanishing.

Soon, a transparent window appeared before my eyes.

[You have earned Karma Points. The shop’s detailed information has been unlocked.]

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[Ji-gu]
– Local Reputation: 30 (Whispers from the living room are seeping into every corner of the neighborhood.)
– Divine Reputation: 15 (The renown of my side dishes is beginning to spread among the Divine Beings and ■■.)
– Virtue Points: 3 (Reward unlock conditions not yet met)
[Business Status]
Today’s Customer Count: 3/30
Regular Customers: 2
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Wait a moment.

“Regular customers…?”

Two of them?

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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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