They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 14

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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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14. Stir-Fried Potatoes (2)

…My ears were ringing.

“Hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry!”

I wore a slightly dazed expression as I plugged my index finger into my ear canal. I had to stop this before things escalated further into overheating.

‘I suppose he’s crying because I mentioned I might be late…?’

They say children are more perceptive than adults, after all.

“Stop!”

I shouted loudly at the crying Geol-gwi.

“Hungry hungry…?”

Whether Geol-gwi heard me clearly or not, his words gradually diminished.

“Stop!”

So I called out once more.

“Stop stop stop.”

Geol-gwi closed his mouth and mimicked my words. I withdrew the finger I’d been using to block my ear and explained carefully, just as before.

“Geol-gwi, listen to me carefully. When I said I might be late, what did I mean?”
“Stop stop stop stop?”
“It means the stir-fried potatoes might take longer because S-rank potatoes aren’t coming in much.”
“Stop stop…!”

If you explain things step by step, even children will understand.

“You understand?”
“Understand, understand!”
“Cheer from the side so lots come out.”
“Cheer, cheer!”

Phew. At least I’d calmed the child down.

“Does it work well, meow?”
“Children understand when you explain things to them.”

As I surveyed the Potato Garden, an ominous premonition crept over me—today’s potato quota might be impossible to fill.

***

Through continued repetitive work, I accumulated potatoes and plenty of other side dish ingredients.

‘Especially….’

A potato that tumbled onto the basket was instantly distinguished from everything else.

[Golden Potato Infused with the Breath of Earth (S)]

As I brushed away the soil clinging to its skin, golden veins gleamed across the surface. When I held it in my palm, a peculiar warm breeze spread through my hand, tickling it gently.

“Stems, stems, stems, stems, stems, stems?”

Geol-gwi darted through the Vegetable Garden, shrieking repeatedly about pulling up stems.

“Quiet, meow!”

Hae-tae’s yellow fangs flashed as if ready to bite at any moment.

“Quiet, quiet?”
“I’ll bite you, meow.”
“Bite, bite, bite, bite?”

Now Geol-gwi opened his mouth even wider, as if about to swallow Hae-tae whole.

Glancing at the two of them, I lifted the heavy basket of potatoes.

“I was going to make stir-fried potatoes….”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

“You’re not supposed to eat the head too!”

Geol-gwi bit down on Hae-tae’s head with a loud snap, as if chomping on a delicious potato stem.

“Thank you, thank you…!”
“How can you say thank you while eating me!”

Hae-tae let out an indignant cry, his tail trembling with fury—a display of anger so adorable that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why are you laughing!”
“Well~, shall we go make stir-fried potatoes~.”

I deliberately ignored him and hummed a little tune.

I slipped into the Dimensional Space and arrived at the Side Dish Shop’s Kitchen. As I set the ingredients down on the floor, Geol-gwi and Hae-tae were carrying over the remaining baskets one by one.

“Thank you.”
“Thank you, thank you!”

Geol-gwi smiled and handed me a basket.

“Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes!”
“Hurry up, he says.”

Ah. So that’s why they were helping?

“Potatoes, potatoes!”
“I’ll hurry up and get it done.”

I selected ten large, quality potatoes and placed them in the sink, then peeled them with a vegetable peeler. I immediately laid the peeled potatoes on the cutting board and julienned them like french fries.

I briefly brined the julienned potatoes in salt water. In the meantime, I thickly sliced the onions, carrots, and spam.

“Is this a speedrun?”

Hae-tae watched my quick hands with a slight smirk.

“We need to hurry.”

I rinsed the potatoes that had been brined in salt water. Then I touched one potato to check if it had softened.

I immediately pulled out a wok, generously coated it with olive oil, and added the potatoes.

“Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes!”

Geol-gwi heard the sound and muttered loudly in excitement.

“Look at this.”

As I showed Geol-gwi the potatoes sizzling and cooking, he stared intently with drool dripping down his chin. He clearly couldn’t wait to eat.

I waited until the potatoes became slightly translucent, then added the sliced onions, carrots, and Spam.

Then I sprinkled salt and pepper to taste, and finally topped it with sesame seeds.

“Done!”

Warm and savory stir-fried potatoes—complete.

I pulled out a large bowl and heaped it generously with nearly twenty servings of stir-fried potatoes, then set it on the table.

“Geol-gwi, sit over there in that chair. I’ll bring the stir-fried potatoes.”
“Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes!”

Geol-gwi bounded toward the chair with an excited voice. I picked up the bowl of stir-fried potatoes and a fork, heading to the table. Both of us were already salivating at the sight of the dish.

“Here you go.”
“Aren’t you going to explain it?”

I was planning to skip the explanation today since I was a bit tired, but I’d been caught.

“The thinly julienned potatoes are fried until golden brown—crispy on the outside and tender inside. Pieces of Spam are mixed throughout the golden-fried potatoes, so when they blend with the mild flavor of the potatoes, they’ll add a savory saltiness, don’t you think?”
“Is that so?”

I scooped some stir-fried potatoes into a separate bowl and offered it to Hae-tae.

“I shall eat well, meow.”
“You eat well too.”
“Potato, potato, potato, potato!”

Geol-gwi, clutching a fork, shouted at me as if desperate to eat.

“Potato, potato, potato!”

What was this about? Was there not enough stir-fried potatoes?

“It means you should sit across the table, meow.”
“Me?”
“Indeed, meow.”

Why was Geol-gwi telling me to sit across? When I moved to the opposite side, Geol-gwi pushed their fork toward me.

“Potato, potato, potato!”
“Hm?”
“Potato, potato, potato!”

Geol-gwi gestured with their eyes, urging me to eat the stir-fried potatoes.

“You want me to try it?”
“Potato, potato!”
“Got it.”

I took the fork and placed a piece of stir-fried potato in my mouth. Geol-gwi, as if they had been waiting, produced several hands and began to clap.

Clap, clap, clap!

It was quite loud applause, yet without thinking, a satisfied smile bloomed across my lips. It sounded as though Geol-gwi was thanking me.

‘But then again…’

I had made the stir-fried potatoes well.

The sweetness of the onions and carrots harmonized beautifully, while the savory notes of the spam added an umami depth. The seasoning was absolutely perfect—as if this dish had been destined for this very moment.

“Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes!”

Geol-gwi, having confirmed that I was eating deliciously, opened his mouth wide up and down as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

Then, without hesitation, he grabbed the entire bowl containing the stir-fried potatoes and hurled it into that black hole I’d seen earlier.

‘Ah… so that’s why he asked me to taste it first?’

So he could eat it all himself.

I stood there with my mouth agape, watching the stir-fried potatoes disappear into that void.

Twenty servings. Twenty servings.

All those stir-fried potatoes vanished in a single meal. It happened the moment he put the last remaining portion into his mouth.

“Huh?”

Geol-gwi’s appearance changed slightly. The strange, layered shell that had been stacked like an onion began to peel away slowly. Beneath it, a completely different true form was revealed.

“…Were you really just a child?”

Where the shell had completely peeled away stood a young boy. There was no black shadow, no strange form. Geol-gwi now had the innocent, gentle face of a small child at first glance.

I asked Geol-gwi carefully.

“Was this your original form…?”

Geol-gwi nodded quietly.

“Why did you become Geol-gwi?”
“Dad.”
“Dad?”

Geol-gwi spoke as if straining with all his might.

“At home. I waited.”
“You waited?”
“Yes. Yes. Dad. Made. For me. My favorite. Stir-fried potatoes. I waited. For Dad. But he didn’t come. Why. Didn’t he. I don’t know. Did he. Abandon me.”

The abandoned child’s confusion and fear were evident.

“Why! Why! I waited! I waited!”
“Why didn’t Dad come?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

The child didn’t understand the fundamental reason behind it all.

“Do you trust your dad?”
“Trust?”
“I do.”

Doesn’t the child feel fear and anxiety keenly? Without trust in his father, he wouldn’t have waited at all.

“Then let’s trust him.”
“Trust him?”

I nodded.

“My parents passed away when I was young, so I have no memories of them. Honestly, I don’t know what parents are supposed to be.”
“What they’re supposed to be?”
“But watching my grandmother, I can understand. The fact that she made stir-fried potatoes for her child….”
“Made them?”
“Isn’t that proof of love? People don’t cook for those they don’t care about.”

Who would cook for someone they didn’t love? I had never seen such a person, even if they existed.

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

Geol-gwi stared quietly at the bowl with only carrots remaining.

“Dad.”

Then he pushed the remaining carrot pieces together with his fork and drew something on the bowl.

==========
Thank you
=========

It was a short phrase.

“Thank you.”
“Hm?”
“I. wanted. to. hear. those. words. People. don’t. say. things. like. that.”
“They didn’t say it?”
“That’s right.”

Geol-gwi looked directly at me and spoke. There was something almost serene in that gaze.

“No. one. ever. said. Dad. won’t. come. Said. it’s. pitiful.”
“….”
“Today. was. fun.”

A radiant smile bloomed across the child’s previously rigid face. That laughter was as clear and pure as a small sigh of relief.

That was the moment. A sharp snapping sound echoed near my ear, like fingers clicking. The surroundings rippled like disturbed water, and the lights in the Kitchen flickered.

Before I could even catch my breath, I heard knocking on the Side Dish Shop’s glass door.

“Hey! Boss!”

Startled, I turned my head to find a middle-aged man standing outside the door. His tie hung loosely as if he were heading home from work, and he peered inside the shop with a somewhat weary expression.

“Oh, hello?”

I hurriedly opened the door. The man bowed deeply and spoke with a trembling voice.

“I’m so sorry… The shop lights were on, so I thought you were still open. It’s rather urgent.”
“Urgent, you say?”
“This might sound strange, but… I was working late earlier and dozed off by accident. In my dream, my deceased son… I saw him entering this shop.”

The middle-aged man continued, his expression on the verge of tears.

“I just… I thought maybe, just maybe… my son might have… come here… I just wanted to check.”

As his words became increasingly fragmented, he collapsed right there. Sitting on the ground, his shoulders heaved as sobs poured out.

“I’m sorry… Several years ago, I was hit by a hit-and-run driver on my way home from work and fell into a coma for a long time. While I was unconscious, my son was left alone at home… waiting for his father to return… but he ended up passing away… and I still can’t overcome the guilt.”

In that moment, I witnessed it. Geol-gwi, who had remained inside the shop, slowly rose to his feet. He no longer cried out in hunger, nor did he throw tantrums like a child.

Geol-gwi approached the weeping man and carefully extended his hand. Then, as if he had known him for ages, he gently stroked the man’s hunched shoulders.

“Ah….”

The middle-aged man lifted his tear-stained face and gazed into empty space. His eyes trembled violently, as though he felt the touch of something invisible.

“…!”

Geol-gwi’s expression—now free of hunger and the shadow of the Evil Spirit—turned toward me, his head tilting slightly.

“Please.”

A low, brief voice. Yet it carried all the weight of his heart. I slowly curved my lips into a smile and spoke to the middle-aged man.

“Come every day.”
“…Pardon?”
“The child seems to be hoping you would visit.”

Geol-gwi’s Father’s eyes grew red in an instant. Unable to speak, he nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this, Geol-gwi gave me a brief smile. It was a purely innocent one. And with that smile, Geol-gwi’s form began to dissolve slowly into a soft, luminous glow.

“Boss! Today was so much fun!”
“…!”

He called out to me with a radiant, carefree expression. The hand that had been resting on the middle-aged man’s shoulder faded away. I whispered quietly to myself.

‘Farewell.’

“…I’ll come again to buy side dishes to offer to my child and wife….”
“Please visit anytime.”
“Thank you.”

Geol-gwi’s Father turned and retraced the path by which he had come. The brief, faint light that had vanished into that glow touched his shoulder once more.

“…Bittersweet, but perhaps a happy ending after all.”

A moment later, a gentle breeze stirred within the Side Dish Shop.

The breeze drifted toward the praise sticker board, and a transparent, impossibly small hand affixed a sticker for stir-fried potatoes.

Immediately, a translucent window materialized before my eyes.

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

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[Ji-gu’s Side Dish Shop]
– Local Reputation 50 (Grandmother’s former regulars have begun whispering about “Ji-gu’s touch.”)
– Divine Realm Reputation: 25 (The Divine Beings are taking notice and observing “Ji-gu.”)
– Karma Points: 5 (Reward unlock conditions not yet met)
[Business Status]
Today’s Customer Count: 60/40
Regular Customers: 10
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The number of regulars had grown….

‘And word had even spread to Grandmother’s old customers….’

It seemed the manifestation had unfolded in a most favorable direction. I stood dazed, gazing at the bowl Geol-gwi had left behind on the table, and murmured softly.

“I hope he made it home safely.”
“He’ll be fine, meow.”

Hae-tae answered while grooming his fur with his tongue.

“He looked happy.”
“That’s thanks to you, meow.”

Thanks to me? I swept my gaze across the empty table before responding.

“There’s no one else but me, is there?”

Puffing out my chest with the usual swagger Hae-tae displayed, the plump cat merely snorted and shook his head.

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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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