They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 52

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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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52. Seasoned Sprouts (1)

That was…

‘Looks like a typical magnesium side effect…’

“How much magnesium are you taking?”
“…Oh. One tablet a day…?”

Sometimes when I took magnesium, the side effects would trigger vivid nightmares—dreams of falling from a rooftop or being chased by zombies.

Lee Hae-ra broke into a bright, childlike smile.

“It c-could be a side effect…!”
“Yes. Magnesium can have side effects. Maybe that’s the cause?”

Or perhaps that unsettling shadow was responsible.

‘That murky shadow writhing above her head, embedded in Lee Hae-ra’s shadow… I don’t like it one bit.’

But right now, I had no way to deal with that mysterious shadow.

‘All I can do is keep Lee Hae-ra here until Hae-tae arrives.’

“Does anything else hurt?”
“Huh? No!”
“Then we should build your strength back up first.”

I guided Lee Hae-ra by the shoulders and seated her in a chair.

“Let’s have a meal first. Your weakness might just be from depleted energy. With all your job hunting lately, you haven’t been eating properly, have you?”
“Oh!”
“Once you eat a proper meal, your energy will recover and your mind will function better. You’ll feel fine.”

Lee Hae-ra nodded in agreement.

***

Lee Hae-ra set down the empty bowl and exhaled softly.

“Today… I’m really… grateful. After eating your food, boss… I feel so much better. My mind is working again!”

With her energy restored, Lee Hae-ra had returned to her usual self. Her voice carried its familiar warmth.

“Don’t overexert yourself because of the interview. Call me if anything comes up.”
“Yes. Yes!”
“And whenever you want to eat, just come by the Side Dish Shop anytime. Um….”
“…Yes?”
“Am I nagging too much?”
“…Oh, no!”

Lee Hae-ra bowed her head earnestly, insisting it wasn’t so.

“I was just wondering why you’re leaving so quickly. Stay a bit longer.”

Hae-tae still hadn’t arrived yet….

“I need to… go home and review the interview questions….”
“Ah…. Then there’s no point in keeping you.”

I caught sight of a long, blurred shadow beyond the doorway, following Lee Hae-ra.

One step behind her heels, as if they were a single entity….

‘Huh?’

But then.

‘Wait, why isn’t it following her…?’

The shadow, which had been trailing Lee Hae-ra, stopped and writhed as if trying to enter this place.

‘Ugh, how repulsive!’

I hurriedly shut the door and watched that writhing thing. It was moving toward me, wasn’t it?

“Mew-ow-ow-ow.”

It was Hae-tae!

“Hae-tae!”

Hae-tae’s body flinched as he fixed his gaze upon me.

“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something strange outside!!”
“Something strange?”
“Look!”

Hae-tae’s eyes narrowed toward the entrance of the shop. I subtly grasped his body, trying to soothe my own unease.

‘Composure… I need composure.’

This was no time to worry about appearances.

“It’s searching for something.”
“S-searching? For what…?”
“For an existence.”

Hae-tae’s voice was low and chilling.

“That shadow isn’t the entity that was clinging to that human woman.”
“Then… what is it?”

Hae-tae looked directly up at my face. His round eyes remained steady and unwavering.

“It attached itself to that human woman to find you.”

Wait, me?

“Could it be… because of the side dishes…?”
“That’s right.”
“But how did it find Lee Hae-ra? It could just come to the shop.”
“It likely lost its way coming here. Instead, it traced your aura—the most potent scent clinging to that human woman’s shadow—and found its way here.”
“…What?”

I gasped, my mouth falling open.

‘So that ominous shadow hasn’t done anything yet.’

Then that meant…

‘I’m the one in danger?’

I flinched and pulled Hae-tae’s small body closer against me, making sure he couldn’t escape.

“What… what exactly is that thing?”

I swallowed hard, and even the sound of my parched throat seemed deafening to my own ears.

“It’s Geul-seon-dae, meow.”

What is Geul-seon-dae? Hae-tae continued speaking slowly.

“An Evil Spirit that embodies darkness, meow. It hunts for shadow hosts and attacks humans too, meow.”
“So it was clinging to Lee Hae-ra’s shadow all along…”

To come here…?

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!—

“Oh, you startled me!”

A sharp, rhythmic knocking echoed harshly from the Kitchen.

“Side Dish order!”

I headed toward the Kitchen, cradling the plump Hae-tae in my arms. A slip of paper jutted out from the gap beneath the Refrigerator.

“An order form arrived, meow.”
“…Surely not.”
“It must be, meow.”

With trembling hands, I picked up the paper.

===========
[Side Dish Order]
Client: ■■
Ordered Side Dish: Bean Sprouts
Reason: Food to evoke longing
Required Conditions: 1) Use ‘S’-grade bean sprouts. 2) Prepare a dish containing bean sprouts.
Reward: Good Karma ‘2’ Points
===========

“It’s here.”

The bean sprouts and the required conditions were utterly mundane.

Hae-tae, who had been glancing sideways at the order form, opened his mouth.

“Still, this much means Geul-seon-dae’s being decent, meow.”

I thought I’d misheard.

“That Evil Spirit?”
“That human woman—he didn’t eat her, meow.”
“What do you mean by—”

I furrowed my brow. Hae-tae spoke in his usual flat tone, pointing out what seemed to be an obvious fact.

“He could have eaten her, but he didn’t, meow.”
“…!”
“Geul-seon-dae must have already tasted that human woman’s breath, meow. Every wisp of energy that falls with each exhale—he’s felt it all like licking it with his tongue, meow.”

‘Could have eaten her…’

That’s what Lee Hae-ra said. I kept feeling as though someone were touching my shoulder from behind. Yet something continued to nag at me.

“Then.”

I lowered my head and asked Hae-tae.

“I understand why he didn’t eat Lee Hae-ra. It wasn’t his objective. But then why is he lingering outside?”

Hae-tae glanced furtively toward the outside of the shop.

“Geul-seon-dae needs light, you see. The light inside the shop is too weak, you see.”
“If the light is weak….”
“Then the shadows aren’t weak, are they?”

I unconsciously looked up at the indoor lights.

‘So the Evil Spirit prefers natural light.’

Hae-tae wrapped his front paws around the back of my hand.

“It’ll be here soon anyway, you see.”
“Soon?”
“Evening’s coming, isn’t it?”

The sky began to blush with twilight. The shadow of the storefront sign stretching across the floor grew longer and longer.

“Wait….”

Through the gap beneath the shop door’s glass, a long, dark form squeezed its way in. Like a finger torn and bent at each joint, it swept across the interior floor.

“Hae-tae!”

Hae-tae was already bristling, his growl sharp and fierce.

‘…At times like this. I’m…’

Even knowing I was useless, I seized the rolling pin I’d left standing in the corner with trembling hands.

‘I have to do something!’

The tip of the shadow stretched long beneath the glass swelled grotesquely. As if a mouth were opening.

From very low, very close by. A voice that seemed to be mimicking something without bone or flesh echoed.

– Open the door.

At the same moment.

“Lee Hae-ra, I’m a customer. I’m a customer.”

This time, it was my voice. The tone, the breath, even my speech patterns—everything was identical to mine.

“What…?”
“I’m mimicking you, meow.”

I swallowed hard.

“…You can answer, meow.”

Something told me I shouldn’t. But Hae-tae was here.

“Welcome. Customer…?”

Geul-seon-dae answered in my voice.

“Yeah, I’m a customer.”

The more it spoke, the more it said things I would never say.

“I’m here, I’m here. I’m here…”

The shadow on the shop floor writhed in rhythm with those words.

“Without eating humans, my strength is lacking, meow.”

Hae-tae lunged forward and stomped hard on the shadow that had penetrated deep into the shop. The shadow trembled like a living creature’s cry.

“How did you end up here, meow?”

Ripples spread across the shadow’s surface like water, forming into a doll-like shape.

‘…A doll?’

But it looked like it was forcibly trying to mimic a human form. Only two plump legs had barely been formed.

– …To eat… side dishes.

Geul-seon-dae tilted his head at an awkward angle, his movements jerky and unnatural.

– …Bean sprouts.

His voice was utterly devoid of energy.

– Bean sprouts….

Gone was that menacing presence that had stolen my voice to threaten me.

“…Would you like something to eat?”

I forced the question out despite fear constricting my throat. Hae-tae, showing no inclination to finish off the listless Geul-seon-dae, crawled back into my arms.

“Seems like it hasn’t eaten humans in decades, meow.”
“Is that so?”
“Indeed. Otherwise, the Divine Being would have no reason to lend your hands to provide side dishes, meow.”

Well, that made sense.

– …Bean… sprouts.

Geul-seon-dae continued repeating the same words in that hollow voice.

“But it doesn’t have a mouth, does it, meow?”
“Right?”

As Hae-tae said, Geul-seon-dae existed as nothing but a shadow with legs. There was no upper body.

In that instant, Geul-seon-dae flinched, and stitch-like seams gradually appeared along its legs.

‘What is this?’

At first, I thought I was seeing things. Geul-seon-dae’s form swelled and deflated like a stuffed bear, repeating the cycle over and over. And then, finally, it became a stuffed bear.

‘A small teddy bear?’

Fluffy fur, two button eyes. Its mouth was neatly sewn shut with thread—until it suddenly gaped open.

– I want to eat something, anything.
“Oh! You scared me!”

I jumped in fright and dropped the baseball bat to the floor. The metallic clang echoed across the ground, amplifying my terror.

‘My… heart…’

The bear doll opened its mouth again as if nothing had happened. This time, there was a hint of ravenous hunger in its breath.

– Do you have any food?

‘Why does it always ask me for food whenever it sees me?’

“That must be the real Geul-seon-dae.”

I alternated my gaze between the bear doll and the shadow. I couldn’t tell which one was Geul-seon-dae.

“Why is that one Geul-seon-dae?”
“It could be the last human form it encountered.”
“Then shouldn’t it be Lee Hae-ra?”
“It didn’t copy her perfectly.”

Ah, I see. So it had taken on the form it last remembered.

“That one?”
“That one.”

The bear doll’s mouth twisted grotesquely, revealing the sharp fangs of a savage beast.

– That one?

The bear doll slowly closed its mouth, looking disappointed.

“So, what do you want to eat?”
– I just want to fill my belly with anything.

“So I can feed it anything?”

Hae-tae nodded.

“I’ll eat it….”

‘Maybe I should just give him rice and side dishes.’

In times like this, a simple meal is always best.

I tucked Hae-tae snugly into my apron pocket and reached for the refrigerator handle with practiced ease.

– There is. Food.

Without a sound, the bear creature wedged its head through the refrigerator door gap and pulled out a sandwich bag.

– I’m eating it.

The bear creature clutched the sandwich tightly in its round hands.

“You’re going to eat that?”
– I’m eating it.

In a tiny voice, it bit into the sandwich with a crisp crunch.

“Crunch?”

A sound that shouldn’t have come from a sandwich echoed out.

– Sweet!

The bear creature’s button eyes gleamed with joy. This sandwich? The one Grandmother Myeong-ja made for me to eat.

“Ah… that sandwich is really sweet.”

Even as I tried to explain in confusion, the bear creature took another bite.

“Is it good?”
– Sweet. It’s good.

The bear creature spoke without bothering to wipe the sauce smeared around its mouth.

– More… do you have more?

Hae-tae poked his head out from the pocket of my apron.

“Give it all to me, meow.”
“You can have it? What about the Evil Spirit? Isn’t your stomach upset?”
“If the Evil Spirit is hungry, it eats deliciously, meow. Whether it’s human or Evil Spirit.”

I opened the refrigerator door and presented the remaining sandwiches to the bear doll.

“Enjoy your meal.”

Geul-seon-dae nibbled the sandwich through the bear doll’s mouth, looking oddly content.

That appearance was rather….

‘Almost human?’

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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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