They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 53

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

53. Bean Sprout Container Area (2)

Though Gom-dol wore the guise of a bear, the speed at which he consumed food was unmistakably human.

“He’s eating awfully fast….”
– I’ve always eaten quickly.

The way words tumbled out unconsciously felt far too natural for a human. I slipped quietly behind Hae-tae and fixed Gom-dol with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Why take the form of a bear?”

Hae-tae groomed his fur with his front paws as he asked.

– I modeled myself after the last cherished form I saw.
“A cherished form, you say…?”

The word “longing” had appeared on the side dish order form earlier. I’d never once considered that an Evil Spirit could harbor such an emotion.

In that moment, Gom-dol seemed poised to answer, lowering his round hands and lifting his head.

– I wanted to see the child.

The words flowing from Gom-dol’s mouth were far too sorrowful to dismiss as mere utterance. The warmth within the shop seemed to drain away in an instant….

Drain away?

“…Be careful!”

Hae-tae’s voice grew increasingly thin before a harsh sound erupted, and suddenly something pressed hard against my throat.

“…gasp.”

My breath caught in my throat, suspended in that precarious moment….

“Wait….”

Gom-dol’s button eyes were an unwavering black, as though something were rolling behind them.

“Ha….”

My words wouldn’t form properly. My chest tightened gradually, and the air grew thinner and thinner….

‘I’m dying….’

It wasn’t fear—it was instinct.

‘Damn it. I can’t let this happen.’

Through my blurring vision, I swept my hand across the floor. My fingers found the metal baseball bat, and I gripped it with all my strength. Twisting my body, I swung it at Gom-dol with everything I had.

Thwack—!

As Gom-dol lurched sideways, breath flooded back into my lungs in a rush.

“Gasp…!”

A sound between a cough and a cry tore from my throat. I barely managed to keep hold of the bat and regain my balance.

‘Is this what it feels like to be snatched from the jaws of death….’

My heart hammered wildly, and cold sweat dripped down my back. Hae-tae tapped my shoulder with his front paw, checking on me.

“Ji-gu! Are you alright!?”
“…I’m fine. I’m alive. Really. I thought I was done for.”

Hae-tae’s fur bristled, his teeth bared.

“You’re insane! This one’s human! Were you trying to kill him!?”

His roar crashed down on Gom-dol like thunder. I steadied my breathing and watched Hae-tae’s reaction. I’d never seen him this angry before. I gripped the baseball bat and pushed myself to my feet.

‘…This is terrifying.’

The small Gom-dol stood motionless, staring at me like a lifeless doll.

– If you die, it will be difficult for me. I don’t really care if I die.
“Meowwww!”

A tremendous roar erupted from Hae-tae’s small body. He pinned Gom-dol to the ground and growled menacingly.

“Killing a virtuous being brings divine punishment, meow!”

Gom-dol answered without the slightest hint of disturbance, even while pinned down.

– I don’t mind receiving divine punishment.

Hae-tae’s eyes widened.

“You’re even more insane, meow.”
– I’m not insane.

Gom-dol turned his head to the side and spoke.

– …It simply means that nothing else matters except that child.

‘What exactly is that child?’

Gom-dol continued speaking while gazing into the void.

– I brought someone back to life for the first time. Me.

Gom-dol pushed Hae-tae’s front paw and stood up. He brushed the dust from his body with his round hands.

– I was curious what kind of reaction they would show.
“….”
– So I created a body using that child’s Gom-dol keychain and entered it. The moment the child woke up and opened their eyes.

Gom-dol looked directly at me.

– They embraced me.
“….”
– Whether falling asleep or waking up, they held me close.

Gom-dol’s round hands wrapped around his belly, mimicking the gesture of cradling something. The motion resembled that of a small child so perfectly.

Even as it plummeted to the depths, it refused to release me.
“Why?”

Gom-dol answered without hesitation.

– I was a talisman. That’s all I was.

I set down the baseball bat against the wall and settled into a chair.

“Then why do you miss it?”
– It disappeared. That’s why I want to see it.

Perhaps ‘disappeared’ didn’t necessarily mean death. It could have left somewhere, or perhaps it abandoned Gom-dol altogether.

There was no need to dig deeper into it.

“Here.”

I extended my hand toward Gom-dol. Its button eyes lifted slightly, as if questioning my intentions.

– What is this.
“Let’s make a promise—no more trying to kill me like before.”
– A promise?

Gom-dol’s head tilted subtly.

“If you try to kill me again like you did earlier, I’m tearing up your side dish order. You won’t get anything from me.”

There was no reason to prepare side dishes for an Evil Spirit trying to kill me.

‘Even if refusing good deeds brings misfortune…’

“I’m a person with principles, you see. I don’t serve difficult customers.”

Gom-dol muttered as if it didn’t understand.

– Difficult customers?
“It means you’re pathetic.”
– Am I pathetic.

Hae-tae’s fur bristled sharply.

“I nearly died, so I’m broke, meow!”

Gom-dol heard this without changing his expression and answered briefly.

– Understood.

At the same time, Gom-dol waddled toward me on his short, round legs and gently grasped the tip of my finger.

‘How interesting.’

Gom-dol’s hand was firmer than I expected. I’d thought it would be soft like cotton.

– I won’t waste energy like before.

I made an exasperated expression.

“You should say you won’t kill anyone.”
– I won’t kill anyone.

I grasped Gom-dol’s round hand and shook it up and down.

“Deal sealed!”
– ?
“Promises must be kept.”

A human who’d secured a promise from an Evil Spirit through a handshake—truly remarkable.

– Promise….

Gom-dol murmured the word “promise.”

“Now let’s go get the host.”

I stood up. Hae-tae still followed beside my ankle, his fur slightly raised. When Gom-dol saw me stand, he lifted his head.

– Host.
“Yeah. You came to eat that, right?”

Gom-dol was following along.

“We need to go to our Dimensional Space. Is that okay?”
– Dimensional Space?

Hae-tae let out a deep sigh.

“That one doesn’t know about such things.”

Gom-dol tilted his head slightly. Then his heavy head drooped, and he flopped face-first onto the ground.

“Just come along. I’ll show you.”

Gom-dol picked himself up from the floor and approached.

***

The moment I stepped into the Dimensional Space, a rich, deep autumn fragrance washed over me.

“This is incredible!”

The fallen leaves here were a deeper hue than those in the autumn I knew, and they descended at a leisurely pace.

A crimson leaf drifted down slowly through the air. Gom-dol’s head rose, following its descent.

– A fallen leaf.

Carried on a gentle breeze, the leaf moved toward Gom-dol as if drawn by fate itself. Gom-dol slowly raised his hand, catching the leaf perfectly in his small, round palm.

“Oh….”

A soft exclamation escaped me.

“He caught it perfectly.”
“You caught it well, didn’t you?”

Gom-dol said nothing, simply gazing at the leaf resting in his palm. The autumn-tinted leaf gleamed softly in the stillness.

That was when it happened.

Pitter-patter-patter.

Several threads suddenly snapped free from the fabric of Gom-dol’s doll, and the shadow that escaped through the torn seams created a new Gom-dol.

‘A matryoshka doll?’

A Gom-dol within a Gom-dol….

“My goodness, how adorable?”
“What are you saying, meow?”

Hae-tae snorted derisively.

“Ah, no….”

Whenever Evil Spirits entered the Dimensional Space, they always reverted to their original forms. So I had braced myself for something horrific or menacing—the worst-case scenario.

“That’s right, our Hae-tae is the cutest.”
“Don’t twist your words, meow!”

I stroked Hae-tae’s head while studying Gom-dol with curious eyes. The doll remained perfectly still, clutching the fallen leaf in its hand.

“What on earth is that fallen leaf?”

A very small voice answered.

– That child loved fallen leaves.
“Fallen leaves?”
– Always held them like this and smiled. Made me take pictures with the fallen leaves every single day and laughed.

I continued stroking Hae-tae’s fur as I asked.

“If that child loved soybean sprouts, what kind of dishes did you make?”

Gom-dol pondered before speaking.

– …Always just threw them in a pot and stir-fried them.
“With the soybean sprouts?”
– Stir-fried them with meat too.

So that meant I had stir-fried dishes quite often.

“What kind of dish will you make?”
“Hmm….”

Hae-tae opened his eyes slightly and spoke.

“That child probably ate simple things. The kind of food commonly made at home.”
– That’s right.

I closed my eyes and pressed my nose against Hae-tae’s head as I thought.

‘…Home, simple, meat, stir-fry, food.’

And then it came to me.

“Beef brisket and bean sprout stir-fry!”

I lifted my head abruptly.

“What do you think!?”
“That sounds good!”

Hae-tae’s tail swayed at the tip, his eyes full of anticipation.

“That’s probably what I used to make.”

Gom-dol silently repeated my words.

– Beef brisket… bean sprouts… stir-fry.

His round hands fidgeted as he tried to piece together the unfamiliar words.

‘Since he’s in doll form, it’s not frightening.’

I smiled and added an explanation.

“It’s one of the dishes where you stir-fry bean sprouts with the beef brisket I mentioned. You’ll know it when you see it.”
– You’ll know it when you see it?

I held Hae-tae snugly against my chest and gestured for Gom-dol to come closer.

“Let’s go together.”

Gom-dol stopped in his tracks, looked at me, then quietly positioned himself beside my right leg.

– Understood.

I’d already convinced him.

‘Now I just need to go retrieve the host.’

“We just need to head to where the Bean Sprout Container Area is, right?”
“That’s right, meow!”

We cut across the Vegetable Garden and made our way toward a secluded corner. We arrived at the darkest spot in the Dimensional Space, untouched by sunlight. The Bean Sprout Containers there gleamed with unusual brilliance.

“Oh? The Frogs have hopped outside!”

The Frogs were darting about busily beside the Bean Sprout Containers, moving back and forth with purpose.

“They’re moving water, meow.”
“Moving water?”

Looking more closely, I saw the Frogs hopping to a small stream beside the containers, filling their mouths with water, then spitting it into the containers.

‘So that’s how the bean sprouts are being grown!’

“It’s an automatic watering system?”

Hae-tae puffed out his chest with pride, his nonexistent nose held high.

“Don’t you see how diligently our Frogs work, meow!?”

The Frogs responded to his words by croaking in unison.

– Croak!
– Croak croak…!

I spoke toward the adorable chorus.

“I’ve come to pick up some bean sprouts today.”
– Croak croak croak!

As if urging me to take them, the Frogs drummed their chests with their front legs. Hae-tae spoke with a self-satisfied air.

“Today, they say only the finest bean sprouts are available.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

“Only the finest!?”

Hae-tae nodded.

“When autumn arrives, the stream becomes pristine, so both the bean sprouts and the mung bean sprouts taste absolutely exquisite.”
“Such valuable information!”
“Though they taste good in other seasons too.”
“So you’re just saying everything tastes delicious no matter the season?”

Hae-tae answered with half-closed eyes.

“That’s right.”

Then Gom-dol quietly walked forward. The moment his small feet touched the ground, the Frogs’ bodies, which had been moving busily, froze solid.

– Croak, croak…?
– Croooooak…

The Frogs trembled and cried out as if terrified.

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