Chapter 32
“Y-you….”
Gijun called out in a low, growling voice. His eyes were burning.
Sori pretended not to notice and quickly turned away.
She could practically feel his glare burning into her back. When she stepped into the kitchen, John was already sleeping peacefully. Snack wrappers were scattered beside him.
That guy really only thinks about eating.
She had been ready to yell at him immediately. Just wait until he wakes up.
Two boxes of Prestige Wild Strawberries? Hah, no way.
She took out milk and sugar and returned.
“Here.”
Even though she had apologized, she still felt uneasy. She should have tasted it properly first. Apparently the problem wasn’t obvious at a glance.
The milk was soon completely finished. Gijun had also regained his composure.
Then he suddenly asked,
“Were you really curious about that?”
“Huh?”
Sori blinked, not immediately understanding what he meant.
“You asked earlier if I’d been doing well.”
“Oh.”
She had assumed he hadn’t heard because of the spicy food, but apparently he had.
Well… it wasn’t like she had asked because she was truly curious. Sori was about to say that, but she closed her mouth.
Thinking about it now, what was the point of saying that?
Still, when the dating rumor had come out, she had been a little curious. Whether it was really just a rumor like the interview said—or whether something had actually happened.
Just out of curiosity.
“So you added the spicy stuff on purpose to check if I was doing well?”
Gijun continued teasingly. One corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk.
What’s with him? Why is he smiling?
Sori was flustered again. She had expected him to get angry—asking why she brought the food without tasting it. She thought he might vent the emotions he’d been holding in.
But he was smiling?
“…As if. And honestly, I wasn’t really curious about how you’ve been doing.”
In the end, the exact opposite of what she meant slipped out.
Ah—what about the quest? The completion window hadn’t appeared yet. Wasn’t it supposed to be finished already?
Sori prayed inwardly in despair.
“I figured.”
“What?”
“That’s why you gave me something so spicy. But the one you gave that guy yesterday—you made it delicious.”
Gijun muttered in a strange tone that sounded half teasing, half sulky. Yet his face somehow looked a little pleased.
“It was really a mistake. I’m sorry. I’ll make something else for you.”
Sori said quickly. After all, something this spicy was impossible for Gijun to finish.
Gijun pretended to think for a moment, then made a suggestion.
“No. There’s no time for that right now.”
He checked the time as he spoke.
“Then I won’t charge you for the meal. You can just go.”
That was the biggest apology she could offer. Though she was still worried—what if he ended up with a stomachache later?
But Gijun immediately waved his hand.
“No. I should pay. There’s labor involved, right? Instead—”
Instead?
What kind of condition was that?
Sori swallowed nervously and waited.
“When you have time, buy me a meal. Somewhere else.”
Boom.
What kind of request was that? He wanted her to buy him a meal? Not here, but somewhere else? And he didn’t even set a deadline.
Sure, it was her fault for bringing the dish without checking the taste. But did they really have to eat together?
“…Can’t you just let it go and not charge me right now?”
Sori looked extremely uncomfortable with the condition.
Gijun replied smoothly,
“Usually the one who suffers the loss sets the conditions, don’t they?”
“…Right.”
Seriously. John, just you wait. Because of you, I…
But wait—why was Gijun asking her to buy him a meal?
Sori couldn’t understand the man standing in front of her. She had been the one to break up with him. She had even said harsh things, saying she was sick of him.
And yet—
I thought he wouldn’t want to sit across from me and eat together.
She had concluded that the reason he came to this restaurant so often was simply because it was the only place where hunters wandering the dungeon could satisfy their hunger.
Customer at Table A’s current mood: +90 points!
Suddenly Gijun’s mood improved.
She had unintentionally fed extremely spicy food to someone who couldn’t handle spice—so why was the victim’s mood getting better?
Could it be because he suggested eating together and she didn’t refuse?
No… that couldn’t be it.
Sori shook her head slightly.
Still, if his mood improved, that was good. And by a whopping +90 points.
At that moment, a system window appeared.
Congratulations!
A warm greeting has relieved the customer’s stress.
Quest “Give Your Ex-Boyfriend a Sincere Greeting” has been completed!
Please press Claim Reward.
So his stress had finally been relieved.
Really?
Had the stress he received here really disappeared just from that?
She felt doubtful, but the system had said it never lied about things like that.
So she had no choice but to believe it.
She pressed Claim Reward.
Happy Restaurant’s reputation has increased by 10 points!
Current Happy Restaurant reputation: +5
Thankfully, she had overcome another crisis.
“Well then… see you next time?”
Leaving behind a +90 mood score, Gijun departed with a strangely ambiguous farewell.
Strangely enough, after Gijun left, customers began pouring into the restaurant nonstop.
It started the moment he exited the dungeon.
There weren’t as many as yesterday, but still quite a lot. Enough that it was almost embarrassing to compare with the days when the previous owner ran the place.
Customers who had visited before all asked the same thing.
“Did you remodel? I didn’t realize this place was so spacious.”
“Ah, haha… yes.”
“Wow, this is amazing.”
They admired the upgraded interior before taking seats.
Just as Sori was finally about to catch her breath after 9 p.m., another notification blinked in her vision.
“What now?”
It was the newspaper section notification. Apparently she hadn’t finished reading it.
—Print Advertisement—
Dear Owner,
Would you like to promote your shop widely?
Not sure how to do marketing?
At <System Corporation>, we provide perfect marketing at the right place and time.
100% effectiveness guaranteed!
If you are not satisfied, receive a 100% refund within one week!
Price: 5,000 Gold
Promotion Period: 30 Days
“….”
An advertisement, out of nowhere.
Sori remembered someone saying that the path from the dungeon to this restaurant was connected like a maze.
If that was true, it would be hard to expect frequent visitors from the dungeon.
But even now, plenty of customers were coming. If even more came from the dungeon, it might become impossible to handle.
She understood what the system wanted—but she didn’t want to be any busier than this.
As she pushed the ad window out of sight, John—who still hadn’t gone home—suddenly asked,
“Did that man enjoy the food today?”
Ah.
Sori suddenly remembered she had forgotten to scold John.
Her anger came rushing back.
“Why do you ask?”
That annoying little guy. Sori tried to hide her boiling irritation.
“Would I not be curious whether the spice I recommended satisfied him?!”
Sori closed the cupboard and turned around.
But instead of scolding him, another sound escaped her mouth.
“Pfft—!”
Cu—no, wait… this is hilarious.
John was wearing a perfectly fitted chef’s hat on top of his tiny body.
A hedgehog with a chef’s hat. He looked incredibly proud of his spice recommendation.
But it had actually been a complete failure.
Sori quickly covered her twitching mouth and scolded him.
“John, you’re seriously shameless. Do you even know what I went through because of you?”
“What do you mean? Was there a problem with the spice I recommended?!”
Just as expected, John bristled with his usual prickly attitude.
“Well, I knew he couldn’t handle spice—but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
John asked,
“So he cannot eat spicy food?”
“I tasted it before serving it! I honestly thought it was just a very mild spice.”
John looked suspicious.
“Don’t look at me like that. He’s just my ex-boyfriend, not some sworn enemy. Why would I deliberately serve him something spicy?”
“When did I say that? Why are you making excuses as if you feel guilty, Awakened One?”
John stood in front of the remaining Golden Salad.
“Want to try it? See how spicy it really is.”
Sori offered the leftover salad to him.
John stabbed a piece with a fork and took a huge bite.
“Maishijanuya.”
“What?”
“Isn’t it delicious?”
The system translated John’s words.
“Delicious? Really? It’s not spicy?”
John nodded vigorously.
“So you’re not weak with spice either?”
Sori asked.
John shrugged proudly.
“Is there anything I cannot eat?”
He looked extremely smug.
“Anyway… I guess using that Mandragora spice was a mistake.”
Sori hadn’t really intended to blame him.
But Hedgehog John suddenly drooped, all the pride draining from him. It was the first time since becoming her helper that he looked so dejected.
Since he hadn’t meant any harm, she felt a little sorry.
So she spoke casually.
“Yeah, why did you even recommend that? Now I’m basically indebted to him.”
It was just meaningless small talk.
But John suddenly straightened up as if struck with tiger-like energy.
“Indebted in what way?!”
He leaned forward with great interest, nonexistent ears perked up.
“What’s with you all of a sudden? He just said I should buy him a meal when I have time.”
The moment he heard that, John started jumping up and down.
“Is that truly so, Awakened One?!”
“…But why are you so happy about it?”
It was baffling.
“So when will you eat together?”
John climbed onto Sori’s shoulder and grabbed her hair excitedly.
“We didn’t set a date yet—Ow! Stop pulling!”
“Ehehehe.”
Ignoring her protests, John wrapped Sori’s hair around himself and laughed in satisfaction.
What on earth is he thinking? 😅
