Chapter 171. The Taste of the Sea (1)
“Yaaaaawn.”
Yukgap let out a long yawn as he stumbled outside.
Maybe it was because so many ridiculous things had happened yesterday.
For once, he had slept deeply.
Nova and Victoria were already awake, sitting on the wooden platform outside the guesthouse.
“Sleep well?”
Victoria asked.
Yukgap answered lazily,
“More or less.”
Then he sat down beside them.
As the sea breeze brushed against him, he slowly began to wake up.
Nova asked,
“You said they give us food if we stay here, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Only breakfast, though.”
When every coin mattered, getting even one meal included was more than welcome.
Just then, the pale-looking owner they had seen yesterday approached carrying a large pot.
“Breakfast is ready.”
He skillfully set the food out on the platform.
Victoria asked with interest,
“What’s on the menu?”
“Seafood stew, packed with the taste of the ocean.”
The owner confidently lifted the lid.
All kinds of seafood bubbled together inside the pot.
Yukgap and Nova each muttered a comment.
“At least it looks decent.”
“So this is Korean-style seafood stew? Interesting.”
The owner expertly ladled the stew into bowls.
Then he offered them out with a satisfied smile.
“Go ahead and try it.”
There was unmistakable pride in his expression.
Was it really that delicious?
At his urging, Yukgap and Nova casually took a spoonful.
“PFFFFFFT!”
“GHHHUUUAAAGH!”
Both of them screamed in agony almost simultaneously.
Then they reflexively spat the broth back out.
Only Victoria continued eating as if nothing were wrong.
“What’s with you two?”
Yukgap and Nova shouted furiously.
“What the hell is this taste?! Did you scoop up seawater and boil it?!”
“I thought my tongue was going to rot the moment I swallowed it! Apologize to the ocean!”
Unlike the two of them, Victoria remained perfectly calm.
“Come on. It’s edible enough.”
“Don’t be picky about food.”
Yukgap and Nova could only stare at her in disbelief.
“This isn’t even something that can be called food.”
“Victoria, this isn’t food.”
“It’s a disaster that happened to take physical form.”
As the two continued fuming, the owner suddenly collapsed to the ground and began sobbing.
“Sniff... I failed again.”
“I definitely followed the recipe.”
Yukgap stared at him in disbelief.
“How do you even make seafood stew taste like this?”
“I-I just cooked it the way I saw on YouTube.”
The owner answered defensively.
Yukgap asked incredulously,
“Can you actually run a business selling this?”
“Sniff... That’s the problem.”
“I’ve worked hard, but nobody comes.”
“I poured my severance pay and loans into starting this place.”
“At this rate, I’m going to end up completely broke.”
So that explained why the building looked so run-down.
To be fair, there was no way a place serving food like this could succeed.
It was honestly amazing that no one had beaten him up over it.
“See? You hurt his feelings.”
Victoria gave Yukgap a meaningful look.
But no matter how sympathetic Yukgap felt, this was still far beyond anything he could force down his throat.
“Ugh.”
“Still, no matter how I look at it, this just isn’t edible.”
After thinking for a moment, Yukgap gestured toward the owner.
“All right.”
“Take me to the kitchen.”
“The kitchen?”
The owner looked confused.
Yukgap grinned.
“I’m a chef, you know.”
“I’ll show you what the real ‘taste of the sea’ is.”
“This is the kitchen.”
The owner led them to a kitchen in one corner of the guesthouse.
The moment they entered, a stale, musty smell hit them.
For Yukgap, whose sense of smell was many times sharper than normal, merely standing there was torture.
“Ugh! What is that smell?”
“Hahaha.”
“I’ve been busy the last few days, so I haven’t had time to clean.”
The owner gave an awkward laugh.
Yukgap looked around in disgust.
“This goes way beyond not cleaning for a few days.”
All kinds of garbage were scattered everywhere.
Ingredients that looked long past their expiration dates sat around with their containers open.
Mold and dust had accumulated in every corner.
Even the microwave was coated in layers of hardened grease.
It was difficult to decide whether this place should be called a kitchen or a garbage dump.
Only Victoria looked around with sparkling eyes.
“This reminds me of Mother’s alchemy workshop.”
“There were interesting things everywhere.”
“There might even be experimental specimens hidden around here!”
“There’s no way a kitchen would have something like that.”
Yukgap rebuked her in disbelief.
Then Nova suddenly let out a piercing scream.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Yukgap rushed over.
Nova was trembling while staring into one corner.
“Nova, what happened?!”
“Th-There...”
Yukgap unconsciously followed her finger.
“What is... AAAAAAGH! What the hell is that?!”
He screamed too.
There was a foul, twisted mass clumped together in the corner, writhing slightly.
Just looking at it felt like it could cause lasting psychological damage.
The owner, however, answered as though it were nothing.
“That?”
“That’s aged sashimi.”
“That is?”
How in the world could anyone look at that and call it aged sashimi?
Yukgap began seriously questioning everything he thought he knew about the dish.
The owner laughed awkwardly.
“Well, I wanted to try making aged sashimi, so I bought some raw fish and left it out.”
“But it spoiled.”
“I didn’t know what to do with it, so I left it there.”
“Then maggots, mushrooms, and mold started growing on it.”
“I just kept leaving it alone, and eventually it turned into that.”
Nova asked with a horrified expression,
“Yukgap.”
“I heard Korean cuisine has lots of fermented food.”
“That isn’t one of them too, is it?”
“Koreans may love fermented food, but we do not eat things like that.”
“That is simply an insult to food itself.”
Whatever else could be said, that thing could no longer be considered food.
Yet the man responsible for creating the situation remained remarkably calm.
“Hahaha.”
“Running the place alone as a man means I’m not always as thorough as I should be.”
“As another man, I’m embarrassed for you.”
Yukgap could only shake his head.
After working at Restaurant Shelley, he had always taken pride in keeping the kitchen spotless.
Cleanliness was a chef’s most basic responsibility.
He had always kept the dishes and kitchen tools polished until they shone.
At this point, he seriously wondered whether this place even deserved to be called a kitchen.
“Hmm.”
“There are actually quite a few interesting things here.”
“If we make use of what’s available, we might be able to create something better than expected.”
Victoria remained optimistic even now.
Yukgap looked at her suspiciously.
“Is that really possible?”
“Hehehe.”
“You know nothing.”
“Alchemy and cooking have many similarities.”
“The very essence of alchemy is using different materials to create something belonging to an entirely new realm.”
Victoria answered confidently.
Yukgap had no idea what she intended to do.
“So what are you planning?”
“Curious?”
Victoria’s eyes sparkled.
Yukgap immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it won’t be normal.”
He already had enough of a headache from the kitchen itself.
He had no desire to start worrying about Victoria too.
Instead, he looked around the place that resembled a demon’s lair and spoke with certainty.
“First, we clean.”
“If we cook anything in here right now, we won’t create the taste of the sea.”
“We’ll create the taste of hell.”
“Wow!”
“This is amazing!”
Victoria exclaimed as she looked across the wide beach.
The guesthouse owner had told them there was a quiet hidden spot not far away, so she had immediately headed out.
After walking for a short while, they reached a peaceful, secluded beach.
It was almost surprising that such a quiet place existed so close to the bustling harbor.
Nova, who had come along, also looked around with interest.
“Maybe because it isn’t a tourist spot, it’s really quiet.”
“Right?”
“It feels like we have the whole place to ourselves!”
“Come on!”
Victoria excitedly ran toward the water.
She looked like a huge puppy that had just been let off its leash.
Does she really like it that much?
Nova followed behind with a flat expression.
“So we’re digging for shellfish to eat today, right?”
She glanced at the bucket and hand hoe they had borrowed from the guesthouse.
They had not come here just to relax by the sea.
They were here on a desperate mission to gather fresh ingredients for themselves.
Victoria, however, simply seemed happy to be at the beach.
“Yeah.”
“The owner said if we dig around, we should find shellfish.”
“A guesthouse where the guests have to gather their own ingredients.”
“The service here is terrible.”
“But he discounted the room because of it.”
“And more importantly, it’s been a long time since I came to the sea.”
Victoria had already kicked off her shoes and stepped into the waves.
Watching her enjoy herself like a child left Nova slightly dumbfounded.
“You do remember we’re being hunted by Abraxas, right?”
“Oh, come on.”
“We can still enjoy a little break.”
Victoria splashed around near the shore as if to prove her point.
Seeing her so carefree made Nova chuckle despite herself.
“Victoria.”
“Sometimes I envy how recklessly positive you are.”
Nova stepped toward the water too.
A wave rolled in with a soft rush.
The moment she saw it, Nova instinctively stepped backward.
“Ah!”
“What’s wrong?”
Victoria tilted her head at Nova’s exaggerated reaction.
Nova blushed and answered defensively,
“I-It’s just... waves are kind of strange.”
Hearing that, Victoria realized something.
“Is this your first time at a beach?”
Nova answered gruffly,
“I never had time to leisurely go on vacations.”
“But don’t worry.”
“I know what the ocean is.”
She had been born as a test subject of Abraxas and experienced all kinds of disasters from a young age.
She probably had never once been able to casually visit the sea like this.
Even yesterday, they had been dragged from one crisis to another without time to breathe.
Realizing that, Victoria smiled gently and held out her hand.
“Come on.”
“Try stepping in.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
