Chapter 53. The Extinction of Taste
“Hmm. Apparently, an endangered bird at the zoo died this time.”
Victoria muttered while reading the newspaper.
Yukgap, who was polishing his daggers beside her, answered casually.
“Really?”
“They haven’t found any of its kind in the wild. So everyone thought the bird left at the zoo was the last one. But now it’s dead too. They say it kept singing for a mate until the very end. Isn’t that sad?”
Victoria explained with a complicated expression as she continued reading.
Yukgap asked indifferently,
“Then I guess it’s basically extinct now.”
“That’s probably the right way to see it.”
Victoria had clearly already become emotionally invested in the bird from the article.
“Whenever I hear news like this, it makes me sad for some reason. Imagine knowing you were the only member of your species left on Earth. How lonely would that be?”
“It probably went extinct because it deserved to. If something is weak, it dies and disappears. That’s how nature works.”
Yukgap answered coldly.
Whenever Victoria became overly emotional like this, dragging her back down to the cold floor of reality was usually his role.
“The laws of nature, huh? When you think about it, there really isn’t anything crueler.”
Victoria still could not take her eyes off the bird’s photograph.
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice came from inside the restaurant.
“Chairman, this is the place.”
Several men in suits soon entered Restaurant Shelley together.
Yukgap glanced at them.
“Customers?”
A moment later, an elderly man entered under the protection of those men.
He was clearly advanced in age, but his build remained imposing, and there was something naturally intimidating about him.
Victoria recognized him immediately.
“I’ve seen that man in the newspaper!”
“Who is he?”
Victoria quickly searched her memory.
“Park Yeongseok. He’s the chairman of Y Corporation, one of the hottest companies lately. He recently closed a deal worth several trillion won, and it was all over the papers.”
The old man called Yeongseok smiled broadly enough to show his teeth.
“I’m grateful you recognized me. As you said, I am the man leading Y Corporation.”
So the pressure surrounding him came from the confidence of a man accustomed to success.
But why had someone like that come all the way into this back alley?
Yukgap stared at the unexpected guest warily.
“What would someone like you want with our restaurant? You probably have more private chefs than you know what to do with.”
“Hahahaha. Relax. I merely came to ask for a small favor.”
Yeongseok stared closely at Yukgap.
“By the way, are you the famous alchemist, Doctor Frankenstein?”
“No. I’m just the chef. Doctor Frankenstein is over there.”
Yukgap pointed toward Victoria.
Only then did Victoria realize that these people had come specifically looking for her.
“I’m Victoria Frankenstein. What do you need?”
“Hahahaha. I nearly made an embarrassing mistake.”
Yeongseok laughed heartily.
Then he addressed Victoria politely.
“There is only one reason I came here today.”
His eyes gleamed.
“I wish to savor a taste that has disappeared.”
“A taste that disappeared?”
Victoria asked in confusion.
Yeongseok immediately gestured toward one of his attendants.
“Bring it.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The attendant soon carried over a glass jar.
Inside were part of a severed bird’s leg and several feathers.
Yeongseok held it out to Victoria.
“Do you know what this is?”
“A bird’s leg and feathers?”
“More precisely, the leg and feathers of a passenger pigeon. They were extremely difficult to obtain.”
Victoria looked startled.
“Wait. Passenger pigeons went extinct more than a hundred years ago.”
Yeongseok nodded.
“Correct. At one point, more than five billion of them lived across North America. But their breast meat was considered excellent, and they were hunted relentlessly for food until they disappeared completely in the 1910s. All that remains now are preserved specimens from that era.”
He held the specimen containing the foot toward Victoria.
“Doctor Frankenstein, I’ve heard many rumors about your extraordinary alchemical abilities.”
His smile deepened.
“So, if possible, I would like you to bring the extinct passenger pigeon back to life.”
Victoria answered awkwardly.
“I didn’t realize the chairman of a major corporation was interested in restoring extinct animals.”
“I already told you. I came because I wish to savor a lost taste.”
Yeongseok smiled slyly.
His reddish tongue moved between his thin teeth.
“My goal is simple. Restore the extinct passenger pigeon and let me taste its breast meat. I wish to experience the flavor that was so highly praised in the past.”
For some reason, Victoria felt a chill.
“So that’s what this is about.”
“To live is to eat, and to eat is to live. I feel most alive when I taste something.”
An obsession with fine food burned in Yeongseok’s eyes, powerful enough to transcend his age.
“I have spent my life seeking out delicacies.”
He leaned forward.
“And for that reason, I must taste the breast meat praised by history itself.”
“Doctor Frankenstein, you will be compensated generously.”
His smile widened.
“Let me taste the breast meat of a passenger pigeon.”
“There have actually been quite a few attempts to restore extinct animals.”
Victoria explained while examining the specimen Yeongseok had given her under a microscope.
“To be more precise, cells from an extinct creature are cultivated through a closely related living species to create hybrids. Then the genes are gradually manipulated until something closer and closer to a pure specimen appears.”
“Wouldn’t the end result technically be a completely different species?”
Yukgap asked.
Victoria nodded.
“That’s true. But after enough selective breeding and genetic manipulation, descendants can eventually appear that genetically match the extinct species. Researchers keep experimenting for that exact moment.”
“So it’s basically gambling and hoping luck eventually gives you the right result.”
Apparently, restoring an extinct species was not something that could simply be solved in an instant through alchemy.
