Chapter 82
Hong Man-gi headed toward a nearby hypermarket.
Even if the prices were higher, he needed enough ingredients to solve the immediate problem.
However, the moment he entered,
'Wow... you've got to be kidding me.'
The vegetable section.
The meat section.
The seafood section.
Every fresh-food shelf was completely empty.
It looked as though a swarm of locusts had swept through the store.
There was not a single useful ingredient left.
"What... is this...?"
An employee approached with an apologetic expression.
"Sir, we're sorry. A certain organization came this morning and purchased our entire supply of food ingredients. We have nothing left in stock."
"The entire supply? They bought everything in the supermarket?"
"Yes. They even paid extra and cleared us out. Apparently, there won't be any new deliveries for a while either."
"How does that make any sense?"
The employee shrugged helplessly.
"I'm just an employee. There's nothing I can do. I'm only telling you what happened."
Hoarding.
They had used financial power to completely block even the retail supply route.
'So they're trying to starve me to death.'
Hong Man-gi clenched his fist.
His fingernails dug into his palm, but he barely felt the pain.
Then,
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Hong Man-gi?"
Two security guards in suits approached.
Hong Man-gi turned toward them.
"Yes. Why?"
The guards exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"We're sorry, but we've been instructed to ask you to leave the store."
"...Why?"
"We don't know the details. We're just employees."
One of them lowered his voice.
"Please don't make this harder than it needs to be. We're salarymen. When we're told to do something, we have to do it."
Hong Man-gi stared at them for a moment.
Then he gave a bitter laugh.
"All right. I understand."
He turned and walked out.
There was no point taking his anger out on employees who had nothing to do with this.
Standing outside the supermarket, Hong Man-gi looked up at the sky.
Wholesale markets.
Retail stores.
Suppliers.
Every route had been blocked.
This was not simply interference with his business.
They were trying to isolate him completely.
To humiliate him.
To force him into a position where he had no choice but to bow his head.
'So this is what you meant, Cha Mu-jin.'
'That you wouldn't be my shield anymore.'
Hong Man-gi slowly lowered his gaze.
Then he returned to the restaurant empty-handed.
The atmosphere inside the Full Moon Restaurant became heavy the moment he returned.
Lee Yu-han looked at Hong Man-gi's empty hands and immediately understood.
"Hunter... the ingredients...."
His voice faded.
Kang Jae-min leaned against the counter and sighed.
"...It didn't work."
Hong Man-gi shook his head.
Outside, customers who had been waiting for hours began murmuring.
"What's going on?"
"Why aren't they opening?"
"Did something happen again?"
Hong Man-gi looked through the window.
Then he walked outside.
The crowd immediately became quiet.
Hong Man-gi bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry, everyone. Due to problems with our ingredient supply, we won't be able to open today."
Disappointed voices rose.
Hong Man-gi continued.
"At the moment, I can't promise exactly when we'll reopen."
The crowd became even more unsettled.
"But I promise you one thing."
Hong Man-gi raised his head.
"When we return, we'll serve even better food than before."
He bowed once more.
Eventually, the customers began leaving.
Hong Man-gi hung a "Temporarily Closed" sign on the restaurant door.
Inside, silence settled over the group.
Lee Yu-han's eyes reddened.
"Hunter... what do we do now?"
Kang Jae-min clenched his jaw.
"Those Association bastards are seriously low. They're cutting off someone's livelihood because they can't beat him normally?"
Poming sat on the counter with her ears drooping.
"Chef...."
Hong Man-gi stared at the empty shelves.
Cha Mu-jin's voice passed through his mind.
'You're standing at the edge of a cliff.'
Hong Man-gi closed his eyes.
Then,
"No."
The others looked at him.
"We're not going under."
He turned toward them.
"And we're not closing."
"Hunter?"
"Captain?"
Hong Man-gi walked toward the menu board.
"If the road they control is blocked, we'll take another road."
He picked up a marker.
"Yu-han. Jae-min. Poming."
All three focused on him.
"If they won't sell us ingredients, we'll hunt them ourselves."
Silence.
Then Kang Jae-min's eyes widened.
"...Hunt them?"
"That's right."
Hong Man-gi grinned.
"We have Hunters."
He pointed at himself, then Lee Yu-han and Kang Jae-min.
"And we have someone who knows more about monster ingredients than anyone else."
Poming's ears shot upward.
"Poming!"
"Exactly."
Hong Man-gi turned back toward the menu board.
"Starting today, we're completely changing the Full Moon Restaurant's menu."
He drew large X marks across familiar dishes such as Jeyuk Rice Bowl and Doenjang Stew.
"There's one place the Association can't completely control, a place filled with the freshest and most dangerous ingredients they wouldn't dare handle casually."
On a blank sheet, Hong Man-gi began writing.
[Menu]
[Bichi Forest Boar Barbecue]
[Deadly Poison Mushroom Hangover Hot Pot, 100% Toxin Removal Guaranteed]
[Crystal Lake Trout Sashimi Rice Bowl]
[Mandrake Root Salad]
Hong Man-gi put down the pen.
"We're going into dungeons."
A smile appeared on his face.
"We'll catch whatever lives there and turn it into the most delicious food in the world."
Then he declared,
"We'll become self-sufficient."
A smile slowly appeared on Kang Jae-min's face.
"That actually sounds kind of fun. I've been getting restless serving tables as a B-rank Hunter anyway."
He cracked his knuckles.
"Might as well have a proper fight for once."
Lee Yu-han clenched both fists.
"I, I'll help too! D-rank Hunter Lee Yu-han, ready for combat!"
Poming suddenly regained all her energy and performed a flip in the air.
"Waaaah! Dungeon cooking! That's Poming's specialty! This is exciting! We're going hunting!"
Hong Man-gi looked at his companions and grinned.
"Good. Our first target is Bichi Forest. I heard the boar meat there is incredible."
They had been pushed into a desperate situation.
Yet Hong Man-gi seemed to be enjoying it instead.
'Cha Mu-jin, I'll show you just how shallow your trap really is.'
Deep within the foothills of Bukhansan on the outskirts of Seoul was the C to B-rank dungeon known as Bichi Forest.
It had a rather mixed reputation among Hunters.
Its beautiful name came from the way the entire forest seemed to shine blue-green like a giant jewel.
However, its interior was infamous for dense vegetation and rough terrain so thick that it was difficult to see even a short distance ahead.
At the same time, gourmet Hunters considered the place a treasure house.
Rumor had it that monsters raised on the forest's clean air and special mana had exceptionally delicious meat.
Of course, tasting that meat came with one condition.
You had to risk your life to get it.
[Rustle... rustle....]
Inside the dense forest,
Kang Jae-min led the way in light leather armor.
Behind him walked Lee Yu-han, nervously watching every direction.
Hong Man-gi followed at the rear.
"Jae-min. Are we going the right way?"
Kang Jae-min checked the map again.
"According to this, yes. But this terrain is fucking awful. These roots are everywhere like snakes. There's barely anywhere to step."
Lee Yu-han breathed deeply.
"Still... the air is really nice. I can smell herbs everywhere."
Hong Man-gi looked around.
"Don't relax because it smells nice. A place with this much food usually has predators that are just as hungry."
Lee Yu-han immediately tightened his grip on the Shadow Fang Dagger.
Kang Jae-min stopped walking.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"We haven't seen a single monster yet."
At that moment,
the ground trembled.
[Rumble... rumble....]
The bushes ahead violently shook.
Then a thick tree snapped.
[Crack!]
A gigantic boar emerged.
It was almost the size of a small truck.
Its dark green hide looked as hard as rock.
Sharp spikes covered its back, while enormous tusks protruded from its mouth like weapons.
Hong Man-gi's eyes immediately lit up.
"Looks like we've found one of Bichi Forest's specialties."
His gaze ran across the beast.
"That loin looks incredible. If it grew up here eating acorns and medicinal roots, it probably doesn't have much gamey smell. The meat should be nice and chewy."
He nodded to himself.
"And if we fry that skin until it's crispy, it'll be perfect with alcohol."
Hong Man-gi evaluated the charging monster as though it were meat displayed in a butcher shop.
"Jae-min."
"Yes!"
"You catch it. Cleanly. One hit to the neck so the meat doesn't get damaged. Got it?"
Kang Jae-min grinned.
"All right, all right. It's a little embarrassing for a B-rank Hunter to hunt a C-rank pig, but since tonight's menu is barbecue, I'll make an exception."
He loosened his shoulders and stepped forward.
[Grrrrrr....]
The Ironback Boar noticed the intruders and violently scraped its hooves against the ground.
Steam burst from its nose as it prepared to charge.
Its presence was fierce.
"It's coming!"
The moment Lee Yu-han shouted, the boar shot forward like a cannonball.
[ROOOOAR!]
Its speed and weight were terrifying.
A direct collision looked powerful enough to shatter every bone in a human body.
But Kang Jae-min did not dodge backward.
Instead, he charged straight toward the boar.
"You dare!"
Just before impact, his body smoothly twisted sideways.
The boar's enormous tusk brushed past his side.
At that exact instant,
[Bam!]
Kang Jae-min's fist slammed into the boar's temple.
The power of the A-rank knuckle weapon, Big Monkey's Nuclear Fist, exploded.
[Squeeeeeal!]
The massive boar staggered.
But it did not fall.
It shook its head and tried to regain its balance.
Its durability was impressive.
"Huh? You're still standing? Pretty tough for a piece of meat."
Kang Jae-min clicked his tongue and prepared to attack again.
Behind him, Hong Man-gi crossed his arms and shouted,
"Jae-min! Don't drag this out! The meat will get tough!"
"Yes! Don't worry! I was just checking what it could handle. Heh."
Kang Jae-min charged again.
This time, the playfulness had disappeared from his eyes.
