TL: Hanguk
PR: MiniPixelZ
Sejun’s mental world.
Sejun strolled through the farm, enjoying the pleasantly breezy wind.
“Hmm hmm hmm.”
Humming a tune.
Sejun was in a very good mood right now.
The reason was…
Hehehe. Why do I feel so good? I feel like I could fly. I could soar up to the sky.
Unaware that the time of his death was approaching, Sejun was simply enjoying the feeling.
***
<Grondra>
Kueng!
[I ate it all!]
Kking!
[Cuengi hyung! You’re the best!]
Cuengi, who had endured and finished even Blackie’s salad, raised his arms in celebration with Blackie.
And then,
“Pugaro’s fifth dish is the Gingerbread House!”
The fifth challenge began.
“This time, the dish is quite large, so we ask the participants to move! Please follow me!”
The participants followed the host, and they saw hundreds of life-sized houses made entirely of sweets.
It would have been nice if Uren hyung were here too.
While Cuengi belatedly thought of Uren,
“Then, please begin your meal!”
Following the host’s guidance, the participants began eating the gingerbread houses.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. This is fun!]
Even Cuengi, whose mouth had turned bitter from the earlier salad, excitedly began eating the gingerbread house.
Bang!
Cuengi boldly attacked the wall first.
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. This is fun!]
Blackie ran around inside the gingerbread house
Hehe. It tastes like sweet potato!
Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.
and started from the doorknob.
However,
Kking…
[Cuengi hyung. The great Blackie… is full…]
Blackie, who barely managed to eat a single doorknob, lay on his back with his belly sticking out and asked Cuengi for help.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Leave it to Cuengi hyung!]
Cuengi, whose stomach wasn’t even 10% full yet, cleanly finished Blackie’s share as well.
After they finished the gingerbread houses, around 700 participants remained.
“Now it’s time to choose.”
Before the sixth dish was revealed, the host gave them the choice to either take the prize money and quit or continue the challenge.
And then,
“From now on, dishes worthy of the name of Pugaro, the food killer will be served. Participants, please act accordingly. You must eat your food entirely on your own. Otherwise, you will be disqualified.”
He warned that from the next challenge onward, no shortcuts would be allowed.
This was the real “Dangerous Dinner Show” starting now.
Kueng!
[Blackie you are full now, so take a break!]
Kking! Kking!
[Okay! Great Blackie will cheer you on instead!]
With that, including Blackie, 100 participants gave up the challenge, and the remaining 600 faced the sixth dish.
A short while later.
Ding.
The bell rang in the kitchen,
“Pugaro’s sixth dish is meatballs laced with the poison of Odusa!”
Ten dark red meatballs were placed in front of each participant.
True to the name of the food killer, this dish was laced with poison.
Gulp.
Of course, it was no problem at all for Cuengi.
Kueng…
[It feels a little lacking…]
No, the problem, if there was one, was that the amount was too small.
“Then, the next dish…”
The seventh, eighth, and ninth dishes that followed were large portions laced with stronger poisons and overwhelmingly bitter, sour, and salty flavors. In the end, Cuengi was the only participant left.
The others couldn’t eat anymore or couldn’t withstand the poison, so they quit.
“Now. Participant Cuengi, will you quit the challenge here and take the 3 trillion 628.8 billion Tower Coins prize?! Or will you challenge Pugaro’s tenth dish and claim twenty times the prize?!”
Kueng!
[I’ll challenge it!]
Cuengi answered the host’s question without a moment of hesitation.
Still too weak at calculations to count beyond 10,000, he didn’t know how much the prize would increase if he took the challenge, but
I want to earn more money for Dad’s treatment!
Cuengi just wanted to earn as much as he could.
And then,
“Oh! Participant Cuengi has chosen to challenge Pugaro’s tenth dish! At last, we’ll be able to see the food killer Pugaro’s tenth dish for the first time in dinner show history!”
At Cuengi’s response, the host shouted in an excited voice.
Although Pugaro’s dinner show had been held hundreds of times so far, Pugaro had never made a tenth dish in his own dinner show. That was because the participants had either died or given up before reaching that point.
A moment later.
Ding.
The bell rang in the kitchen.
“This tenth dish is called Devil’s Tears. It is said to be a dish that condenses five flavors together with poison!”
A staff member placed a dish in front of Cuengi. At the center of a wide plate were five tear-shaped dots.
Five dots smaller than a pinky fingernail.
The amount was very small, but the effort and ingredients that had gone into making this tiny dish were beyond imagination.
However,
It’s not that great!
According to Cuengi’s standards, it wasn’t a delicious dish. Just from the smell, Cuengi could tell.
That this dish did not come close to Sejun’s cooking.
Cuengi had the talent called Gourmet, which made him feel full when eating delicious food.
That talent had evolved day by day, reaching a stage where he could determine the taste and fullness level of a dish just from its aroma.
The fact that the chef who prepared this dish had the title of food killer alone placed him far below Sejun in comparison.
So Cuengi never said Pugaro’s food was delicious while eating it.
And then,
Lick. Lick.
He licked the dish, made with Pugaro’s tremendous effort and rare ingredients, casually as if eating an ordinary meal.
As expected, it doesn’t fill me up! I want to eat Dad’s cooking soon!
Gulp.
As Cuengi swallowed Pugaro’s dish while thinking of Sejun’s cooking,
“Oh! Cuengi has swallowed the Devil’s Tears! If he endures for 1 more minute, the 72 trillion 576 billion Tower Coins will be his! 59! 58!”
The host began the countdown.
Kihihit. Kking! Kking!
[Hehe. Hey! Host, hurry and hand over the money! Cuengi hyung, elder brother of great Blackie, can definitely endure this!]
Blackie urged the host to hand over the money.
“2! 1!”
Then, the minute was up.
“Success! Cuengi has eaten food killer Pugaro’s tenth dish and safely completed the Dangerous Dinner Show! Cuengi, congratulations!”
The host congratulated Cuengi.
At that moment,
Clap. Clap. Clap.
“Well done.”
Pugaro, who had been in the kitchen, revealed himself while applauding. He was a slender man so beautiful he could be mistaken for a woman.
“Mr. Cuengi, let me make a proposal. If you eat my ultimate dish, I will give you 100 times the prize money.”
Pugaro proposed a new challenge to Cuengi.
To pay a hundred times the 72.576 trillion Tower Coins, he would have to bet all the money he had earned through his Dangerous Dinner Show up to this point.
But it didn’t matter.
By coincidence, his dinner show had gained popularity thanks to its unusual concept and had earned enormous wealth, but for Pugaro, who had devoted himself solely to cooking, money wasn’t what mattered.
It had been 500 years since he began cooking. He had spent his whole life searching. For a guest who would eat the ultimate dish he created.
He was deeply curious about the taste evaluation from someone who could eat a dish even he himself could not.
“Oh! Food killer Pugaro is proposing a new challenge! The condition is a hundred times the prize money. What a shocking offer! Cuengi, will you accept?!”
The host, caught off guard by the unexpected development, cried out excitedly. This was the beauty of hosting.
And then,
Kueng!
[Okay!]
Cuengi naturally accepted Pugaro’s long-cherished offer.
Hehehe. Cuengi is going to earn a lot of money!
The food wasn’t very filling, which was a bit disappointing, but since he’d get money just by eating, there was no reason to refuse.
“Thank you! Please wait just a moment.”
As Pugaro hurried back into the kitchen to begin cooking,
This is bad, meow! We’re almost out of money, meow! If this keeps up, our great hybrid Chairman Park will die, meow!
Theo, who was healing Sejun, became increasingly worried as Sejun’s wealth dwindled.
The fortunes he and Iona had were already long gone.
(Pip-pip! Big brother, here!)
Paespaes hurriedly went to the Black Tower and got money from Aileen and the dragons.
The dragons usually spent all their Tower Coins at the Dragon Market, so they barely had any money on hand.
Even after scraping together all they could, they were still short by about 100 trillion.
High cost, low efficiency.
Sejun was truly the worst mileage clunker.
But
No way, meow! What am I supposed to do without Chairman Park, meow?!
To Theo, he was a very precious clunker.
Why isn’t there money falling from the sky, meow? Chairman Park said I’m lucky, meow! Money’s gotta fall from somewhere, meow!
Theo continued Sejun’s treatment, placing his last hope on his own luck.
***
Ding.
When the bell in the kitchen rang,
“Oh! Everyone, thank you for waiting! The bell has rung to signal that the dish is finally complete!”
The host grabbed the microphone again and resumed emceeing.
Step. Step.
This time, Pugaro personally came out of the kitchen carrying the dish.
And then,
“This dish is my ultimate dish that embodies what was in my imagination, made with the finest poisons and ingredients I know. I named it ‘Heaven View’, meaning to see heaven after eating it.”
He explained his dish in front of Cuengi.
However, if one listened carefully to Pugaro’s explanation, every detail was terrifying.
He said it was an imaginary dish he had never made before, with all kinds of poison.
Moreover, ‘Heaven View’ meant nothing less than dying and going there.
Gulp.
Of course, Cuengi downed the soup in one shot without a second thought.
“How… how does it taste?!”
Please don’t die! Say something before you die!
Pugaro asked with a desperate expression, staring intently at Cuengi.
But
Kueng!
[I’m hungry!]
Cuengi said something completely different.
I’m so hungry!
It was an emergency. After eating something so tasteless, instead of feeling full, hunger surged violently.
Rustle. Rustle.
Cuengi quickly stuck his front paw into his snack pouch and scarfed down the snacks Sejun had made, filling his belly.
While Cuengi was busy filling up,
He said he’s hungry after eating my ultimate dish? Does that mean he wants more?
‘That must mean my dish was so delicious he wants more!’
Pugaro interpreted Cuengi’s words in the way most favorable to himself.
And then,
“Hehehe. If my dish was that delicious, then I’ll personally become Cuengi’s exclusive chef.”
Pugaro proposed becoming Cuengi’s exclusive chef.
Kueng!
[No, thanks!]
Naturally, Cuengi refused.
Since the prize money was automatically deposited via the card used for the entry fee,
Kueng!
[Blackie, let’s go!]
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Let’s go!]
Cuengi and Blackie quickly left the dinner show venue.
“Please hire me as your chef~!”
104.28.193.250
I want to keep getting feedback on my cooking!
Leaving behind Pugaro, who was desperately calling out to him.
Just like that, instead of a view of heaven, Cuengi gained 7,000 trillion Tower Coins.
“Meow?!”
Money really fell from the sky, meow!
Feeling Sejun’s account suddenly swelling with funds,
Fwoosh!
Money! Burn, burn, meow!
Squish. Squish. Squish.
Theo joyfully burned through the money while massaging Sejun’s face.
“Puhuhut.”
Theo regained his smile again.
As expected, if you trust in the words of great hybrid Chairman Park, even an empty bank account gets filled again, meow!
Today, his faith in Sejun grew even stronger. There was no end to the devotion of a fanatic.
A little while later.
“Puhuhut. All done, meow!”
When Theo’s treatment was finished
“Flying… ugh!”
Crack. Crack.
Sejun’s body, which had been about to fly up to the sky, twisted and began to transform completely.