Chapter 343

Do-Jun read the newsletter that Byeol brought home from daycare. The main announcement was a reminder about the field trip to Han River Park scheduled for the next day. He had already learned about the main points through the parents’ group chat a few days earlier, so he focused on the details. The required items were a sketchbook, crayons, and, if needed, some personal snacks. Finally, the daycare would provide lunch, so they reminded parents not to pack one for the trip.

Parents felt relieved to learn that the daycare would provide lunch. With most families now having dual-income parents, preparing a packed lunch was no small task.

“Now, shall we start getting weddy?” Byeol asked eagerly.

Excited for her field trip, which was more like a picnic, Byeol was already packing her things into her daycare bag on her own. She stuffed in her sixty-four-color crayon set and then crammed the remaining space with juice and snacks until the bag was about to burst. Satisfied, she grinned brightly, eagerly wishing for time to pass faster.

***

Planning a field trip required a lot of preparation for the teacher. From choosing a main learning goal to setting the time, location, and schedule—everything needed careful planning. But for most parents, their child's meal was always the top priority.

Ji-Hye, who had been reviewing the field trip plans, turned her attention to the news on the TV.

⌜Now, for our next story. While Behemoth is advancing through the eighth floor of the Core, Fissure experts have been speculating about which Deep Realm Rankers they might encounter based on the Hunter’s Bureau’s latest report. The updated ranking from August is as follows.⌟

A list of Deep Realm Rankers from first to thirtieth place filled the screen. The display then switched to show the silhouettes of two men, each marked with a large question mark. Beneath them, the names “Baal” and “Imfelheim” appeared. After that, more Rankers’ names scrolled in. These were individuals who had grown stronger within the Core, surpassing their natural limits to reach the prestigious status of Transcendents.

Ji-Hye shook her head and refocused on her task. She intended to consider the children’s preferences when preparing lunch for the next day. When she asked them what they wanted to eat for lunch tomorrow, the most popular answer had unexpectedly been kimbap.

“Alright. Kimbap it is.” She decided.

Kimbap was the perfect picnic food. Its contents were packed generously and densely inside the seaweed wrapper, making it filling yet smaller in size compared to other typical lunch options. As she twirled a pen between her fingers, thinking about where to place the order, something on the news drew her attention.

“14th place: Kiriel.”

Ji-Hye suddenly remembered that she knew a certain food stall worker with the exact same name as this particular Transcendent.

***

Ji-Hye arrived at the food stall around 4 PM. When she walked in, Kiriel was behind the counter, cooking with a pout on his face for some reason.

“Hello, Mr. Kiriel.” She greeted him with a bright smile, dimples showing, but Kiriel barely reacted. His sulky demeanor made her chuckle.

“I was wondering if I could ask for a favor, Mr. Kiriel,” she said.

“A favor? What is it?”

“Our daycare has a field trip tomorrow, and I’d like to order some kimbap for their lunch. I remember the kids loving your kimbap last time, and I also really enjoyed it, too. Oh, and don’t worry—I’m not asking you to do it for free.”

To Ji-Hye, this was a way to show her appreciation and friendliness. Most restaurants welcomed bulk orders, and she was a regular customer, after all.

At the compliment about his kimbap, Kiriel’s lips curled into a smirk, his earlier sulkiness disappearing. “Alright. I’ll make kimbap for you.”

“Great! Can you have it ready by 9 AM tomorrow? Ah, but it

is

quite a big order. Will that be okay?”

“Hmph. Rolling a few kimbaps is a piece of cake! It’s too easy for this great Kiriel!” Kiriel shrugged nonchalantly.

“Then I’ll be counting on you.”

“Sure. How many rolls do you need?”

“A hundred rolls. I’ll pay in advance.”

Kiriel’s lips snapped shut. His eyes darted around, visibly flustered. It was clear he was caught off guard by the unexpectedly large order.

Sensing this, Ji-Hye asked, “By the way, I don’t see Mr. Hakase. Is he not in today?”

“He’s on vacation.”

“O-oh...” Ji-Hye immediately felt bad. Making a hundred rolls of kimbap alone wouldn’t be easy.

“S-should I help you?” she asked. “I didn’t expect Mr. Hakase to be on vacation. If we split it—fifty rolls each—sure, it’s a lot, but it shouldn’t be impossible.”

Kiriel thought that wouldn’t be a bad idea. It would certainly be better than working alone. He considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “It’s alright. I can ask a friend for help.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah. He runs a food joint too. He also sells kimbap.”

“But I still feel bad—”

“Quiet! The customer is always king!” Kiriel suddenly shouted.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he pulled out a parchment from his pocket in a rather dramatic fashion. When he ripped it, he instantly vanished with a pop.

“H-huh?” Ji-Hye blinked in disbelief and stood there in shock.

***

“WEIIIIII ZHONGGGQIIIII!” A thunderous voice echoed through Mount Yeongryunsan in the Deep Realm.

The gentle glow of the lantern in the tranquil room flickered out. Wei Zhongqi, who had been enjoying a rare day off, frowned as his door suddenly slammed open, as if someone were trying to break it on purpose.

“I told you to

gently

pull the door open, didn’t I?” he snarked at the unwelcome guest.

“Who cares about some door? That’s not important! Look at this!” Kiriel said, extending the daycare newsletter.

“A field trip?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re going?”

“No.”

“Then why are you showing me this?”

“Byeol’s daycare placed a bulk order.”

“A bulk order?”

“A whopping one hundred rolls of kimbap.”

In other words, this guy was asking for help. Wei Zhongqi scratched his head and snapped his martial arts manual shut. He had planned to spend his day off training in swordsmanship, but he couldn’t just ignore a request from a daycare that Byeol went to.

“Should we call that guy too?” he said.

***

“Y-you’re really going to give me free kimbap if I help?!” Imfelheim asked in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“I’m in! I’ll help! Just tell me what to do!” Imfelheim nodded vigorously, thrilled by Wei Zhongqi’s offer.

As “dawn” slowly approached, three Transcendents gathered atop Mount Yeongryunsan.

We have more than enough ingredients anyway

, Wei Zhongqi thought

.

Kiriel had already gathered enough ingredients to make over 150 servings of kimbap—a woven bamboo mat, freshly steamed, warm rice, stacks of crisp, savory seaweed, egg omelet strips, ham, pickled radish, lotus root, tuna, minced beef, and more. By offering Imfelheim the misshapen or imperfect rolls as a reward, they had successfully recruited his help. While Kiriel was trustworthy, Imfelheim had never cooked before. That meant he had to be taught from the basics.

Wei Zhongqi moved closer to Imfelheim, preparing to explain the steps when Imfelheim asked, “What kind of kimbap are we making?”

“Hm?” Wei Zhongqi was caught off guard by the question.

Imfelheim explained, “There are many types of kimbap. There’s the classic kimbap, tuna kimbap, pork cutlet kimbap, spicy pepper kimbap, stir-fried pork kimbap, inside-out kimbap, and kimchi kimbap... Not all kimbap is the same, right? For example, the balance of mayonnaise and tuna in tuna kimbap determines how well its richness and savoriness blend together...”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Imfelheim then began listing different types of kimbap and their descriptions. Then, he started reciting recipes. Before long, he was passionately explaining the history of kimbap, practically spitting with enthusiasm.

Wei Zhongqi blinked in surprise and asked, “Have you made kimbap before...?”

“The King of Earth taught me.”

“Really?”

Imfelheim had rarely, if ever, cooked. He had spent his days fighting monsters, not working in a kitchen. Yet, now he was carefully spreading fluffy rice across a sheet of seaweed, layering each ingredient with meticulous precision. Finally, he carefully rolled the bamboo mat.

“If you intentionally mess up just to eat the failed rolls, I won’t let it slide. Understood?” Kiriel said, but Imfelheim didn’t respond.

Not because he was ignoring him; he was just too focused. With a more serious expression than ever before, he was pouring his heart into making kimbap.

Kiriel awkwardly scratched his nose.

***

While eating was enjoyable, making kimbap turned out to be just as fun. They ended up making over 110 rolls in total. Of those, the ten rolls deemed unsellable, ones that weren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing, were immediately devoured on the spot. The remaining one hundred rolls were neatly stacked in paper boxes. Each of the three Transcendents made around thirty rolls each.

As the morning came to Mount Yeongryunsan, the faint light bathed the three men sitting at the pavilion. Imfelheim, having put his all into making kimbap, was now ready to send them off.

“Kiriel, do you mind if I deliver these myself?” he asked.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Oh, thanks!”

“Wait—you know where the daycare is? This is your first time going.”

“I appreciate the concern. But I already know.” Grinning, Imfelheim pulled out a page of the Book of Transfer.

***

The agreed delivery time was 9 AM, but Imfelheim arrived at the daycare a bit earlier. Ji-Hye, who had been checking the weather, tilted her head in confusion at the sight of the towering man carrying an enormous box. His outfit was also unusual. Despite the chilly weather, he wasn’t even wearing a shirt.

“Can I help you?” she asked, wary of the stranger.

“Kimbap delivery. My friend asked me to bring it here.”

Imfelheim set down the box and opened it, revealing one hundred neatly wrapped kimbap rolls, each individually covered in aluminum foil. Only then did Ji-Hye realize that this man was delivering Kiriel’s order on his behalf.

“Oh, thank you! You’re early,” she said.

“I wanted to show you as soon as possible.”

“Pardon? Show me what...?”

“The kimbap,” Imfelheim replied.

“Ah, I see. Is Mr. Kiriel busy?”

“Probably. That’s why I’m here instead.”

“Oh! You must be a friend of Mr. Kiriel’s. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I see.”

“Thank you again! Ah, my name is Han Ji-Hye. And you are...?”

“I am Imfelheim.”

It was a rather unusual name. Ji-Hye didn’t think much of it at first, but it only took a moment for her to recall where she had heard it before. How could she not? It was the name of the Transcendent officially ranked first in the Deep Realm.

I-is this a coincidence, too? Like Mr. Kiriel?

She wondered.

For a moment, Ji-Hye recalled a heated debate she had seen on TV.

“If a Transcendent sets foot on Earth, it would mark the end of the world. Their power is truly beyond comprehension. They are beings we must never, under any circumstances, provoke. For some reason, the Hunter’s Bureau has yet to take any action...”

No. I decided not to think about that stuff anymore

, she thought firmly.

Do-Jun had reassured her that there would be no “end of the world,” and told her to stop worrying so much.

What was I thinking? Why would a Transcendent be delivering kimbap to our daycare? Come on.

She realized that her worry was completely uncalled for and chucked in embarrassment.