Chapter 44
I wandered around the unfamiliar dimension. A beautiful scenery unfolded like a landscape painting.
“Wow, Noona. Isn’t this place amazing?”
“Must be nice for you. It feels like a picnic.”
Shu, who had been completely absent when I was working, now trailed closely behind me. With an excited look, he spun around noisily observing the surroundings.
I maintained some distance from Shu and focused on exploring.
Next to a pond full of blooming lotuses stood an elegant pavilion. As I approached, I saw spirits reciting poetry while drinking tea.
‘This certainly feels familiar to me.’
I also saw several spirits wearing hanbok traditional Korean clothing. Instead of pens, they held ink and wrote down complex character reminiscent of Chinese writing.
Perhaps because I stared too intently, the spirits’ gazes all turned towards me at once.
‘Ah.’
Did I observe for too long? They may have felt it was rude.
“Look at those intense glares. Noona, should we run away?”
“Hello there.”
Ignoring Shu, I greeted them first. If they were offended by me peering into their gathering, I should apologize.
Silently running away would only anger them more. I need to be polite right now.
Regardless, I need to earn coins here. What if I run and later meet these very spirits as customers?
“My name is Sena. This dimension is new to me, so I was just looking around. The buildings, clothing, and tools you use seem unusual yet also familiar, so I unconsciously stared. I’m sorry for drawing your attention rudely.”
After my respectful apology, their sharp gazes softened. The spirits murmured among themselves, then a representative—a dragon with a white bulb on its head—approached me on its flat four legs.
“I am the divine beast Gyoryong.”
“Greetings, Gyoryong-nim.”
“What a polite child. These days, youngsters have no manners at all.”
“Thank you for your gracious understanding.”
“Someone bring out some snacks. We should give treats to a good child.”
At Gyoryong’s instruction, the other divine beasts moved swiftly.
“Oh my. Is it too bitter with just mugwort pancakes? For such a young one, we should include sweet flower pancakes.”
“Children love rice cakes covered in honey.”
“Add some deep-fried dough twists too.”
“There are also nicely ripened persimmons.”
What is this, am I their grandchild being doted on with snacks?
In an instant, a bundle of snacks was placed in my arms.
“Th-thank you.”
“Well-mannered children have luck on their side, getting snacks even in their sleep.”
After expressing my gratitude again, I left the pavilion.
The strangely familiar atmosphere put me at ease. Once away from the pavilion, I opened the snack bundle.
I picked out a pancake filled with pink flower petals, while Shu chose a deep-fried dough twist.
“This should be delici-ugh! What is this flavor??”
Shu, who had been eagerly anticipating it, took a bite of the dough twist and contorted his face.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t it sweet and tasty?”
“The texture is too tough and syrupy. You actually like stuff like this, Noona?”
Shu shook his head in distaste.
“I think it’s quite deli—”
At that moment, a realization suddenly hit me.
“Why didn’t I think of that before?”
Cocktails originated in the West. Of course, they would be unfamiliar to the divine spirits of this Oriental world.
Just as Shu found the dough twist strange on his first taste.
“I need an Oriental-style cocktail.”
“An Oriental-style cocktail?”
Shu tilted his head in confusion.
The cocktail bar has all kinds of liquors, but they are mostly Western liquor that I used in the modern world.
“Yes, cocktails made with Korean rice wines like makgeolli or cheongju. The system didn’t provide any of those liquors, but…”
I calmly continued speaking.
“They should have them here.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Then I’ll have to make them myself.”
“You know how to make liquor too, Noona?”
“As long as I can get some nuruk fermentation starters, I can manage somehow.”
I once went through a phase where I was obsessed with makgeolli and made it a few times.
‘At first it over-fermented and came out sour, which was quite a struggle.’
But once I got the hang of it, the taste was pretty decent.
Not at an expert level, but I hoped this dimension had makgeolli available rather than having to make it myself.
My troubled thoughts cleared up a bit, and Shu, who had been staring at me intently, chuckled.
“I was helpful, wasn’t I?”
“What? I figured it out on my own.”
“I don’t think so. Your eyes suddenly widened after watching me eat that dough twist.”
“I said no, didn’t I?”
We continued walking briskly while playfully disputing back and forth.
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Thanks to stopping some passing spirits to ask directions, we quickly arrived at the market area. This dimension had its own version of liquor stores and taverns.
Without even needing to ask, everyone there was drinking a bowl of makgeolli rice wine.
However, the problem was.
“Silver coins? Gold coins? What are those? We only accept yeopjeon.”
The tavern keeper refused currencies from other dimensions. The most I had were just a couple of coins, which weren’t enough for the expensive local makgeolli prices.
‘Well, this is where well-off retired spirits live, so the prices would be high.’
Still, I couldn’t back down like this.
“Then how about barter? I have plenty of ice.”
“I’ve got lots of ice too.”
The tavern keeper scooped up a ladle of water from a well and then exhaled a “Huh!”
“Hick!”
Amazingly, the water in the ladle instantly froze solid.
“I may look like this, but I’m a divine spirit too.”
The tavern keeper winked at me mischievously.
“In that case, let me work for a day. I’m decent at cooking—I can make pajeon savory pancakes, gamjajeon potato pancakes. Have my friend here do the cleaning…”
“Noona, why are you dragging me into this too?”
Shu, who had been watching silently, hurriedly interjected.
“You have to help too. Ah, use your beauty magic here. Quickly.”
“Money!”
Before Shu could use his beauty magic, the tavern keeper shouted gruffly.
“Bring money, money! If you don’t have it, you’re not a customer, so get out!”
In the end, after being kicked out of the tavern, I peered over the wall holding a wooden stick. Watching the customers merrily gulping down bowls of makgeolli made my mouth water.
“That makgeolli seems highly carbonated, with a champagne-like quality.”
Seeing various forms aside from traditional makgeolli, making makgeolli cocktails seems quite promising.
“Let’s first gather enough for one bottle of makgeolli.”
I can figure out the rest somehow after that.
I lowered the wooden stick and started walking through the market street, with Shu following me.
“Sena Noona. Do you have a plan by any chance?”
“Of course, I have a plan.”
When I affirmed it, Shu came closer and whispered in my ear.
“Theft or fraud would be problematic. There are relatively low-ranking spirits in this area, but they are still divine spirits…”
Theft? Fraud?
“What do you take me for?”
“You did sneak and steal fruit from someone’s yard before.”
“I negotiated with the owner afterward!”
“Even before negotiating…”
“I negotiated, so it’s fine.”
I stated firmly and took out a coin from my pocket, flicking it with my fingers.
“Regardless, I won’t do anything like that.”
I abruptly stopped in my tracks from walking briskly. The very thing I had been desperately searching for appeared right before my eyes.
As expected, you could find it in a marketplace.
“Oh my, friend. What a pity. I won this round.”
“Tsk. This isn’t easy. I was quite confident this time.”
At a corner of the market, spirits were gathering and murmuring, though they didn’t seem to be selling anything.
There was only a single table with three cups placed on it.
“Noona, your plan can’t be…?”
“Yes. Let’s try turning our lives around with just two coins.”
So my plan was simple.
A gambling game with cups and a ball.
“Hmm? You there, young lady, care for a round?”
“I’ll wager my entire fortune.”
I shamelessly placed my two coins on the table.
“Your entire fortune, she says…”
The gambler clicked his tongue before continuing.
“You know the rules?”
“You hide a ball under one cup, shuffle them around, and I have to guess which cup it’s under, right?”
“Correct. If you guess right, I’ll double your money. If you’re wrong, I’ll take the money.”
The rules were the same for this cup game in any dimension.
“It’s only two coins, so go easy on me.”
The gambler shrugged and hid the ball under one of the cups. I prepared myself, eyes wide open.
‘Alright, if I win just two or three rounds, I can get enough for makgeolli as start-up funds for the bar… Huh?’
Hidden under his sleeves which I hadn’t noticed, the gambler had eight arms.
“……”
His eight arms whirled the cups around so rapidly that my eyes couldn’t follow from the start.
“You said… go easy…”
“Alright, now, guess where the ball is.”
“Umm… the middle cup.”
Ignoring my eyes, I trusted my gut feeling instead. The gambler let out a hearty laugh.
“Doesn’t seem like it? But since I said I’d go easy, I’ll give you another chance, how’s that?”
Is this psychological warfare?
If I fall for it, I’m a fool, plain and simple.
I folded my arms defiantly and shouted,
“The middle cup.”
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⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊ Translator Note ₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆
Nuruk (누룩) is a traditional Korean fermentation starter. It is used to make various types of Korean alcoholic beverages including takju, cheongju, and soju. It is an essential ingredient in Shindari and is mixed with rice.
A yeopjeon (Korean: 엽전; Hanja: 葉錢; “leaf coin”) was a Korean brass coin with a square cut out which was first issued in 1678 and continued until the final years of the Chosun Dynasty.
A Sangpyeong Tongbo (常平通寶) cash coin.
🥂
Thank you for reading! ♡
