Chapter 145

Chapter 145: The Encroaching Land of Death

The mudslinging war between the Executive Chef and Yu Seon-yeong.

One more person joined the fray.

'Oh Jeong-seok, who had been on the receiving end of Ha Yu-sik's abuse more than anyone.'

He was the senior one rank above Ji-young, who had been the youngest at Pungjeong.

He was also the kitchen staff member who had been closest to Yu Seon-yeong.

Oh Jeong-seok provided supporting fire, confirming that every one of Yu Seon-yeong's allegations was true.

The exposed Ha Yu-sik declared he would sue Yu Seon-yeong, Oh Jeong-seok, and the Mutube rubbernecking channel for defamation and spreading false information.

In response, Yu Seon-yeong released not just words but evidence.

'Private conversations exchanged with Ha Yu-sik via Karragram SNS, and even recorded phone calls.'

She also released video footage of him physically and verbally abusing kitchen staff.

Once that was all made public, Ha Yu-sik was forcibly removed from every TV program.

His advertisements were pulled, and all collaborative products with food companies were discontinued.

Articles emerged reporting that Ha Yu-sik would face massive penalty fees.

There was even a report that his wife had filed for divorce.

'The only reason Ha Yu-sik was able to become Korea's top star chef was entirely thanks to the full backing of his wife's family.'

The owner of the five-star Cheongdam Hilton Hotel, one of the top three hotels in Gangnam, was his father-in-law.

At the request of his only daughter, the father-in-law had given his son-in-law one of the hotel's restaurants and used his connections to make him a star chef.

'Without his wife's family, Ha Yu-sik is nothing more than a kite with its string cut.'

He should not have crossed the line.

I did not know what change of heart had driven Yu Seon-yeong to make a self-destructive exposé that would damage herself as well.

In any case, if Ha Yu-sik had not gone around claiming to be my master, this targeted takedown would never have happened.

He had gotten greedy and tripped over his own feet.

'Either way, I managed to blow my nose without lifting a finger.'

After meeting Ria, I had thought I had left all the wounds of the past behind.

But it seemed there had still been a knot of resentment hiding deep in my chest.

Now even that had been cleanly cleared away.

I hummed a tune in the restaurant kitchen while wiping plates with a cloth.

"Chef, you look like you are in a good mood."

At Ji-young's words, I nodded.

"Better than I expected. It feels like a weight has been lifted."

"Same here. I always knew Chef Ha would crash and burn eventually, and now that he finally has, I feel so relieved."

"Agreed."

"And I am so happy that people now know who the real driving force behind Pungjeong's golden era was."

As Ji-young said, Yu Seon-yeong's exposé had revealed the truth about Pungjeong to the public.

Ha Yu-sik had rarely shown up to the kitchen due to external schedules.

The person who had actually overseen the kitchen operations was the sous chef: me.

And most of Pungjeong's course menu had been dishes made from my recipes.

'Why did Yu Seon-yeong reveal even that much? After getting arrested and serving time because of me, she must bear a deep grudge. Was her feud with Ha Yu-sik really intense enough to surpass that?'

That was a mystery.

I asked Ji-young why she thought Yu Seon-yeong had done the exposé.

Ji-young thought it over carefully, then shared her theory.

"Probably because of Chef Ha Yu-sik. Yu Seon-yeong herself got thrown in prison after messing with you, Chef, but Ha Yu-sik was living large without a care in the world, and on top of that, he was selling your name as his top apprentice. Of course she would be furious."

"When you put it that way, I can see why she would be angry. Especially with Yu Seon-yeong's temper, the fact that she held back this long is more surprising."

"Exactly. Though I did not expect her to go as far as outing her own affair with Ha Yu-sik."

"Why do you think she did that?"

The reason was genuinely curious.

"Hmm, the probability that she has turned over a new leaf...... is very low. She probably wanted to make Ha Yu-sik's wife divorce him. Just exposing the verbal and physical abuse might not have been enough to trigger a divorce."

"Hmm, now that you say it, that makes sense. Verbal abuse alone might not have pushed the wife over the edge."

In fine dining kitchens, physical violence aside, verbal abuse was still rampant.

In the kitchen, the executive chef or owner-chef held absolute power.

And because kitchens dealt with dangerous knives and open flames, tempers ran hotter and rougher.

'I never did that, though.'

Ji-young continued.

"Also, it could have been a last bit of lingering attachment to you, Chef. A final gift, a small act of atonement. It was probably a combination of all those reasons."

"That makes sense."

Ji-young then said triumphantly.

"In the end, the ultimate winner is none other than me, the golden youngest, Song Ji-young! Ha ha!"

"Golden youngest? Hmm, is that so? But why would you be the ultimate winner?"

"Because I am still here, working under you and learning to cook! If I am not the ultimate winner, who is? The Bong-Hwa-Seon Trio seniors are still jealous to this day. Heh heh!"

"Speaking of which, the Bong-Hwa-Seon Trio have been eyeing you. They say the youngest has gotten way too cocky, and they are going to pick a day to set you straight."

"I am curious how they plan to discipline an S-Rank Hunter. Bwa ha ha!"

"Oh? They are still your seniors...... You really have lost all discipline. I will have to straighten you out on the Trio's behalf."

"Chef, I was joking......! If my seniors want to discipline me, I will submit obediently. Ha ha......!"

Ji-young wiped cold sweat and scrubbed the plates vigorously.

Setting that aside, both Yu Seon-yeong and Ha Yu-sik had hit rock bottom.

I doubted our paths would cross again.

'Well, it is no longer my concern. Time to get back to work.'

The bad blood with them was truly over.

***

The lunch service began.

Ashley and Fenrir visited for the first time in a while.

"I have not seen you two lately. What happened?"

At my question, Ashley and Fenrir exchanged a look and sighed.

Ashley then spoke.

"Fenrir and I scouted beyond the Boundary of the northern Frozen Wastes, into the Land of Death."

"Why there?"

"The number of undead monsters crossing the Boundary has been increasing, so we went to investigate."

"Did you find anything?"

"We found nothing. We were simply chased by undead monsters and barely escaped with our lives."

"You two were chased......?"

Two Transcendent-Grade beings, being chased.

"The Land of Death beyond the Boundary was exactly what the name suggests. The moment you set foot on that land, all physical abilities and mana control drop dramatically. Nearly halved. The coordinates are also scrambled, making any movement-related magic impossible."

"......That is a severe debuff. Then even you two would have been in danger."

"Indeed. We sustained serious injuries and barely made it out. The recovery took a very long time."

If recovery had taken that long, they must have been injured to the point of nearly dying.

'A dangerous place.'

Meanwhile, undead monsters apparently suffered no such restrictions in the Land of Death.

Fenrir then said.

"Also, we confirmed that the Land of Death is encroaching on the northern zone."

"Encroaching......? So the Boundary is shrinking?"

"Correct. We left markers at the Boundary to verify, and confirmed that the Boundary is slowly contracting."

"What is the approximate speed?"

"Roughly 0.3 torn per day."

I had once learned the basics of Ancient Language length units from Ria.

One torn was approximately fifty centimeters.

Similar to the cubit unit used in ancient Western and Near Eastern regions.

So 0.3 torn was about fifteen centimeters per day.

Not exactly slow, but not exactly fast either.

"Is this also connected to that so-called Master?"

"Who knows. More importantly, I am starving. The delicious smells are making me dizzy."

"All right, I will get your food ready."

As luck would have it, today's menu was a meat lover's favorite.

Lamb chop set meal.

Once I served them, they began devouring the lamb chops at speed.

"I missed this taste......!"

"It feels good to be alive."

They were eating with particular gusto today.

To the point of misty eyes.

The scouting trip to the Land of Death must have been truly hellish.

"If you were going somewhere that dangerous, you should have asked Ria and me to come along."

"Would you have said yes?"

Fenrir asked.

I nodded.

"Of course. We went to the northern wastes together before and fought the Lich."

"So we did. Next time, we will do that."

They continued their meal, each polishing off five servings of the lamb chop set.

After the meal, sipping tea, Ashley said.

"By the way, this Outpost develops every time I visit. On the way to the restaurant, I noticed a few more buildings."

"That is right. But while there are more buildings, there has not been much progress on the Magical Engineering front. Because you were away so long, Ashley."

"That is fair. Jack must be feeling down."

"He is. Dr. Jack has been missing you terribly for over a month and a half."

"Hmm...... I should stay here for a while and help with his work. I find the various knowledge he possesses quite fascinating as well."

"I appreciate it. I will provide free meals for you and Fenrir while you are helping."

"Excellent. But why Fenrir too?"

Ashley glared at Fenrir, who simply smiled.

"What is good is good."

"Tch!"

Fenrir did not simply loaf around when staying at the Outpost.

She readily helped with ongoing construction projects.

Fenrir then said.

"Since I am staying, I should spend some quality time with Bell."

"Please do."

Bell had now grown to the size of a horse.

She was large enough for me to ride on her back.

At the same time, she had become considerably more aggressive.

She never growled at us.

But when brought to the Outpost, she would growl and be wary around other Hunters.

Also, when a monster approached the Rift house, she would go out and hunt it on her own.

'She can now take down High-Grade Monsters by herself without trouble.'

With a bit more growth, she would likely be able to solo the weaker specimens among Highest-Grade Monsters.

However, her larger size meant she ate more food and consumed more Magic Stones.

I fed Bell three Low-Grade Magic Stones every day.

With Magic Stone prices having risen, Low-Grade Magic Stones now cost over 1.7 million won each.

That meant roughly 5.1 million won or more per day on Bell's feeding costs alone.

'But she more than repays what she eats.'

Eating more Magic Stones meant producing more Golden Eggs, ensuring the Dungeon Farm never ran short of fertilizer.

The crops grown with that fertilizer were used at the Rift restaurant and also processed into various dishes sold at the Hunter Shop, generating significant revenue.

After the lunch service, I accompanied Fenrir to the Rift house.

When her mother arrived, Bell was overjoyed.

"Aroo-!"

Wagging her tail, she bounded over and nuzzled against her mother, who was in human form.

Despite her larger body, she still acted like a pup.

Fenrir cradled Bell's face.

"Bell, it has been a while. You have grown even bigger."

"Aroo!"

"At this rate, you will be able to handle Highest-Grade Monsters soon."

"Aroo-!"

Bell raised her head proudly and howled with confidence.

"Then let us have a spar, shall we?"

"Aroo......"

Bell made a face that said she would rather not.

But her mother showed no mercy.

Fenrir reverted from her human form to her true shape, a massive white wolf, then grabbed Bell, who was only about a third of her size, by the scruff of the neck and dragged her up the hill.

A mother-and-child sparring session on the hilltop ensued.

Bell charged with blue mana surging on her sharp claws, but her speed fell short of the adult Fenrir, a Transcendent-Grade entity.

'Watching their spar, I can clearly see Bell's weaknesses.'

Her attacks were too rash and her movements too linear.

The adult Fenrir, by contrast, used sidesteps expertly.

It was like watching a boxing match.

Then.

THWACK!

Bell took a counter-swipe to the face and went flying.

She got back up and charged again, but once more her movements were too big and too straight.

Her mother sidestepped easily, deflected the attack, and headbutted Bell.

"YELP!"

This exchange repeated several times.

Eventually, the mother Fenrir pinned Bell down with a paw on her scruff.

"You have been fed an abundance of Magic Stones and nutrients, so your mana density and physical abilities are abnormally high. Your combat ability, on the other hand, is atrocious."

"Whine......"

"That is because I was not there to teach you."

"Aroo."

"From now on, I will stay by your side and train you harshly."

"Whine......!"

Bell looked pitiful.

But it did not work on her mother.

"On your feet, Bell."

The sparring resumed.

Bell charged and got hit, fell and got up, over and over.

Rin, who had finished farming and climbed the hill, cheered Bell on.

"Bell, you can do it!"

"Aroo......!"

With Rin's encouragement, Bell, who had seemed unable to rise again, got back on all fours and charged at her mother.

This time, the mother Fenrir swung her forepaw to intercept.

Bell ducked under the swipe, then leaped.

CHOMP!

Bell clamped her jaws onto her mother's neck and hung on.

She had finally landed one clean hit.

Rin cheered.

"Bell! Amazing!"

The mother Fenrir casually shook her head and dislodged Bell.

Bell collapsed to the ground and could not get up.

"Whine......!"

As if she had no strength left.

To that exhausted Bell, her mother spoke gently.

"Well done, Bell. I look forward to tomorrow."

"Whine......!"

And so Bell began receiving grueling daily training from her mother.