Ducoms hesitated because a part of him didn’t want to go in, but Aine noticed him first.
“What?”
“What is it? Am I not allowed to come here?”
Both of them had such nasty personalities that no matter the place, neither of them would let others push them around. Ducoms and Aine glared at each other and the atmosphere quickly turned sour. Choi Yeonseung nodded in understanding.
“You must be tired from working a lot with each other.”
“......?”
“??”
“Have some tea. It’ll make you feel better.”
“No... Why are you... I only drink coffee.”
“Thank you for the tea.”Unlike Ducoms, Aine accepted it meekly. She knew there was no need to refuse the food or drinks offered by Choi Yeonseung.
“What does Ducoms know about tea, one of the most important cultural aspects of the East?”
‘Is that actually the case?’
Choi Yeonseung was puzzled. Was barley tea actually important for Eastern culture? He didn’t think anything of it other than ‘boil it and drink it.’
“Hmm.”
Aine closed her eyes and nodded. The dark circles under her eyes made Choi Yeonseung feel sympathetic.
‘Gyeongryong hyung lets his children work like that…’
“This taste...”
“It’s barley tea.”
“...It’s barley.”
Aine looked surprised. She honestly thought it was some kind of fancy tea. In the past, she had been treated with high-quality tea that ordinary people couldn’t get. Such tea was the Ming Qian Longjing tea that she received for doing a favor for the Chinese government. That was why she thought...
“Barley tea? Is it the barley that I know? Or does it mean something else?”
Ducoms was confused because he didn’t know if the tea was made by roasting barley or if it was named like that for some other reason. Surely there was no reason for Choi Yeonseung, who could afford anything, to roast barley himself and serve it to other people.
Aine ignored him.
“Um. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”
It was indeed barley tea, but every time she drank it, she felt her magic power being restored and her fatigue relieved.
“You like it? I’ll pack some for you. Take it back with you and drink it whenever you feel tired.”
“...Thank you.”
Seeing the two of them, Ducoms couldn’t help feeling tempted.
“I... I would like to have a cup as well.”
“Go and get a coffee.”
“I’m not talking to you.”
“Don’t be like that. A grudge will last for a long time if it forms when eating or drinking.”
“......”
Ducoms had a peculiar look on his face and was suddenly very eager to try the tea. It wasn’t like he didn't have the money to buy barley...
“Here you go.”
“......!”
Ducoms was shocked. A refreshing effect that was much more stimulating than coffee and sugar! He hadn’t experienced something like that before, so he was being overstimulated by the potent magic power.
“T... This...”
“?”
“I would like to invest in this, so how about releasing it as a product??”
In response to Ducom’s sincere and enthusiastic proposal, Choi Yeonseung shook his head.
“Ducoms.”
“??”
“Barley tea is actually… You can buy it at the supermarket.”
Ducoms was taken aback by how oblivious Choi Yeonseung seemed when speaking of the matter.
“...That’s not what I mean…”
***
Unlike Aine, who was skeptical about developing monster-related foods, Ducoms was in favor of it.
“This barley tea is the tea of teas. Anyone who drinks it won’t be able to stop.”
“And anyone who sees you like this will think that you’re some kind of tea expert.”
“Ducoms, I’m really glad you like the tea I’ve made, but... I think you’re exaggerating.”
Ducoms felt the back of his neck stiffen as he was treated like a fool by both Aine and Choi Yeonseung.
“Please give me that tea! I’ll get everyone to try it and I’ll convince them that this is something else.”
“Ducoms… Sharing it with other people is all good and stuff, but… Don’t go around and preach that this is some divine tea. You’ll make a fool of yourself.”
Unlike Aine, who was being cynical towards him, Choi Yeonseung was being completely honest, which upset Ducoms even more.
‘These people are blind!’
To his mind, that barley tea had a lot of potential. Of course, there were many kinds of tea in the East, but he would’ve been willing to bet his life that they weren’t as good as this one. How could they disregard his idea like that just because he hadn’t drunk a lot of tea in the past? He would prove them wrong!
Once Ducoms left, Aine said, “Monster-related food... Maybe it’s possible.”
“Huh. What’s with the sudden change of heart?”
“There have been attempts to create a new food culture using the monsters from the Abyss. However, food from the Abyss was so scarce that the trend never really took off.”
Among the monsters that came from the Abyss, some of them were extreme delicacies that couldn’t be found in Earth’s cuisine. Minotaur meat was still sought after by gourmets around the world. It was more expensive than the cores!
However, such cases were rare. Most of the meat from the Abyss was either poisonous, too hard to chew, or just tasteless. That was why everyone was stunned when Choi Yeonseung cooked the inedible monster meat in the dungeon. Had Dragon Industry found a new method, a secret technique to cook that kind of meat? Maybe it was the power of a constellation…
“But you can cook stuff that’s supposed to be inedible.”
“Thanks for saying that.”
“Let’s take all the shares owned by the Parker family and other companies in the food market and then monopolize it. We would become the kings of the market.”
“...No. I didn’t mean that...”
Choi Yeonseung was trying to further refine his Abyss cooking skill and increase his power of existence by making his name known among the people. He didn’t intend to step on other competitors in the market and get rid of them...
“What are you talking about? The other competitors are quite evil. They’d be willing to kill you just to get on top.”
‘I think Gyeongryong hyung said something similar...’
It sounded similar to Hwang Gyeongryong’s habit of saying, 'Besides me, all the CEOs are heartless bastards!’
“If you think monster-related food has potential, why didn’t you tell Ducoms?”
“Forget about that bastard. He needs to be taught a lesson. He thinks the whole world revolves around him.”
“Really? Well then, I’ll leave it alone.”
Choi Yeonseung was weak when it came to his niece.
***
However, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t able to take on the great challenge of conquering the food market.
-There are signs of an Abyss gate explosion... There will most likely be a monster wave. Where would it take place?
-In order to prepare for the monster wave, governments around the world...
-Compared to the previous monster wave, the size of this one is...
The signs of a monster wave appeared everywhere. Ever since the first gates opened and established a bridge between Earth and the Abyss, people thought that there would be no problem as long as they dealt with the dungeons that appeared everywhere.
However, that was a naive idea.
Similarly to the great invasion caused by the evil god constellations, the gate sometimes caused a monster invasion. Many monsters from the Abyss were released in high numbers in one area. The numbers were far higher than in the case of a dungeon, so no government could afford to take the situation lightly.
This time, they used all the magic power at their disposal to find out where the door would open and mobilized hunters for the operation.
“They said to be careful, but hunters treat the monster wave as a great opportunity.”
The other hunters of the Icarus clan nodded at Antony’s words.
At the news of the monster wave, the hunters who had gone to the Abyss returned en masse, leaving behind only the minimum number of people.
Back in the day, when the first generation of hunters were fighting, a monster wave was something terrifying. Now, people weren’t that scared anymore. Hunters had increased in numbers and they had a lot more information regarding monster waves. They had found many ways to deal with them.
If anything, a monster wave was more like a festival for hunters.
“It’s a place where even A-grade hunters can display their abilities, and it’s also a good opportunity for lesser-known hunters to gain some popularity. In addition, if there is someone you don’t like, then you can compete with them.”
“I see.” Choi Yeonseung nodded. He had wondered why they looked so excited, but now he understood how things were.
“I hope it appears in a good place...”
“That’s right. Location is everything.”
“It’ll be hard if the location is wrong.”
“?”
Elisabeth explained from beside him.
“Has it been 12 years? The monster wave that occurred at that time was close to the northern side of China, so it was difficult in many ways. The Chinese government asked us to participate, but they had caused a few incidents at that time...”
Leading and supporting hunters from other countries was now considered a form of diplomacy. If one country committed inhumane crimes or caused problems related to dictatorship, other countries would usually impose sanctions on their hunters. Before the raid era, countries used to say, ‘If you want to impose sanctions, go ahead and do it. We don’t care,’ but now they couldn’t really risk having their hunters sanctioned. It would be detrimental.
“What happened back then?”
“In the end, the Chinese government begged the clans to participate. At that time, the Chinese hunters couldn’t deal with it by themselves.”
“As far as I know, some of the people involved were dismissed because of it.”
As the hunters were talking, an employee of the Icarus clan walked over.
“The results of the analysis have arrived. It’s not certain, but the probability is over 90%.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s the west coast of South Korea. They said there’s a good chance it’ll come from the sea.”
“Good! We can stay clear of China!”
Bam!
The moment he finished speaking, the hunter was slapped in the back of the head by Choi Yeonseung.
“W-Why?”
“What are you cheering for? How can you be happy knowing that monsters will show up and threaten the lives of civilians? It’s because of bastards like you that people say hunters have terrible personalities.”
“......”
“......”
The atmosphere among the Icarus hunters quickly grew cold.
“A monster wave will appear in South Korea. It’s really unfortunate.”
“If only it were to appear further west, in China…”
The hunters coughed and looked at Choi Yeonseung. The employee was surprised by the sight. Choi Yeonseung was an A-grade hunter and it was only natural that he had more authority than other hunters within the clan.
Even so, the Icarus clan brought in people who were treated as aces in other clans. They were all B-grade or higher… How could they act so cowardly, like some mice? That couldn’t have been explained simply by Choi Yeonseung’s display of force
“I... I didn’t say it was good that it appeared in South Korea. I just meant that it’s best to avoid China...”
“Yes… Sorry, I think I was out of line…”
Choi Yeonseung lifted the fallen hunter back on his feet. In the meantime, the employee was taken aback by the new information they just received.
“Huh? Is that so?”
“What is it?”
“There is new information. This time, the magic power has fluctuated a lot, so the location might be slightly different. Worst case, it might even appear in the Chinese East Sea...”
The hunters’ expressions immediately turned sullen. All of them would rather have fought for South Korea than for China.
‘Wait... So why did I get hit?’
The hunter was frustrated by the blow he took to the back of the head, but he couldn’t complain about it.
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