Chapter 81: That Was Far Too Big to Be Called a Customer (1) After the long-anticipated showdown with the bunsik cart ended in the food truck's complete victory, Jinseo spent his days busier than ever, juggling his usual bunsik business along with hosting the dwarf delegation.
Today, he was in the middle of a long-distance drive to pick up some special guests.
Specifically, he was on his way to collect those who had been selected by lottery from among the applicants for the food truck tour.
Since most of the guests lived far away, they traveled using teleportation points.
Because of that, the actual driving time was only about two hours. However, when factoring in the time spent stopping at scenic spots along the way—so guests could enjoy bunsik and light refreshments—the total trip took around four hours.
Even so, Jinseo showed no signs of fatigue. Instead, he held the steering wheel with an expression that looked refreshed.
Traveling while enjoying the spring scenery after so long felt like a break rather than work for Jinseo and his two helpers.
After fully indulging in the drive under the pretense of work, Jinseo's food truck crossed between the soccer fields built by the dwarves and arrived near Falstead Castle.
"We've arrived."
Opening the door to the Additional Trailer, Jinseo politely greeted the guests inside.
But no one responded.
The eyes of an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties were fixed on the wall-mounted TV screen, his hands gripping a game controller tightly.
"Uh… aren't you getting off?"
"Wait! Just this one block—let me place this block!"
Though his fingers looked bony, the movements pressing the buttons were remarkably nimble as he stubbornly clung to the controller.
"Dad! Left! The left side is open!"
"Grandpa! Rotate it! No, one more time!"
A man in his thirties and a grandson in his mid-teens were earnestly assisting their father and grandfather's play.
The butler who had accompanied them on this trip to attend to the three wanted to join in as well, but unable to adapt to the heated atmosphere, he simply sat still.
Instead, he contented himself with enjoying the WaXxes placed on the table.
"No, that's not it! Father!"
"Ah… TeXris isn't played like that..."
"Ah, I get it! I get it!"
Flustered, he failed to properly align the falling blocks, repeatedly stacking them higher instead.
Despite the advice from his son and grandson, his play continued to struggle.
"...Now! You have to rotate it here!"
But with a single piece of advice from Jason, who had become a TeXris master, the jammed gameplay began to flow smoothly, and the blocks piled high started disappearing one by one.
"Phew… finally cleared it."
"Dad! Congratulations on clearing Stage 5!"
"Grandpa! You finally did it!"
Watching three generations bond over a game—something nearly impossible to imagine in Korea—Jinseo let out a bitter smile.
"One more round! Just one more round!"
"Father! Have you forgotten? This time it's my turn!"
"Grandpa? I've only played five rounds so far."
Having discovered TeXris, a form of entertainment they had never experienced before, the men showed no sign of giving up.
In the end, it took another thirty minutes before the guests finally got off the food truck.
Each of them held a hot dog Jinseo had handed out.
"To think I'd find such enjoyment inside a sacred relic… It was a sacred yet thrilling experience."
After clearing all the way to Stage 10, he took a big bite of his hot dog with a refreshed expression.
Even so, his gaze still lingered on the game controller.
"Next time you come, I'll teach you PuXyo PuXyo."
"PuXyo PuXyo? Is that another new game?"
"It's a game with a different kind of fun from TeXris."
Jason casually dangled yet another irresistible temptation, and Jinseo scratched the back of his head as he watched another game addict being born.
I should give him a portable TeXris as a gift later.
Watching the guests head into Falstead Castle with the tour guide who had come to meet them, Jinseo glanced around the area.
The once-quiet surroundings of Falstead Castle—aside from the food truck—had completely transformed.
"Goal! Goal! Goal—wait, no?"
"Ah! How did you block that!"
"Defense! Get back on defense!"
The dwarf delegation's love for soccer didn't stop even after crossing into a different race's continent. In the end, they built no fewer than four temporary soccer fields centered around where the food truck operated.
Residents who witnessed the sight of small-statured dwarves dribbling and sprinting with a soccer ball gradually joined in as well...
Before long, an early-morning soccer club had formed, with even the knight order and Oswald participating.
But perhaps they had become too absorbed in full-scale soccer matches with other races.
Even after a full week had passed, the dwarf delegation showed no sign of leaving Falstead Castle.
"I sent a letter to Duke Layton, so he'll come here on his own. That guy would come all this way just to eat bunsik and bar snacks anyway, wouldn't he?"
Recalling what Geshtain—who had become far better at soccer than Jinseo, who first spread it—had said, Jinseo shook his head slowly.
There was another change as well.
The bunsik cart that had once set up across from the food truck was nowhere to be seen anymore.
I thought they'd keep stubbornly holding on by lowering prices to match or undercut ours, even if they couldn't keep giving things away for free… but they backed off faster than I expected.
Not only at Falstead Castle, but everywhere else as well, all the bunsik carts that had been selling bunsik had vanished—and it had already been a month.
Rumors spread that Marquis Horus had left his territory to search for new ingredients to defeat Jinseo's bunsik.
Thanks to that, Jinseo was no longer interfered with and resumed takeout sales.
"One Half-and-Half MuMani and two pizzas to go, please."
"Half-and-Half MuMani?"
Taking the order, Jason raised his hand and pointed at the sun hanging high in the sky.
"Unfortunately, that's a weekend-evening limited item, sir!"
"Ah, right. Then just two pizzas, please."
Perhaps because it had gained a reputation as the secret bunsik that defeated the genius chef Marco?
The most frequently ordered items became Half-and-Half MuMani and pizza.
Even so, Jinseo insisted on takeout only for Half-and-Half MuMani and pizza.
They tasted best with alcohol, and unless it was a special case, Jinseo maintained his policy of not selling alcohol at the food truck.
On top of that, Half-and-Half MuMani was sold only on weekend evenings, and even then, only in limited quantities.
That was because the monster meat used in Half-and-Half MuMani was not easy to procure.
"Once we get more ingredients in, we'll be able to sell it on weekdays too. Please look forward to it!"
Jason added extra hot sauce packets and handed over the pizza boxes.
Even though they were disappointed about missing out on Half-and-Half MuMani, the customer's face was full of smiles as they carried off the warm pizza boxes.
The food truck, having wrapped up business early at Falstead Castle, headed to its next destination: Kaysus Cathedral.
Now one of the must-visit stops for tourists on the food truck tour, Kaysus Cathedral was crowded with people.
At the center of that crowd stood Cardinal Fedora of the Heirem Order.
She was singing a hymn praising His holiness and mercy—not inside the cathedral, but at the center of the plaza in front of it.
"If more believers wish to hear Your Eminence's hymn, wouldn't it be better not to insist on staying inside the cathedral?"
Accepting Jinseo's suggestion, Fedora began singing hymns once a day from a platform set up in the plaza.
To avoid disturbing her song, Jinseo slowed the food truck as he passed through the entrance.
When their eyes met from the driver's seat, Fedora gave a slight nod in greeting and then continued singing.
Just then, Owl—returning from a delivery—flew toward the food truck, spotted Fedora, and changed direction to soar toward her.
He gently landed on her left shoulder as she sang.
Uh… that's way too good a scene to just watch.
Getting off the food truck, Jinseo took out his smartphone and started recording.
With the sunset behind her, arms raised as she sang her hymn, Fedora looked like a scene straight out of a religious film.
A breeze blew at just the right moment, softly stirring her silver hair.
The sight combined sanctity with beauty so completely that the believers were left speechless.
"May His blessing be with all brothers and sisters who have listened to my humble hymn..."
Crossing herself, Fedora finished her song and stepped down from the platform, receiving reverent gazes from the believers.
"And now, it is time for all believers to enjoy the blessing of taste. Please don't mind me and enjoy the food truck's bunsik."
After speaking, Fedora received a cup of tteokbokki—something Jinseo had recently started selling—from him.
"Tteokbokki eaten this way truly feels special."
As her face, which had radiated only solemnity and holiness, shifted into one of genuine enjoyment of bunsik, Jinseo smiled lightly.
"I tried it this way at the request of tourists, and the response has been quite good."
Tourists preferred to enjoy bunsik while walking around and sightseeing rather than sitting down.
For them, cup tteokbokki that could be eaten while walking became one of the ideal bunsik options.
Foil-wrapped gimbap and street toast were also favored for the same reason, and over time, eating bunsik out of cups became a trend.
That did raise concerns about littering, but a simple idea helped prevent it.
"Here, I brought my cup! Can I get YaXurt?"
"Yes! Here you go!"
If customers brought their empty cups or wrappers back to the food truck, they received YaXurt as a free service.
Even when full, it was easy to drink because of the small portion, and afterward, it could be thrown away in the nearby trash can—creating no additional waste.
"Has Marquis Horus's side stopped interfering?"
"Yes. The bunsik carts don't even show up anymore."
"That's truly a relief. If we had caught even a single piece of evidence of sacrilege against a sacred relic, I was prepared to mobilize the cathedral knights. It was quite troublesome that they didn't give us any excuse."
"I hope it ends here, but I'm still worried."
Unlike Fedora, who let out a sigh of relief, Jinseo couldn't completely shake his unease, convinced that Marquis Horus would reappear.
"People who fail after trying to harm others at great personal loss usually lose their reason in the end, to the point of saying 'no matter what.' Even knowing it will cause even greater losses."
"If that happens, the Order will step in and respond."
"I hope it doesn't escalate that far. But someone cornered that badly might resort to truly reckless methods..."
Jinseo stopped mid-sentence and pulled Fedora back.
A man in shabby clothes, his hair wildly disheveled, was staggering toward the food truck, causing startled tourists to step aside and make way.
"Tteokbokki… fried food… sundae..."
As the unidentified man caught the scent of bunsik, he lifted his head and stared straight at the food truck.
"Huh? Isn't that Marco?"
"So there was a food truck here..."
Marco's unfocused eyes stared blankly ahead, and even to Jinseo, his condition looked extremely serious.
"My only salvation... bunsik..."
Marco slowly reached out toward the cup tteokbokki in Fedora's hand beside Jinseo.
Thud.
But just before his fingertips could touch the cup, Marco—his strength completely spent—collapsed sideways.
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