chapter_0216

Chapter 214: Store Remodeling

“You! Youuu!”

I was suddenly confronted by a stranger pointing at me.

Startled by this unexpected situation, I reflexively hid behind Kwon Arin.

I couldn’t recall wronging this person, so what was going on?

I peeked out from between Kwon Arin’s arm and waist.

The man’s face was contorted with anger.

“What’s your problem?” Kwon Arin confronted him, hostility in her voice.

Her personality must have mellowed; she didn’t start a fight right away.

“You, because of you my shop is…!”

At his outcry, Kwon Arin turned to look at me.

She seemed quite confused.

“Gyeoul, do you know him?”

“N-no… I’ve never seen him before…”

“Me neither. Why’s he acting like this?”

Kwon Arin clenched her fist.

She looked ready to charge in and throw a punch.

I hurriedly clung to Kwon Arin’s arm.

We couldn’t attack first since he was just an ordinary person.

“You can’t hit him.”

“I know. I’ll just protect you.”

She assumed a defensive stance, ready to ward off any attack.

But the man just slumped to the ground like someone who’d lost all hope.

“I must be crazy, I must be…”

He covered his face with both hands.

He looked like someone who had given up on everything.

Did I cause him to fail at something?

I decided to approach him and ask why.

“Um, excuse me…”

I tugged at the hem of his clothes.

Though I remained tense in case something happened, he only apologized.

“I’m sorry. I lost my mind for a moment.”

His apologetic demeanor made him look like someone who had given up on everything.

I couldn’t leave with a clear conscience.

“Can you… tell me why you acted that way just now?”

“The reason…”

“It’d be awkward to just pretend nothing happened. Maybe I can help somehow.”

“……”

He sighed deeply, staring at the ground.

After a few seconds of silence, he explained why he had acted that way.

It was a story about horned rabbit meat and Levinas.

“So you’re saying horned rabbit meat supply decreased because of Levinas?”

“Noticeably. They say killing them makes people feel guilty or something…”

“But completely stopping hunting horned rabbits is…”

“They still catch them. Just not for food, but as pets.”

More people had started keeping horned rabbits as pets because Levinas was so cute.

It was bound to hit horned rabbit meat specialists hard.

‘He has reason to blame us.’

His life was ruined overnight through no fault of his own.

He had every right to feel wronged.

“Is it possible to change your restaurant’s menu?”

“It’s possible, but not easy in practice. I’d have to start from scratch.”

Certainly.

Changing the menu would drive away what few customers he had left.

On the flip side, it meant he’d be fine if he could attract new regulars.

“Then why not change the menu? I’ll help promote your restaurant.”

“You? How?”

“I know a famous internet streamer. I’ll ask her to promote it.”

“……”

I glanced at Kwon Arin standing beside me.

Her streams were growing more popular by the day.

It was thanks to the uniqueness of being run by a Yeomyeong Guild member.

“Internet streaming…? Will that really work…?”

“It’s better than doing nothing.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

He nodded.

He seemed to agree to some extent.

And so we started planning for the new restaurant.

—
Raei  Translations
—

Gyeoul’s container house.

Yeoreum, Jung Yu-na, and Choi Jinhyuk sat around an old table, heads together.

“Let’s summarize the situation.”

Yeoreum tapped the paper with her pen tip.

The large notebook had Gyeoul’s situation written out:

1. Gyeoul has a traumatic past.

2. Saebyeok sealed Gyeoul’s memories after seeing this.

3. However, Gyeoul’s sealed memories are needed to save her world.

4. So Saebyeok is gradually unsealing Gyeoul’s memories.

5. The more memories are unsealed, Gyeoul-

Gyeoul.

There was nothing written after that.

They didn’t want to write it out.

Yet everyone knew.

How Gyeoul would change as more memories were unsealed.

“…Was it really necessary for Saebyeok to seal Gyeoul’s memories?”

Scribble scribble-

Jinhyuk drew lines on the notebook for no reason.

He wanted to vent his frustration, but it didn’t help much.

“Saebyeok told me what happened in our world was laughable compared to what she went through. Said it’d be better if she didn’t remember.”

“…I see.”

To think that being beaten by adults and nearly dying from a stomach wound was laughable in comparison.

Jinhyuk couldn’t even begin to imagine it.

“Then wouldn’t it be better not to unseal her memories at all?”

“Each bit of information is too valuable for that…”

“…You’re right.”

They needed to unseal just enough memories for Gyeoul to handle.

For that, they’d need Saebyeok’s help…

Just as Yeoreum thought that far, they heard a lovely child’s voice from outside.

“Levinas!”

It was Gyeoul’s voice.

Everyone fell silent as if on cue.

Even though the sound was magically blocked, no one spoke.

“King! You’re here!”

“Yeah. I want Levinas’s help with something.”

“Okay! Levinas will help!”

She didn’t even ask what kind of help was needed.

Those in the container smiled warmly at the trust between the children.

“Let’s go home first?”

“Okay!”

Tap tap tap-

The cute sound of two children’s footsteps could be heard.

As she listened to the fading footsteps, Yeoreum thought:

She wanted to protect that innocence forever.

—
Raei  Translations
—

Two days later.

Kwon Arin went to the promised location with the children.

In one hand, she held a smartphone with a livestream running.

“Wh-what is this…?”

Levinas froze in front of the restaurant.

Her gaze was fixed on the sign that read “Horned Rabbit Cuisine Specialist”.

“Levinas, I convinced the owner here, remember?”

“H-how…?”

“I asked him to sell meat other than horned rabbit.”

“You did?!”

Levinas’s eyes sparkled.

It was a look that said, “As expected of our king!”

Arin was filming the children’s reactions from behind.

[Look at Levinas getting all emotional lol]

[Horned rabbits are our friends lol]

[But isn’t this a scary situation for Levinas? lol]

While Arin checked the chat, the children started remodeling the restaurant.

They made a sign by cutting paper, like during the festival.

The difference was that it was now laminated.

They were quite thorough, considering wind and rain.

[Isn’t it adorable how the kids are helping directly? lol]

[No horned rabbit dishes… please…]

[lol Why are the kids so desperate? lol]

The chat’s reaction wasn’t bad.

If they had just insisted on not selling horned rabbit dishes, they might have gotten criticism even as beloved children.

But by directly helping remodel the shop like this, the response could only be positive.

[Isn’t that sign too cute? lol]

[How is the shop name “No Horned Wabbits!”? lol]

[They’re not selling horned rabbits anymore lol]

The sign showed a horned rabbit tying up other animals with a rope.

The chat was buzzing over the cute drawing the children had made themselves.

It was trending even though Arin hadn’t revealed the shop’s location.

Arin realized it was time for her part.

Time for a little white lie.

“The kids asked the owner if he could sell something other than horned rabbit meat. We got permission and now we’re remodeling the shop.”

[The owner agreed to that?]

“Yeah, he did. I’m promoting the place out of gratitude.”

An owner who changed his menu for the children.

Children remodeling the shop for that owner, and Arin promoting it.

With Arin’s small lie, everyone came out looking good.

[I’m definitely visiting that shop.]

[How can you not go in after seeing that sign?]

[I’m in Japan but looking up plane tickets to visit lol]

[Japan’s crazy lol]

This should bring in plenty of customers.

The children’s story would spread across various communities.

Arin wore a satisfied expression.

However.

Han Seok-won, the shop owner, did not.

His jaw dropped as he looked up at the sign the children had made.

‘Oh boy.’

He appreciated their effort, but it was truly at a child’s level.

He’d been told they’d promote through an internet broadcast, but he was a middle-aged man far removed from the internet.

He had no idea how many people watched Arin’s streams or how small rumors spread across communities.

‘No matter how popular the kids are, this won’t work.’

The remodeling was literally at a child’s level.

In the cold world of food service, this would only invite mockery.

The broadcast promotion he had hoped for was just casual filming with a smartphone.

Was this confidence that this much was enough?

Or had they set limits on how much help they’d provide?

To Seok-won, who had to stake his shop’s survival on this, everything fell short.

‘Who can I blame?’

This must be my fate.

There was no need to resent the innocent children.

“Haa.”

Seok-won hung his head.

Heavy sighs kept escaping his lips.

—