Ch.38Still Hungry

# Enhanced Translation

Monster-era buildings are designed with destruction in mind, built with modular structures for easy reconstruction.

However, some high-rise buildings and interior columns still require concrete and reinforcement.

The job of carrying cement up stairs is called “gombang.”

“W-wow, Mu-han, you’re incredibly strong…? Even faster than construction drones?”

When I arrived at the construction site for day labor, I tried welding, ended up putting holes in several metal plates, and was instructed to do gombang instead.

While delicate work like welding was difficult for me, gombang was my true calling.

After quickly carrying cement as instructed, I had time to spare, and the foreman offered to introduce me to another site nearby if I was interested in more work.

“Is this guy even human? How many kilos is he carrying?”

“Are you a superhuman?”

“Damn, he must really be a superhuman. How can someone casually carry a ton by himself?”

“Why would a superhuman come do gombang work…?”

After carrying cement at three different sites, I heard “yari-kiri!” and left the construction site.

Yari-kiri means you can leave once you’ve finished your work regardless of time… quite a beautiful culture.

“Mu-han! See you next time!”

“It’s Lee Mu-han! Come work again! Make sure to call us!”

After receiving my daily wages, I immediately headed to a place even more beautiful than yari-kiri.

There are incredibly beautiful words in this world.

Mound of rice, double portion, extra large, bulk, buy-one-get-one-free… but there’s one word that surpasses them all.

That glorious word is “all-you-can-eat.”

“Sir, um… our dining hours are over.”

“Hmm…?”

I had arrived at a pork all-you-can-eat restaurant near the construction site and was bringing my 30th plate when the restaurant owner approached me and tried to take the pile of meat on my plate back to the refrigerator.

“I’ve only been here for an hour, haven’t I?”

“W-well, sir… you’re… done now.”

“Why? The sign says the dining time is two hours.”

“N-no… I mean, what kind of person eats a plate every four minutes, and nearly a kilogram per plate at that?”

“It’s delicious.”

“Yes, yes! Thank you for enjoying our food! But I’m sorry, please stop eating now! You’ve eaten so much already!”

“I don’t understand… Is it wrong to eat a lot? The sign says ‘all-you-can-eat’…”

“My wallet isn’t unlimited, please, sir…”

It was strange… it should be all-you-can-eat, but he said it wasn’t unlimited.

Unfairly kicked out of the all-you-can-eat restaurant, I visited other all-you-can-eat places afterward.

“Please, please stop eating. I’ll refund your money.”

“Sir, sir please… this isn’t right…”

“Hey, damn it! Get out now! Don’t come back, please don’t come in! Please!”

From the day I was kicked out of the fourth all-you-can-eat restaurant, my photo was posted at every all-you-can-eat place near the construction site.

On those papers, which looked exactly like villain wanted posters near police stations, were the words “Absolutely No Entry.”

From that day on, I decided to change my name from Lee Mu-han to Lee Yu-han.

To think that the beautiful phrase “all-you-can-eat” was actually a false word meant to deceive unsuspecting people.

“So that’s why you want us to call you Yu-han instead of Mu-han? This guy is really something else.”

“Such a sad story… to think all-you-can-eat places aren’t truly all-you-can-eat.”

“Yeah, yeah, very, very sad story, sure…”

“So that’s why Yu-han’s picture is posted at all-you-can-eat restaurants? You should have eaten in moderation.”

“I did eat in moderation.”

“Getting kicked out is eating in moderation…? What would happen if you ate until you were full—a murder case?”

“Huh, is that why you’re so strong and tall, because you eat so much?”

“That’s just because he’s a superhuman… wait, I wonder if eating a lot actually makes it easier to awaken superpowers? I don’t know, I’m not educated.”

As I carried cement at the gombang site and shared the devastating news that true all-you-can-eat places don’t exist in this world, the construction workers chuckled and mocked my tragedy.

Someone among the workers once said that tragedy viewed from a distance becomes comedy… that seems to be true.

“By the way, if you like eating that much, why don’t you check out Black Bear Park in Zone 4?”

“Oh, that place? I’ve been there too.”

“Black Bear Park?”

As I wondered what was there, the workers eagerly told me about Black Bear Park.

“They open a free meal kitchen there every weekend at lunch. It’s the most generous one among all the free meal kitchens in W City. Today’s the weekend, right? Mu-han, you’re going to do yari-kiri early today too, right?”

“The portions are big and the food is good. It’s a place with such good hospitality that they don’t complain even if you go back for more food. There’s a girl with a good memory there, so you might feel a bit self-conscious if you take too much, though.”

“For people like us, our strength comes from food, right? Since it’s a shame to spend the money we earn on food, we often fill our stomachs at Black Bear Park when we have business in Zone 4.”

“Free… meal… kitchen…!”

I couldn’t believe it—how could such an incredible thing exist in reality?

I was so shocked by this unimaginable combination of words that I dropped the cement I was holding.

Mound of rice, double portion, hearty meal, all-you-can-eat—these beautiful words that had reigned supreme in my heart were now overshadowed by the emperor of words: free meals.

And if they continue to provide food no matter how many times you go back for more, if the word “unlimited” is attached to the emperor “free”… that would be beyond an emperor, truly divine.

“Mu-han really loves food.”

“That body can’t possibly be maintained on normal meals.”

“But I wonder how many times they’ll let you go back for more before saying something?”

“I heard that girl just quietly watched someone who went back seven times, so maybe up to ten times would be okay?”

“Huh, I’m suddenly curious about what the limit is.”

I’ll check that limit myself.

With my mind already filled with thoughts of visiting Black Bear Park, I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth and continued carrying cement.

With this, my work at this building was complete. I carefully counted the money given by the foreman and put it in my pocket.

“Mu-han, let’s work together again sometime? Give me your contact info.”

“Don’t have contact info.”

“Huh? Who doesn’t have a phone these days? If you’re going to refuse, at least come up with a better excuse.”

“I really don’t have one.”

“Huh…? I thought you were being loyal by refusing to give your number to guys from other work sites.”

“Those guys had no work-life balance.”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever heard talk about work-life balance while doing gombang work, the very first.”

I have no intention of working for construction villains who don’t even provide a meal at the site.

Work and rice balance—after working, there should be time to eat, and work should go hand in hand with meals.

I don’t know who came up with it, but it’s a truly excellent concept.

“Goodbye.”

“Yeah! Take care, and see you at another site sometime!”

“Mu-han! Goodbye!”

“Thanks to you, my back feels so much better!”

With this site completed, it was time to part ways with these workers too.

As I left the site after finishing early, the workers who had assigned me the heaviest and most dangerous tasks waved with bittersweet expressions.

But only for a moment—I left behind the workers who returned to mixing cement with the whirring sound of machinery and headed toward Zone 4.

The day I change my name to “Free” might not be far off.

#

Zone 4, where the slums of W City are concentrated.

I’ve heard that Zone 4 is also a slum area in cities A, B, and others.

In the monster era, Zone 4 is avoided due to the unlucky number 4, and is filled with government-insured buildings as well as temporary prefab structures built by illegal residents.

This is a zone where people who can’t afford to worry about unlucky names stay.

The prefab buildings made of thin plates rather than modular exterior walls looked like they would collapse if pushed by human hands, not just monsters. The broken patches of asphalt on the roads indicated that this place was low on W City’s priority list for maintenance.

Nevertheless, there was a significant difference that made Zone 4 called a poor district rather than a slum like Zone 9.

“Hahaha! I’m Black Cat!”

“Then I’m Starlight!”

“I want to be Black Cat too!”

Children wearing black clothes that wouldn’t show dirt were playing a game of tag called “Black Cat” on the broken streets.

People passing by watching them each carried a basket of food.

“Kids! Don’t fall while running!”

“Okay~!”

The district was worn but not dirty.

Strangely, the public safety here wasn’t much different from other districts.

That’s why it was a poor district, not a slum—just a place where people who had unfortunately lost their homes to monsters repeatedly or those who weren’t financially well-off stayed.

In this place where pockets might be empty but hearts remained generous, there was a community gathering held every weekend.

A free meal kitchen that opened every weekend at Black Bear Park, sponsored by the Starlight Foundation.

For those who could easily go hungry with just one misstep while trying to get back on their feet, this free meal was both welfare and a time to check on neighbors and exchange greetings.

“Slurp slurp slurp!”

The residents of Zone 4, who had experienced hunger themselves, didn’t feel like their share was being taken away when they saw people from elsewhere coming to eat.

They simply thought: that person is working hard and taking a short break, they’re just stopping by for a bit, I hope they fill their stomach and gain strength.

After all, with the Starlight Foundation’s sponsorship, the food at the free meal kitchen was prepared in abundance.

“Gulp… gulp… gulp… phew…”

Perhaps the rumors had spread, as visitors from other districts would sometimes come and get food multiple times to fill their hungry stomachs.

But no one had ever seen someone eat this much.

“Amazing, can all that really fit inside him?”

“Wow… is today’s meal going to be wiped out?”

Like the workers who came in dusty clothes, the man wasn’t satisfied with one bowl and went back for more food several times.

The Zone 4 residents welcomed him, thinking another very hungry person had arrived, saying “Eat a lot, eat a lot” as they greeted him.

But as this continued for many, many times, all the residents began to pay attention to the man who had come to the free meal kitchen.

“He emptied it again!”

“Wooooow!”

“Wooooooow!”

Next to the man, another man who had confirmed that he had completely emptied his food tray stood on a chair and held up the empty tray, followed by cheers from children and adults.

The man’s meal had already become an entertaining show.

The only ones not laughing were the people from the Starlight Foundation.

“…What do we do about that?”

“That’s not a person, it’s a pig…”

“Ah, damn… don’t tell me we need to cook more already…?”

“That guy just ate a whole pig by himself.”

“He must be full now, right? That was really the last one, right? Aaaaaah…!”

Amid the cheers, the large man gulped down cold water leisurely, while children beside him patted his sturdy stomach and said:

“Are you going to eat more? Mister? Can you really fit more?”

“Where does it all go?! It’s gone!”

“If you eat this much, you must poop a lot!”

“Don’t talk about poop while eating.”

“Ack! Hahahaha!”

The man patted the head of the boy who made the childish comment, then stood up and took his empty tray to the serving counter.

The volunteers’ faces turned pale as the woman at the front of the serving counter took the empty tray.

Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“Twenty… three times! Right? Did you… enjoy your meal?”

One rule of this meal kitchen was that when you hear “Did you enjoy your meal?”, you respond with “Thank you for the meal” and leave your tray.

In other words, it was a question asking if he had finished eating, and everyone’s eyes focused on one spot.

The man looked around at the residents once and then boldly said:

“I’m still… hungry.”

“Woooooooooow!!”

“Oh, my… goodness~ Well, you certainly… eat a lot!”

Amid the cheers, the smiling face of the woman holding the tray contorted.