***
“Two sets of sandwiches, please.”
“That’ll be six thousand won.”
“Here you go.”
“Please wait a moment. I’ll wrap them up for you right away.”
The female customer who had just paid for her order looked around the store curiously.
The antique atmosphere of the hall, the impressive wooden tables and chairs, and the old LPs and turntables caught her eye.
But the highlight of it all was…
“Oh my gosh, it’s so cute. Meow, what’s your name?”
It was a cat that had taken up a spot on the window sill, basking in the warm sunlight.
It attracted the attention of the female customers. It was just lying there, curled up in a chic manner, but everyone admired its fluffy white fur and cute butt.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
“It’s totally adorable. What’s its name?”
“Mongchi.”
“Can I pet it?”
“Only our boss can pet it, but you can touch it since it doesn’t bite.”
Reassured by Min-ju’s words, the customer stroked Mongchi’s head and back.
She felt the soft texture of its fur and its warm body. It felt like touching the finest duck feathers.
Most of the female customers who visited liked to pet Mongchi because of its chic appearance.
“It’s so soft.”
“Right? I was surprised too. Oh, here are your sandwiches, wrapped up.”
“Thank you. See you next time, Mongchi.”
“Have a nice day.”
The takeout customer left, and another customer entered.
“How many people?”
“Three.”
“Are you dining in?”
“No. We’re taking it to go.”
“We don’t have any seats available right now. Can you wait a bit?”
“How long do we have to wait?”
“About 10 minutes?”
Min-ju said as she quickly scanned the customers’ plates.
Sunflower’s hall was small and didn’t have many tables.
Despite it being morning, there was already a waiting line because of the rumors about how delicious the food was.
However, this wasn’t something to be overly happy about. If they were told to wait without any explanation, some customers would grumble.
After thinking for a moment, Min-ju said,
“Did you see the mural painted in front of the store? If you look to the left corner, there’s an angel’s wing. That’s a popular spot for taking selfies. You can take pictures and look around the yard. We’ll call you when it’s your turn.”
She spoke kindly.
The customer, who had been frowning slightly at the news that they had to wait, immediately brightened up.
Hae-jun, who was watching the situation from the kitchen while making sandwiches, smiled with satisfaction.
‘I think I really hit the jackpot with my part-timer.’
She could paint murals, design menus, and even had great customer service skills.
He probably wouldn’t have been able to start his business this successfully without her.
.
.
.
“Thank you, have a nice day.”
After seeing off the last customer, he put up the “CLOSE” sign.
The morning rush, which felt like a battle, was finally over.
A total of 87 customers had visited.
The sales amounted to a whopping 261,000 won.
‘At this rate, I’ll become a millionaire.’
He had exceeded his daily goal by 80% in just one day.
It wasn’t just the money, but the bright faces of the customers who thanked him for the delicious food as they left that made him feel a sense of fulfillment and a strange sense of pleasure.
‘Is this what it’s like to run a food business? It’s fun.’
It was hard, but it was fun.
It was a different feeling from when he was just selling books in the corner of a goshiwon.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
“You worked hard, Min-ju.”
“Aren’t you tired, oppa?”
“I am. But it makes me happy to see the customers leave satisfied.”
“Oh, come on. That’s… But, if we keep getting a waiting line like today, what should we do?”
“I was thinking about that too. Should we put out some chairs for people to wait on?”
“Hmm… Instead of that, the yard is spacious, so why don’t we decorate it a bit?”
“How?”
“Rooftop and terrace cafes are trendy these days. We could decorate the yard a bit and put out some tables. We’d be able to accommodate more customers that way.”
It made sense, but if he just increased the number of tables without thinking, he might not be able to handle it.
He thought it would be better to keep things as they were for now, until he got the hang of it.
“Let’s just put out some chairs in the yard for now.”
“That’s good too. But make it sentimental. That’s what’s trendy these days. Hehe.”
***
He returned to the Dimensional Farm.
He had to harvest the crops at precise times, or he wouldn’t have enough ingredients, so he diligently planted and tended to them.
“Huh? I leveled up.”
His leveling up speed was fast because he had been working hard on the farm.
*
[Cha Hae-jun] Lv. 7
Age: 25
Title: One Who Crossed Dimensions
Occupation: Subpar Farmer, Beginner Chef
Experience: 0 (0%)
Stamina: 26/35
Skill: 37
Fame: 1
*
He had shed the title of Beginner Farmer.
From Beginner to Subpar was an upgrade of sorts.
There were no other changes.
But what mattered was what came next.
Hae-jun shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his hand and looked into the distance.
Kururung-
As the fog receded, a new land appeared.
It was to the south.
To put it simply, the terrain of the Dimensional Farm was as follows: to the north of the farm was a dimensional passage that only Hae-jun and Mongchi could use. To the northwest was a rocky mountain where he could mine saltpeter, and the rest was all unknown space hidden by fog.
However, this time, a new space had opened up to the south.
Hae-jun moved towards the area where the fog had cleared.
Chloe and Pote were with him, having come who knows when.
“Huh? What’s that?”
[Wow! The path has finally opened.]
“A path?”
The newly opened space was a path that led somewhere.
It was like a dimensional passage.
[Yes. It’s a path that leads to the outside world.]
‘The outside world?!’
He had guessed this ever since he found Chloe.
He had thought that perhaps there were towns, cities, and countries in this world too, and that countless people lived together. However, for some reason, there was a barrier right now, and he couldn’t go outside of it.
“Where does it lead to?”
[It’s a village.]
‘I knew it.’
[It’s a very small village called Roen.]
“Roen?”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Chloe said.
[Have a good time.]
“Aren’t you coming, Pote?”
[I’m the guardian spirit of the farm. I have to stay here.]
“Then we’ll go by ourselves.”
Hae-jun and Chloe walked along the path.
After walking for about 10 minutes, they finally saw the village.
Roen was a very small rural village.
There was a town hall and a small fountain in the center of the village square, and next to it were buildings like a general store, a blacksmith shop, and a carpentry shop. It had the atmosphere of a medieval European village. The quaint wooden houses with their exotic atmosphere were impressive.
“Hae-jun, look at that.”
Chloe tugged on Hae-jun’s arm and said as they were looking around.
She ran to the front of the general store and looked at the hand-crank butter maker displayed in the window with sparkling eyes.
It was a kitchen utensil that made it easy to make butter just by turning the handle, with a gear connected to a glass jar.
“Isn’t it cool? I could easily make butter if I had that.”
In reality, he could make it easily with a machine, but on the farm, he had to make it the hard way by churning it, so it was something Chloe would covet.
He wanted to buy it, but the problem was money.
There was no way that the money from reality would be accepted here.
‘I wonder if they do barter here? Or maybe I could sell my crops.’
He thought that maybe he could sell the crops he produced here.
In fact, the general store also sold things that Hae-jun needed, like sugarcane seeds and apple tree saplings, so he wanted to somehow make a trade.
‘Let’s just go in and see what happens.’
Hae-jun opened the door to the general store and went inside.
The old man sitting at the counter, dozing off
The old man sitting at the counter, dozing off, opened his eyes.
“How much is that hand-crank butter maker?”
“3 silver.”
“How much for the sugarcane seeds?”
“50 copper for a handful.”
“And the apple tree sapling?”
“1 silver for one sapling.”
Hae-jun asked the price of various other goods, getting a sense of the market prices.
And finally,
“How much for the wheat?”
“That’s 8 silver for a sack.”
A sack that looked to be about 20kg was 8 silver.
It was quite expensive.
“Do you buy crops by any chance?”
“If the quality is good and the price is right, I wouldn’t mind.”
Hae-jun took out a handful of wheat grains that he happened to have in his pocket and showed them to the store owner.
The owner put on his magnifying glasses and examined the wheat carefully.
“This is top-quality wheat. I can give you 7 silver for a sack of this.”
It was more money than he had expected.
Hae-jun immediately returned to the farm and brought three sacks of wheat to sell at the general store.
He bought as many butter makers, sugarcane seeds, and apple saplings as he wanted, and still had 13 silver left.
As he was happily returning to the farm after leaving the general store, a middle-aged man with a hearty voice came running towards Hae-jun, looking delighted.
“Hey, you. You’re finally back!”
‘Who is he?…’
“It’s me. Me. James. You haven’t forgotten me already, have you? Hahaha.”
The man with a burly build that blocked the sunlight just by standing in front of him and a fierce face grabbed Hae-jun’s hand with his hand that was as big as a pot lid.
“Huh? J, James?”
“Oh, how disappointing. Have you forgotten me? James from the carpentry shop. When I heard Charles disappeared 5 years ago, I searched everywhere for you. So, did you find the ingredients he asked you to find? But, you’ve gotten considerably younger since I last saw you. Did you find a magic spring that turns back time? Hahaha.”
He laughed heartily to himself, spouting nonsense.
He didn’t seem like a bad person, but he had to clear up the misunderstanding.
Judging from the fact that he mentioned the name Charles, it seemed like he knew his father.
‘He must have mistaken me for my father.’
“Um… I think you’re mistaken. I’m not Charles. My name is Hae-jun.”
“Hae-jun? Er, r-really? You’re not Charles? I’m sorry. You look so much like him.”
He scratched his thick beard, looking embarrassed.
“You don’t have to apologize. Maybe… No, that man is my father.”
“Oh, I see! I thought you looked so much alike. Hahaha.”
He laughed heartily again.
He was a bit scary at first because of his bear-like size, but he seemed kind despite his appearance.
“But where’s your father?”
James seemed very curious about Hae-jun’s father, and asked with a serious expression.
However, Hae-jun didn’t know either. Or rather, he might know less about his father than this man named James.
“I lost contact with him a long time ago.”
“Hmm, I see. Where did he disappear to?”
James looked quite disappointed.
“But what did you mean by ‘the ingredients he asked you to find’?”
“Huh? What did I say?”
“The ingredients your father was looking for.”
“Oh, that? He said he was going to look for some legendary ingredients. I don’t know the details.”
“I see.”
Another lead on his father had gone cold.
“But he was crazy about cooking. Hehe, he was obsessed with it.”
“He good at cooking too.”
“Really?”
James’s eyes lit up at Chloe’s words.
“What can you make? Tonkatsu? Hamburg steak? That guy made a good steak too. He was also good at making liquor. He was a great guy. So, what can you make?”
“I can only make, well, egg sandwiches.”
He felt a bit embarrassed.
The only thing he could make was egg sandwiches.
“Oh… R-really?”
James was just as flustered.
“But even if it’s just one thing, it’s delicious!”
“Hehe. I see.”
Chloe flared up.
James, who had been watching the situation, tactfully changed the subject.
“Ahem… Talking about alcohol makes me want a drink. Let’s go have a drink. It was nice to see you. Well then… Let’s meet again sometime.”
James disappeared even faster than he had appeared.
***
“Two sets of sandwiches, please.”
“That’ll be six thousand won.”
“Here you go.”
“Please wait a moment. I’ll wrap them up for you right away.”
The female customer who had just paid for her order looked around the store curiously.
The antique atmosphere of the hall, the impressive wooden tables and chairs, and the old LPs and turntables caught her eye.
But the highlight of it all was…
“Oh my gosh, it’s so cute. Meow, what’s your name?”
It was a cat that had taken up a spot on the window sill, basking in the warm sunlight.
It attracted the attention of the female customers. It was just lying there, curled up in a chic manner, but everyone admired its fluffy white fur and cute butt.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
“It’s totally adorable. What’s its name?”
“Mongchi.”
“Can I pet it?”
“Only our boss can pet it, but you can touch it since it doesn’t bite.”
Reassured by Min-ju’s words, the customer stroked Mongchi’s head and back.
She felt the soft texture of its fur and its warm body. It felt like touching the finest duck feathers.
Most of the female customers who visited liked to pet Mongchi because of its chic appearance.
“It’s so soft.”
“Right? I was surprised too. Oh, here are your sandwiches, wrapped up.”
“Thank you. See you next time, Mongchi.”
“Have a nice day.”
The takeout customer left, and another customer entered.
“How many people?”
“Three.”
“Are you dining in?”
“No. We’re taking it to go.”
“We don’t have any seats available right now. Can you wait a bit?”
“How long do we have to wait?”
“About 10 minutes?”
Min-ju said as she quickly scanned the customers’ plates.
Sunflower’s hall was small and didn’t have many tables.
Despite it being morning, there was already a waiting line because of the rumors about how delicious the food was.
However, this wasn’t something to be overly happy about. If they were told to wait without any explanation, some customers would grumble.
After thinking for a moment, Min-ju said,
“Did you see the mural painted in front of the store? If you look to the left corner, there’s an angel’s wing. That’s a popular spot for taking selfies. You can take pictures and look around the yard. We’ll call you when it’s your turn.”
She spoke kindly.
The customer, who had been frowning slightly at the news that they had to wait, immediately brightened up.
Hae-jun, who was watching the situation from the kitchen while making sandwiches, smiled with satisfaction.
‘I think I really hit the jackpot with my part-timer.’
She could paint murals, design menus, and even had great customer service skills.
He probably wouldn’t have been able to start his business this successfully without her.
.
.
.
“Thank you, have a nice day.”
After seeing off the last customer, he put up the “CLOSE” sign.
The morning rush, which felt like a battle, was finally over.
A total of 87 customers had visited.
The sales amounted to a whopping 261,000 won.
‘At this rate, I’ll become a millionaire.’
He had exceeded his daily goal by 80% in just one day.
It wasn’t just the money, but the bright faces of the customers who thanked him for the delicious food as they left that made him feel a sense of fulfillment and a strange sense of pleasure.
‘Is this what it’s like to run a food business? It’s fun.’
It was hard, but it was fun.
It was a different feeling from when he was just selling books in the corner of a goshiwon.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
“You worked hard, Min-ju.”
“Aren’t you tired, oppa?”
“I am. But it makes me happy to see the customers leave satisfied.”
“Oh, come on. That’s… But, if we keep getting a waiting line like today, what should we do?”
“I was thinking about that too. Should we put out some chairs for people to wait on?”
“Hmm… Instead of that, the yard is spacious, so why don’t we decorate it a bit?”
“How?”
“Rooftop and terrace cafes are trendy these days. We could decorate the yard a bit and put out some tables. We’d be able to accommodate more customers that way.”
It made sense, but if he just increased the number of tables without thinking, he might not be able to handle it.
He thought it would be better to keep things as they were for now, until he got the hang of it.
“Let’s just put out some chairs in the yard for now.”
“That’s good too. But make it sentimental. That’s what’s trendy these days. Hehe.”
***
He returned to the Dimensional Farm.
He had to harvest the crops at precise times, or he wouldn’t have enough ingredients, so he diligently planted and tended to them.
“Huh? I leveled up.”
His leveling up speed was fast because he had been working hard on the farm.
*
[Cha Hae-jun] Lv. 7
Age: 25
Title: One Who Crossed Dimensions
Occupation: Subpar Farmer, Beginner Chef
Experience: 0 (0%)
Stamina: 26/35
Skill: 37
Fame: 1
*
He had shed the title of Beginner Farmer.
From Beginner to Subpar was an upgrade of sorts.
There were no other changes.
But what mattered was what came next.
Hae-jun shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his hand and looked into the distance.
Kururung-
As the fog receded, a new land appeared.
It was to the south.
To put it simply, the terrain of the Dimensional Farm was as follows: to the north of the farm was a dimensional passage that only Hae-jun and Mongchi could use. To the northwest was a rocky mountain where he could mine saltpeter, and the rest was all unknown space hidden by fog.
However, this time, a new space had opened up to the south.
Hae-jun moved towards the area where the fog had cleared.
Chloe and Pote were with him, having come who knows when.
“Huh? What’s that?”
[Wow! The path has finally opened.]
“A path?”
The newly opened space was a path that led somewhere.
It was like a dimensional passage.
[Yes. It’s a path that leads to the outside world.]
‘The outside world?!’
He had guessed this ever since he found Chloe.
He had thought that perhaps there were towns, cities, and countries in this world too, and that countless people lived together. However, for some reason, there was a barrier right now, and he couldn’t go outside of it.
“Where does it lead to?”
[It’s a village.]
‘I knew it.’
[It’s a very small village called Roen.]
“Roen?”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Chloe said.
[Have a good time.]
“Aren’t you coming, Pote?”
[I’m the guardian spirit of the farm. I have to stay here.]
“Then we’ll go by ourselves.”
Hae-jun and Chloe walked along the path.
After walking for about 10 minutes, they finally saw the village.
Roen was a very small rural village.
There was a town hall and a small fountain in the center of the village square, and next to it were buildings like a general store, a blacksmith shop, and a carpentry shop. It had the atmosphere of a medieval European village. The quaint wooden houses with their exotic atmosphere were impressive.
“Hae-jun, look at that.”
Chloe tugged on Hae-jun’s arm and said as they were looking around.
She ran to the front of the general store and looked at the hand-crank butter maker displayed in the window with sparkling eyes.
It was a kitchen utensil that made it easy to make butter just by turning the handle, with a gear connected to a glass jar.
“Isn’t it cool? I could easily make butter if I had that.”
In reality, he could make it easily with a machine, but on the farm, he had to make it the hard way by churning it, so it was something Chloe would covet.
He wanted to buy it, but the problem was money.
There was no way that the money from reality would be accepted here.
‘I wonder if they do barter here? Or maybe I could sell my crops.’
He thought that maybe he could sell the crops he produced here.
In fact, the general store also sold things that Hae-jun needed, like sugarcane seeds and apple tree saplings, so he wanted to somehow make a trade.
‘Let’s just go in and see what happens.’
Hae-jun opened the door to the general store and went inside.
The old man sitting at the counter, dozing off
The old man sitting at the counter, dozing off, opened his eyes.
“How much is that hand-crank butter maker?”
“3 silver.”
“How much for the sugarcane seeds?”
“50 copper for a handful.”
“And the apple tree sapling?”
“1 silver for one sapling.”
Hae-jun asked the price of various other goods, getting a sense of the market prices.
And finally,
“How much for the wheat?”
“That’s 8 silver for a sack.”
A sack that looked to be about 20kg was 8 silver.
It was quite expensive.
“Do you buy crops by any chance?”
“If the quality is good and the price is right, I wouldn’t mind.”
Hae-jun took out a handful of wheat grains that he happened to have in his pocket and showed them to the store owner.
The owner put on his magnifying glasses and examined the wheat carefully.
“This is top-quality wheat. I can give you 7 silver for a sack of this.”
It was more money than he had expected.
Hae-jun immediately returned to the farm and brought three sacks of wheat to sell at the general store.
He bought as many butter makers, sugarcane seeds, and apple saplings as he wanted, and still had 13 silver left.
As he was happily returning to the farm after leaving the general store, a middle-aged man with a hearty voice came running towards Hae-jun, looking delighted.
“Hey, you. You’re finally back!”
‘Who is he?…’
“It’s me. Me. James. You haven’t forgotten me already, have you? Hahaha.”
The man with a burly build that blocked the sunlight just by standing in front of him and a fierce face grabbed Hae-jun’s hand with his hand that was as big as a pot lid.
“Huh? J, James?”
“Oh, how disappointing. Have you forgotten me? James from the carpentry shop. When I heard Charles disappeared 5 years ago, I searched everywhere for you. So, did you find the ingredients he asked you to find? But, you’ve gotten considerably younger since I last saw you. Did you find a magic spring that turns back time? Hahaha.”
He laughed heartily to himself, spouting nonsense.
He didn’t seem like a bad person, but he had to clear up the misunderstanding.
Judging from the fact that he mentioned the name Charles, it seemed like he knew his father.
‘He must have mistaken me for my father.’
“Um… I think you’re mistaken. I’m not Charles. My name is Hae-jun.”
“Hae-jun? Er, r-really? You’re not Charles? I’m sorry. You look so much like him.”
He scratched his thick beard, looking embarrassed.
“You don’t have to apologize. Maybe… No, that man is my father.”
“Oh, I see! I thought you looked so much alike. Hahaha.”
He laughed heartily again.
He was a bit scary at first because of his bear-like size, but he seemed kind despite his appearance.
“But where’s your father?”
James seemed very curious about Hae-jun’s father, and asked with a serious expression.
However, Hae-jun didn’t know either. Or rather, he might know less about his father than this man named James.
“I lost contact with him a long time ago.”
“Hmm, I see. Where did he disappear to?”
James looked quite disappointed.
“But what did you mean by ‘the ingredients he asked you to find’?”
“Huh? What did I say?”
“The ingredients your father was looking for.”
“Oh, that? He said he was going to look for some legendary ingredients. I don’t know the details.”
“I see.”
Another lead on his father had gone cold.
“But he was crazy about cooking. Hehe, he was obsessed with it.”
“He good at cooking too.”
“Really?”
James’s eyes lit up at Chloe’s words.
“What can you make? Tonkatsu? Hamburg steak? That guy made a good steak too. He was also good at making liquor. He was a great guy. So, what can you make?”
“I can only make, well, egg sandwiches.”
He felt a bit embarrassed.
The only thing he could make was egg sandwiches.
“Oh… R-really?”
James was just as flustered.
“But even if it’s just one thing, it’s delicious!”
“Hehe. I see.”
Chloe flared up.
James, who had been watching the situation, tactfully changed the subject.
“Ahem… Talking about alcohol makes me want a drink. Let’s go have a drink. It was nice to see you. Well then… Let’s meet again sometime.”
James disappeared even faster than he had appeared.
