WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Incarnation of the Malevolent Star ◈

Chapter 39: Part 1 - Whispers of the Dark Brother (39)

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#39.

Like every viewer previously invited to 「Let's Play with Onik!」, the members of Truffle Candy were genuinely delighted by the country boy's cooking.

"Wow, this is really delicious! The meat is great, but the broth is delicate and savory, and most of all, it has so much depth!

Even though it's hot out, I keep reaching for another spoonful! Our Onik is such a good cook!"

"Thank you for the compliment! Please eat lots! Isn't it common sense that every Korean, regardless of age or gender, should finish at least one whole chicken per meal?"

"Huh? Is it? That sounds very different from the common sense I know."

"Really? That's strange. Are you perhaps a spy, noona? Your common sense is different from mine, so you seem suspicious!"

"Ahaha! What is that supposed to mean?"

"Viewers! Remember! Report spies by calling 111!

If someone who can't eat a whole chicken in one meal claims to be Korean, you have to be suspicious! You absolutely must!"

In the warm, cheerful atmosphere, the late-career idol group members enjoyed their meal to their hearts' content.

It was something they would never have dared imagine at either their company or their dorm. Managing their weight was a contractual obligation for idols.

Their meals became even more meager when they attended outside events.

Weight management was the official reason, but cutting costs mattered more in reality.

Things were different now.

Normally, the producer would have stepped in to rein in the members' appetites. Now, he did nothing but occasionally let his displeasure show.

That was because Legal Hunter, who held the upper hand in their business relationship, had made a firm demand in advance.

「It's good that the young ladies are coming, but they can't put on airs or just pick at their food when it's time to eat! They all need to eat as heartily as they can!

I want viewers to look at them and immediately think, 'Wow, that must be really delicious!' Okay?」

Legal Hunter had not forced that demand on Truffle Candy's agency simply to get good material for the broadcast.

'That's right! They can't just nibble at it! Absolutely not! This is marketing that'll turn into money later!'

The hunter was greedy.

The local native chickens had value as future business ventures, for when he opened restaurants such as 「Hapless Chief Fried Chicken」, 「Hapless Chief Samgyetang」, and 「Hapless Chief Dakgalbi」.

The subsidiary jointly owned by him and Onik was also considering commercializing the sake lees and dishes made with them.

Either way, it would help to build awareness among potential customers in advance.

'Besides, the odds may be incredibly low, but these young ladies could suddenly make it big someday, as if by magic, right?

If that happens, just how great will the marketing effect of the videos we're filming now be? It'll be the perfect chance to buy low!'

To the hunter, an idol group that had yet to make it big was like a lottery ticket.

There was a reason more and more people bought lottery tickets every day, no matter how low the chances of winning.

There was luck in this world that only came into one's hands after one reached out and grabbed it.

If you were given the chance to scratch a lottery ticket, why would you not scratch it?

So the hunter watched the late-career idols eating with such gusto, his eyes full of satisfaction.

'That's it! Exactly! Aren't they adorable? They must have been starved half to death. Look at them eating so heartily!'

It was good for the late-career idols, too.

It was not only that they could eat as much delicious food as they wanted. Few things made it as easy to secure each person's share of screen time as a mukbang and food review.

Ye-seul, the third member, set her sights on the hunter, who was giving off waves of devoted uncle-fan energy.

"This meat is really springy! Onik's skill is part of it, but the ingredients themselves seem unbelievably good. It's completely different from every native chicken I've had before!"

"Ho ho ho. Is that so?"

"Yes! Every one I've had before was just tough, but the owners always told me native chicken was naturally like that!

But this, wow! It has a bounce and chewiness completely different from being tough. This feels like what real native chicken is supposed to be! Why is there such a huge difference?"

The marketing lottery ticket in the form of a female idol was delivering ideal lines without even being asked.

Pleased, Legal Hunter chuckled and answered with all the gentleness he could muster.

"That's because those owners used spent hens."

"Spent hens? What are those?"

"Chickens so old they can't lay eggs anymore."

"Ah..."

"If they use laying hens that are old and have even molted as ingredients, even a Blue House chef probably couldn't save the dish.

If you simmer one long enough, though, the broth will be rich and excellent."

"Then have I been getting scammed all this time?"

"Rather than calling it a scam, let's say those owners compromised with reality a little too much.

There is no easier way to serve native chicken while keeping prices low than to slaughter spent hens."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Native chickens grow more slowly than broilers, and their feed costs are higher, so the basic cost of raising them is more than double that of broilers.

On top of that, demand is only a fraction of demand for broilers, so the distribution network is very small. And because the network is so small, distribution costs double."

"I see... Then all the native chicken sold at regular restaurants must be those spent hens?"

"No. There are always exceptions."

"Please tell me how to find those exceptions! Please!"

"It's simple. Find a restaurant run by a generous, conscientious building owner."

"Ah, a building owner..."

Not only Ye-seul, but the other members listening in deflated at once.

In the chat, viewers flooded the screen with laughter and praise for building owners.

"Otherwise, you have no choice but to seek out proper places among the restaurants that charge a proper price...

But people avoid those genuine establishments because they think the prices are too high, so they usually have trouble surviving for long.

That is why I think only famous restaurants with long traditions and broad recognition remain."

"That's sad. Whatever the reason, it means our native chickens are becoming less accessible to ordinary people..."

"You know how they say there is only one restaurant in Jeju that sells real Jeju black pork? It's a similar sort of story."

As he spoke, the hunter was working his mental calculator.

'I'll get supplies directly from the source, so I won't have to worry about distribution costs. And I'll market it solely through the YouTube channel Onik and I own, so advertising expenses will practically be zero!

At first, I'll run only a few company-owned stores, use genuine native chicken, and become popular as a conscientious, good-value restaurant...'

After making that initial investment to lure people in, he would finally begin the real business.

Since when had franchises ever been businesses aimed at consumers?

They were businesses where you squeezed franchise owners dry and pulled out money.

'Heh heh. They say franchise headquarters make so much money these days through startup loans?

I've honestly been jealous of banks, making money just sitting there. Who says I can't do the same thing?'

The business model that caught the hunter's attention was one set by a certain all-you-can-eat pork rib franchise.

First, it borrowed money from a state-owned bank at low interest under the pretext of facility development costs, then lent that money to a subsidiary.

That subsidiary then lent it to franchise owners at annual interest rates above ten percent. It was an exceptionally desirable profit-making model.

What impressed him even more was how they collected repayment on those loans.

Whenever franchise owners bought mandatory food supplies, the principal and interest were forcibly included in the purchase price!

When the hunter first encountered that ingenious idea while diligently studying to become an even better businessman, he was almost moved.

'How can someone be so clever! Amazing! I knew not just anyone could make big money!'

Still, the hunter had no intention of creating an exploitation structure as harsh as those clever pioneers had.

'The idea is excellent, but if you do it that way, the geese laying golden eggs die too quickly...

You have to let the geese breathe so they can survive. Then the number of franchises will grow, and more money will come in over the long term! Long enough for my children to keep receiving it after I die of old age!'

Why was the hunter so fervent about making money?

It was for his wife and children.

That was why he had no plans to gouge franchise owners through exclusive supply contracts with affiliated companies, as most mainstream franchises did.

He would also set the interest rate on startup funds lent by headquarters at roughly the same level owners could get from second-tier financial institutions on fairly good terms, and he intended to refrain from forcibly collecting principal and interest.

Nor did he plan to siphon money out of the subsidiary under the name of advertising fees.

Advertising through the YouTube channel would be provided free to franchise owners.

That way, the business would last until his children's generation, and he would not get smacked on the head by the village's most senior elder.

If he appeared in the news for ruthlessly exploiting owners and making them weep tears of blood, he might get more than a smack on the head. He might receive a beating with a club.

Still, the hunter thought:

'Wouldn't it be within reason to let them get “kind loans” through connections at local cooperatives? Then even if franchise owners go bankrupt, the losses can be passed on to the cooperative!'

The owners would be happy because they could borrow at low interest, and headquarters would be happy because it could avoid the risk of their bankruptcy.

Business was originally done with other people's money.

He only needed to collude with a good-natured cooperative chairman and carefully design the collateral arrangements and debt circulation.

What a conscientious businessman he was, doing this much in such a business-friendly country!

The hunter truly had no shame.

He was determined to succeed, and as long as he did, there would be no problem.

He simply wanted to prepare for even the remotest possibility.

Even if he caused losses to the local cooperative, it would be enough if he contributed even more to local development.

(The hunter did not care if the cooperative's central association in Seoul had to shoulder the financial burden. They were simply other people.)

'Someone as honest as me naturally deserves to be rewarded! Onik! Let's become rich together!'

Legal Hunter gazed at his young business partner, who had made all these plans possible, with eyes full of affection, all while imagining the beating he would receive if old Jo Jeong-ho ever read his mind.

To the Truffle Candy members, who knew nothing of the circumstances, the hunter's affection looked like nothing more than the pure warmth of the countryside...

Not even Se-ra, the leader, was an exception.

'We only met today, but from everything I've seen, I can tell they're truly good people... So good that I feel ashamed of myself.'

The hunter's wife, who took on the role of camerawoman whenever needed, showed no discomfort whatsoever despite her husband being among young, pretty women.

Perhaps because of her firm faith in her husband, she simply smiled now and then with satisfaction or amusement.

「Our Onik is spending time with pretty noonas today? Enjoy your meal.」

TTS played from a smartphone. The hunter's wife happened to be looking at the broadcast screen, checked the username, and told the country boy.

"Onik! Teacher Lee Eun-jeong is here!"

The country boy brightened and rose from his seat.

His face lit up so brightly it seemed to sparkle.

"Hello, teacher! Thank you for coming again today! Please enjoy watching!"

The boy greeted her eagerly and bowed deeply from the waist, his kind, innocent appearance making everyone who saw him smile.

Only Se-ra felt darker and more miserable as she watched the same sight.

Perhaps noticing her mood, So-rin, the second member beside her, secretly poked Se-ra in the side.

Then she quietly whispered in her ear.

"Unni, what's wrong? Are you sick? You've been so quiet."

"Huh? Ah, no. I'm fine. I was just lost in thought for a moment."

"You can't be lost in thought right now! Smile, smile! Keep the chatter going too! Eat lots!"

"Okay. I understand. Thanks for looking out for me."

As though pushed along, Se-ra moved her chopsticks.

It was a dish that had not yet been reviewed on air, light-colored karaage fried in a cauldron full of oil.

'...It's delicious.'

The fried chicken the boy had made in two batches, carefully adjusting the cauldron's temperature between low and high heat, tasted surprisingly light.

Its flavor was also unlike any other karaage she had eaten.

"Onik, even though this is fried food, it tastes so fresh. The aroma is unique too, and I love it! How do you make it taste like this?"

"First, it's important to fry it in two stages, at low and high temperatures, for different lengths of time. And if you mix the right amount of sake lees into the batter, it cuts down the greasy taste even more!"

"You've been saying sake lees, sake lees all day. What is it?"

"It's the leftover sediment from straining liquor! It's leftovers, but I heard it's nutritious!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes! In Japan, they use it in lots of different ways in cooking!

There are sake lees cheesecakes! They even fry the sake lees on their own and eat them! They put it in all kinds of bread! They also put it in batter for fried food like karaage!

But I don't think Korea has that same variety of uses, so I'm trying every Japanese method one by one first! There are so, so many recipes!"

"No wonder it tasted special. So this is what food in Japan tastes like?"

"Ah, not exactly! The sake lees taste completely different! If you just use Japanese recipes, it tastes a little strange!

So I practiced a lot to make this! The village elders ate a lot of it for me!"

"I guess sake lees aren't all the same?"

"That's right! There are lots of differences between Japan and Korea! Even in Korea, every house that brews liquor has different tastes and aromas!

The nuruk is different, and the brewing methods are different! They say that even if you use the same method, it tastes different depending on the season!"

"Wow, then this is a special taste you can only experience here? It really suits this noona's taste!"

"Yes! It's a unique flavor from our village! You can't have it anywhere else! I'm glad it suits your taste!

Please eat lots and lots! Later, I'll make you cheesecake and gije tteok with sake lees too!"

"Hehe, thank you!"

Sake lees were another business venture the hunter had his eye on.

Since they were commercializing the ceremonial liquor from the head family anyway, how good would it be to commercialize the byproduct too?

At places that brewed liquor commercially in large quantities, sake lees were usually sold cheaply as animal feed.

The hunter's goal was to sell them to people and maximize profits.

The lunch mukbang, where city people and country people mingled, laughed, and chatted happily, suddenly became solemn near the end.

At the center of that sudden solemnity was the country boy.

The boy placed an upside-down cauldron lid over a brick stove and poured oil into it.

Then he quietly addressed the people gathered in a circle.

"From now on, I will make a fried egg from what was once the freshest egg in the world... Everyone, please observe a moment of silence..."

Some time had passed since they took the egg from the dead chicken's belly.

So it was only right to change the description "the freshest egg in the world" to the past tense.

「Tap!」

Onik struck the egg against the edge of the cauldron lid, then split the shell open over the oil.

「Sizzle-!」

As the egg cooked as though it were being deep-fried, the hunter and the girl group members wore gloomy expressions, their hands folded demurely like people attending a funeral.

They had not planned it together. It was spontaneous acting that came naturally.

The viewers burst out laughing.

「It's so funny how the mood suddenly got solemn lol」

「What are these people even doing lol」

「Do you think the chick and mother hen will forgive you for this?」

「I will curse you, humans!」

「The funniest part is that they're still going to eat it lol」

A little later, the country boy used a spatula to lift out the fried egg.

"Everyone. The dish you have been waiting for is complete... Now, let us eat it with grateful hearts."

The boy, the hunter, and the four girl group members all broke apart one small fried egg and nibbled it with wistful expressions, creating the highlight of that day's lunch mukbang.

Se-ra, who had put at least a little sincerity into the act, apologized in her heart to the chick that had never been born.

'I'm sorry, little chick.'

For some reason, it felt as though the chick answered her.

「It's okay, punk. As long as you enjoyed it.」

The imaginary chick's cool reply brought back memories of a certain famous MMORPG that Se-ra had enjoyed before becoming a trainee.

That game, which had presented itself as a fantasy life, had included a scene almost identical to this one...

Se-ra thought that if she could only return to those bright, beautiful days, she would never choose this exhausting, dark path again...

Of course, she would not play that game again, either.

Its main scenario had become more fragmented with every passing day, while content was abandoned.

The pressure to spend money only intensified.

And the game friends who left one by one because of it had hurt young Se-ra's heart...

Sniff.

#

The first day of their joint broadcast with the country boy had been a continuous string of moments far more comforting and healing than the Truffle Candy members had expected.

They sat in the daecheong hall of an antique hanok designated as a heritage structure and listened to the country boy's grandfather tell interesting old stories about an independence fighter.

They walked along a path full of nameless flowers beneath pretty parasols made from bamboo strips covered in hanji paper.

They played guitar, sang, and ate watermelon with their feet in a cool babbling stream beneath the shade of chestnut trees, while refreshing valley winds rustled the branches.

They worked up an appetite through exciting water play and fishing, then tasted the tangy, moist cheesecake the country boy had baked in a mold inside a cauldron.

(The sake lees cheesecake had not been a lie. It was truly moist and delicious! So delicious it felt like two people could eat it, die, and not even notice!)

They performed the group's songs and choreography before the village elders gathered at the boy's house, then heard the pleased elders call them pretty.

After dancing, they filled their emptied stomachs again with beef, leafy wraps, and sake lees pajeon.

For dessert, they ate soft steamed gije tteok, grilled golden brown and dipped in jocheong syrup.

They played tag with the country boy, whose hearing was unusually sharp, always serving as the seeker with his eyes covered.

(They scored points according to the order in which people were caught, and the last-place person had to perform a penalty.

But the boy practically flew around even with his eyes covered, so no one managed to escape despite playing several games.)

They gathered in the backyard of the boy's house and chatted about this and that while looking up at the moon and stars above the jar terrace.

Finally, each of them lit a falling-flower torch and enjoyed a simple rope firework display.

It had been a day without a single chance to feel hungry or bored, from beginning to end.

Legal Hunter's greed had certainly played a major part in it, but it was a day utterly faithful to the purpose of 「Let's Play with Onik!」, which was to brighten viewers' holidays.

After taking turns washing up, the Truffle Candy members laid out bedding in the guest room, where the air conditioner blew cool air, and sank into a languid happiness.

Only the eldest member, who had become strangely quiet, was an exception. The darkness of the unlit room concealed the leader's darkness.

The other three members whispered to one another as though they were dreaming.

"Today was really nice..."

"I know. I wish tomorrow and the day after could be just like today. It's been so, so long since I was this happy."

"Exactly. This is so relaxing. Ah, I almost want to just stay and live here. I'm scared the contrast will hit me hard when we go back... I feel like I'll get suicidal urges..."

"..."

Their quiet conversation naturally drifted to the country boy.

He had made that much of an impression.

He was the kind of child who made anything fun when you did it with him. A child who constantly filled the people around him with life and positive energy.

"What do I do? I like Onik so much. It's only been one day, but I think I'll miss him terribly when we go back. I might cry when we part after two more days..."

"His character is so unique, isn't it? He's kind, lively, funny, and unbelievably smart, but also really quirky. Isn't he the one with the talent to become an idol?"

"Come on. He'd do well no matter what he did, not just as an idol."

"But Onik's abilities are kind of abnormal!

The way he caught fish barehanded earlier, no matter how many times I think about it, it makes no sense!

I seriously thought some comedy manga protagonist had torn through the page and stepped into reality!"

Catching fish barehanded had been the unbelievable feat the country boy showed during 「Beat Jo Onik!」, which they had improvised while fishing in the stream.

The four girl group members and Hapless Chief had used fine-meshed scoop nets, while the country boy caught fish barehanded. They competed by the number of fish caught.

Despite those disadvantageous conditions, the country boy scooped up fish with a swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, and claimed first place by an overwhelming score.

Viewers who saw scenes that could not possibly have been staged were utterly baffled.

「How is that even possible?」

「What is this? Is it a bug?」

And what about the tag game they played with the boy's eyes covered?

He moved so deftly that it was hard to believe his eyes had truly been covered.

So-rin, the second member, had been so flabbergasted that she asked him this.

「Onik, have you seen the horror movie A Quiet Place? There are creatures like you in it. Creatures with super sharp hearing.」

「I haven't! I don't really like horror movies!」

「Really? That's too bad...」

Remembering the extraordinary country boy's amazing feats, the idols giggled.

"Don't you think Onik will grow up to be really handsome? You can already see how handsome he'll be from his face now."

At So-rin's words, Ye-seul, the third member, agreed.

"I know. As long as growing up doesn't ruin his looks, he'll be incredibly popular. He's got so much charm too. He's smart, his English is practically at a native level, and he's already good at making money..."

So-rin spoke in a tone that did not sound entirely like a joke.

"Haah... If I were five or six years younger, I might seriously have made a move."

Se-ra, who had only quietly listened to her younger members talk, felt her heart drop at that point.

She had had a separate conversation with the producer before going to bed, which made her heart sink even further.

The youngest member, unaware of what her eldest unni was feeling, teased her second unni.

"Unni. I trust you, but... you still can't commit a crime, okay?"

"Do you think I would?"

"You might?"

"Jang Ye-seul. Hit her for me."

"Huh? Why is this coming back to me?"

"I'm the unni, and you're stuck in the middle. Our Ye-seul is a good girl, right?"

"Ah..."

As the conversation went on, the members gradually spoke less and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Only Se-ra could not fall asleep easily.

During the day, the country boy's liveliness had rubbed off on her enough that the dark impulse had come less often.

But once such a dim, quiet time arrived, her pathological depression crawled out from a deep cave inside her heart and raised its head like a viper.

That viper bit down hard on Yu Se-ra's consciousness and would not let go.

Poison continued to spread from the bite.

That poison was the urge to take her own life.

"..."

Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes.

The twenty-three-year-old idol, who kept tossing and turning without sleep, eventually sat up and sighed.

Looking at her younger members sleeping soundly beneath the faint light entering through the papered sliding door, she sighed again.

She could not remember the last time she had seen them sleeping so happily.

At their dorm, at least one of them had nightmares every night and woke the others.

'...I should get some air.'

She felt that if she stayed like this, she would only become more depressed, so Se-ra decided to go outside.

Perhaps she would feel a little better if she listened to the trees rustling and looked at the pretty twinkling stars.

Se-ra quietly opened and closed the papered sliding door, stepped into the yard in her pajamas, and blankly looked up at the sky.

How long had she stood there?

"Ahem!"

The country boy was imitating his respected grandfather's throat-clearing.

Se-ra startled and turned around.

"O-Onik?"

"Yes! I'm Jo Onik!"

The country boy glanced sideways at Se-ra, then lowered his gaze before approaching in quick little steps and standing beside her.

"Noona, I guess you can't sleep?"

"Y-Yeah... What about you, Onik? Why are you out here instead of sleeping?"

"I usually go to bed late! I've needed little sleep since I was little for some reason! These days, I need even less!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Grandpa worries about it, but I'm completely fine! I'm very healthy, so I've never caught a cold even once!

So I usually study at this hour! I get up at dawn to study too!"

"Onik, you're really amazing... You live so diligently every day. I'm surprised."

"Thank you for the compliment!"

After that, silence settled between them for a while.

Se-ra felt awkward.

She thought she should say something, but she did not know what to say.

So it was the extraordinary country boy who broke the silence first.

"Noona! There's something I've wanted to ask you since this afternoon!"

"Hm? Something you want to ask? Me?"

"Yes! I'm really curious, so I hope you'll answer honestly! You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but you can't lie!"

"Uh... O-Okay. I'll listen first."

Se-ra nodded without much thought, never expecting the question that followed.

In a serious voice, slightly lower than before, the country boy asked:

"Noona. Are you thinking about suicide?"

"...!"

At the question, Se-ra widened her eyes and turned to the boy.

It was an instinctive reaction, slipping out because she was so startled.

The boy glanced at her. His eyes, filled with a black gleam, lingered on Se-ra longer than before, then fell away.

"I see."

The frightening boy had already heard the answer he had been seeking.

Footnotes:

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