Chapter 13
Stir-Fried Potatoes (1)
The hard impact that traveled through my fingertips was so strong that my entire arm went numb.
‘I hit it perfectly!’
The moment I was sure of that, cold sweat ran down my back.
“Crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch?”
The head I had smashed with the kimchi jar lid caved in as if it had been crushed. Its shape was obviously twisted, but the evil spirit didn’t look hurt at all.
Instead, it kept chewing kimchi while mumbling,
“Crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch?”
‘Did I really hit it?’
I stared at the strange creature in disbelief. Its mouth was still moving perfectly fine.
It felt like I had just hit an idiot…
“…Maybe I shouldn’t have hit it?”
“Why hurt it and then feel sorry, nya?”
“No, it’s just… I suddenly feel guilty…”
No.
Wait.
Why should I feel guilty? It didn’t eat just one bite.
The evil spirit had overturned every kimchi jar it could find, stuffing kimchi into its mouth without stopping.
Every empty jar had wilted cabbage leaves scattered inside. The radish from the dongchimi was split in half, lying on the ground like a cold corpse.
“Crunch?”
At least it had left Grandma’s gochujang and doenjang alone. Since they weren’t actual food, it seemed to have ignored them.
“Crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch!”
The sound of chewing echoed nonstop.
“How much can you eat?!”
“Crunch crunch crunch?”
It blinked at me as if asking what the problem was.
Meanwhile, the kimchi jar had almost been completely emptied.
“…Wow.”
I was speechless.
Like someone who had just been hit on the back of the head, I stared blankly at the now-empty jar.
“Crunch crunch crunch?”
“What? You’re saying thanks for letting you clean out the whole jar?”
“Crunch crunch crunch!”
It looked at me while carefully chewing the last bit of kimchi in its mouth.
It was unbelievably irritating.
“Haetae. What kind of evil spirit is this? An eating spirit?”
Haetae muttered seriously beside me.
“It’s an evil spirit that loves food, nya.”
“An evil spirit that loves food?”
“Have you ever heard the saying ‘possessed by a starving ghost,’ nya?”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s exactly what it is, nya. An evil spirit that eats endlessly like a starving ghost. It’s called a Golgeui (Starving Ghost), nya.”
I looked back at the starving ghost.
It was licking every last drop of kimchi juice from the jar.
Bright red juice ran from its mouth down its neck, but it didn’t care.
“Hungry… hungry… hungry… hungry…”
After finishing everything it could eat, the starving ghost began whining at me like a spoiled child.
“Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!”
Haetae explained from my arms.
“It’s saying the food was delicious, nya.”
“You can understand it?”
Haetae nodded.
Sighing, I remembered the side dish order I had just received.
‘I need to make the stir-fried potatoes…’
But first I had to harvest an S-Rank potato from the Divine Garden.
That meant digging up potatoes and sorting through them.
“Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!”
Would this starving ghost really be satisfied with just one bowl?
“How much does a starving ghost eat?”
“It’ll leave on its own once it’s full, nya.”
“Really? But we don’t know how much food it’ll take before it’s full.”
“I’ve never actually met one before either, nya.”
“This is my first time seeing any evil spirit.”
So nobody knew how much it would eat.
“I’ve heard starving ghosts died from starvation and now endlessly devour food because of that, nya.”
“…Oh?”
So maybe it kept saying it was hungry because it had died without ever getting enough to eat.
“Boss of Hyangsuk’s Side Dish Shop!”
I was sure I had already closed the shop.
Hearing someone call me, I hurried back inside, leaving the starving ghost behind.
The customer was none other than Grandma Kim Myung-ja.
“Welcome, Grandma!”
As I greeted her warmly, she smiled brightly.
“I came to buy some side dishes, but you weren’t here. I almost went home.”
“What would you like today?”
“I heard everyone talking about how amazing your grilled deodeok is, so I came.”
“Everyone?”
“Of course! They were saying your grilled deodeok melts in your mouth like ice cream.”
So that’s the rumor spreading now.
“Have there been people who didn’t like the food?”
“Hmm…”
She lowered her voice.
“There were people who were… suspicious.”
“Oh…”
So there were people who doubted my cooking.
As Grandma Kim handed me three packs of grilled deodeok, she tilted her head.
“Who’s that little kid standing by your back door?”
“…A little kid?”
A kid?
I turned around.
Standing in the wide-open back doorway was the starving ghost, drooling while mumbling,
“Hungry… hungry…”
‘Why is it standing there?’
“Looks like the child is hungry. Who is he?”
“Oh… that’s my cousin.”
“Your cousin? Taking care of the shop and a little cousin must be hard.”
She paid for the three packs of grilled deodeok and left happily.
“I’ll be going. The construction will be finished soon, so come by for some bread then.”
“Yes! Take care!”
I watched her disappear before slowly turning back.
“Starving Ghost.”
So humans saw it as…
…a little child.
“A child?”
To me, it still looked like the starving ghost.
“It must have been a child just before it became an evil spirit, nya.”
“So humans only see a little kid.”
“That’s right, nya.”
That explained why it threw childish tantrums.
“Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!”
It became even louder.
I folded my arms.
“Haetae. Can this evil spirit enter the Divine Garden too?”
“It can, nya.”
“It can’t… huh?”
I thought I had misheard.
“That’s how a god’s domain works, nya. But don’t let it eat anything growing in the garden.”
“Oh?”
“The mountain god made that garden. If an evil spirit eats its crops, it’ll get hurt, nya.”
I looked at the starving ghost.
So it could enter the Divine Garden, but it couldn’t eat or touch anything growing there.
‘Hmm…’
Looking at the ghost, who was almost lying flat on the ground, I spoke firmly.
“If you keep shouting, I’m not giving you any stir-fried potatoes.”
“Hungry… hung—?”
“That’s right. Throwing a tantrum won’t help.”
I looked it straight in the eyes.
“Sit in the chair.”
“Hungry… hungry…”
The starving ghost quietly sat down.
I carefully explained why I couldn’t make the potatoes immediately.
“I want to cook your favorite stir-fried potatoes, but I can’t leave the shop right now. There’s no one to watch it while I’m gone.”
“People… people?”
“Yeah. So wait just a little. I’ll make you the most delicious stir-fried potatoes you’ve ever had.”
“Potatoes… potatoes…”
The starving ghost looked up at me with round eyes full of suspicion.
“I’m not lying.”
I held out my little finger.
“If you don’t believe me, shall we make a pinky promise?”
“…Potatoes.”
After hesitating, it cautiously wrapped its damp little finger around mine.
Looking at its wet hand, I smiled.
“Promise.”
‘Seasoned bean sprouts… bracken… the seasoned vegetables are selling the fastest…’
I organized everything on my phone—the best-selling side dishes, the slower ones, and what customers had requested.
‘They also wanted stir-fried sausages, soy-braised beef, fish cake stir-fry…’
I’ll ask for the sausages and fish cakes from the refrigerator later.
The rest I can harvest from the Divine Garden.
“Potatoes? Potatoes?”
After waiting so long, the starving ghost tugged on my apron.
“Ready to go to the Divine Garden?”
“Potatoes! Potatoes! Potatoes! Potatoes! Potatoes! Potatoes!”
Excited, it hurried toward the back door.
Haetae, who was already waiting outside, opened one eye.
“Even evil spirits can enter the Divine Garden now. Times really have changed, nya.”
His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Potatoes?”
“What? Are you calling me old, nya?”
“Potatoes!”
“You think smiling will get you out of this? Hmph, nya.”
Haetae walked into the Divine Garden on his short little legs.
The starving ghost looked at me for permission.
“You can go.”
“Potatoes!”
The moment I gave permission, it happily rushed inside.
As soon as I entered…
“Potatoes… potatoes… potatoes…”
Had it already touched something?
The starving ghost was lying on the ground, crying in pain while rubbing its tongue.
“Ow… ow…”
‘It really is just like a child.’
“Is it okay to leave it like that?”
“It’ll recover after some time, nya.”
Since time itself acted like medicine here, I left it alone and pulled my work gloves from my apron pocket.
Normally, potatoes are harvested about ninety to a hundred days after sprouting.
But when I looked at the potato field…
“What are all these potatoes…?”
The field was enormous.
“What…? Dubaek potatoes, Baron potatoes, Russet potatoes, Haryeong potatoes, Goun potatoes, Saebong potatoes, Sumi potatoes, Daeseo potatoes, Chubaek potatoes, Seohong potatoes, Daeji potatoes, Jayeong potatoes… They’re all here?”
I stood there in a daze.
It looked like every major potato variety had gathered in one place.
‘This isn’t a potato field… it’s a potato exhibition.’
Dubaek potatoes were fluffy and perfect for stir-fried potatoes.
But before harvesting them, I had a question.
“Why are there so many different potato varieties?”
“As civilization advances, the garden evolves too, nya.”
So the Divine Garden updated itself with newer crop varieties as time passed.
It refused to fall behind modern agriculture.
“…Let’s start digging.”
“Potatoes?”
The starving ghost, who had been crying in pain just moments ago, was suddenly standing beside me.
“Watch carefully.”
“Potatoes?”
“This is how you harvest potatoes.”
The moment I pulled away the black plastic sheet, thick potato vines appeared.
I grabbed the stem by the roots and pulled.
Rustle—
Clusters of potatoes came out together.
I brushed the dirt off one by one and placed them into a blue basket.
Then I reached into the soil.
As I pushed the dirt aside, more potatoes kept appearing.
[Excellent-Tasting Potato (A)]
[Reliable Basic Potato (B)]
[Excellent-Tasting Potato (A)]
[Excellent-Tasting Potato (A)]
The problem was…
No matter how many I harvested, more kept appearing.
I filled one blue basket.
Then another.
Yet…
“Why aren’t there any S-Rank potatoes?!”
I pointed at the basket that I had reserved for S-Rank potatoes.
It was completely empty.
Seeing my frustration, Haetae glanced at the basket and grinned.
“Keep trying a little harder, nya.”
“At this rate, the stir-fried potatoes are going to be late…”
Before I could finish speaking…
A dark, chilling presence crawled up my spine.
I looked up.
The starving ghost tore its mouth wide open.
Its jaws split apart, forming a gigantic hole of darkness that looked as though it could swallow every bit of light in the world.
“Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!”
The overwhelming roar poured out like a blast of pure energy, leaving my mind completely blank.
