The Strange Restaurant (1)
Itâs been 30 years since monsters appeared on Earth.
Around the same time people had been awakened with supernatural abilities and were being called the Awakened. There was no specific reason behind why these had happened, however the sky had split open and the monsters had suddenly appeared.
Nowadays it has been decided that it is to be called a âdimensional gapâ. A passage which had appeared from a world from another dimension and so that worldâs monsters had trespassed onto Earth.
The Awakened were what could face the monsters.
The world shattered and nations collapsed. A lot of people died and under such circumstances time passed.
The Awakened combined their strengths, and responded by laying down roots of a new civilisation and thus Earth entered a new era.
During that process, the world became more and more stable and regained some semblance of peace.
As it became bearable to live the culture of the past came back. Cafes, pubs, motels, markets andâŠâŠ
[A 4th Class monster, the Belto Muli, has appeared at the Seodaemun intersection!]
[Itâs an emergency warning!]
[The current dispatched Awakened is sir âKim Sang-hu,the Machangsa together with team âJenkarkâ.]
The radio told the news loudly.
If it was a Belto that meant it was a giant ostrich-type monster. Its size was really big and it was extremely ferocious and so it was a monster that even the Awakened had difficulties with.
In the group of Awakened running towards Seodaemun, there was a male who was in the lead rushing and holding a long spear. He was one of South Koreaâs five guardians. 2and Class Awakened, Kim SangHu.
As the spear he was holding got covered with a strange aura,the spear grew to ten times its previous size at least. Then he looked towards the Beltos.
Above the buildings, long heads showed their faces.
One, two, three âŠâŠ a total of 10! An ostrich head with a long neck that couldnât be mistaken could be seen from afar. Although the problem was that it was excessively big.
âDamn, why is there suddenly a belto.â
Kim Sang-hu spat out curses and deeply sighed. Then he gathered his strength to throw the spear held in his right hand.
A roar was heard. At the same time the beltosâ heads in the distance disappeared one by one.
One of the Awakened following behind cried out.
âUhâŠâŠ Boss! All the belto bastards died?â
Kim Sang-hu and the raid team Zenkark defended Seodaemun.
They hadnât heard anything about any stronger Awakener being deployed at Seodaemun.
Then who dealt with the beltos?
Kim Sang-Hu who hastily ran towards where the beltos had fallen couldnât help but have his mouth wide open.
They were dead. They were certainly not breathing. Also, each of their bellies were cut out.
It was unbelievable. All 10 of the beltos were dead but the person who killed them couldnât be seen. Besides, looking at the speed in which they were killed, at least a military unit of ability users must have been deployed.
However, there was no one.
âIsnât this that Blade Queen? I think she wreaked havoc in other peopleâs areas to get some achievements under her name?â
âIf itâs her she got placed near Hongdae. And also sheâs this strong? That makes no sense.â
The Awakened Association attached a code name to each person once theyâre a Rank 2 ability user. It could kind of be seen as nicknames, but Blade Queen and Kim Sang-hu were Class 2 ability users who were always squabbling.
Kim Sang-huchewed on his lips.
âWhat shall we do Boss?â
Right away he shook his head.
âPut up the statwment that we killed it. Thereâs no other alternative as whoever killed it.â
Kim Sang-hucarefully examined the fallen belto corpses.
At the top of each of their heads there were traces of a deep blow.
That meant one blow was used to kill the belto. In his thoughts, no matter the method, there was no Awakened who could do this.
âExactlyâŠâŠ Who is this?â
The ranks of the Awakened go from Class 10 to Class 1.
You could see it as having awakened a stronger ability as the number grew smaller. In Kim SangHuâs thoughts, even Awakeners classified as class 1 could not deal with beltos this quickly.
Existences that have awakened abilities above class 1 were declared as âClass 0â but the meaning of that was that the amazingness of the ability could not be judged.
However, a class 0 has yet to appear.
That was not the only suspicious thing.
Near each monsterâs heart there was a thing called a âMagongsokâ. That Majongsok was a product that sold at a high price due to its usage as energy.
These beltos definitely had Majongsoks but the Majongsoks were untouched. Why was the belly flesh cut out? Was there a reason for it?
âFor nowâŠâŠ Collect the Majongsoks and contact headquarters to call for the Corpse Disposal Squad.â
The Majongsoks would go to headquarters and the monster corpse would be slaughtered and go to the markets. Domestic animals such as cows and pigs were hard to come across these days so monster meat was quite the excellent cooking ingredient compromise.
Somehow a gloomy wind was blowing.
Kim Sang-hulooked at the surrounding buildings. The buildings were partially destroyed and collapsed but luckily the area where theVbeltos fell was where there were no residents.
He let out a breath. But suddenly, his attention went towards a shabby shop.
A restaurant?Thatâs absurd.
He smirked and shook his head.
âThe owner is lucky.â
If the beltos had fallen in the opposite direction the restaurant wouldâve been completely destroyed by the corpses of the beltos.
He gave the work to his lackeys and left via an alleyway. He had no thoughts about eating. All he had on his mind was to drink some beer.
The man opened his closed eyes at the sounds of the sparrowsâ chirping. While yawning lazily and scratching his belly, he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. In no time the morning sun had risen.
This place still had the smell of the past. Thatâs why the man liked it
After opening the door he lifts his neck towards the sky and closes his eyes slightly. Being warmed by the sun, the sleepiness went away and vitality gradually filled him up.
The man turned his eyes away and looked at his store.
He lit his cigarette during that time and went back inside his store and stood in front of the kitchen.
On top of the rectangular board, a stove embedded with 4 pinky nail sized Majongsoks.
This was one of the new kitchen utensils made out of Majongsoks. The man put a frying pan on top of it. After pouring a little bit of oil, heat came up with a -Chiiik- sound
The Majongsok was an object that could easily change the current structure of society.
It was only recently that all things in the world running off âfuelâ was being substituted by Majongsoks but it was clear that this would accelerate.
It was 10 in the morning in no time.
It was time to eat breakfast
The man went towards the refrigerator silently. The refrigerator, which had a fist sized Majongsok embedded in it, had its characteristic of cold air being carefully maintained. It was an amazing thing.
Inside the refrigerator, there were 10 large pieces of meat packing it full.
The pieces of meat were full made up of lean meat.
It was purely lean meat without any feeling of fat on it whatsoever. The lean meat was sliced once into two big thumb width pieces.
The meat, which was around the size of two hands put together, was earnestly cut with a kitchen knife.
After that he sprinkled on salt and pepper and then applied on the oil evenly.