"Enforcement officers are here!"
The shout sent the street vendors at the end of the road scrambling into action.
Lee Jun-ho, who had just poured egg mixed with cabbage onto the griddle, froze for a moment.
"Damn it!"
He turned off the burner, dropped the spatula into the cart, and pulled down the ingredient-container lid.
A district office vehicle appeared at the end of the road.
Several officers got out.
"Clear the sidewalk! Move the carts, now!"
Jun-ho didn't need to be told twice.
He gripped the handle of his cart and started pushing.
The old cart creaked as it rolled down a small street in Bujeon-dong, Busanjin-gu. Two other vendors had already disappeared into a narrow alley, while a hotteok vendor hurriedly picked up his gas cylinder.
"Hey! The one in the black apron! Stop!"
Jun-ho only quickened his pace.
"If I stop, it won't just be my cart that stops. My life will stop, too!"
The front wheel slammed into a pothole.
Crash!
A container of cabbage fell over.
The eggs broke.
A bag of bread went flying onto the asphalt.
Jun-ho glanced back.
His chest hurt at the sight of the ingredients he'd bought that morning scattered across the road, but he didn't have time to pick them up.
He kept pushing until he managed to get into an alley too narrow for the officers' vehicle.
Ten minutes later, Jun-ho leaned against his cart, panting.
"Success..."
He looked at what ingredients remained.
"...but half of today's capital is dead."
As evening approached, Jun-ho opened his cart again at a different location.
A small sign hung at the front.
[Gilgeori Toast] Original Toast — 3,500 won Ham Toast — 4,000 won Ham and Cheese Toast — 4,500 won
The location wasn't far from the always-busy Seomyeon area, but that didn't mean business was busy, too.
"Hot toast! Made fresh!"
People walked past.
"Ham and cheese toast! Four thousand five hundred won!"
A college student glanced over, then bought fish cake from the vendor beside him.
Jun-ho forced a stiff smile.
The tteokbokki vendor across the street had a line.
The hotteok seller at the end of the road had customers, too.
His was the only empty cart.
Jun-ho looked at the toast he'd made as a sample.
It didn't look bad.
It wasn't so bad that it would give anyone food poisoning, either.
The problem was... that was really all there was to it.
It was ordinary.
People might buy it once because they were hungry, but almost no one ever came back.
"Jun-ho."
A man around fifty sat on a folding chair not far from his cart.
His name was Kim Man-sik.
In front of him stood a small table with the words:
[SAJU · GWANSANG]
Jun-ho stared at him.
"Uncle Kim, don't tell me you're going to read my fortune again." Kim Man-sik stroked his chin.
"I don't need to read your saju to know your fate."
"Then?"
"Bankruptcy."
Jun-ho pointed at his fortune-telling table.
"If you're that amazing, why are you still sitting on the sidewalk with me?"
Kim Man-sik fell silent.
"...Next question."
Jun-ho snorted.
At nine that night, he gave up.
His total sales for the day came to just five pieces of toast.
17,500 won.
He'd lost more than 20,000 won worth of ingredients while fleeing the officers.
In other words, he'd worked hard all day just to lose money.
Jun-ho pushed his cart home toward the old building where he rented a small one-room apartment.
Two years ago, he'd come to Busan believing his life would change after graduation.
His life had changed, all right.
It had just gone in the wrong direction.
His first job ended when the small company he worked for shut down.
His next job cost him part of his savings after he was tempted into an investment that turned out to be a disaster.
After that, he applied to dozens of places.
Restaurants.
Warehouses.
Logistics companies.
Convenience stores.
Small businesses.
Nothing ever lasted long.
In the end, Jun-ho used the money he had left to buy a used cart and started selling Gilgeori Toast.
It had been almost four months.
Instead of growing, his savings had only gotten thinner and thinner.
After putting the cart in the building's backyard, Jun-ho went up to his room.
He opened his banking app.
Balance: 218,400 won.
Jun-ho stared at the number for a long time.
His rent was due in a few days.
He hadn't paid his phone bill yet.
The gas for his cart was almost gone.
He let himself fall onto the mattress.
"Amazing."
He gave a hollow laugh.
"Twenty-five years old, no steady job, two hundred thousand won in savings, and I can't even sell toast properly."
The ceiling of his room offered no answer.
Jun-ho closed his eyes.
'If only I had one ability I could truly perform perfectly... maybe my life wouldn't be like this.'
Ding!
Jun-ho opened his eyes.
He turned toward his phone.
The screen was dark.
Ding!
The sound came again.
This time, it was right inside his head.
[The initial requirements have been fulfilled.]
[Activation commencing.]
Jun-ho slowly sat up.
"What?"
Transparent blue light appeared before his eyes.
[Absolute Mastery Archive has been activated.]
Jun-ho fell silent.
[User: Lee Jun-ho]
[Current occupation detected: Street Vendor.]
[Unlocking Mastery related to the current occupation.]
A page of light, like an open book, appeared in the air.
[Mastery No. 001]
[Gilgeori Toast]
[Level: Absolute]
[Effect: The user gains perfect mastery over the entire process of making Gilgeori Toast.]
Jun-ho blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then he slapped his own cheek.
Smack!
"Ouch."
The panel was still there.
The next line appeared.
[First Mission]
[Gain a small amount of Reputation.]
[Time Limit: None.]
[Reward: Unlock one random Mastery and gain 10 Mastery Points..]
Jun-ho read the whole thing three times.
Then he looked out the window.
Down in the yard, his old cart was still parked there.
"Don't tell me..."
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"...even after getting something like a system, I still have to sell toast?"