# Chapter 5 - The Toast That Made Everyone Line Up
The first order was finished quickly.
Lee Jun-ho slipped the Ham and Cheese Toast into a paper wrapper and handed it to Choi Ha-neul.
"It's still hot. Be careful."
"Thanks!"
Ha-neul took it immediately.
Jun-ho himself had never tasted toast made using a Mastery from the Absolute Mastery Archive. Naturally, he was curious whether it really tasted as amazing as it smelled.
Ha-neul tore off a small piece of toast and took a bite.
Crunch!
The heat from the egg and cheese instantly turned her face red.
"Ow!"
Jun-ho flinched.
"I told you it was still hot."
But Ha-neul didn't put the toast down at all.
Instead, her eyes widened.
"It's delicious!"
She blew on the food several times, then took another bite.
"This is really good!"
Her face changed as if she'd just discovered the best food of her life.
"Why didn't it taste like this yesterday?"
Han Seo-yeon chuckled.
"That's why I told you all to try it."
Ha-neul went back to eating enthusiastically.
"I could cry. Seriously."
Park Ji-won, standing behind her, began to lose patience.
"Ha-neul, move aside once you've got yours."
"Seriously. Don't eat it in front of us like that!"
"The smell alone is making me hungry."
Ha-neul hugged her toast and moved to the side. "No. I want to savor it slowly."
Several people standing not far from the cart began to pay attention.
A middle-aged man looked at Ha-neul strangely.
"Is it really that good?"
Ha-neul immediately nodded.
"If you don't believe me, try it yourself."
"You know the cart owner?"
"We work at LUMINA. Our office is not far from here. We came because one of the toasts was brought to the office earlier."
The man looked at Jun-ho.
LUMINA was fairly well-known as a women's lifestyle magazine, especially since its office was located right in this area.
The aroma of freshly cooked toast filled the air again.
Jun-ho handed over the next order.
"Here you go."
Ji-won accepted it and took a bite immediately.
A few seconds later, her reaction was almost identical.
"Wow..."
She looked at Jun-ho.
"Jun-ho-ssi, how did you make this?"
Jun-ho gave a faint smile.
"Trade secret."
The women from LUMINA continued receiving their orders one by one.
"This is so good."
"I'm serious. I want to buy it again tomorrow."
"The cheese and egg are absolutely perfect."
Their commotion began attracting more and more attention. At Oh Mi-sook's cart, a man who had just ordered tteokbokki suddenly raised his head.
His nose twitched.
The savory aroma coming from Jun-ho's cart was so strong that it even overpowered the smell of the tteokbokki sauce.
Mi-sook handed over his order.
"Here."
The man paid, but his gaze remained fixed across the way.
"Ajumoni, I'm sorry. I want to try the one over there first."
"What?"
He left the spot and walked toward Jun-ho's cart.
Mi-sook stared at his back in disbelief.
Not long ago, she'd said Jun-ho had no right to use that spot because he didn't have any customers.
Now people were actually starting to gather there.
Kim Man-sik also stared at everything in astonishment.
"That kid..."
He sniffed the air.
"Since when did the toast he made start smelling this good?"
Another man finally stepped forward as well.
"Give me one too."
"Me too."
"I'm curious. Everyone's been saying it's good."
In no time, customers began arriving.
Jun-ho took a moment to look at the line forming in front of his cart.
'Is this for real?'
He almost wanted to laugh.
But there was no time to space out.
His hands kept moving.
Margarine.
Bread.
Eggs.
Cabbage.
Ham.
Cheese.
Everything moved as if it were part of a single process embedded in his body.
The more toast he made, the stronger the aroma filling the air became.
An old man who had just received his order took one bite.
His eyes immediately widened.
"Good grief."
The person behind him laughed.
"Is it really that amazing? It's just toast."
The old man looked at him.
Without saying much, he tore off a small piece of his food.
"Try it."
The man accepted the small piece and ate it.
He fell silent.
Then he immediately walked to the back of the line.
"I'll take ten!"
People laughed.
The line grew longer.
Some customers hadn't even tasted Jun-ho's toast yet. They were only interested after smelling the aroma and seeing the reactions of those who had already eaten it.
Jun-ho kept cooking.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
He'd already lost count himself.
Inside, his excitement was becoming harder and harder to contain.
'If this keeps up...'
'I can really make money.'
Unfortunately, the happiness didn't last long.
Jun-ho opened an ingredient container.
Empty.
He checked the others.
The bread was gone.
There were barely any eggs left.
"I'm sorry."
Jun-ho turned off the griddle.
"I'm out of ingredients."
The line immediately erupted.
"What?"
"I've been waiting for almost forty minutes!"
"Come on, Boss. I just got a taste of my friend's!"
"Go get more ingredients. We'll wait!"
Jun-ho smiled awkwardly.
What he really wanted was to go home immediately and examine the Absolute Mastery Archive in peace.
He also wanted to understand the Mastery Points he'd just obtained.
"I'm sorry. I really didn't bring many ingredients today." Jun-ho bowed slightly. "Please come back tomorrow. I'll prepare more."
"Really? Tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Then don't run out again."
"I'm having breakfast here tomorrow!"
"Me too."
After Jun-ho repeatedly promised to bring more ingredients, the crowd finally began to disperse.
Some people still looked disappointed.
Especially those who had managed to taste a little of someone else's but failed to get an order of their own.
Jun-ho let out a long sigh.
Only then did he realize that Kim Man-sik was no longer beside him.
The small table where the man had read saju had already been packed up as well.
"Uncle Kim probably moved somewhere else."
The LUMINA employees had also returned to the office.
Jun-ho began packing up his cart.
Once everything was finished, he pushed the cart home.
That night, Jun-ho sat on the edge of the bed in his one-room apartment.
He stared at both of his hands.
The long line.
Customers fighting over the orders.
The toast selling out.
Everything that had happened today kept replaying in his mind.
Jun-ho slowly exhaled.
"This makes absolutely no sense..."
Everything that had happened today felt far too unreal.
As if he'd just woken up from a dream.