Companies started popping up left and right to challenge the supremacy of Starlight Food. Why? Because trying to catch up in highly concentrated, cutting-edge industries like semiconductors or space tech was pretty much impossible.
It was like handing a caveman a mobile phone and asking them to make a call. Starting from scratch? You’d never catch up, even if you spent your whole life trying. By the time you caught up to their old tech, it’d already be outdated and tossed aside.
But Starlight Food’s products were different. All you had to do was extract a seed, plant it in the ground, and boom—done. Compared to other industries, it was laughably simple. While others were breaking their backs trying to steal industrial secrets, companies copying Starlight Food just needed to get their hands on a single seed. And guess what? You could just buy that seed at the market. Easy peasy.
Plus, Starlight Food didn’t even seem to care. So, companies happily started planting the seeds, growing their own versions of Starlight Food’s plants, and trying to sell them at lower prices. From a distance, it looked like a perfectly reasonable and legitimate business.
Sure, there was a patent on the seeds, but Starlight Food never registered it. Why? No one knew, but hey, it worked out great for everyone else.
“So, this is the coffee seed Starlight Food is selling, huh?”
A man held up the unprocessed Starlight Coffee seed, inspecting it closely. His subordinate chimed in,
“Yep. It’s got great flavor and aroma—it’s the hottest coffee bean on the market right now.”
“Hmm…”
At first glance, it didn’t look any different from other coffee seeds. But let’s be real—coffee growing in Korea? That’s a stretch. Coffee thrives in the so-called “coffee belt,” between 20 degrees north and south of the equator. Sure, you *could* grow it elsewhere, but maintaining the right light and temperature would cost a fortune, making mass production impossible.
And Korea? Way above the coffee belt. Even if it grew well in summer, winter would kill it off. Plus, with Korea’s rainy summers, forget about consistent sunlight.
One research institute decided to give it a shot, carefully controlling the temperature and sunlight. At first, the plants grew like crazy, and the researchers cheered. Their plan was working!
“The growth rate is insane!”
“It’s only been a week, and it’s already this big? No wonder Starlight Food can produce so many coffee beans in such a small space.”
“Once it bears fruit, Starlight Food won’t be able to dominate the market anymore.”
The more places that grew and sold these coffee beans, the smaller Starlight Coffee’s market share would become. And Starlight Food was still a relatively new company—surely, there were gaps in their sales strategy.
But soon, the researchers had to rethink their approach.
No matter how much time passed, the coffee plants refused to bear fruit. They tweaked the temperature, adjusted the sunlight, and even dumped fertilizer on them. Still nothing. Maybe it just took longer? Nope. The Starlight Coffee plants just sat there, mocking their competitors by refusing to produce a single bean.
But they couldn’t give up. If they did, the coffee market would slip through their fingers like sand.
The problem was, they couldn’t compete on raw materials. Imported coffee was cheaper, and they had no leverage.
They tried everything—crossbreeding the seeds with other coffee varieties, planting them in different soils. But the hybrid seeds? They didn’t even sprout. Total failure.
Starlight Food knew their plants only grew around a specific tree, but their competitors had no clue. So, they kept throwing time and money at the problem, dreaming of the day they’d finally harvest coffee beans.
Of course, they didn’t know that dream was never going to come true.
“Bora!!!”
I saw Bora coming out in front of the elevator. I could have waited in the office, but my burning heart wouldn’t allow it. So, I waited in front of the elevator. Not long after, I spotted Bora arriving at work in her stylish outfit.
I clung to Bora’s leg like a cicada. It made me feel somewhat at ease. Bora patted my head and said,
“Hey… I told you to wait quietly!”
Despite her sharp words, her gentle tone made it seem like she understood how hard it was for me to wait for the movie. I looked up at her and said,
“Bora! Let’s go watch it right now!”
If we went right away, we could be first in line. Of course, there were still over two hours until the movie started, but I didn’t care about that. Just sitting in the theater seats waiting would make me incredibly happy.
“Hana! You’re not going like that, are you?”
What’s wrong with dinosaur pajamas! Every time I wear them and walk around the building, people look at me differently. The only time people look at me with sparkling eyes is when I wear these dinosaur pajamas. But Bora hugged me as she saw me like this.
“Hana. Take off the dinosaur pajamas! Let’s go looking neat. Then I’ll buy you something tasty, okay?”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Hearing Bora’s words, I quickly went to my room. I felt bad for the dinosaur pajamas, but food was important too. The importance of eating while watching the movie was higher than the importance of the dinosaur pajamas, so I didn’t hesitate to take them off. Of course, I didn’t just throw them on the floor.
After taking off the dinosaur pajamas, I neatly hung them on a hanger. It was important to keep them clean and stylish since I would wear them again. And the dinosaur tail was more important than anything, so I stroked it to make sure it wasn’t damaged. Of course, it was fine. Even though it dragged on the floor a lot, the tail was as strong as steel.
“Yap!”
I changed into the clothes Hana had laid out for me yesterday. The reflection in the mirror showed a kid who looked just right for my age. Not too dressed up, but not sloppy either—just a normal kid’s outfit. Of course, my outstanding looks made even ordinary clothes look like something a model would wear.
“Hmm~”
Having such good looks was a problem. I understood why people looked at me with envy. Even at this young age, I had such good looks; I couldn’t imagine how beautiful I’d be when I grew up. I felt like I was becoming a narcissist.
If I had met a woman with looks like mine, I would have felt like I had the whole world. But unfortunately, I couldn’t date myself, so I decided to just leave it at that. My original male self was already fading away.
After clearing my mind of these random thoughts, I changed my clothes and headed to the office. More than anything else, I had to go watch the movie of the little magician Lumi. As soon as I arrived at the office, I could feel people looking at me. But I didn’t care. I sneakily approached Bora, who was talking to the manager.
“Bora!”
Seeing that I had changed my clothes, Bora smiled and said,
“It suits you, Hana! You look so pretty!”
Without even finishing her conversation with the manager, Bora stopped talking and picked me up. Our destination was the movie theater.
