“Woo woo woo!”
I was walking home from school, doing some weird dance moves I picked up somewhere. I used to think going to school was pointless, but now that thought was gone. If I hadn’t gone to school, I wouldn’t have met Jiyu and Yumi. Just thinking about it made me shiver.
If I didn’t go to school, I’d probably just be a shut-in, stuck at home doing nothing. Turns out, everyone has their place in the world.
“Hana, you look weird!”
“Yeah, Hana’s weird dance makes it even weirder.”
These kids didn’t understand my artistic sense. Well, they’re just kids, so I, as an adult, had to be patient and understanding. Arriving at the building, I went into my room. I called Nabi while wearing only my underwear to wash up. Nabi, hearing me, came down from the cat tower.
“Let’s take a bath together, Nabi!”
“Meow…”
Nabi didn’t complain much and joined me for the bath. I shampooed Nabi’s shiny fur and said, “Nabi’s fur is the softest, as always!”
After successfully finishing the shower, I used a hair dryer to dry Nabi’s fur. Since I brought Nabi here, I wanted to rely on the employees as little as possible. I didn’t want to burden others with taking care of Nabi.
Luckily, none of the office employees had cat allergies. I smirked and patted Nabi’s butt. The fur was perfectly dry, so I gave Nabi some free time. Nabi, understanding my signal perfectly, climbed up the cat tower and lay down, closing its eyes, probably to catch up on sleep.
I picked up my mobile phone and chatted enthusiastically with my friends. The chatroom with Jiyu and Yumi was filled with cute cat photos, mostly of Nabi.
*Murmur murmur…*
Then, I heard some commotion outside the office. Curious, I slipped on my slippers and headed to the office. On the big TV in the office, some foreign man was standing and speaking. It looked like some kind of academic presentation.
The office employees were watching the TV. Our office was pretty laid-back, so having a big TV wasn’t surprising. Since I was the one bringing in the money, it was like I was taking care of them. Of course, they were talented enough to go elsewhere if they wanted.
But our office had a 0% turnover rate. Since I joined, no one had left. All thanks to me, right? I shrugged my shoulders and asked Bora, since the office was so noisy.
“Bora, what’s going on?”
“Ah! Hana!”
Bora saw me and quickly explained why the office was buzzing.
“Someone from our country won the Nobel Prize in Literature!”
“Wow!”
The Nobel Prize? I only knew it was a huge, hard-to-get award from abroad. Watching Bora, I said, “Really?”
“Yeah, the news is saying it right now.”
I looked at the TV screen. The news was reporting that a Korean had won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The office employees started chatting.
“I should buy and read their book when I get home.”
“Didn’t they win an Academy Award last time?”
“Yeah, Korea is amazing!”
The office was filled with national pride. Seeing this, I wanted to be on the news too. Not in a negative way, but a positive one. If I asked the boss, would they put me on TV? But I figured they wouldn’t, to protect my secrets.
Maybe they thought I’d leave for another company if I got famous. But I had no intention of leaving Starlight Food.
Getting bored of watching TV, I returned to my room. Streaming games wasn’t fun either, since I didn’t have many viewers. Then, a brilliant idea struck me. Like the person who won the literature prize, I wanted to write a novel and show my writing to the world. My masterpiece would captivate everyone.
I smirked and got up from the bed. I sat down at the computer desk. While adjusting the chair height, the computer finished booting up.
I stood in front of the keyboard. It was time to plan my novel. Even though I might seem childish, my brain was still sharp for this kind of work. A remnant of my prime. That’s why I never missed being top of the class.
However, when I actually tried to write something, it felt like I hit a wall. I wanted to write a novel so grand and awe-inspiring that it could win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Then, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind: I should write about my experience of traveling to a fantasy world.
In a way, it could even be considered an essay, because I had genuinely experienced it.
So, I started writing with a big grin on my face. My fingers, which had felt heavy just moments ago, now felt as light as cotton. In my mind, I could already picture myself receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. Sure, some might say I was getting ahead of myself, but I was brimming with confidence. Unshakable confidence.
*Tap tap tap*
The only sound in the quiet room was the clacking of my keyboard.
—
Kim Sehee and Tanaka were browsing the products made by Starlight Food. When they saw the cows at Starlight Farm, Tanaka couldn’t help but be amazed.
“Their size is impressive, and just looking at them, you can see how glossy and healthy they are. These are excellent cows. And not just this one—all the cows on this farm are the same. It’s truly remarkable!”
As a food entrepreneur, Tanaka had a deep appreciation for other foods as well. In this industry, if you only focus on one thing, you’re bound to struggle. It’s important to gain experience in various fields. That way, at the very least, you won’t go hungry. Tanaka observed the cows, which showed no fear of humans.
Normally, cows would run away from strangers or odd-looking people. That’s why in Australia, cowboys ride horses to round them up. Of course, the ranches there are hundreds of times larger than the ones in Korea, so it’s understandable.
“Would you like to try some beef?”
Kim Sehee served Tanaka some beef produced at the farm. It was only natural to show such hospitality to Karasushi, which would soon lead the charge into the Japanese market. If they had gone through another Japanese export company, the distribution costs would have been astronomical.
It was clear from their previous attempt to export to Japan that dealing with distribution companies only added unnecessary burdens. Starlight Food was well-known in Korea, but it wasn’t yet a globally recognized brand.
Fortunately, thanks to the sales of Tangle and apples, the brand had started to gain some recognition. People suffering from baldness couldn’t help but know about Starlight Food. With hundreds of millions of balding people out there, the advertising effect was undeniable.
Tanaka tried the beef raised at Starlight Farm. The result was obvious without even saying. The taste was incomparable to the beef sold in Japan. It was on a whole different level. Normally, beef can get a bit tiresome if you eat too much, but Starlight beef didn’t have that problem. You could keep eating and never get tired of it. Tanaka couldn’t help but exclaim,
“Sugoi!” (Amazing!)
They also visited another farm, this one filled with dairy cows. As soon as they entered the farm, a rich, savory aroma filled the air. Normally, cow farms have a smell that might make you wrinkle your nose—a mix of manure and other farm odors. But this dairy farm had none of that.
After tasting the milk produced here, Tanaka clenched his fist in excitement. The milk was affordable and delicious—there was no way it wouldn’t sell in Japan. Plus, since it was imported from a neighboring country, the freshness was incomparable to milk imported from Europe or the U.S.
It only took a day by ship from Korea to Japan, whereas it took weeks from Europe or the U.S. The logistics costs were no match. Karasushi was no longer just a sushi company; it was on its way to becoming a massive enterprise distributing a variety of agricultural products. This thought made Tanaka very happy.
