"..."
Jinseo stirred the tteokbokki as it cooked, watching the old man standing alone in front of the counter seats.
Unlike the other customers, the old man didn't seem interested in the snacks right in front of him.
Instead, he was inspecting the various facilities and tools inside the food truck with a sharp gaze.
"Hmm."
The way he stroked his long beard with a subtle expression was unusual.
But what was even more unusual was the purple exclamation mark and new message that appeared the moment the old man showed up.
{—Sudden Quest: A special guest has appeared! Provide food that can satisfy him.
Quest Reward: 1,000 mana, 1,000 mileage, 1 free upgrade coupon (only upgrades of Grade C or lower are eligible).—}
After completing the first quest, Jinseo had been disappointed that no new quests had appeared.
So this sudden quest was an opportunity he absolutely couldn't miss.
Ten times the rewards of the starting quest, plus a free upgrade coupon… I have to clear it no matter what.
Still stirring the tteokbokki with his right hand, Jinseo extended his left hand toward the cash box.
{—Mr. Lee Jinseo, did you call?—}
He only realized later, but no one except Jinseo could hear the AI's voice.
And whatever Jinseo said in his head was automatically relayed to the AI.
Tell me who that customer is.
{—Understood. Please wait a moment.—}
While Jinseo checked the tub of soondae, a status window appeared.
{—Name: Painfolt Artran. Male, 70 years old. Current status: Headmaster of the Doren Mage Tower. Number of visits to the Mobile Cooking Facility at this time: "0."—}
No more detailed info? Like what kinds of food he likes?
{—This individual has never used the Mobile Cooking Facility, so further analysis is not possible.—}
Then I don't have a choice.
The snacks Jinseo could offer right now totaled three.
Tteokbokki, fried snacks, soondae—he just had to hope at least one of them could satisfy the old man.
"What would you like to have?"
"Ah, I'm not particularly interested in the food sold here. But there are quite a lot of fascinating things. This food truck itself, for one."
"Are you from the mage tower?"
At Jinseo's question, Painfolt's hand, which had been stroking his beard, stopped.
"You know who I am?"
"Ah… no, sir. It's just—I can sense a strong mana from you."
In fact, the moment Jinseo opened the status window, Painfolt's body appeared to his eyes as if wrapped in a blue aura.
"Hoh. I came here deliberately concealing my mana, and you still noticed. Your mana detection is impressive."
He had intentionally come without a robe and without a hat, but escaping the AI's perception wasn't possible.
And in any case, Jinseo could tell he was connected to the mage tower even without the status window.
The moment a man who looked like a mage from the tower saw Painfolt, he hurriedly bowed and quietly moved away.
Holding a plate of tteokbokki, he tried to put as much distance between himself and Painfolt as possible.
It looked exactly like an office worker who had run into their boss somewhere they hadn't wanted to.
"To be precise, I heard there are unusual materials you can only obtain at this shop, so I came to confirm it with my own eyes."
Painfolt rummaged through the black plastic bag he'd taken from his pocket and pulled out crumpled plastic wrap and cooking foil.
"Ah, those…" Jinseo trailed off awkwardly. "I've already told others, but these aren't items I sell separately. I only provide them when you take food to go."
The food truck's customers weren't only interested in the snacks Jinseo made.
Things that were completely ordinary in modern Korea looked to them like convenient yet unknown tools.
Jinseo had often been asked whether they could buy plastic bags or wrap separately—and in bulk.
But every time, Jinseo sent them away, saying he only obtained enough for the food truck's needs.
He knew that no matter how many plastic bags or wrap he sold, it couldn't be exchanged anyway.
But the decisive reason was elsewhere.
My job is selling snacks, period.
He didn't want to stray from the purpose of making money by selling food.
Quest or not.
"I understand. Then can you at least give me a few for research?"
"That much is no problem."
If it could be reproduced with magic in this world, Jinseo wouldn't have to keep answering that question, so it wasn't a bad suggestion for him either.
But Painfolt's curiosity didn't end with those two items.
He slowly walked around the food truck, thoroughly examining every part of the "horse-less carriage."
He studied the driver's seat through the transparent glass, stroking his beard, letting out the occasional exclamation of admiration.
He even bent down and pressed the tires with his fingers.
"Are you curious about the inside of the food truck?" Jinseo gestured over his shoulder with the thumb of his left hand, which was clenched in a fist.
It looked like Painfolt wouldn't eat anything until his curiosity was satisfied.
And Jinseo had to stop him from doing anything like touching the tire and trying to taste it.
"No. You're in the middle of business—going into the kitchen would be improper. More importantly… what is your name?"
"Lee Jinseo."
"Lee Jinseo? An unusual name."
"Strictly speaking, 'Jinseo' is my given name. 'Lee' is my family name."
"Your family name is unusual as well. Are you a mage affiliated with the tower?"
"I get that a lot."
Having heard the same question until he was sick of it from the Headmaster's disciples who had become regulars, Jinseo chose an answer that left room for imagination rather than denying it outright.
"If my judgment is correct, this carriage looks like a facility built by applying advanced magical knowledge."
Painfolt's right index finger pointed toward the refrigerator.
"To use a magical tool like that so skillfully—it's clear. I don't sense mana from your body, but there is something."
It's not like that. You just need electricity. Well—here it's not electricity, it's mana.
Jinseo swallowed what he wanted to say and only gave an awkward smile.
"Since you've come all this way, how about you try something before you go?"
Jinseo handed Painfolt the plastic bag with the wrap still inside.
At the same time, he naturally encouraged him to try the food.
"Well, if I simply take this and leave, that wouldn't be proper."
Seated at the counter, Painfolt's gaze finally went to the snacks for the first time.
The vivid red color unique to tteokbokki was enough to capture his attention.
"Give me that red one first."
"How about ordering the others too? If you order all three menus as a set, there's a discount."
"Then do that."
The moment Painfolt finished speaking, Jinseo quickly plated the tteok-twi-sun set and set it down.
"Here you go."
The plate was placed in front of Painfolt.
He fell into thought, then picked up the tteokbokki—what he'd been most curious about—using a fork and brought it to his mouth.
"Hmm? I've never encountered an ingredient with this texture."
Curious about what ingredient could produce this taste, Painfolt began eating.
At that moment, a transparent rectangular bar appeared above Painfolt's head.
What's that?
{—When you attempt the Sudden Quest, this feature displays the guest's satisfaction level for easy tracking.—}
Ah, like that?
Jinseo understood immediately and nodded.
As Painfolt ate, the transparent bar began filling from the left with blue.
"I see. So this is how this ingredient produces that flavor."
Each time he ate a piece of tteok, he nodded.
He ate slowly—unhurried, serious—like a true gourmet.
"Hm-hm!"
After taking a bite of the seaweed roll fritter, Painfolt met Jinseo's eyes. He cleared his throat and turned his head the other way.
At that moment, the blue fill on the satisfaction bar passed 40%.
Good! I just need it to keep climbing like this!
Jinseo clenched his lowered left hand, cheering inwardly.
"I expected something like sausage, but what's inside is completely different from what I thought."
Painfolt alternated between the three snacks, analyzing them one by one as he ate.
While he did, customers who had ordered later received their food, ate, paid, and returned to the castle.
Even as one customer after another finished their meals, Painfolt stayed seated at the counter.
Still taking his time, he finished by eating the fish cake in the tteokbokki.
"Now I understand why my disciples keep coming here."
"Did it suit your taste?"
"It was… fairly edible."
For "fairly edible," you left nothing. You even ate all the offal I can't eat.
Even so, the sudden quest wasn't completed.
It reached 80%, but beyond that was impossible. I should've added other snacks ahead of time instead of sticking to tteok-twi-sun.
Jinseo regretted the 20% that didn't fill, but it was unrealistic to expect a Painfolt who was already full to eat more.
"Jinseo, was it? I've seen your skill. That was a good meal."
After paying, Painfolt wiped his mouth with a roll of toilet paper and stood up.
"But my stomach feels a bit greasy."
"Ah, for older people, I suppose it would."
At Painfolt's comment, Jinseo opened the refrigerator.
The freezer was filled with ice cream Jinseo had kept for himself.
"Would you like one?"
Jinseo stripped the wrapper and held out the ice cream to Painfolt.
"What is this?"
"Ice cream. It's good for cleansing your palate after a meal. It's not an official product I sell yet, so I'll give it to you as a test—and as a free service."
Since completing the quest was impossible right now, Jinseo switched directions.
If someone like Painfolt was considered a special figure, then people connected to him would likely trigger sudden quests too.
If I can't do it with this grandpa, then I should at least treat him well so he brings acquaintances.
"It's cold. Is it frozen?"
"But it isn't hard, so you can eat it without worry."
Considering Painfolt's age, Jinseo had deliberately chosen a softer ice bar.
"My teeth aren't what they used to be these days… I'll trust your word."
With a reluctant expression, Painfolt bit into the ice bar.
The moment he did, his eyes widened in shock.
"Hoh! It's cold enough to make my teeth ache, and yet it's sweet!"
It was the exact opposite of his calm, restrained reaction to the snacks.
And Jinseo's reaction as he watched Painfolt's satisfaction bar was completely different too.
Whoa, it jumped past 70% in a single bite?
"The things I tasted earlier too, but this—at seventy years of age, it's a flavor I've never experienced in my life!"
Unlike when he ate the snacks, Painfolt devoured half the ice bar quickly.
As he did, the blue gauge passed 80% and reached 90%.
Yes! At this rate, I can clear the sudden quest—!
{—Congratulations! The Mobile Cooking Facility has risen to Level 2.—}
"Huh?"
Instead of the quest completion message Jinseo expected, an unexpected level-up message appeared.
But that was only the beginning.
Multiple status windows popped up, and messages continued to appear.
{—From now on, more and more diverse quests will appear.—}
{—As the Mobile Cooking Facility's level has increased, the additional flavor boost grade has increased slightly compared to before (Achieved Grade F).—}
{—From now on, preference analysis for Mobile Cooking Facility users will be possible.—}
Preference analysis? Does that mean I need to feed them their preferred food to clear sudden quests?
{—Preference analysis for the relevant job class has been completed.
As seekers of endless knowledge, they pursue the path of magic not through emotion, but through the power of cold reason. For them, ice cream is the optimal food.—}
{—Base preference of mages for ice cream: 70
If preference exceeds 50, a special effect activates for the consumer. The higher the preference, the stronger the effect.
Activated effects: Short-term concentration enhancement, mana recovery, shortened chant time required to complete magic, etc.—}
{—Preference analysis completed for the individual Painfolt, who belongs to this job class. This individual's ice cream preference is 150.—}
150? More than double a normal mage?
But since Jinseo wasn't a mage, he couldn't even guess what that meant.
In the end, he had to confirm it by watching the old archmage in front of him.
"Wait… this is!"
As if something came to him, Painfolt switched the ice bar to his left hand.
He extended his right arm into the air, then drew his index finger downward, slicing through space.
From the dark opening, he pulled out a pen and a bottle of ink.
With the ice bar still in his mouth, Painfolt began writing something on the counter.
Infusing mana into each and every character.
"Sir! You can't scribble there!"
"I'll compensate you later!"
Painfolt couldn't let this returned focus slip away.
The inside of his head, which had been cloudy like fog, cooled sharply, becoming transparent like a spotless droplet of water.
And the runes that had been scattered throughout that clear consciousness rearranged themselves, completing into a new magic formula.
"At this rate… at this rate!"
The magic formula written from the far left side of the counter had already reached the center.
But as he dipped the pen tip into the ink bottle, Painfolt's brows drew together and his expression twisted.
"Ah, damn! If my concentration had held a little longer, I could have completed it to the end! Such a shame!"
He stared at the ice bar in his left hand.
He had almost finished it—only the stick remained.
"Listen here. That thing you gave me earlier… what was it… ice cream?"
"Would you like another one?"
"Give it here! Hurry!"