Honey Sweet Potato Stir-Fry

"Well then..."

In the neatly ordered kitchen of a forest cabin filled with warm air.

"Time for dinner."

Ji-oh was preparing his meal.

"Not working, just eating and sleeping on repeat—how can this be so happy?"

It was the so-called happiness of unemployment.

"Only now that I'm unemployed can I finally fulfill my true calling as a proper potato... I'll have to sit at the table for a full three hours."

Seo Ji-oh was both a gourmet and a big eater. The life of a teacher—demanding regular, unremarkable, and appropriately competent social living—had been far too harsh for this cultured pig of a man.

"I've always wanted to enjoy a menu that suits my mood, alone, at a time that suits me."

With his characteristic deadpan face, Seo Ji-oh looked thoroughly satisfied. Even when he returned to Gangwon Province after going up to Seoul, he had never dreamed of such a luxurious private home.

"To think I'd achieve my dream of country living only after losing my job and becoming a haunted portrait—life really is a hurricane, isn't it?"

Unpredictable, and even fun. Actual hurricanes probably weren't fun, of course.

"So for today, something simple..."

With a lantern of unquenchable candles hanging above him and swaying gently, Ji-oh took out his ingredients.

Sweet potatoes.

"......"

Large sweet potatoes.

Blinking twice as if conceptualizing his daily bread, Ji-oh soon reached a conclusion.

"...Shall I make honey sweet potato stir-fry?"

A dish he often made whenever the elderly would occasionally send him sweet potatoes. The necessary preparations were a bit of honey and salt, sweet potatoes, and butter. Nothing else was needed.

Fortunately, all these ingredients were in the cabin. Just like the wooden spring that had existed without him ever thinking of it, the furniture and foodstuffs inside the cabin had been piled up together as well.

Especially the ingredients that always maintained their best condition even after several days—perhaps a feature of the painting world—greatly moved Seo Ji-oh.

"Hmm..."

Clatter.

Ji-oh took a jar of honey from a cupboard that smelled of cypress wood.

"...Dairy's downstairs, right?"

Milk, cheese, butter, and other dairy products, along with anything that basically needed refrigeration, were all gathered in the cabin's underground storeroom.

The storeroom, walled on all sides by transparent ice that maintained a cool chill, served as an excellent refrigerator. Stepping inside produced visible breath, yet thanks to evolving into a haunted portrait, he no longer felt the cold.

Just pleasantly cool, really.

Seeing that the other ingredients didn't freeze either left him wondering why breath fogged at all.

"It completely ignores the laws of physics... but it's funny, so whatever."

Carrying a small bowl and a knife, he descended the stairs to the underground storeroom. A door of cool, heavy wood that felt almost metallic appeared before him.

Opening it revealed a few clumsily arranged small jars and a large shelf inside what looked like an ice cave.

Last time I checked, there seemed to be quite a variety.

He rummaged through the butters displayed on the shelf.

"I'd prefer a mild-scented one."

Among sweet ingredients, honey especially had a strong fragrance. Sweet potatoes and honey alone would be plenty; adding a rich butter aroma on top might make it a little overwhelming.

Among the various kinds, Seo Ji-oh found a pale yellow butter and cut off a small piece.

"Too much would make it greasy..."

After portioning only what he needed for this dish, he carefully rewrapped the rest, shut the storeroom door thoroughly, and returned upstairs to the kitchen.

Seo Ji-oh's cooking skills were quite good. Otherwise a gourmet like him would never have considered the idea of cooking for himself in the first place.

"Ah, so fresh."

With practiced hands he cleaned the sweet potatoes thoroughly. He considered how to portion them.

"...For now..."

Blinking twice, he cut the sweet potatoes into long rectangular sticks of a suitable length.

"...Since there aren't that many."

Ji-oh prepared seventeen large sweet potatoes.

The baking sheet loaded with the cut pieces went straight into the oven. Already preheated, the oven quickly cooked the outsides of the sweet potatoes.

When the surfaces had become crisp while the insides remained completely raw, Ji-oh took them out.

Those half-cooked pieces, crisp outside and raw within, went tumbling into a large wok.

"Butter and salt here."

He kept the heat low so the butter wouldn't burn, then sprinkled a little salt over the top. The sweet potatoes, cooking gently over the mild flame, became coated in butter and released a sweet, savory aroma.

"And a light drizzle of honey..."

Sizzle—

"In it goes."

He carefully spooned honey over them and tossed the wok rapidly. Like fried rice at a Chinese restaurant, the honey and butter blended under strong force and settled onto the sweet potatoes.

"......"

Around the time it felt about right.

"Good."

Ji-oh turned off the heat and gave the pan a few more tosses. The motion helped the butter and honey fully meld instead of separating.

Without this step, the butter would split into oil that ran off while the honey left an unpleasantly sticky mess—a culinary disaster.

It would still taste fine, but...

With any dish, texture had to be considered as well. The same flavors could become an entirely different meal depending on the mouthfeel alone.

"...Done."

Ji-oh plated the finished honey sweet potato stir-fry and immediately set the messy wok to soak in water.

No matter how foolish humans can be, I refuse to make the same mistake twice.

Butter-honey mixture dried and stuck to a pan was a devilish spirit that loved to test the patience of kind souls like Seo Ji-oh.

In any case, this was his dinner menu for the night.

"Nice."

Honey sweet potato stir-fry was not difficult to make, and it worked wonderfully as either a snack or a full meal.

Seated at the wooden table, Ji-oh speared a sweet potato stick with his fork. The glossy honey coating resembled candied sweet potatoes, yet it was far more delicate, and the added butter gave it a rather complex fragrance.

"......"

The fork sank softly into the sweet potato—perfectly cooked. Ji-oh put it straight into his mouth.

"......"

Chew...

He reached his conclusion.

"Delicious."

Simply, perfectly delicious.

I like this better than candied sweet potatoes. Grandma thought so too...

Unlike candied sweet potatoes that sometimes stabbed the roof of your mouth, this honey stir-fry had a fragile exterior. The blend of honey and butter merely added a smooth, soft texture.

It offered a different kind of pleasure from the crispness of candied sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes and honey really are a great match.

And the butter and salt completed the set beautifully.

Butter added a novel savoriness to what might have been a simple honey aroma, while a touch of salt balanced a dish that could otherwise have become too rich or too sweet.

"A little herb on top might have been nice too."

Mild spices like pepper, parsley, or rosemary would probably have worked fine.

"But that would make the fragrance a bit strong. Harder to enjoy lightly."

Ji-oh liked it just as it was.

The texture's exactly to my taste too.

The surfaces of the sweet potatoes, which had lost their moisture in the oven, still retained their crispness even after tumbling in honey and butter.

By contrast, the completely raw interiors seemed to have cooked moistly thanks to that same coating.

The moisture inside must have been sealed in by the oven's strong heat. Good thing I crisped the outside first.

The long stick shape made them fun to eat, and the textures varied nicely.

Too many would turn greasy, but this amount allowed a pleasant meal. Ji-oh was someone who ate a great deal, after all.

"......"

Looking at the bowl with only faint traces of honey-butter sauce left, Ji-oh thought,

I really am one fine potato.

He hadn't wanted to eat much right before bed, yet this had been the perfect menu.

"I like it."

The lantern light on the table glowed softly. It carried a thoroughly analog sensibility; gazing at it quietly, he felt a nostalgia even though this was not his childhood home.

"It'd be perfect for camping."

In the gentle fullness that seemed to coax him toward sleep, Ji-oh lingered like that for a long while. Feeling the laziness of an empty yet satisfying bowl and the low, soothing voice of the lantern that softened the air...

Soon his gaze turned to the window where the spring breeze offered a shy greeting.

"......"

After staring at the long-darkened outdoors, Ji-oh finally rose from his seat.

"...Better prepare the medicinal ingredients in advance."

It was for making the bleeding-related medicine the system had told him about.

Somehow he doubted the day he would need it would come soon, yet building up works one by one like this was a joy for an artist. A kind of collection.

"First, wash the Mangdung Fruit and set them out to dry. Getting them dry enough to powder will take quite a while. They're big, so it'll probably take longer than making raisins..."

He had nearly drifted off, yet the sugar seemed to have his mind turning quickly again.

"For later, maybe start with about fifty. Even if the three flowers don't yield much juice, making plenty of powder means I can use it whenever."

Having decided, Ji-oh moved.

He washed the fruit clean with drinking water he had drawn earlier from the stream. Mangdung Fruit were quite elastic; submerged in water, their insides showed faintly through.

"...They kind of resemble gooseberries."

Of course the Mangdung Fruit, packed solid with flesh, were clearly different.

Continuing his idle thoughts, he washed every last one.

"......"

Squeak-squeak.

"Nice."

The bright-red bead-like fruits soaking in clear stream water. Scrubbing them until they made that refreshing sound turned out to be more pleasant than expected.

After washing them all, he spread the Mangdung Fruit on a wooden tray.

"I might get snacky, so I'll set a few aside for eating."

Even though it was evening now, the fruit would dry better outside where the air circulated well and the sun was strong.

Ji-oh set the tray of spread fruit right in front of the cabin.

"And..."

Back inside, he approached the hearth where wood was stacked.

Now I need fire.

Crack, snap.

Ji-oh shook a plant topped with a round sphere.

A small, dull noise sounded from inside the fruit, and then a flame whooshed up. Small but quite strong, the fire burned blue. A faint fragrance rose from it little by little.

It was simply pleasant to look at, like a campfire in winter.

"......"

He tossed it onto the firewood in the hearth and lit it.

"...It's light and pretty, too. If they sold these on Earth, they'd be a hit as aesthetic camping gear..."

Muttering worldly greed with his deadpan face, Ji-oh rummaged through a basket. He took out ten Baibamneul that resembled orchids.

He washed those lightly as well, set them on a small tray, hung a pot over the hearth, and filled it with water. Then he waited for it to boil.

"...This should be about right."

Confirming that the water was bubbling at a suitable strength, Ji-oh dropped in the Baibamneul. The deep, sweet fragrance unique to vanilla rose up.

Plop, plop—!

"Hmm..."

If he intended to eat them like greens, a brief dip would have been fine, but these were not greens. Moreover, incomplete cooking left residual toxins.

Time for the toxins to leach out: ten minutes total.

Ji-oh faithfully followed the system's words. He waited for the poison to leave the flowers while snacking on the Mangdung Fruit he had set aside earlier.

"Done?"

Checking the time through the system, Seo Ji-oh stood before the pot again after ten minutes.

With long chopsticks he lifted the limp flowers onto a tray. Even after boiling so long, their form remained intact. He rinsed the once-boiled flowers in clean water and left them for a moment.

Without extinguishing the weakened hearth fire, he simply swapped the pot above it. The water left from boiling the Baibamneul would still contain toxins.

"These need drying too."

Carrying the tray of flowers, Ji-oh went outside again.

The moment he opened the door—

"......"

Whoosh...

A gentle spring breeze blew in.

"...Cool."

The texture and temperature of lukewarm clouds softly cupping his face.

It was a pleasant wind.

Soft and refreshing.

The strangely heart-fluttering, slightly drowsy haze of the breeze made Ji-oh blink slowly.

Falling asleep just like this would be perfect.

Neither hot nor cold, the wind was as soft as fine hanji or silk and tickled his fingertips.

"......"

Savoring the small, unexpected happiness, Ji-oh soon moved his feet.

"...Hope they dry well."

Setting the trays of Mangdung Fruit and flowers side by side, he returned indoors. Two baskets already stood before the house, yet more still needed preparing.

This time Ji-oh took hold of a transparent flower called Lurupu.

"......"

How was he supposed to handle this again? Sleepiness clouded his thoughts, so after a brief struggle he requested help from the system.

"Alchemy Method."

"Thank you."

Offering thanks to the system, Ji-oh poured water into the newly swapped pot.

Cold water entered the heated pot and settled to a lukewarm temperature. Holding his hand just above the surface, he felt gentle steam rising—warm enough.

It said warm water, not hot, so this temperature should be just right.

Thinking so, he took the flower he had brought from the spring into his hand.

The Lurupu flower, which seemed made of water yet was woven as sturdily as silk, carried a clear, sweet fragrance like a dewdrop formed of honey.

He carefully placed it into the pot...

"......"

A glittering like the Milky Way spread from the petals throughout the entire pot of water.

"...The Lurupu's sparkle is surely just scattering sunlight or lamp light, yet..."

Had it been trapping bright sunlight or clear lamp light inside its body? It felt exactly like watching ice made with glitter melt away in warm water.

"...Oh."

Soon the sparkle faded, and the pot water released an even clearer fragrance.

A capitalist thought that it would sell well as perfume crossed his mind, but Ji-oh scooped out the contents before the water could boil completely.

Almost too late.

The flower water he had scooped went into a glass bottle prepared in advance.

"Doesn't look like much at a glance, yet this can make medicine, huh."

Even though the Lurupu juice had simply been dissolved in water, it shone with a rapturous light as if an artist had ground his soul into paint. He wondered whether it could really become medicine.

"......"

Well, nothing was impossible once you tried. That was just how life worked.

"When a perfectly living human can become a haunted portrait, making a strangely colored medicine shouldn't be out of the question either."

Having finished all the preparations, Ji-oh climbed to the second floor of the cabin. The sleepiness that had been tickling his eyelids for some time now urged him toward rest.

The wooden stairs under his feet held a strange warmth. Though they were surely solid timber, the texture felt oddly soft, and a scent that soothed the heart rose from every part—made of good wood, no doubt.

The bed in the bedroom he reached was as soft as if made of water itself.

"Haa..."

Sinking—

He buried himself straight into the mattress.

"......"

Eyes that blinked a couple of times as if summarizing the day soon closed quietly, like a child being stroked in a parent's arms.

Through the wide-open window, wind carrying the forest's scent flowed in, and that fragile breeze passed carefully over his whole body as if shy—once across his forehead, once across his fingertips, once across his knees...

Pitch-dark vision. Within it the evening birdsong grew faintly distant.

"......"

With the soft songs of the insects as a lullaby,

Ji-oh fell asleep.

To be continued.