I applied to Chef Seong’s restaurant for an internship without any hesitation.
Chef Seong said that when he looked at me, he saw himself starting from scratch.
That was the reason I got accepted.
Looking back now, it was truly reckless, and I was lucky.
Over the next six months, I learned all sorts of things.
That the path of cooking is long and rough.
And that the way of wine is narrow and closed-off.
Head Sommelier Team Leader Jeong was a man skilled enough to have won competitions several times over.
His share in Chef Seong’s restaurant achieving two stars was probably considerable.
Fine dining requires wine pairing, after all.
However, as a human being, he was quite flawed.
The kind of guy who used wine as an excuse to make passes at the female staff.
He would offer a glass of his prized wine to women he took a liking to.
I used to secretly drink those glasses in their place behind the kitchen door.
In other words, a black knight.
That was when I tasted it.
The Nari Auction Limited Vintage.
A bottle that only three existed of in all of Korea, and Team Leader Jeong bragged about it endlessly.
I remembered its name and taste to this very day.
That taste radiated from Yeonseo.
The wine she had drunk.
The ghost possession incident.
Team Leader Jeong—.
Would it be too much of a stretch to think there’s a connection?
So I asked again.
“Your boyfriend, Yeonseo. Was he a sommelier?”
“No, he was a college student.”
…Huh? He wasn’t?
I felt a gaze and turned my head to see Boribori staring at me with narrowed eyes.
Come on! People make mistakes sometimes, you know.
That’s when Yeonseo spoke up.
“Oh, I think he said he got that wine from some factory back then. We were supposed to drink it together on our one-year anniversary, but that bastard happened to be with my closest friend instead…”
At that point, I had nothing more to say.
***
“Hah, and here I thought you were doing some amazing detective work, but you missed completely. Hilarious, just hilarious.”
It was already 11 PM.
In front of the mansion.
Jo Sena unnie opened the driver’s door of her pink sports car.
“Which way is your place? Want me to drop you off on my way?”
“Really?”
An opportunity to ride in the passenger seat of a sports car doesn’t come often.
But that’s a two-seater.
Which means there’s no seat for Boribori.
I can’t exactly put Boribori in the trunk.
If I did that… Boribori would never forgive me for the rest of my life.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass.”
“Hmph, I was going to ask if you wanted to grab some wine since you seem to know a lot about it, but oh well.”
Vroom—.
A nameless Ferrari glided out onto the road, drawing a red line into the distance before vanishing.
Feeling somehow exhausted, I trudged along.
Ding-dong.
That’s when my phone rang.
[Kim Manchun – 20,000,000 deposit]
My eyes shot wide open.
The fatigue that had been piling up on me like wet cotton from my fingertips to my toes vanished in an instant.
A cool rush of pleasure shook my skull, like ice water being poured over my head.
“…Ugh-ha! Jackpot…”
Magic is the best!
Magic, I love it, love it, love it!
But as I looked at my phone, Choi Janggun’s story came to mind.
The “Monkey’s Paw Site” — he said it was better to get rid of it as soon as possible.
‘What wish should I make?’
The core of the Monkey’s Paw Site is the return and the risk.
I should make a wish with a risk I can handle.
‘Sports car…’
The sports car I saw earlier suddenly came to mind.
And Jo Sena unnie, putting on sunglasses in the middle of the night, getting into her sports car with a cigarette in her mouth.
Not that I’m saying this now, but she was a stunning beauty.
If I’d gone to drink wine with her today…
‘…Ha, damn. Should I call her back even now?’
Suddenly I felt like I’d thrown away an enormous opportunity, and the FOMO started kicking in.
This is at least a four-week treatment situation.
As I thought about that, I got curious.
[Monkey’s Paw Site]
[Enter your wish: Girlfriend]
[Risk: â– â– â– â– â– â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡]
Whoa, this is funny.
The risk is half full already?
This is on the same level as the “10 billion won” wish I tried before.
So having a girlfriend is the same tier as earning 10 billion won.
Since I was at it, I tried adding more text.
[Enter your wish: A girlfriend with money]
[Risk: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡â–¡â–¡]
“Oh-ho.”
[Enter your wish: A rich and beautiful girlfriend]
[Risk: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡]
“Oh, still one square left even with this?”
The urge to press enter was overwhelming.
But I barely held back that impulse and cleared the wish input field.
And the sentence I filled in that blank with was this.
[Enter your wish: What I desire most from the depths of my heart]
[Risk: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡]
The same risk tier as a rich and beautiful girlfriend, huh.
I figured this wasn’t a good idea and was about to delete the input when a mosquito buzzed and landed on the back of my hand.
There must be a lot of bushes nearby, because it was an Adidas mosquito.
Getting bitten by this thing means itching for days.
As I raised my palm at the thing trying to stick its straw into my swollen vein—.
Whish, slap—!
Out of nowhere, something like a whip flew in and struck the back of my hand first.
“Ow.”
I turned my head to see Boribori flicking the tip of her arrowhead tail with her hand.
That was the moment I found out how Boribori catches mosquitoes.
And…
[Wish input complete]
[Loading: â– â– â– â– â– â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡]
“Wha—!?”
I felt all the blood drain from my body.
Boribori had hit my hand with her tail trying to catch the mosquito.
And my finger had accidentally pressed enter—?
It was a sweltering summer, but the back of my head felt as cold as if it had touched ice.
[Loading: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡â–¡â–¡]
[Loading: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡]
The unidentified loading bar kept filling up.
Until finally, it transformed into letters and numbers I could understand.
[Calling….]
[010-9XXX-7XXX]
“…Uh…”
My phone started calling some number on its own.
One ringtone played.
—You. Who are you?
Soon, a woman’s voice echoed from my phone.
Her voice was so clear it made me wonder if she was a voice actress, and my mind snapped wide awake.
“Uh… wrong number. I’m sorry!”
[Call ended]
I hung up in a panic.
My heart was pounding, and cold sweat kept pouring down my forehead.
But the strangest thing here was Boribori.
Boribori took my phone from me as if snatching it away.
Then she rubbed her cheeks and face against the screen.
“Malka…”
Her half-closed eyes glistened, slightly moist.
Why is she doing that?
[Risk: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡]
Even in this situation, that black bar I saw earlier kept floating through my mind.
I don’t know for sure, but I think I’m in big trouble on multiple levels.
Just in case, I turned off my phone and hurried home.
Then I logged onto the “Monkey Gallery” and posted.
====
yea(3.0)
Title: I stuffed a max risk wish into the Monkey’s Paw Site, what do I do??
Can this be refunded or anything?
Is there any way?
The Monkey’s Paw Site was something like a reward item you got from being a moderator of this “Monkey Gallery” for a year.
So these gallery users should know more about my situation than anyone.
Soon, comments started coming in.
â””Ganadara Magician: What the hell is the Monkey’s Paw Site?
â””This bastard’s here to troll with a weird IP again
Surely they all can’t be unaware of what the “Monkey’s Paw Site” is?
Soon, one more comment came in.
â””Get Caught Up in Ghost Stories: You mean that derivative monkey ghost story? If you made a wish on that, just consider yourself screwed lol
â””Get Caught Up in Ghost Stories: Monkey-related ghost stories are at minimum harmony tier, good luck
***
#
[010-9XXX-7XXX]
“This number is ‘what I desire most from the depths of my heart’?”
I ended up pulling an all-nighter.
When the morning birds started chirping, I got out of bed and turned on the internet first.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned recently, it’s that the internet has more information than you’d think.
[010-9XXX-7XXX]
I searched the number I’d learned yesterday.
I was hoping something would come up.
But this time, contrary to my expectations, nothing specific came out.
Sweat was pouring from morning.
Even with the air conditioner blasting thanks to the 20 million won deposited yesterday, it was still hot.
Regardless, I can’t just sit still like this.
From my experience, things that scared me half to death often turned out to be nothing once I actually faced them.
Maybe this time is like that too.
So I stared at the number saved in my phone for a long while.
Then, with a big decision, I pressed the call button again.
Riiing—.
Again, the ringtone only sounded once.
I could sense a presence beyond the phone screen, and soon a frail, fleeting voice came through.
—You. Who are you?
My hair stood on end like I’d been struck by lightning.
Unless I was imagining things, it was the exact same voice as yesterday.
As if playing back a recorded audio file.
The pitch, the rhythm, the vibe—everything was identical.
My mind didn’t stop there and caught another strangeness.
Wouldn’t a normal person say “hello” when answering the phone?
But the woman on the other end asked who I was the moment she picked up.
This isn’t ordinary.
[Risk: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–¡]
But I can’t just cower in fear either.
My life might be on the line.
I need to keep my wits about me.
So what should I say, and how should I start?
Should I just man up and say let’s meet and talk?
As my deliberation reached its peak, about to slip through my lips—
—Let’s talk in person.
—Come to the address I’ll give you by 2 PM today.
The person on the other end of the phone beat me to it.
Saying let’s meet and talk.
Who do they think I am?
But then, the address she gave next sent a dizzying spell through me.
—Gyeryusan Mountain, Bacchus Winery.
And just like that, the call ended.
Of all things, wine.
Wasn’t it Kim Manchun’s only daughter Yeonseo who drank wine and went strange?
Where did she say she got that wine from?
The timing is certainly peculiar.
Coincidence, or…
As my thoughts deepened, Boribori grabbed my phone and pressed it to her ear.
As if trying to hear more of the sounds coming from inside.
“Malka…”
The call had long ended, but she wagged her tail gently, looking like a border collie that had met someone she was happy to see.
‘Could the woman on the other end of the phone be someone Boribori knows?’
Maybe this opportunity will let me learn all sorts of things about Boribori.
Finding out more about Boribori—that might have been the wish in my heart all along.
So I packed lightly and hit the road.
Gyeryusan Mountain was a place I could reach from my studio apartment by transferring buses a few times.
I’d even go there sometimes when I wanted to hike, reaching the peak and coming back.
“Mmhehehe…”
At that moment, Boribori stared out the bus window with sparkling eyes.
Exactly like someone riding a car for the first time.
She also slammed the stop button repeatedly.
Beep—.
The bus driver just clicked his tongue in bewilderment, though.
“Who keeps pressing the stop button!? That’s just strange!”
Causing traffic jams by stopping the bus at every single stop.
Truly demonic, I’d say.