Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 168

168. The Man’s Private Life (2)

2022.04.17.

The A-grade stat ‘Savory Touch’ obtained from the skilled chef Kim Gil-dong.

This was quite revolutionary in Yeon-woo’s world.

‘……This is pretty good?’

Perhaps it was due to the stat boost, but ever since then, anything he made tasted incredibly better as long as it fell into the category of food.

Even instant coffee tasted better.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, he wasn’t sure.

Anyway.

‘Stats are best when used.’

Having acquired the stat, shouldn’t he make good use of it?

Therefore, Yeon-woo had recently found joy in cooking.

Of course, there was also,

-No matter how busy you are, you shouldn’t skip meals. Your body is already in bad shape; it’ll be a problem if you get any thinner.

Kwon Seong-hyun, who treated Yeon-woo like a child out on the water [meaning someone who needs constant supervision], also played a significant role.

-I’ve already made arrangements with Restaurant A. They’ll deliver food every time Yeon-woo eats. If it weren’t for my schedule, I would take care of it myself……

Kwon Seong-hyun acted as if something terrible would happen if Yeon-woo didn’t eat three meals a day.

He couldn’t figure out what made him look so fragile.

In any case, even when he had a schedule and had to go out, Lee Gyu-han would order takeout from a high-end Korean restaurant, which led Yeon-woo to say this.

-I’ll just cook for myself. I have perfectly good hands and feet, why would I need delivery?

-The kitchen is dangerous. What if you get cut or burned?

-What about my internal organs then? How unhealthy is eating out?

-Then I should be there……

-Just go to your shoot already.

It would be very troublesome to interfere with Kwon Seong-hyun’s work and receive additional penalties.

Of course, it wasn’t Yeon-woo’s intention, but he still didn’t know how this system worked.

Anyway, thanks to acquiring Kim Gil-dong’s stat, he hardly made any mistakes in the kitchen.

Even the taste was much better than eating out!

‘This is all to live well. If I’m going to eat, I should eat something delicious.’

Boil, boil!

The soybean paste stew [Doenjang-jjigae], filled with tofu and mushrooms, slowly simmered, emitting a delicious aroma.

It was complete once he waited for it to fully boil.

Tap! Tap!

In the meantime, Yeon-woo took out four eggs.

Skillfully cracking the eggs with one hand, he placed them into a bowl and grabbed a whisk.

Whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk!

The eggs, slowly loosening, swirled and mixed by the energized whisk.

Using the strength of his forearm and the snap of his wrist, he quickly made the egg mixture and poured it onto the heated frying pan.

Sizzle!

With the sound of the eggs cooking, Yeon-woo, holding a spatula, folded the half-cooked egg in half.

Lifting the frying pan with his other hand, he shook it back and forth, causing the half-moon-shaped egg to move to one side.

Yeon-woo poured the remaining egg mixture onto the remaining half.

He folded it again when it was cooked, repeating the process of pouring the egg mixture.

After repeating it several times, a thick, well-cooked rolled omelet appeared.

He cut it into appropriate sizes and placed it on a plate, and the soybean paste stew bubbled appropriately.

“This is today’s breakfast.”

Yeon-woo, holding the selfie camera that had been lying on the table, filmed the simple but well-prepared table.

Steaming mixed grain rice.

With a rolled omelet that was more than just thick, it was massive.

Soybean paste stew, still boiling in an earthenware pot.

And with a few side dishes that had been prepared in advance, a splendid meal was completed.

“This is soybean paste stew. It’s a bit clumsy…… I don’t really like radish, so I left it out. But it’s still edible.”

Radish is supposed to make the broth more refreshing, but…….

‘I’m not going to eat it anyway, so let’s just leave it out.’

It’s not like someone else is eating with me, so who cares if I eat alone.

“This is a rolled omelet. I make sure to get protein after exercising so that I don’t lose muscle. I’m paying more attention to it these days because I’m building my body.”

In addition, Yeon-woo explained each menu item one by one.

“I generally eat with less seasoning. I heard that it’s better for your health.”

Yeon-woo bowed his head.

“Well, I’ll enjoy the meal.”

*

PM 2:00

“Let’s go for one more set!”

As it turned into the afternoon, the full-scale workout began.

“This method is good. Yeon-woo can directly check where he’s pumping [feeling the muscle]. Okay, inhale. Exhale! Do you feel the strength going into your triceps right now? Oh, it’s going in well.”

Since he couldn’t hold the selfie camera while exercising, he handed it to the trainer.

“……That’s not what it’s for. It’s going to be broadcasted.”

“Huh……? Is that so……?”

The personal trainer was a very motivated person, but he was even more upset when Yeon-woo didn’t gain muscle as well as he had expected.

“Ahem. Then erase it later…… First, check this out. It’s pumping, right? You have to keep giving strength to this side properly so that your forearm doesn’t get hurt.”

Yeon-woo explained, watching the trainer unhesitatingly turn the broadcasting camera around……

Whether he did or not, the trainer was busy coaching, pointing to Yeon-woo’s forearms and back while reviewing the footage.

“Yeon-woo has broad shoulders, so if we just add these muscles here, it would be perfect, don’t you think?”

The trainer pointed to his own heavily bulked-up, bumpy shoulders and forearms.

It was a muscle reminiscent of a former governor of an American state who had once dominated an era [Arnold Schwarzenegger].

“It would be nice if you gained a little more weight…… It would be good to gain weight and then just remove the fat and moisture…… But unfortunately, you’re the type that doesn’t gain weight easily…….”

To be honest, Yeon-woo isn’t that skinny.

It’s just that he hasn’t bulked up noticeably, but his body is solid from continuous exercise.

Of course, it didn’t quite meet the trainer’s standards, who had endlessly thick forearms and upper body.

“It’s the style that people like these days, but it’s too harsh that someone as diligent as Yeon-woo doesn’t gain muscle, isn’t it? You should be at least as good as me by now.”

“……It’s okay, let’s keep exercising.”

“I keep just getting the lines, so it’s frustrating, really…….”

His body was already fairly well-built.

However, with the upcoming photoshoot, Yeon-woo decided to refine his body lines a bit more.

The trainer was constantly disappointed because the excessive bulk-up didn’t suit the shoot.

PM 8:30

“I thought it sounded good enough?”

“Well…….”

“What don’t you like about it?”

“It just feels heavy right now.”

“I think it suits the theme well…….”

“Just being heavy and gloomy isn’t enough to use as the main theme.”

Jerry gave an incomprehensible expression, as if he didn’t understand.

They were just coming out of the studio, and Jerry quickly shut his mouth first.

It was because he saw the fixed camera directly in front of him.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend]. I’m going to go get some sleep.”

Jerry quickly left the scene, quick-witted.

No cameras were installed in the studio due to security concerns.

Perhaps that’s why Jerry was worried that Yeon-woo might get caught because of him, and he kept trying to hide like a squirrel, even when he said it was okay.

PM 9:20

After finishing today’s work.

He ate a late dinner.

There was one guest here, or rather, one animal.

[I came to help!]

“…….”

Tap tap tap tap!

The sparrow frantically pecking at the window with its beak, or rather, the Child Spirit, was the main character.

At first, he ignored it.

Tap! Tap tap!

He had already noticed when he heard the sound of a small twig hitting the window, but Yeon-woo pretended not to hear it.

Tap tap! Tap tap tap!

Perhaps it thought he couldn’t hear it, the sound of knocking on the window became a little louder.

It was loud enough to think it was raining if you listened closely.

The sound grew louder over time.

Knowing the Child Spirit’s personality, it was clear that it would keep doing that until it was 24 hours.

Cheep!

The Child Spirit, who came in like the wind, naturally raised its head and chirped.

“…….”

That was definitely a request for food.

The Child Spirit didn’t need to eat, but it cherished the sparrow’s body it was using.

Since the body was alive, it had to eat something.

[Even though I’m dead, I can’t eat bugs, Yeon-woo. Don’t you think?!]

For that reason…….

The Child Spirit in the form of a sparrow always ate the food that Yeon-woo prepared for himself at every meal.

He familiarly boiled an egg, peeled off the yolk, and cooled it.

He placed the crumbled yolk and grains in a small sauce dish,

Chomp chomp!

The small, yellow beak opened cutely.

It diligently poked its beak into the water and tilted its head back, swallowing it well.

‘Recently, it’s been mainly in spirit form, but I wondered why it appeared as a sparrow…….’

[Yeon-woo.]

“What.”

[Do you know why I bothered to show up like this?]

“You seem to have gained weight lately.”

[Where did I gain weight!]

“Sparrows are usually slender at this time of year. But you are…….”

[No, no! That’s not the important thing!]

Cheep!

The little sparrow flapped its wings.

[Ahem. Yeon-woo. You know what a character is, right?]

“What are you talking about?”

[Oh, come on. Joo-young’s character is that she’s purely and devotedly in unrequited love.]

“Don’t just eat the yolk. You have to eat the mixed grains too.”

[The yolk is softer and more delicious than the mixed grains……. That’s not it!]

Flap flap!

The little sparrow flapped its wings.

[Use me, Yeon-woo!]

It’s quite a solemn voice.

[If you can move on to a bigger world by using me……! You can use me as much as you want!]

“Stop talking nonsense and eat quickly.”

When he poked the sparrow’s puffed-up chest with his finger, it made a deflating sound.

[No, no. I’m not kidding! Do you remember when we went to Eastern Europe?]

He remembers.

He has a memory of one uninvited guest following him, but it doesn’t seem like ‘we’ went together.

[There was some buzz about me following you around back then.]

“Talk while you eat.”

[Chomp chomp. So, we’re reminding them of that one more time!]

“That’s right.”

[Once is a coincidence, but if it’s repeated two or three times, you can’t call it a coincidence!]

“Okay.”

[If you have a unique element when appealing to the public, it’s a bonus. Especially if it’s related to a small animal!]

I don’t know where it picked up these strange things.

‘Well…… I guess it’s doing this to take care of me in its own way.’

When I think about it again, the Child Spirit is annoying, but it’s also quite helpful.

If I had been alone when I first encountered the system, it might have been difficult to adapt so naturally.

‘It seems like that guy made such a fuss back then that I was able to get through it somehow…….’

The Child Spirit, which may contain several hundred-year-old sly foxes [a metaphor for being cunning].

However, I think I know enough about the heart of the guy who wants to help.

‘There hasn’t been a being as unchanging as this guy.’

The guy who sticks by my side and nags no matter what I do.

From the gloomy childhood to becoming a celebrity by chance until now.

Even though it’s a ghost, there was a being who looked straight at it so close by.

When I think about it, a grateful heart slowly rises to my head.

However,

[So use me, Yeon-woo……! If it’s you……! You can use me as much as you want……!]

When the guy shouted solemnly once again, it cooled down with a hiss.

“Finish your meal.”

[Oh, come on! Kang Yeon-woo, why are you treating me like a sparrow?!]

That’s because you’re a sparrow.

It’s ambiguous to use ventriloquism because there’s a camera.

This is the only way to have a conversation.

‘Anyway, the meaning gets through, right?’

After finishing the meal, Yeon-woo continued his daily routine, ignoring the Child Spirit, who was flying over his head and bothering him.

PM 10:00

He stretched lightly.

As he was stretching and looking at the script that had come in, the Child Spirit clicked its tongue next to him.

[When you look at him, he’s just like Yeon-hwa’s son, a workaholic, a workaholic……]

PM 11:00

He lay down on the bed.

It’s better to fall asleep quickly in order to wake up early in the morning.

And when he woke up the next day.

Yeon-woo could see the reality program production crew in the dorm with a face covered in fatigue and sleep.