"Haah... So that’s what happened."

The man in the suit sighed and shook his head.

Park Jeongtae, the representative from Hankyung Department Store, had come to the site as soon as he heard there was a problem with the strawberries scheduled for delivery.

There, he saw the Corrosion that had appeared in the Yu siblings’ facility with his own eyes.

"We’re sorry."

"No, an accident like this couldn’t be helped. Other problems might have solutions, but there’s simply nothing anyone can do about Corrosion."

"Then, perhaps the penalty..."

"Rules are rules. It isn’t something I have the authority to change. All I can say is that it’s unfortunate."

Park Jeongtae spoke with a measure of genuine sympathy.

Even nationwide, privately owned farms with facilities of this caliber were rare.

The siblings had always made clean, reliable deliveries without ever failing to fulfill an order. It was terribly unfortunate that an accident had occurred at such a crucial time.

However, the rules governing the new contract were explicit, so there was nothing he could do for them.

"Yes... I suppose so."

The brief spark of hope that had appeared on Yu Seungsu’s face vanished, leaving his complexion ashen.

They continued discussing various matters concerning what came next, but his expression remained grim throughout the conversation.

"...Is this the place?"

Park Jeongtae stood before the front gate.

He had suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number.

The caller turned out to be the owner of the farm directly beside the supplier that had run into trouble. The man claimed he could fill the gap in the strawberry shipment.

Honestly, coming here feels like a waste of time.

At first, Park Jeongtae had not even intended to meet him.

The man had spoken with such confidence that Park Jeongtae assumed he must be the siblings’ business partner, but when asked, he said he had absolutely nothing to do with their operation.

It was presumptuous enough to suggest using his crops simply because the neighboring farm had suffered a disaster. The fact that he had made that suggestion directly to a department store was almost absurd.

Yet Park Jeongtae had come anyway.

There had been something strangely trustworthy about the man’s voice and manner of speaking.

He had withheld the essential details while skillfully sprinkling in just enough to pique Park Jeongtae’s curiosity, and Park Jeongtae had allowed himself to be drawn in.

What was the source of that boundless confidence?

It’s right next door anyway. If this turns out to be a waste of time, I can leave immediately.

Bang, bang!

Park Jeongtae knocked on the gate.

Oh Hyunseong appeared shortly afterward.

"Ah, you’re here."

"I’m Park Jeongtae from Hankyung Department Store. Are you the owner of Oh Hyun Farm who called me?"

"Yes, that’s right."

Oh Hyunseong smiled and nodded.

"You said you wanted to supply strawberries to our department store?"

"To be precise, I only intend to do so until the farm next door can resume its deliveries."

Park Jeongtae scoffed inwardly.

That was easy enough to say.

A place in a department store food hall, which paid far higher unit prices than most other retailers, was coveted by everyone.

Out here in the countryside, people would probably set fire to the farm next door if that was what it took to stake their claim and seize such an opportunity.

"In return, if I can cover the shortage, I’d like you not to penalize them for the canceled shipment."

"Uh... That isn’t possible under our regulations. More importantly, a place in our department store’s food hall isn’t something anyone can casually step into just because they want to fill a temporary vacancy."

Park Jeongtae frowned slightly.

Hankyung Department Store was a symbol of luxury and ranked first in sales among all department stores in South Korea.

Its Gangnam branch in Seoul, where Park Jeongtae worked, was locked in a fierce struggle with the Jamsil branch of the rival Daesung Department Store for the title of the country’s finest department store.

Under those circumstances, the food hall was one of the areas to which the executives paid particular attention.

It generated tremendous revenue of its own, attracted genuinely wealthy customers, and played an important role in the store’s public image.

The naturally grown food section that Park Jeongtae himself had begun planning was gradually gaining traction and expanding. He could not ruin everything by bringing in crops of preposterously poor quality merely to fill a temporary gap.

"Then you can decide that for yourself."

"Fine. Let’s see the product."

Thump!

Oh Hyunseong brought out a box filled with strawberries.

Park Jeongtae had been fully prepared to find fault with them, but the sight of the strawberries inside took him by surprise.

Their size, color, and every other visible quality had been maintained far better than he expected.

This was clearly not the work of some inept novice whose mouth outpaced his abilities.

Even so, unless Oh Hyunseong had used specialized facilities and a unique cultivar like the siblings had, there was inevitably a limit to how good they could taste.

"Instead of staring holes through them, why don’t you try one?"

Perhaps his thoughts had shown in his gaze, because Oh Hyunseong spoke up.

Feeling awkward, Park Jeongtae cleared his throat and picked up a strawberry.

Fine. Let’s see just how good it is.

He put the strawberry into his mouth.

The instant he bit into it, however, his expression changed dramatically.

Wh-What is this?

An explosion of sweetness and tartness struck his palate simultaneously.

Neither overwhelmed the other. The perfectly balanced acidity made every bite exhilarating.

More than anything, its luxurious tenderness was exquisite.

It was a top-quality strawberry that rivaled any he had ever tasted.

Was it even possible for a naturally grown strawberry to taste like this?

All he could think was that it was extraordinary.

"Wh-What is this? I didn’t see anything nearby, but was it grown in a next-generation smart farm? Did you install some kind of new equipment...?"

"That’s a trade secret. I can hardly tell you my special method, can I?"

"Ah... R-Right, of course."

Park Jeongtae caught himself, realizing that he had gotten carried away.

In an era when information about cultivars had become so important, he could not simply demand that a prospective supplier divulge his secrets.

But even the lingering flavor in his mouth was enough to tell him how extraordinary this strawberry truly was.

"So, are we signing a contract?"

"Yes, yes! Of course! Immediately!"

He fell for it completely.

Oh Hyunseong chuckled inwardly at Park Jeongtae’s complete reversal in attitude.

However, the strawberry Park Jeongtae had eaten was not from the first crop Oh Hyunseong had planted.

After Seungsu told me what happened, I expanded the strawberry patch and planted more. I didn’t use the first batch because I needed a “downgraded version.”

Oh Hyunseong had arranged for the spirits to tend only the newly planted strawberries less thoroughly.

Unlike the previous lettuce and potatoes, which had been completely shielded from the effects of impure energy, he had deliberately allowed these strawberries some exposure by having the spirits provide less care.

The result was the strawberry Park Jeongtae had just eaten, with roughly half its flavor lost.

It was far less sweet than the properly cultivated strawberries, and its texture was substantially inferior.

Even with those drawbacks, however, it was still beyond comparison with any strawberry currently on the market.

That was why Park Jeongtae had reacted so strongly.

Since this was a downgraded version, it would not create the kind of enormous shock that could turn the entire country upside down, as Oh Hyunseong had feared. Nevertheless, it was still extraordinary enough to send a considerable ripple through society.

"Come to think of it, we haven’t discussed the most important part. What will the unit price be?"

"Ah, my apologies. I’ll explain immediately."

At Oh Hyunseong’s prompting, Park Jeongtae began diligently explaining even the details he had not been asked about.

The current average wholesale price on the general market was approximately twenty thousand won per kilogram.

Hankyung Department Store, however, paid an astonishing hundred and eighty thousand won per kilogram for premium naturally grown strawberries.

That was merely the portion paid directly to the farmer. The department store added its own markup before selling them.

The resulting price was truly terrifying to ordinary people.

The wealthy, however, were still perfectly willing to spend the money.

Unlike in the past, when nearly everything tasted good, demand for premium ingredients was immense in the modern world.

Stories that once came only from neighboring Japan, of luxury fruits like Sembikiya melons costing three hundred thousand won each or premium mangoes costing a million won, had now become commonplace in Korea and throughout the world.

The frightening part was that such products had become so widespread that they could be found in department stores everywhere.

"It will be difficult to make a drastic change to the unit price, but we’ll do our best to accommodate you."

"Good. Then I won’t be too greedy from the start. Given this level of flavor and quality, I believe six hundred thousand won would be reasonable."

"Excuse me? S-Six hundred thousand won?"

Park Jeongtae’s eyes widened.

The figure had come entirely out of nowhere.

"W-We can’t offer a unit price that high. Of course, they truly are delicious, but... the public still harbors prejudice against naturally grown crops. If we raise the price that far, no one will even touch them."

"Is that so? But I’ve named my absolute minimum, so I have no desire to continue doing business below that price."

"Th-That..."

Beads of sweat formed on Park Jeongtae’s forehead.

It was an outrageous demand.

But he had tasted for himself just how equally outrageous the strawberries were.

As someone who had been aggressively championing the naturally grown food section, this was a product he absolutely did not want to lose. He floundered, unsure of what to do.

"Very well. For the first shipment, take them at around your proposed price. Sell them once, and we can talk again afterward."

"R-Really?"

Park Jeongtae’s face brightened when Oh Hyunseong unexpectedly agreed so readily.

The unit price was somewhat higher than what the department store paid other farms, but not by an excessive amount.

Even then, they signed a contract covering only the small initial shipment.

"But don’t blame me if you regret it later."

Regret it?

Park Jeongtae could not understand what Oh Hyunseong meant.

The department store would obtain the product at a reasonable price, gauge the response, and renegotiate afterward. There was no way it could lose.

Yet for some reason, even after concluding the contract and leaving, he could not shake an uneasy feeling.

"Then I’ll see you in a few days."

Only Oh Hyunseong, grinning as he waved goodbye, knew what was about to happen.

"Huh? Why does a department store have a naturally grown food section?"

Two women with their hands full of luxury-brand shopping bags stopped before the naturally grown food section.

They were making their way through Hankyung Department Store’s food hall.

"This section has been here for quite a while. It only carries the premium lines among naturally grown varieties. Is this really your first time seeing it?"

"I-I usually only shop at Daesung Department Store."

"Oh? They were out for a while, but the strawberries are back."

The woman’s face brightened as she stepped closer.

She had occasionally bought Hankyung Department Store’s naturally grown strawberries before.

Her friend, however, stared at her as though she could not understand why.

"Why would you eat something like this? There are synthetic strawberries produced through clean, controlled processes instead of being grown in dirty soil."

"I don’t like that subtle artificial taste. Besides, naturally grown food might not taste quite as good, but it seems to agree with my body better. I guess it feels a little healthier? And the strawberries here taste just as good as most premium products."

She picked up a pack of strawberries.

Despite the luxurious packaging, it contained only a few berries.

The price, by contrast, was substantial.

"Ugh. You’re paying that much for naturally grown strawberries?"

"More people than you’d think are seeking out naturally grown food for wellness these days. Honestly, how can you be this slow at picking up on trends?"

"What trend? You’re the only person I know who scavenges naturally grown food. I’d rather spend a little extra and buy Black Label strawberries."

Her friend stuck out her tongue and scoffed.

The Black Label she referred to was the world’s most famous luxury strawberry line, produced by the global food corporation Disanto.

Disanto’s synthetic strawberries were already famous, but its Black Label represented the finest of them all, boasting an unrivaled flavor.

Its price was equally terrifying, but there was no possibility that some insignificant naturally grown strawberry could compete with it.

Even the Purple Label was so exceptional that products from other companies could not rival it.

Regardless of what her friend said, the woman carried the strawberries to the register and paid for them.

"Wow, they’re beautiful! They look amazing in photos."

Upon returning home and opening the package, she exclaimed in admiration.

The vivid red strawberries looked magnificent against the luxurious packaging.

They seemed larger and plumper than the ones she usually ate, and their shape was prettier as well.

Thinking she must have gotten particularly lucky with her pack, she considered posting the photograph she had taken on social media.

Bite!

She bit into a strawberry.

Then she stared down at it, her expression blank.

"...Huh?"

She devoured the strawberries one after another. By the time she came to her senses, nothing remained but the empty packaging.

As though possessed, she leaped to her feet and returned to Hankyung Department Store to buy more.

But when she entered the food hall, the display where the strawberries had been stacked was already empty.

All around it, customers were loudly voicing their outrage.

Chapter 12

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