The Name They Fear in Soup

Gawon woke to a system panel while a pot boiled beside him, and the first smell in the room was rice, not danger. Then he saw Park Seyeon acting like she had seen this day before. He had not. He had died once, returned to the past, and landed inside someone else’s regression with full memory of the future but none of the rules. Cooking became his only safe weapon. A bowl of broth could calm a skill check. A side dish could bend a quest. The more he fed people, the more the loop around him started to crack. The person leading him through school and quests was also the one hiding the largest lie.