Chapter 118
Kkwek?
At Sejun’s command to stop, the mushroom ants that had been picking mushrooms stopped.
“I’ll pick the mushrooms, so don’t.”
Kkwek!
The mushroom ants began to line up towards Sejun.
“Not now, but in a little while. I need to eat breakfast.”
Kkwek…
The mushroom ants looked disappointed at Sejun’s words.
“But what do you guys eat?”
Kkwek?
In response to Sejun’s question, one of the mushroom ants repeatedly pointed to a pile of cherry tomato branches next to the field and then at its mouth.
“Oh, you eat those?”
Kkwek!
At Sejun’s words, the mushroom ant nodded with its antennae.
“Then you can eat them. Eat them all.”
The cherry tomato branches had been too numerous to deal with after the rabbits pruned the tomatoes to prevent nutrients from going elsewhere, so it was great that the ants would eat them.
Kkwek! Kkwek!
Excited by Sejun’s words, the mushroom ants excitedly rushed towards the cherry tomato branches. It was fortunate that the mushroom ants had something they liked.
“Then let’s quickly eat breakfast and start harvesting!”
As Sejun approached the kitchen to eat suyuk (boiled pork),
“Wow! It smells amazing.”
The scent of wine boiled with meat filled the air outside the kitchen. Just by smelling it, one could tell that the suyuk was cooked perfectly.
At that moment,
Kreong!
Cuengi, who had been guarding the entrance of the kitchen waiting for Sejun, called him. It seemed that the dish was almost done!
“Got it.”
As Sejun entered the kitchen, he found the rabbits gathered around the pot of suyuk, their hands clasped together, reciting a chant-like spell, and staring only at the pot.
Kreong!
Cuengi grabbed Sejun’s pants, leading him to the front of the pot. Everyone was focusing their entire attention on the suyuk.
Except for the two dragons, who couldn’t smell it.
Click.
-It’s my turn now. Give it to me.
The two dragon statues were alternately drinking one drop at a time from the bottle that contained the fire carrot wine, shaking it. Who knew what they were doing, with such a powerful magic?
“Is it ready?”
When Sejun opened the lid of the pot, steam so thick he could not see in front of him rose up. Then, as the steam cleared, the lustrous, milky meat that was half-submerged in the water came into view.
The wine carrot had completely melted, nowhere to be seen.
‘It’s done.’
Just as Sejun was about to scoop out the suyuk,
[You have achieved the feat of making Greedy and Hot Wild Boar Suyuk for the first time in the tower.]
[The recipe for Greedy and Hot Wild Boar Suyuk will be registered at Cooking Lv. 4.]
[Your proficiency in Cooking Lv. 4 greatly increases.]
[Your proficiency in Cooking Lv. 4 is filled, and your level increases.]
A message appeared, indicating that the dish was complete.
“Let’s see.”
Sejun checked the options of the suyuk .
[Greedy and Hot Wild Boar Suyuk]
→ Expertly cooked with wild boar meat, detoxifying green onions, and fire carrot wine, it’s moist and tender.
→ All the fiery energy of the fire carrot wine is concentrated in the wild boar meat.
→ The remaining greed in the wild boar meat minimizes the loss of nutrients.
→ When consumed, it greatly increases your affinity with the fire attribute and burns bodily impurities.
→ The detoxifying green onions halve the side effects of the fire carrot wine.
→ If your magic power is below 50, the side effect will cause your body to burn with the fiery energy.
→ Chef: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration Date: 100 days
→ Grade: B+
“Oh!”
The side effects were halved while keeping the effects of the fire carrot wine. It was good news.
Swooosh.
Sejun hurriedly took out a chunk of meat and cut a piece with his dagger. The tender meat was sliced smoothly without resistance.
Slurp.
He put the cut meat into his mouth.
Swallow.
Gulp.
“Oh!”
Words were unnecessary. The meat just melted in his mouth without even needing to chew. He regretted not having lettuce wraps, kimchi, and salted shrimp to eat with the suyuk.
Kreong?
Behind him, Cuengi and the rabbits were drooling, curious about the taste.
“Here you go.”
Sejun quickly cut the pork into sizes suitable for the animals to eat and gave it to them.
Kreong!
Squeak!
Squawk!
The animals began to eat the suyuk hurriedly.
“Golden Bat, slice this.”
(Yes!)
Meanwhile, Sejun had the Golden Bat thinly slice some green onions, and he made a simple seasoning with red pepper powder, soy sauce, salt, and honey. Then, the Golden Bat mixed the seasoning with the sliced onions to complete the green onion salad.
“Let’s try it.”
Swooosh. Swooosh.
Sejun sliced about ten pieces of pork, placed them on his plate, and ate them with the green onion salad.
“Mm. This is it. This is the taste.”
Although it was good before, eating it with the green onion salad added a crunchy texture and enriched the flavor, making it even more delicious. The green onion salad also cut through the greasiness, leaving a refreshing aftertaste.
Kreong?
Cuengi quickly followed Sejun’s lead, placing the green onion salad on a piece of pork and putting it in his mouth. The only time he had failed to imitate Sejun’s eating was with coffee.
‘Dad said that tastes good when you become an adult.’
He didn’t understand why it would taste better when he was older, but he trusted his dad’s words.
Kreong!
Once again, he succeeded. Cuengi, who had discovered a new world of flavor with the combination of suyuk and green onion salad, excitedly shouted out.
And seeing Cuengi’s reaction, the other rabbits began to take an interest.
“You guys.”
Sejun smiled contentedly as he looked at the animals. He felt good seeing them enjoy the food he had made.
“Aileen, you should try it too.”
Sejun sent a bowl filled with suyuk and green onion salad to Aileen.
A moment later
[The Tower’s Administrator is shocked, saying this is the first time she has eaten meat so tender.]
“Eat it with the green onion salad. It’ll taste better that way.”
[The Tower’s Administrator says you are surely a genius in cooking.]
“No, I’m not that good…”
Sejun was embarrassed about Aileen’s praise. And honestly, Aileen’s cooking skills were below average. But he couldn’t bring himself to say that.
Thus, while Sejun was sharing the pork with everyone
ssss. ssss.
Steam began to rise one by one from the rabbits’ bodies.
“Ugh!”
Along with a foul smell,
“It stinks! Go wash up quickly!”
Sejun deliberately spoke more hysterically. It was revenge for them avoiding him earlier because his breath had smelled like shit. Sejun was quite vindictive.
Squeak!
Splash!
The rabbits panicked and hurried to the fountain.
Then,
[You have consumed the greedy and hot wild boar suyuk.]
[Your affinity for fire attributes increases.]
[Talent: Fire Mastery awakens.]
[The impurities in your body are being burned and expelled out.]
ssss.
Steam began to rise from Sejun’s body too.
“Meow! President Park smells like shit again, meow!”
Theo quickly pulled a nose plug from his bag and plugged his nose. He had prepared it in anticipation of the same situation.
Squawk!
Cuengi screamed, covering his nose with his front paws. Daddy smells like poop!
“Ugh!”
Sejun too hurried to the fountain. Even though the smell was coming from his own body, it was truly horrible.”
Splash.
The rabbits glared at Sejun as he entered the fountain. They gave him a reproachful look, as if to ask why he had yelled at them when he was going to come in as well.
“Sorry…”
A little later
Kreong!
Splash.
Cuengi also entered the fountain, giving off a foul smell.
Kreong.
[I’m sorry.]
Cuengi, who had teased Sejun about the smell, rubbed Sejun’s shoulder in apology.
Thus, everyone left the cooking site.
– Shall we taste it?
– Shall we?
The two dragons that had stayed behind in the kitchen helped themselves to the suyuk. And the green onion salad, too.
***
Shake, shake.
“Ah. So refreshing.”
Sejun spoke, shaking the water off his body. He had inadvertently taken a group bath with the animals.
Kreong!
Squeak!
The animals were all shaking the water off their bodies, looking refreshed because all the impurities had been removed from their bodies.
But
“It’s uncomfortable, meow!”
Theo, who didn’t need to go into the water, grumbled as he vigorously shook off the water. He had been dunked along with Sejun since he was clinging to Sejun’s knee.
“Pfft. President Theo, you’re a complete mess. Really pathetic.”
Sejun laughed at the bedraggled Theo without noticing his irritation.
“Meow…I’m not pathetic, meow…”
Theo’s spirit was immediately dampened by Sejun’s words.
“Sorry. I was just joking. Our President Theo is so cool.”
As Sejun lifted Theo and manually shook the water off his fur,
“Pffft. I know, meow! I’m the coolest cat in the world, meow!”
Theo’s confidence was quickly restored, and he boasted loudly. He really had the confidence of a reed.
Then
(Sejun, I’ll dry your hair for you!)
The golden bat flew around Sejun’s head, flapping its wings hard to create a breeze.
Flap. Flap.
The wind was weak, so it wasn’t much help, but
(Pant-pant. How is it?)
“Oh! It’s cool.”
Sejun made a white lie for the golden bat, who was flapping its wings to the point of breathlessness for him. His heart warmed instead.
“Let’s get to work now!”
Sejun, after drying Theo’s fur, massaged the tired golden bat’s shoulders and went to look for mushroom ants.
[You have harvested a Oyster Mushroom.]
[You have 42,871 times left to complete the job quest.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 5 has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 1 experience point.]
“Okay, next.”
Kkwek.
At Sejun’s words, the harvested ant left, and another ant behind it showed its back for Sejun to harvest more easily. Sejun just stayed still, and it was easy to harvest because the mushroom ants moved themselves.
Kkwek.
Kkwek.
On top of that, Sejun’s harvested mushrooms were sorted by the mushroom ants according to their type and condition.
Shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, yeongji mushrooms – there were many types of mushrooms growing on the backs of the mushroom ants.
Although it was a bit disappointing that the mushrooms had no item effects, Sejun was satisfied since he could use the harvesting skill and eat the mushrooms.
“Nice.”
Thanks to that, Sejun only focused on harvesting.
As he was doing so, lunchtime approached.
“Cuengi, bring me some dry straw and branches.”
Kreong!
At Sejun’s command, Cuengi, who had been lying on the ground gazing at the sky, quickly jumped up.
Asking for dry straw and branches meant starting a fire, and that meant cooking.
Kreong!
Cuengi hurriedly ran off, and
(Brother Cuengi, I’ll help too!)
The golden bat followed Cuengi, flying after him.
A moment later
Kreong!
Rumble, rumble.
The Giant Cuengi laid down a huge amount of dry straw and branches. Here they are!
(I brought some too!)
Flap. Flap.
The golden bat also brought a thin branch, following Cuengi.
“Good job.”
Sejun stacked the branches well and placed dry straw between them to catch fire easily.
And then
Snap.
Whoosh.
Sejun snapped his fingers to create a small flame the size of a 50-won coin (diameter 21.60 mm). This was thanks to his newly acquired Talent: Fire Mastery.
[Talent: Fire Mastery]
– A talent that allows you to use fire more skillfully.
– You can create a flame by snapping your fingers.
Although not powerful enough for battle, being able to create flames was a great help in daily life.
Sejun used the flame on his finger to light the thin branch that the golden bat brought, and put it in the pile of firewood.
Whoosh.
The fire caught on the firewood strongly.
And then
Thump.
Sejun took out the back of a fire ant from void storage. Today’s lunch menu was grilled mushrooms. The back of the fire ant was flat and perfect for a grill.
Sizzle.
As the mushrooms grilled, spreading their aroma, the rabbits found their way there on their own.
Squeak!
Kkwek!
At first, the rabbits and mushroom ants were wary of each other, but workers recognize workers. The rabbits and mushroom ants quickly became friends.