“I’ve brought the corpse of the Claw Lizard Princess.”
As Irim placed the corpse in front of her, the Red Queen Spider’s eyes gleamed with a fierce light.
“You have avenged me and my children. Now, my children will no longer be harmed by the Claw Lizards.”
Looking around at the Red Queen Spider’s words, Irim noticed that the Claw Lizards in the field were staggering, weakened.
This phenomenon began the moment they saw the Claw Lizard Princess’s corpse.
The Claw Lizards, which had been preying on the Red Baby Spiders, were now being hunted by them in return.
The nearby players watched the scene with fascination.
Soon, as all the Claw Lizards were hunted down, only the Red Baby Spiders remained in the forest.
“I shall give you a gift of gratitude.”
[Hidden Quest – The Grudge of the Red Queen Spider!]
– CLEARED! –
Reward: Skill ‘Poison Sac F’
[Poison Sac F, Active]
You can produce poison within your body and release it from your fingertips. Effective only against 2-star or lower monsters, causing paralysis and nausea for 3 seconds. Producing one drop of poison consumes 30 satiety.
“Wow.”
It was a skill that naturally drew admiration.
Being able to generate paralyzing poison was bound to be quite useful when hunting tricky monsters.
The messages didn’t stop there.
[Achievement Unlocked!]
Achievement Gained: Guardian of the Spiders!
Condition: Clear the Hidden Quest – The Grudge of the Red Queen Spider!
Reward: All Stats +10
Irim hadn’t expected this bonus.
His Health, Attack, Defense, Agility, and Satiety all increased by 10.
It was an absolute jackpot.
As Irim smiled with satisfaction, a holographic video suddenly played before him.
It depicted a peaceful Spider Forest.
The Red Queen Spider and her Red Baby Spiders, free from the threat of their natural enemies, were leisurely building webs throughout the forest.
Above the scene, white text appeared.
[Thanks to Rice-nim’s efforts, peace has come to the Spider Forest. The Red Queen Spider hopes this peace will last. However, the Claw Lizard clan remains strong, and other princesses who failed to become queen may appear. These exiled princesses may come to this prey-rich land, threatening the peace once more.]
As the text faded, the video ended.
With this, the hidden quest tied to the Red Queen Spider was fully completed.
[Achievement Unlocked!]
Achievement Gained: Trailblazer of Scenarios
Condition: Clear a scenario related to the ‘Mainstream’
Reward: Profession ‘Trailblazer’
[The profession of Trailblazer can be held by anyone, but not everyone can attain it. Only those who step into the grand narrative that runs through this world can become a Trailblazer.]
[You have acquired your second profession: Trailblazer.]
[You have acquired the Trailblazer-exclusive status window ‘History Book.’ It records the Trailblazer’s footsteps, and you will receive rewards each time a new history is recorded.]
Unexpectedly, Irim had gained a second profession.
He opened the Trailblazer-exclusive status window, the History Book.
History Book (HISTORY)
[Completed Main Stream]
None
[Completed Sub-Scenario]
The Grudge of the Red Queen Spider
The moment Irim checked it, a message about the reward appeared.
[Your first footprint has been recorded in the History Book. 5 bonus stat points have been awarded.]
He hadn’t anticipated this, but 5 bonus stat points were added.
After some thought, Irim invested them all into Agility, which was relatively low.
No more messages appeared.
Irim glanced at the Claw Lizard Princess’s corpse.
The Red Queen Spider no longer paid it any attention.
He stored the corpse in his inventory and moved away from the Red Queen Spider.
As he did, players who had been keeping their distance swarmed toward him.
“Rice-nim, that was the Claw Lizard Princess, right?”
“Did you raid it alone? Or was it a party hunt?”
“Is there some kind of strategy? I went with a party once, but no matter how much we hit it, the damage didn’t stick.”
Irim responded briefly to the barrage of questions.
“It’s hard to explain in detail. Sorry.”
“Tch, fair enough. I wouldn’t share a strategy either.”
“Come on, share a little! Don’t be so stingy.”
“Such a shame.”
The players smacked their lips in disappointment.
Ignoring their reactions, Irim moved to a quieter spot, took out the Claw Lizard Princess’s corpse and his Dagger, and began working.
“What does this thing’s meat taste like?”
A smile spread across Irim’s face as he looked at the boss monster’s corpse.
He swiftly wielded the Dagger, cleanly skinning the Claw Lizard Princess.
[You have obtained Superior Claw Lizard Large Leather.]
After skinning, he immediately slit open its belly and removed the innards.
Unlike the Great Unicorn Chicken, no Buff Eggs or similar items came out.
Irim, who had secretly hoped for something like that, felt a bit let down.
After removing all the innards, he cut off the legs, tail, and body into pieces.
As he began separating the bones from the meat to store in his inventory, fanfare suddenly blared around him.
Bam-bam-bara-bam!
“Wha—!”
Startled, Irim saw a new message he hadn’t seen before.
[Your Cooking stat has exceeded 100 due to continuous cooking activities. A profession perk has been granted.]
[You have acquired the profession skill ‘Chef’s Discernment F.’]
[Chef’s Discernment F, Passive]
You can assess the freshness and basic properties of ingredients.
[You have acquired the profession skill ‘Chef’s Blessing F.’]
[Chef’s Blessing F, Passive]
You can obtain a small amount of two desired seasonings or spices per day.
[Due to sufficient experience, the rank of ‘Chef’s Luck’ has increased to D.]
[Chef’s Luck D, Passive]
When a dish of Delicious rank or higher is created, there is a low chance it will gain 2-3 temporary buffs or 1 permanent stat increase.
Irim’s Cooking stat had hit 100, earning him a perk.
As a bonus, he gained the skills Chef’s Discernment and Chef’s Blessing, and his Chef’s Luck had leveled up.
Previously, it stated that dishes could gain 2 temporary buffs with low probability, but now it was 2-3.
After the messages vanished, Irim’s gaze returned to the prepared lizard meat.
A new status window appeared.
[Prepared Claw Lizard Princess Meat]
– Freshness: High
– Property: When cooked by a Chef, every fifth dish guarantees a permanent stat increase from Chef’s Luck.
“This is incredible.”
The ability of the Chef’s Discernment passive skill was impressive, but the property of the Claw Lizard Princess’s meat was equally astonishing.
A guaranteed permanent stat increase every fifth dish!
Irim had thirty pieces of Claw Lizard Princess meat.
Dividing it into smaller portions wasn’t possible due to system restrictions, despite his attempts.
He had also noticed before that one piece of meat could only be used to make one dish.
That was a limitation of this virtual reality game.
Still, the implementation of cooking was remarkably well done.
The taste, aroma, and texture of ingredients were nearly identical to reality.
With thirty pieces of meat, he could make at least six dishes with guaranteed buff effects.
Irim decided to try his other new skill.
He activated Chef’s Blessing.
A message appeared before him.
[What would you like?]
– Salt, Sugar, Pepper, Coarse Red Pepper Powder, Fine Red Pepper Powder, Soy Sauce, Vinegar, Starch Syrup, Sesame Oil…
The list of available seasonings and spices numbered in the dozens.
Irim chose sugar, a staple in cooking, and sesame oil, which enhances flavor.
Opening his inventory, he found 20g of sugar and 20ml of sesame oil in glass containers.
“Perfect.”
In Real, where even a pinch of salt was hard to come by, being able to obtain two desired seasonings daily, even in small amounts, was a big deal.
Irim immediately dug a pit and started a fire with firewood.
He found a large, flat stone, cleaned it thoroughly, and heated it over the fire.
He placed the meat pieces on it, sprinkled salt, and began grilling.
He was making lizard steaks.
He didn’t forget to rub rosemary into the meat to mask any gaminess.
Irim cooked the lizard meat to perfection, then skewered it with a small horn from a Unicorn Chicken.
[Delicious Lizard Steak]
– Grants +30 Satiety upon consumption
A splendid dish that boosted Satiety by 30 was complete.
“Nice.”
Irim continued making steaks.
After finishing all thirty steaks, he also cooked the Claw Lizard corpses he had collected on his way to the raid into skewers.
As a result, he had thirty lizard steaks and a total of ninety-four lizard skewers, including those already in his inventory.
Six of them had additional stat increase effects.
Since his Satiety was nearly depleted from cooking, Irim ate all six of the buffed steaks.
This increased his Health by 30, Attack by 4, Defense by 2, Agility by 2, and Satiety by 20.
With his hunger satisfied and cooking done, it was time to sell.
Irim moved to a crowded area and shouted loudly.
“Everyone, I’m selling food! Please line up if you’d like to buy.”
At his words, players who had been fighting swarmed over like bees.
They had been eagerly waiting for Irim to start selling.
Among them was a familiar face.
“Rice-nim! Hello!”
It was Melina.
She approached Irim with a bright smile.
“Hello!”
In reality, Irim struggled to talk to women.
But here, that burden felt lighter.
“I’m so lucky today. I ran into you right after logging in!”
“Haha, really?”
“Are you about to start selling?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me help! In return…”
“Sure, I’ll give you two dishes.”
“Hehe, you get me now. Ahem, everyone! Please line up orderly! Oh, Rice-nim, how many dishes are you selling today?”
“About 115.”
“What kinds?”
“Lizard skewers and lizard steaks.”
“How much for the steaks?”
“7,000 Won.”
“Got it.”
Hearing this, Melina counted the number of people in line and shouted again.
“Everyone! Today, Rice-nim is selling lizard skewers and lizard steaks. Skewers are 5,000 Won, and steaks are 7,000 Won. You can buy up to three items per person, so please understand!”
Melina took charge of organizing things Irim hadn’t even asked for.
He appreciated her resourcefulness and friendliness.
She was a completely different type of person from him.
With Melina’s help, Irim’s food sold steadily, and even the last person in line got a chance to buy.
It was a satisfying transaction for both seller and buyers.
As promised, Irim handed Melina two steaks he had set aside.
“Wow, these look so delicious!”
Melina’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the food.
Irim found her enthusiastic reaction to food adorable.
“Go ahead and try them.”
“Then I’ll dig in!”
Melina took a big bite of the lizard steak.
The juicy, chewy meat, reminiscent of chicken thigh, burst with flavor.
So delicious!
Melina’s eyes fluttered shut.
Her lips curled into a smile without her realizing it.
The lizard skewers she had eaten before were tasty, but this had a different charm.
The skewers, cooked over an open flame, were full of smoky aroma, delighting the senses, but the steaks had far more juiciness.
Melina devoured the lizard steak in no time.
As she reached for the second one—
“Rice-nim, I’d like to buy some food too. I want to try the lizard skewers and steaks.”
A player approached and said this.
He was a man with a typically handsome Western-style customized character, but his nickname, oddly mismatched, was ‘KoreanFoodKing.’
“I’m sorry, I’ve sold out for today.”
“Not even one left?”
“Nope.”
KoreanFoodKing’s gaze shifted to the steak in Melina’s hand.
In response, Melina opened her mouth wide and stuffed the entire remaining steak in.
“Mmff!”
KoreanFoodKing, realizing she had no intention of sharing, asked Irim again.
“Come on, don’t be like that. If you’ve got anything hidden away, just sell it.”
KoreanFoodKing was curious about the taste of Rice’s food, which was rumored to be exceptional in the game.
He had tried making and selling food himself since starting Real.
His dishes weren’t much different from Rice’s, or so he thought.
The key difference was that there wasn’t a single mention of him on the Real Fan Cafe, while Rice was the talk of the town.
This bruised KoreanFoodKing’s pride.
He planned to taste Rice’s food and scoff at it.
Melina could clearly see his ill intentions.
She wanted to say something, but her mouth was too full of steak to speak.
As she struggled, Irim, ever good-natured, asked, “Hmm… would another dish be okay?”
“Anything works.”
“I have a chicken skewer left. Want it?”
“Sure.”
Irim sold a chicken skewer for 1,500 Won.
KoreanFoodKing took a bite of the skewer.
Hmph. Just a chicken skewer. Grilled without proper seasoning, it’s probably the same as any other…
His face froze mid-thought, ready to criticize the skewer harshly.
A single word flashed in his mind.
Mimi! (Delicious!)
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.