The moment he signed the contract to sell the potato puree recipe he discovered through the Rocket Store, Kim Ju-il felt an inexplicable thrill. It was because it was the first product he had obtained from a Hunter rather than from a different race.
‘To think I could obtain new products this way.’
This discovery held many meanings. It proved that he could source products not just through trade with other races, but also from the Hunters of Earth.
**[Achievement Unlocked: Consignment Sale Service Started!]**
**[Achievement Reward: Obtained a related decorative item.]**
**『The Chef’s Small Notebook』**
Grade: Rare
Acquisition Conditions:
1. Affinity with the Halfling tribe must be at Rank 1 or higher.
2. Unlocked when a Rocket Store member analyzes Halfling cuisine to discover a recipe and signs the first contract to sell that recipe through the Rocket Store.
Passive Effects:
**Chef’s Inspiration:** Increases the probability of all Chef Hunters registered in the Rocket Store discovering new recipes by 5%.
**Dissemination of Knowledge:** Increases the production success rate of all recipes sold through the Rocket Store by 5% and slightly adjusts the quality of the finished products.
‘I was just wondering how I could help them. This is perfect.’
Since the potato puree recipe was registered under his name, people would surely show interest. With the added effects of this decorative item, the chances of more Hunters finding their own unique recipes would likely increase in the future.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the pile of cream potatoes stacked in a corner of the kitchen.
‘By the way, I think even I could make this potato puree.’
Until now, the recipes O’Donnell provided were all for baking, which felt too daunting to attempt. However, this case was different.
‘Should I try making it?’
**[Would you like to register the recipe for Potato Puree?]**
“Yes.”
Following the system’s guidance, he registered the cream potato puree recipe he had discovered into the system. Then, using his authority as the owner of the Rocket Store, he took some cream potatoes out of a sack he had set aside.
Though smaller than ordinary potatoes, their unique, nutty aroma tickled his nose.
“Are we having steamed cream potatoes today?”
Aria, who couldn’t resist a good meal, flew into the kitchen from the living room before he knew it. She looked adorable, fluttering her small wings while staring at the cream potatoes with curiosity.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I’m going to make potato puree as a side for steak.”
“What’s potato puree?”
“It’s a dish made by mashing potatoes. It won’t take long, so just wait a bit.”
Aria nodded and sat in a corner of the kitchen. Her two curious eyes followed his every move as if she didn’t want to miss a thing.
‘Having an audience makes me feel a bit pressured.’
Still, the recipe was simple. First, he boiled a few cream potatoes. He added extras since they were good to eat as they were. In the meantime, he started searing the steak that would be the main course.
As he placed the meat on a heated pan while the water boiled in the pot, the sound of the steak searing filled the room. The savory scent of meat permeated the kitchen.
“Wow! It smells delicious already! You know how to cook too!”
“I’ve been living on my own for over ten years, after all. Besides, these dishes only look fancy; they’re simpler than you’d think.”
Lately, he hadn’t bothered to cook because the Rocket Store made things too convenient. But he could do it when he put his mind to it. In the first place, knowing a few simple dishes was a matter of survival for someone living alone.
“What’s next?” Aria asked, watching the cooking process with fascination.
She looked like a viewer focused on a cooking competition show, which was a pleasant sight.
“I’m going to mash the boiled cream potatoes while they’re hot, add goat milk and butter, and then cook them at the right temperature.”
When he poked them with a chopstick, it slid smoothly into the cream potatoes. He drained the water and began mashing the hot potatoes with a fork. As the steam rose, a subtle sweetness stimulated his nose.
“They look good enough to eat just like this!”
“I’ll set a few aside for you.”
“I knew it!”
He gradually added goat milk to adjust the consistency and added a knob of butter. The cream-colored puree began to take on a smooth, glossy finish. It was a simple process, but the finished paste emitted an amazing flavor.
Soon, he plated the perfectly cooked steak and the puree, tasting it alongside Aria.
“It’s delicious!”
Aria’s eyes sparkled. The way she ate the puree with a small spoon made her look like a gourmet tasting a delicacy.
“Really? It goes well on toast too, so how about having it for breakfast instead of jam?”
“That sounds great!”
Aria marveled as she took another spoonful of the puree, and her reaction made him feel proud.
“Kuu?”
Mago flew in as well, drawn by the commotion in the kitchen. Its round body floated in the air as it circled around the table. He offered a spoonful to let Mago taste it, but Mago only sniffed it and showed no further interest.
Mago seemed to be asking, ‘This isn’t a rock, is it?’
After a tiny lick of the puree with its small tongue, it tilted its head. As expected, Mago didn’t seem interested in anything that wasn’t a mineral.
‘Well, if it ate something else after eating like that since this morning, that would be a horror story.’
While eating a few steamed potatoes he had set aside, Ju-il logged into the community for the first time in a while. He had been too busy to pay attention, so he wondered what the reaction was like.
[Is the Halfling Lunch Box really this good??]
No, then how delicious is the limited edition?
– Wow. Didn’t think of that. So jealous.
– Nothing to be jealous of. We’re all in the same boat since we can’t eat it right now anyway.
– Show-off.
– Hunters Lee Jun-ho and Kim Yu-seong are selling them. Eat those. They’re a bit lacking, but they’ve managed to copy them quite a bit.
– Wow, you even evaluate the taste because you know the original.
‘I knew about Lee Jun-ho because we’ve interacted occasionally, but it seems Hunter Kim Yu-seong has followed along a lot too.’
He nodded as he took another spoonful of potato. The man wasn’t a celebrity chef Hunter for nothing.
[I tried renting the Living Armor and it’s insane]
Seriously crazy.
The Living Armor taught me swordsmanship techniques.
Thanks to that, I succeeded in a 10th-floor boss raid.
– It sucked for me though? The soul kept moving on its own, so I just suffered.
– Same for me. Who cares if the defense is high? It kept trying to go against my will. It was just a tin can.
– It taught you techniques? For real? You’re lying, right?
– So jealous. Seriously. It didn’t teach me anything.
– What? The Living Armor I rented didn’t speak at all. I thought I just rented a suit of armor.
– I guess the Living Armor is shy lol.
– 100% lol.
– I’m looking for reviews because I want to rent one, but why are the opinions so split? Only people who actually used it should comment.
– Everyone might be right. The reviews are actually pretty divided.
– FR?
– Yeah. I had a similar experience. Why is there such a big difference?
– It probably depends on what kind of soul is inhabiting the Living Armor.
– We’re paying coins to rent it, but it’s basically a gacha? Is this right?
– You’ve done gachas for appliances and smartphones before. Just think of it as an extension of that.
– FR lol.
As expected, the reviews for the Living Armor were polarized. Since there was no way to know what kind of soul was inside, it was unavoidable.
‘Still, those who get a good one usually rent them long-term. People will just have to pray before they rent.’
[Have you been to the World Tree Sanctuary? The World Tree is huge.]
They say the World Tree is that big, but why is there no post from anyone in Korea saying they’ve seen it? Does that make sense?
They definitely said the World Tree bloomed when the Dryad gave the blessing.
– I was thinking the same thing. Where does the Rocket Store owner live?
– Or couldn’t it be someone protected by the Association or a powerful guild? If it’s private property, you can’t go in.
– Is there that much private land in our country?
– There’s plenty hidden away.
– For real. If it’s the World Tree, they wouldn’t have planted it just anywhere.
– More importantly, what about the buff effects?
– Crop yields increased after receiving the World Tree Sanctuary buff. The surrounding farmers are making a fuss about needing to climb the Tower now.
– Just like the porters visiting the 5th floor, the 10th floor has become a must for farmers too?
– Yup.
Everyone was making strange guesses about his identity. But he had just planted the World Tree anywhere. It seemed many people would be shocked if he told them he had planted the World Tree in an ordinary pot found anywhere. He didn’t even know the principle behind why the Root of Life appeared so massive to others.
[What on earth do you use the Ghoul’s Stench for? The smell is horrendous.]
I bought it immediately because I trusted the Rocket Store when they said it was a new product.
Even if reviews for the Living Armor are split, what’s with this perfume? It just smells disgusting. If I accidentally sprayed this on myself, my party members would all run away.
– Hey, that smell is seriously the worst.
– Used 3,000 coins for trash. lolololol.
– This is why you should wait for reviews before using it. What a waste of coins.
– So, is it true that undead recognize you as an ally?
(Author) No, the smell is so bad I couldn’t even test it.
– You really wasted your coins;
– Even the Rocket Store can make mistakes~
The reviews for the Ghoul’s Stench weren’t even divided. They were nothing but criticism.
‘Is the smell really that bad?’
Well, the description did say it replicated the scent of a ghoul. He questioned whether a regular expedition could even use this properly.
‘Top-tier Hunters might have more patience or something than regular Hunters, though.’
Since he had finished the cream potatoes, he pushed the bowl aside and checked the new requests. Hoping for a Halfling request that would help with recipe discovery, he scrolled up and down the request list on the system window.
**[Corrosive Slime Repellent]**
Requester: Fauno the Satyr
Content: Those damn slimes have spit out filth that’s contaminated the grass our goats eat with poison. At this rate, all the goats will fall ill. Please bring me a purifying agent to neutralize the poison or a repellent for corrosive slimes—anything will do.
Reward: Regular supply of Merino wool oil.
**[Hungry]**
Requester: Barbarian Kargar
Content: This floor has no bones and no bugs. Kargar has no strength. Muscles melting. My fists feel like cotton candy. Need meat. I think I’ll collapse if I don’t get it right now.
Reward: Provision of Barbarian War Paint knowledge.
“Oh, this is a pleasant surprise.”
They weren’t Halflings, but he saw some familiar faces for the first time in a while. Whether it was because there had been no requests or because they were pushed back by affinity levels, the requests from the Satyr and the Barbarian appeared simultaneously.
In particular, Kargar’s request was hilarious due to the unique Barbarian phrasing. Just how much had he starved for his fists to feel like cotton candy? Seeing as there were no meat or bugs, was he fighting the undead or something? He needed to send something quickly.
‘I won’t even need to go through the Hunters for this.’
He quickly organized a solution in his mind. The corrosive slimes were a type of derivative monster that grew by consuming contaminated mana—similar to an indicator species used to judge water quality. They served as a marker to gauge the concentration of pollution based on how much they multiplied in a contaminated area.
‘They can be repelled with purifying powder. Holy water should work too.’
The timing was perfect. The holy water Marco had sent yesterday had just arrived. For the hungry Kargar, he provided a Halfling Lunch Box. Naturally, he chose one packed with meat.
He sent the lunch box and the holy water via Rocket Delivery respectively. Thanks to that, both requests were completed instantly, and he received the rewards.
‘But what are these two used for?’
First, he checked the information on the reward received from the Satyr.
**[Merino Wool Oil]**
Grade: Magic
Description: Wool oil from the Merino breed. Properly maintaining equipment with this oil grants the ‘Sharpness’ or ‘Smoothness’ buff.
‘Oh?’
Looking at the description, the technique of Leon’s squire, Albert, immediately came to mind. This seemed like a much lower-tier version, but the important thing was that it confirmed the buff.
‘Does this mean I can create new buff products as long as I have good materials, even without skills?’
Next, he tried to check the Barbarian’s war paint, but perhaps due to a lack of related knowledge, the item description sent by Kargar was obscured by static.
**[Would you like to pay an information access fee to check the information regarding the Barbarian’s War Paint? (Fee: 10,000 coins)]**
‘They really take every penny.’
After paying the coins to check the information, the static on the item Kargar sent disappeared.
**[Barbarian’s War Paint]**
Barbarians use special pigments containing the power of their ancestors to engrave specific patterns on their bodies. War paint engraved this way provides various buffs to the Barbarian.
The reward Kargar sent was actually the basic pigment recipe for Barbarian War Paint and the design for the Pattern of Valor.
‘I guess this is the Barbarians’ unique buff method. Another new buff has been added.’
Furthermore, this time it was a product that anyone could make as long as they had the recipe and the design, without needing to seek cooperation from other races. He felt it would be incredibly popular among Hunters.
‘It’ll probably be quite popular.’
Wouldn’t it also be helpful for top-tier expeditions tackling the 25th floor? He immediately tried to contact Yun Tae-seong. Normally, he would respond right away, but for some reason, he wasn’t reading the message today.
Is he busy?