Chapter 38: Samgyetang

The waiting time was long.

While the samgyetang simmered puk puk, the five passed the time with rather unnutritious chatter.

When time dragged too much, they hunted nearby twin-horn chickens.

About an hour passed like that, and Irim opened the pot lid.

Then, thick steam burst out, and the rich broth aroma stimulated everyone’s sense of smell.

In the pot, five chickens thoroughly cooked over strong heat flaunted a radiant appearance in the milky broth.

Irim put one chicken and one ginseng in each of five wide bowls, poured generous broth, and passed them around.

He took out two small dipping dishes, mixed salt and pepper in them, and set them down.

“Dip the meat in one, and add a bit to the broth in the other to season it.”

“This is samgyetang, right?”

“Insane smell.”

“It’s on a different level from the chicken soups I’ve eaten?”

“Hehehe. Who’d think I’d eat samgyetang here!”

In order, Luke, Karen, Xyle, Maengho spoke.

Irim stared intently at the samgyetang in his bowl.

‘Samgyetang.’

He had steadily eaten samgyetang every dog day.

Last year, he made it with effort, but after one bite, despaired and threw it all away.

He couldn’t feel the taste or aroma he remembered.

But here, he could feel everything.

An information window for the samgyetang appeared in Irim’s eyes.

[Mouthwatering Samgyetang]

– Satiety +50 upon consumption

Due to lacking ingredients, he couldn’t make delicious samgyetang, but this was still a decent level.

Plus, it raised satiety by 50, making it a hearty meal.

Irim lifted the bowl and tasted the slightly oily broth.

Slurp. Gulp!

“Haa.”

Mind-blowing.

The milky broth was richly infused with the flavors of chicken, jujubes, ginseng, and garlic.

Truly the essence.

He worried that boiling for only one hour instead of two—because people were waiting—might leave it lacking.

But perhaps due to the twin-horn chicken’s traits, even one hour drew out an amazing chicken flavor.

Irim grabbed a drumstick and tore it off.

The drumstick, the size of a child’s forearm, tore off tenderly.

Twin-horn chickens were about the size of a decent broiler.

Normally, boiling a broiler for one hour makes the meat tough and hard to tear.

But twin-horn chickens were different.

Even after exactly one hour, the meat was soft and tender, as if boiled for ages.

Irim put the thigh meat whole in his mouth and pulled ssuk; the meat cleanly deboned, leaving only the bone.

He slowly chewed the mouthful of chicken.

The texture gently unraveled, and the mild broth trapped in the meat flowed jjuuk jjuuk.

The meat was great, but the thoroughly cooked skin, which mashed under the tongue, was also exquisite.

Gulp!

Satisfaction filled Irim’s face as he swallowed the chicken.

Twin-horn chicken meat had no gamey chicken odor at all.

So, it kept all the strengths of chicken without the flaws.

‘Games are good.’

As Irim marveled, a very combative sound came from beside him.

“Hwa. Hwa. Huuu. Munch munch. Hweo. Huu. Huu. Munch munch. Gulp!”

Maengho stuffed hot drumstick meat without cooling it and struggled.

His mouth burned, tears welling, yet he thumbs-upped.

“Rice-nim! Amazing. Really delicious.”

“Haha. Thank you.”

Irim checked the NPCs’ reactions.

They were deeply immersed in the samgyetang’s taste, busily tearing meat without a word.

The most voracious eater was Luke.

He started with the drumsticks.

Holding appetizing drumsticks in both hands and putting them in his mouth at once, soon only deboned bones popped out.

He chewed ujeok ujeok the mouthful, gulp! swallowed, drank the rich broth hororok, then tore into the wings.

Those too went in at once, bones spat out, then broth paired before the meat in his mouth went down.

Eating meat and broth separately is good, but pairing them revealed the dish’s true value.

Wings and legs done, now the body!

Luke tore the breast meat buk buk, dipped deeply in salt and pepper, and put it in.

The salty seasoning intensely transformed the mild, slightly bland chicken taste.

Gulp!

Half the chicken breast vanished in Luke’s mouth at once.

He tore the remaining half and chewed hurriedly.

Chicken breast is usually tough compared to legs.

But twin-horn chicken breast maintained just the right toughness, melting sareureu after a few chews with broth.

Luke finished the meat and skin on the chicken’s back, seasoned the remaining broth with salt and pepper, and drank kkolleok kkolleok.

“Keuheu!”

He finished the meal chewing ginseng.

Watching that incredible mukbang, Maengho unconsciously clapped.

Following Luke, Xyle and Karen also cleaned their bowls.

The three who finished eyed Maengho’s bowl.

Startled, Maengho hurriedly shoved chicken into his mouth.

Then their gazes turned to Irim as if agreed.

Unlike others, Irim savored the meat’s taste slowly.

Though slow, he didn’t nibble; food decreased quickly.

He didn’t eat the samgyetang alone but shared with Mio.

Mio sat beside Irim, nose buried in the meat-piled plate, mouth moving diligently.

Maengho’s eyes turned to hearts watching Mio.

But the other NPCs’ gazes wouldn’t leave Irim.

Irim fully felt the taste and flavor of each piece of chicken.

They had never seen someone eat food this deliciously.

It clearly conveyed he cherished this meal as if it were his last.

The meat reduced to about one-third.

Irim tore the remaining meat buk buk and put it in the broth.

He lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, enjoying meat and broth like chicken gomtang.

The three mercenaries swallowed simultaneously watching.

Kkolleok!

“I should’ve eaten like that.”

Karen regretted.

“Didn’t think of it.”

Luke regretted too.

“..Damn.”

Xyle cursed.

Slurp. Munch munch. Gulp!

“Huuu.”

Irim, draining the remaining broth and meat, sighed in satisfaction.

Finishing one chicken filled his stomach and energized his body.

“Rice-nim. Truly touching. You cook amazingly.”

Maengho expressed gratitude, almost tearful.

“We ate well too.”

“Pretty decent meal.”

“Good skills.”

The NPCs each said a word.

Then a pleasant message appeared before Irim.

[Luke, Karen, Xyle’s favorability increased.]

‘Oh’

NPC favorability rose.

Meaning more interactions possible with them.

‘Making delicious food raises favorability.’

A great tip.

Dishes to make together in the dungeon quickly flashed in Irim’s mind.

Then.

[Mio’s affection reached 100. Mio’s level rose to 3.]

[Skill ‘Kneading F’ upgraded to ‘Kneading E’.]

[Kneading E, Active]

Pressing the owner’s body like massaging with front paws recovers 80 HP of the target. Consumes 60 of the cat’s satiety.

[Skill ‘Nyanyang Punch F’ upgraded to ‘Nyanyang Punch E’.]

[Nyanyang Punch E, Active]

Swing front paws at lightning speed 20 times, dealing 2x attack damage. Consumes 50 satiety.

[Skill ‘Collection F’ upgraded to ‘Collection E’.]

[Collection E, Passive]

Once per day, brings 2~3 items needed for the player’s profession.

[Learned skill ‘Hiss F’.]

[Hiss F, Active]

Target hit by hiss has 20% chance to be frightened for 2 seconds. Consumes 20 satiety.

Mio leveled up, upgrading each skill and learning the new hiss skill.

“Ooh~ Mio leveled up?”

Mio~

Excited Mio jumped into Irim’s arms and kneaded.

“T-That’s kneading! Rice-nim. You’re receiving Cat Lord’s blessing!”

Maengho shouted as if spitting blood watching.

***

The dungeon was filled with salty and fishy sea smells.

It was extremely humid, with salty wind making the body clammy.

“Ugh, hate it.”

Maengho shuddered.

“No matter how many times I come, I can’t get used to this smell.”

Karen grumbled too.

But Irim was purely happy.

‘How long since I smelled the sea.’

The salty air mixed in excited Irim’s heart.

“Everyone be careful. Plenty of outsiders failed without clearing even the first floor.”

Xyle warned.

At that, Maengho asked what he was curious about.

“But how do you guys always come back alive?”

“You outsiders know death in the dungeon isn’t true death, right? Don’t you revive in Tirko Village after an hour? Same for us. Probably the witch’s sorcery too. Otherwise, the dead can’t revive.”

NPCs thought players reconnecting after an hour upon death was thanks to the witch’s sorcery.

Also, NPCs dying in Marina’s Hideout seemed to revive in Tirko Village after an hour.

At Xyle’s explanation, Maengho tilted his head.

“We…… reviving is natural, but why revive you? From the witch’s view, isn’t killing all intruders beneficial? Why bother reviving.”

“I don’t know that either. Some scheme, probably.”

The five talked and kept walking forward.

The cave was a single path.

Torches decorated at appropriate spots inside kept it from being dark.

“By the way, stats rise slower the further you go. Right, Rice?”

“Huh? Stats rise? Ah, you mean stat points from clearing quests or achievements?”

“No. Even without that, just endlessly hunting monsters raises base stats.”

“……Huh?”

“Didn’t you know?”

Irim’s face stiffened slightly.

He had hunted countless monsters but never had base stats rise automatically.

“I…… never had that.”

“Ah~ Your job is Chef? So you didn’t hunt much. Haha.”

“No, that’s……”

As Irim tried to speak, Luke cut in.

“A person’s abilities only develop when fighting monsters with full effort.Neglecting monster hunting or only beating easy ones for days won’t develop anything.”

“Looks like Rice is the former. Makes sense for a chef. Remember. The monsters here are on a different level from what you met outside. So when battle starts, fall back.”

Maengho and Luke completely misunderstood Irim.

Anyway, Irim got one hint from Luke’s words.

‘To raise base stats through combat, monsters can’t be too easy.’

Irim wasn’t raising base stats to defeat the Demon King.

It was to easily hunt more diverse monsters and taste them.

‘From now on, avoid death points and One-Point Thrust as much as possible.’

As Irim thought that.

Kkureureureuk!

A crab the size of a large dog blocked their view.

Its claws on both sides sharp like honed knives—it was the severed crab.

‘This guy. I’ll sever you.’

Irim’s eyes flashed upon confirming it.