Chapter 41: Tomato

The food that Irim made was one thing, but the effect of a single glass of beer was tremendous.

The NPCs, who had never imagined they could enjoy beer in a place like this cave, had their favorability toward Irim skyrocket.

Just looking at how they treated Maengho and Irim made it immediately clear.

The temperature difference in their attitudes toward the two was enormous.

When Maengho spoke to them, they responded listlessly, but when Irim spoke, they immediately smiled and replied.

Not only that, Maengho showed that he didn’t care much whether he got hit and killed by monsters or not.

Yet, the moment a monster even approached Irim, the NPCs would rush over without anyone needing to say anything and protect him.

So, Irim was in a predicament.

‘I need to raise my Defense.’

Defense increases when you get hit a lot by monsters.

Of course, you must not die.

Irim was confident he could get hit appropriately without dying.

Because among his base stats, the one boosted highest by equipment was Defense.

But since they wouldn’t give him a chance to get hit, it was frustrating.

So, Irim made a request to everyone.

“Um…… Everyone. You don’t have to protect me from now on.”

“What? What if you get hurt?”

Xyle was genuinely worried.

Luke and Karen also sent concerned glances.

“If I keep getting protected, I won’t be able to grow. So please help me.”

Despite Irim’s polite request, Xyle shook his head, saying he couldn’t do that.

Then, a hand the size of a pot lid THUD! landed on Xyle’s shoulder.

It was Luke.

He said to Xyle.

“Just let Rice do as he wants. He’s right. Overprotection takes away opportunities to grow.”

Karen agreed.

“Yeah. If it looks really dangerous, we can step in then.”

“Ugh……Fine.”

In the end, Xyle took a step back.

From then on, Irim was able to get hit by monsters to his heart’s content.

Even though his Defense was high, the monsters here had strong attack power, so getting hit about 10 times would leave him sprawled out.

But Irim had something to rely on—Mio.

THUD THUD THUD!

As Irim was getting battered left and right by the pincers of a Dismembered Crab, he shouted.

“Mio! Paw-paw!”

Mio~!

Mio let out a loud cry at her owner’s command and began performing paw-paw on Irim’s head. 

Her cute paws alternately pressed down on his head, and a bright light enveloped Irim’s entire body.

Then, his HP, which had been dropping plummeting, recovered by 80.

Irim threw shrimp to Mio every time she used paw-paw twice.

Mio’s current maximum satiety was 150.

Paw-paw consumed 60 satiety per use.

So, after using it twice, she couldn’t use it anymore.

Thus, Irim threw raw Electric Shrimp carcasses to her.

Since Mio was small, eating just one shrimp filled her satiety completely.

Moreover, since he kept giving her food, her affection was rising quickly.

Meanwhile, the NPCs watching Irim get relentlessly beaten by monsters had faces full of pity.

“T-that kid!”

Whenever Irim got hit around thirty times, Xyle would definitely step in and subdue the monster.

Luke and Karen acted together at those times.

They must have thought he’d die if he got hit more.

Still, they praised Irim’s incredible endurance.

After the long, long first floor of the dungeon ended and a passage to the basement appeared.

[Your Defense has increased by 1.]

‘Oh!’

The message he had been waiting for appeared.

Mio~!

Mio also congratulated Irim.

“It’s thanks to you, Mio.”

Irim vigorously petted Mio’s head.

At that exact moment, Mio’s affection reached 100.

[Mio’s affection has reached 100. Mio’s level has increased to 4.]

[Skill ‘Paw-paw E’ has been upgraded to ‘Paw-paw D’.]

[Paw-paw D, Active]

When the cat presses the owner’s body with its front paws as if massaging, the target’s HP recovers by 120. 

Consumes 60 of the cat’s satiety.

[Skill ‘Hiss F’ has been upgraded to ‘Hiss E’.]

[Hiss E, Active]

The opponent hit by the hiss has a 30% chance to be frightened for 2 seconds. Consumes 20 satiety.

This time, no new skill was gained.

Instead, the two existing skills were upgraded.

But Irim was happy.

Because the performance of the recovery skill, which he needed more than anything right now, had improved.

Not only that, Mio’s base stats increased, and her maximum satiety rose from 150 to 200.

Thanks to that, the paw-paw skill could now be used up to three times at maximum.

Seeing Irim’s pleased face, Karen approached and asked.

“Something good happened?”

“Does it show?”

“Yeah. All the outsiders who came here before either had deathly pale faces or were bloodshot-eyed trying to catch Marina, never smiling once, but you’re really unique.”

“But it’ll be hard to keep smiling on the lower floors.”

The one who suddenly interjected was Xyle.

“The monsters below are stronger. Most outsiders died on the basement floor. Of course, some reached Marina, but they knelt within 10 minutes. Be careful, you guys.”

When Xyle finished speaking, Luke took the lead and stepped down the stairs.

The rest of the group followed behind.

***

On the basement floor, the salty sea smell that could be sensed on the surface completely disappeared.

And on the wall at the entrance, a single line of writing was inscribed.

Oh, it was delicious.

Seeing that, Xyle wrapped his hands around both shoulders.

“It’s creepy every time I see it.”

Maengho tilted his head.

“What did they eat that was delicious?”

“What do you think.”

Maengho still looked clueless.

In the end, Xyle reluctantly spat out the words he didn’t want to say.

“It’s a witch who kidnaps children. What do you think she ate.”

“You crazy…”

A curse jumped out of Maengho’s mouth in shock.

His clenched fists trembled.

“Let’s go catch that damn witch quickly!”

As Maengho tried to take the lead, Luke pulled him back and sent him behind himself.

“Why stop me?”

It was Karen’s words.

Luke walked ahead without any reply.

Luke seemed indifferent to others’ affairs at first glance, but he was actually a deeply caring man.

With Luke at the front, the party slowly walked through the single-path corridor.

No monsters appeared for a while.

But then, something caught Irim’s eye.

A plant growing large against the cave wall, hanging heavy with fruit.

When he got closer, it was a tomato.

As Irim picked one, Maengho came over and chattered.

“Out of nowhere, tomatoes? Maybe it’s ~ for players who didn’t bring food, worried about satiety.”

It made sense when he heard it.

In this game, when satiety reaches 0, you can’t do anything.

Satiety was as important as HP.

That’s why players were so obsessed with food.

If there were no satiety system, they wouldn’t care whether the food was poor or not, but because of the satiety system, they had to eat, so complaints were inevitable.

Of course.

Because even tasteless food had to be eaten.

“Anyone want a tomato?”

The NPCs shook their heads.

Only Maengho picked and ate one tomato.

Irim took all nine remaining tomatoes.

Tomatoes could be used in many ways when cooking.

The party continued walking.

Still no monsters, only tomatoes kept appearing.

Thanks to that, Irim was able to acquire 50 tomatoes.

‘What should I make with these?’

There were many dishes that could be made with tomatoes.

Spaghetti, tomato soup, sandwiches, tomato egg stir-fry, tomato juice, etc.

But what Irim wanted to make with tomatoes right now was.

“Everyone, be careful.”

Luke’s warning cut off Irim’s thoughts.

Looking ahead, one bear doll the size of a child and two rabbit dolls were approaching.

Seeing those monsters, Irim was greatly disappointed.

‘They’re not ingredients.’

Seeing Irim’s expression, Xyle thought he was scared and stepped forward.

“Don’t worry, Rice. I won’t let them lay a finger on you.”

At that moment, the dolls charged in unison.

The dolls’ movements were extremely fast.

So, before Maengho could do anything, he was hit in the abdomen.

BOOM!

“Cough!”

Startled, Maengho stepped back and readjusted his stance.

But in that time, another doll jumped high and slapped Maengho’s face.

SMACK!

Maengho, attacked twice in an instant, was dumbfounded.

“They’re too fast!”

The NPCs passed Maengho and stepped forward.

Each took on one monster and fought.

But the monsters’ agility was too high, and the NPCs’ attacks didn’t land.

So, Luke and Karen paired up to corner one.

Only then did the monster start to be pushed back.

Seeing this, Maengho marked another monster with Xyle.

Because of that, the remaining rabbit doll, with no one marking it, shot like an arrow toward Irim.

THUD!

Its fist struck Irim.

But,

‘What?’

The attack power was weaker than the ones on the surface.

Of course, it was still threatening to the others, but not to Irim.

‘The ones on the surface are specialized in attack and defense, and these are specialized in agility?’

Irim’s guess was correct.

At first glance, the surface monsters might seem stronger, but that wasn’t the case.

Even if attack and defense were a bit weak, their overwhelming agility made fights difficult if more than four monsters appeared.

The opponent had to be hit by my attacks, but since they didn’t get hit, satiety just dropped, and eventually, they couldn’t move and died.

But that didn’t apply to Irim.

His agility stat was also high.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

Irim was dodging all the monster’s attacks by slight margins.

‘A chance to raise Agility too.’

Irim was thinking that.

Moreover, since these guys had weak attack power, getting hit continuously would raise Defense faster.

Irim’s thoughts became reality after an hour.

[Your Agility has increased by 1.]

‘It’s rising steadily.’

***

Continuing through the basement dungeon, Irim gained an additional 2 Defense and 3 Agility.

It was possible because monsters appeared more frequently than on the surface.

“Phew. Let’s rest here for a bit.”

The narrow, long corridor ended, and a fairly wide cavern appeared.

At Luke’s words, the party sat down on the spot.

But on one wall of the cavern, just like at the entrance, writing was inscribed.

-We had so many fun memories.

Seeing it, Maengho shuddered.

“Really bad taste, that witch!”

A witch who catches and kills children and calls it fun memories.

Even knowing it was a game, it was a story that forced over-immersion.

The other NPCs also had dark faces.

“How much further until the witch appears?”

To Maengho’s question, Karen answered.

“Soon, about 10 more minutes.”

Maengho checked his satiety at those words.

It was almost bottomed out.

He couldn’t fight in this state, so he had to eat something.

Then, Irim made an amazing suggestion.

“Let’s fill our stomachs before we go.”

As he spoke, Irim took out tomatoes and sugar.