Chapter 45: Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk

A red orb of light that appeared where Marina vanished floated gently in front of Irim.

It soon seeped into his body.

[You have acquired the magic ‘Flame Artisan F’.]

[Flame Artisan F, Magic]

You can freely control small-scale fire. 

Consumes 10 Mana per second while manipulating fire.

After checking the message, Irim tried to create fire.

A fireball the size of an apple appeared in midair.

At the same time, his Mana began to decrease.

He tried to enlarge the fireball, but it wouldn’t grow beyond that.

This seemed to be the limit at his current level.

“Huh? Rice. What’s this? Did you make it?”

Maengho asked.

Instead of answering, Irim hurled the fireball toward the cavern wall.

WHOOSH! BOOM!

The fireball flew quickly, struck the wall, and exploded.

When the fireball vanished, Mana consumption stopped.

And it began to recover slowly, 1 point at a time.

‘So that’s how it works.’

Clap clap clap clap!

Maengho applauded.

“Amazing! Is this the reward for clearing the hidden quest? I’m so jealous. Magic, of all things.”

Irim couldn’t play along with Maengho’s excitement.

A holographic video appeared before his eyes.

It showed the entrance to the cave where Marina had hidden.

Adventurers passing nearby no longer paid attention to the cave.

No monsters remained inside, nor did any crops grow.

Marina’s hideout, now empty, simply stood desolate.

However, green-skinned, dwarf-like monsters passing near the cave stepped inside out of curiosity.

And did not come back out.

It seemed to be the future of this space.

Text floated above the hologram.

[Thanks to Rice’s efforts, Marina resolved her grudge and could pass to the afterlife. She will likely live long with her beloved daughter in heaven. This cave, her former hideout, will remain empty for a while, but who knows. Other beings may claim it. The residents of Tirko Village no longer need to fear the witch.]

The text and video slowly faded, and the History Book status window appeared.

History Book (HISTORY)

[Completed Main Stream]

None (NONE)

[Completed Sub Scenarios]

Red Queen Spider’s Grudge

Rozelan’s Cooking Master

Lost Sense of Taste

Marina’s Grudge

[A new footprint has been recorded in the History Book. 5 bonus stat points awarded.]

With this, four sub-scenarios were recorded in the History Book.

Irim invested the bonus stat points into Attack.

[You have contributed to the peace of Tirko Village. Gained 10 Contribution.]

[Most people in Tirko Village now recognize you. Favorability with Tirko villagers slightly increases overall.]

[Gained 3 Fame.]

Clearing the hidden quest unexpectedly yielded many rewards he hadn’t anticipated.

It was a significant harvest for Irim.

He opened his inventory.

Inside was an item called Frost Shield.

He took it out and checked the status window.

[Frost Shield]

-A cold shield infused with a witch’s grudge. Resistant to heat.

-Defense +30, Water Attribute +20

-Skill: Frost Chill

The Frost Shield massively boosted Defense by 30 and Water Attribute by 20—a jackpot item.

Moreover, equipping it allowed skill use.

Irim examined the skill in detail.

[Frost Chill, Magic]

Freezes a desired area. Consumes 10 Mana per second.

This skill required Mana to use.

Irim equipped the Frost Shield and cast the skill.

He intended to freeze the nearby floor.

Mana drained, and the floor began to freeze.

It took 2 seconds to freeze an area the size of an adult palm into a small ice patch.

Irim decided to expand the ice patch slightly.

As long as Mana lasted, the ice grew.

The moment Mana ran out, the skill stopped.

‘So that’s how you use it.’

Meanwhile, Maengho, witnessing the floor freezing at Irim’s will, nearly fainted.

“F-fireballs weren’t enough, now freezing too? I’m losing my mind. So jealous. Jealous.”

“Rice…… you feel like you’ve grown tremendously.”

It was Karen who spoke.

She, who had been sprawled on the floor moments ago, was now leaning against the wall.

Beside her sat Luke, and next to him Xyle, in the same posture.

All had leg injuries and couldn’t stand.

“Mio. Heal them.”

Irim fed Mio a shrimp and commanded.

Mio~

Mio performed paw-paw on each of the three, casting recovery magic.

Their leg wounds healed.

“Ah, I’ll live. Thanks, kitty.”

“Mmm. I keep owing Rice.”

Xyle and Karen said.

Then Luke, standing abruptly, approached Irim and bowed slightly.

“Rice. You are the strongest, wisest, and most righteous outsider I’ve ever seen. Without you, we would have failed this mission again. Thank you sincerely.”

At Luke’s words, Karen and Xyle exchanged glances, quickly approached, and bowed.

A pleasant message followed.

[Luke, Karen, and Xyle’s favorability has greatly increased.]

Luke raised his bowed head and said.

“We are knights of the Beatrice Count family. We will now return to the Count and report all your achievements to the Lord.”

Xyle, beside him, interjected.

“If you visit Rubaton, find me at the Beatrice Count’s estate. I’ll welcome you grandly.”

“Same here.”

Karen said with a grin.

Irim smiled warmly.

“I’ll do that.”

“Rice. It was an honor to be with you. See you again.”

With Luke’s final words, the three took the lead and left the cavern.

Karen, walking at the rear, glanced back and winked at Irim.

“Huh? Rice-nim. Karen just winked at me, right?”

“Looks like it.”

Maengho had completely misread it.

***

Upon exiting the cave, Maengho sent Irim a friend request.

“Rice-nim. Let’s greet each other if we meet in the game from now on.”

“Yes, let’s. I think I need to log out now.”

“Me too. Today was fun!”

Irim waved and ended the connection.

Back in reality, Irim removed the Connector.

“Phew.”

A sigh escaped naturally.

It was hard to believe everything that just happened was virtual reality.

Growl.

But the hunger that soon followed reminded him it was all fiction.

Despite eating so much in-game, his real body was hungry.

Checking the time—2 a.m.

He had played nonstop for about seven hours since returning home.

No wonder he was hungry.

Heading to the kitchen, Irim opened the fridge.

His fridge was gradually filling with cooking ingredients.

Until connecting to Real, cooking and tasting had been torture, but now he had a sanctuary, so it wasn’t painful.

Even without taste or smell, he could imagine and eat.

‘What should I eat?’

After pondering and rubbing his chin, Irim closed the fridge door with a snap.

Today, he decided not to cook but order out.

Irim turned on his smartphone, installed a delivery app, and entered his address.

Nearby deliverable restaurants listed up.

Among them, he ordered the food he had craved for the past year.

Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk.

Irim preferred regular Jjajangmyeon with generous, thick black bean sauce over Gan Jjajang.

Gan Jjajang was tasty, but he liked the glossy, soft regular Jjajang more than the sticky, sauce-clinging texture.

Ding dong!

Less than 30 minutes after ordering, delivery arrived from a 24-hour Chinese restaurant.

Irim paid and placed the Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk on the living room table.

“Wow.”

The Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk, tightly wrapped in plastic, and the Tangsuyuk sauce looked mouthwatering just to see.

Known flavors are the scariest in the world.

No one is unaware of the destructive power of the Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk combo.

Irim swallowed hard and unwrapped the food.

Steam rose wisply from the freshly made, delivered dishes.

The black bean sauce generously coating the noodles glistened.

The Tangsuyuk wore a crispy golden batter, and the transparent, thick sauce contained lemon, cucumber, wood ear mushrooms, cabbage, carrots—extremely appetizing.

Irim opened the wooden chopsticks and mixed the Jjajangmyeon shuk shuk.

The noodles, neither overcooked nor stuck, loosened srrrk with gentle pressure, quickly blending with the sauce.

‘A shot of soju would be perfect.’

A bowl of Jjajangmyeon with a glass of soju.

Irim’s favorite combo.

Especially on a day off, having this combo at noon felt like heaven on earth.

“Ah, danmuji.”

Too focused on the main dishes, he forgot the pickled radish.

Irim quickly unwrapped the danmuji.

A big bite of Jjajangmyeon with a piece of danmuji. Or dipping raw onion in chunjang was clean too.

Eating Jjajangmyeon then immediately chewing a piece of Tangsuyuk was a killer combo.

“It’s really been so long.”

Excited, Irim muttered to himself, lifted the well-mixed Jjajangmyeon bowl to his nose.

‘I won’t smell it anyway.’

Thinking that, Irim inhaled deeply.

Trying hard to recall the scent of Jjajangmyeon in his mind.

“Hmm.”

But,

“..Hm?”

Irim’s motion froze mid-breath.

“……No way.”

Irim smelled the Jjajangmyeon again.

“…!”

Strange.

He definitely caught a faint trace of Jjajangmyeon scent.

So subtle that without extreme focus, he might miss it, but the nutty, oily aroma unique to Jjajangmyeon lightly touched the tip of his nose.

‘Am I imagining the smell because I’m recalling it?’

Tilting his head, Irim scooped a large chopstick-full of noodles.

He put the sweet-salty sauce-coated noodles in his mouth, chewed slowly, and focused on the aroma passing through his nasal cavity.

But he couldn’t be sure.

The scent that seemed present vanished like a mirage.

Irim concentrated all his nerves on smell and tasted the Jjajangmyeon again.

Chewing the noodles in his mouth very slowly, nerves on edge.

Then, faintly, something seemed to brush past his nose.

Like finding a newborn baby ant in the middle of the vast Sahara Desert—a feeble scent.

Unless professionally trained, it would pass unnoticed, so faint it was better to say he couldn’t smell it.

After briefly grazing his nose, no matter how hard he tried afterward, he couldn’t catch it again.

It might all have been Irim’s illusion.

Yet, his hands trembled with intense emotion.

Something hot surged in his chest.