The Alpha King Crab was much bigger than I had imagined. How on earth was I supposed to cook this?
While pondering, Jinwoo first used his magic detoxification skill, then sliced the detoxified corpse with his sword that had surpassed all limits.
This was when you truly realized what an EX-grade item meant.
The Alpha King Crab’s shell was covered with small spikes—sharp and extremely tough. But with the sword that had broken through its limits, it sliced through the shell as smoothly as cutting tofu.
There was no choice but to cut it into pieces and pierce it. Piercing like this would ruin the original taste and lower the yield. The meat would mostly melt away.
(Anonymous 1): Just cutting it into pieces and steaming it is fine.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Won’t all the meat just disappear?
(Anonymous 1): It’s fine. Both the flavor and meat stay preserved.
(Father of Crops): I can’t believe it…
(Anonymous 1): If you don’t want to believe me, then don’t.
I decided to trust Anonymous 1’s words.
Well, it’s still a B-rank monster, so the flavor should stay intact somehow.
After I started steaming the cut pieces in the steamer, I lay down on the camper bed and took out my phone.
The top headline on an internet article was about the Hanseom Guild having defeated a newly appeared gate.
Because of this, the value of the Hanseom Guild had slightly risen.
‘Good for them.’
Hunter Lee Kwangwoo was a grateful person in many ways.
Thanks to him, I had gotten a random box and even an Elixir Fragment.
I smiled proudly as I started planning my next destination. Where should I go from the East Sea? It felt like I had already exhausted all the treasures of the sea.
I thought about just running along the coast all the way to Busan.
But…
‘Alright, I’ll go to Taebaek.’
I decided to rest a bit in nearby Taebaek before heading into Chungcheongbuk-do. After seeing the sea, it was time to see the mountains.
For today, I’d eat Alpha King Crab for lunch, then dinner in Taebaek.
(Anonymous 1): I want you to use the Tribute skill at lunch!
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Me too!
(Father of Crops): I still think about the crab I ate yesterday. Monster meat should be even tastier. I want it now, not just at dinner.
(Receiver of Pure Waters): Same here.
(Endless Waiting): Me too.
(Freed Swordsman): I think I’ll choose the same.
(Last Night Watch): Hmm, I’ll eat mine at dinner.
(Anonymous 1): What? You’re giving up on the Alpha King Crab? You just haven’t tried it. It’s really delicious.
(Last Night Watch): It’s fine.
(Anonymous 1): No, seriously, it’s good. I’m worried for you!
(God of Rain and Sunlight): I’m not usually on Anonymous’ side, but this time they’re right. Regular crab was that tasty, imagine how good Alpha King Crab is?
(Father of Crops): Exactly.
(Endless Waiting): I have to agree with Anonymous this time. You can feel the concern in their words.
(Freed Swordsman): Yeah, definitely.
(Last Night Watch): I’ve eaten Alpha King Crab before.
I tilted my head.
He’d tried Alpha King Crab but didn’t want to eat it again? Did he dislike crustaceans?
(Anonymous 1): ? How could a blacksmith who was treated like nothing on the continent have eaten that?
(Last Night Watch): Damn it.
(Anonymous 1): … Sorry.
(Last Night Watch): The crab Jinwoo gave me yesterday was tasty, but I don’t want to eat Alpha King Crab.
(Anonymous 1): If the crab was good, Alpha King Crab should be good too. Why won’t you eat it then?
(Last Night Watch): Alpha King Crab invaded the territory where I lived, and my masters fought to protect me. They were badly injured and a lot of equipment got ruined. I don’t want to relive those memories by eating it again.
(Anonymous 1): I see.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Can’t argue with that.
(Father of Crops): Then you eat at dinner.
(Anonymous 1): But normal crab and Alpha King Crab are similar. Didn’t eating normal crab remind you of the past?
(Last Night Watch): The size is different.
(Anonymous 1): Fair enough.
I nodded in understanding.
Having heard Yulian’s side, I decided to share the finished Alpha King Crab with the other Constellations but not give any to Yulian.
For the sake of the lonely Constellation, I thought dinner should be something delicious.
I was thankful to all the Constellations who watched my broadcast, but I held a special favor for Yulian.
Of course, that didn’t mean I disliked the other Constellations. They were the ones who constantly watched my broadcast, donated, and spoke kindly, so it would be wrong to separate or dislike them.
It was just that Yulian was one of those cherished Constellations, so I couldn’t let him eat something tasteless alone.
That’s why I decided dinner should be as delicious as the Alpha King Crab.
And when I took a bite of the Alpha King Crab meat—
‘… Could I possibly find a dinner more delicious than this?’
I wondered if I could find anything tastier than this. It was that good. It was different from regular snow crab or king crab.
Snow crab usually felt like the meat was melting, whereas king crab was tender and pulled apart softly.
This crab combined both textures harmoniously, with an even richer sweetness. The umami and subtle flavor came strongly at the end, making me want to keep eating.
If I had to compare the texture, it was like an expensive flower crab, with the chewiness more pronounced.
The flavor was much stronger in aroma, sweetness, and nuttiness than regular crab.
Now I understood why Merrick and Anonymous wanted to try Alpha King Crab so badly.
‘Ah, right. Eric!’
Suddenly remembering Eric, I summoned him again from the pendant.
“My lord, did you call?”
“Eric, let’s eat together. I already had a bite, and it’s really delicious.”
“I will enjoy it, thank you.”
“Uncle Eric! Eat lots!”
“Star, you eat plenty too.”
“Okay! It’s super tasty!”
-Star and Baekgu happily pulled meat out with smiles on their faces. Unlike normal snow crab or king crab, which require painstaking shell cutting and picking meat with chopsticks, the Alpha King Crab’s legs were thick enough that if you just roughly split them with the sword, you could easily pull out the meat.
(Anonymous 1): Ah, brings back memories. Tastes amazing. Eric, don’t you think so?
“… It tastes better than what I ate before. Thanks to you, my lord.”
(Last Night Watch): Isn’t that thanks to my sword?
Eric lightly ignored Yulian’s comment.
I chuckled. Right now, eating was more important than watching the Constellations’ chat. The others were probably silent because they were all busy savoring the flavor.
After mixing the rich innards with the meat and finishing the smashed body meat cleanly, lunch was already over. Eric helped me clean up, while Star and Baekgu went out of the camper to play in the park.
Lately, I lost energy just from eating, but Star and Baekgu seemed to have endless stamina, which made me jealous.
“My lord, thank you for today.”
“I should be the one thanking you. It was great to hunt together.”
“I was glad too.”
“How much time is left on the summoning cooldown?”
“About an hour left.”
“I’ll call you again at dinner. After that, the cooldown will end so I can summon you again.”
“Ha ha, understood. Thank you. I’ll go inside then.”
After cleaning up, Eric returned to the pendant, and I started watching Star and Baekgu play through the camper window. Having just finished the hunt today, it was tough to go outside and play with them, so watching them play while sitting on the bed was the best option.
A small park in the East Sea.
Billy and Baekgu were playing under the pretense of walking off their food. They played tag and hide-and-seek.
Even watching the falling leaves made them laugh, and running around in the leaf-strewn park multiplied the fun.
Billy and Baekgu smiled brightly as if nothing else could be more enjoyable, coming and going through the park like it was their living room.
Star came stomping into the camper to avoid Baekgu, and when Baekgu came in, Star would leap high to get out again.
When Baekgu ran faster than Billy, Star would purposely stir up wind to slow Baekgu down.
Since the park was empty, maybe that was why they could use a bit more power.
Baekgu and Billy started playing with magic they rarely used.
As I came out of the camper to stop them,—
(Anonymous 1): Let them play a bit, are you a boomer too?
(Last Night Watch): What if someone sees the power of Star and Baekgu? Wouldn’t that cause trouble?
(Anonymous 1): Ugh, you boomers. They’re just spirits and young spirit mages. Is it that hard to come up with an excuse?
(Last Night Watch): What’s a boomer?
(Anonymous 1): You and Jinwoo.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Anonymous, aren’t you going to accept the weapon from Yulian?
(Anonymous 1): I don’t think he’s planning to give me a weapon. He’ll just do whatever he wants and I’ll buy it later at the auction with my own money.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Smarter than I thought.
‘Hmm, Anonymous has a point. Fine, I’ll let them play a bit. So cancel the boomer comment, alright?’
(Anonymous 1): Return the coin I donated when we ate Alpha King Crab earlier, then I’ll cancel it.
‘Boomer it is then.’
(Anonymous 1): You crazy bastard…
I laughed loudly at Anonymous’ words and looked back out the window.
Billy, who had been making a fireball, flinched and stopped using magic.
“Dad!”
“Yes?”
“I turned off magic because it looked like someone was coming! Did I do well?”
“…! You did great!”
Billy sensed the presence from afar and wisely stopped his magic before anyone could see it.
How smart!
I patted my clever daughter’s head and praised her.
With her taking such care, there was nothing to worry about.
“Constellations, did I do well? I did well, right?”
(Anonymous 1): … Huh?
(God of Rain and Sunlight): What?
(Receiver of Pure Waters): … Did Billy just call us?
(Father of Crops): No way.
(Last Night Watch): … Can the Spirit King even do this? No way. Surely there’s no magic to communicate with Constellations.
(Endless Waiting): … Wait, did Billy really try to talk to us?
(Freed Swordsman): Amazing.
All the Constellations typed in surprise.
Billy tilted her head again and asked.
“Did I do wrong?”
(Anonymous 1): You did great! Very well done, our Billy!
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Of course, you did great!
(Father of Crops): Proud of you, my niece!
(Receiver of Pure Waters): Proud, very proud! Smart kid!!
The Constellations didn’t fully understand the situation but couldn’t let Billy down, so they showered her with praise.
Billy smiled shyly.
“Star, can you see the chat?”
The one most surprised was, of course, Jinwoo.
He wore the most astonished expression he had shown so far and asked Billy.
“Ugh!”
Billy smiled brightly and nodded.
“… How on earth?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.