Chapter 50: Wiretap in the Rice Cooker

“Hey, wait!”

They say sugar’s bad for you—doctors and broadcasts keep nagging about it.

But the rice drink, loaded with sugar, brought back memories for an elderly man who could barely communicate.

I didn’t expect him to even recall his kid’s phone number, so I was surprised.

“Young man. No, teacher. If it’s not too much trouble, could you visit me again? I’ll repay you someday.”

He was the first to prove the rice drink’s effects, and since I was a bit touched, I planned to give him free rice drink every week.

If this is permanent Intelligence recovery—or at least lasts a week to a month—it’s like a miracle drug.

This isn’t just about making a fortune; it’s about making people human again.

Gives me something to think about.

Well.

Living for someone else is tough.

That’s why I locked myself in this space for myself.

But feeling joy in helping someone, and not just longing for a life no one knows about, means something.

[Welcome back!]

“Hey, RiceCookerMan. How do I extend the buff duration?”

Piling in sugar maxed out the efficiency.

That was because I had sugar at home.

Does the Intelligence buff scale with sugar? Or with sweetness?

When Mom steamed corn when I was a kid, she used something called New Sugar—super sweet.

Way sweeter than sugar.

Would using that have the same Intelligence effect as sugar?

[Uh, I’m not sure. How about changing the water in the recipe!?]

“Change the water? Hm.”

[If not that, maybe change the rice? Or should I catch a monster myself?]

Change the rice and water?

So far, I’ve used tap water or the convenience store’s private-label bottled water.

Sometimes I order cheap water from Sancheong, Gyeongnam, in bulk online.

“Hm, makgeolli companies and master brewers do care about groundwater or spring water quality. And rice goes without saying.”

My habit of always going for the cheapest option might be limiting recipe variety.

“Alright. Next time, I’ll use Koshihikari rice and Evian water. Or maybe, from the Asian mart, Annam rice with cola for the rice drink?”

[Ugh, what?]

Is my recipe jumping around too much?

“Hey, you.”

There’s no collar to grab, so I picked up RiceCookerMan’s lid.

[What’s wrong?]

“They say you’re sneaking ideology into the rice drink and spreading it? Wanna die?”

I opened the lid.

RiceCookerMan’s weak spot is the lid.

[It’s fine. I don’t die!]

“How do you die?”

[The day Korea’s staple food becomes corn, that’s the day I die.]

…Is this guy insane?

“What’s with that concept? Why’re you getting more North Korean the higher you level up? You weren’t like this before.”

[As my level rises, the memories of the blacksmith who made this rice cooker and the leader’s family sleeping within it keep resurfacing.]

Yeah, I heard something like that.

Basically, the higher his level, the more memories from being made and packaged at the Kaesong Industrial Complex come back.

“So, can’t you make rice or rice drink that extends the buff duration as you level up?”

[If you give me diverse experiences, my skills will level up instead of just my level.]

“Diverse experiences?”

Yeah, that makes sense.

I got Space Teleportation, but I need to use it multiple times to level it up.

Otherwise, I’d have to kill a monster with Space Teleportation for a chance to acquire it.

[I have a dream!]

“What, reunification by force?”

[The great leader… no, that’s not it.]

“Then what? Reopening the Kaesong Complex? Like CatMan, you want to make rice from Jeryeong Plains? Or fatten up your hometown’s leader?”

[Even a rice cooker doesn’t think like that! That’s too much.]

Says the guy who brought it up.

“Alright, alright. So what is it?”

[Well, uh…]

“Why’re you stalling for something grand?”

[Actually, I want to walk!]

Walk?

More modest and pure than I expected…

But making a rice cooker walk?

That’s like me becoming a god or a robotics PhD.

Still, it feels like it might really be a dream for an inanimate rice cooker, so I nod.

“That’s an odd dream. How do you walk? You mean roll?”

[To be precise, I want to experience the outside world! All I have are memories from the industrial complex and vague ones from another world.]

“This tiny room.”

Must feel suffocating.

I feel a bit bad…

[And the leader’s face!]

This jerk?

“What’s that about a face, you punk?”

I’m losing the urge to take him out.

Face? You don’t even have eyes, nose, or mouth, and you’re talking smack?

Back in my student teacher days, kids said my features were sharp and nice—what’s this about?

“Anyway, you want to go outside?”

[Yes!]

“I can’t exactly put legs on you. Hm.”

I’d need mechanical engineering knowledge, but if I had that, I’d be working in that field.

I could tape chair legs to you, but I’m not sure that’d let you walk.

[Exactly. So, how about taking me for a walk!?]

Taking a rice cooker for a walk is even weirder.

Putting wheels on it… also weird.

“Should I carry you in a cart or something?”

[That works!]

Where do I get a cart?

All I can think of is GTA with the delivery guy.

“Hey, you. You’re not using this walk as an excuse to spy on Daejeon’s critical infrastructure for the North, are you?”

[Please!]

I was joking, but he took it so seriously I feel bad.

A walk with a rice cooker.

Sounds crazy, but it’s not like I haven’t done crazy things before.

People don’t usually care about others’ appearances.

What’s wrong with carrying a rice cooker?

Could be buying one or taking it for repair.

Nothing weird about it.

Putting a leash on it would be weird, though.

“So where should I take you? Anything you want to see? The ripening rice fields of Gimje Plains? Or the sea?”

[The government complex, KAIST, and Daejeon Station’s tracks!]

“Oh, really?”

For RiceCookerMan’s character, I thought he’d want the golden fields of Honam Plains in harvest season or landscapes like mountains and seas from his otherworld days, but he’s into urban stuff.

KAIST is walkable, and the government complex or Daejeon Station is a subway ride away.

Carrying a rice cooker on the subway is a bit much, but not that weird.

People will think I’m taking it to a repair center.

Who’d imagine I’m walking with a rice cooker?

“Alright, not too far. I’m a bit worried about leaving you out, but CatMan can handle things. That distance should be fine.”

If it was mountains or the sea, both RiceCookerMan and I would be away.

That’d leave my room’s security vulnerable.

The city’s fine.

CatMan’s a natural hunter and can probably handle gate monsters.

[If possible, could we also visit the Sejong Government Complex?]

“Sejong’s a bit far, no? I mean, it’s not impossible.”

[Oh, can we go inside!?]

“…You don’t want to see something like the Army Headquarters in Gyeryong? It’s close.”

[Oh, I’d love to see that too. Eep!?]

I flipped the rice cooker.

“Caught you, you little spy. I thought you were an innocent rice cooker, but you’re a hardcore agent? Sneaking ideology into food? Starting today, you’re making dog food.”

South Korea, North Korea, or the Kaesong Complex—they’d have planted NIS or MSS agents disguised as businessmen or workers.

Ideological training would be top-notch too.

[No, I’m innocent! I just wanted to know how agricultural policies, like rice procurement, work around there. Agriculture’s the backbone of Northeast Asia, isn’t it!? Water management and timing…]

Look at him ramble.

[Anyway, about dog food. If you boost affinity, I could make rice, rice cakes, and taffy with improved synthesis recipes, right?]

<As affinity with a spirit increases, the spirit’s stats and skill levels rise.>

<If the spirit is a weapon, attack power increases; if a product, the product’s quality improves.>

“So granting your wish boosts your affinity and does that?”

[Exactly! And I’m really curious about the outside world.]

Geez.

Dodging CCTV, saying “I love you” to a potted plant, and now walking a rice cooker.

“Fine, I’ll go out when CatMan’s back.”

[Yes! I can wait!]

“…Suspicious, but since you don’t have a communication function, it’s probably fine.”

I was a bit worried about the National Security Act, but I doubt the rice cooker has a wiretap.

Just then.

A disc forms in the air near the gate.

“Hey, we’ll go later.”

A pattern starts engraving itself.

This is…

The visual when a dragon comes through?!

But what if it’s not?

After a quick thought, I decided to swing first.

If it’s a dragon, it won’t hurt like last time.

If I get killed?

Can’t help it.

Just in case, I shouted “What the hell!” and threw a punch to warn it to dodge.

“Whoa!”

The dragon, hit or not, freezes the attack’s trajectory.

It was <White Dragon>.

This guy’s back.

[Still on guard, I see. And stronger too.]

“Uh, what’s up?”

[May I transform into your likeness for a moment?]

“As long as you’re not here to fight me.”

It’s asking to transform, and since it’s not attacking during the transformation or hitting me with magic, I agreed.

[Very well.]

White Dragon turned into the woman I saw before.

“Phew.”

“Greetings, dragon lady.”

“Lady? That sounds like a term for an unmarried woman, correct?”

“Yes.”

“I’m far past my youth for that. But it’s not bad to hear. You’re quite young by human standards.”

“Why’re you back? Not just to see my face, I bet.”

I have a guess.

She took the motel’s mini fridge but doesn’t know how to use it.

No 220V outlet, right?

Returning it?

I got paid with skills for the mini fridge, so there’s nothing to return.

If she asks for the Dragon Heart back, we’re fighting.

It boosts stamina if eaten, and keeping it massively boosts the hard-to-raise Magic stat.

I’d rather fight big than give that up.

“It’s not that. I’d like to entrust my egg to you again.”

“What? It hasn’t been that long since you took it.”

“Surprisingly, you kept my egg safe, and above all, I trust your kindness.”

“I don’t get it. No one takes better care of a child than a parent.”

I’m asking because entrusting a drool-worthy egg with a lifespan effect to me seems riskier.

“Not long ago, I angrily wrecked the Succubus Queen’s palace. Now she’s using marriage as leverage to gather demons over level 500.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Those who meet the conditions invade this world as planned, but those who don’t are targeting my nest.”

So, the Succubus Queen’s marriage ploy gathered monster warriors and forces, but not all can pass through the gate.

The gathered forces, if unused, cause internal strife, like in history when armies were assembled but not deployed.

They need an enemy to fight, and that’s the dragon.

“Some of those top-tier guys might come for me too, no?”

“Likely. But I can’t leave my egg on the other side without risking danger. Your dungeon, guarded by a powerful giant, is safer by my calculations.”

She wants me to take the egg.

I’m already raising a cat, a fairy, and… not really raising a rice cooker.

“Fine. But…”

“Our eggs stir greed in humans. Instead of letting greed take over, I’ve thought of rewards to satisfy you.”

Was waiting for that. Yes, yes.

I was going to say if she wants to use my room and balcony fridge as an incubator and daycare, she’d need to pay.

She beat me to it.

“I figured you’d doubt my sincerity if I offered to take it without payment. Trust requires fair trade before it’s built, no?”

“Trade before trust. I like that.”

Thanks to that, I got to talk about money, levels, and items without sounding like a beggar.