Chapter 61 of 100
Chapter 61. It smells like chicken.
8 min read2,055 words
Chapter 61. It smells like chicken.
"......Wha...What?"
"Lord Theo! Could it be that you've forgotten about us...?"
"N-No! I...I was just testing to see if you would come looking for me on purpose!"
Theo had completely forgotten about the hunters,
'Hehehe. I didn't show any signs of being flustered at all!'
He thought he had perfectly hidden his nervousness with his acting skills.
However,
'He had forgotten about us.'
'Let's just hide in a place where he can't see us.'
'If only we had stayed quiet.'
The hunters, who had come out of fear of repercussions, regretted seeing Theo's poor acting.
"So, did you make any money? Show me!"
Theo, who had something to hide, quickly changed the subject.
"Yes, here are 715 Tower Coins."
The hunters proudly handed over all the money they had earned to Theo. They hadn't hunted so hard in a long time.
However, it was too small an amount to satisfy Theo, who had just made a huge profit.
"What? 715 Tower Coins? Did you just play around and not work?!"
"What?! What are you talking about?! We really worked hard!"
"That's right! We really did our best!"
Grrr.
The wolves bared their teeth and growled as the hunters raised their voices in protest to Theo.
"Ugh!"
The hunters shut their mouths in the face of the wolves' hostility.
"Then are you incompetent? You're even more useless than Gweung!"
Theo scolded the hunters.
'Who is Gweung?'
Gweung had won a mysterious victory against the hunters.
"Next time, if it's like this, it won't be fun!"
Theo gave a sign to the wolves with his front paws, which were crossed behind his back, while making a very scary face.
Grrr.
The wolves once again emitted a strong hostility.
"Ah! I understand! We'll bring more money next time!!"
After tormenting the hunters, Theo set off again for the 99th floor of the tower.
***
Mmm!
Once the attack by the branch scouts was almost over, Uma King hurried back to the waypoint.
About two hours after Uma King left, the branch scouts were completely eliminated.
"But why did they come here?"
Although the sudden attack by the Ents was puzzling, no one knew the reason.
"The tower's manager says that corrupted Ents want to corrupt other trees if there are any uncorrupted trees around."
Eileen could only guess based on her knowledge of corrupted Ents.
"Trees?"
The only trees around were bell tomato trees and corn trees.
However, the branch scouts showed no interest in them, focusing only on the cave.
"What is it?"
While Sejun was thinking about why the corrupted Ents attacked this place,
Rumble.
His body, which had used too much energy during the night, requested fuel.
"Guys, let's eat!"
Sejun treated the Crimson Giant Bear and Minotaurs who had helped him as a sign of gratitude.
First, he gave finely chopped carrots to his wife, the rabbit, who had just given birth, and a bag full of sweet potatoes mixed with 200 squids and leek leaves to the Crimson Giant Bear.
He also let the Black Minotaurs eat as many leek leaves as they wanted, along with the stems of the harvested carrots. He sent three bundles of leek leaves and a bag of bell tomato branches to Uma King, who had returned to the waypoint first due to time constraints.
After preparing their meals, Sejun and the rabbits prepared their own food.
However,
"It's too tiring. Should we just eat something simple?"
Squish!
Squish!
The rabbits strongly agreed with Sejun. They were too tired from preparing food for the others.
Crunch.
The rabbits took carrots from the storage and ate them one by one.
Munch.
Sejun ate some sweet potato jerky.
While they were eating,
Gulp.
In two bites, the Crimson Giant Bear finished 200 squids and a bag of sweet potatoes. Then, she started eating the bodies of the dead branch scouts, seemingly still not full.
"Does Mom usually eat trees, Gweung?"
Sejun, who had never seen the Crimson Giant Bear eat trees before, stroked Gweung's head, who was enthusiastically licking honey, and asked.
Gweung! Gweung!
[Mom is always hungry! So she eats trees while patrolling!]
Sejun had thought the Crimson Giant Bear ate monster meat while patrolling, not tree monsters.
At that moment,
"Lord Sejun, we're back!"
Six wolves arrived, pulling three carts full of Red Locust corpses.
"Put one cart there, and the other two in front of the brick house."
"Yes!"
The wolves, following Sejun's instructions, placed one cart in front of the Crimson Giant Bear and the other two in front of the brick house.
"Eat this."
Sejun pointed to the Red Locusts and told the Crimson Giant Bear.
Gweung!
The Crimson Giant Bear happily started eating the Red Locusts. The Red Locust meat was very popular among carnivorous monsters like wolves and Gweung.
Sejun and the rabbits had tried it out of curiosity, but found it too tough. It felt like their teeth would break.
[You have consumed Red Locust meat.]
[There is a trace of poison left in the Red Locust meat.]
[You are poisoned by a Grade E neurotoxin.]
[The poison has been neutralized.]
There was also poison. If they had eaten it without the leek leaves, which neutralize poison, they might have died.
So, Sejun was developing a Red Locust dish that he could eat. He also wanted to level up his cooking skill by achieving an achievement.
A few days ago, he made Red Locust soup. He put water and Red Locust meat in a large pot, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and covered it.
By placing bricks on the lid and boiling it under high pressure for a few hours, he created a very simple dish. However, he achieved the achievement of being the first to create Red Locust soup in the tower, and his cooking skill level increased to 3.
The result of the cooking was a partial success.
Crunch!
[The texture is soft!]
The Red Locust meat became soft enough for the rabbits to eat. However, it was still too tough for Sejun to bite.
"Guys, cut the Red Locusts very thinly."
When Sejun asked the wolves to slice the Red Locusts thinly,
Swish. Swish.
The wolves started slicing the Red Locusts into 1mm-thick pieces using wind blades created by their sharp claws. They helped enthusiastically because Sejun had given them the failed dish.
Since the Red Locust meat was too tough, Sejun decided to cut it into small pieces and make a soup. This time, he also cut and added leek leaves and potatoes.
He filled three large pots with the ingredients and covered them. Then, he placed several bricks on the lids to prevent them from moving and started boiling them.
"Let's get to work now!"
Since he planned to boil the Red Locust meat for a few hours, Sejun started farming with the rabbits and wolves.
He had the Black Minotaurs stack the wooden bodies of the dead branch scouts to the west. This was to use them as materials for a fire wall in case corrupted Ents' branch scouts invaded again.
While everyone was doing their jobs, the Red Locust meat was thoroughly boiled.
***
Floor 52 of the tower.
"Ha ha ha. Die! Pig!"
Han Tae-joon, with his muscular body, was only wearing pants as he took revenge on the Floor 52 boss, the Burning Wild Boar.
Squish!
Bang!
Flame.
As the Burning Wild Boar rolled its front hooves, red flames spread around.
"No way!"
In the past, he would have been hit by the flames and cursed by fire, but now, after eating the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato, he had increased fire resistance.
"Let's go!"
Han Tae-joon ran towards the flames, tensing his muscles to prepare for an attack.
Then,
"Magic Missile!"
With Han Tae-joon's shout, 100 Magic Missiles flew towards the Burning Wild Boar. His job was a mage.
Boom!
Squish!
The sound of the Burning Wild Boar's pig neck being torn was heard as it was hit by 100 Magic Missiles.
"Let's do it again! Magic Missile!"
Although it was unknown why he flexed his muscles while casting spells, Han Tae-joon fired Magic Missiles at the Burning Wild Boar again.
[You have defeated the Floor 52 boss, the Burning Wild Boar.]
[The Burning Wild Boar's Fire Curse is lifted.]
...
..
.
After defeating the Floor 52 boss with Magic Missiles and lifting the Fire Curse, Han Tae-joon went down to Floor 50. He wanted to give the remaining Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes to his first disciple, Cha Si-hyuk, who was struggling with fire monsters on Floor 50.
When he arrived at Floor 50,
"Meow?!"
Theo, who had just arrived at Floor 50 through the merchant passage, noticed Han Tae-joon. More accurately, he noticed the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes in Han Tae-joon's hand.
"Old man! Where did you get the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes? Did you kill and steal them from Dong-sik?!"
Theo approached Han Tae-joon and asked. If that was the case, he planned to avenge Kim Dong-sik.
"No."
"Then where did you get them?!"
"I got them from Dong-sik. By the way, thanks to you selling me the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes, I was able to lift the Fire Curse. I owe you. Thank you."
"Then pay me back."
"Sure, how?"
"Stamp it first, meow."
Theo held out a blank contract.
However,
"That's not possible."
The other party was the president of the Korean Awakened Association. He wasn't an easy opponent.
***
As lunchtime approached,
Sniff. Sniff.
The rabbits, smelling the delicious aroma, gathered near Sejun's brick house.
Swish. Swish.
The wolves also waited in front of Sejun's brick house, wagging their tails.
Slurp. Slurp.
The Crimson Giant Bear, who had just returned from patrolling, also licked her lips, smelling the delicious aroma.
"Is it done?"
Sejun removed the bricks and opened the pot lid.
[You have achieved the first creation of combat food - Red Locust Soup in the tower.]
[The recipe for combat food - Red Locust Soup is registered at Cooking Level 3.]
[Your proficiency in Cooking Level 3 has greatly increased.]
It was the first time someone had cooked with Red Locusts.
"Combat food?"
As Sejun was about to check the dish,
Roar!
Grrr!
Gweung!
Crunch!
The animals, excited by the delicious smell, drooled and looked at Sejun with eager eyes. He needed to calm them down first.
"Guys, I'll give it to you, so calm down."
Sejun decided to serve the Red Locust Soup to the animals first and check the dish later. He gave a whole large pot to the Crimson Giant Bear.
While the animals were focused on eating, Sejun looked at the remaining large pot of food.
[Combat Food - Red Locust Soup]
Thinly sliced Red Locust meat, leek leaves, and Power Potatoes were boiled for a long time, blending all the ingredients harmoniously and increasing all the effects.
The leek leaves neutralized the poison in the Red Locust meat, making it softer.
The dish doesn't spoil easily due to the leek leaves' effect.
The taste is slightly improved.
When consumed, strength increases by 5.1 for 30 minutes. (0.1 increase in strength due to Cooking Level 2 effect)
Due to the combat food effect, the feeling of fullness lasts for 3 hours.
Cook: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Expiration Date: 30 days
Grade: C+
"Is it softer?"
Sejun took a spoonful of the Red Locust Soup and put it in his mouth.
Munch.
The finely chopped meat was soft enough to chew easily.
At that moment,
'This is?!'
Sejun was moved by the familiar taste and texture of the Red Locust meat.
'It's chicken!'
Slurp.
Sejun mindlessly finished a bowl of Red Locust Soup.
[You have consumed the standard amount of Combat Food - Red Locust Soup.]
[Strength increases by 5.1 for 30 minutes.]
[Feeling of fullness lasts for 3 hours.]
There was a standard amount of Red Locust Soup that would activate its effects, depending on who was eating it.
However,
Slurp.
Sejun, seemingly uninterested in that, filled another bowl with Red Locust Soup and started eating again. It was the first time he had tasted chicken in almost 8 months since the disaster.
On the 235th day of the disaster, Sejun found a meat that tasted like chicken.