Chapter 14
Translator: Roshi
Honey, Butter, Garlic, and Bread.
It was an absolutely foolproof combination.
Even garlic, which Hanuri hated, could transform into a fragrant delight when paired with butter.
Of course.
‘As long as Hanuri doesn’t notice.’
She just needed to not know it was added.
If that were the case, she’d eat it happily.
So first…
‘One, two, three… why are there so many of them?’
When he counted the number of people he had to feed, excluding Hanuri and the bear siblings, there were still six people left.
Thankfully, there was plenty of ingredients.
‘Start with the butter.’
After estimating the quantity needed, he began by placing butter in a large bowl.
Then, with great care, he lightly melted it over the flame of the stove, just enough to make it soft and creamy.
“Unnie! Ajosshi’s making something delicious!”
In the meantime, Hanuri, unable to contain her excitement, ran back to chatter happily with the others. He glanced at her briefly before turning back to his task.
Shh.
While Hanuri wasn’t looking, he finely minced garlic and tossed it into the melted butter.
He mixed it in so thoroughly that it became invisible.
A perfect disguise.
Next, he added some Brosia Honey...
Glance.
As soon as he added the honey, the bear siblings stared at him intently.
It was almost comical how much they truly were bears.
“Alright, alright.”
Following the wishes of the little bear siblings, he added another generous dollop of honey to make it even sweeter.
With that, it was as good as done.
He considered sprinkling parsley on top to make it look even more appetizing, but parsley wasn’t on the shopping list.
‘I just need it for the color, anyway.’
It didn’t need to be real herbs.
The aroma of honey and butter was more than enough.
So, he decided to make some fake parsley powder instead.
He finely chopped green onions until they looked like powder, then dry-roasted them in a pan without oil until they crisped up.
From a glance, it could easily pass as parsley.
Once the ‘green onion parsley’ was sprinkled onto the melted butter mixture, the colors came together perfectly.
‘This is such a luxurious snack.’
A snack made with this much Brosia Honey, if a saintess heard about it, she might faint from shock.
Not that there were any saintesses around here, or any reason to worry about that.
“Ajosshi, is it done yet?”
Hanuri, who had been chattering away for a while, approached, drawn by the sweet aroma.
“It’s almost ready.”
He cut the baguette bread into appropriately sized pieces, spread the garlic butter generously on top, and grilled them.
Placing a large pan on the stove, he lined up the butter-coated baguette slices on it.
Then came the smell.
It was the best aroma he had smelled in a long time.
The rich scent of butter met the savory fragrance of garlic, tickling the nose and sending a pleasurable sensation straight to the brain.
Sniff!
The bear siblings sniffed at the air with their noses practically glued to the pan, while Hanuri crouched nearby, drooling.
“Hehe… Slurp!”
Afraid the drool might fall onto the pan, Do-yoon quickly handed each of them a freshly grilled Honey Butter Garlic Baguette.
“Take your time and let it cool before eating.”
It was unclear if they even heard him because there was no reply. Mmmmm...
Kyuuuu...
The strange moans coming from Hanuri and the bear siblings suggested they were thoroughly enjoying it.
‘Come to think of it, if bears eat garlic, do they turn into humans?’ (TL Note: Its a korean myth. read more about it here -> https://www.korea.net/Events/Overseas/view?articleId=15899)
Amused by his own whimsical thought, he continued to cook while watching their reactions.
Meanwhile, the members of the expedition team sat in the cabin, staring at him like zombies.
His hands moved faster, and the pile of bread on the plate grew larger.
Although tiny hands kept sneaking pieces off the plate, his cooking outpaced the thefts.
“Wait until it cools down to eat.”
When Honey Butter Garlic Baguette cools, the sauce coating the surface hardens, making it even crispier.
And the sweetness intensifies.
The flavor differs from when it’s warm, so Do-yoon didn’t want the kids to fill up on just the warm ones.
“Nom nom! Haha… this is… just as delicious… as Hanuri…”
But Hanuri continued eating while uttering incomprehensible words, almost on the verge of tears.
She looked so adorable that it was hard to stop her.
Not that he planned to stop her anyway.
Gulp!
Just then, the sound of someone swallowing their saliva loudly echoed from somewhere.
Shift.
When he turned his head, he saw the people in the cabin drooling as they stared at the baguette in Hanuri’s hand.
He set aside a portion and called out to Park Ki-ho.
“Take this and share it with them.”
“Thank you!”
Park Ki-ho eagerly accepted it and brought it into the cabin.
It felt…
Like he had just distributed rations.
Looking at the people rushing towards Park Ki-ho, it really did feel like he was distributing rations.
Tap, tap!
While watching the scene, Do-yoon felt someone nudging him from the side.
It was Hanuri.
“Ajosshi…”
“Hmm?”
“Hehe. Here.”
In her small hands, she held out a piece of bread.
Hanuri, who had been so busy eating herself…
He accepted the still-warm bread she handed him and gently patted her head before taking a bite.
Crunch!
The bread had cooled slightly, giving it a crispy texture. The first thing that hit him was the rich aroma of butter.
On top of that, the roasted garlic scent blended in, creating a flavor that could only be described as the pinnacle of fragrances.
And then there was the sweetness of the Brosia Honey that came through with every bite.
Sweet and fragrant.
This was, without a doubt, what they meant by "a taste that delights the tongue."
‘Back then, I thought it was just sweet because I was eating in a hurry.’
Now that he was savoring it slowly, the flavors came alive.
It felt as warm as the gaze of the little girl with the adorable sparkling eyes smiling up at him.
In truth, the current flavor seemed to owe a lot to the "seasoning" of Hanuri’s thoughtful gesture.
*
Swoosh.
Munch munch...
When had this happened?
One of the members of the expedition team was sitting next to him, eating a Honey Butter Garlic Baguette.
And they were eating it with complete absorption, utterly lost in the taste.
“That’s the leader of the expedition team, Lee Ha Na-nim.”
Noticing Do-yoon staring at the woman, Park Ki-ho approached and explained.
As always, his sense of observation was sharp.
“But it’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Well, as far as I know… her nickname is AI.”
Do-yoon tilted his head at Park Ki-ho’s whispered comment.
What did that have to do with anything?
“It means she’s known as someone without emotions. I haven’t seen her much myself, but I’ve never seen her eating something so absentmindedly like this. Normally, she’s very stiff and strict.”
“Really?”
She didn’t seem very AI-like to him, more like a bit clueless.
“And where did you hear that?”
“Haha. When you’re a porter, you tend to pick up on these things. Depending on the personality of the team leaders, our treatment changes quite a bit.”
Survival instincts at their finest.
“Unnie! Eat this too!”
“Uhm…!?”
It was clear that Lee Ha Na hadn’t realized what she was doing.
The woman, who had been mindlessly munching on the snack, suddenly noticed Hanuri offering her more and was visibly startled.
She looked like someone who had just snapped out of a trance.
‘Is AI nowadays really this similar to humans?’
Well, if something was human-like, it probably wouldn’t be called artificial intelligence in the first place.
“…Thank you.”
“Hehe.”
Hanuri smiled brightly at Lee Ha Na, who stared back at her with wide eyes.
And once again, Lee Ha Na seemed to melt under the warmth of that innocent smile. She accepted the snack and glanced around before her eyes met Do-yoon’s.
“Ah…”
She immediately snapped back to her senses.
Swoosh.
She subtly lowered the snack in her hand, as if embarrassed.
Do-yoon tilted his head in confusion and gestured for her to eat.
It wasn’t like he could take back what Hanuri had given her.
“Eat. I’m not going to say anything.”
“…Okay.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lee Ha Na started eating again without hesitation.
‘Has the poison from the Brosia Honey not fully neutralized?’
For a moment, Do-yoon wondered if that might be the case, but it wasn’t.
She was simply completely hooked on the flavor.
How had it come to this?
“The expedition team apparently went through a lot of hardship around here.”
Park Ki-ho explained as Do-yoon continued watching Lee Ha Na with fascination.
Swoosh.
When Do-yoon turned to look at him, Park Ki-ho flinched slightly but didn’t back away.
“They said some unidentified creature has been stealing all their supplies.”
“Stealing supplies? Who? A monster?”
“Yes. Apparently, even their navigation equipment was stolen, so they’ve been wandering around this area a lot.”
"Interesting."
“Right? What kind of monster steals things?”
If a creature could stealthily steal items, it must possess enough strength and intelligence to inflict significant harm on humans.
But it didn’t do so.
From what he heard, it wasn’t that the monster didn’t attack at all, but…
‘It’s more like a prank.’
The level of aggression described was closer to a playful trick than an actual attack.
It was extremely rare for monsters to pull pranks on humans.
In fact, there was only one type of monster that Do-yoon knew of that might behave like that.
If it really was the one he was thinking of…
‘I don’t think it’s in a state to have a proper conversation.’
Do-yoon wanted to ask more about the monster, but judging by Lee Ha Na’s current condition, she didn’t seem like she could provide any coherent answers anytime soon.
With Hanuri by his side, he couldn’t exactly press her for answers either.
So, he decided to wait patiently until she was done eating her snack.
“It must’ve been tough for her, especially with the recent increase in dungeon creation and all the explosion incidents happening these days.”
While he waited, Park Ki-ho kept talking, so it wasn’t boring.
“These days? Are there really that many incidents?”
Do-yoon, who had quite the history with dungeon explosions, showed a flicker of interest at Park Ki-ho’s comment.
Park Ki-ho seemed to take his interest as encouragement and became even more enthusiastic.
“Yes, it’s gotten pretty bad recently. On top of that, since Lee Ha Na is part of the Hunter Bureau, which is a government agency, she must’ve been dispatched all over the place. That’s probably why she ended up in this state.”
Park Ki-ho clucked his tongue as he glanced at Lee Ha Na, but when her emotionless eyes locked onto his, he quickly covered his mouth.
Then, he subtly slipped behind Do-yoon, using him as a shield.
This naturally brought Lee Ha Na and Do-yoon’s gazes together.
Gulp.
Lee Ha Na swallowed the food in her mouth and straightened her crouched body.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she walked over to him with her face completely blank.
Park Ki-ho, now completely ignored, stayed hidden behind Do-yoon.
Bow!
“I am Lee Ha Na, Team Leader of the Dungeon Management Department under the Hunter Bureau. Apologies for the delayed introduction.”
“…?”
Lee Ha Na bowed her head, formally introducing herself.
Her abrupt change in demeanor caught Do-yoon off guard.
“We were investigating a dungeon explosion near the Chuncheon area when we were stranded due to a monster’s interference. I sincerely thank you for the assistance you’ve provided us.”
Now, her demeanor matched the description Park Ki-ho had given earlier about her nickname.
It seemed like the earlier lapse in composure had been some sort of temporary overload error.
“Helping your team members was enough to settle the score, so there’s no need to thank me. But more importantly…”
Do-yoon wasn’t particularly interested in her gratitude.
What mattered to him now was that she seemed capable of having a proper conversation, so he immediately asked what he was curious about.
“That monster, what does it look like?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean the monster that stole your equipment.”
“Ah.”
Lee Ha Na nodded as if she understood.
Her demeanor was mechanical, almost robotic.
The gap between how she acted now and earlier was huge.
“A cub? A leopard? Or maybe a tiger? It was a beast-type monster with black fur.”
“A beast-type?”
“Yes, its size was slightly smaller or about the same as that bear over there. It was a monster I’ve never seen before.”
“Smaller than them? Then, could it be a cub?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but we suspect it may have emerged during this recent dungeon explosion.”
For some reason, it seemed to match the creature Do-yoon had in mind.
‘Did that thing really cross over?’
If so…
“Team Leader, don’t you think there’ve been a lot of new monsters showing up lately?”
While Do-yoon was lost in thought, Park Ki-ho jumped into the conversation.
His brazenness was impressive.
It seemed this was how he usually gathered information, by casually slipping into conversations like this.
“There has been a global increase in dungeon creation, the appearance of new monsters, and dungeon explosions.”
“Globally?”
“Yes. New monsters are primarily appearing in newly formed dungeons. We suspect the monster we encountered also came from the dungeon explosion near Chuncheon.”
While speaking to Park Ki-ho, Lee Ha Na kept glancing at Do-yoon.
It was clear that the person she really wanted to explain this to was Do-yoon.
“A monster that came out of the dungeon explosion here?”
“Yes, judging by the fact that it’s a new type of monster, that’s what we’re assuming. It seems to be wandering around this area.”
At that moment, Do-yoon, who had been deep in thought, showed interest, and Lee Ha Na immediately gave a precise answer.
‘It seems like the same creature that did that to Kkomi.’
If it was wandering around this area, it meant it had the audacity to cause trouble and not flee immediately.
Its behavior matched the creature he was familiar with.
If it really was that creature…
‘Monsters that should only exist on that side are crossing over into this world through dungeons.’
Once could be considered a coincidence.
Do-yoon himself had crossed over from that side, so he could rationalize it happening once.
But twice, then three times?
That was no coincidence.
And although the details were different, Do-yoon had experienced something similar on the other side.
‘I’ll need to seriously investigate this.’
If his suspicions were correct, some measures might be necessary.
To continue living peacefully, like now, this issue couldn’t be ignored.
“That thing is wandering around here?”
“Yes, that’s what it seems like.”
For now, he decided to confirm the situation more clearly.
*****