Chapter 6
Translator: Roshi
Hanuri stopped fussing when he said they’d go see Porong after breakfast.
Thanks to that, he was able to prepare breakfast again.
Chop chop!
Is there any dish easier to make than sausage and vegetable stir-fry?
First, he cut the sausages into octopus shapes, then diced the paprika and onions into cubes. With that, the main ingredients were ready.
For the sauce, he used ketchup as the base, with oyster sauce, minced garlic, and a bit of sugar.
It would have been nice to add some gochujang for a spicy kick, but Hanuri couldn’t handle spicy food yet, so he left it out.
“Is the rice done?”
After slightly opening the lid to check, he immediately removed the pot.
The rice was ready while he was chatting briefly with Hanuri.
He let the rice sit with the residual heat and placed a frying pan on the burner.
For a moment, he thought that if he had bought a pot as well when he bought this, he wouldn't have needed to make one from the armor, but since that was already in the past, he moved on.
He drizzled some cooking oil and once it heated up, he stir-fried the sausages first.
Once the sausages started spreading out like octopus legs, he added the vegetables and stir-fried them together, then added the sauce and let it simmer on low-medium heat.
That was it.
“Wow!”
Hanuri kept exclaiming in amazement at the quickly prepared side dish.
This was something he could easily make just by glancing at the recipe.
He spread out the table he made himself yesterday on the floor and placed the sausage and vegetable stir-fry on top.
“Hmm.”
Looking at it now, the side dish felt a bit sparse.
‘It’s breakfast, so a simple meal is fine.’
Consoling himself with the fact that it was just breakfast, he scooped the rice.
The armor, once crafted from divine metal, had now become a pot. It cooked the rice perfectly.
The rice was fluffy with a glossy sheen, looking just like the rice in TV commercials.
‘Maybe I should make kimbap?’
When they go to see Porong later, it might be nice to wrap up some kimbap to take along.
It would feel like going on a picnic.
Clink
“Huh?”
As he was scooping the rice, Hanuri came over, holding chopsticks and placed them on the table.
He hadn’t even asked her to…
So kind and smart.
No wonder the hospital staff couldn’t help but love her.
“All right, let’s eat.”
“Thank you for the meal!”
He patted Hanuri’s head and started the simple breakfast.
Even with only one side dish, Hanuri ate well.
She carefully picked out just the sausages.
“Eat the vegetables too.”
"...Hng."
When he placed a piece of paprika on her spoon, she pouted but ate it.
Watching her, he also picked up a sausage and ate it.
‘Sweet.’
Since it was made to suit a child’s taste, it didn’t really work as a side dish for him.
Next time, he thought he should make two variations so he could enjoy it too.
Still, the rice was so good that he quickly finished one bowl.
*
After breakfast, he stepped outside for a bit.
He intended to look for some usable wood, but he had to return shortly.
“Kimbap~ Kimbap~.”
This was because he had promised to make kimbap with Hanuri.
When he got back, Hanuri was sitting on the porch, singing.
He had no idea what song it was.
“Ajosshi!”
Hanuri, who had been singing, saw him and ran over.
They had seen each other just a little while ago, yet she seemed thrilled to see him.
“I want two hams in my kimbap…”
The little one, who had run over and hugged him, kept chattering about what she wanted in the kimbap.
It seemed she had been thinking about how to make the kimbap the whole time.
“One piece.”
“Two pieces!”
“Then two pieces of cucumber too.”
"Ugh..."
In the end, they agreed on one piece of ham and one piece of cucumber.
“I’ll prepare the ingredients, so go play.”
It felt like he was preparing lunch right after they’d finished breakfast.
He began to worry a little that eating three meals a day would end up taking up most of their time.
‘But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, is it?’
On second thought, it wasn’t something to worry about.
In its own way, this could be an enjoyable routine here.
Chop chop chop!
He julienned the carrots for the kimbap and cut the cucumber into long strips, letting them soak in salt water for a bit.
He cut the fish cake and ham into long strips, just like the cucumber.
‘Let’s start with the egg roll.’
He seasoned the eggs with sugar and salt, then poured them into a heated pan.
Sizzle—
Along with that delicious sound, the egg roll quickly cooked.
He made several thin sheets by frying them in layers.
He stir-fried the ham, fish cake, and carrots one by one, and in no time, the kimbap ingredients were ready.
He arranged them neatly on a plate in order.
"Hanuri."
"Hm?"
"Come here. Let's start rolling the kimbap."
"Okay!"
He called out to Hanuri, who was playing with Ddugi and Chuchu.
Hanuri quickly scrambled up onto the porch, looking at the table and him with a face full of curiosity.
"First, spread the seaweed like this."
"Spread the seaweed!"
"Then, lay the rice down like this."
"Rice! ...Hm."
Hanuri was enthusiastically copying him, but laying down the seasoned rice proved to be a challenge, and she ended up with sticky rice grains all over her small hands, looking a bit frustrated.
Her tiny hands looked like little autumn leaves.
'How cute.'
She was adorable no matter what she did.
He chuckled and said,
"Dip your hands in the water here."
"Ooh!"
With her hands wet, she tried again.
This time, it was a success.
"Now, just add the ingredients one by one."
"Okay, okay!"
"One slice of ham. One piece of cucumber too."
"Ah!"
He kept an eye on her as she tried to sneak in an extra slice of ham and skip the cucumber, while he rolled his own kimbap.
Once he got the hang of it, it was actually fun.
Watching Hanuri struggle as her kimbap burst open was amusing, too.
"Hng… it burst again."
"You have to control your strength. Press it firmly, like this, so it doesn't burst."
"Hmm!"
Despite her struggles, she did pretty well when he showed her.
‘She might do well if I teach her martial arts.’
She had good control over her body. Considering her young age, her ability to manage her strength to this extent suggested she might excel in martial arts.
"Ta-da!"
While he was admiring her skills, she proudly showed off a perfectly rolled kimbap.
"Good job."
"Hehehe."
When he praised her and patted her head, she looked delighted, like a little puppy.
Since the knife was still too dangerous for her, he handled the slicing.
Swish, swish, swish!
"Woooow! It looks as good as Hanuri's!"
The child found amazement in everything.
"All done, let's put it in here."
"Okay!"
In no time, they packed the neatly sliced kimbap into a container.
Their picnic preparations were complete.
"Rolling the kimbap really took up all our time."
Judging by the sun's position, morning had already shifted into afternoon.
"Shall we go? To see the dinosaur."
"Yay!"
He put the container of kimbap into the Shadow and took Hanuri’s hand.
Then, they disappeared into the shadow.
*
Park Ki-ho was the sub-tank for the Fire Goblin Team.
His position was officially for VIP protection.
However, that was only in name; in reality, his role was more like a porter.
For a Hunter team at the level of the Fire Goblin Team, it wasn’t unusual for the sub-tank to act as a porter.
Typically, his main job was to follow behind and carry gear.
But today, he was positioned at the front instead of carrying loads.
“How’s Ho-seok’s condition!?”
“He can’t recover immediately! It’ll take five minutes!”
“Damn it! Park Ki-ho! Hold out for five minutes. No, just one minute!”
Their team’s main tank had been taken down in an instant due to an unexpected ambush by an A-rank monster, the Dunkong.
Since they’d only prepared for dragon-type monsters upon entering the gate, they were unprepared to face a Dunkong that suddenly appeared.
As a result, Park Ki-ho had to step in as the main tank.
Roaaaar! The Dunkong that resembled a giant gorilla.
Showing off its upper body muscles that looked like it could squeeze someone like him into juice, it intimidated him who had ended up at the front by chance.
Could he hold out?
'One minute, I just need to hold for one minute.'
The Fire Goblin Team was skilled.
Although the Dunkong was one of the top A-rank monsters, they could have managed it easily if not for the ambush.
So, as the team leader ordered, he just needed to hold out for one minute.
“Hup!”
With that thought, Park Ki-ho focused and unleashed his full power for the first time in a while.
As he felt power surge through him and his whole body becoming harder...
Roaaaar!!
"Kuhek!!"
Thud!!
The Dunkong’s fist, as large as a boulder, struck him, sending him flying like a ball.
One minute, heh.
He hadn’t even managed to last a single round.
‘Huh?’
As he flew through the air from that single unexpected hit, Park Ki-ho suddenly saw something strange.
‘Is that… someone riding a dragon?’ It all felt like a dream.
A dream that would disappear when he opened his eyes.
*
Meanwhile, inside the A-rank dungeon rumored to contain dragon-type monsters, were Do-yoon and Hanuri.
"Porong… that's not Porong…."
"But it’s a dinosaur, isn’t it? It looks similar, doesn’t it?"
"Porong is a baby dinosaur. He’s cute and goes ‘porong porong’ while talking…."
Do-yoon had shown Hanuri a dragon-type monster, but Hanuri denied it immediately.
"It can talk?"
"Yeah!"
Something felt off.
If there was a dragon-type monster capable of speech, it could only be a dragon, right?
‘Did a dragon appear on the news? Did they actually get filmed? That seems impossible.’
He didn’t realize that Hanuri’s 'Porong' was a character from a cartoon.
After living in another world for so long, he had forgotten many trivial things like that.
“You said you’d show me Porong… Ajosshi lied to Hanuri….”
“Hm.”
The child wore an expression of betrayal.
It would be a shame for her first outing, her first little picnic, to go like this.
Kuooooo!!
As he pondered how to make it up to her, something interesting caught his eye.
A wyvern was flying through the sky.
“Hanuri, have you ever flown through the sky on a dragon?”
"Dragon? Sky?"
“That one over there, how about it? Do you want to try?”
“Yes, yes!”
With Hanuri’s interest diverted, Do-yoon gave a gentle nudge with his foot to the frightened drake nearby.
Normally, his instinct would have been to strike it down in one blow, but he had no intention of doing that now.
Maybe it was because the child was watching.
‘Get lost.’
Grrr!
At his silent command, the drake, which had been lying flat on the ground, slowly got up.
Its massive, sturdy body dominated the ground of the dungeon, towering as tall as a building.
But despite its enormous size, the creature carefully backed away, even suppressing its footsteps like a cat.
Watching the drake retreat, Do-yoon took Hanuri’s hand and flew toward the wyvern.
In an instant, they appeared in front of the wyvern that had been soaring through the sky.
Kuooo?
The wyvern tilted its head, puzzled by the sudden appearance of the two humans in front of it.
“Wooow! It’s a dragon!”
Hanuri was thrilled, oblivious to the wyvern’s ferocity.
Not that it mattered, even if she did know. That ferocity would never reach her.
Kwa! ...Ah?
The wyvern, ready to unleash a roar of fury, froze and looked at Do-yoon with a fearful gaze.
Its eyes were filled with terror, the same look he’d seen in the drake earlier.
‘Show your teeth, and you’re dead.’
He silently conveyed his will to the creature.
Amazingly, the notoriously temperamental wyvern closed its mouth and lowered its head quietly.
“It says it’ll give us a ride,”
He said, pointing at the wyvern, and turned to Hanuri.
“Wow! Really? The dragon is such a nice friend!” The wyvern was absolutely not nice.
It was just 'managing its anger well'.
But there was no need to explain that to a child, so he simply smiled and moved on.
"Shall we have kimbap as in-flight meal while looking for Porong?"
"Yeah!"
After instructing the wyvern to fly around the dungeon, Do-yoon unpacked their lunch.
He spread out a small mat and opened the lunchbox they’d packed.
Even though the wyvern was flying at a high speed, the area where they sat was perfectly calm.
It felt just like being in a real airplane cabin.
'The view is nice. Should I raise one?'
Looking down from the open lunchbox, he entertained a thought that would have horrified the wyvern if it knew.
‘I already have my hands full with one kid. Whatever, let’s just eat.’
Thankfully, he had no actual intention of going through with it.
“Ajosshi, Ajosshi.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Hanuri called out to him urgently, snapping him out of his thoughts.
When he turned to look, she was holding a piece of kimbap.
“Say ahh~.”
“Ah.”
As he took a bite of the kimbap Hanuri offered, he sensed something strange.
‘What is this?’
The balance of flavors inside the kimbap was off.
He should have tasted the ham, but the cucumber flavor was overpowering.
“Hehehe.”
“You…”
“Ah!? Ajosshi! Look over there!”
Just as he was about to call out Hanuri for her clever trick of removing the ham and adding extra cucumber from another piece, she suddenly pointed at something, drawing his attention.
Amused, he pretended not to notice her mischief and turned his head.
Whooosh!!
There, in the distance, he saw a person flying through the air.
*****