Chapter 61: It Tastes Like Chicken
TL: Hanguk
"...Erm... You're here, meow?"
"Mr. Theo! You didn't forget about us, did you?"
"No...no, meow! I...I was testing whether you guys would come find me or not, meow!"
Though Theo had completely forgotten about the hunters,
'Phew. I didn't show any signs of being flustered, meow!'
He believed he had perfectly hidden it with his acting skills.
However,
'He did forget about us.'
'We should've just stayed hidden.'
'We should've just kept quiet.'
The hunters, who had come seeking Theo out of fear, were regretting their actions as they observed his awkward acting..
"So, did you make any money? Hand it over, meow!”
Theo hurriedly brought up a different topic.
"Yes, here's 715 Tower Coins.”
The hunters proudly handed over all the money they had been diligently saving up to Theo. It had been a while since they had hunted so hard.
However, it was just chump change, not enough to satisfy Theo, who had just made a significant amount of sales.
"What, meow? 715 Tower Coins? Have you been slacking off, meow?!"
"Huh?! What do you mean?! We've really been hunting hard!"
"That's right! We really worked hard!"
Growl.
As the wronged hunters raised their voices towards Theo, the wolves bared their teeth and growled.
"Eek!"
At the wolves' threatening behavior, the hunters shut their mouths.
"So, you're incompetent, meow? Humans even less useful than Cuengi, meow!”
Theo berated the hunters.
'Who's Cuengi?'
The unknown Cuengi scored an unexpected win against the hunters.
"If you're like this next time, it won't be fun, meow!"
As Theo made a scary face and signaled to the wolves with his paw,
Growl.
The wolves once again released a strong killing intent.
"Eeek! We understand! We'll earn more!!”
With that, Theo, who had pushed the hunters, once again set off for the 99th floor of the tower.
***
Ugh!
Once the attack of the Branch Scouts was almost settled, the Minotaur King quickly returned to the waypoint.
After the Minotaur King had left and about two hours had passed, they were finally able to completely defeat the Branch Scouts.
"But why did they come here?"
They were puzzled by the sudden attack of the Ents, but no one knew the answer to that.
[The Tower's Administrator says that the corrupted ents want to corrupt any uncorrupted trees around them.]
Aileen could only guess based on her knowledge of corrupted ents.
"Trees?"
The only thing that could be called a tree around here was the cherry tomato trees or the corn trees.
But the Branch Scouts had no interest in them. They were only interested in the cave.
"What is it?"
While Sejun was pondering the reason why the corrupted ents attacked this place,
Grrrumble.
His body, which had been overworked since dawn, asked for fuel replenishment.
"Guys, let's eat!"
Sejun treated the Mother Crimson Giant Bear and the Minotaurs, who had helped him, with food as a token of his gratitude.
First, he gave finely chopped carrots to the wife rabbit who had just given birth, and to the mother Crimson Giant Bear, he gave a basket made of green onion leaves filled with 200 squids and sweet potatoes.
And he let the Black Minotaurs eat as much green onion leaves as they wanted. In addition, he cut the stems of harvested carrots and gave them as well. Due to the time limit, he also sent 3 heaps of green onion leaves and a bundle of cherry tomato branches to the Minotaur King who had to return to the waypoint first.
After preparing their meals, Sejun and the rabbits prepared their own food.
However,
"Should we just eat something simple since we're so tired?"
Squeak!
Squeak!
The rabbits strongly agreed with Sejun's suggestion. They were exhausted from preparing food for others.
Crunch.
The rabbits took out carrots from the storage, held one in their arms each, and ate them,
Woong-woong.
and Sejun munched on dried sweet potatoes.
While they were eating,
Woo-jeok-woo-jeok.
After finishing off 200 squids and a bundle of sweet potatoes in just two bites, the mother Crimson Giant Bear, who seemed to still be hungry, started to eat the dead Branch Scouts.
"Cuengi, does your mom usually eat trees like that?"
Sejun, who saw the mother Crimson Giant Bear eating a tree for the first time, stroked Cuengi's head, who was busily licking honey, and asked.
Kkueong! Kkueong!
[Mom is always hungry! So she eats trees while patrolling!]
Sejun had thought that the mother Crimson Giant Bear ate monster meat while patrolling. He hadn't thought that she was eating tree monsters.
Then,
"Sejun, we've returned!"
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!"
Upon receiving Sejun's instructions, the wolves left one cart in front of the mother Crimson Giant Bear and the other two in front of the brick house.
“Eat this.”
Sejun pointed at the Red Locusts and told the mother Crimson Giant Bear.
Kkueng!
Hearing Sejun's words, the mother Crimson Giant Bear joyfully started to eat the Red Locusts. The meat of the Red Locusts was popular among carnivorous monsters like wolves and Cuengi.
Sejun and the rabbits had tried it out of curiosity, but it was too tough for them. They felt like their teeth would break first.
[You have consumed Red Locust meat.]
[There's a small amount of poison remaining in the Red Locust meat.]
[You are poisoned by the E-grade neurotoxin.]
[Detoxified.]
And there was also poison. If he hadn't eaten detoxifying green onion and just ate it because other animals were eating and were okay, he might have died.
So Sejun was developing a Red Locust dish that he could also eat. He also had the intention to achieve an achievement and increase the level of his cooking skill.
That's why he made Red Locust soup a few days ago. Put water and Red Locust meat in a large pot, season it with salt and pepper, and cover it with a lid.
First, the lid was placed on top with bricks, and it was simply boiled for several hours under high pressure. Despite being a simple dish, achieving the achievement of being the first to cook red locust soup in the tower increased his cooking skill level to 3.
And the result of the cooking was a half success.
Ack!
[The texture is soft!]
The red locust meat became soft enough for the rabbits to eat. However, the meat from the red locust soup was still so tough that Sejun's teeth could not bite into it.
"Guys, cut the red locust meat very thinly for now."
As Sejun asked the wolves to cut the red locust meat thinly
Shush. Shush.
The wolves began to thinly slice the red locust with their sharp claws at intervals of 1 mm. Because Sejun gave them the failed dish, the wolves willingly helped.
Since the red locust meat was so tough, Sejun thought of making soup by finely chopping the red locust meat. This time, he also chopped detoxifying green onions and potatoes.
In this way, he filled three large pots with ingredients, covered them with a lid, and began to boil. Then he placed several bricks to prevent the lid from moving.
"Now let's get to work!"
Sejun planned to boil the Red Locust meat for a few hours, so he started farming with the rabbits and wolves.
He had the Black Minotaurus pile the wooden bodies of the dead scout soldiers to the west. It was to use as fuel to create a flame wall in case the corrupted Ent's branch scout soldiers invaded again.
While everyone was doing their own work, the Red Locust meat was thoroughly boiled.
***
52nd floor of the tower.
"Hahaha. Die, pig!"
Han Tae-jun, with his bulging muscles and only wearing pants, was having a battle with the boss of the 52nd floor of the tower, the Burning Wild Boar. Oink!
Bang!
Sizzle.
As the Burning Wild Boar rolled its front legs, red flames spread around.
"No way!"
In the past, he got hit by those flames and was cursed by the flame, but now he ate the golden sweet potato and his flame resistance has increased.
"Let's go!"
Han Tae-jun ran towards the fire. He then prepared to attack, exerting strength on all the muscles of his body.
And then
"Magic Missile!"
Along with Han Tae-jun's shout, 100 magic missiles flew towards the Burning Wild Boar. His job was a magician.
Puff, puff!
Oink, oink!
The sound of pig grunts could be heard when the Burning Wild Boar was hit by 100 magic missiles.
"One more time! Magic Missile!"
It was unclear why he was flexing his muscles while using magic, but Han Tae-jun shot a magic missile at the Burning Wild Boar again.
[You have defeated the 52nd floor boss, Burning Wild Boar.]
[The Flame Curse of the Burning Wild Boar is lifted.]
...
..
.
In this way, after defeating the boss of the 52nd floor with magic missiles and lifting the fire curse, Han Tae-jun descended to the 50th floor. He went there to hand over the remaining golden sweet potatoes to his first disciple, Cha Si-Hyeok, who was struggling with fire monsters on the 50th floor.
When he arrived at the 50th floor,
"Meow?!"
Theo, who had just arrived on the 50th floor through the merchant's route, discovered Han Tae-jun. More specifically, he found the golden sweet potato in Han Tae-jun's hand.
"Old man! Where did you get that golden sweet potato? Don't tell me you killed Dong-sik and took it?!"
Theo approached Han Tae-jun and asked. If that was the case, he thought of avenging Kim Dong-sik.
"No, I didn't."
"Then where did you get it?!"
"I got it from Dong-sik. Besides, thanks to you selling me the sun sweet potato, I was freed from the fire curse. I owe you one. Thank you."
"Then repay your debt."
"Sure, how?"
"First, stamp this contract."
Theo handed out a blank contract.
However,
"I can't do that."
His opponent was the president of the Korean Awakened Association. He was not an easy opponent.
***
As lunchtime approached,
Sniff sniff.
The rabbits, smelling something delicious, gathered near Sejun's brick house.
Rustle.
The wolves also waited in front of Sejun's brick house, wagging their tails.
Slurp. Slurp.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear, who had returned early from patrol, was also salivating at the delicious smell.
"Let's see if it's well-cooked?"
When Se-jun removed the bricks and opened the pot lid,
[You have achieved the feat of making Combat Rations - Red Locust Soup for the first time in the tower.]
[The recipe for Combat Rations - Red Locust Soup is registered at Cooking Lv. 3.]
[Your proficiency in Cooking Lv. 3 increases significantly.]
It seems that there was no one who had cooked with the red locust, as this time too, it was the first.
"Combat Rations?"
As Se-jun was about to examine his dish,
Grumble!
Grumble!
Gruuumble!
Bleeeh!
Animals excited by the delicious smell drooled and looked at Se-jun with heated eyes. It seemed necessary to calm down the excited animals first.
"Guys, calm down. I'll give it to you."
Sejun decided to check the dish later and first served the red locust soup to the animals. He gave a whole large pot to the mother Crimson Giant Bear.
While the animals were focused on eating, Sejun looked at the food remaining in the large pot.
[Combat Rations - Red Locust Soup]
→ Thinly sliced red locust meat, detoxifying green onions, and power potatoes are added and boiled for a long time so that all ingredients blend harmoniously and all effects increase.
→ The detoxifying green onions neutralize the poison in the red locust meat, making it softer.
→ Due to the detoxifying effect of the green onions, the food doesn't spoil easily.
→ The taste improves slightly.
→ Consumption increases strength by 5.1 for 30 minutes. (Due to the effect of Cooking Lv. 2, your strength increases by 0.1)
[TL Note: Here, the cooking level should be level 3 as it was mentioned earlier in the chapter that it was increased to level 3. However, in the raw version, it is mentioned as level 2. It seems like the author may have made a mistake.]
→ Due to the effect of combat rations, you will feel full for 3 hours.
→ Cook: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration date: 30 days
→ Grade: C+
"It's softer?"
Sejun took a spoonful of red locust soup and put it in his mouth.
Chew, chew.
The finely ground meat was tender even to Sejun's teeth.
Then,
'What is this?!'
Sejun was touched by the familiar taste and texture of the red locust meat.
'It tastes like chicken!'
Slurp.
Sejun hastily finished a bowl of red locust soup.
[You have consumed the standard portion of Combat Rations - Red Locust Soup.]
[Strength increases by 5.1 for 30 minutes.]
[You will feel full for 3 hours.]
The amount of red locust soup that triggers the options varies depending on who ate it.
However,
Slurp.
Sejun seemed uninterested in such matters and started to eat the red locust soup again. It was the taste of chicken that he had been craving for almost 8 months.
On the 235th day of being stranded, Sejun found meat that tastes like chicken.
*****
For extra chapters, you can read them on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/HangukTranslations.
Join our Discord for announcements or to report any mistakes. You can also leave a review and rating on NovelUpdates.