At the temporary base set up near the entrance to the Dwarven Mine, Kim Ki-Rok, who was busy cooking, had a sudden thought.
Indeed, cuteness really does beat beauty or being cool.
Maybe it was because they seed more approachable, but cute people always ended up more popular than the beautiful or handso.
"Ji-Hee, Ji-Hee," soone called out.
Even here at the Gate's base camp, Kim Ji-Hee was incredibly popular. Foreign Hunters—many of whom had yet to fully grasp Korean—adored her, repeating her na enthusiastically.
"I rearned Gorean[1] to et Ji-Hee."
Despite the awkward pronunciation, a surprising number of them were trying their best in Korean.
"Ji-Hee. You... rember ?"
It remained unclear whether Arican Hunter Daniel had last visited Korea to investigate contaminated Gates or simply to see Kim Ji-Hee. Either way, he was now glued to her side.
"Daniel!"
"Oh!" He exclaid with joy.
"Uncle!"
"Un. Cle?" Daniel echoed, repeating the word slowly in broken Korean.
"Uh-huh... Uh-huh... Umm... Uh..."
Kim Ji-Hee, now eight years old, had entered elentary school a little later than others her age. As a Saintess, she carried too many responsibilities and had no choice but to enroll mid-term. Fortunately, there were schools specifically designed to support Awakened children, and hers had accepted her without issue.
"Ah!" After a mont of thinking, Ji-Hee found the word and cheerfully said in English, "Un! Cle!"
"Huuuh." Daniel was so touched he covered his mouth with both hands. "From now on, please call Un-cle Daniel."
"Uncle!" Kim Ji-Hee repeated in English once more.
Once again, Daniel covered his mouth with both hands and jumped around in joy.
A nearby foreign female Hunter, clearly envious, quickly pulled out her phone to check sothing.
Then, she locked eyes with Kim Ji-Hee. "Ji-Hee."
"Hmm?"
"My na Hayley. Please call Hayley Un-nie," she said in broken Korean.
"Hayley Unnie?"
A-Class Hunter Hayley visibly shivered with joy.
And just like that, the "oppa, unnie, uncle" parade began.
Yoo Seh-Eun watched as Kim Ji-Hee held what could only be described as a fan eting for foreign Hunters.
"No misters? It's one of the most famous titles out there[2]."
"Apparently, Ji-Hee's reserved the title exclusively for Kim Ki-Rok," he imdiately answered, referring to himself in the third person.
"Who told you that?" Yoo Seh-Eun asked, perplexed.
"The fan club."
"You're... in her fan club?"
"Ha! Who do you think I am? Of course I joined. For your information, I didn't reveal my identity. I started out as a newbie fan and now I'm a first-class mber."
Yoo Seh-Eun found it hard to believe soone who called himself Ji-Hee's protector thought sneaking into her fan cafe was sothing to brag about.
"Sigh... Here. I'm done trimming," Yoo Seh-Eun muttered, handing over the prepped ingredients to Kim Ki-Rok.
"Thank you for your hard work. Now go take a break. Or maybe chat up one of the handso Hunters over there."
He nodded in the direction of a tall, fit man. When their eyes t, the man winked.
Yoo Seh-Eun frowned. "Who's that?"
"That's Marco, an A-Class Hunter from Italy."
"Marco?"
"Yeah. He's famous for saying, publicly, that he likes 'tough beauties.'"
Upon hearing that, the other two won helping in the kitchen, Lee Ji-Ah and Lee Ji-Yeon, both turned to glance at Yoo Seh-Eun in perfect sync.
"Oh my, is our Seh-Eun finally eting her match?" Lee Ji-Ah, a longti friend of Yoo Seh-Eun, teased with a mischievous grin.
"I don't date cheesy guys. Why's he winking at a stranger? Freaking weirdo." Yoo Seh-Eun grumbled, drawing a puzzled glance from Kim Ki-Rok.
"Then... why are you smiling?" he asked.
"I can't exactly flip him off, can I? It's my first ti eting him."
"Well... yeah, I suppose that's true."
Winking and flipping soone off at a first eting? If I rember right, wouldn't Marco fall head over heels if he saw sothing like that? Kim Ki-Rok mused.
"Ah. If I don't focus, my cooking's going to drop a rank."
He turned his attention back to the task at hand. Maintaining the quality of his cooking was essential since these high-class dishes provided powerful buffs to the Hunters preparing to clear the Gate. His knife moved like a seasoned dancer, swift and graceful across the cutting board.
"Haah! Aeeeple!" Kim Ki-Rok shouted exaggeratedly.
—Haah!
The wok flared as Aeple released a brilliant jet of fla beneath it.
"Haah! Miss Ji-Ah!"
With a heavy sigh, Lee Ji-Ah raised her hand and froze a bowl of milk with a wave.
Kim Ki-Rok was managing several dishes at once.
"Alright! Korean dishes are ready!" he called out, placing the finished plates onto a cart. The guild mbers ca to carry them away.
"Alright! Korean-style Chinese dishes are also ready!" he added, this ti shouting in Chinese as he stacked the next set of dishes.
And just like that, Kim Ki-Rok completed Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Western, and even dessert courses featuring frozen milk. Wiping his hands on his apron, he looked over at the Hunters who had just received their als.
"Shit! It's A-Class?"
"This is my first ti tasting an A-Class al..."
"Even the B-Class als were insanely good. Just how amazing is an A-Class dish going to be?"
"I can't wait. Sluurp!"
Foreign Hunters murmured in their respective languages, practically drooling as they checked the grade of their als through the Appraisal system, but no one dug in just yet. Everyone waited so they could start eating at the sa ti. That way, the buffs would activate around the sa ti too.
"Begin eating in three minutes and finish within fifteen," Association President Kang Man-Ki instructed. "The timing won't be perfect for everyone, but it should keep the buffs from wearing off too unevenly."
At his words, the Hunters pulled out their phones or glanced at the watches strapped to their wrists. Each of them carried mana, and they'd be entering a Gate filled with Black Wizards. Imdiate combat readiness was essential.
Of course, the vanguard team had already gone in to scout the situation, but even so, the rest needed to be ready the mont they stepped through.
"It's ti," the president ordered, prompting everyone to begin their al in unison.
"I-it's delicious!"
"Wow! Wow! Wow!"
So of the foreign Hunters couldn't contain their excitent, exclaiming loudly between bites. Others were struck silent, eyes wide in awe as chopsticks and forks flew.
"Maybe my real talent was cooking all along... Ha!" Kim Ki-Rok muttered to himself.
[The Ti Rabbit retorts, "Cooking is just like combat—it improves with ti."]
"But I've made S-Class dishes before..."
With his helpers—Yoo Seh-Eun, Lee Ji-Ah, and Lee Ji-Yeon—off to eat, no one was around him anymore. Taking advantage of the quiet, Kim Ki-Rok conversed freely with the Ti Rabbit under his breath.
[The Ti Rabbit laughs. "Hey, that's only because you had top-tier ingredients. With those, even a D-Class Skill could've produced an A-Class dish."]
Kim Ki-Rok had indeed created an S-Class al once, but it required dwarven cooking tools and the finest ingredients imaginable.
As he watched the Hunters, each one laser-focused on their food, Kim Ki-Rok uncrossed his arms, slipped a hand beneath the kitchen counter, and raised his middle finger—a sight for the Ti Rabbit's eyes only.
***
So Hunters had already finished eating, while others remained at the temporary dining tables, enjoying their dessert. Those who had completed their al were part of the vanguard; the ones extending their buff duration with dessert were assigned to the backup team that would follow later.
Kim Ki-Rok clapped loudly to gather their attention. "Unlike the backup team, which will engage any monsters in sight, the vanguard needs to move in perfect sync. And since we're all Korean Hunters, allow to present the plan... with a little flair."
The A-Class Korean Hunters chuckled lightly, easing their nerves.
He elaborated, "We'll hide our mana at the Gate entrance and wait a bit. Then, our cute and lovely Ji-Hee will act as a spirit dowser and locate nearby spirits."
He was reiterating information the Hunters had already been inford of during their eting. The goal was to gather intel by contacting spirits, with Kim Ji-Hee, beloved by spirits, acting as the bridge.
"The problem, as you know, is that our dowser Ji-Hee can't find specific spirits."
Maybe because her na had co up again, Kim Ji-Hee turned to look at Kim Ki-Rok. She was currently seated with The Five Siblings of Mapogu, Lee Chil-Sung, and Lee Ji-Yeon.
"Seh-Eun Unnie," Kim Ji-Hee said.
"Hmm?"
"What's dowsing?"
"Uh... I think it ans being a detector?"
"I'm a detector?"
"No, no. You're not actually a detector. But you're really good at finding spirits, so it's just a taphor. You know... like a nickna."
"Ah."
Ji-Hee didn't fully understand, but she nodded anyway. She'd learned that the more the conversation continued, the more complicated it was bound to get.
Kim Ki-Rok continued explaining, "In other words, we might not only encounter dwarf spirits. There could also be spirits of Black Wizards... or even monster spirits."
"Ki-Rok."
"Yes, Brother Baek-San."
"Keep it short. Short."
"Right. If we ss up, this plan could end up dragging on disgustingly long."
"Exactly. Keep it nice and simple. Why did you have to get all grandiose with the explanation?"
"Brother," Kim Ki-Rok said with a serious expression.
"What?"
"Normally, the final operation briefing is supposed to be flashy, complex, and just a bit hard to follow. That's what makes it cool."
"Fuck."
At Jang Baek-San's muttered curse, a few Hunters lowered their heads, chuckling. One of them even burst out laughing.
With a clap, Kim Ki-Rok gathered the Hunters' attention once more and smiled brightly. "Alright, let's get moving. First, drink the Mana Block Potion provided by the DG Guild. Our enemies, the Black Wizards, are experts at detecting mana. No matter how well we hide it, there's still a good chance we'll be discovered."
"Ah, and don't worry. The potion's effects will wear off the mont you activate your mana. You won't be held back."
The Hunters nodded and drank the red potion they'd been given.
"Huh?" Ji Seok-Hyun, Guildmaster of the Phoenix Guild, blinked in surprise mid-sip. "Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok."
"Yes, Guildmaster Ji Seok-Hyun."
"This..."
"Yes. That's right. It's grape-flavored."
"But... it's a red potion?"
"There are red grapes, aren't there?"
"Well, I know that, but..."
"Hehehe! I asked Sister Yoon-Joo to tweak the formula. Why should only blue potions get to be grape-flavored?"
"You specifically asked for grape-flavored potion?"
"That's right."
Ji Seok-Hyun stared blankly at Kim Ki-Rok. Sohow, this man always managed to fixate on the weirdest details.
"Next, please tear the enhancent scroll prepared by Min-Ji, DG Guild's representative high schooler. It boosts physical abilities and sensory perception."
Following the instruction, the Hunters tore the spell scrolls without hesitation. Their mana was now sealed, but their bodies were reinforced.
"The cooking buff lasts for forty minutes. The scroll lasts thirty. The potion lasts fifty. Yes, the duration alignnt is a ss, but there's nothing we can do about it." He continued briskly, "We'll proceed based on the scouted route, searching for spirits for about twenty minutes. After that, we'll use the remaining ti to return here."
Kim Ki-Rok turned to face the massive, oval-shaped entrance to the Gate, Dwarven Mine.
"Shall we?"
1. Korean spoken with a foreign accent. ☜
2. 아저씨 (mister) is used to refer to older n, especially strangers. ☜
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