Gimbap was delicious, and milk was delicious too. Even drinking milk after eating gimbap was nice in its own way.
But why couldn't you put milk on gimbap? Though I knew instinctively it shouldn't be done, I couldn't exactly explain to Gaeul why it was wrong.
"Hmm..."
It felt wrong to just say it shouldn't be done without any explanation. While pondering this, I decided to do an experint with Gaeul.
"Gaeul, should we try it ourselves and see if it tastes good or bad?"
"Heuk...!"
Was she excited about doing an experint? Gaeul wagged her tail and lifted up the milk cup.
Drip drip-
I dipped the end of my gimbap in milk, while Gaeul poured a small amount over her homade gimbap. Mine beca slightly moist, while Gaeul's turned mushy.
"Oh..."
"Hmm..."
Though Han Yeoreum and Sophia gave us worried looks, they didn't stop us. It felt like they respected our experint.
"Should we eat?"
"Yeah."
Nom nom.
Gaeul and I bit into our gimbap at the sa ti. It wasn't horrifically bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. It tasted exactly like what you'd expect milk-soaked gimbap to taste like.
"Hmm..."
If I maximized my beast-kin senses, I could appreciate certain flavors more deeply. But that was just a workaround - milk-soaked gimbap wasn't actually tasty.
I wondered what Gaeul thought. Looking at her, her expression was quite poor.
"Yucky! Yucky!"
She scrunched up her face and trembled all over. She stretched her arms out, seemingly wanting to push the milk gimbap far away.
"Is the gimbap yucky?"
"Nek...!"
'Nek' was even stronger than her usual 'nyeng.'
How bad must it have tasted for her to say that? Just as I reached to take away Gaeul's gimbap, telling her she didn't have to eat it, she took another bite while grimacing heavily.
Startled, I grabbed her wrist.
"Gaeul, if it tastes bad you don't have to eat it."
"No."
"No? Why not?"
She clearly said it was bad, so why was she still eating it? The answer ca quickly.
"Food precious."
Ah.
So she couldn't waste precious food? While that wasn't wrong, I didn't want her forcing herself to eat sothing she disliked.
This world wasn't one where food was particularly scarce anyway.
"Gaeul, you don't need to force yourself to eat sothing that tastes bad."
"..."
"Gaeul?"
Despite my reassurance, Gaeul hesitated. It hurt to see her usually bright self whimpering and watching nervously.
"Gaeul waste food..."
Gaeul planted her face on the table. She seed to be blaming herself for ruining perfectly good food with her own hands.
I didn't want to see Gaeul like this. I quickly moved to comfort her.
"Gaeul."
"Heuk...?"
"Wasting food for no reason is very bad, right?"
"..."
Gaeul froze at my words. She stayed face-down on the table, not moving at all. She seed to think I was scolding her.
"But you didn't waste it for no reason."
"...No?"
"Yeah. You were researching how to make food taste better, weren't you?"
"...Right."
Gaeul lifted her head slightly from the table. She peeked out with just her eyes, watching my reaction.
"It wasn't aningless waste, but a sacrifice for better food. Those are very different things."
"...?"
"Hmm... it's kind of like your lemon, I guess."
"Lemon!"
Gaeul smiled brightly at the ntion of lemons. Though we couldn't eat Gaeul's extrely acidic lemon, it couldn't be called wasteful.
Self-defense, attacking - it had many uses.
"Sothing is only waste when it has no aning at all. Since we learned this doesn't taste good, it's not waste. There's no waste in learning."
"Heuk...!"
Swish swish.
Gaeul's tail started wagging again. She seed to understand what I ant.
Seeing Gaeul brighten up again made everyone else smile too.
"That's right! Gaeul puppy! If you think of it as waste, you can't invent tastier food!"
"Yeah, let's keep trying."
Encouraged by Levinas and Saebyeok's support, Gaeul jumped up from her seat. Then she ran to the kitchen with a fierce smile.
What would Gaeul bring this ti? We all waited expectantly together.
Surprisingly, what our Gaeul brought was canned tuna.
"Oh my, are you going to add tuna?"
"Yeah!"
"Hmm... then maybe so mayonnaise too..."
Han Yeoreum brought more ingredients for tuna gimbap, and Sophia made it for us.
The resulting tuna gimbap was even more delicious than regular gimbap.
"Wow, the tuna gimbap is really good."
"Gaeul discovered a tasty combination."
Swish swish-
Saebyeok's tail wagged at incredible speed. Understanding what that tail wagging ant, Gaeul tapped the table with both hands.
It made so happy seeing our Gaeul not giving up after failure, but trying again instead.
**
The next morning.
When I went out for a quick hunt, I couldn't help hesitating between two dungeons that had opened in the sa location.
One was a Level 3 dungeon. Though I could now clear Level 3 dungeons alone easily, I didn't want to enter alone in case of unexpected dangers.
Anything could happen in a dungeon after all.
That left the Level 2 dungeon... but the problem was that this one was a horror dungeon. A dungeon where scary ghost monsters appeared.
Though lower level, I didn't want to enter this one alone either.
"Hmm... hmm..."
Which dungeon should I enter?
As I pondered this, the dungeon managent civil servant approached .
"Having trouble deciding?"
"Yeah... I don't want to enter either one alone..."
Which dungeon should I choose? While I was looking back and forth between the two portals, the civil servant pointed to the Level 2 portal.
"Then this one might be better? The White Snow Guild entered a few minutes ago. No one's gone into the Level 3 dungeon yet."
The White Snow Guild. A guild ford by those who took Academy classes with .
Though the ghost dungeon was scary, I was friendly with White Snow Guild. Having them nearby would make it less frightening.
Being scared was better than being in danger.
Having made my decision, I took out the bow from my back.
"Then I'll take the Level 2 dungeon."
"Alright."
After completing the dungeon entry procedures, I carefully stepped into the portal.
Along with the sensation of crossing worlds, I found myself in a tiny sealed room.
"Huh?"
A dark room with no way out. Though I spun around in the center of the square room, I couldn't see any exits.
'What's this?'
I needed to clear the dungeon, but I was trapped in an empty room.
While pondering this, I decided to try ghost form. Ghost form let pass through everything for a few minutes.
I decided to try getting out of here first.
**
Han Taehwi of the White Snow Guild watched Yoon Hyunseo with half-closed eyes. He sighed seeing her running around trying to avoid the ghost monsters.
"Hyunseo."
"Eek!"
"Yoon Hyunseo."
"Kyaaaaa!"
They ca together because she said she'd learned magic for fighting incorporeal monsters. But it was aningless if she just ran around in fear.
Standing still watching the chase between ghost and human, Han Taehwi thrust his sword into the wraith's back.
Stab-
"Kieeek!"
The wraith scread as the sword pierced through its thin cloth covering.
Even with magic on the sword, there was no satisfaction in cutting or stabbing incorporeal beings.
As Han Taehwi was examining his sword, Yoon Hyunseo approached him, gasping for breath.
"Haa, haa, I almost died."
She hadn't used the magic she'd bragged about even once.
"...Are you very scared?"
"N-no, I'm getting used to it now."
Doesn't look like it.
Though Han Taehwi thought this, he kept it to himself.
'If she's like this from the start, this could be tough.'
Yoon Hyunseo leaned against the wall, looking down at the floor while catching her breath.
Suddenly sothing popped out of the wall she was leaning on.
Sothing coming out of a solid wall? It must be a ghost!
"Kyaaaa!"
Yoon Hyunseo scread reflexively.
Startled by her piercing scream, the figure that erged from the wall also scread.
"Nyaaaa!"
Nyaa?
Were there ghosts with cries like that in Level 2 dungeons?
Yoon Hyunseo hastily raised her staff while Han Taehwi pointed his sword.
"...!"
The one facing their weapons was none other than Gyeoul.
Worried about being attacked, Gyeoul quickly raised both hands.
"P-please spare ..."
"Gyeoul? Is that you? Or is it a ghost imitating you?"
"It's really , Gyeoul..."
Seeing the semi-transparent Gyeoul, Yoon Hyunseo's eyes went wide.
"Gyeoul, d-did you die...?"
"No, this is just a skill..."
Gyeoul quickly deactivated ghost form after erging from the wall. Her body started returning to normal.
"Ah..."
So it really was Gyeoul.
Just as Yoon Hyunseo and Han Taehwi were sighing in relief:
"It's really , Gyeoul... please don't attack..."
Gyeoul stared at their weapons with frightened eyes. The weapons still pointed at her.
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