R1 Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 

Thud. I dropped to my knees in front of the two who had returned to the subspace.

“D-Debuff?”

“It didn’t disappear even after leaving this place. Were you planning to send us to an S-rank dungeon to get us killed?”

“W-What?!”

I could still hear Baek Hwan’s voice trembling with anger.

Apparently, the debuff they thought would vanish once they left the subspace had stayed. That’s why they unknowingly ended up being chased by an S-rank gorilla.

“Did I cast the debuff? No, no way! You want me to remove it? Uh, I don’t know how to…. No, I’ll figure it out!”

I hadn’t realized they’d been weakened by the debuff.

No wonder they were running from Koko.

Haha.

Damn it. I clutched my head.

Now I understood why Shin Yeoul had yelled at me the moment he came back into the subspace.

He must’ve thought I’d threatened them by using the debuff.

My head throbbed. I thought simply letting them leave would solve everything, but now there was this unexpected hurdle.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

I didn’t even know how to remove the debuff, so what was I supposed to do?!

 

[<Quest> “The solution is right here! Let’s invite the intruders as guests!”

: Serve food from the subspace!

▸ Reward: Intruder → Guest (Status change!)]

 

Ding! Right then, the system window popped up with perfect timing.

G-Guests? Is that even a thing?

Another feature I’d never seen before appeared.

 

[*Guests can adapt to the subspace!]

 

Subspace adaptation.

I looked at the message, then back at the two rankers.

It seemed like I’d found the key to solving this situation.

The method was simple. Serve them food.

But would they even eat it?

Both of their faces were as cold as ice. This wasn’t exactly the kind of situation where they’d happily sit down and eat food offered by their kidnapper.

“Um, would you like to come to my cabin first? I’ll let you rest.”

But there was no other way.

I gathered my courage. I figured I’d try to persuade them with the pretext of the quest.

“No thanks. Why should we trust you?”

Baek Hwan’s skeptical glare followed my question.

Ugh. Even weakened by the debuff, an S-rank was still an S-rank.

Under his sharp gaze, I shrank back and stammered.

“Y-Yeah, you’re right. Then how about we rewrite that Oath Contract? Of course, I swear I wouldn’t do anything harmful even without it!”

“Hah. Like that’s even possible.”

“Pardon?”

Why not? What’s the problem this time…?

“The inventory is locked.”

Shin Yeoul answered in place of Baek Hwan. His dark circles, which had deepened significantly, made him look even more intimidating.

Their stats, skills, and now their inventory—everything was locked.

Wow. This debuff really didn’t hold back.

“Wait… then…”

Hold on, so during the three days Shin Yeoul was here….

“Didn’t you say earlier that the debuff makes it so you can’t touch anything in the subspace? Then what did you eat this whole time—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

The answer was obvious.

Ah. I see. They hadn’t eaten for three days.

I slammed my head down again.

✦✦✦

And then I ran.

“Hey?! Where are you going all of a sudden?!”

Baek Hwan’s voice trailed behind me, but I couldn’t stop. The sound of footsteps chasing after me only made me run harder.

As a Korean, I couldn’t just let this slide.

Food.

They hadn’t eaten?!

Hearing they hadn’t had a single meal for three days, I’d reflexively slammed my head into the ground. But now I realized this wasn’t the time for that.

I scrambled to my feet and bolted. Actions spoke louder than words when it came to true apologies.

Ahhh! Once I reached my cabin, the first thing I did was lock Koko back in its coop.

“Cluck?”

Koko let out a plaintive cry, but I had no choice. They were scared of it…

I flung the coop shut and dashed into the kitchen with a determined expression.

The first thing I did was start the rice cooker.

I emptied every ingredient in my inventory. Crash! A heap of supplies spilled out.

I scrubbed the vegetables under running water in the sink.

Each ingredient had been carefully gathered by hand.

From the ridiculously fast-growing carrots and potatoes in the subspace garden to the onions and scallions I found across the river—and even the random ham I’d received as a reward.

 

[Cooking Skill (D-rank)

: Tastes like mother’s nostalgic cooking!]

 

Chop-chop-chop—! With the help of my skill, my hands moved deftly to chop the ingredients.

Steam billowed from the subspace’s rice cooker. Just as I was slicing through the last of the vegetables, Baek Hwan’s face suddenly appeared in the kitchen window behind me.

“What… what are you doing right now?”

Behind him, Shin Yeoul trudged along, looking utterly drained of energy.

“Please wait a moment!”

“No, seriously, what’s with all of this—”

“It’ll be done soon!”

I cut off Baek Hwan’s words. What he thought didn’t matter right now.

I began stir-frying the vegetables and ham. The aroma of cooking vegetables quickly filled the kitchen.

As the onions turned translucent—

 

▸ The rice is ready!

 

The subspace rice cooker, set to quick-cook mode, had finished steaming rice in just about two minutes.

Scooping out the steaming hot rice, I flung it into the frying pan.

A few stirs with the sauce, and it was nearly done.

Sizzle! Using the Cooking Skill’s bonus, I added a touch of fire flavor with a flick of my wrist. The fried rice took on an appetizing reddish hue, coated perfectly with ketchup.

I transferred the massive amount of fried rice into two large plates.

Then I turned the stove back on and heated up mandrake oil before cracking an excessive number of Koko’s tears—er, eggs—onto the pan.

Since I didn’t have much time, I stirred everything together, mixing the yolks and whites. Sizzle—the eggs cooked into a perfect golden hue.

It was almost ready.

I called out through the kitchen window.

“It’s ready! Just asking, but would you like to come in?”

I spotted Baek Hwan and Shin Yeoul still standing idly outside the cabin.

Baek Hwan’s face was still full of suspicion.

“Right… you don’t want to, do you?”

Even though I’d started cooking with the sole determination to feed them something, it wouldn’t mean anything if they didn’t eat it.

What should I do? Threaten them with Koko or something…?

They needed to eat for the “guest” status to activate and for their subspace maladaptation issues to end.

“No. Not happening. I’m not going in there. Who knows what might—Shin Yeoul? Hey!”

Before Baek Hwan could finish his sentence, Shin Yeoul, who had been standing silently, strode into the cabin. He made his way to the kitchen in just a few steps.

What?! I jumped back in surprise as Shin Yeoul stood before me.

With his larger-than-expected frame, the kitchen felt cramped the moment he stepped inside.

To be honest, I was startled. I hadn’t expected him to come in so easily.

“P-Please, have a seat here!”

Doing my best to appear unfazed, I hurriedly guided Shin Yeoul to the dining table.

He gave a slight nod and sat down.

“You! Seriously!”

Moments later, Baek Hwan stormed into the cabin. He clutched the back of his neck as he saw Shin Yeoul sitting calmly at the table.

“Are you insane? What are you doing, putting yourself in danger like this?!”

Meanwhile, I placed the plates of fried rice on the table.

On top of the fluffy rice, I carefully draped a beautifully cooked egg blanket.

Omelet rice. It was done.

 

[Congratulations! “The bigger the better!” You’ve made large-portion omurice in record time!]

 

Maybe because I used almost an entire pot of rice, a unique alert followed.

 

[Cooking Skill Up! D → C

: Even when done roughly, it’s really really delicious!]

 

Ah, nice?

The cooking skill rank, which hadn’t increased no matter how many dishes I had tried making on my own, suddenly leveled up in an instant.

While checking the system window, I handed over a spoon. That’s when Baek Hwan’s startled voice rang out.

“Hey?! No way!”

Baek Hwan was horrified as Shin Yeoul scooped up a large spoonful of omelet rice and brought it toward his mouth. He reached out in a panic.

“It’s fine.”

Smack. Shin Yeoul firmly swatted Baek Hwan’s hand away and resolutely put the omelet rice into his mouth.

Baek Hwan drew in a sharp breath.

In the silence, we all watched Shin Yeoul.

Uh, how’s it going to be?

Shin Yeoul’s mouth moved as he chewed.

Gulp. The sound of him swallowing echoed in the air.

“….What the?! Spit it out! No, throw it up immediately!”

Snapping back to his senses, Baek Hwan grabbed Shin Yeoul by the shoulders and shook him, yelling frantically.

“What if it’s poisoned?!”

Excuse me? There’s no poison in it, thank you very much.

And then—plop.

It happened suddenly. Tears fell from Shin Yeoul’s eyes onto the table.

Tears…?

Baek Hwan and I made eye contact at the same time.

T-Tears?! Startled by the unexpected turn of events, we both jumped in alarm.

He’s crying? Out of nowhere? Why?!

“Y-you devil!”

“Did you make him cry?!”

With what seemed like the most genuine words he had ever spoken, Baek Hwan shouted in anger.

I also paled, shouting reflexively.

“Aaaah! I’m so sorry! Whatever the reason, it’s my fault! I’m so sorry!”

I must’ve accidentally added poison somehow.

There’s no other explanation for this reaction!

“What on earth did you do this time?!”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Baek Hwan grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me back and forth. Amidst the chaos, I frantically pulled a bucket out of my inventory.

“Throw up in this!”

But despite all the commotion, Shin Yeoul quietly continued eating his omelet rice.

“S-Stop eating!”

Just as a completely broken-down Baek Hwan was about to sweep everything off the table, Shin Yeoul spoke.

“Enough. You eat too.”

With an annoyed expression, Shin Yeoul grabbed Baek Hwan’s arm and yanked him down into the seat beside him.

He then shoved a spoon into Baek Hwan’s hand.

“What the? Shin Ye—ugh!”

Before Baek Hwan could finish, the spoon Shin Yeoul handed him went straight into his mouth.

Baek Hwan, flustered, sprang to his feet. He looked like he was ready to spit it out immediately.

But instead, he began chewing on the omelet rice. Chew-chew-chew.

Huh?

All of a sudden, Baek Hwan went quiet and slowly sat back down at the table.

After eating a few more spoonfuls of omelet rice, he, too, started crying just like Shin Yeoul.

What the heck.

W-Why are you crying?!

Even with my utterly bewildered expression, the two of them continued to silently eat the omelet rice.

It was an absolutely absurd scene.

🌱

Thank you for reading! ♡