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93
“Phew.”
Returning home, Hanbit sat down at his desk.
The man he had caught earlier had his personal information extracted, his photos deleted, and was then released.
A few pieces of bait misinformation had been planted for misdirection as well.
He had also gotten the man’s number, so it could come in handy later as a smokescreen.
Give him a generous fee and he would work diligently enough.
⟨Deoksu Detective Agency⟩
From rats to corpses, we’ll find them all.
What mattered was the identity of the person trying to dig up information on him.
Whatever the purpose, it was an unwelcome development.
“Has to be that Adventurer A.”
The Ranger he had observed all this time was not the type to orchestrate something like this.
Trigger was already baring his teeth plenty within the game, so there was no need for him to reach into reality.
Factions trying to approach Black Dragon to build connections had no reason to use this method either.
One misstep and they would be completely shut out — that much was obvious.
That made it most likely to be someone approaching with an entirely different intent.
Like Adventurer A, who had lost all standing entirely because of Black Dragon.
“At this rate, it won’t do.”
In both the game and reality, various threats had begun to emerge.
If the enemy really was Adventurer A, that meant dealing with a vanguard full of malice.
In that case, it would be better to accelerate his growth and solidify his standing.
The most ideal direction was expanding his presence while growing his number of allies.
Shhk—
Hanbit picked up his smartphone and called Yeonwoo.
The call was accepted in less than a second.
(Ah, hyung. I was actually about to contact you.)
Yeonwoo too had apparently needed to talk, and came out with it immediately.
“Why? Something happen?”
(Not something happened — did you properly check the contract?)
The contract that had been delivered before he left the house with his mother.
He had already gone through the contents and signed it.
“I checked everything. Still not sure if these terms are right, though.”
The contract with DD Studio was built around Hanbit from top to bottom.
Treatment as co-representative while being free from responsibility.
Absurd as it was, Yeonwoo had refused to accept his refusal and stubbornly insisted to the end.
(We’ll be squeezing plenty out of you in return, so don’t worry. Win-win is the company motto.)
“Sure, squeeze away. Are you editing the restricted area footage?”
(For now I’m splitting it into sections. Guides are easier to follow when broken up into chapters.)
The restricted area walkthrough footage recorded yesterday.
Since he had halted other players’ movements as a condition of release, the timing for uploading to the channel was important.
“Then let’s just post half of it tonight.”
(Half of it?)
“There were 3 orbs that stopped the golem’s movements. I want to only reveal up to the first one. I want to draw the aggro that way.”
(Oh……. That works. I’ll set the edit point there.)
Yeonwoo agreed immediately and typed away, sorting out the details.
Having jotted the notes down quickly, he asked as though something had come to mind.
(You have the cooking competition later, right? What’s your plan for that? I’ve never seen hyung cook.)
“I’ll just have to do well. It’s not that big of a competition to begin with, is it?”
(It’s not huge, but it’s fairly well known. Actual chefs come to it. For reference, Liwei’s family home is a famous traditional Chinese restaurant owner. He didn’t go into that field himself, but he’d probably be better than the average person.)
“Is that so?”
The information about Liwei was unexpected.
But Hanbit had his own confidence, so it wasn’t much cause for concern.
“Ah, and there’s one thing I wanted to ask. A detective agency person latched onto me today.”
(A detective agency?)
Hanbit briefly relayed the situation to his puzzled younger brother.
Along with the speculation that Adventurer A might be behind it.
(Their moves are more aggressive than I expected. I’ll look into this on my end too.)
Yeonwoo’s voice had grown somewhat serious.
He was the sort who could come up with something no matter what.
Having said everything he needed to say, Hanbit rose from his chair.
“Then I’ll log into the game. Let’s talk later.”
***
“Liwei is cooking?”
Surprising news that had begun to spread through Qinglan headquarters.
That Liwei was the son of a famous restaurant was common knowledge.
But since he had never entered the industry, there had been no occasion to associate him with the word ‘cooking.’
“Why cooking all of a sudden?”
“Apparently he’s entering some local cuisine thing in Ifrit?”
“A competition with Black Dragon?”
“Another competition?”
People’s questions were quickly resolved by the word ‘competition.’
Liwei was the type to approach any form of competition with full commitment.
“Let’s go take a look!”
Whatever the case, it was clearly an unusual sight, so people quickly made their way to the kitchen.
And there, Liwei really was standing alone, deep in thought.
The countertop was covered with all manner of spices and sauces.
“With that face on him while he thinks — it’s something…….”
“If it were me, I’d have shot a ton of commercials.”
“Don’t even start. This is the man who told an advertiser he’d model for them if he beat them in a competition.”
Liwei, who showed no interest in anything beyond competition and training.
Product advertisements or promotions were nothing but a waste of time to him.
He had been known to declare that if they kept bothering him, they could settle it in a competition.
Remarkably, some companies had actually accepted the challenge.
“The stench, huh…….”
Liwei muttered to himself, arms crossed.
Beside him, his RP gear was set up and ready.
“Wait, isn’t that a Level 3 gear?”
“He has a capsule upstairs, why is he using that?”
Liwei, a mid-level vanguard, received capsule support from the gear manufacturer.
Equipment on an entirely different level — not something even a vanguard could use with ease.
He had earned that privilege not simply by being a competitive fanatic, but by delivering extraordinary performance in gameplay.
“Probably because Black Dragon uses Level 3 gear.”
One employee speculated at the reason.
Liwei, who always sought fair competition.
Matching his equipment to his opponent’s was second nature to him.
Whoosh—!
Just then, having finished his thinking, Liwei brought out a large wok and turned on the heat.
A strong flame that leaped into the air.
It seemed as though cooking was about to begin, but no other ingredients were visible.
Sizzle—!
What he dropped into the wok was only sauces and spices.
The quantities and varieties changed rapidly and continued for a long while.
The employees who had been watching with curiosity gradually drifted away one by one, unable to bear the sheer seriousness of it.
They were not foolish enough to keep disturbing a vanguard at work.
“That should do for now, I think.”
After about two hours of research, he gave a nod and shifted his gaze.
Then he put on his gear and woke up his character, which had been in standby mode.
“Still a little lacking.”
After parting with Black Dragon, he had gone around searching for various sauces and spices.
Quite a few ingredients carried flavors that matched those of reality, so the direction of his research proceeded with considerable freedom.
Of course, they were not perfectly identical, and trial and error still had to be worked through here as well.
“Let me try again.”
Liwei lit a fire at the edge of the forest and thought.
The condition of the kompu mushrooms provided at the competition venue was unknown.
In that case, the thing to do was prepare well enough to handle any situation.
Whoosh—!
Liwei took out a cooking griddle and began recreating the results from reality.
That research continued long past the early hours of the morning.
***
A wide open lot in Ifrit’s shopping district.
A hundred cooking stations had been set up there in neat rows.
“Welcome! Our deepest thanks to all who have joined the Regional Specialty Cooking Contest! I am Hanter, your host for today!”
The large man standing in the center raised his voice toward the audience.
The lot, packed with a crowd far larger than usual, left no room to stand.
“We cannot leave out the judge’s introduction! Today we have with us Rook-nim, an authority on Western Continental cuisine! He has traveled all the way here from the Royal Capital, so please, a word!”
“Any food that is garbage will be discarded without mercy.”
The middle-aged man seated at the judging table in front spoke with a blunt expression.
At that unsparing declaration, the player Eric tensed considerably.
‘This is not how it was supposed to go.’
He was a working chef of three years who had entered this competition as part of his studies.
It was because of the description that there would be an opportunity to cook with unique local ingredients.
But the situation was unfolding in a way he had never imagined.
‘Why are those people here?’
Eric’s gaze swept left and right.
Standing there were vanguard Liwei and streamer Avantgarde.
And on top of that.
[Black Dragon]
The dark-haired man standing quietly at the cooking station directly ahead was someone who commanded the world’s attention.
The reason such a crowd had swarmed to this event also owed largely to Black Dragon’s influence.
He had imagined a relaxed atmosphere — but this place carried an air like the moments before a war.
“Now then, let me introduce the ingredient to be used in today’s competition!”
Just then, the host made his way toward a box placed in the center.
A hand that gripped the white cloth covering the top.
Building a little suspense, he plugged one nostril with one hand and pulled the cloth away.
“As announced, the main ingredient is the kompu mushroom! Overlooked it may be, but it is a local specialty of Ifrit! How will our contestants bring out the best in this mushroom with its tremendous stench? Please begin right away!”
Gong—!
A large gong rang out and the competition began.
But the atmosphere that followed was not what the occasion called for.
“Blegh!”
“Uuuurgh!”
The contestants who had approached the box with bravado collapsed to the ground in a wave of nausea.
It appeared they had not studied up on the kompu mushroom in advance.
“Ah, people are already dropping one after another! Perhaps they’re trying to demonstrate the mushroom’s power on our behalf!”
The host, holding his own nose, raised his voice with clear amusement.
Twenty people were genuinely rolling on the ground, making for quite a vivid spectacle.
“Phew.”
Nose pinched, Eric approached the box and grabbed a fistful of mushrooms.
A soft, sticky, slimy sensation through the smooth surface.
His eyes alone seemed to register the stench — but he squeezed them shut and pulled them out.
Shhk—
At that moment, three people emerged simultaneously and approached the box.
Black Dragon, Liwei, and Avantgarde.
“What — seriously?”
“They’re walking over without even holding their noses?”
“Why are they all completely fine?”
The three gathered their kompu mushrooms without the slightest change in expression and returned to their respective stations.
The contestants watching them could not help but be taken aback.
“…….”
Remarkable people brushing right past him.
Eric, nose still pinched, shuffled hesitantly to his own station.
Splash—!
He began by throwing the mushrooms into a bucket filled with cold water.
The first step was to draw out at least some of the odor.
But then.
“Blegh!”
For some reason, the mushrooms submerged in water began emitting an even stronger stench.
Startled, Eric quickly grabbed the lid and covered the bucket.
‘What’s going on?’
The stench that should have dissipated by now if he followed his practice.
It had grown stronger instead, which left him flustered.
“Huh?”
“What is this thing!”
“Oh come on……!”
Other contestants were in similar situations.
Just then, the host’s voice reached him.
“Ah, I forgot to mention! The kompu mushrooms provided today were specially prepared as aged specimens! A stronger, stickier stench — and a deeper, richer umami flavor! I do wonder how everyone will make use of them!”
