The Scent of Freshly Cooked Rice
A array of new kitchen tools lay before Han Ji-woo. Pots, frying pans, woks, wooden cutting boards, kitchen knives, ladles, spatulas, flippers, grills, spoons, and even chopsticks!
"Heh heh heh heh."
Han Ji-woo's face lit up with utter bliss as he gazed at them.
"Osgeelro! This time, a big mixing bowl...!"
"No way! I said no! Asking a great blacksmith like me to make something like this? I'm never making kitchen junk again, so don't even ask twice!"
"Ahh."
Han Ji-woo deflated like a man who'd just heard a death sentence. But as he eyed the shiny new tools, his mood lifted right back up.
With more kitchenware, his cooking options expanded dramatically.
"Let's see. What should I make first?"
His happy deliberation didn't last long.
"Rice first!"
Koreans had always lived by the power of rice!
Unlike the early days, food was now plentiful here. Still, something had felt missing, and that something was rice.
"Hmm hmm."
Humming a tune, he washed the rice in lake water. After rinsing it three times, he added the right amount of water, placed a grill over the fire pit, and set the pot on top.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
He tossed more firewood onto the dying embers and blew on them to control the heat.
"Hmm. Need some side dishes to go with it."
As the rice cooked in the pit, he couldn't make anything else. So, on a whim, Han Ji-woo built another fire pit.
Switching to crafting mode, he finished it in no time, lit a fire, and topped it with a stone slab.
"Pao."
"Yes, Master!"
"Check the chicken coop for eggs."
"Got it!"
Pao scurried to the coop. It was late, so the horned chickens and chicks were fast asleep. Peeking inside carefully, he spotted two hefty eggs.
The horned chickens' eggs were three times bigger than normal ones, making them easy to see.
"Master, here they are!"
"Good. Two's plenty for four of us."
Tap tap. Sizzle!
Han Ji-woo coated the stone slab with sunflower seed oil and cracked the eggs onto it. Until now, he'd just fried them plain and called it good.
But not anymore.
Sprinkle...
Glittering specks of beautiful "gem dust" rained down on the frying eggs.
Salt.
He flipped one egg with the flipper, cooking it fully through.
"Whoa, these modern tools are the best!"
Amazed by something as simple as a flipper, he plated the eggs on dungeon weed dishes—one soft-boiled, one fully cooked.
Next, he prepped chicken, salted it, and grilled it directly over the flames.
By then, the rice in the pot was done.
"Let's see."
Heart pounding, Han Ji-woo lifted the lid. White steam billowed out, carrying the nutty aroma of fresh-cooked rice straight to his nose.
"Ahhh. How long's it been since I smelled this?"
His excited hand scooped the fluffy white rice with the spatula, stirring it vigorously.
Even though it had been ages, the grains were perfectly fluffy and glossy—the water ratio was spot on.
"Whoa! I never thought I'd actually get to eat rice here!"
Osgeelro marveled. Han Ji-woo turned to him.
"Do dwarves cook rice too?"
"We eat whatever's put in front of us!"
"Exactly. Picky eaters wouldn't last."
"You got that right!"
Han Ji-woo portioned the rice into dungeon weed bowls. As the human, dwarf, goblin, and cat tribe gathered around to eat—
"Hold on! Don't you lot have a table?"
Osgeelro asked urgently.
"Nope."
"Tsk tsk."
Clicking his tongue, something popped out of Osgeelro's inventory.
A six-person wooden table. And chairs too.
The dwarf-sized furniture felt a bit cramped for Han Ji-woo, but it was perfect for the smaller Pao.
Sitting down, Han Ji-woo exclaimed,
"Just how much stuff is in that inventory of yours?"
"None of your business!"
Though he said that, Han Ji-woo figured he'd find out everything soon enough.
Osgeelro had a habit of jumping into action unprompted if something didn't meet his standards. A little prodding, and he'd deck out the whole Hidden Space beautifully on his own.
Pao and Osgeelro sat side by side at the wide table. Han Ji-woo took the seat opposite, and Lucy hopped up onto the table.
They portioned the grilled chicken and rice into their bowls, placing the fried eggs on a big central plate.
"Dig in!"
With Han Ji-woo's call, the happy meal began.
As everyone devoured their food, Han Ji-woo's spoon naturally went for the rice first.
'Look at that perfect sheen.'
A warm spoonful hit his mouth, releasing a savory aroma that blew his mind. Chewing the chewy, elastic grains brought out a subtle sweetness.
Lost in the flavor, he sliced into the salted fried egg and popped it in. The rice and egg combo exploded in synergy, sending chills down his spine.
'Insane!'
Rice and fried egg. Simple, but nothing matched better.
Gulp!
Swallowing, he tried rice with chicken next.
Chew chew!
"Mmm!"
This was mind-blowing too. The chicken was great, salted even better, but with rice? Straight-up cheat-level.
Now this is a real meal, he thought.
From there, Han Ji-woo ate like a man possessed. Osgeelro and Pao did the same, while Lucy used her tiny paws to hoover up food.
A normal cat couldn't handle human food, but Lucy was cat tribe—no big deal.
"Haaah."
After the battle of a meal, empty bowls brought a satisfied sigh.
Han Ji-woo murmured contentedly,
"All my human rights restored."
* * *
A two-pyeong house had been added to the Hidden Space.
It would take time for Osgeelro to finish a full mansion, so Han Ji-woo had whipped up a temporary shelter.
Sleeping was all it was needed for anyway—no need for space.
Osgeelro yawned and crashed inside the moment it was done. Exhausted from laying the mansion's foundation, plus a clean shower and full belly, sleep hit hard.
Han Ji-woo felt it too, but he had one more task.
'Wonder if constellations are visible tonight.'
Since finding the Ogre constellation, he hadn't spotted others.
Having reaped big benefits from it in the Dungeon Prison, he knew boosting monster affinity was key.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he scanned the night sky intently. Soon sitting grew tiring, so he crafted a dungeon weed mat and lay down.
Snore. Snore.
Zzz~
Lucy snoozed on his belly, Pao sprawled out beside him.
'They sleep so soundly.'
Smiling warmly at his pets, Han Ji-woo soon drifted into deep slumber.
* * *
The next day.
Han Ji-woo's group rose early and busied themselves with chores.
Clang! Clang!
Osgeelro's hammer shattered the morning quiet first. Nails in his mouth, he hammered materials rapidly, erecting pillars.
Pao watched curiously before heading to the coop. Today's haul: two eggs from the horned chickens.
Cheep! Cheep!
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Thinking he brought food, the two hens and four chicks clamored noisily.
Pao scattered crushed apple and dungeon weed feed, refreshed their water, grabbed the eggs, and left.
He fetched two big salt lumps for the cows' trough. The mad cows, starved overnight, licked them eagerly.
While they were distracted, he shoveled their massive manure piles with a wooden spade.
Smaller than normal cows but huge outputters. He spread it all near the Dungeon Tree.
It absorbed it, boosting quest progress slightly.
[Next quest: 10.2/100%]
Finishing his wash at the lakeside, Han Ji-woo checked it and snorted.
"What a grind."
At 100%, the Dungeon Tree issued a new quest. Clearing it grew it toward sapling stage.
[Dungeon Tree sapling: 25/100%]
The first clear gave 25%, so three more quests to go.
"Eh, no rush."
This pace might be ideal. As outer walls crumbled, the space's defenses weakened, drawing Ferrofero's eyes more.
He needed to grow stronger before the next breach.
'But I need growth opportunities first.'
Each wall fall had given him that. Now, quests enabled it.
'Push through the third quest quick?'
No wall crumble till sapling stage anyway.
Resolved, he approached the Dungeon Tree and dumped inventory contents: mad cow bones.
A graveyard's worth from the Dungeon Prison orc beef party.
The tree absorbed them all.
[Next quest: 21.7/100%]
"Nice. Pretty good."
Volume mattered—whole mad cows for that bump. Nodding satisfied, he scanned around and spotted something unfamiliar.
[Wish Flower bloom: 50/100%]
A half-grown bud below it—yellow stem, leaves, and bud.
Staring jogged his memory.
"Ah! Easter Egg."
When he learned tamed pets stopped growing until he found methods, he'd uncovered an Easter Egg and got the Wish Seed as reward.
It wouldn't budge at first, but now 50%.
"Why'd it start growing suddenly?"
Shrugging off the curiosity, he glanced around and began his final morning chore.
Growth Acceleration!
All crops and livestock in the Hidden Space accelerated. Chicks visibly doubled in size especially.
Pao, fully grown, was exempt.
"Where's my Lucy?"
Nyaaoow~!
She bolted over at her name, leaping into his arms. Still a baby, she was under acceleration, but no visible change this time.
"All done then?"
As he muttered, scanning the area—
BOOM!
"...?"
A deafening roar echoed from the Salt Mine.