Victory Over the Water Dragon

Kuoooooh— The water dragon let out a sorrowful wail as it collapsed.

"We won!"

"Wahahaha! Master! We did it!"

"Puhahaha! Master! Look at that water worm tumbling over!"

We hugged each other tightly, laughing like maniacs in celebration of our victory. A chest-thumping sense of accomplishment welled up from deep inside, bursting out of our mouths in endless laughter.

"Wahahaha!"

"Ehehehe!"

"Keehehehe!"

Ah, right—we still haven't released the Dark Chef yet. I suppressed the rampaging darkness and deactivated the Dark Chef skill. Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i's suits turned white, and their laughter gradually died down. But their faces were still beaming with smiles.

"Master! Let's go grab the loot!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

We rushed excitedly to the lakeside, but the creature's corpse was bubbling and dissolving into water.

"Tch. I was gonna slice off some sashimi. What a shame."

Smacking my lips, I scanned around for anything left behind—and spotted something long floating on the surface. On closer look, it was the blue horn that had been on the water dragon's forehead.

But how do we get out there? How do we reach the island?

"Master, hop on."

Turning at Geum Taeyang's words, I saw him spreading his shield wide and floating it on the lake like a boat. The fried-egg shield bobbed gently on the water like a raft.

"It can get that big?"

"Yes. But the wider it gets, the lower the defense."

I climbed aboard the canoe-sized fried egg.

"We'll serve you comfortably, Master. Tteoksoon-i, you take the right side."

"Yes, Senior!"

Splash, splash. The two paddled furiously with their hands, grunting with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠effort, and the raft inched forward—slowly, very slowly.

"...This is too comfortable."

"Tteoksoon-i! Paddle harder!"

"Yes, Senior!"

They paddled until their faces turned red, but there was no real change. With a sigh, I pulled out the Magic Ladle.

"Summon."

I aimed it toward the island in the middle of the lake.

"Extend!"

I hooked the ladle's head onto a fruit tree branch growing on the island.

"Shrink a bit!"

By gradually shrinking the Magic Ladle, we zipped forward swiftly. Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i stopped paddling with awkward expressions.

"Go pick up that horn."

"Yes, Master."

Geum Taeyang fished out the floating blue water dragon horn and handed it to me. It was about forearm-length, sharply pointed, and slightly translucent.

"Oh. Nice."

I'd been annoyed carrying water bottles around, so this was perfect. I stowed it in my inventory and shrank the Magic Ladle the rest of the way to reach the island. The small ten-pyeong isle had a single massive fruit tree laden with plump, orange, round fruits.

I used the Magic Ladle to pluck one.

"Oh. A legendary fruit."

Crunch— I took a big bite right away.

"...!"

The juice was so abundant that one bite filled my mouth with a whirlwind of flavor. Seeing my shocked face, Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i asked curiously in unison.

"How's it taste?"

"What's the flavor like?"

A picture's worth a thousand words. I plucked two more and handed them over.

"...! This taste!"

"How can it be this refreshing?"

It was like taking only the best parts of orange and mango, then filling the inside with ice-cold soda.

"You two."

"Yes, Master."

"Grab 'em all."

"Yes!"

I used the Magic Ladle to strip the tree bare, not leaving a single one—even from the top.

"Eat more if you want. Put the rest in this sack."

"Yes, Master."

Soon the sack was full. I handed it to Geum Taeyang ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and flicked a coin from my pocket.

Spiiin— Blue light flowed from the coin's edge, encircling us in a circle. It spun wildly like the flick, then became a blinding blue orb.

Pop— When I opened my eyes, a familiar darkness greeted us. We were back inside the dim Machine Hill, home to the giant robot.

"Oh! Successor of Sulis! You're back!"

Turning toward the cheerful voice, I saw the twin-tailed ghost girl hurrying over with quick steps.

"Good to see you again, Ptah. How's the repair going?"

"I thought it'd take forever, but it'll be done sooner than expected. Whoever sent you, they picked a smart one."

Ptah smiled warmly, glancing at the dark-blue-haired woman repairing the robot's chest.

"Your sister, right?"

"Yes. Anyway, let's take a breather. I brought some tasty fruit."

"Geriseora! Your little bro brought fruit!"

At Ptah's shout, my sister—hanging off the robot's chest—turned around. She wore intricate mechanical goggles.

-Yeah! Coming!

Blue energy burst from her palms and soles, and she flew over in an instant. The goggles clicked and released automatically.

"Hura!"

She hugged me tightly as always, then spotted the two behind me and widened her eyes.

"Oh my. Who's this?"

Turning, I saw Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i frozen stiff, tense at the unexpected news of my sister.

Come to think of it, I hadn't summoned them last time.

Thud— They suddenly dropped to one knee.

"Pardon the late greeting. I am Geum Taeyang, servant of Master Hura."

"Tteoksoon-i."

"Oh~ Nice to meet you~"

My sister poked and prodded them with sparkling eyes—ruffling hair, pinching cheeks, prying eyes open to peer at pupils, fiddling with ears, and more. She looked like she was inspecting lab specimens. Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i stiffened rigidly, at a loss.

"A chef's summons, huh. I've heard of hidden classes, but this is wild."

"Leave them be and eat the fruit I brought."

I pulled fruits from the sack and handed them to Ptah and my sister.

"Oh! Qingming Shuihua Fruit!"

"Yeah. Found it at Yudin Lake to the southeast."

"I'd eat one when my head hurt. Been ages. Brings back memories."

Ptah took a big bite, sighing happily.

"Mmm! That's the taste! Oh yeah, there was that cute water spirit, the Blue Water Dragon."

"Uh... yeah."

Calling that monster cute...

"Doing well?"

"Seemed to be."

"Past tense, huh. Not anymore?"

"Yeah. Probably."

My sister, munching her fruit, asked puzzledly.

"Hold on. You got the Qingming Shuihua Fruit... so you beat the water dragon?"

I rummaged in my inventory and pulled out the Blue Water Dragon's Horn. Their eyes went wide.

"You're super weak. How'd you take it down?"

The answer came from elsewhere.

"We three combined our strength to defeat it!"

"That's right! When we unite, we can do anything!"

"If we want it, we get it. If we wanna do it, we do it!"

Tteoksoon-i and Geum Taeyang jumped up proudly, having listened quietly till now.

"Oh? Tell me more."

"Of course!"

As they exaggeratedly recounted my exploits, I pulled the magic engineering mixer from my inventory. I'd kept it just in case, but who'd have thought it'd come in handy.

I opened the lid and poured in pure Yudin Lake water using the Blue Water Dragon's Horn.

Gurgle, gurgle— Then I peeled Qingming Shuihua Fruits and dumped them in whole, blending everything.

Vrrr— Once finely pureed, I poured into cups and garnished with fruit peels. A beautifully orange smoothie was complete.

"Oh."

Just blending in a mixer earned a star. Master's words rang true: sourcing great ingredients is the true start of cooking. Ingredients are king.

I sprinkled white powder on two cups and carried them to where the four were chatting.

Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i were animatedly trading tales. Ptah listened with sparkling eyes, utterly engrossed; my sister smirked and chuckled.

"That's when Master said,"

"'Giving up is not in my dictionary!'"

...Time to intervene ASAP.

"Then Master declared,"

"'Your master, the Dark Chef, ally of the Red Witch—'"

"Here we go—smoothies!"

I cut in quick and served them.

"Ah! Right at the good ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part!"

Ptah exclaimed in disappointment but lit up at the smoothies I distributed.

"Whoa! So pretty!"

I handed out the cool Qingming Shuihua Smoothies. Of course, the two with white powder went to my sister and Ptah.

"Mmm! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Delicious, Master!"

"Pretty color too!"

Geum Taeyang and Tteoksoon-i gulped them down, amazed. Brushing off their words, I watched Ptah and my sister closely.

Will Cooking Charm work?

Gulp.

"Mm! Tasty, Hura! Feels like my head's clearing up!"

"Ooh, you can make stuff like this?"

"Kinda nostalgic."

"Me too, Ptah."

They drank with admiration but showed no signs of Cooking Charm. No alert either. Ptah might resist from eating Sulis's cooking before, but why my sister?

"I'll leave some here for when you're peckish. Gotta head out."

"Come again!"

"See ya, bro!"

Lots left on the notepad, so I hurried off.

After that, I hunted spots from the notepad. They were cakewalks compared to the water dragon.

"Hehehe, fire!"

Boom!

I cooked with the ingredients from clearing those fields. Some took over ten tries—not all easy.

"Master. Drool's dripping from that tree up there."

"I see it."

For the mystery stalker, I always left a bit behind. Crossing off notepad items one by one, only the last remained.

"Hmm..."

'Northwest of Shin-dong Village. Suspicious stele. Covered in incomprehensible language. Seems like ancient script.'

"This won't be another bust, will it?"

Not all notepad entries were true or successful. Some "suspicious caves" were just hills; some obvious dungeon entrances lacked entry methods.

Half-believing, half-doubting, I headed northwest of Shin-dong Village and easily found it—a massive stele impossible to miss. Two meters tall, three wide, packed with unknown script. No English or Korean speaker like me could read it.

"Tch. Bust again. Let's go."

"Yes, Master."

As I tapped it and turned, a bright light shone from somewhere.

"Hm?"

It came from the ring on my finger.

"Whoa! What's this?!"

The ring Emperor Minare had tuned up.

"The letters are glowing!"

The light shifted to the stele, illuminating the ancient text.

"Wh-what's happening."

It vanished quickly.

"...Huh? Out already?"

Touching the stele cautiously, it squished softly.

"Hm?"

And I got sucked in.

"Waaah!"

"Master!"

Whoosh— A shadow dropped from a tree, quickly touching the stele Hura's party vanished into.

"...! Ancient stele. This is dangerous!"

Unconfirmed dungeons are always risky—especially ancient ones. Trapped to the brim, swarming with deadly monsters. Even thirty-man parties had under 30% clear rates.

Baek Bal Baek Jung touched it but wasn't sucked in.

"Tch. No choice. Force my way."

He nocked an arrow, aiming at the stele, then twisted the fletching.

Kiiiiing—!! The arrow screamed metallically, glowing blindingly. Released, it tore toward the stele in a blaze.

Shrieeeek—!!

The arrow ripped space, revealing a hidden realm. Baek Bal Baek Jung dove in before it closed.