Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Favorability
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1.
'If another scroll like this shows up, maybe I should try smearing it on.'
There wasn't any special reason for just slathering it on without a second thought, even though selling a scroll like that at a shop could fetch more than a weapon.
In Yoon Young's mind, he was still in the early game.
It wasn't something to eat, after all.
Just a scroll that dropped from mushrooms.
Sure, it might be rare, but how rare could it really be?
Level up more, hunt stronger monsters, and better stuff would definitely drop.
Right now, the smart move was to boost his stats even a little and level up fast, so he'd just slammed it onto his weapon.
'No dedicated merchant in this village, and who knows when a traveling one will show up...'
What if the weapon explodes? Wouldn't that just screw him over?
Honestly, he shouldn't rule out even low-probability events.
'Gotta knock out the quest Ria gave me today!'
Yoon Young headed toward the hunting grounds.
[Mesh Mushrooms (5)]
2.
"Nice."
Yoon Young wiped the sweat from his brow and cracked a small smile.
He'd finally completed Ria's request quest to gather the mushrooms.
There were more types than expected, so collecting ten of each of the three kinds had taken two days.
Now he just had to head back with them.
'Might as well hunt a bit more while I'm here.'
Yoon Young stuck around the Mushroom Field for a while, alternating between hunting and short breaks.
'That was tough.'
Only when dusk began to settle did he call it quits and head back to the village.
Back home, he immediately chatted with Ria.
"Oh, Adventurer! You've gathered all the mushrooms!"
Ria greeted Yoon Young with a different expression, demeanor, and lines than before.
Even though it was clearly an artificial smile, it felt effortlessly endearing.
To keep up the feeling of a real conversation, he responded verbally as always.
"Here are the mushrooms."
[Lost Mesh Mushrooms (10).]
[Lost King Oyster Mushrooms (10).]
[Lost Flavor Mushrooms (10).]
[Gained experience.]
"Thank you so much! I'll make you mushroom hotpot before my little brother gets back, so just wait a moment!"
After handing over the items, Ria slowly walked into the house.
Wondering what she was up to, he followed her inside.
'Whoa.'
He was a little surprised the moment he stepped in.
He'd expected her to just poof the food out like in a game, but Ria was actually cooking.
A large pot that definitely hadn't been there before was now over a lit fire in the hearth, and she was slicing mushrooms with a kitchen knife that had appeared out of nowhere.
Just watching her cook with that light smile made it impossible to believe she was a mindless NPC.
'Hmm...'
Seeing Ria like this, so domestic and homemaker-like, stirred up his worthless clone begging for more.
Fortunately, he could indulge it anytime now.
Yoon Young hugged Ria from behind as she cooked, slipping his hand through the gap in her top to grope her breasts.
Yet Ria just kept smiling softly and cooking away.
That fact turned him on while also feeling strangely lonely.
— Ahh, Adventurer. I'm cooking right now!
— So what.
Mixing in some fantasies, his hand soon ventured lower.
He hiked up her long skirt and slipped into her panties, fondling her pussy lips—especially focusing on her clit.
'Just touching her heals my whole day. The mystery of the female body.'
After enjoying the sensation for a while, until his fingers were slick with her juices, he lifted one of her legs and slid in from behind.
'Ahh, this hits different.'
No matter how many days in a row, it never got old.
Was this perfect compatibility, or just Ria's insides feeling that good?
"Nn, ah... haaht..."
Ria's reactions had changed a lot from the first time too.
Back then, she barely got wet, and no matter how hard he pounded, she didn't moan like she felt pleasure.
But from the third time on, she got soaked easily, and her moans clearly carried ecstasy.
It felt good, like he was conquering her with his body.
— No, Adventurer! If you keep doing this, I can't focus on cooking!
— It's fine.
— The food might taste weird!
— I don't care.
Squelch, squish, squelch...
Lost in the fantasy, his climax approached before he knew it.
"Ngh."
Splurt...!
When he came, it was always deep inside.
He pressed his hips flush against her, shoving to the hilt and emptying every last drop before pulling out.
"That was good again..."
Mwah.
As proof of affection, he kissed her cheek.
"Hnn... haa... ngh..."
Chop, chop, chop.
Panting for breath, Ria kept slicing mushrooms.
A quick glance showed the cuts were uneven and sloppy.
'It won't actually affect the taste, right?'
Yoon Young stood beside her and watched the cooking process.
Not that there was much to it.
Just dumping all the sliced ingredients into the pot.
That was hotpot for you.
"Huh?"
Then magic happened.
Ria had only added the sliced mushrooms.
But in the blink of an eye, veggies and brown seasonings appeared, bubbling away.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again—same thing.
'Whoa, for real?'
A rich, appetite-stimulating aroma wafted out.
Just the smell made it seem delicious.
'Can't wait to try it.'
About five minutes later?
The pot and fire vanished with a whoosh.
Ria stared blankly at the spot for a second, then walked outside like nothing happened.
Yoon Young followed and selected the [Quest] keyword.
"Ah, Adventurer! The mushroom hotpot just finished!"
[Acquired Ria's Mushroom Hotpot.]
"I put my heart into cooking it for you, Adventurer. I hope you enjoy it!"
[NPC Ria's favorability toward you has risen to Level 2.]
'What? Favorability...?'
His mind full of anticipation for the hotpot, the unfamiliar message yanked his attention instantly.
'Her favorability went up just now?'
The sudden appearance of something he hadn't even considered caused a brief brain freeze.
He recovered quickly and started thinking.
'If favorability increased, something must change, right?'
Yoon Young opened the keyword window.
Nothing looked different at first.
'Let's start by hitting the chat keyword...'
With a pounding heart, Yoon Young watched Ria's reaction.
"Good to see you again, Adventurer. How's life in Rubean Village treating you?"
The dialogue had changed.
And it wasn't just that.
Ria, who always spoke in broad terms like she was addressing 'all adventurers,' was now speaking directly to Yoon Young standing before her.
And a new keyword had appeared too.
[Chat Casually]
'Chat casually!'
Without overthinking, he selected it right away.
[Please enter what to say.]
"!"
He couldn't help but be shocked.
Enter text to speak?
Did that mean if he typed something, Ria would understand and respond?
'Uh... is that even possible? Doesn't that mean she has actual sentience?'
A wave of unease hit him, but he had to test it.
Being summoned to this world didn't make sense either, after all.
'What should I say first?'
After some thought, he typed something generic.
[The weather's nice today.]
Ria responded.
"It really is! The weather's great today."
[The weather's bad today.]
"Is it? I think this is pretty nice weather..."
A chill ran down his spine.
'She really understands and recognizes exactly what I typed!'
Honestly, the whole situation defied understanding.
How did this even work?
Wasn't she supposed to be mindless?
He decided to probe further.
[Do you know Korea?]
Ria looked troubled.
"Hmm, that's a tough topic."
A tough topic?
Yoon Young felt something off.
[Ria, are you alive?]
"Well... I'm not sure."
The answer was ambiguous, so he typed the same thing again.
"I'm not really sure about that."
Still vague, so once more.
"Hmm, that's a tough topic."
Same response as before.
He felt a bit deflated.
After a few more questions, Yoon Young reached a conclusion.
'Got it. It's still just responding to preset keywords.'
He pondered what keywords Ria might react to.
[I love you.]
"Huh? That's sudden. I don't think we're at that stage yet..."
Ria's expression shifted to something like mild contempt.
"Ugh."
That hurt.
He'd thought she'd always smile sweetly no matter what.
'Favorability definitely dropped...'
[NPC Ria's favorability toward you has dropped to Level 1.]
"Fuck."
It dropped the instant he thought about it.
Talk about direct feedback!
As favorability fell, the [Chat Casually] keyword vanished too.
'She reacts to 'I love you' too, huh...'
Realizing his mistake, he reached out and groped her breasts.
She held the slightly contemptuous look for a few seconds before reverting to her soft smile.
It was kinda funny—almost like fondling her breasts had cheered her up.
'Ironic. Groping her tits right in front of her is fine, but saying 'I love you' tanks favorability...'
That contemptuous expression from moments ago lingered in his mind.
It burned into his brain, turning into a weird turn-on.
A woman who sneered at mere words, yet let him hug and ravish her without complaint.
It felt like some common sense-breaking hentai.
'No holding back. Too horny. Let's go again.'
After blowing another load in Ria's body, he headed inside.
Now in sage mode, Yoon Young sat at the table and pondered favorability.
'Favorability, huh... Why did it go up?'
It jumped to level 2 right after completing the quest, so it was clearly related.
But something felt off if it was just the quest.
'If so, the Village Chief's favorability should've gone up first.'
There had to be something else.
What had he done for Ria so far?
That seemed the key.
'What I've done to Ria...?'
Sex, molestation, rape.
And more.
No matter how he thought, nothing there should raise favorability.
If those affected it, it'd be in the 'extreme disgust' tier by now.
'Not that. Something else she definitely noticed.'
After mulling it over, one conclusion emerged.
The [Chat] keyword.
It seemed chatting slowly built favorability.
'Makes sense. Old dating sims had systems where just talking daily without events gradually raised affection.'
Sometimes games unlocked events once affection was high enough, rather than the reverse.
This fit perfectly.
'Unlike the Village Chief, I'd chatted with Ria whenever I had a chance.'
A satisfying, logical hypothesis.
Good enough to run with.
'Learning more about this weird world's systems today.'
From now on, he'd adjust based on info.
Grrrowl!
His stomach growled then.
'Ah... mealtime already.'
He'd gotten distracted by the favorability thing.
Time to eat.
'Perfect timing—I'm starving. This'll be good.'
Today was special.
First real cooked meal since arriving in this world.
Yoon Young opened his inventory, clicked the food icon, and pulled it out.
A steaming pot of mushroom hotpot appeared on the table.
The savory smell made his mouth water instantly, so he grabbed a spoon and scooped up a mushroom piece.
'Whoa, what is this? Fucking delicious?'
The mushrooms' umami flooded his mouth.
Veggies added subtle sweetness and unique flavors.
The seasoning had an odd taste—not soy-based or gochujang—but nothing off-putting or bad.
Like a healthy, all-natural dish.
More stew-like than typical hotpot, but it suited his tastes perfectly.
It might seem bland otherwise, but after days of raw, boiled, or stir-fried veggies, it was plenty stimulating.
'Hotpot with chewy mushrooms! This is cooking!'
Yoon Young devoured the mushroom hotpot ravenously.