Chapter 11

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 11

Chapter Title: Buff Cooking

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1.

"Huh."

After finishing the meal Ria had made, a buff kicked in that restored vitality and boosted my stats.

'Come to think of it, in the Plain World, cooking dishes came with buffs too.'

There was nothing strange about getting a buff from eating food.

That said, I couldn't help feeling a bit wistful.

'If I could eat buff dishes like this every day, my life here would be so much better.'

Especially that vitality recovery effect.

It hadn't been long since I'd eaten, but my stomach was already warming up, and I could feel energy surging through me.

If this lasted for 30 minutes, any fatigue would vanish in no time.

It was perfect for condition management, so to speak.

'But I don't have a steady supply.'

It'd be great if Ria made mushroom hotpot again, but unfortunately, that quest wasn't repeatable.

And even if she did, I'd eventually have to leave this village. Relying on an NPC wasn't ideal.

'Looks like I should level up my cooking proficiency too.'

No matter how I thought about it, that was the answer.

So far, I'd done some simple cooking and reached proficiency level 2, so now it was time to try something a bit more complex.

Like stir-frying veggies, mushrooms, and meat.

'Adding mushrooms gives it a pretty nice vibe.'

Alright, starting tomorrow.

Yoon Young had a new goal.

2.

Five days passed after that.

I picked up another scroll while hunting mushrooms.

This one boosts agility when applied to armor.

But the quality looks dubious.

The failure rate is higher than success, and there's a 26% chance of it blowing up the gear.

My only armor is a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠white t-shirt and shorts—this is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way too risky, so I decided to hold onto it for now.

I also got a new amulet.

It seems these drop at an extremely low rate from specific monsters.

Kind of like getting an entry in your monster compendium.

That's how Yoon Young saw it, anyway.

It was better than the Purple Eggplant Amulet I had equipped, so I swapped it out right away.

Now my plant damage bonus is up to 2%.

These permanent stacks were pretty satisfying.

'Though... I think I've heard somewhere that mushrooms are more animal than plant... Do they count as plants here?'

There might be studies saying that, but whatever—this is a game-like world.

In reality, maybe not, but in most games, mushroom monsters are classified as plants.

Arguing realism here would just lose the argument.

And the main event—this dagger dropped while hunting mushrooms.

Options are similar to the Scrap Iron Sword, but with extra agility.

A dagger matching a longsword's attack power? Clearly higher quality.

But I didn't use it as a weapon.

Trying it out, the longsword felt way better.

Which made sense.

After swinging nonstop and building calluses, that was my familiar tool.

Close-range stabbing felt foreign now.

So where to use the dagger?

For prepping cooking ingredients.

"Farewell, adventurer."

Today, I chatted with the village chief and villagers as usual.

'No real progress.'

I talk to everyone daily, hoping higher affinity might unlock new quests or features, but a few days changed nothing.

It made sense, though.

Even Ria's affinity jumping a stage took weeks.

Building affinity takes time.

'Ah, no quests lately, nothing changing. So boring.'

Mushrooms were manageable now, so I'd ventured beyond the hill once.

As expected, it bounced me back, saying prerequisite quests needed.

'When can I finally leave this village?'

I grumbled, but kept hunting and training steadily.

Especially cooking.

Unlike hunting or training, it didn't drain much stamina.

Yoon Young only made simple stuff.

When bored with nothing to do, he'd pour effort into cooking with his ingredients.

With so little else, he got serious about it.

Sprinkling crushed lemon juice on finished mushroom-veg stir-fry, for example.

He didn't know the first thing about proper cooking, but he tried whatever came to mind.

'Someday, I'll make delicious buff food myself.'

Believing that, Yoon Young pulled out today's ingredients.

Chili peppers, cabbage, onions, potatoes, carrots.

King oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, pine mushrooms.

Pretty much everything he needed.

'Alright, rinse them well with water...'

Monster drops emphasized freshness—often dirty with soil smell.

So he fetched well water and scrubbed them clean.

Then sliced them with the Mushroom-Patterned Dagger.

Before this, he'd used his monster-slaying sword.

Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack.

Practice made him decent at chopping veggies now.

They came out fairly uniform in size and thickness.

Mushrooms into slices too.

Now toss everything into the hot frying pan, stir vigorously with the spatula, and fry.

'Today's lineup is better than expected.'

Perfect veggies for stir-frying, and good mushroom variety.

Honestly, most mushrooms aren't that tasty unless specific kinds.

He ate them since they were precious ingredients, but preferred king oyster, enoki, and pine.

Familiar ones he'd eaten often back home.

The pine mushroom from the monster was the best he'd ever tasted—like meat quality.

'No wonder wild pine mushrooms cost a fortune.'

Lost in such thoughts, he pondered on.

'Should I add meat...? This lineup seems tasty even plain.'

No salty seasonings, not even salt—and it'd still taste good?

Only someone like Yoon Young, fully adapted to low/no-salt eating, would think that.

'Okay, half portion today?'

He pulled pork from inventory onto the board.

Not great quality, but not terrible—a chunk appeared.

Sliced it in half with the dagger: one back to inventory, the other into bite-sizes.

'Meat cooks fast, so after veggies?'

Reasoning it out, he dumped sliced veggies into the hot pan.

Sizzle—

Ssss—

Moisture from watery veggies kept things from burning.

His spatula flipped them, cooking evenly.

'About done...'

Time for the star: meat.

Dropped sliced pork onto the veggies.

Siiiiizzle—

Louder sizzle than veggies alone.

Excited, he stirred again.

Sizzle—

Siiiiizzle—

Meat rendered fat and smoke as it cooked.

The grilling pork scent assaulted his nose.

'Fuck... how long since I smelled grilling meat? Tears are welling up.'

Veggies soaked up pork fat, finally looking like proper food.

Looks delicious.

Visuals good, aroma killer.

Add kimchi and gochujang, stir with rice...

'Would kill it.'

Kimchi thoughts hit hard—he craved it fiercely.

He'd once scorned "soy milk, no kimchi?" as national shame, but he was Korean too.

Trapped in kimchi's spell.

'Who knows. Once in a city with more ingredients and higher cooking skill, maybe I can ferment my own kimchi. Or even make soda.'

Another goal while stir-frying: Level cooking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to make bone-chillingly tasty food!

A chef NPC might cook well, but Korean dishes? Probably on him.

Sizzle—

Dish nearing completion.

'Time to stop?'

Veggies and meat perfectly golden.

Seemed plenty cooked.

Trusting his gut, he added water, killed the fire.

Plated it—dinner done.

'Now, check the info?'

He'd learned recently: all dishes have descriptions.

What it is, effects.

Time to inspect his creation.

"Oh!"

Usually harsh—"slightly burnt," "undercooked parts"—but today, glowing praise.

And a special effect: vitality recovery.

'Whoa, it works. Even I can attach buffs if I cook well!'

Adding meat was right.

Lucky, sure, but accomplishment felt great.

"Ooh!"

Good news kept coming.

Cooking proficiency leveled up.

Now he could make even tastier dishes skillfully.

Dexterity surely helped too.

'Tonight's meal's gonna be a blast!'

Grinning for the first time in ages, Yoon Young set the plate on the table and grabbed chopsticks.

Picked up a slice of mushroom, tender pork, onion bite.

Munch munch...

'Huh?'

One chew, and he froze.

Way tastier than expected.

The description wasn't kidding about high completion.

This was top-tier pork-veg stir-fry.

'And... salty!'

Most shocking: no salt added, yet meat had natural saltiness.

'That pork... was pre-seasoned?'

Looked raw, but tasted salted—mind-blowing.

He devoured it mindlessly.

Pork fat's flavor was heavenly after so long.

Like melting snow, his dish vanished.

'Yeah, nowhere near Ria's hotpot performance.'

Still, he'd made a buff dish himself—worth celebrating.