The Cost of a Meal
Baek Do-yoon’s group and our party crowded into the cabin’s cramped living room to hash out what came next.
“We’re critically short on food. Their party especially—they’re basically empty-handed.”
At Choi Jae-hyuk’s words, Baek Do-yoon kept his head down and muttered an excuse.
“Sorry. All our supplies were with the other group we got separated from…”
“Couldn’t be helped, so forget it. Jae-hyuk, how much do we have left?”
At my question Jae-hyuk flicked a wary glance my way. I already knew the answer from Park Yu-jin, but I needed to hear it from his own mouth.
“……Well.”
He swallowed dryly and forced the rest out.
“That Seong-jun bastard… when he packed up and ran, he took the food with him…”
“And you just sat there while he walked off with our rations?”
“I—I was dead asleep. I didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.”
I fixed him with a look of pure contempt and asked again.
“So exactly how much is left?”
“If everyone here has to eat… one day?”
“What?! One day?”
Kim Ha-eun shot to her feet beside him and glared.
“Are you out of your mind, oppa?! You can’t even manage the food properly!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, damn it!”
I made no move to stop the two of them from tearing into each other. In a crisis, trust between comrades is usually the first thing to crack.
The worse their relationship got, the easier a woman like Kim Ha-eun would be to handle.
Food itself isn’t the problem, of course.
My inventory already held enough provisions to last months. But I had no intention of revealing that now.
A single piece of bread offered at the peak of starvation carries far more power than a bar of gold handed out when everyone is full.
I let my gaze drift slowly over Baek Do-yoon and Han Seo-ah, who were staring at each other in open despair, then exhaled a deliberately heavy sigh.
“One day… The situation’s worse than I thought.”
“Maybe we should try taking down the boss…?”
Park Hyun-woo, the oldest among us and currently sitting with Baek Do-yoon’s side, offered the suggestion carefully. Desperation to do anything rather than starve to death colored every word.
“With this lineup?”
My dry retort made him gulp and look at me.
“……I thought that with the skill Lee Seo-jun has already shown, we might actually have a chance. Better to roll the dice than sit here and starve, don’t you think?”
Every eye in the room swung toward me at once.
“Seo-jun, Hyun-woo hyung’s right—we have to do something. If you take the lead, we’ll back you with our lives.”
Baek Do-yoon’s words made my brow furrow on its own.
These people have lost their damn minds.
The sheer shamelessness of it almost made me laugh out loud.
“Hold on. Both of you—what are you even saying? We don’t even know what the boss is, and you want to dump the entire burden on Seo-jun alone? That’s just selfish.”
At least Han Seo-ah still had her head screwed on straight; she stepped in to defend me. She glared back and forth between Baek Do-yoon and Park Hyun-woo, eyes flashing with anger. She’d always been the righteous type back in school, and clearly that hadn’t changed.
“If we stay like this we’re all going to starve anyway.”
“That still doesn’t make it right! Seo-jun already saved us—that’s more than enough. And now you want to shove him into a death trap?”
Han Seo-ah’s unyielding stance turned the atmosphere ice-cold in an instant. Park Hyun-woo cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away, but Baek Do-yoon refused to drop it.
“The food is still the problem. We don’t even know how long this safe zone will last… and honestly, great power comes with great responsibility.”
“……That guy’s completely unhinged.”
Even Choi Jae-hyuk let out a disbelieving snort at the last remark.
“Wow, ‘great power, great responsibility’? Hey—why the hell should Seo-jun have to carry that responsibility for losers like you?”
Kim Ha-eun snapped at Baek Do-yoon. He flinched but still managed a reply.
“I’m not wrong. If Seo-jun’s a hunter, then he should—”
“Baek Do-yoon!”
Han Seo-ah finally exploded, cutting him off with something close to a scream. Her face burned crimson with pure shame.
“How can you say something like that? Don’t you realize how shameless we’re being? If Seo-jun hadn’t helped us, we’d already be dead out there!”
I leaned deeper into the back of my chair and simply watched the comedy unfold.
Same old bastard.
He’d been like this in high school too—that entitled belief that the world revolved around him. Apparently adulthood hadn’t cured it.
Do-yoon, you really shouldn’t have poked me.
I was going to enjoy the entertainment for a while.
“Quiet.”
The single low word silenced the entire living room at once.
“I get that everyone’s on edge given the situation. Let’s all calm down. Fighting among ourselves isn’t going to help anyone.”
Then I turned my gaze on Baek Do-yoon. The moment our eyes met, his shoulders gave a tiny, involuntary flinch.
“Do-yoon, you’re right. Food’s short, and someone has to kill the boss if this dungeon is ever going to end.”
My mild tone made his expression ease a fraction. The next words wiped that relief clean off his face.
“But here’s the thing. My life is just as precious to me as yours is to you. And you people… honestly, you’re dead weight. Your combat power is trash, and all you do is burn through rations. How are you any different from useless mouths to feed?”
“You guys don’t have food either…”
Baek Do-yoon forced out the last shred of his pride.
“Food?”
I pulled steaming fresh bread, thick strips of jerky, and several bottles of clean water straight from my inventory, making sure everyone saw. Then I casually dropped the lie.
“One of my abilities is generating food like this. There are restrictions on how I can make it, but it’s more than enough to keep me alive.”
“Seo-jun-ssi, you had an ability like that?”
“Oh my god… that’s actual food?”
Park Yu-jin and Kim Ha-eun both gasped in open astonishment.
“If you’ve got that ability, can’t we all eat our fill?”
Baek Do-yoon’s eyes went wide as he stared at the provisions.
“Ah, no. There are restrictions.”
“Restrictions…? What kind?”
“Ones that are hard for me to say out loud.”
I deliberately dragged it out. Panic made Baek Do-yoon take a step closer and raise his voice.
“I’ll pay the price! Once we’re out, I’ll give you as much money as you want!”
“I know your family’s loaded, but this isn’t just about making food.”
“Just spit it out already! What’s the restriction?!”
At his prodding I frowned as if the whole subject was awkward, then let a thin, wicked smile curve my lips.
“Well… the structure is that women have to take care of my sexual needs before the food can be created.”
The air inside the cabin froze solid.
“……What?”
Baek Do-yoon’s mouth hung open. Han Seo-ah stared at my face with eyes stretched wide in disbelief; even Park Yu-jin and Kim Ha-eun couldn’t hide their shock.
“Don’t talk nonsense! What kind of skill is that?!”
“Don’t believe me, then. I’m not exactly eager to burn my ability feeding freeloaders like you anyway.”
I shrugged and sat back down. From the inventory I pulled a chicken leg and took a big, deliberate bite. The golden skin crackled; rich juices and salty aroma flooded the tiny cabin.
“Seo-jun…”
Han Seo-ah called my name in a trembling voice.
“Is that… really the only way?”
Instead of answering I chewed the meat at a leisurely pace, then added thoughtfully,
“There’s no other method. And for the record, I didn’t exactly choose to get an ability like this.”
My shameless act twisted Baek Do-yoon’s face into pure rage.
“Seo-ah, don’t listen to that bastard! He’s just messing with us. What kind of skill like that even exists?!”
“Calling me a bastard? That’s pretty rude to the guy who just saved your lives. Do-yoon, your mouth has always been your biggest problem—then and now.”
“Shut up! You think I haven’t met scammers like you before, you fraud?!”
Baek Do-yoon looked ready to lunge, but I didn’t so much as blink while I finished the rest of the chicken.
“If you don’t want to believe me, then starve. From now on, figure out your own food.”
“Eh? Wait—what about us?!”
Kim Ha-eun’s eyes flew wide as she grabbed at me in panic.
“Figure it out yourselves. Free rides are over. When I think about it, I’m the one doing all the hard work while you lot contribute nothing.”
“…….”
A heavy silence crushed the room. Baek Do-yoon glared at me, breathing hard through his teeth; Han Seo-ah stared at the floor, biting her lip.
I stood, gave Park Yu-jin’s shoulder a couple of light pats, and said,
“Yu-jin, come with me.”
She nodded wordlessly and followed. The moment the bedroom door shut, the oppressive atmosphere of the living room was cut off, leaving only the quiet that belonged to the two of us.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pointed at my cock.
“Milk one out for me.”
The instant the words left my mouth, Yu-jin’s eyes went hazy with heat.
“Haa… Seo-jun-ssi, I’ve been waiting.”
Park Yu-jin crawled onto the bed and unfastened my belt with practiced hands. Kneeling, she wrapped both palms around my still-soft cock as if it were the rarest treasure in the world—careful yet greedy.
“Hehe… little Seo-jun is still asleep.”
She tilted her head just enough to look up at me. Lust already glazed her eyes; she let her red tongue glide slowly over her own lips.
“I’ll… wake him up nice and slow… chuu…♡”
One hand gently stroked the shaft while the other carefully massaged my balls. Then she pressed her face close, breathing hot air over the head before her tongue flicked out to lick the tip in soft, teasing circles.
“Haum…♡ ssuup…♡ jjop… lick♡”
That wet, burning tongue worked the sensitive flesh in slow, deliberate spirals.
She made no effort to keep quiet—she wanted them to hear every sound outside.
“Huuuup…♡”
Yu-jin took me deep into her throat, exhaling roughly through her nose while staring straight up at me. The look in her eyes belonged to a beast hungry for even stronger stimulation.
On the other side of the single door, the living room was pure despair.
—Creak, creak! Creak, creak!
“Haang♡ It—it’s reaching…♡ Haah♡ Seo-jun-ssi’s cock… all the way to my womb…♡”
“…….”
Baek Do-yoon clamped both hands over his ears and glared at the bedroom door. Han Seo-ah stared at the same closed door with a blank, emptied expression.
“Ah, fuck this.”
Choi Jae-hyuk raked his fingers through his hair and spat the curse. Kim Ha-eun turned a cold stare on him.
“Oppa, what are you going to do?”
“What the hell am I supposed to do?! That bastard’s the one holding all the food! If you need it so bad, crawl in there yourself!”
His defeated answer twisted Kim Ha-eun’s lips into a sneer.
“…You’re completely useless, Choi Jae-hyuk. You used to strut around calling yourself the leader, and now all you can do is sit here sucking your thumb while you listen to another guy’s woman moan?”
“What? Kim Ha-eun, watch your mouth! You think I’m enjoying this?!”
“Forget it. From now on we’re splitting up.”
Her blunt declaration made Jae-hyuk’s eyes go round.
“Hey, Kim Ha-eun!”
“Sticking with a useless man like you is a sure way to starve to death. I intend to live—no matter what it takes.”
Kim Ha-eun roughly shook off his hand and rose slowly to her feet. Her gaze locked onto the bedroom door from which the shameless sounds kept pouring.