The Art of the Chicken Leg
'Should I tell him?' Cain agonized.
Come to think of it, they needed Kim Tae-san's help right now, and telling him this might make getting that help easier.
'Yeah. I should tell hi—'
"But Ahjussi, are you sure the Great Chieftain has it?" Choi Sang-yun asked.
"Of course I'm sure. Who else would have it?" Kim Tae-san replied confidently.
"Sure, normally the Great Chieftain would have it, but a subordinate or a son NPC might have it instead."
"That's why I researched everything. I bought and checked every book related to the Uruk region, and I even brought in explorer players who've been to Uruk to verify it," Kim Tae-san said firmly.
Beside them, Cain could only repeat, "Uh..." The situation made it incredibly awkward to cut in!
"Do you have any idea how many casualties we've taken trying to bring down the Great Chieftain? I'm no fool; would I risk those losses without being absolutely sure? Of course I've verified it. If I were that kind of guy, I'd be the biggest idiot in the world!"
"..."
"By the way, what brings you here?" Kim Tae-san turned his head to look at Cain. It had looked like Cain had something to say for a while now.
"Uh... fighting!"
"...R-right. Thanks?" Kim Tae-san thought to himself. Just like Tae-hyun said, that Cain guy is a bit weird!
Without a single clue what Kim Tae-san was thinking, Cain quietly shut his mouth.
'I'll just let Kim Tae-hyun handle it when he gets back.' He had a bad feeling that if he spoke up now, he'd just end up catching the sparks.
Meanwhile, Choi Sang-yun resumed his persuasion.
"But Ahjussi, isn't defeating Karag a bit too difficult right now? If you don't need it immediately anyway, why not level up by clearing other quests first and try again later? It doesn't seem like a boss we can handle at our current level."
"Hmm..."
"And if you help us, we can help you too once Tae-hyun gets back, right?"
"That's a bit of a blow to my pride..."
"Oh, come on, what pride? Tae-hyun doesn't care about stuff like that. If he needs to, he just exploits you—I mean, asks you for help."
"Did you just say 'exploits'?"
"You must have misheard." Choi Sang-yun didn't even bat an eye.
'He only learned the bad habits from Tae-hyun...' Kim Tae-san grumbled, but it was undeniably true.
If Tae-hyun's party of top-tier rankers joined, hunting Karag might actually be possible. Besides, wasn't Tae-hyun the player who had defeated the most boss monsters in Pan-On that were supposedly impossible to clear at current levels? It wasn't just about character levels and skills; Tae-hyun was someone who could employ all sorts of ingenious schemes.
"Fine! I'll help you!"
"Ohh!"
"Still, there's a lot of work that needs hands in the territory right now, so I can't mobilize all the guild members..."
"You don't really need to bring all those ahjussis anyway."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Let's just take a few skilled ones, including myself. Oh, and I should ask Tae-hyun's new friend too."
"What???" Choi Sang-yun was shocked. "Tae-hyun's friend????" He was genuinely astonished!
"..."
"...I mean, it's possible for Sunbae-nim to have a friend..." Jeong Su-hyeok said, looking dumbfounded.
But Choi Sang-yun shook his head. "No way! Think about it. Has he ever met a friend while playing Pan-On?!"
"Uh..."
"Now that I think about it, he hasn't?" Come to think of it, it was true. Usually, nine times out of ten, anyone in Pan-On who recognized Tae-hyun held a grudge against him.
"Exactly! There's no way he has a friend!"
"Then who is this friend he's talking about?"
"...It must be a spy!"
"!"
"Could it be a spy sent by the Guild Alliance? They probably claimed to be Tae-hyun's friend to infiltrate this place, planning to stab us in the back at a crucial moment."
"Come on, who would go that far?"
"Didn't you do exactly that back in Line*ge, Ahjussi? Planting a spy to cut the PC bang's LAN cable..."
"What?"
"Ahem. Sang-yun. Please don't spread such groundless rumors. It might cause our friends to misunderstand." Kim Tae-san, who had been listening from behind, reacted defensively.
"But you actually did..."
"Hey."
"Yes, sir..."
The group headed outside, wondering who on earth this friend of Tae-hyun's could be.
"Everyone got it? Attack when I give the signal."
"Got it."
"H-hello..."
"?!"
The one who appeared was Yu Ji-soo. Choi Sang-yun recognized Yu Ji-soo and gasped in surprise.
"We're going to need something to eat."
"Should I catch some more?"
"No, the fish are too small. They won't even tickle our stomachs."
They had obtained a fishing set through the quiz, and since Lee Se-yeon was surprisingly good at fishing, they managed to catch some fish. However, Tae-hyun wasn't satisfied with just that.
"Didn't the production crew say they released some animals further inland? It's fine to catch those, right?"
"I suppose so, but..." Lee Se-yeon looked skeptical.
Based on previous episodes of the show, almost no one had ever caught the animals released by the production crew. In other words, it was a trap designed to tease the cast! Knowing this, the hungry cast members would still run around inside, hoping for a dramatic turnaround. Occasionally, someone would get incredibly lucky and catch something.
"...Wouldn't it be better to play it safe? With instant food or..."
"Ah, hush. We brought all these cooking utensils; don't jinx us." Tae-hyun said, pointing to the cooking utensil set. Everyone else had wondered, What are we going to use that for? but Tae-hyun had insisted on choosing it to the very end.
"More importantly, what did they release? I hope it's wild boar."
"Do you want an accident to happen? At best, it's just chickens or rabbits."
"And people can't catch those?"
"You'd better not underestimate them. From what I saw on the broadcast, the rabbits aren't docile; they're wild ones that run around, so they're incredibly fast and good at hiding. And they brought in free-range chickens from somewhere, so they practically fly..."
"Rabbits, huh..." Suddenly, Carbanog came to mind. Tae-hyun wondered if his other companions were doing well. 'Surely they haven't caused any trouble in the meantime. It's not like they're children...'
Tack— Tae-hyun picked up a stone. Lee Se-yeon tilted her head.
"What's that for?"
"Huh? To catch them."
"Hey... seriously, no way..." Lee Se-yeon was too dumbfounded to speak.
When they should be making proper hunting tools, he was planning to catch them by throwing stones? Even if they managed to find them, with just that...
"Wouldn't it be better to make something else?"
"It's a hassle, and this is easier. Finding materials is easier, too."
"Still, that's a bit..."
"No! I'm sure you can do it, Tae-hyun-ssi!"
"Huh?" Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon turned their heads in surprise. Bora, with a passionate look in her eyes, clenched her fists and shouted.
"I believe in you!"
"Uh... right... thank you?" Tae-hyun stepped back slightly and whispered to Lee Se-yeon. "What's up with her? Does she want something from me?"
"...How should I know?" Lee Se-yeon replied with a strangely displeased expression.
"Phew, work is finally done!" Although crude, a shelter where they could at least lie down was complete.
"The ramen is ready too." Ramen bubbling away, releasing a spicy aroma! Of course, the portion was tiny. There were only two packs. Even though they had brought everything they could from the quiz, this was all they had.
"Wow, looks delicious." Gulp. But as they say, hunger is the best sauce, and to the people here, it was nothing short of a feast.
"No kimchi?"
"The other team took it."
"Come to think of it, what is the other team eating? They couldn't take a single thing from here."
In truth, Tae-hyun had simply chosen not to take it, but people assumed he couldn't take it because he was busy packing other things.
"Right? Fishing?"
"Can you even get full from fishing? It'll take all day."
"They did take various side dishes and seasonings... Surely they aren't planning to hunt?"
"Hahaha. That would be hilarious." Everyone burst into laughter.
There had been more than a few cast members who had suffered miserably trying to catch the animals released inland.
"Then let's eat quickly and go watch." Slurp! Everyone frantically moved their chopsticks. The already small portion vanished in an instant.
'Better eat fast, or they might ask us to share this since they lent us the tool set.'
'Exactly, exactly.'
As hunger makes people petty, the MC team quietly finished their meal.
"Alright. Let's go!" The MC set off to see how Tae-hyun's team was doing. 'I wonder if they've even caught a glimpse of any prey. If they did, that'd be huge.'
The ones who cared most about screen time were the PD and the MC, though their directions differed. In the MC's eyes, Tae-hyun was definitely delivering screen time. It wasn't for nothing that the PD had practically jumped for joy when he cast him. He was on a completely different level from other guests who were only famous but ruined the broadcast with boring behavior once they actually appeared! If Tae-hyun kept wandering around searching for prey, there wouldn't be a more entertaining picture than that.
'You'll have to suffer a bit, but what can you do, Tae-hyun-ssi? You're supposed to suffer when you're young. I'm counting on you.' Better someone else suffer than me! With such wicked thoughts, the MC arrived at Tae-hyun's team's shelter. And he was utterly shocked.
"Huh?" Tae-hyun, who was busy plucking and dressing chickens and rabbits, looked at the MC team in confusion.
"We're not sharing."
"Wh-what? No, that's not... Did you catch these? All of them?" Seeing the towering pile of chickens and rabbits, the MC turned his gaze to Kim PD.
But Kim PD looked just as flustered as the MC. He was completely dumbfounded as well.
Those words were a direct provocation to the cameraman, who had over ten years of experience. 'I will absolutely keep up with you!' But it was impossible. It was hard enough to follow him empty-handed, let alone while carrying heavy equipment! Tae-hyun appeared and disappeared like a ghost, and every time he did, he had either a chicken or a rabbit in his hand.
Kim PD had gone past the point of shock and was now wondering if there was a mole. 'Did someone among us leak the locations of the rabbits? No, what kind of crazy thought is that...' None of the staff members actually knew where the rabbits were. The animals hid and ran away on their own.
'Did I bring the wrong kind of free-range chickens?' He couldn't believe that creatures that would normally fly dozens of meters away at the slightest hint of a human presence had been caught so easily. And with just a stone!
"PD-nim. Did we cast him for the wrong show? We should have sent him to a documentary or Master of Life..." the staff members behind him muttered, looking utterly exhausted.
Whether others were shocked or not, Tae-hyun leisurely finished dressing the meat and began cooking. The golden-brown rabbit meat roasting over the fire and the savory chicken stew bubbling with various seasonings stimulated everyone's noses.
"Man, Lee Se-yeon warned me that this show was incredibly tough, but it's actually quite generous. *Chomp, chomp*."
"When did I ever say that? *Chomp, chomp*."
"..."
This was the first time he had ever suffered such humiliation while running this show! Kim PD made up his mind. He would absolutely not go easy on them. He would make sure Tae-hyun cried out in misery!
Growl— Tae-hyun's team was happily tearing into the meat, but the others were not.
'What a stingy bastard. He doesn't even offer.'
'I wish he'd give me just one bite.'
"Kim Chun-sik-ssi. Have one of these."
"Huh? R-really?" When Tae-hyun offered a chicken leg, Kim Chun-sik stammered. So this is what happens when a person is truly starving!
"It's nothing. Here, take it."
"Wh-what about me? Why only Chun-sik?" The MC spoke in a voice filled with deep yearning.
"Well, because he and I already know each other, and you and I are strangers..."
"What kind of logic is that?! We can just be friends starting from now! Right?!"
"Not really."
"Please, just one leg!"
At first, Lee Se-yeon thought he was just doing it for entertainment value, but she soon realized he was dead serious. 'That man... he really, really wants to eat it!'
Yet Tae-hyun didn't even bat an eye. He looked like someone who wouldn't bleed a single drop even if pricked with a needle!
"Thanks for the meal."
"*Sob, sob... sob...*"
"Sigh. Here you go."
"...?"
"I saved one for you, so go ahead and eat."
"...!"
Tae-hyun was completely playing with them using a single chicken leg! Normally, the MC should have been angry, but such thoughts didn't cross his mind at all. All he felt was overwhelming gratitude!
"*Sniff...* How can someone be so kind..."
Watching this play out, Lee Se-yeon shook her head in disbelief.