The Skeleton Chef and the Outbreak
During the hunting season, when Lee Mina asked, “Can you even tame undead-type monsters?” Seokjun looked at her with a strange expression.
“It’s common knowledge that you can’t.”
“I know that! But then how is this skeleton living with us so normally?!”
Anyway, it was known that most kinds of monsters could be tamed to some degree, though the difficulty varied. Yet among them, undead-type monsters were said to be absolutely impossible.
“Panda.”
“Pa-Panda?”
The skeleton reacted and approached. Wasn’t that an awfully cute nickname for a skull? Come to think of it, the man in armor and the rest of them all used nicknames drawn from bear species.
“You said you needed a bonus, right?”
Clack!
“How many, Mr. Gwan-sun?”
The skeleton held up three fingers, and Seokjun lightly handed over the money into its bony hand. Then, watching the skeleton scurry away in delight, Mina stood there in a daze.
“He’s weak to money.”
“You hired him?!”
“Just because taming doesn’t work doesn’t mean you can’t make a deal, does it?”
“Normal people don’t even think of that!”
Had monsters fallen to capitalism these days? Mina lamented the sudden birth of a capitalist monster.
“Panda! Panda! I want the strawberry-shaped cream bun!”
A girl came running with a patter of feet, excitedly holding out a bread bag as if asking someone to open it. When she proudly offered it to the skeleton, it familiarly lifted the child into its arms and nodded. Its movements were those of a veteran housewife.
“Put that in the fridge for now.”
“Ehh, but I want to eat it right now.”
“You’ve been eating since morning.”
“Chii!”
“Panda, prepare the meal.”
When the skeleton set the child down and headed into the kitchen, Mina wondered if she had really seen what she thought she had.
“Don’t tell me the skeleton is going to cook?!”
“It’s his turn on duty today.”
“There’s even a rotation?!”
Whether Mina was shocked or not, the skeleton busily moved about the kitchen and began to cook. Soon the sound of oil sizzling told her it was frying something. If she saw that sight on a dark night, she felt like she might faint.
“Fish and chips?”
Before long, what the skeleton brought out was fish coated in batter and fried to a golden crisp, along with french fries.
“Yes. It’s a signature British dish.”
“Isn’t fish pretty expensive these days?”
It was no longer a cheap meal, so considering the origins of fish and chips, it was a bittersweet thought. In the past, you could buy seafood cheaply at big supermarkets, but lately it had become difficult. Gates occurred on land too, but far more appeared in the ocean. Farmed seafood was still relatively easy to obtain, yet it remained expensive. Compared to the old days, prices had skyrocketed.
“If you can eat it, isn’t it better to do so?”
“That’s not the issue here…”
Mina stared at the fish and chips, wondering if it was really okay to eat something made by a skeleton. As she hesitated, the man in armor suddenly reached out and picked up a piece of fried fish with his hand. Even though they were inside the office, he showed no sign of wanting to remove his crude armor.
Curious, she watched him. He slightly lifted the visor of his helmet and slipped the fried piece inside.
How much does he hate taking that helmet off?!
She could understand a hunter wearing armor, but just how much did he dislike removing it?
“Nom!”
While she was thinking what a unique way of eating that was, the girl also grabbed the fish and chips with both hands, nibbling from the end with puffed cheeks. The sight was so adorable that Mina got distracted for a moment before looking back at the fish and chips in front of her.
Everyone else is eating it, so…
She pressed down on the batter with chopsticks, tore off a piece of fish, and took a bite. A crisp crunch filled her mouth. It was lightly sour, salty, and refreshing—apparently vinegar and salt had been sprinkled on.
“…Is this really the skeleton’s handiwork?”
Surprisingly, the flavor was good enough to believe a professional chef had made it.
“To think a monster can cook…”
“You just have to teach them.”
Mina wanted to ask who on earth would teach a monster how to cook, but since one was standing right in front of her, she had nothing to say.
Her bewilderment lasted only a moment.
-Vrrrrrr!
Both his and her smartphones, left on the desk, vibrated and rang at the same time. Without a word, they both picked them up simultaneously.
“Disaster alert?”
Seeing the red megaphone icon at the top, she checked the message.
Southern Plains, Dungeon Break Occurred!?
She was shocked by the contents. After all, it hadn’t been long since Hanshin—the guild she belonged to—had cleared the gate that appeared in the city, and now a dungeon break had happened.
“Due to the nature of the Southern Plains, incidents like this happen more often than you’d think.”
“But it’s a dungeon break?”
Mina had been sent on so many business trips that she rarely stayed in one region, so she hadn’t known. However, the follow-up notice from the Hunter License app was familiar to her too.
📍 To all hunters in the area: Participation in subjugation will be rewarded according to contribution. We ask for your active involvement.
“If there’s a reward, it must be paid in regional points, right?”
She had received messages like this during business trips, but her work had been too busy, and since the points could only be used in that specific region, the benefits of participating were small.
“Yes. For B-rank hunters, it’s an occasional side gig to earn some money.”
“Are you participating too, Mr. Seokjun?”
“A lot has come in lately, but if you have money, you’ll find a use for it. What about you, Ms. Mina?”
Since they had more or less finished the meal, Mina decided to go. It wasn’t intentional, but she was on vacation anyway.
“Are you going?”
“Outside is dangerous!”
Seokjun asked the man in armor as well, but he simply flopped onto the sofa.
“He really is a unique person.”
“You can just call him a weirdo.”
“Isn’t that rude?!”
“That’s just how he is.”
It seemed those eccentric behaviors weren’t new.
“Hehe! Have a safe trip!”
She gave a small wave to the girl who was seeing them off.
“The child and the skeleton aside, they’re office colleagues, right?”
Considering the meaning of HHH, the presence of a child had been quite concerning, but—
“He may not look very reliable, but he does his job when it counts.”
Chatting as they followed Seokjun outside, she saw a motorcycle waiting. It was pitch black with no gloss, its angular parts unusually smooth. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary model.
When Seokjun mounted it, Mina climbed on behind him. People sometimes wondered why hunters—who could run faster on foot—bothered with vehicles, but no matter how strong a hunter was, they weren’t omnipotent. Above all, although the total amount differed, mana was ultimately consumed. Using it for running when it was barely enough for combat would be foolish.
“Here.”
Seokjun took off his leather cap, hung it around his neck, put on a matte helmet, and handed Mina one of the same design.
-Vroooom.
The moment Mina put on the helmet, the motorcycle’s engine roared, rumbling low through the quiet alley. From what she remembered, ordinary motorcycles like this usually made the entire road shake noisily, so she found it surprising. She leaned against Seokjun’s back and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Feeling her chest press against his back, she smoothed the worn parts of his trench coat and noticed it was thicker than it looked. Then she felt a firm sensation like rain-soaked earth beneath it.
Mina barely held back her fidgeting fingers.
I-I really have no shame.
Hunters naturally possessed superior physical abilities, so she knew it was only normal, yet she couldn’t help but be especially conscious of it. Fortunately—or unfortunately—the motorcycle soon began to move, allowing her to stop dwelling on it.
With the sound of wind rushing past her helmet and her hair whipping about, buildings flashed by until they reached an open road. On one side, beyond a low barrier of plants, a river flowed through the lowlands beside a walking path. It was a route Mina often took when walking Pomi, but seeing it speed past felt strangely different.
After passing a wide intersection with a large bridge and going under an overpass, the motorcycle gradually slowed. Peering over Seokjun’s shoulder, she saw barbed wire topped with spiked rings, vehicle barriers flashing with red warning lights, and soldiers standing guard.
“Good day.”
As they slowed and approached, one soldier saluted and spoke. Seokjun held out his smartphone to the camera the soldier offered, and after the QR code was scanned, Mina took out her own phone and opened the Hunter License app.
“Should I get mine scanned too?”
“Ah? Yes.”
The somewhat flustered soldier scanned her hunter license as well.
“Thank you for your service.”
When he waved his hand and gave a signal, the barrier blocking the road rose. In the center of the barrier was a white sign with red letters reading Caution: Frequent Outbreak Area. Mina asked Seokjun,
“Outbreak? Don’t they usually call it a dungeon break?”
“The military thinks ‘dungeon break’ sounds too much like a game, so they call it an outbreak.”
“It’s a term taken from fantasy novels anyway—what difference does it make…?”
“How would I know the stubbornness of those high-ranking people?”