Chapter 209
Chapter 209
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 209
Chapter Title: Ghoul Feast
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“But will it really work?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, shouldn’t we go out there and help too?”
Late at night.
The villagers had all gathered in the village’s only tavern.
It was because of the monster attacks that had been going on for days.
An old man sitting by the window fidgeted anxiously with the hilt of his sword.
“I’m not saying I don’t trust the guy... but those monsters are cunning, aren’t they?”
The village’s plight had reached Judak.
It was great news, but...
“Just one person came. Only one.”
Only a single volunteer had arrived to help the village.
Already, three people had been kidnapped by ghouls.
They were listed as missing, but it was safe to assume they’d met a gruesome end.
And instead of standing guard, they were all huddled together here.
“If that guy dies, we’re next, right?”
The old man knew from personal experience.
Just how sly ghouls were.
One of the missing was his lifelong friend.
A friend who’d survived the Great War, dragged away yesterday in the mere three seconds he’d looked away.
“Mm...”
The other villagers fell silent upon hearing the old man.
They were all thinking the same thing.
It was then, as the tavern sank into gloom.
“It’ll be fine.”
The tavern keeper spoke up from behind the bar.
All eyes naturally turned to him.
“Fine how?”
The keeper didn’t answer, just kept wiping an already dry glass.
His expression was more worried than anyone else’s there.
Yet he said it would be fine.
“What are you talking about? You look the worst out of all of us.”
“That’s not it.”
The keeper shook his head at the old man’s words.
He’d been sweating bullets in anxiety, but now he let out a heavy sigh.
As the tavern keeper, he accessed the gallery more than anyone to run his business.
Thanks to that, even in this remote village, he was pretty up-to-date on info.
That’s why.
“What I’m scared of... isn’t the monsters.”
“Not the monsters? Then what?”
“I...”
It was then, as the tavern keeper’s lips moved.
-Creak.
The door slowly opened with a rusty groan.
“!”
“A monster!”
The outside was eerily quiet.
Maybe the volunteer had already been taken out.
The tense, anxious village men jumped to their feet.
But what stepped in from the pitch-black darkness outside was...
The lone volunteer who’d come to the village.
The Gallery Doctor himself.
“Uh?”
He was supposed to be guarding the village entrance right now.
Why had he abandoned it to come back?
Who was defending the village now that he’d returned?
But no one had the guts to say it.
His presence was so intimidating, he didn’t even feel human.
“W-Well, did you forget something?”
Instead, the old man forced an awkward smile and asked.
“Good reaction obtained.”
It was the first time the Gallery Doctor spoke.
“Y-Yes?”
But no one could understand him.
What the hell was he saying?
The Gallery Doctor spoke again.
“Witnessed results. And I obtained a good reaction.”
Everyone in the tavern was dumbfounded.
What results? What reaction?
But the keeper clearly saw it.
On the doctor’s fluorescent vest, other fluorescent substances were smeared.
-Thud.
It was then.
The Gallery Doctor lightly dragged something inside the tavern.
-Boom!
A massive something collapsed limply in the center of the tavern.
“Gah!”
“A gh-ghoul?”
Long claws, grotesque form.
No, it was a ghoul variant, apparently the leader, sprawled out.
No need to check if it was alive.
The fluorescent blood coating its body told the tale plainly.
ExcellentDoc casually walked over and sat by the window.
“Um... sh-should I prepare some food?”
The tavern keeper, first to regain his senses, asked ExcellentDoc very politely.
But ExcellentDoc shook his head.
“I do not expect a reward. Reward comes under Judak’s encouragement.”
“...Huh?”
“My reward exists in the market.”
-Thunk.
ExcellentDoc leaned his massive, fluorescent-smeared axe against the table.
Then he accessed the Gallery Market and input something.
[Item purchased!]
On the empty table appeared three heated frozen chickens and a 1.5L bottle of cola.
ExcellentDoc’s beloved meal...
And reason for living.
“Honestly, this is like gender.”
As the Gallery Doctor lifted his mask slightly to eat.
The tavern keeper mustered his courage and peeked outside.
“...Hiiik.”
And outside the door.
Dozens of ghoul corpses were scattered haphazardly.
*
[Title: So this is what monsters taste like...]
(Ghoul patty burger image)
(Ghoul chicken nugget image)
(Steaming ghoul soup image)
(Ghoul steamed dish image)
.
.
...
Tasty...
Delicious...
Thanks for the meal.
[Recommendations 8311] [Disrecommendations 79]
- Wtf, what’s with the ellipsis in the middle
- What the hell happened?
- Wasn’t the last post “Gallery Doctor incoming!!” or something?
- Ugh, fucking eating ghoul meat
ㄴ You ran away during the Great War, didn’t you
ㄴ Anyone who went through the Great War wouldn’t react like this?
ㄴ Grab the disrecommenders and feed them ghoul meat once every three days—they’d all turn to recommends?
“Looks like it worked.”
The fluorescent vest method was a success.
The moment they learned ghouls had hemophobia, victory was sealed.
But you couldn’t just put a vest on a human and test it.
So they dispatched the Gallery Doctor, ExcellentDoc.
And the next post was this.
- But where’d all the meat come from?
ㄴ Poster) ExcellentDoc gave it all
ㄴ Why tho
ㄴ Why didn’t he eat that precious stuff and give it away??
ㄴ Poster) He only considers Lord Judak’s market food as proper meals?
That was all the ghouls.
A couple escaped alive, but...
“They probably won’t come back.”
No need to worry.
The ghoul corpse pics taken in daylight were too graphic for revenge.
Plus, ExcellentDoc never harvested monster meat after jobs.
Once asked out of curiosity.
ExcellentDoc: Monster meat? I only deal with my employer’s market.
Judak*: For real? Why?
“Even non-market stuff looks pretty tasty sometimes.”
The local meat wasn’t particularly bad or dirty.
Sprinkle some MSG and it’s good.
But ExcellentDoc only treated market items—modern food—as meals.
ExcellentDoc: Market is excellent food. Rest is worthless trash meat.
Judak*: Lol okay.
[Judak* has paid 50,000 coins!]
ExcellentDoc: All part-timers, always thank Judak. And I also like Judak.
I closed the chat and pondered for a moment.
ExcellentDoc’s obsession with modern food.
“Something in his past?”
Doubted if he was even normal to begin with.
I thought about it briefly... then dropped it.
“Whatever, not my business.”
Employer-employee relationship.
No need to pry into privacy.
Truth was, something more important had come up.
[Title: The dish trending among nobles lately]
Poster: GourmetThreeMeals
(Image of a whole ancient chicken bigger than a person)
(Image of well-cooked meat with rising steam)
Chicken fucking huge, right?
Cockatrice, a monster from west of the map.
Legendary reptile-chicken hybrid face is the feature.
A few recently imported and sold to Kelliaton.
Fancy restaurant near the palace is using it as ingredient.
(Image of cockatrice roasting in a hearth)
Back in the day, they’d cut it up and whole-roast it.
But now market has spices and chicken exists, right?
So they made chicken out of it, and it’s unique and tasty apparently.
Rich folks and nobles splurging to eat it.
I’m a broke beggar but a foodie who’s devoted my life to cuisine, so I’m going.
About 4290 coins per serving lol.
Few seats left, eat if you want.
[Recommendations 1999] [Disrecommendations 210]
- Whoa... looks fucking delicious
- Tastier than chicken?
ㄴ GourmetThreeMeals) Can’t say, it’s trendy but not many have tried it
- Ffs, what era is this
- Everyone but me is loaded
- 4290???? Bullshit lololol
“Oh...”
It was the Kelliaton cockatrice chicken trending on Nyoongle.
Even the cooking method matched the old-school chicken style once sold by Marketplace Nation.
“Been a while since I went out.”
Months without stepping outside.
For a gallery hermit like me, going out is an ordeal.
Now I only go out for sunlight survival, bundling errands.
So I mustered the will and headed out.
Along with Dryer, holed up reading romance novels.
“Thought about bringing Penny too.”
Penny was rampaging with jealousy again.
Needed to manage her emotions.
So she was using Sloth as a pillow, playing construction crusher ASMR for healing therapy.
“Hehe.”
“?”
“A walk... just us two... love it.”
Dryer fiddled with the scarf I’d gifted her before, smiling.
She hummed the whole way—clearly thrilled about the walk.
“Ah!”
Then Dryer’s gaze shifted somewhere.
There was a bookstore.
“Didn’t used to be one here.”
Proof interest in novels had spiked since releasing them on the market.
“Go ahead.”
“But...”
“I’ve got stuff to do anyway.”
The bookstore even had Kelliaton’s first romance novel for sale.
“I-I’ll be right back!”
Dryer dashed off to the bookstore with a dangerously excited, flushed face.
“Then I...”
I walked to the fountain in the square, spread my arms, and looked up at the sky.
Planned to photosynthesize for 10 minutes minimum sunlight.
-Shh shh shh!
“Hm?”
Something zipped past in a distant alley off the square.
Black hair, black eyes.
Plain look, but not plain in Kelliaton at least.
Above all...
“Feels familiar.”
Like a face I’d seen a lot.
I stopped photosynthesizing and walked toward the alley, entranced.
Didn’t know what, but had to see with my own eyes.
I didn’t enter the alley where the woman had gone... just peeked from the entrance.
“Getting kidnapped after entering an alley? Total cliché.”
Safely from the open square, staring into the alley.
Nothing there.
“What? She was just here.”
As I turned to go, puzzled.
“Whiiing.”
A weird sound by my ear.
The kind that raises goosebumps all over.
“Freeze freeze if you move...!”
The instant I reflexively went for the pistol in my inventory!
“Whiiiing.”
The black-haired woman from before snuggled right into my arms.