Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Eat Well
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In my first playthrough, I was so busy scraping by at the bottom that I never even noticed how the world really worked.
Even when I went out on external missions, I was too tied up carrying them out to dream of doing any investigating.
By the end, I realized that even if I knew something, there was nothing I could do about it—so I just did nothing.
All I knew were scattered bits of info tied to my missions.
And whatever I could piece together from my own experiences.
That's why what Pendam told me hit me like a thunderbolt.
[Knowledge has been added.]
My personal encyclopedia was so desperate not to forget this new knowledge that it added it in real time.
The info I got from that guy was that shocking.
Beep, beep, beep.
Hearing the steady signal from the treatment room, I slowly wiped my face.
'Gotta shake off this protagonist candidate spot quick.'
I couldn't even see the other candidates, let alone figure out how to claim the main spot.
But now sparks were flying right at my feet, firing me up to do something—anything.
The first things that came to mind were tackling the unsolved dungeons scattered worldwide.
And awakening the true name slumbering in Ferocious Tiger's armament.
Those two were the fastest moves I could make right now.
The problem? Complications whenever I tried moving solo and in secret.
'Thought becoming young lord would be nothing but upside.'
Getting bigger meant drawing that much more attention whenever I moved.
If it were just me, I'd have used the Mountain Lords' power to squash the media.
But as the new young lord, stomping the press one by one wasn't feasible anymore.
Stomp too hard, and they'd eventually bare their fangs.
I had to pace it right—give 'em just enough breathing room.
'...First things first.'
Menu selection and engagement ceremony.
Huuuuh.
The second I confirmed no one was around the treatment room, I channeled Ferocious Tiger's power through my whole body.
If someone interrupted while I focused on recovery, it could tangle my qi flow.
This moment, with no one nearby, was prime time for healing.
Thump!
Just as recovery was wrapping up.
I felt the dagger and knuckles in my pocket pulsing like a heartbeat.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
True name precursor? I yanked them out in a hurry, but it faded as quick as it came.
Shhh.
The dagger and knuckles went quiet again, back to their inert forms, radiating nothing.
'Could keeping Ferocious Tiger's power flowing full-body be related?'
I'd asked my master straight up, but he'd just say I had to realize it myself—that I wasn't ready yet.
Maybe this was the clue.
I tabled experimenting with that for later and headed straight to class.
"Class rep's here? We threw together a rough menu—whaddya think?"
"Hm... Not bad."
The second I got back to class, the clueless kids shoved their homemade menu at me.
'Cute.'
Quite a list, but summing it up...
'While we're eating rice and spam, the rest get lotus root simmered with bean rice.'
No wonder everyone was going all-out for menu picks—it was life or death.
I got it, but this way of picking menus just bred vicious cycles.
"You think top chefs lining up'll settle for screwing us with basic grub like that?"
"Huh? So Geon-ho's got other ideas?"
The moment she heard me, Marren popped up, slipping my arm right between her chest like she'd been waiting.
The kids looked pretty shocked too—guess they'd actually behaved till I showed.
"Hey, Heila, mind sharing some course meal menus from your family?"
"Pardon? Sure... Not hard. But courses for lunch? Kinda tough."
"Nah, not full courses—just had something in mind."
Every menu pick turned extreme, revving everyone up.
But there were ways to instill hierarchy without going that harsh.
"This'll screw 'em over way better."
With that, I whipped up our class's menu and theirs with Heila's help.
"...You're a real devil, Kim Geon-ho."
"My man's so... lucky I guess?"
"...Geon-ho, this is kinda too much."
Amid the girlfriends' rave reviews, menu selection wrapped.
Tomorrow was gonna be fun.
+++++++
The day the first-years' menu rights shook up the cafeteria.
The dining hall buzzed with half excitement, half despair.
"...Heard the second-years last time got just spinach simmered."
"All veggies for nutrition—straight chills."
"Even ssam rice with no doenjang, they say."
Every first-year except Class 1 felt like convicts at trial.
What the hell were they gonna eat?
One might say, 'It's just food—why sweat it?'
But three months minimum of someone else's nightmare menu? Agony.
Same grub three days straight got old; three months of near-identical? Hell.
Worse, watching kids next door chow down tasty stuff, laughing?
Torture, plain.
"Don't look so scared. I put heart into it—prepped nice."
Biggest worry? Class 1's rep.
Mountain Lords' wastrel son. No, now their young lord, Kim Geon-ho.
Young lord or not, roots ran deep.
Wastrel stuck harder in their heads.
'What the hell did that guy... prep?'
His cackling class wipeout lingered in cadets' minds.
Strength to earn "first-year strongest."
Mountain Lords prized power hierarchy.
Put together? Future looked grim.
Rumble.
"Huh?"
But against the dread, oily meat smells wafting through the hall whetted appetites.
"N-No way... real?"
Class 1 and other first-year classes were strictly split.
Class 1 chilled on the second floor; rest mobbed the hall, winner-takes-all.
Smells hit on entry—menu clues.
Meat and fry scents?
"He's... a real angel?"
First-years nodded satisfied as Class 1 headed upstairs.
Yeah, menu rights didn't mean going vicious.
Win-win like this united the year, right?
"Fitting Mountain Lords heir—big heart."
"Yeah, picks the happy-for-all path..."
They lined up thrilled, gasping at trays.
"Ch-Chicken! Chicken and steak!"
"Whoa... jackpot. Rice is bean, but... still!"
"Kimchi's garlicky, but... meat!"
Garlic kimchi, bean rice, hot cucumber soup—bleak.
But chicken and steak wiped it, birthing bliss.
"Mountain Lords, top company!"
All praised Kim Geon-ho, munching chicken happily.
Crunch!
"Mmm! Texture... Huh?"
Fry shell shaped like chicken hid no bird.
"M-Mushroom...?"
Mushroom chicken.
Fooled by the convincing shell.
"Th-Then steak too?"
Cadets half-doubted, sliced big steak bites.
"Urp... Euugh...!"
Mouth danced with bean meat's full aroma.
Not plain—vegan-engineered bean meat.
Nutrition-perfect, but texture? Nightmarish.
Had they known veggie-forward from jump, less sad.
Expectations soared sky-high, then crashed—brutal shock.
"Mm, everyone enjoying?"
But despair didn't end there.
"Near-future menu, folks—dig in. Gotta think environment."
Kim Geon-ho, purely there to troll the first-years, plunged cadets deeper into abyss.
"...Yours real chicken?"
"This? Same as you—mushroom."
Crunch crunch, snap!
While all around force-fed vegan.
Geon-ho sat center, bold, chomping chicken.
Not mushroom—real chicken.
Not bean—prime Hanwoo double steak.
'True trolling's this.'
Just meat while they munched veg? Too basic.
True masters built unbreakable walls with subtle diffs, forcing submission.
"White rice with meat—how tasty?"
Quoting the celeb line, Geon-ho leisurely sliced steak to mouth.
Bean meat vs. real.
Both "meat," worlds apart in worth.
"...Our rep's a total psycho."
Class 1 cadets admired their leader's cruelty, finishing chicken.
Real beat mushroom, always.