Chapter 22

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 22

Chapter Title: City of Serpents and the Sea (7)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

After thoroughly exploring the island for a while, Cheisi couldn't uncover any special treasures.

No hidden jobs, no special equipment or items.

Instead, she filled her inventory with every little creature and object she could lay eyes on across the island.

"Hush. They might not be junk."

In the midst of this, Cheisi discovered a puddle in the center of the island that carried a salty sea scent.

The puddle was filled with a black liquid.

"Sea serpent broth...?"

Cheisi's eyes sparkled as she checked the puddle's information.

The final ingredient she'd been striving to obtain was right here—and of special quality, no less.

Cheisi immediately tried to store the broth in her inventory.

But it wouldn't go in, probably because it was a liquid.

She pulled out a conch shell from her inventory, poured the broth into it, and tried again.

"Can't farm this one, huh..."

Unable to take it with her, Cheisi decided to make the most of it right there.

"Guess I'll cook here before I go."

Cheisi sat down by the puddle, opened her inventory, and pulled out the recipe.

The lens monster flopped onto her shoulder, peering over.

"Let's give it a shot. Riebpstar skewers."

It was time to start cooking, following the recipe Nell had given her.

Cheisi began following the recipe step by step.

"First, it says to soak the Riebpstar thoroughly in sea serpent broth..."

Lacking any professional cooking knowledge, Cheisi just winged it based on instinct.

"...Like this?"

She dunked the Riebpstar into the puddle for a few seconds and pulled it out.

Unlike in reality, even her clumsy execution seemed to proceed smoothly on its own.

"Next..."

There was a snag in the remaining steps of the recipe.

It called for grilling the ingredients to a golden brown—but there was no fire.

"Where am I supposed to get fire?"

Finding fire on a sandbar island adrift in the ocean was no easy task.

"Hmm..."

Cheisi racked her brain alongside her viewers.

And then, an idea struck.

"How about using the meteor shower flames?"

During the meteor shower, the driftwood floating on the sea had ignited spectacularly where struck by shooting stars.

She could use one of those massive blazes to grill the skewers.

But the flames from the meteor shower on the waterborne wood had long since died out.

Cheisi decided to use falling stars on the remaining driftwood to reignite it, dropping hundreds of them.

One piece of wood struck by a star burst into roaring flames.

"Hit it dead-on, at least..."

But the flames were out over the sea.

Ever since nearly drowning once, Cheisi had developed an extreme aversion to entering the water, leaving her in a bind.

"Let's ask Siurug to burn it all the way over there."

Cheisi swam up to Siurug, who was cruising near the island, and tried gesturing her request.

Siurug ignored her completely, merely licking her body with its tongue.

"...This guy."

"I hate the sea. No swimming."

The sensation of her tail and ears getting wet was worse than anything.

Cheisi was dead set on riding Siurug straight to those flames, no matter what.

"Siurug reacted to food last time, after all."

Cheisi checked the recipe again.

The skewer recipe used half a Riebpstar and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one sparkling Marshmallow fish.

After making one properly per the recipe, half a Riebpstar would remain—enough for one more skewer.

It wouldn't have buff effects since it strayed from the recipe, but it was still food. Edible.

Cheisi resolved to use this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extra skewer to bribe Siurug.

"If you... burn it all the way over there... I'll make you... a skewer!"

Using every gesture she could muster, Cheisi desperately tried to convey her plan to the sea serpent.

Siurug carried Cheisi on its body and ferried her to the burning driftwood struck by the meteor shower.

"No way it actually worked..."

Staring at the massive blaze before her, Cheisi prepared two skewers: vegetables, fish, half a Riebpstar on each.

One followed the recipe precisely; the other was a sloppy throw-together since it was just for the sea serpent anyway.

"Time to grill."

Cheisi cautiously held the skewers to the roaring flames.

As they began to sizzle and brown amid the yellow-orange blaze, a message appeared.

"...Special cooking method?"

She had no idea what was happening, but it didn't feel like bad news.

Cheisi kept rotating the skewers over the fire.

The aroma of marshmallow and seafood wafted through the air.

The sea serpent and lens monster watched silently as the skewers cooked amid the crackling flames.

With gentle waves lapping and fire popping softly, the two skewers were finally complete.

Cheisi placated the impatiently whimpering sea serpent and returned to the island before tossing it its share.

The sea serpent swallowed it whole, spat out the stick, and chomped away contentedly.

It looked blissfully happy.

Cheisi turned her gaze to her own skewer.

Tenderly reddened Riebpstar grilled to perfection, four Marshmallow fish charred like actual marshmallows, and heaps of vegetables on the skewer.

A subtle sea serpent aroma teased her salivary glands, and the generous portions made it look incredibly hearty.

Cheisi checked its details.

The name differed from the recipe.

It had "Meteor Shower-Grilled" added.

And moreover.

"Attack power boost is even higher."

She'd expected +30, but this skewer gave +70.

It seemed tied to that "special cooking method" message.

"...Looks delicious."

Cheisi swallowed hard and stowed the skewer in her inventory.

The viewers expressed confusion, but Cheisi just shook her head.

"Gotta eat it in battle."

It was made to take down the Merman King—devouring it now because it looked tasty would be a total waste.

She had to save the skewer for later.

'Ugh... I want to eat it.'

It wouldn't be easy.

"And."

Cheisi positioned the lens monster to gaze at the night sky.

"It's about that time. Yawn..."

If the moon was up in virtual reality, then real-world time mirrored it—pitch-black night already.

Cheisi was utterly exhausted. She hadn't let it show on stream, but...

Viewers fretted anxiously over an abrupt end to the stream, but Cheisi had already made up her mind.

"We'll eat the skewer and take on the Merman King tomorrow. That's it for today."

"Thanks for sticking around till the end..."

Cheisi paused upon spotting one chat message.

A lengthy message written in a rare, earnest style on Abyss. For some reason, her eyes lingered on it.

"...Well then... see you."

Cheisi looked away from chat and entered her stream settings.

Soon, the stream ended.

Logging out of Ariant World, Seo-hwa emerged from the VR capsule.

"...Feels like I'm dying."

Her mind and body were utterly spent, yet somehow she'd hidden it well on stream—a miracle.

Seo-hwa grumbled inwardly.

'Stamina's too weak.'

For the first time, she felt dissatisfaction with her changed body. Stamina pathetically low, sleep needs excessively high.

Perhaps the superhuman reaction speed came at the cost of increased sleepiness and frail endurance.

She'd been fine yesterday, but thinking back, she'd already slept about twenty hours the day before. That must've helped her endure.

Too drained to even reach her bed, Seo-hwa collapsed onto the sofa.

Her eyes felt heavy enough to drift off instantly.

"Yawn..."

Suddenly, she recalled that lengthy chat.

"...Guess the stream was fun."

A natural smile crept across her face.

"Hehe."

Whatever state her body was in, it didn't matter.

As long as streaming life brought the happiness she'd imagined, that was enough.

'...Hope I can stream even longer tomorrow.'

In the dim late night.

The cat let her tail droop limply as she curled up on the sofa for sleep.

She awoke at 7 a.m.

Realizing she could start streaming early, Seo-hwa offered a silent thanks to the heavens before logging into Abyss.

She wasn't turning on the live stream right away—instead, she planned to use Abyss's waiting room system.

Set a scheduled start time and activate waiting mode, and viewers could enter early to wait.

Designed for viewer convenience, but many streamers skipped it as a hassle.

Seo-hwa set the stream for 8 a.m. and activated waiting mode. No grand reason—just to accommodate her audience.

An hour of free time.

Seo-hwa decided to wash her matted hair and follow up with a hot shower.

Wetting her ears and tail required serious resolve.

'Eyes shut tight, get it over with...'

She cautiously wetted her cat ears.

"Eek!"

The sensation of water seeping into her ears sent shivers down her spine.

Lathering soap and rinsing both ears repeated the eerie, prickling feeling over her body.

"Haaah..."

Tears welled up.

Finally done with her ears, now for the tail.

Matted and tangled beyond tolerance, she couldn't put it off.

Seo-hwa tried to wet her tail. But it dodged the water.

She was trying to wet it—and she was the one yanking it away to escape.

Reason clashed with instinct.

After a deep breath, Seo-hwa brokered a truce between them.

"Hiiyaah!"

The truce didn't eliminate the goosebump-inducing horror of washing it.

After battling through the shower war, Seo-hwa checked her waiting room viewers.

She remembered a few hundred yesterday.

Likely curiosity seekers for VR gaming, so probably single digits in waiting—maybe a dozen at most.

With that light expectation, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seo-hwa checked the viewer count.

Nowhere close.

'...What?'

Seo-hwa tilted her head in confusion.

```