Episode 21. Drinking Snacks
Sin Dae quickly rushed to the boss room of the dungeon.
It would have been impossible were it not for the mobility of the Purple Bear he rode.
"And the hunting got faster too..."
Four Purple Bears spread out on either side of him.
Having succeeded in taming those that had periodically strayed from the pack, Sin Dae smirked and began entering the boss room.
"Just in case..."
As he entered, Sin Dae consumed dried jerky made from ogre and troll meat from his bag.
Seeing the message that his defense and recovery had increased, a wide grin spread across his face.
"Alright then, shall we head in quickly, Teddy?"
With that, Sin Dae entered the boss room with the Purple Bears.
A bear wearing a crown and wielding a mace lunged at Sin Dae, but he was able to hunt the monster without difficulty.
[Strength has increased by 52.]
The stats obtained from the monster he had hunted so easily were a whopping 52!
Sin Dae suppressed the laughter threatening to burst from him and began butchering the boss monster.
"Jackpot, this is a jackpot..."
Sin Dae had obtained in one go the stats he would normally need five level-ups to acquire.
Moreover, since his level had risen by 2 as well, he looked at his level with regret, knowing he would soon reach the cap.
"I shouldn't be too greedy, but it's still a bit of a shame..."
Because his Awakening grade was F-rank, his level cap was 20.
Now that Sin Dae could only raise his stats through skills, he stared at his level with longing.
[A quest has been cleared.]
With the boss monster as the last, the emergency quest was now complete as well.
Sin Dae smirked, stowed the mace that had dropped from the fully butchered boss monster into his bag, and stood up from his spot.
"Then what should I do with these guys now?"
The Purple Teddies looked at him with wide, blinking eyes.
However, Sin Dae knew full well that he could not take all of them outside the dungeon.
"Only one of you can leave here with me."
Sin Dae held up one finger and grinned widely. Seeing the bear gulp as it watched him, Sin Dae opened his mouth.
"From now on, kill each other."
***
"S-So this... this is the monster you obtained through Taming?"
In the end, the one that survived was the bear Sin Dae had been riding all along.
As Sin Dae stroked the creature's neck, I Seonho asked in surprise, and Sin Dae nodded.
"Yes. It's not really that great of a skill..."
Since the Taming Rune stone wasn't a particularly special technique, Sin Dae shrugged as he spoke, but I Seonho could only stare at him with astonished eyes.
'To succeed in Taming, your stats have to be higher than the monster's... and he succeeded with a 4-star monster?'
That meant he was an Awakened of at least level 40.
I Seonho had known he wasn't F-rank, but his surprise doubled—he had never imagined him to be at this level.
"Still, thank goodness... No, this is a miracle. Everyone got out safely even though they entered a trap-type dungeon..."
There were no deaths, not even any injuries.
The Association employees all looked surprised, as if this were their first time seeing such a case.
"Anyway, you did great, Sin Dae... You really worked hard...."
Finally relieved that everyone was safe, I Seonho patted Sin Dae's shoulder. Sin Dae merely scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"By the way, what are you going to do with this guy now?"
"Hm... I was thinking of just riding him for now?"
Hearing that the retreat would continue since no one had been injured, Sin Dae decided to ride the bear around for the time being.
"Y-You're going to ride this all the way to Gimhae?"
Sin Dae had felt it inside the dungeon, but the bear ran at a speed comparable to an average car.
When Sin Dae nodded thoughtlessly, I Seonho shook his head fiercely.
"Hey, Sin Dae..... That's a bit..."
I Seonho understood that Sin Dae was saying he would ride it because he had nowhere to store the monster.
But having a monster walk around in front of the students who had just escaped the dungeon could incite fear in some of them.
'I can't let there be bad public opinion about the welfare officer.'
Having decided to appoint Sin Dae as the welfare department head through this incident.
He quickly made a phone call somewhere, then returned to Sin Dae.
"Let's send this guy to our guild for now. We'll keep him at our guild's ranch until whatever day you want."
"At your ranch, hyung!?"
For Sin Dae, who had found it convenient to take the bear around inside the dungeon but had been worrying about where to store him now that they were outside, I Seonho's words were like rain during a drought.
"Really, are you sure that's okay?"
"If you do that, I'd be grateful!"
I Seonho showed a refreshing smile at Sin Dae's words. As he left to take care of the other students, Bak Sangok approached Sin Dae.
"Thank you, Sin Dae... You saved our lives..."
"Sin Dae hyung. Thank you..."
"C-Can I call you Sin Dae oppa?"
"E-Excuse me, can I call you hyung too? Thank you so much, hyung."
The students from Car No. 3 gathered around Bak Sangok, all expressing their gratitude to Sin Dae.
Sin Dae's face turned slightly red at the sudden attention, but he quickly smiled.
"It was nothing... I just did what I had to do...."
He didn't know it, but Sin Dae was gradually walking the path to popularity.
***
While Sin Dae was receiving looks of goodwill from everyone.
Byeon Beomsu, who had refused to get out of the car until the very end and was receiving glares of criticism, glared at Sin Dae and ground his teeth.
"A-An F-rank piece of trash like him...."
If only he had awakened a little faster.
Byeon Beomsu was confident that if he had, he would have been the one receiving those gazes of respect.
"Damn... Damn it all...."
Byeon Beomsu continued to stare at Sin Dae with eyes full of jealousy.
A figure watched Byeon Beomsu with a peculiar gaze, smiling faintly.
'I've found suitable material nearby?'
***
Leaving behind the bear being taken away by the retrieval team from the Baekho Guild, Sin Dae eventually arrived in Gimhae.
Skipping the originally planned itinerary, they were told they would rest at the lodging today, so he unpacked his things in his room.
"We should have a drink together later?"
"D-Drinks!?"
Surprised by the suggestion to have a drink together during the retreat.
Bak Sangok looked at Sin Dae, unable to understand why he was so surprised.
"Can't you drink? Earlier, Seonho said to let him know when we drink too. He wants to join."
"J... Jackpot, two people..."
Surprised by the atmosphere so different from the last retreat that was full of dark memories.
He smiled broadly and nodded at Bak Sangok's words.
"Great! Hyung! Let's drink together!"
"Y-Yeah..."
Bak Sangok tilted his head, unable to understand why he was so happy.
As Sin Dae excitedly finished unpacking and stepped outside, Bak Hyeyeon approached him.
"Um... Sin Dae sunbae-nim."
"Yes?"
"Could you come to the cafeteria for a moment?"
"The cafeteria?"
Sin Dae looked at Bak Hyeyeon with a puzzled expression.
She had received a request from I Seonho to check Sin Dae's cooking skills.
"W-We were hoping you could help a bit with making the anju later..."
"Ah.... If it's just that..."
Since Sin Dae had nothing to do until dinner anyway, he entered the cafeteria and saw students from the student council awkwardly preparing ingredients with clumsy knife work.
"Huh... How do I trim this again...?"
"The instructions said to cut along the grain of the meat, right?"
The students were preparing simple anju for a college student retreat, like kimchi pancakes and fish cakes.
Sin Dae sighed internally as he watched their knife work.
"At that rate, the meat fibers will get damaged...."
"What can I help you with?"
Still, Sin Dae thought that such awkward knife work suited anju at a college retreat.
When he asked Bak Hyeyeon, she merely shrugged.
"Seonho oppa told you to try cooking whatever dish you're most confident in."
"The dish I'm most confident in?"
Sin Dae pondered what that might be.
He looked at the meat and other ingredients and let out a smirk.
"Hm... Does everyone like sweet and sour pork?"
At the words "sweet and sour pork," the students' hands, which had been preparing ingredients, stopped.
They had been shocked, wondering if he was really going to make sweet and sour pork.
"You're going to make sweet and sour pork?"
"How can a college student make sweet and sour pork..."
That was only for a moment as they looked at him with disbelieving eyes.
When Sin Dae began to skillfully trim the sirloin among the ingredients, everyone stared in astonishment.
"Goodness, how is his knife work so fast?"
"It's been a while since I've worked with normal pork..."
Since he had only cooked with monster meat lately, Sin Dae smirked at the feeling of handling pork again, which he had processed since childhood.
As he coated the meat in frying powder and began deep-frying the sweet and sour pork in oil, the student council students involuntarily swallowed their saliva.
"I-It smells delicious...."
"Wh... What? Even the Chinese restaurant in front of school didn't smell like this?"
"Should I make some jjageuri with the leftover meat?"
Sin Dae even made jjageuri with the leftover scraps of meat.
The student council students watching this entire process were so amazed that they couldn't close their mouths.
"Wh... What's with that guy? Wasn't he just some rich young master?"
"H-He must have learned cooking from a young age?!"
"I... I want to try it..."
Sin Dae quickly finished making the sweet and sour pork and jjageuri.
When he offered the student council students a taste, their eyes widened in surprise.
"Wh... What is this?!"
"I-It's delicious. It's good..."
"I-It's better than what my mom makes?"
And I Seonho, who had entered the cafeteria at some point and witnessed this whole scene, smiled in satisfaction.
'Could that guy be the next student council president, not just a welfare officer candidate?'
Everyone had avoided Sin Dae at first because of his rough appearance, yet now they were all gathered around him. Watching the scene, I Seonho fell into thought.
"Wow, Sin Dae. If you're this skilled, you could probably do barbecue too?"
As I Seonho sneakily picked up some sweet and sour pork and asked, Sin Dae merely nodded.
"As long as there are ingredients..."
"Cough... Y-You can?"
I Seonho was surprised at the reply, even though he had spoken in jest.
But for Sin Dae, it wasn't particularly difficult.
"It was something I could do from the start, and now I have skills too."
Among his cooking skills, he could quickly make it if he used the [Orcs' Whole Roast Skill].
"I see... So that's what you mean?"
I Seonho put on a strange smile at Sin Dae's words.
He hurriedly began making a phone call somewhere.