The restaurant we arrived at following Reina was fairly large, about two stories tall.
Even before we went inside, standing in front of the entrance, a savory aroma wafted out faintly.
‘This is...?’
It was the smell I’d caught back in the plaza.
The kind of smell that made your mouth water on its own.
When we went inside, oak barrels were packed tightly along one wall,
and on the other side, I could see people already drinking from wooden mugs first thing in the morning.
It had the feeling of a typical medieval tavern.
I liked that strangely warm atmosphere.
- This place is the real healing spot
- The vibe is nice
Reina and I headed straight for an empty seat near the window.
Then, a catfolk wearing clothes like a cook soon approached our table.
Toddlestep, toddlestep.
Because of its small height, the catfolk only poked its head up from below the table,
looking up at us with round eyes as it asked innocently.
“What would you like to order, nyang!”
- CUTE
- Seriously so damn cute
- I want a catfolk too.
- I’m the only one without a catfolk
- It’s fine, none of us have one
‘They’re not giving us a menu?’
Since it was my first time here, I looked at Reina, who had brought me here, hoping to get a recommendation at least.
“What’s good here?”
“Just trust me. There’s a method.”
A method for ordering?
When I looked at her in confusion, she confidently pulled some jerky from her pocket.
At the same time, the catfolk’s eyes widened tremendously.
She waved the jerky gently toward the catfolk.
The catfolk’s head naturally swayed along with the swaying jerky.
Its mouth hung open blankly, looking as if drool might start leaking out any moment.
“Nya-nyang...”
Reina asked with a smile.
“What’s today’s recommended dish?”
“Vegetable soup and mackerel, nyang...”
“Then we’ll have that.”
The jerky was naturally handed over to the catfolk.
After receiving the jerky, the catfolk seemed unable to contain its joy and ran toward the kitchen while humming.
“Got it, nyang!! I’ll bring it as fast as I can, nya-na-nyang!!”
‘Was that a bribe?’
She had that catfolk wrapped around her finger.
It felt almost like she was training it.
Seeing how used to it she looked, I stared at her with suspicious eyes.
“What? What is it?”
“You look very used to that.”
“W-what do you mean?”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“You were playing with that catfolk like you were training it. Is that your type, by any chance?”
“Wh-what are you talking about! I did it because it’s cute! This is just… something like a tip!!”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure. I’ll believe you.”
“Ugh, you’re driving me crazy!!”
- Ppahppah2, you were into that kind of thing?
- Catfolk do go crazy for jerky by nature
- Wait, I’m gonna go buy some jerky real quick
- Dude...
In truth, just seeing Reina order so naturally without even looking at a menu was enough to tell me that she came here often.
But seeing her look at me as if dumbfounded by my words made me want to tease her even more.
She had a strangely teaseable flavor to her.
“But I guess you’ve come here pretty often too?”
“Oh, here? I came pretty often. The owner here is good at cooking.”
Reina leaned back naturally in her chair as she spoke.
“That’s why most people from the base come here.”
“So it’s a famous restaurant.”
“Pretty much.”
“So everyone waves jerky around?”
“Hey!!”
Her reactions were delicious.
As we chatted about this and that, perhaps because the bribe had worked, the food arrived quickly.
“Here it is, nyang!”
Vegetable soup with steam rising from it.
On top of the mackerel skin, lightly charred by fire, glossy oil slowly trickled down.
It seemed it wasn’t the recommended dish for nothing.
Along with the salty smell of soy sauce, the faintly mixed charcoal aroma began stimulating my appetite in earnest.
- Wow, fuck... That looks insanely good
- Look at the oil running down
- I’m drooling just from looking at it..
As I hurriedly looked for utensils so I could eat, I couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
‘A spoon and a fork...?’
A spoon, sure. You needed it to eat the soup, so that made sense.
But they wanted me to eat mackerel with a fork instead of chopsticks?
As a native Korean, this was a situation I couldn’t accept.
- Lmao
- Ppahppah2 is eating so damn deliciously
- Hahahahaha, yeah, that’s how you eat meat for the best taste.
- It’s fish, though
- Is Ppah-Hwang the king of mukbang after all?
- You’d probably do well at mukbang lolol
But when I saw Reina stabbing the mackerel with her fork and chewing it whole, I was left speechless.
“Hm? Why aren’t you eating? It’s good. Hurry up and eat.”
At her words, I ultimately had no choice but to stab the mackerel with my fork and eat it.
Of course,
- Ahem, why are you nibbling at it like that?
- Compared to the person in front of you, you make it look so unappetizing
- Maybe you should watch and learn..?
I couldn’t help being compared to the rising star of the mukbang world sitting across from me.
Munch, munch.
‘No wonder everyone comes here...’
It was terribly inconvenient to eat, but as far as the taste went, Reina had been right.
It was unbelievably delicious.
The faint charcoal aroma and the crispy texture of the mackerel skin came through with every bite.
The outside was slightly charred and crunched crisply, but the flesh inside was absurdly soft and moist.
The soy sauce wasn’t overpowering and had seeped in subtly, spreading a savory saltiness through my mouth rather than a harsh salty taste.
And just when that oily richness started to feel a little heavy, what I needed was the vegetable soup.
The moment the hot broth went down my throat, I felt as if my insides were being soothed completely.
The carrots, potatoes, and cabbage were thoroughly cooked and soft to chew, and the broth had a deep flavor, probably from meat bones and dried vegetables boiled for a long time.
A sweetness and heartiness spread throughout my mouth.
“Wow...”
When I let out a small exclamation at the taste, Reina put on a smug expression.
“How is it?”
“It’s really good.”
“I told you. This place knows what it’s doing.”
“You were right, senior.”
Even as I spoke, my fork wouldn’t stop moving.
----
[King of Midnight Snacks donated 1,000 won.]
I’ve only ever played in baby mode, so what does it taste like?
----
A donation came in just then.
To answer the donation, I switched my mic to streamer mode.
That way, when communicating with viewers during the game, I could do so without any interference.
“Thank you, King of Midnight Snacks, for the 1,000 won donation. Mm, starting with the mackerel, the outside has a slight charcoal aroma, while the flesh inside is moist enough that you can feel the oil. As for the soup, how should I put it... It’s soft and mellow, like it warms you up from the inside.”
I’d never really described the taste of food before, so I didn’t know if I’d expressed it properly.
But that was exactly how it felt to me.
And soon.
- Ah, I can’t take this. I’m making ramen
- I just ordered delivery
- Did I have anything to eat at home?
Since it was that time of day, more and more people began complaining of hunger.
It seemed I had described it decently after all.
Feeling slightly proud of that, I finished off the rest of the food.
Reina had already finished eating long ago and was watching me.
Perhaps because I was eating so deliciously, she seemed to have waited without saying much.
“You done?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s get up.”
We rose from our seats and headed toward where the clerk was to pay,
and soon, I spotted a familiar guy there.
Nyeo.
The guy who had spat on the ground when he saw me last time, tried to run away, and got hit once.
It was surprising to see him quietly working as a clerk here.
“Are you paying now, nyang...?”
Perhaps sensing our presence, he raised his head.
Soon, his eyes met mine.
Flinch.
He slowly began avoiding my gaze.
Seeing how he couldn’t even meet my eyes until the payment was finished left me dumbfounded.
‘If he was going to be like this, why did he spit yesterday...?’
Of course, it might have been because he got hit by a stone while running away.
I quietly followed behind Reina and, as I passed him, glanced back slightly.
And then.
Press.
“Nya-nya-nyat!!”
I gently stepped on his tail.
With the surface area as narrow as possible.
Because that would make it hurt more.
It wasn’t as if I held any malice. I simply did it with the kind wish that something like that wouldn’t happen next time.
I absolutely was not holding a grudge.
Leaving him behind as he clutched his tail in pain, I stepped out of the shop, and a scream burst out from inside.
At that sound, Reina tilted her head.
“Did something happen inside?”
I shook my head.
“No, nothing happened.”
“Then what was that scream?”
“Maybe someone stubbed their little toe. Come on, don’t mind it and show me somewhere else.”
Reina looked at me suspiciously,
but when I kept pestering her from behind, she eventually started walking forward as if she had no choice.
- You mean you hit him with your little toe, right? lololol
- You were pressing down with the edge of your shoe lololol
- I saw it!! I clearly saw him step on the cat’s tail with my own two eyes!!
“Be quiet.”
- Hap
- The streamer is oppressing us!!
- Tyranny! This is tyranny!!
Following her guidance, we wandered around various parts of the village, and before we knew it, we realized it was time to pick up the weapon.
So when we slowly turned back and headed to the blacksmithy...
“Now, here it is!! The Green-Scale Greatsword made from Domagirius materials!!”
The blacksmiths, who had already completed the greatsword, were waiting while cooling off their sweat.
Just as its name suggested, it was a greatsword that looked as if it had been made by stripping a lizard’s hide.
The scales densely embedded along the blade of the greatsword had been sharpened, making it seem like they alone could serve as a powerful weapon.
----
[King of Greatswords donated 1,000 won.]
Damn, look at that finish. Greatswords really are the best!!
----
“How is it!!”
At Uncle Phil’s question, I stroked the greatsword with one hand and said,
“It’s pretty.”
To be honest, if you only looked at the Green-Scale Greatsword’s appearance, it was a design that couldn’t exist in reality.
‘Who would embed scales into a sword’s blade?’
Frankly, it wasn’t very efficient.
But that unrealistic appearance was exactly what I liked about it.
When I grabbed the hilt of the sword lying there, a heavier sensation than the greatsword I had held when fighting Domagirius settled into my hand.
“It may be a bit heavy for you.”
“How is it? Can you swing it?”
“If needed, we can change it into another weapon. We still have materials left.”
On the surface, it might have sounded as if they were saying they didn’t think I could handle this weapon.
As if asking whether someone so delicate could lift this greatsword.
But looking at their expressions, eyes sparkling brightly,
I could tell there was something else they truly wanted.
Just then, a donation came in at the perfect time.
King of Greatswords.
Even his nickname showed how much he liked greatswords.
----
[King of Greatswords donated 1,000 won.]
I joined the stream late, so do you know how to use greatswords? I can teach you. Greatsword newbies are rare, after all.
----
“It’s fine.”
After gauging the greatsword’s center of gravity with my fingertips, I used my body’s recoil to lift it up.
Then, by slightly turning the tip of my foot, I gave my body rotation and swung the greatsword sideways.
Whooong—!
The heavy greatsword cut through the air, and the sound of it tearing the wind rang through the blacksmithy.
I crossed my feet as I moved, maintaining the inertia,
and adjusted the direction in which the greatsword moved by switching the hand gripping the hilt.
The movement was not rough. Rather, it was smooth like flowing water.
Whoong!
Whoooong!!
As if the space itself were trembling heavily, the sound of the blade slicing through the air continued inside the blacksmithy.
And finally.
Thud!
I finished the motion by planting the tip of the greatsword into the floor.
At that moment, I felt the gazes of the blacksmiths, who had been holding their breath.
Were they hoping for an evaluation?
“I like it. I think it’ll feel good to use, too.”
Since there were scales embedded in it, I would likely need to make slight adjustments to the details of my movements when hunting monsters.
But this was more than satisfactory.
As I nodded in satisfaction,
“So what I saw back then wasn’t everything...”
There was Reina, looking at me in surprise,
and then the three blacksmiths, whose eyes were shining rather seriously.
“Oho. To think you could use a greatsword like that!!”
“Could you perhaps show me that swing I just saw one more time? Not from behind, but from the front!!”
“How was it? You said you liked it, but there might still be some uncomfortable parts. We’ll hear you out, so hurry and tell us!! We’ll fix it right away!!”
At that moment, I remembered the viewer who had just said he would teach me how to use a greatsword.
“King of Greatswords?”
----
[King of Clubs donated 1,000 won.]
I’m sorry. I dared to speak nonsense... The greatswords I’ve used until now were nothing more than heavy clubs... From now on, please call me the King of Clubs...
----
- She just straight-up executed him lololol
- Hi, King of Clubs
- O King of Clubs, who was merely a commoner all along
- What, so you were just a nobody?
- Commoner cut!