Chapter 107

Chapter 107: Rin Has Gained an Aunt

At the spot where Elena Misha had crumbled into ash and vanished, a single black orb lay.

I approached and picked it up.

[Essence of Dikreta]

Essence of Dikreta?

The moment I touched it, filthy desires began creeping in, trying to consume me.

'Is this what did that to Elena Misha?'

And in that instant—

THUMP!

from within the black orb, the gaze of someone surfaced.

Eyes in which deep crimson-black light wavered.

Those eyes fixed on me.

Then, as if whispering into the depths of my mind, a voice reached me.

—Is Elena Misha dead? Acting as she pleased, she met a foolish end. But no matter. When I open my eyes again, I will come take back what is mine myself.

And then the eyes closed once more.

Soon, the black orb crumbled into ash and scattered, vanishing.

'What was that...?'

Eyes more savage even than the Named Doppelganger.

A gaze so intense it froze my body.

'That must be the master the Lich and Elena Misha spoke of.'

My mind, which had been clouded with various urges, regained its calm.

I understood now why Elena Misha had thanked me.

She must have been grateful to be freed from those dizzying, filthy emotions.

[You have succeeded in clearing the Third Floor Rift.]
[As this is a special dungeon, the door leading to the Fourth Floor of the Rift cannot be opened.]

So it hadn't been a standard dungeon after all.

That must be why there was no reward, either.

That was a bit disappointing.

***

After drinking another Highest-Grade Potion and sprinkling some on the wound, my injury closed.

Ji-young, still feeling guilty about having stabbed me, kept fidgeting restlessly.

"Chef, I'm so sorry again...!"

"What's there to be sorry about? You were being controlled—there was nothing you could do."

"Still, I should have resisted with willpower."

"Oh, please."

Eriksson, too, had had his thigh and shoulder pierced during the fight.

He had largely recovered thanks to potions.

The elder Sword Saint had also suffered a sword wound on his forearm during his fight with Gerald, and had been treated.

'Gerald had a sword wound on his thigh too.'

In other words, the elder and Gerald had fought on roughly even terms.

Within Gerald's Gravitational Field skill, at that.

Thanks to the Sovereign's Bond buff, the elder had clearly grown stronger.

'Once his stats rise a bit more, he might reach nearly Low Transcendent-Grade.'

Among the S-Rank Quartet, the elder Sword Saint was still overwhelmingly the strongest.

Anyway, I stowed Gerald's corpse into Acresia.

We had been at odds, but I couldn't just leave him here.

After that, I took some time to recover my mana and body.

For recovery, eating was important too.

But my body was too exhausted to move much.

Fortunately, there was a cook who could cook in my place.

"All right, while I recover my mana, how about I see Ji-young's cooking skills?"

"Huh? A-ah, yes! Chef!"

The response and gaze came as sharp as during her apprentice days at Pungjeong.

I took out a table, a magical burner, and various cooking tools along with stew ingredients.

"Make a simple stew with the ingredients I've laid out."

"Yes, Chef!"

I lay down, using Bell's back as a pillow, and watched her work.

CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP!

The steady rhythm of ingredients being sliced—not bad at all.

WHOOSH!

She began charring several bell peppers over the flame.

'Oh?'

The difficulty of the stew-making task I'd set was that I hadn't provided tomato sauce.

Instead, I'd given her paprika powder.

'Stew it is, but rather than a tomato-based stew, I'd tasked her with making it paprika-based.'

Producing the umami of a stew without tomatoes wasn't easy.

Not unless you added MSG-containing seasonings.

I had deliberately not provided MSG-containing seasonings, either.

However, if you charred bell peppers over an open flame, the umami that erupted was no less intense than that of tomatoes.

'She understands my intent for the task exactly.'

Curious, I rose to watch Ji-young cook.

She charred the outside of the bell peppers black, then peeled off the burnt skin.

She sliced them finely and dropped them into a pan where bacon and onions were sautéing.

On top she added caraway, crushed red pepper, and Hungarian paprika powder, and stirred them well.

Next she added beef and sautéed it thoroughly, then poured in water and added chopped celery, carrot, and parsley to boil.

Then she added potato and let it cook through, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Once the potato was cooked, she turned off the heat, tossed in a generous amount of parsley, and gave it a good stir to finish.

'The cooking method and order are close to Hungarian goulash.'

Ji-young ladled the paprika goulash into a bowl and served it to me along with a spoon.

"Chef, with the ingredients given, I made the best dish I could within my knowledge."

"Oh? Let me have a taste first."

"Yes."

Ji-young swallowed hard, looking nervous.

As though she were taking a practical interview for a restaurant kitchen.

First I smelled the aroma.

'Aroma—pass.'

Then I tasted it.

'No stock was used, but thanks to the bacon fat and a generous amount of beef, the flavors blend together as richly as if stock had been used. On top of that, the charred bell peppers perfectly replace the umami of tomatoes, with just the right touch of heat. A good harmony.'

Vegetable doneness, meat doneness, and texture—all pass.

"Producing a Hungarian goulash flavor without tomatoes, using only paprika, isn't easy—you've done well."

"Hehe! That's because I learned it from the Chef. You always emphasized the umami of bell peppers."

That was true.

In fine dining, natural seasonings were often used in place of artificial ones.

And one of the most-used among them was charred bell pepper.

"In any case, you read my intent well, and the cooking order and result were solid. Pass!"

"Yes! I passed! Then can I start from tomorrow?"

"Pardon...? What are you talking about, Ji-young?"

I'd just meant the taste of the dish had passed.

"Huh...? Wasn't that a hiring interview?"

"You work at Bellice Buffet, which Chef Seo Yeong-ho runs, don't you?"

"Bellice closed down. Chef Seo couldn't keep up with the debt."

"Oh..."

Ji-young continued,

"So I'd just become unemployed, and when Elena Misha approached me saying she'd make me Awakened, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker."

She scratched her head.

"Falling for a line like that—such a fool. And how much must you have been singing around about wanting to become Awakened, for that woman to come find you?"

Of course, she'd come looking because I was Ji-young's acquaintance, to use her as leverage.

"Hehe...! Right? Well, thing is, I was so desperate to learn cooking under the Head Chef again that I'd have grabbed at a straw. Still, I did become Awakened, didn't I? Ha!"

Ji-young flexed her arm.

Even as an Awakened, she still looked small.

Just then, the S-Rank Hunters came over.

"Are you giving us some too? I'm hungry."

"...Smells good."

"Could we have a bowl?"

At that, Ji-young nodded.

"Of course!"

I told the S-Rank Quartet,

"She's the new kitchen staff for the Rift restaurant. Please try it and give your evaluations."

"Oh, a new member of the household? A pleasure to work with you."

"Well then, I suppose we should vet her properly."

At that, Ji-young rejoiced.

"Chef, does that mean you're hiring me?!"

"Yes. I did need an Awakened cook to assist me anyway."

"Yes! I'll do my best, Chef!"

The elder Sword Saint, having tasted the stew beside me, spoke.

"Mm! Delicious. Miss Ji-young seems to be far more skilled than I am."

"Well, Ji-young is a cooking specialist. And she's from Pungjeong, too. Are you, perhaps, feeling a bit bittersweet about being replaced from kitchen assistant duty?"

"I am, yes. Learning cooking beside you was enjoyable in its own way, Master Seon-u."

"I'm glad to hear it was."

We finished the stew.

After resting for a couple of hours and recovering my mana,

I opened a Gate Portal toward the building.

"Please go ahead. I'll attempt the Dungeon Closure and follow right behind."

"Understood."

My companions went through the Gate Portal first and left the dungeon.

I immediately used Dungeon Closure, a skill in the Dungeon Creation line.

[You have used Dungeon Closure. The dungeon will soon begin to collapse. (Time remaining until complete collapse: 15 minutes.)]

As expected, it had worked.

With this, the Rift that had opened near my building would close as well.

I had saved my twenty-four billion won.

As the dungeon began to crumble, I moved through the Gate Portal.

Once we had returned to the building, we headed to the Rift entrance.

And then—

FSSSHHH!

The entrance to the Third Floor Rift began to close.

Soon, the Rift vanished without a trace.

Cheers erupted.

Not only the Hunters but the Rift Management Bureau staff, the Director, the Deputy Director, and the Hunter Association people all cheered.

"Whooooa!!"

"The Third Floor Rift really closed!"

"My place is around here—it got caught in the two-hundred-meter radius too...! Ah, I could cry."

There were Hunters in the same predicament as me.

We had protected his property's value, too.

Satisfying, that.

Then—

"An Seon-u! An Seon-u!"

Everyone began to chant my name.

Even the S-Rank Quartet and Ji-young.

"Everyone, this isn't something I did alone—please, don't!"

It had been the work of my companions and me together.

But it was no use.

The Director rushed in first and grabbed hold of me.

Then came the celebratory tossing.

'How embarrassing...'

I really wasn't the attention-seeking type.

My face burned and my heart pounded at being the center of this.

And—

CLICK!

Reporter An Jae-hyeok was photographing me being tossed into the air.

***

After the incident was settled, I stopped briefly by the Rift Management Bureau to hand over Gerald's body.

I had already explained in the car what had happened.

Director Jeong Jae-yong and Deputy Director Kim Cheol-su wore grave expressions.

Then the Director spoke.

"Elena Misha and Gerald. Gerald's reputation has already fallen to the ground, so that's one thing, but Elena Misha carries considerable symbolic weight."

"Indeed. She was the first S-Rank Hunter. And her skill was historic as well."

"That's right. Her going missing had been a huge shock to the United Kingdom, her home country. Finding out she had been on the side of some unknown evil and had become a vampire monster will be hard for the UK to accept."

"True. Though it seems she hadn't wanted it to be so."

"And with no body left, they won't easily believe it, either."

"I imagine not."

"A difficult matter. For now, we'll hand Gerald's body to the U.S. Rift Management Bureau, his home country. We'll list Hunter Gerald's cause of death as: became a puppet of the Third Floor Rift's boss, was controlled by it, and died of heart failure when the boss died. We'll table the Elena Misha matter for now."

"Understood."

With that, we wrapped up for the moment.

I returned to the building and opened a Gate Portal to head to the Rift with my companions.

"Go on in, Ji-young."

"Y-yes...!"

Ji-young, stepping properly into a Rift while fully conscious for the first time, was very tense.

She followed the S-Rank Hunters through the portal.

'Ria must be very worried.'

I'd caused my pregnant wife to worry.

Hardly up to the mark as a husband.

Feeling apologetic toward Ria, I walked toward the portal.

***

As I stepped through, Rin ran up and wrapped herself around me.

"Papa!"

"Rin, were you worried?"

"Yes, I was wowwied."

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

Ria approached as well.

She was smiling at me softly.

"I'm back, Ria."

"Welcome home, darling."

I stepped over and embraced her.

"You were worried, weren't you? I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This time it was something you absolutely had to handle. I'm just glad and grateful you came back safe."

I kissed Ria on the cheek and released the embrace.

Ji-young, stepping into the Fourth Floor of the Rift—let alone the Rift house—for the first time, stood with her mouth open, taking in the surroundings.

Watching her, Rin asked,

"Papa, who's dat?"

"From now on, Rin, she'll be your aunt—Aunt Ji-young. Aunt Song Ji-young."

"Aunt Ji-young?"

"Right. You can call her Aunt."

Ji-young looked at Rin too.

Rin tugged at Ji-young's sleeve.

"Auntie...!"

When Rin called out to her shyly, Ji-young's expression melted.

"Oh my, she's too cute...!"