Chapter 73

Chapter 73: The Incident Caused by Royal Jelly Yogurt Ice Cream

When I touched the jar containing the plain honey alongside the royal jelly, a system message appeared.

[Great Honeybee Honey]

[Taste & Rarity: A-Grade]

The Honeybee honey was A-Grade.

S-Rank followed by A-Grade—a jackpot.

I spoke to the Honeybee Queen.

"I'll come back with more Applecherries next time. Let's trade again then."

BUZZ!

The Honeybee Queen answered with a beat of her wings.

She certainly could not have understood my words, of course.

With that, we opened a Gate portal and headed for the Rift house.

***

The Rift restaurant was not a fine dining establishment.

It was an everyday restaurant with a daily-changing menu.

As such, some days I offered dessert after a meal and some days I did not.

'So far, desserts have been limited to simple fruits, cakes, cookies, and beverages.'

Beverages included coffee, cinnamon punch, rice punch, black tea, and chamomile tea.

As a small, casual restaurant operated solo or with Ria's help, I lacked the time to prepare diverse, high-end dishes like a fine dining establishment.

I planned to continue the concept of a single-menu restaurant with a different dish each day.

Therefore, I would not be serving dessert every day.

'Though I do need a fixed dessert item for sale, like the buff dishes.'

And then I had obtained the Honeybee honey and royal jelly.

What should I make with them?

The first thing that came to mind was ice cream.

A style where royal jelly was mixed into the ice cream with honeycomb stuck in on top.

The honeycomb ice cream that had taken Korea by storm for a while.

'But the honeycomb is too large to use whole.'

It was several times bigger than normal honeycomb.

The shape would not come out right and might look a bit grotesque.

'Better to extract just the honey separately.'

So honeycomb-on-top was out.

Additionally, applying heat would destroy royalactin—the most important component of royal jelly.

Using it as a salad dressing ingredient would be a waste, and the flavor probably would not pair well either.

So making it into a cold ice cream seemed the most sensible approach.

'How about going with Greek yogurt ice cream instead of regular?'

Greek yogurt ice cream was the current trend.

Before that, though, I needed to separate the royal jelly and honey from the honeycomb.

First, I squeezed out the honey using a manual press.

For the high-viscosity royal jelly, I scooped it out directly with a spoon.

After that meticulous separation work was done—

I had obtained roughly 800 grams of honey and 350 grams of royal jelly.

"The comb was so big that I got more than expected."

Now it was time to make the Greek yogurt ice cream.

I combined 400 milliliters of fresh cream, 300 milliliters of unsweetened Greek yogurt, 25 grams of royal jelly, and 50 grams of honey, then mixed them thoroughly.

Since I had added the tangy royal jelly, there was no need to add lemon juice separately.

'Royal jelly has a naturally mild sweetness with a slightly sour, pungent taste.'

So eating royal jelly alone, the sweetness was not particularly pronounced.

That was why pairing it with honey was best for bringing out sweetness.

Once mixed, the base turned a color resembling vanilla ice cream.

"Ria, could you use your freezing magic?"

"Got it."

Ria, who had been watching from the side, wrapped both hands in mana and then cast a freezing spell, generating intense cold from her palms.

At the reception, she had channeled mana into her hands and cast lightning magic to save the village grandmother.

When Ria pressed her cold-infused hands against the glass bowl, the yogurt ice cream base gradually began to freeze.

I stirred the freezing ice cream at intervals to achieve a smooth texture.

Five minutes later—

"It's set. Thanks to you, Ria, that was quick."

"How fascinating. So this is how ice cream is made."

"Didn't the Continent of Bellinta have ice cream?"

"It existed, but it wasn't this cream-based kind. Just frozen confections."

"I see."

I scooped it out and placed it in an ice cream glass.

Then I topped it with prepared blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit segments, and small cubes of cream cheese.

Ria admired the result.

"It's so pretty."

"It's a yogurt ice cream dessert that was trendy in Korea a while back."

The finishing touch was a sprinkle of granola cereal on top.

The moment it was complete, a system message appeared.

[Master's Royal Jelly Honey Mix Yogurt Ice Cream]

[Blessing of Dexterity Effect: Training-based growth cap for all stats increased by +1 (upon consuming another dish with the same effect, training-based stat growth cap randomly increased by +1), All Resistances +2]

Training-based stat growth cap......

All this time, I had been training my body under Ria's guidance and had been hitting the ceiling of the stats I could raise through physical training.

This meant breaking through that ceiling.

'If the cap increases by one across all stats, that is quite good.'

On par with stat dishes.

Of course, these were stats that required actual physical training to obtain, meaning hard work was involved—but still, it was a gain.

Furthermore, it was not a one-time effect. Repeated consumption would raise the training-based stat growth cap by a random +1.

Plus, All Resistances +2 on top of that.

'I could sell this dessert for at least seventy million won per serving.'

An excellent effect had appeared.

I made two cups of royal jelly yogurt ice cream and handed one to Ria.

"Ria, taste test please."

"Okay."

Ria took a spoonful.

"Mmm, this is really good. The refined sweetness is wonderful."

"Yeah? Then let me try."

I took a bite as well.

"S-Rank royal jelly really is in a league of its own. The subtle tang from the royal jelly elevates the flavor."

"Right? And the sweetness of the honey is so elegant."

High-grade ingredients existed for a reason.

"Seon-u, what Blessing of Dexterity effect did it get?"

"Well......"

I told Ria that the cap on stats obtainable through training had increased.

Ria was overjoyed.

Her eyes sparkled with life.

"I'll take responsibility for raising your stats. We need to increase the training intensity."

"Sure, thanks......"

And so my training intensity went up.

***

The South American Allied Guild newly arrived on the Fourth Floor of the Rift.

It was the allied guild led by Paulo, who had previously come with the Follow-Up Expedition.

Paulo was also a close colleague of Santos.

Starting today, I began selling the Honeybee royal jelly yogurt ice cream at the restaurant.

I noted it on the table tent menus.

Upon seeing it, Frozen Witch Han Se-a furrowed her brow.

"The stats only go up through training......? I already had the Sword Saint train me to my limit."

"Just eat it and train to raise them."

When I said it casually, Han Se-a scowled.

"That's exactly why it's awful. Every time I pushed my growth stats up by one toward the limit, I thought I was going to die."

"I can relate to that......"

I had been undergoing grueling training from Ria myself for the past two days.

Honestly, the mental toll was worse than the physical.

During the special training period, Ria and I had been sleeping in separate rooms.

The reason was that our nightly flirting prevented sufficient sleep, so we had agreed to use separate rooms until my Strength, Agility, and Stamina stats each rose by one through training.

A drastic measure by Ria to manage my stamina allocation.

'We are newlyweds......!'

Ria was just as disappointed about the separate rooms as I was.

But she had resolved to endure it for the sake of my growth.

I ordered heavy-duty gym equipment.

The purpose was to lift iron to raise my Strength stat.

'Strength increases through building muscle, Agility typically grows through flexibility and sparring, Stamina rises naturally when Strength and Agility go up, and Dexterity improves through specific actions like sewing or knife work.'

These were stat growth methods I had learned through direct experience.

Additionally, Mana rose on its own through continuous skill usage.

The key was to keep mana circulating rather than letting it stagnate.

Each stat required a different training method.

I had previously trained every stat except Mana to its limit.

But now that the growth stat cap had increased, I had to push to the new ceiling.

'I'll max it out in no time!'

I would train the moment I finished with the restaurant.

While I was reigniting my determination, Han Se-a let out a sigh.

"It'll be tough, but there's no choice. Chef, one royal jelly yogurt ice cream dessert, please."

She held out five high-grade magic stones.

A staggering 75 million won worth.

That was the price of the royal jelly yogurt ice cream dessert.

'It's worth every coin.'

After all, the training-based stat growth cap increased by a whole one point.

Of course, it required blood, sweat, and tears to actually raise those stats.

I scooped out a pre-made serving of ice cream from Acresia, added toppings, and served it.

Han Se-a tasted the dessert and was visibly impressed.

"Mmm, this is delicious......! I thought it would taste bad because of the royal jelly, but this is actually good."

"It's S-Rank rarity, so naturally it's in a different league from ordinary royal jelly. Plus, A-Grade honey is mixed in."

"Where on earth do you get these things......?"

"That's a secret."

"Hmph...... well, it's very good anyway."

Seeing her enjoy it, Union Guild Master Blake and Vice Guild Master Chloe also ordered dessert after their meal.

"Looks like I'm going to have to train like mad again to raise my stats."

"I already trained myself half to death raising them......"

Blake and Chloe both sighed.

Paulo, who had brought the South American Allied Guild, also deliberated before ultimately ordering the dessert.

A cursed dessert—eat it and a road of suffering lay ahead, yet no one could bear not to.

'No one can resist buying it.'

Because it was an opportunity to raise stats.

I made the dessert for the S-Rank trio free of charge.

"Are you truly giving this to us for free?"

The Sword Saint was taken aback.

"......Suspicious."

"Why is the magic stone fiend acting like this? Seon-u, did you eat something weird?"

Santos and Eriksson also looked at me as if something was off.

"There's nothing suspicious or strange about it. I've been working the three of you—S-Rank Hunters—for free this whole time. Think of it as back pay."

"Seon-u......"

"Hmm, well, fair enough......"

"......"

All three wore deeply moved expressions.

It was not that touching, really......

If anything, it was a modest repayment for everything they had done.

Then Eriksson said,

"When a terrible boss is nice for once, it really hits different."

I was not a terrible boss.

I was not even a boss to begin with.

I had never hired employees.

The S-Rank trio helped Ria and me voluntarily.

When I asked Eriksson and Santos why, they said they did not really know themselves—they just wanted to.

The Sword Saint said it was partly to repay the debt of gratitude for saving him, and partly because watching over Ria, me, and Rin brought him joy.

***

The gym equipment arrived by delivery.

I set it up on the Bedrock Zone, far from the restaurant.

Three power racks capable of bench press, squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, and more—the three major lifts.

Plus heavy barbells and plates.

Five hundred kilograms total.

'I'm an Awakened, so I should be squatting at least 500 kilograms.'

In truth, even that was not particularly heavy for a hunter with a Strength stat above eighty.

There were powerlifting athletes who squatted five hundred kilograms as well.

In addition, I set up heavy dumbbells, kettlebells, a 200-kilogram large tire, a sledgehammer, and every manner of powerlifting apparatus.

After the restaurant's lunch service ended each day, I trained like my life depended on it.

This was on top of the training sessions with Ria.

And it was not just me—other S-Rank Hunters whose training-based stat growth caps had increased from eating the dessert also used the equipment I had set up.

"Ugh! I shouldn't have bought that dessert......!"

Han Se-a grumbled while pressing 220 kilograms on the bench.

"Se-a, you're barely benching 220 kilograms and already whining?"

The Sword Saint chided her.

"I'm sorry......!"

"Lower it further to your sternum."

"Yes!"

In the end, Han Se-a was captured by the Sword Saint and subjected to brutal training.

I watched for a moment's rest, then resumed my own training.

Standing before the pull-up bar, I attached a 140-kilogram plate to a chain around my waist belt and performed muscle-ups.

And so, in addition to the Rift restaurant, the Fourth Floor of the Rift gained an outdoor gym reeking of iron and sweat.

Then, exactly six days later—

I succeeded in raising my Strength, Agility, and Stamina stats by one each.

I was the fastest among all the S-Rank Hunters who had eaten the dessert.

When they asked me the secret to my rapid progress, I answered,

"The power of a newlywed groom."

I could hardly tell them it was because I was desperate to escape the separate bedrooms.

The hunters who heard this tilted their heads, wondering what being a newlywed groom had to do with anything.

In any case, I was once again able to wake up beside Ria in the morning.