Chapter 5: Using NPCs the Right Way

Stab!

“Squeal!”

[Level increased.]

“That’s ten.”

The way to obtain seasonings at the tutorial training ground.

The method I thought of was simply to use the NPCs.

The NPCs of Unreal World ate, slept, and lived just like real people.

So there was no way they wouldn’t have basic seasonings.

To naturally obtain them, I was doing the simplest thing I could prepare.

Hunting wild boars.

Slice—

I brought my sword to the boar collapsed on the ground.

I missed having a butchering dagger, but as I kept doing this, I was gradually getting used to it.

And finally,

[You have acquired Wild Boar Meat.]

[You have acquired Wild Boar Hide.]

[Skill ‘Butchering Lv 1’ has been created.]

The basic Butchering skill had appeared.

Now I’d be able to get better meat.

“Right, time to go back.”

I had already gathered enough meat.

Not only had I filled my inventory with it, but I was also carrying as much as I could hold in both hands.

As soon as I exited the forest, I saw trainees running around trying to catch rabbits.

The first person who caught my eye was the trainee who had invited me to party earlier.

It seemed he still hadn’t caught ten rabbits.

“Huh? Hey! Would you party with… Is that meat?”

It was obvious that dealing with him would just be a hassle, so I ignored him and entered the training ground.

Perhaps because the sun was setting?

Mr. Dustin came into view, talking with another supervisor, apparently finished with his work.

[Tutorial quest ‘Real Combat Training’ completed.]

Quest reward ‘Shabby Leather Armor’ acquired.

“Mr. Dustin, hello!”

“Ah, yes. But what’s that you’re holding? I told you to hunt rabbits…”

“Ah, I figured you’d all be tired of that by now. And I thought everyone might be hungry.”

“Well, it is almost dinner time.”

Dustin looked flustered.

Well, it was understandable—I’d ignored the assigned quest and showed up carrying pork in both hands.

But this wasn’t all.

“Inventory.”

Thud, thud, thud—

I took out all the pork from my inventory.

Enough for all the supervisors to eat heartily and still have leftovers.

Moreover, I had used Butchering to its fullest to prepare the meat for grilling.

“I caught quite a few boars. You all work hard here, so how about having a barbecue party today?”

Gulp!

Dustin was still flustered.

And beside him, another supervisor was eyeing the meat, swallowing his saliva.

“Sh-shall we?”

Success.

***

“Wow, how long has it been since I’ve had proper meat like this?”

“I know. The rations are always lacking in quantity, which was a shame.”

“I heard this was all prepared by one trainee who came in today?”

“Really? Goodness. For a trainee who would normally still be struggling to catch rabbits to do this… I suppose a tree that will grow tall shows it from the sprout!”

The tutorial training ground’s evening was unusually lively today.

That was, of course, thanks to the large amount of pork a single trainee had suddenly prepared.

The training ground supervisors couldn’t freely leave the grounds or hunt animals due to their contracts.

So a barbecue party like this was an extremely rare occasion.

Sizzle!

“Ah, the smell is absolutely incredible!”

“Isn’t it? Haha, was your name Lee Chang? Thank you so much. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this kind of liveliness.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m the one who should be grateful to be included in the party.”

“Nonsense! You prepared this much meat for us—it’s only natural!”

“Wow, the more I think about it, the more amazing it is. It’s hard to believe you just arrived at the training ground today!”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“It’s true! At this rate, the [Hunting Mastery Manual] might…”

“Hey now! Freddy!”

“Hehe.”

Starting from where the fire was prepared, smoke was already rising.

Soon, the rich scent of pork belly began to fill the air.

Most of what I had prepared was pork belly.

Thanks to that, the fat dripping down made the fire burn even more fiercely, radiating intense heat.

With the number of supervisors, the preparation took quite a while.

Wherever they got it from, there were fresh-looking vegetables, ssamjang, and even salt!

It was exactly the spread I had hoped for.

‘If we only had some doenjang jjigae, it would be perfect.’

Just as I was waiting with excitement for the fire to be ready,

a supervisor who seemed to be the youngest, who had been bustling about, appeared with a troubled expression.

“Mr. Dustin, what should we do? We’ve run out of firewood…”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake. The trainee who brought the meat is right here. How could we forget about him!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect we would suddenly need this much firewood…”

“Excuses! Lee Chang, please wait a moment. I’ll go get some wood right away.”

Life at the tutorial training ground was quiet.

As he said, normally there would be no need for this much firewood all of a sudden.

But I didn’t want to trouble them for nothing.

I had an excellent source of firewood—no, a fire spirit.

“It’s okay. I’ll grill the meat.”

“Huh? Didn’t you hear? We’re short on firewood. Just wait a bit; I’ll bring some right away.”

Well, he probably knew exactly what abilities and items a trainee who had just entered the training ground would have.

He wouldn’t think I had any way to make fire.

The only way to stop him was to show him my ability directly.

Without hesitation, I reached my hand toward the stove.

“No firewood needed. Salamander, summon.”

Whoosh!

“What?”

The fire spirit Salamander, summoned with a small amount of mana.

Though its unique level had increased, it was still small enough to fit in my palm.

– Kkyuu!

Was it happy just to be summoned?

It hopped around excitedly on my palm.

“Could you light the fire? Like before.”

– Kkyu!

Whoosh!

As soon as it entered the stove, the fire blazed up hot.

‘This is incredibly convenient.’

Unlike using wood or charcoal, there was no need to wait for the fire to heat up.

Maybe because we had already grilled meat once before?

Salamander waited for me with flames that seemed just right.

“Good heavens, a spirit! Isn’t that a fire spirit!”

“A fire spirit! Wasn’t the one that trainee who got the [Spirit Mastery Manual] last time managed to obtain an earth spirit?”

“That’s right. Fire spirits are the most difficult to contract among natural spirits… Young man! You can’t just casually mention the manuals!”

“Aah! I’m sorry!”

Whether they made a racket or not,

at this moment, the most important thing to me was the meat.

Instead of the crude wooden chopsticks, I used proper tongs this time to lift the pre-sliced pork belly.

Sizzle!

“Gulp!”

As soon as I put the meat on, the surrounding noise disappeared completely.

Instead, only the sound of people swallowing their saliva could be heard.

Unlike before, the meat wasn’t cut into bite-sized pieces but into fairly large chunks.

“Ah, this is it. Grilling it whole like this keeps the juices alive!”

“W-well, that’s true. The sheen is no joke.”

“Gulp!”

The characteristic fatty texture of pork belly!

Unlike earlier when I grilled on a solid stone, the perforated grill let the fat drip down nicely.

– Kkyuu!

Salamander seemed to enjoy it too.

Moreover, unlike with other fires, Salamander adjusted the flame itself when fat dripped down, so it couldn’t have been easier.

When both sides of the pork belly had become nicely golden,

Swoosh—

I took out the sword I had cleaned after preparing the meat earlier.

“No. You’re not going to cut the meat with that, are you?”

“I have scissors here!”

“It’s fine. I’m used to this.”

My hands were already well warmed up from hunting the boars.

Besides, unlike using scissors, while holding a sword, ‘Sword Mastery’ was active.

Cutting meat was simple.

Slice!

“That’s one of the highest-quality training swords…”

“I prepared it myself…”

“Wow! But he really cuts it well! I guess the Scarecrow Slayer title isn’t for nothing.”

‘Scarecrow Slayer, what is that.’

Using the tongs in my left hand to hold the pork belly in place,

I cut the thick meat into bite-sized pieces.

The one-handed sword in my hand narrowly avoided the thin grill and cleanly sliced only the meat.

Only after the light pink flesh thus revealed was also cooked,

“The ones I’ve set aside are okay to eat. Let’s dig in now.”

“Thank you for the meal!”

“Thank you for the meal!”

Everyone started eating, and I couldn’t just stand there staring.

I used the tongs I was holding to pick up a piece of meat and lightly dipped it in coarse salt.

“Salt first is always the best!”

Munch!

As soon as I put the meat in my mouth, the savory salt flavor stimulated my taste buds.

Followed by a tender texture and the smoky aroma rising from the grill!

“Ah!”

Grilling on a wire rack gave it a perfect smoky flavor.

Moreover, because it was grilled in large chunks, the inside was full of juices—it was better than any pork belly you’d buy in reality.

The same was true for everyone else.

“I really like it with wasabi!”

“Ah, meat is best with ssamjang.”

“Ssamjang is good too. If you put a perilla leaf on top of some lettuce, add two pieces of meat, and top it with plenty of ssamjang!”

“Ah~.”

“Huh? What are you doing? You’re supposed to make your own.”

“So stingy!”

Heh—.

Seeing the supervisors eating happily brought a satisfied smile to my face.

This was the happiness of being the one grilling.

– Kkyuu!

“Ah, right. Let me wrap you some.”

Using Mr. Dustin’s recipe as a reference, I piled plenty of meat onto the wrap vegetables.

Wanting to share, I unconsciously blew on the hot meat and put it into Salamander’s mouth.

‘Ah, right. This guy is a fire spirit.’

The wrap seemed quite large because I’d added two pieces of meat.

I was worried it wouldn’t fit in one bite, but the creature defiantly stuffed the whole wrap into its mouth and munched.

And a moment later,

– Kkyu, kkyuuu!

“Whoa, the meat’s burning! Wait!”

It started getting excited.

It must have been so delicious that it raced around inside the stove, turning up the heat.

Thanks to that, everyone, including me, quickly picked up their chopsticks and tongs to save the meat.

[Due to successful fulfillment of the contract, your fire spirit Salamander is satisfied.]

[Spirit Summoning’s skill level increases.]

[Salamander’s unique level increases.]

‘…Was raising spirit skills and unique levels always this easy?’

No.

It definitely wasn’t.

As a player who had even summoned the Spirit King, I knew very well how difficult they were to raise.

For example, to raise Ignis’s unique level, I had to hunt a high-rank boss monster called the ‘Corrupted Fire Spirit, Achnom’.

And yet such a unique level increased from just a piece of meat.

‘Is it because it’s a low-class spirit?’

That could be.

The growth rate of the Fire Spirit King Ignis and that of a low-class fire spirit was bound to be different.

Anyway, my pondering was brief.

As I fed Salamander piece after piece of meat as it regained its composure, the pork belly was quickly running out.

“Haha, it’s been so long since I’ve had meat that I ate too much.”

“I thought we wouldn’t be able to finish it all! But my stomach is stuffed!”

“Then shall we start wrapping things up?”

Rustle—.

The thing I had prepared earlier.

I took out the secret ingredient I had been briefly aging.

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