Chapter 6: The Answer I Found

“Huh? What’s that?”

“When you all were preparing the table earlier, I got some marinade and set this aside.”

“Wow! Isn’t this skirt meat? There’s really a lot!”

Skirt meat.

It was that very cut which yields only a small amount from a single pig.

Since eating it as-is could sometimes give off a gamey smell, I had marinated it in advance.

“Soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, pepper. It would have been nice to have other things too, but I worked with what I had.”

“I thought there was only pork belly! You must have set aside all the skirt meat beforehand! Haha!”

Nearly a full container’s worth of skirt meat.

Since it was my favorite cut of pork, I had saved it.

As I lifted it with the tongs, the thick soy sauce marinade dripped down.

Sizzle!

“You’re grilling it well! Yes, skirt meat needs to be turned quickly like that!”

“The smell of the marinade is no joke, isn’t it?”

Marinated skirt meat is grilled differently from other meats.

Rather than waiting for it to cook still, you have to keep turning the meat so the marinade doesn’t burn.

Soon, the sweet scent of the marinade, different from before, spread throughout the training ground.

“Sniff, sniff! What’s that smell?”

“It’s not pork belly?”

“That’s soy sauce marinade. I’m not called a bloodhound for nothing!”

“Over there! At Mr. Dustin’s spot!”

I had intended for us to quietly eat by ourselves, but the sweet marinade smell brought the supervisors crowding over.

‘Can’t be helped.’

Eating together like this after so long made it feel even more delicious.

Until now, even when I ate with others in the game, it was just to fill satiety or get buffs.

In reality, I would just quietly admire game information by myself.

And now,

grilling meat so lively with so many people made even me feel energized.

“What are you waiting for? The marinated ones burn quickly, so eat up!”

“A-are you sure?”

“Well then, don’t mind if I do!”

“Ah! The marinade is indeed best for last!”

The fully cooked skirt meat disappeared in an instant.

Even after eating that much pork belly, they still managed to devour it all.

Seeing that brought a warm feeling to my heart.

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

[Due to the satisfaction of many, Cooking proficiency increases rapidly.]

[Cooking’s skill level has increased.]

[You have achieved a certain level of affection with all supervisors of the tutorial training ground.]

[Achievement ‘Friend of the Tutorial Training Ground’ acquired.]

All stats +2

Fame +200

“Ah, right. You want some too, don’t you?”

– Kkyu!

As the skirt meat was disappearing in an instant,

I picked up a piece for Salamander, who was silently looking up at me with sparkling eyes from below.

Then, as expected, it trembled and burst into strong flames.

“Haha! A spirit getting so happy over eating meat! How fascinating!”

“I never thought I’d live to eat meat grilled by a fire spirit!”

“Look at it hopping around! Aww, how cute.”

“Hahaha!”

Happiness felt for the first time in a while.

In that moment, I realized.

‘This is the answer, after all.’

My life before regression, spent chasing only the number-one ranker spot.

It had been a brilliant time, but an unhappy one.

But this time was different.

Even though it was the same game, I could feel such great happiness.

‘Cooking… this isn’t bad either.’

“Lee Chang! Have a drink with us!”

“Come on, everyone! Raise your glasses!”

“Cheers!”

Laughter from the supervisors filled the air as the night at the training ground slowly passed.

***

“Mr. Dustin, aren’t you going to sleep? Everyone else has already laid out their beds and gone to sleep.”

“Ah, Freddy. You’re here.”

The barbecue party at the tutorial training ground, which hadn’t been planned.

Afterward, late at night,

Dustin sat on a chair, leisurely basking in the moonlight.

Deep in thought.

“That trainee. Isn’t he truly remarkable?”

“He was incredible! Swordsmanship, spirits, cooking! From the way he handled spirits, it seemed like he might have talent in magic too!”

“That’s right. He was truly remarkable. But…”

“I know. The [Sword Mastery Manual], the [Magic Mastery Manual], the [Spirit Mastery Manual]… all the manuals that were in the training ground have already found their owners.”

The training ground held many different manuals.

Besides the ‘main’ ones, there were also the [Spearmanship Manual], the [Assassination Manual], the [Hunting Manual], and so on.

All of them contained the essence of each field.

All were created by beings called heroes of their respective fields.

There was only one of each in the world.

They were such things.

But all of them had already found owners.

Because, due to orders from above, they had all been given to trainees who showed talent.

They couldn’t just ignore the orders from above and wait indefinitely for the best talent, not knowing when they might appear.

Just last week, the last of the training ground’s manuals had passed into another trainee’s hands.

“You did the right thing. It couldn’t be helped. Even without a manual, that trainee will become strong enough.”

“There is… one.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s still one left, isn’t there? Though it’s not in the training ground.”

Dustin’s eyes gleamed with unusual intensity.

Freddy, being his closest companion, could immediately guess his thoughts.

“But that’s…”

“Wasn’t the reason our training ground was built here in the first place because of that?”

“That may be, but so far no one has ever been able to reach that place, have they?”

“That’s right. No one has. But…”

In that instant, Dustin recalled one trainee.

Unbelievably outstanding swordsmanship skill.

Combat ability that allowed him to hunt dozens of wild boars on his first day.

And on top of that, spirit magic that no one had taught him.

“Lee Chang. With that trainee, isn’t it possible?”

***

[Connecting to Unreal World.]

[Whatever you desire.]

[Welcome.]

“Ah, I want to eat more.”

After eating that much meat last night, my character’s satiety was naturally at 100%.

But I felt strangely hungry and my appetite was piqued.

I was actually considering going to hunt boars again.

“Lee Chang! You’re back. I’ve been waiting.”

“Mr. Dustin?”

As soon as I logged in, a training ground supervisor greeted me.

Since I had already finished the basic training ground quests, Weapon Training and Real Combat Training, what remained was probably…

‘Graduation preparation?’

The training period in Unreal World, that is, the tutorial period, wasn’t long.

Unless the user wished to stay and train longer, I would now receive the final quest.

‘It’s hardly a quest, though.’

The final quest was ‘Consultation’.

You talked about what you wanted to become or desired, and received help from the supervisor before heading out into the main game.

If you said you wanted to become a swordsman, they’d tell you the location of guilds or mercenary groups.

If you said you wanted to become a mage, they’d tell you the location of magic towers.

Something like that.

However, what came out of Dustin’s mouth was something entirely different.

“Have you ever heard of manuals?”

“Manuals? Those books said to contain the powers of heroes?”

“That’s right. They’re also called that.”

Before regression, I had been the number-one ranker and possessed knowledge covering most game information.

There was no way I wouldn’t know about manuals.

Though I had never obtained one myself, having started the game relatively late compared to other rankers.

When Unreal World first launched, it was said that manuals were given to talented trainees in the training grounds, along with quests.

The [Sword Mastery Manual], the [Magic Mastery Manual], and so on.

I didn’t know the full details since I’d never had one myself, but the owner of such a book would be able to exert overwhelming power in their field.

It was like a hidden class or a hidden item?

The second-ranked ranker right behind me had been the owner of the [Sword Mastery Manual].

‘But, there shouldn’t be any manuals left in the training ground by now.’

If I remembered correctly, around this time all the manuals would have already found their owners.

That’s why I couldn’t understand why Mr. Dustin suddenly brought up the topic of manuals.

“The training ground has, or rather, had, various manuals. If you had come a week earlier, I probably would have given one to you.”

“Haha, what a shame.”

It was a shame.

That was really all.

I wasn’t about to complain about it now that it was already too late.

In fact, I had reached number-one ranker before regression without any manual.

Moreover, I now had a goal more important than that.

To play the game more enjoyably, with happiness.

“Have you ever heard of the Great Hero Gatros?”

“I know the name at least.”

Great Hero Gatros.

He was one of the heroes appearing in Unreal World’s history.

A hero who excelled in all abilities—swords, magic, spirits—and saved humanity during its most difficult time.

But a hero whose records were mostly lost, buried in the vastness of history.

Even I knew very little about him.

‘Why is that name coming up now?’

There were countless heroes in Unreal World.

Gatros was among the Great Heroes, but even during the ten years before my regression, little had been revealed about him.

I never expected the name of such a hero to come from Mr. Dustin’s mouth.

What he said next was even more astonishing.

“The manual he left behind. Would you go and find it?”

“Pardon?”

[Hidden Quest ‘Manual of the Great Hero Gatros’ has been created.]

Quest Rank: Legend

Description: With Dustin’s help, search for the manual of the Great Hero Gatros.

Reward: Manual of the Great Hero Gatros

It was the moment when my past— No, my future was about to be completely overturned.

***

‘A legendary quest in the training ground. I really never could have imagined it.’

I already knew about the existence of manuals.

But a legendary quest?

And on top of that, the subject being the Great Hero Gatros?

‘I was told to just keep going straight, right?’

I passed the front yard full of hopping rabbits.

I passed the forest where the boars had been.

If I went a little further, probably…

“Grrrr…”

“Just as I thought.”

A gray wolf came into view, growling lowly at me.

It was the monster known as the strongest among those around the training ground.

And the only aggressive monster here that would attack immediately upon seeing a user.

“Grrr-woof!”

As expected, as soon as it spotted me, it came charging with its sharp fangs glistening.