novelraw Chapter 21 : Oxtail Soup (1)
Chapter 21 : Oxtail Soup (1)
Chapter 21 - Oxtail Soup (1)
『 Translator – Divinity 』
I used to hate the phrase 'I'd have no regrets even if I died'.
If you die, it's the end, what do you mean no regrets.
You have to live as long as possible and enjoy everything there is to enjoy.
That was what I thought.
However,
For this moment, I think I can understand it a little.
The meaning of the phrase 'to have no regrets even if I died'.
'So this is what I endured for all this time.'
Enduring while being beaten by Bert, killing Bert, surviving Flaco, and making the shop a popular spot—nearly 7 months.
Because those times of perseverance were contained in this single spoonful of gukbap.
[N: Gukbap, literally means "soup with rice." It is a simple and hearty meal where cooked rice is served directly in a hot soup or broth, often with various other ingredients such as meat, vegetables, and seasonings.]
Drip.
Tears streamed down.
The gukbap I love.
Oxtail soup isn't my absolute favorite, but still, gukbap is gukbap.
It was the moment I understood why I loved gukbap, and I was met with the most radiant moment of being alive.
Therefore,
'Let's keep surviving from now on.'
Since when was it.
My vision was translucent.
Because tears were blurring my sight.
But this kind of inconvenience cannot interfere with my sense of taste.
Regardless of whether the roof of my mouth got scalded or not, I attacked the hot gukbap with all my might.
I tore meat from the bones, ripped the kimchi, and put large mouthfuls into my mouth.
As I finished off this world's first gukbap, full of ecstasy, the system voice was heard in a different way.
< Strength, Body Temperature, Vision, Magic Resistance, and Composure rise by a minuscule amount. >
< Hearing, Water Attribute Resistance, and Mental Strength rise by a small amount. >
Because it was a dish that used many ingredients from the Shop Window, various buffs came in.
Other than rice and Strength, the ingredients and buffs don't seem to match, but I can figure that out slowly, so later for that.
Because what the bonus effects are is more important.
< By consuming the completed Korean dish 'Bowl of Rice,' you obtain a bonus effect. >
< The increased Strength will not drop. (30 minutes) >
I was briefly surprised that the effect of the bowl of rice was Strength maintenance.
< By consuming the completed Korean dish 'Ordinary Oxtail soup (Lowest-grade ingredient : Wild Boar),' you obtain a bonus effect. >
< Body Temperature will not drop. (1 hour) >
< The increased Water Attribute Resistance will not drop. (30 minutes) >
< The increased Mental Strength will not drop. (1 hour) >
At the voice that followed, I doubted my ears.
< //For Privilege Holder Only// You obtain a non-shareable effect. >
< Physical Resistance rises by a minuscule amount. >
< The increased Physical Resistance will not drop. (30 minutes) >
'For Privilege Holder Only? Non-shareable?'
This must mean that this buff cannot be applied to other customers or clerks.
And what's more, the stat I received is 'Physical Resistance'.
Although its importance diminishes relatively in the late game, for me, a Hierarchy 1, it's an incredibly good stat right now.
Furthermore, when the system mentioned the oxtail soup, it said 'Lowest-grade ingredient : Wild Boar'.
It was a wild boar's tail, as I expected, and by the system's judgment, it was a 'lowest-grade ingredient'.
In other words,
'It means that using better ingredients will increase the effect.'
Now I think I understand why there's no meat in the Shop Window.
Won't the ingredient's rating go up depending on the grade of the meat, and won't the intensity and duration of the effect change as well?
'This is getting incredibly exciting.'
The taste of a dish varies widely depending on what kind of meat you make it with, but to think that not just the taste, but the effect also changes.
I'm reminded of the meats that used to drop at a certain probability when you caught beasts and monsters in the game.
They were just for recovering the hunger stat.
'My special privilege, the more I dig, the more there is to find.'
It's a bit user-unfriendly, but the more I learn, the more I feel that the returns aren't bad.
Just as I was confirming this pleasant result,
CRACK!
A strange sound was heard from outside the kitchen.
A sound I had never heard before, other than knock knock, BANG BANG, or rap rap.
CRAAACK!!
It wasn't a strange sound, it was an ominous sound.
I immediately put the kitchen knife in my waistband, left the kitchen, and went into the hall—
CRA-A-ACK!!
Someone was hacking at the shop door with an axe.
The handle and the lock were already half-destroyed.
“Wh-What's going on?”
Naba asked, peeking his head out of his room.
“Get back inside and lock the door. Now.”
“Yes, Sir!”
“Call me Bo—.”
Naba disappeared, closing the door without hesitation.
That makes me a little sad.
'No. Get a grip. I have to protect my clerk.'
Because I'm the boss.
KRA-A-A-ACK!
Creeak.
Soon, the door, now in tatters, slowly swung open and people appeared.
I've memorized the faces of the customers who frequent my shop, so I could tell at a glance that these were not them.
'I can roughly tell who they are just by their atmosphere.'
Customers, each holding a weapon in their hand, are entering one by one.
One, two, three. Four.
And,
I knew exactly who the fifth and final man entering was.
He already looks like a rotten potato, but with that rotten expression on his face, how could I forget.
'The bastard who tried to kill Naba.'
It's Captain Hook Derek's gang.
Did they really come all this way to kill Naba?
Why on earth are they so desperate to kill Naba?
Thump. Thump.
It feels like the blood is rushing to my heart, but let's respond as calmly as possible.
Because of what I heard from Jeros.
— Among the guys Derek has working for him, there's no one stronger than Flaco. They're all either Hierarchy 1 or morons who can't even handle mana.
— No matter how weak your opponents are, facing several of them at once is another story.
I don't know how many among them are Hierarchy 1 like me, and I'm already overwhelmed by their numbers.
So I have to be calm.
“I'm sorry, customers. But we're already closed for today.”
“Hmph. Since when does an inn have a closing time.”
The rotten potato said with a disdainful expression.
The sickles he held in both hands glinted, reflecting the candlelight.
“Our shop doesn't serve pedophiles either.”
“What's that, you fucking bastard.”
“Milton. We agreed to take care of it before Jeros comes.”
The man holding a spear right next to the potato man, the spearman, said.
Looking at the flow of things, this was clearly not an atmosphere that could be resolved with diplomacy.
In the end, I drew the kitchen knife hidden in my waistband.
“Boss. That's a kitchen knife, right?”
The bastard spinning a sling smirked and said,
“Someone like him is just trying to stall for time. What are you doing? Kill him now.”
“Yup!”
WHOOSH!
At the rotten potato's command, a fist-sized rock rushed towards my face.
—But compared to Flaco's arrow, its speed was yawn-inducing.
I turned my head to dodge it, and heard a THWACK! from behind as it seemed to embed itself in the wall.
I might have died if it hit me, but as long as it doesn't, it's all good.
“?”
As the bastards were momentarily bewildered by the unexpected situation, a young-looking bastard holding a shortsword sneered and said.
“What are you doing, Santos? You can't even hit an outsider with that one shot.”
“Shut up, shorty. It's because I didn't get enough sleep.”
“Bullshit. Boss Milton. I'll kill him, so give me a bigger cut.”
And just like that, the young bastard kicked off the ground and ran towards me.
But is that really his full speed?
'Is it slow motion?'
No. It wasn't slow motion.
I hadn't raised my eye power.
That kid bastard was just slow.
The young bastard arrived slowly in front of me.
The bastard assumed a stance and brought his raised sword down on me, but I parried the lower part of the blade to the side.
The opponent's side was completely open.
I saw the opponent's briefly flustered expression, but I didn't stop.
Using mana, I recovered my kitchen knife and slashed the spot below his Adam's apple.
SLICE.
“Wack. Bup? Keuk!”
The bastard coughed up mouthfuls of blood, but much more blood was spraying out from the gash in his neck.
'Was he a guy with no mana?'
Last night I fought with Flaco, and a few hours ago, didn't I swing my blade at the Battalion Commander?
Compared to them, this opponent was hopelessly weak.
And,
The second murder of my life was so much easier compared to the first.
To think murder is easy.
I've really... become one of the people here, haven't I.
'No. Don't let your guard down. Remember Jeros's words.'
— No matter how weak your opponents are, facing several of them at once is another story.
Because there are still 4 of them left.
Thump.
The young bastard, who had been trying to stop the blood pouring from his own neck, collapsed.
At this point, it seemed the bastards had caught on.
To the fact that the first sling-shot wasn't a miss, but that I had dodged it.
I decided to bluff the flustered bastards.
Because a fight is all about spirit.
“Who's going to pay for the broken door, customers?”
I pointed at the spearman with my blood-stained kitchen knife and said.
“You?”
Next, pointing at the rotten potato,
“Or you?”
At that, the rotten potato made an incredibly ugly face.
“What's with that bastard?”
“Milton. That outsider, I think he used mana.”
“You felt it too? An outsider using mana.”
At the conversation between the rotten potato and the spearman, the guy holding the axe freaked out.
“M-mana? There was no talk of that, Boss!”
At that, the rotten potato flew into a rage and shouted.
“Hey, you moron! Whether he uses mana or not, there are four of us! Malcolm and I are Hierarchy 1, so what are you scared of!”
“N-no. But still, if that outsider is Hierarchy 1, can't he just hold out until Jeros arrives? Then we're all dead.”
Soon, the terrified axe-bastard backed away and said.
“I-I'm leaving. I'm the one who broke the door, but I don't need my cut.”
And just like that, the axe-bastard disappeared out of the shop.
It's a relief that my bluff worked to some extent.
'It's a good thing that young bastard got cocky and careless at the beginning.'
With that, there are 3 left.
Still, it's a situation where I can't let my guard down.
If they all attack at once, it'll be danger—
“Strike at the same time!”
“Let's go, Milton!”
The rotten potato and the spearman rushed at me.
Their footwork was different from that first young bastard.
They said those two were Hierarchy 1, and I can feel the pressure.
Just then,
WHOOSH.
The underling with the sling suddenly threw a rock at me from the side and unlike the first time, I barely dodged it.
THWACK!
I heard the sound of wood shattering.
'Dammit, my furniture!'
As the number of things to worry about increased, my mind became complicated, but there was no time for calculations.
The tip of a spear is coming for my stomach.
I twist my body to dodge, and a sickle comes in horizontally towards my arm.
Clang.
I swing my kitchen knife upwards from below to parry the sickle, and immediately a spear comes straight for my face.
I barely managed to parry that as well with all my might.
CLANG!
'Their coordination is not the work of amateurs.'
I had this thought without letting it show, but my opponents looked even more flustered than me.
“Malcolm!!”
“Yeah! He's Hierarchy 2.”
“Fuck, let's not let our guard down!!”
I don't know why, but it seems the opponents have identified me as a Hierarchy 2.
If that's the case, the reason is probably,
'Because of the Strength buff?'
When I parried the sickle and spear, the bastards' stances wavered slightly. They were pushed back a little.
It must be because of the effect of the oxtail soup.
And,
'My senses are also better than when I fought Flaco. And even better than when I swung the sword at the Battalion Commander.'
I don't know if it's because of the buffs, or if the real fight with Flaco yesterday became experience points, but my feel for swinging the kitchen knife right now has gotten better.
Clang-clang, clang. CRACK! Clang!
Is that why?
I was able to dodge and parry every single one of the coordinated attacks from the spear and sickle.
Because,
'The spear is focused on thrusts. The sickle is focused on horizontal slashes.'
It was a coordinated attack, but I could read the pattern to some extent and each time I parried, I could throw off their timing.
Clang-clang! KAGAGAK!
'Endure. I can endure this!’
Then, just as the axe-bastard who ran away earlier said, Jeros might come—
THWACK!
“Ugh!”
It was a rock that finally hit my left shoulder.
No matter how well I read the pattern, there was a difference in our stamina consumption, and in the end, I missed it.
WHOOSH!
Immediately, the potato bastard thrust his sickle at my neck, and I barely managed to parry it again and create distance.
'Damn it.'
My shoulder hurt like it was crushed, but thankfully, it wasn't actually crushed.
'If it weren't for the Physical Resistance from the oxtail soup, my bone would have been broken.'
It's a good thing I ate it right before they stormed in.
Otherwise, I would have been completely helpless.
“Milton! Don't panic! Press the attack!”
“Fuck! Yeah!!”
Once again, the sound of blades clashing rings through the inn.
Clang-clang. Thunk. Clang.
And again, THWACK!
The sling-shot that hit my body.
Clang-clang!
WHAM!!
That was already the third time I'd been hit by a rock.
My left ribs and the side of my thigh.
The places I was hit ached to the point of being painful, and I could feel sweat dripping from under my chin.
On the other hand, the bastards were starting to relax a little.
Since they had the advantage in stamina and numbers.
And what's more, my basic attacks centered on the Supreme Sword's vertical and horizontal slashes were slowly being read by the bastards.
Just as I had figured out their coordinated sickle and spear attacks first.
Anyway, the tide has completely turned.
'It can't go on like this.'
Clang-clang! Thunk!
In a situation where I was starting to be pushed back, both sides' patterns were fully revealed.
If that's the case,
'I have to change my pattern.'
If this situation continues, only defeat and death will be waiting for me in the end.
To break this flow, I need something else.
As my thoughts reached this point, the 'thrust' I had unleashed on the Battalion Commander in the afternoon suddenly came to mind.
The thrust, something different from the Supreme Sword's horizontal and vertical slashes, something I haven't shown in my knife work until now.
Should I try it as a surprise attack?
'But, the reason it even worked clumsily in the afternoon was because of the Artifact's effect.'
And at the end, I even lost my balance and tumbled to the floor.
That being the case, should I really use a thrust?
Can I do it?
If I tumble again, I'm dead.
My mind is getting complicated, but,
'No. I have to do it.'
If it goes on like this, I'm a dead man anyway.
'Let's do it. I can do it.'
More than anything, the feel I have for swinging the knife right now!
Better than when I fought Flaco last night.
And isn't my knife work even better than when I held 'One Point' and performed swordsmanship for the Battalion Commander?
So I'll try the Piercing Sword, the thrust.
To do that,
'I have to dodge twice in a row instead of parrying.'
Because it's an unpracticed technique, it's hard to link it with my existing movements.
I temporarily relaxed my body and raised my eye power to its absolute limit.
Dodge. I have to dodge.
I can do it.
Swoosh.
I dodge the spear coming for my chest by a paper-thin margin,
WHOOSH!
and for the sickle coming for my face, I duck my head and give it only my hair.
At the same time, I recalled the thrusting motion I had performed with the Battalion Commander's Artifact, 'One Point'.
I imitate it.
I pull my arm back, the blade parallel to the ground.
And immediately after,
“Hup!”
I thrusted towards the spearman.