The genre hunter gallery was bustling due to the upcoming S-grade promotion battle.

[They say OO hunter is promising?]
[There’s a lot of talk about Yeonhwa hunter, the granddaughter of Yeonseo, possibly becoming S-grade since she took down thousands of monsters in just three months as A-grade, right?]
[Shut it!]
[No, no, I don’t think anyone is coming this time either.]
[The gallery master is holding his breath until he becomes S-grade. Gasp!]
[He can totally crush S-grade, lol.]

The S-grade promotion battle is held in secret, but just the news of the event brings tourists from abroad and festivals, big and small. It could be the place where the next generation of hunters, a massive S-grade hunter, is born. In 2088 Earth, it’s strange to find someone who is not interested in this promotion battle.

Thus, the genre hunter gallery became the most active it had been in about a year, overflowing with countless net runners, malicious types, and hardcore switch users. Hundreds of posts flooded the thread in just one day. Even net runners from abroad were stationed here, trying to get information on the promotion battle.

Then suddenly, a post appeared.

[Hey, I saw the gallery master on the street.](231)
Replies: 546

『I stepped outside for a bit, and I saw the gallery master coming out of a soup restaurant holding hands with some girl. It was swinging so much that I couldn’t see anything else but that huge Seongnyeok pouch. I didn’t get a good look at the girl because my attention was all on the gallery master, but she seemed to have some kind of animal or bug-like traits hanging off her. She looked like a mutated awakened one. Other than that, nothing special.』

[Girl? A girl? You mean the gallery master is married?]
[Nah, it’s probably just a cousin or a familiar…something.]
[Married to a girl? Being a married woman sounds impossible.]
[Don’t even go there, lol! It’s the S-grade promotion battle, why is Isia out there? Lmao.]
[Hey, do you think this guy is just spreading rumors?]
[Nah, it’s real.]
[Evidence, please!]
[How the hell can you take a picture when a grand Seongnyeok pouch is swinging right in front of you?]
[Fair point, fair point.]
[The argument is valid.]
[But even if we assume it’s true, why is Isia out when the promotion battle hasn’t ended?]
[Did she get disqualified?]
[The gallery master disqualified?]
[Lmao, stop joking.]
[No but seriously, does it matter if the gallery master is a married woman with a kid?]
[Does it?]
[Sex appeal!]
[Crazy people, lmao!]

The post claiming to have seen the gallery master and a girl who resembles her became just another thread at the end of the thread, but its ripple effect spread far and wide, like a stone dropped in a lake. Since there was no authenticating photo, it could have easily been thrown out as simple trolling.

Yet, given the timing, it couldn’t have been worse. News that the gallery master Isia was outside during the S-grade promotion battle spread like wildfire. Isia had assured everyone on the broadcast that she would participate in the S-grade promotion battle, and most users of the gallery firmly believed that the gallery master would proudly bring back her S-grade hunter certificate.

Thanks to that, a small pebble thrown into the pond began to create an unimaginably massive wave.

[Hey, if the post is real, wouldn’t that mean the gallery master isn’t doing the promotion battle?]
[Who knows?]
[They say she quit?]
[Huh? Why?]
[Why? Because all those users are drinking soup and then cover their tracks after they get exposed lol.]
[That explains the constant ridiculous upgrades lately.]
[Yeah, now she’s the Seongnyeo of soup instead of a noble saint, right?]
[Ugh, trolls are everywhere.]
[You guys really trust a thread with no picture, huh?]

[Geez, I knew this would happen lol. S-grade, my ass.](5384)

『Bunch of pathetic losers drooling over that girl ever since they hyped her up. What is she, the gallery master? Bullshit! S-grade isn’t just anyone’s name, right? They keep claiming she’s destined to be S-grade, but where are they now? I thought I didn’t like her from the beginning; maybe it’s all just inflated hype? That dude Jinwoo is way better than her.』

[Ugh, did the trolls come to terraform us already?]
[? The gallery master alone defeated a Centipede Dragon and even received a commendation from the association; you call that hype?]
[What kind of new villain are you, lol?]
[Who’s this Jinwoo?]
[Never heard of him, lmao.]
[I’m serious, who the hell is he?]
[Don’t laugh and just answer me, damn it!]
[From what the wiki says, he looks like a gay guy who plays BL coin games while hanging out with his buddies. He should be B-grade.]
[Why did he come to terraform here, lol?]
[Yeah, back to your gallery, dude.]
[Get lost, will you?]
[Ugh, you’re promoting a streamer who nobody’s ever heard of haha!]

[You guys might be looking at the wrong burning pinpoint here.](2311)
Replies: 4348

『(Insert image of Seongnyeok pouch swinging)
Damn, people are claiming the gallery master is a married woman with a child, but isn’t the S-grade promotion more important?
Look at that youthful face. No wrinkles, skin is so firm it’s unreal. She has the body of a celebrity, solid muscle tone showing through. The Seongnyeok pouch is unreasonably big.
You expect me to believe that’s a married woman with a kid?
Lmao, if that’s the setting, it sounds more fitting for an ecchi character than reality.
I can believe it.
But can you?』

[? Are you looking down on the Jangbung people?]
[What a provocation, lol.]
[I’ll show you what “can” means.]
[For real, lol! The gallery master being a single mom is more important than the promotion battle, hahah!]
[Is that true?]
[These idiots really know too much…]
[Your insightful academic perspective has cleared my mind.]
[You crazy bastards.]
[I can’t take this anymore!]
[Hahahahahaha!]
[But seriously, I wonder if the gallery master is really married?]
[Nah, it’s all nonsense.]
[Seriously? In the middle of the S-grade promotion battle, and they’re talking about the gallery master’s marital status?]
[I’d say she’s not just married but also a widowed, single mom, right?]
[Who would the husband be?]
[No clue?]

Thus, today’s idle chatter among the Jangbung crowd and malicious net runners began, speculating whether Isia was a married woman with a child, alongside the S-grade promotion battle.

And that evening…

[‘HERO Isia’s broadcast begins now!’]

Isia’s broadcast started.

○○○○○○○

Even as the genre hunter gallery turned into chaos, Shia’s House remained peaceful.

“Whoa, what is this…”
What a mess.
Waking from sleep, Yoonjeong sighed at the state of the kitchen.
It was not a dream.
That bizarre and dreadful scene was not a dream…

“…..Sigh…”
“Kiiee…” (Help me…)

First, the girl with bug-like awakening abilities they didn’t recognize lay drooling. Isia, on the other hand, seemed to have succumbed to a hangover, her head buried in a corner while asleep.
What on earth happened in the kitchen before they fell asleep? A massive pot was filled with something black like poison and cold. Chopped scallions, onions, garlic, and various cooking ingredients were strewn across the sink and table like it was their bedroom.

It seemed not just Yoonjeong and Isia drank, but even cooking utensils and ingredients were completely wasted.
In simple terms, the kitchen was a complete wreck.

However, Yoonjeong found herself smiling unconsciously.
Her reliable son… no, even though she thought it was a strong and capable daughter, she was inevitably a bit clumsy.
No matter how tired one is, they should clean up after cooking first.
It seems she still falls asleep after playing around, just like when she was young.

Yoonjeong picked up an apron hanging in a corner of the kitchen.
While she did buy a kitchen apron when moving in, it seemed she had never used it; the packaging was still intact.

“Ugh, this gas smells terrible and is heavy. What the heck did you eat to make it weigh this much…”

While both Isia and the Bladed Centipede had substantial weight, thankfully, Yoonjeong was a D-grade hunter.
Having been ground to the bone and suffering just to build her core, moving Isia and the Bladed Centipede to a bed wasn’t a hard task.

After moving Isia and the Bladed Centipede, Yoonjeong started to clean the mess in the kitchen with skilled hands.
She clearly wasn’t new to cleaning or tidying, and now that she had been living alone without her parents’ help, she had almost mastered housework.
Oils and seasonings were neatly separated and stored in the ceiling, and the once filthy kitchen became reborn like a brand-new house after Yoonjeong’s touch, giant mop, and cleaning skills.

“Ugh…”
“Oh, you’re awake?”

After cleaning for a while, she heard a crash in the kitchen, and Isia rubbed her eyes yawning.
The Lucky Bladed Centipede was still unconscious.
It wasn’t just tired; it was totally knocked out.

“Uuuugh…”
Isia seemed to suffer from a hangover as well, frowning as she clutched her head.
Though the body of the Mangja Seongnyeo wasn’t meant to suffer from hangovers, the joy of living alongside her mother again resulted in her downing drinks and food without a care.

As usual, Isia wanted to use the miracle of purification on her body.

“Hey, hey, first drink some honey water.”
“Huh…?”

Isia froze for a moment at the sudden offering of honey water.
Right, that’s right…
I’m living with my mom now.
Mom.
With mom…

“Hehehe…”
“Oi, you boy, what’s with that weird laugh?”
“I’m not a boy anymore, mom.”
“Be quiet, now, drink up.”
“Yes ma’am.”

Delicious.
Sweet.
While using the miracle of purification would have been much more effective at solving the hangover, the warmth conveyed by someone handing you honey water was impossible to describe with words, it melted her heart.

“Must be nice.”
“Glug… Yes. Hehe…”

It was just pleasant.
Simply nice.
For no reason it was good to just be there, to just be together.

“Hey, but this heavy smell. Don’t just sit there, explain what’s going on.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“That! The one with the bug-like tail over there!”
“Ahh…”

What Yoonjeong pointed to was the Lucky Bladed Centipede, passed out either after drooling or losing consciousness under torture.
‘Who could that be? What is going on? It looks strangely similar to Isia…’
The skin color and shape were obviously different, but looking at the facial features and the bigger chest, along with the curves of the arms and legs, Yoonjeong thought that if Isia physically regressed, she could look just like that kid.

Of course, she was surprised when she first saw those insect-like chitin limbs and long centipede tail, but in the hunter age of 2088, numerous mutated awakened ones live alongside humans.
Not only that, but beyond the Gate, various forms of other races and beastmen also came to live on Earth, making a Centipede human not that rare.

“Is that your friend? A colleague? Or who?”
“Um……..”
What should I even say?
I forcibly dragged that 15-meter Bladed Centipede I took from Rotten Mountain Dungeon, had some food together, even did mukbangs together, and even bath broadcasts.
After living together for a while, I suddenly came in to find it in human form, devouring 53 servings of soup and making me pay for it.

‘Hmm! I can’t believe this is happening!’
Knowing Yoonjeong’s personality, she’d probably be like, “Stop with the nonsense!” and refuse to believe.
Isia’s mother, Yoonjeong, was quite laid-back but also had a strong character, so even if she explained the ridiculous story in detail, it wouldn’t be easy to convince her.

But she had to say something.

“My (pet) from the dungeon.”
“Huh?”

So Isia decided to simplify the explanation, omitting the details.
“Yeah, my (pet) so it’s my (pet).”
“…………”

Yoonjeong was silent for a while after hearing that.
She surely must have come to understand it reasonably well; Isia was confident of that.
But that child still remains unconscious, drooling.

[Miracle – Great Healing]

“…Kki, kke… Kki?” (Where am I, who am I?)
After casting the miracle of great healing, the Bladed Centipede rubbed its eyes and seemed to awaken from its stupor.
The adorable gesture made Isia stroke the Bladed Centipede’s head with a smile.

“Kki…?” (What’s going on…?)
Seeing it didn’t seem frightened by her touch, Isia surmised that the Bladed Centipede probably wouldn’t remember the earlier shocking events.

“Is, Isia?”
“Yes, mom?”
“W-what’s the name?”
Hmm, now that she mentioned it, what should I name it…
Earlier, it had shouted “Shit!” at me.
It seemed to have intelligence but didn’t yet know how to articulate, so it must have spouted the most familiar phrase…
Shit… shit… shit is “Yane”…

Good.
“Your name is Yane.”
“…….Sounds like a Japanese name.”
“That’s right?”
“Is it a Japanese person… no way…”

Reflecting on Isia’s words, Yoonjeong bit her lip, seeming troubled.
Some guy from the East, huh… she muttered, looking quite displeased, though Isia didn’t see that expression.

“Haaa, but aren’t you hungry?”
“…Huh?”
“Kkiik!” (Hungry!)
At Isia’s mention of hunger, Yoonjeong’s eyes widened. Yane raised its hand as if it understood what Isia said.

“No, Isia. Haven’t we just eaten?”
Normally, awakened ones and hunters have tremendous digestion ability, but it couldn’t be that soon after waking up, they’d want to eat again.

“No way. Mom, don’t you know? When you drink, you feel super hungry after, right?”
“…….Usually? Never heard of it.”
“Yane, aren’t you hungry?”
“………..Kki?”

Since it didn’t fully understand human language yet, Yane didn’t seem to realize the word “Yane” was referring to itself.
Isia had to crouch down and whisper to Yane’s antennae.
“Are you hungry?”
“Kkiik!” (Hungry!)

Luckily it seemed to recognize the word “hungry” well.
“……Well then, where shall we go?”
“Hehe, I know a lot of tasty spots.”

Fortunately, right after returning, Isia had explored all the nearby restaurants.
Sadly, the soup restaurant was out of the question.
After reuniting with family after decades, it’s just not suitable to celebrate with soup, right?

Thus, Isia called the fancy beef place near Hapjeong Station that Yeonhwa and Yeonseo often took her to.

“Ah, hello, boss. This is Isia. Can I make a reservation for today?”
[Um… Sorry, I don’t think so.]
“…Huh?”

That was a totally unexpected answer…
[Three days ago, Isia and Yeonhwa came by and wiped out all the beef, right? We’re out of stock and closed until next week.]
“Uhh….”

Now that she thought about it, that was true.
In the S-grade promotion battle, they casually met for dinner, and when Yeonhwa consumed five servings, Isia devoured roughly 80 servings of beef, enough to empty the stock kept in the storage.
That simple dinner made Isia’s clothes smell of meat grease enough to require the purification miracle twice, for a very unpleasant evening.

“Yes, yes… got it…”
“Wha? What did you say? It’s not available?”
“Yes…..”
“Well… they say all the restaurants are booked during the S-grade promotion battle due to some festival-like thing outside.”

“… …”
Isia couldn’t bring herself to tell her mother that just a few days ago, she finished the beef at that restaurant.

“Hello? How about pizza… ah, you’re not doing it?”
“Oh yes, yes. Can’t accept reservations?”
“Uh, I’m Isia… Ah, sorry! I was trying to book a couple of days ago… um, hmm, is it not possible? Yes, got it…”
After that, all the other restaurants Isia knew yielded the same result.
In Korea, where the S-grade promotion battle was happening, festivals and similar events spread all over the country, leading to a booming service industry without a bit of spare capacity.
Most painfully, Isia eats like a monster.
The restaurants she called had all experienced Isia’s food-eating rampages at least once, and while Isia was indeed a terrifyingly large client, in a boom like this, they couldn’t let one customer slip in and allow others to get turned away.

‘What to do now…?’

“Mom, is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“…Ah, me? You’re asking me?! Anything that you choose is fine…”

While it was a kind answer, it was a terrible situation for a decision-maker.
The phrase “anything is great” is generally interpreted as “You won’t give me any hints, so I’ll just have to guess what you want and if you don’t like it, you’ll subtly express your dissatisfaction.”
It was similar to the experience Isia had back in her previous world when taking Teresa to a picnic, asking her what she wanted, and being told, “Anything; if it’s your choice, I’ll like it.”, only to meet a horrible fate at a duck soup place resembling Korean soup.
By the way, after a similar experience with Menelapie, Isia stopped taking the “anything” phrase seriously.

Of course, as Isia’s mother, just the knowledge that Isia wanted to treat her to something would make her happy, but being careful would do no harm, right?
Being a good child means not just throwing cash around but also cooking something heartfelt.
When parents receive something made by their children, filled with their warmth, they’ll be even more delighted.

Isia decided doing it right doesn’t always mean going out for a meal.
But she truly cannot cook perfectly.
Before she started eating streaming, she had mostly crammed recipes via the internet while looking at her smartwatch and cooking for roughly ten minutes, so while she’s not entirely hopeless, her cooking was still subpar.

So far, her successes haven’t been that bad.
Wyvern Egg braised.
Centipede Dragon fried.
Walker bone soup with lava long-whiskered whale stew turned out successfully.
Though the orc butter grilled belly pork, well, she failed hilariously.
Fried mad red chicken and World Tree leaf pancakes were successes as well.
And fried corn flies… ah, that also failed…

Anyway, overall her record wasn’t that bad.
With this level of cooking skill, she could surely make a decent meal for her mother, right?
No, doing good deeds isn’t just about cash, right?

Yoonjeong must have suffered a lot over the years, and treating her to something luxurious and delicious would be proper etiquette.
However, the restaurants Isia usually went to were full of customers due to the promotion battle, and if she tried going for a new restaurant without knowing the quality, it could end up being a disaster.

‘Should I cook myself?’
Isia couldn’t cook perfectly but managed to secure some edible meals from her previous adventures.
She confirmed a dungeon searched through her smartwatch. Among those, she found an A-grade dungeon that caught her attention.
A-grade Dungeon, Water Droplet Forest.
With the ongoing S-grade promotion battle, there were no crowds. The monsters here should be… good. This would work just fine!

“Mom, have you ever had unicorn?”
“…What?”