Hwaaaaang!
The Meat Fairy, who had lost all her meat, began to cry sorrowfully.
Having devoted herself to meat, loved meat, and cherished meat, the fact that the Seongnyeo had lost her meat was certainly something to lament and be sad about.
Hahaha!
Feels like we’re just watching disasters instead of successful cooking?
For real, haha!
So pitiful she’s crying, lol!
But I kinda get off on seeing the Streamer cry…
?
??
?
I’m getting off too.
You pervs!
Of course, from the viewers’ perspective, it wasn’t exactly a heartbreaking sight.
They were confused if her crying was genuine or not. Shia had a history of faking tears to make the viewers feel flustered, so this time they just watched the stream somewhat apathetically.
Isn’t it painful to see Shia crying?
Well, it only works the first couple of times. Gimmicking a sobbing session leading to some emotional crisis has happened more than once.
Most of the viewers would probably watch Shia suddenly burst into tears on stream without a clear reason and think, “She’s at it again.”
Even Yeonseo, Yeonhwa, and even Teresa would have realized Shia’s antics.
At best, only Menelapie would react a little, saying, “Oh no! Can I just stand by while Shia is crying?!”
In reality, Shia was not genuinely crying this time either.
Hwaaaang… sob…
However, the sadness of losing her meat was real, and two tentacles that popped out from behind her were drying her tears like a handkerchief.
And there was someone watching Shia.
‘…What’s going on? Is that a Hunter cleaning up the monsters?’
When Shia used a Miracle to blow up all the Fugu Doves nearby, the Hunter Association’s Busan branch sent out a notice that the monsters in the area had disappeared.
Since the monster activity signals disappeared nearby, citizens were informed they could resume their daily lives. A female student who was part-timing at a nearby convenience store received the notice and was ready to open the store again by lifting the safety shutters.
As soon as the part-timer opened the shutter, she discovered Shia crying heartbreakingly in the middle of the street.
Naturally, seeing Shia wailing all alone in the empty road drew her attention.
‘Did she lose something important…?’
Nobody died from the Fugu Doves, so it seemed like she lost her house keys or something during a fight.
Though the student tilted her head in curiosity, the Fugu Doves had made quite a mess nearby, so she quickly shifted her focus back to picking up a broom.
After all, it’s a tacit social norm that civilians should not meddle in Hunter matters.
Waaah… sob…
“Yes, manager. The alert has been lifted, and we’ll start operating again from exactly now. Okay, I’ll restock the shelves right away.”
Sob, sob… huuuh… waaah…
“Welcome. Oh, the Maserati was taken by another customer before the alert rang, so it’s currently out of stock. Yes, I’m sorry.”
Hwaaaang!!!
“…… Guh…”
The part-timer wasn’t a Trainee Personnel, just an ordinary university student.
She wasn’t great in studies either, but since attending university in 2088 was extremely expensive, covering tuition and living expenses with just parental support was tough, so she had been working part-time on her days off. It had been quite a while since she last watched the popular Hunter galleries or streams.
Because of this, she didn’t recognize Shia and felt her heart soften seeing her sobbing pitifully, so she approached.
“Um…”
Sob… huh?
At the student’s call, Shia wiped her tears and looked at her.
Wow, she’s prettier than a celebrity. But what’s up with those huge…? Surgery?
Thinking that perhaps those big assets might be her Awakened ability, the student finally gathered the courage to speak up.
“Um…”
In truth, the part-timer didn’t want to get involved and just wanted to finish her shift and go home, but with a crying Hunter right in front of her, how could she ignore it?
Plus, the convenience store was now open, and now that the alerts were lifted, the area would soon be bustling with people.
It wasn’t like she could leave a strange woman crying in the middle of the road.
“Excuse me… You shouldn’t be here like this.”
… Sob…
“Um, you seem like the Hunter who lifted the alert, am I right?”
Shia nodded instead of answering.
Although she didn’t know what was going on, it seemed she was truly sad and distressed.
Had her companion died?
The alert was definitely D or C rank… but still, one can never know.
Dungeon, monsters, gates—it wasn’t strange for all kinds of abnormal situations to occur, so it was best not to jump to conclusions as an ordinary civilian.
I’m not sure if this will comfort you…
The student handed Shia a 700-won expired juice.
“You worked hard, so at least take this.”
…!
Shia stared intently at the juice the student handed her, and soon, the sorrow that overwhelmed her faded a bit, and she accepted the juice with both hands like a child.
Then, without hesitation, she twisted open the juice cap and brought it to her mouth.
Gulp gulp gulp… Thanks…
Shia downed the juice given to her like someone who found an oasis in the desert.
Looks like you’re really thirsty. Anyway, what’s wrong?
… That is…
I don’t have much I can help with, but it’s just that a Hunter who lifted the alert is acting like this, and it concerns me…
Sob, you’re such a good kid…
While sucking all the juice away, Shia wiped her tears.
As Shia stood up, a state-of-the-art hemispherical drone floated up next to her, as if it had been there all along.
“Actually…”
“Yes, please do tell.”
… I wanted to make chicken soup…
“Oh, chicken soup?”
And I caught all the doves…
Doves?
Oh, the Fugu Doves mentioned in the alert?
The student nodded at Shia’s words.
Wait, just a second… You’re not planning to make chicken soup with the Fugu Doves, are you…?
Isn’t that poisonous…?
Of course, it was said to be a corrosive poison, not lethal to humans, but poison is still poison.
Though some Hunters are resistant to toxins and drugs, it wasn’t certain…
But the doves… the doves…
Tears welled up in Shia’s eyes again.
The part-timer felt her heart aching at the sight of those sad and transparent tears, even without knowing the reason behind them.
I must’ve exerted too much power. I blew everything up without leaving any meat at all…!
… Oh, uh…
I’m a Meat Fairy, and I left no meat…! I’m disqualified as a Seongnyeo… Hwaaaang!
Oh, uh…
I see.
Hmm…
The part-timer was seriously contemplating whether she should report this person to a mental hospital or the police.
It was unfortunate enough that her shift would coincide with the monster invasion, but now there was a strange woman crying in front of her as the alerts lifted.
The doves are so pitiful…!
………
I think you’re the one who’s pitiful…
With such eyes, the student seemed to decide she didn’t want to be involved with this strange person any longer and turned her head away.
Oh…
Now that she thought of it, the alerts had lifted but the gate still remained as it was.
Since there are various types of alerts, the Hunter Association’s reason for this alert was that the gate opened excessively, causing reality to be consumed, and during that process, a flock of Fugu Doves that dwelled inside the dungeon had crossed over into reality.
Excuse me, Hunter?
Sob, yes…
The gates are still open… What if you went into the dungeon?
Ah, there was a separate gate?
At the student’s words, Shia immediately stopped crying and rose.
Oh! So I can still obtain meat! I didn’t lose the doves!
The abrupt change of emotion left the part-timer questioning if this was the same Shia who had just been crying distressingly.
It looked as if her feelings and personality switched in a robotic manner.
Did she just stage the whole thing?
No, all those tears were fake too?
And now she’s smiling wide.
What the heck. Is she like a psychopath?
Thank you, nameless student!
Ah, yes…
[Oh lol, I almost turned off the stream…]
[Is that really how a civilian reacts…?]
[Hahaha!]
[I’m embarrassed for you, for real lol!]
[‘KawaiiHorned’ donated 30,000 won!]
Teacher… you really didn’t have to…
[?]
[?]
[?]
[‘FriedLeavesForSale’ donated 5,000 won!]
Hey, sis, if you’re sad, do you want me to send a consolation gift?
Whoa, I’m a Seongnyeo who doesn’t refuse gifts!
[?]
What the hell does that mean?
[?]
[??]
Now they’re sending hooks again.
Do you idiots even know how sad and pitiful it is to steal meat from a Meat Fairy? It feels like my value and will have been stripped away!
[Please, miss, stop…]
[I’m going insane lol!]
[Just shut up…]
[Sis… I’m dying…]
Don’t worry. Even if you die, as long as your soul doesn’t leave, I’ll bring you back!
Of course, it isn’t that easy to save lives.
Just recently, I had saved the Mermaid Princess’s sister and performed an elaborate Feast Ceremony to break the curse, so I had exhausted quite a bit of power.
But even with my power dwindling, it was no problem to catch doves. Recovery would be quick, and it wouldn’t matter.
Thanks to a kind civilian’s help, I was soon able to find the dungeon gate where the Fugu Doves emerged.
Finding the gate was not difficult.
All I needed was to follow the unnatural smells mixed with asphalt, dust, cement, and concrete.
Since it hadn’t been long since the alert was lifted, there were no civilians around, and the Trainee Personnel from the Hunter Association weren’t visible yet either.
Found it.
Since the rank was low and it didn’t seem like any other civilian had gotten involved, it was fine for me to catch the doves without hesitation.
Cleaning up the dungeon ahead of time might even please the Hunter Association.
Despite its low rank, this gate, which had consumed reality, could still be utilized as resources and land after clearing the monsters inside.
The gate had merged with reality, so it was quite large, and just behind a thin barrier, an environment completely different from Earth unfolded.
As I stepped inside the gate, the first sight was a vast meadow.
It reminded me of the scorching horizon of Texas in the USA.
A large river was visible, but the hot sun blazed unclouded overhead, and bits of green forest existed, but most areas were covered in yellowed dry grass and weathered rocks.
A hot and arid climate, with sand-mixed rough winds blowing between large valleys and mountains.
[Taurus Great Canyon]
-Risk: C
-Degredation: D
-Gate stabilization complete
The moment I entered the dungeon, the drone displayed the official name of this place.
Oh, here’s the Taurus Great Canyon, huh?
Another Taurus.
I feel like I’ve seen this in other Hunter streams before lol.
It’s just so wide that it stands out?
Reading the description in the wiki, the Taurus Great Canyon was indeed a vast dungeon, encompassing a landmass larger than the Korean Peninsula, with an average risk of C rank. It was mentioned that not only the dungeon gate I had just entered existed, but other gates leading to the Taurus Great Canyon also existed simultaneously around the world.
With such massive land, various flora and fauna were thriving. If well developed, an empty countryside could turn overnight into a gigantic investment opportunity—a so-called gold mine gate.
It wasn’t only mineral resources; I’ve heard a Mandragora exists too…
Mandragora…?
Oh, since I’m going to make chicken soup… chicken broth is ginseng, right?!
Mandragora.
Alright. It’s settled.
Let’s make [Mandragora Fugu Dove Soup].
Surely Teresa will love it! She often sought Mandragora in the previous world…
Anyway, although Busan already had many gates under development or completed, today, the development of one more dungeon would likely be seen favorably by the Korean government.
Wow, this place is really so wide…
No lie about being larger than the Korean Peninsula. Wherever I looked, the horizon stretched endlessly.
Fortunately, the gate closing method wasn’t as if it shut down after entering the dungeon; it still remained open from both sides, so I had no worries about losing my way.
Alright, let’s find those doves!
〇〇〇〇〇
After exchanging some simple greetings, Menelapie, Teresa, and Yeonseo were happily watching Shia’s stream.
Though there was a moment when Menelapie tried to rush out at the sight of Shia crying sadly, Teresa held onto her hair, stopping her, they quickly started chatting and bonded.
“By the way, I just remembered that the Elves wanted to give you a gift.”
As if coming to the realization, Yeonseo snapped her fingers, and several large cardboard boxes fell from the air.
The boxes appeared to be custom-made by the Elves, with the words ‘A giant gift from the nature spirits’ stuck to one side like a brand name.
“A gift?”
“Eh, the Lafians are giving gifts?? Have they gone soft?”
“Technically, it’s not a gift from the entire Elf race, but a personal message from Small Olgania sent to Shia.”
In the previous world… or rather, in previous runs, the Elves had shown quite a dismissive attitude towards others.
Though there were exceptions, it was firmly ingrained in Teresa’s mind that Elves weren’t the type to hand out gifts casually.
Hehe, Teresa! The Elves here are those who owe a debt to Shia. The changes are positive rather than a sign of degradation!
“I’ve had Elves shoot beam weapons at me in previous runs.”
“Hmm?”
“Never mind. But what kind of gift is it?”
“I don’t really know either. Just that they cautioned to handle it with care and mentioned Shia would like it…”
Again, when Yeonseo snapped her fingers, the cardboard boxes began to tear open, and their contents began to spill out.
The identity of the contents was…
“Eh? Corn?”
“Corn?”
“……..”
At Teresa’s words, Yeonseo and Menelapie’s expressions instantly froze.
Corn…?
What is corn?
It’s an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the monocot family, highly regarded as a food source.
And the corn grown directly by Elves…?
“Wow, it’s huge and shiny!”
“………”
“………”
Beneath Teresa’s words, it looked exceedingly large and beautiful.
However, Menelapie and Yeonseo found it utterly impossible to laugh, and the two shared silent looks of concern.
Could it be…?
No way, right…?
Oh, come on!
“Hey, why are you two whispering without me, Heroine?”
“Nothing at all.”
Even though Elves think differently than humans…
Surely they wouldn’t gift something like the purified nuclear bomb… right…?
