Chapter 40 – Lunch in the Garden

“I’ve been watering it, but nothing has sprouted yet.”

Hee-won shrugged and pointed toward the fence near the front door. A signpost that read ‘Unknown Seed’ was attached.

Glancing over, just as Hee-won said, nothing had sprouted.

‘I don’t even know its identity… will it even sprout?’

Instead of voicing her doubts, Hee-na waved her hand flutteringly at her brother.

“Come inside within 30 minutes. Dinner is almost ready, so let’s eat together.”

At those words, Hee-won replied politely.

“Understood! Chef! These days, I live for the pleasure of eating your food!”

“Pfft. What a fuss.”

Hee-na giggled and went inside to prepare the remaining side dishes.

Although it was a house inside a dungeon, a peaceful and ordinary day went by, no different from any other home.

* * *

As soon as the lunch hour started with a chime, Hee-na went up to the rooftop garden holding her lunch box.

The rooftop garden was generally quiet. This was because most people had lunch in the cafeteria and spent their time in the lounge after meals.

This was especially true after the bed cast with Hee-na’s ‘Comfortable Bed’ skill was created.

Thanks to that, Hee-na and Kang Jin-hyun could meet in the rooftop garden without drawing any particular suspicion.

“Hunter Kang Jin-hyun!”

Hee-na discovered Kang Jin-hyun sitting in a corner of the garden and waved her hand.

Kang Jin-hyun bowed his head slightly in response to Hee-na’s greeting. Kang Jin-hyun was still very polite to Hee-na.

‘It has already been three weeks, and he’s still doing this.’

It had already been nearly a month since they became lunch partners.

‘To think the day would come when I’d sit face-to-face with an S-class hunter and eat lunch boxes.’

Hee-na shook her head at the reality that was still hard to believe even now.

With that, she recalled what happened three weeks ago.

One day, Kang Jin-hyun noticed the fact that Hee-na had packed two lunch boxes. He pressed her about who the remaining lunch box was for.

Of course, that was naturally Hee-na’s.

Upon learning this fact, Kang Jin-hyun proposed that they eat their packed lunch boxes together unless there was something going on.

He cited the reason that eating alone was lonely, but in truth, he wanted to keep her within his sight because he didn’t want others to find out about Hee-na’s cooking skills.

Without even dreaming of the latter reason, Hee-na sat across from Kang Jin-hyun.

“Today I tried packing spicy-seasoned braised tofu. Do you like tofu? I like it.”

Today’s menu consisted of spicy braised tofu, sweet beef bulgogi, and fresh kimchi and spinach side dishes tossed just yesterday.

Listening to Hee-na’s explanation of the menu, Kang Jin-hyun’s pupils trembled. This was because it sounded so delicious. He wanted to open the lunch box and take a large spoonful of rice immediately.

However, he behaved calmly like a good dog undergoing the ‘wait’ training. He helped Hee-na place the lunch boxes on the table and set out the utensils.

“Enjoy your meal.”

Only after hearing Hee-na’s invitation to eat did Kang Jin-hyun pick up his spoon and chopsticks. It was a few seconds that felt like a thousand years.

First, he scooped a spoonful of rice, which still maintained a faint warmth from being packed in the insulated lunch box.

The sweet and savory aroma of white rice wound around the tip of his nose. The smell of the rice alone heavily stimulated his salivary glands.

Without hesitation, he scooped the rice into his mouth. The individual grains of rice, full of life, were chewed softly yet elastically against his teeth.

It felt as if he could empty a whole rice cooker with just the plain rice. Today of all days, the rice tasted fantastic.

‘This sensation.’

Kang Jin-hyun knew how precious the taste of this white rice was.

After awakening as an S-class, all food had become too salty, bland, and dull to him. No matter what he ate, it felt as dry and tasteless as chewing stones.

However, to replenish his energy, he had to eat something.

Every mealtime was nothing short of torture for him. The unbalanced salty, sweet, sour, and bitter tastes were frantically mixed together, stimulating his taste buds. No matter how great a chef he brought, the result was the same.

What was more painful than anything was the ‘memory of taste.’ The fact that he would never taste the flavor he used to know for the rest of his life felt extremely cursed.

Until the small woman sitting in front of him appeared.

Food touched by her hands was harmonious. No single taste stood out too much or was lacking.

It was savory, and above all, it tasted like ‘food.’ Not something like horrible feed that one had to eat just to survive, but food that humans eat.

Therefore, Kang Jin-hyun could not let go of Hee-na all the more.

‘I must recruit her no matter what.’

Kang Jin-hyun had clung to Hee-na earnestly, and thanks to that, he was recently leading an extremely satisfying dietary life. That alone had the effect of soothing his highly strung nerves.

“Do you not have an appetite?”

Meanwhile, Hee-na looked worriedly at Kang Jin-hyun, who was chewing only rice grains in silence.

Since the rank of the ‘This Taste is Hand-Taste’ skill rose to C yesterday, she had secretly hoped that the food might have become better.

However, Kang Jin-hyun was scooping only plain rice for five minutes, let alone side dishes. On top of that, his eyes somehow looked a bit unfocused. As if he was addicted to something.

“Ah…”

At Hee-na’s question, Kang Jin-hyun adjusted his grip on the chopsticks as if waking up from a dream.

“No. Today especially, the rice was cooked deliciously. I was simply distracted by savoring the taste.”

At his praise, Hee-na couldn’t hide the smile leaking out.

“I’m glad. Actually, my cooking skill rank rose to C-class yesterday. Seeing you eat so deliciously, Hunter, it seems there is indeed an effect.”

She even subtly bragged about the rank up.

At those words, Kang Jin-hyun opened his eyes wide. He swallowed the food he was eating and said.

“Congratulations. A rank up is difficult to achieve with ordinary training, so it is amazing that you pulled it off.”

“Since I only have skills like cleaning and cooking, it’s much easier to accumulate proficiency.”

Hee-na showed humility. However, since praise felt good, it was hard to hide her grin.

“I look forward to your future development with terrifying anticipation.”

Kang Jin-hyun stared at Hee-na with gleaming eyes.

‘To think the skill of a D-class or C-class is like this. How amazing will it be if she develops further?’

He thought this every time he ate Hee-na’s lunch box, but he had to capture such a talent by all means.

Kang Jin-hyun resolved once again that he would hire Hee-na as his personal chef.

“The braised tofu turned out really delicious. Please try it quickly.”

Only Hee-na, the extremely oblivious C-class homemaker, was chewing and swallowing the braised tofu, completely unaware of his gaze.

It was when they were about halfway through emptying the lunch boxes. Suddenly, Kang Jin-hyun stopped using his utensils.

“People are coming. They are approaching quickly.”

“Ah, what should we do?”

Hee-na didn’t know what to do. If the fact that a mere member of the environmental sanitation team and the S-class hunter Kang Jin-hyun were secretly sharing a lunch box was discovered, Hee-na would stand in the middle of a company scandal. She hated that.

“The energy of the people approaching together is unusual. We should hide.”

Kang Jin-hyun wrapped his arm around Hee-na’s shoulders. In the process, he also showed the meticulousness of packing up the lunch boxes they were eating.

It was just as they hid their presence.

Bang!

The rooftop garden door opened.

“Hey! Come quickly! Over here!”

‘…Eonni?’

Hee-na opened her eyes wide. The owner of the booming voice was Woo Min-ah.

Woo Min-ah pointed toward where Hee-na and Kang Jin-hyun were hiding to the hunters following behind her.

“There’s no one here! Throw it here!”

It seemed she failed to notice the presence that Kang Jin-hyun had erased.

“Hey! Hurry up!”

“Handle it with care!”

The situation developed urgently. Following Woo Min-ah’s instructions, the hunters groaned as they carried something.

It was a large crystal ball emitting an ominous blue light. The crystal ball radiated a threatening vibration, humming as if it would explode at any moment.

“Throw it away quickly before the gate opens!”

And the large crystal ball, thrown along with Woo Min-ah’s shout, cut through the air like a shot put. Hee-na stomped her feet.

‘Ah! What should I do!’

Of all places, the ball was flying toward the spot where Hee-na and Kang Jin-hyun had hidden themselves.

“Do not panic. I will move us.”

Without panic, Kang Jin-hyun held Hee-na’s body and tried to dodge the ball.

But it was at that moment.

Flash!

A blinding, cold blue light erupted from inside the ball. At the same time, space cracked, and the air warped. The cracked opening began to suck in the surroundings like a black hole.

Hee-na and Kang Jin-hyun were no exception.

“Kuh…!”

Veins bulged on Kang Jin-hyun’s forearm as he grabbed a landscaping tree in the rooftop garden.

However, that did not last long either. The roots of the tree he held onto began to be pulled out little by little.

“Uh! Team Leader! There are people over there?”

Someone discovered Hee-na and Kang Jin-hyun and shouted. Woo Min-ah narrowed her eyes and examined the two.

“What? Kang Jin-hyun and… Hee-na? Why is she here again?”

Regrettably, both were familiar faces. Accordingly, she tried to throw her body toward the cracked air without delay.

It was not out of worry for Kang Jin-hyun. Naturally, it was out of worry for Hee-na.

‘The meat party is in three days!’

…Perhaps she was worried about the meat Hee-na would grill for her.

Flash!

However, the speed of the mini-gate closing was as fast as its opening. Woo Min-ah failed to enter the gate by a hair’s breadth.

After landing on the ground, she stared at the empty space where the gate had been.

“Ah, this is crazy. What do we do?”

The Homemaker of the Dungeon