153. The Tower Changed (3)
Sleeping was not difficult.
The Archmage neatly cleared away all sorts of obstacles with 2-circle magic, Wind's Hand.
Then he used 1-circle magic, Soften Earth, to make the ground flat and soft.
"Step on it. Soft and springy, right?"
Rachel walked around over the ground as she stepped on it, and it really was fascinating.
It felt like there were springs laid beneath the hard floor.
"So there's no need for a separate bed."
Baek Jinwoo smiled and settled into a corner.
Whoosh!
In the middle, Explosive Dragon naturally lit a campfire.
Warm flames blazed and softly illuminated the surroundings.
With the summons around, keeping watch was not difficult.
A perfect night where everyone could rest at ease.
"Haah, who knew being able to sleep without worry could feel this good."
"It's fortunate. If we had been even a little later, it could have been a disaster."
As the night deepened, the two of them shared many conversations.
From how things were going in the outside world, to the fundamental question of what intentions the Tower of Trials might actually have.
The conversation went on and on, but both of them knew.
That it was a question whose answer would not come easily.
Just sleep well.
Keep climbing diligently, and maybe they would eventually get out.
For now, that was the best way to think about it.
"Let's sleep."
"Yeah, starting tomorrow it's survival again. Take care of me.... And."
Rachel closed her eyes and murmured.
"Thanks for saving me."
"If you're grateful, then make it worth my while once we get out."
He had received runes from Olivia, but if he had known this place would be like this...he would have demanded something even more.
Well.
If he told her later what he needed, she would probably take care of it on her own anyway, wouldn't she?
* * *
The next day.
They continued moving.
Baek Jinwoo rode a wyvern, and Rachel rode White Tiger.
Thud, thud!
All the summons that could not run well climbed onto Jaggeo's shoulders.
Dampir, Lamba, Explosive Dragon, kids like those.... their movement speed was not very fast.
It could not be helped.
It was not as though they could reverse-summon them here, and they had to match the speed of Jaggeo, the slowest one.
'This is seriously absurdly far.'
Up in the sky, Baek Jinwoo held his forehead. A faint headache was coming over him.
The journey was far harsher than he had expected.
It was on a completely different level from the distance shown on the map.
They had traveled nonstop for ten hours, yet they had not even crossed a single mountain range.
'And.'
The more they kept moving, the more certain it became.
'This is not simply the inside of a tower.'
For one thing, the sun rose and the moon came up.
Although they looked very different from the ones on Earth that they knew, it seemed as though a similar planetary system existed.
A dense forest spread through the mountain range.
Clear water flowed along the stream.
Even wild beasts could be seen here and there....
'This is clearly another world.'
If all of this was fake, then even Earth would have to be fake.
That was how vivid this place was, and above all, how incredibly real it felt.
'If that's the case...'
Then did that mean the boss of this place, Asmodeus, was real too?
Grrr.
'Damn.'
To make matters worse, he was hungry too.
The emergency rations they had brought were now almost gone.
"This won't do."
In the end, Baek Jinwoo made a decision and descended.
—Krrrroooar!
White Tiger let out a cry and approached.
Tap!
Rachel leapt lightly and landed beside Baek Jinwoo.
"What is it?"
"Rather than just moving blindly, I think we need to make a plan."
"A plan?"
"Yeah. We need to solve the food problem, do some training, rest too."
If they kept moving this simply and mindlessly, they would not reach their destination even if they flew for an entire month.
"...I strongly agree."
In truth, Rachel was also extremely hungry.
Summons could only feel taste, but they did not feel hunger itself.
According to the research results, their metabolic processes were stopped.
It was as if time did not pass for them.
Because of that, they had no need to gain energy through eating, nor did they grow old.
'But we are not summons, are we?'
Grrrrr.
Rachel's stomach rang like a clock too.
Snicker.
Baek Jinwoo laughed.
"From what I saw on the way here, there seem to be quite a lot of birds too, right?"
"....You're saying we should catch them and cook them?"
"Of course. Is there any other way?"
"There isn't.... However."
And who is going to cook?
Just as Rachel was about to mutter that.
—I will handle the cooking, my lord.
HunGyo stepped forward.
"Oh."
Baek Jinwoo's eyes widened.
HunGyo could cook?
Ah, right!
The being that possessed the knowledge to teach all summons was none other than the EX-grade HunGyo.
'Like with Grotelling last time.'
There were definitely summons related to cooking too, and that meant HunGyo also had knowledge about cooking in his head.
"Rachel."
"Yeah?"
"Try putting the campsite together again quickly. We'll stop moving here for today."
"Okay."
"Send White Tiger out hunting. HunGyo, Aso, and I will go hunting too. Gale Slayer can keep watch around the area."
Quickly, efficiently!
The preparations for their meal began.
* * *
—Krrrroooar!
White Tiger roared.
—My lord.
HunGyo also approached from far away.
"Oh."
"Wow."
Baek Jinwoo and Rachel exclaimed in admiration.
The three of them had gone out and brought back an enormous amount of fish.
—Waaaaah! What is all this?
Lamba, apparently excited as well, flew around the campsite in figure-eight patterns.
"Salmon!"
Rachel shouted.
—We were fortunate. Salmon in spawning season were swimming upstream, and White Tiger struck the surrounding area and knocked them all unconscious.
Oooh.
Nice.
First of all, the fact that a creature called salmon also existed in this world was tremendously good news.
"How's the taste?"
"I tried it as sashimi on the way back, and it is top-grade."
Damn.
Salmon sashimi!
Slurp.
His mouth was already watering.
Yeah, climbing the tower was also about eating well and living well.... Even if they had to keep climbing, eating well was the best.
"Then all we have to do is sit and wait, right?"
—That is correct, my lord. I will do my utmost to prepare dishes centered around salmon.
Shing!
HunGyo drew his sword.
Thud!
Aso also set down the ingredients he had brought in both arms.
There was all sorts of stuff.
A long stone slab, charcoal, herbs, unidentified leaves, large leaves, mushrooms, and more....
"This is incredible...."
Rachel wiped away her drool as she exclaimed.
She had already envied the summon called HunGyo, but after coming here, she envied him even more.
Wasn't that truly the very definition of "all-purpose"?
"I will start by slicing sashimi."
From that moment on, HunGyo's mad movie began.
Ziiiiing.
Baek Jinwoo's recording equipment captured all of it in full!
Shrrk!
First.
The Archmage thoroughly washed the salmon in the water he had prepared.
Thump!
Aso placed the still-living salmon on the smooth stone cutting board he had brought.
At the same time.
Swish, swish, shhk!
With his longsword, he neatly removed the scales.
—Woooooow! HunGyo is so cool.
—He's really amazing, Lord HunGyo.
His movements were so flashy that Lamba and Explosive Dragon stared with their mouths open in admiration.
Thud, thunk!
Next, he cleanly chopped off the head and tail.
Shhk!
He stabbed the blade into the belly and split it straight down from top to bottom.
Scritch, scritch!
After removing all the innards inside.
Shrrk!
He washed it once more with clean water.
—Salmon has many bones and fine pin bones in the flesh. All of those have to be removed.... .
HunGyo closed his eyes and traced the locations of the bones with his fingers....
Tung, tuuung!
With a flick of his finger, he gracefully pulled the bones out.
And just like that, perfect salmon flesh with the skin removed was born.
—Now, I will slice it.
HunGyo lowered the blade diagonally.
Shhk, shhk, shhk, shk, shhk, shhk!
He sliced it cleanly into 1 cm pieces without the slightest error.
Then he lightly scraped them up with the sword, and neatly plated them on another clean stone.
—My lord, first. Please try it.
HunGyo was a summon who understood etiquette.
Even though everyone was drooling, the lord came first, no matter what!
"Thanks."
Baek Jinwoo immediately picked up a piece and ate it.
And then.
'Ah!'
The moment it entered his mouth, he screamed inwardly.
It simply melted.
The rich, oily flavor of the soft salmon spread over the tip of his tongue, delivering its deep taste exactly as it was.
It felt as though a living salmon were flapping at the tip of his tongue.
"...."
Baek Jinwoo trembled all over with a deeply moved expression.
"What's with you?! Let me try some too!"
Unable to hold back, Rachel quickly grabbed a piece and took a bite.
And then.
"...This is insane!"
Her whole body shook as if she had been struck by lightning.
'A masterpiece!'
This was a work of art.
The tenderness and freshness of the salmon, and that melting sensation, felt as though...it had packed the nature of mountains and valleys into a single bite.
—I will keep slicing more, so please eat slowly.
Explosive Dragon, Lamba, Dampir, and even the Archmage, all took a bite and marveled.
Of course.
HunGyo was not satisfied with that alone.
Inside his head, knowledge about salmon kept flowing in continuously.
'Grand Master Chef' (S-grade).
It was a unique summon that had never once appeared, whether in the game or in reality....
Yet clearly, the information needed to teach him remained inside his mind.
Thunk!
This time, he skewered the neatly prepared salmon onto a sharp tree branch.
He put premium charcoal into the campfire and fixed the salmon over the charcoal fire.
— Aso.
—Yes!
—Your duty is critical. Roast it while slowly turning it at exactly this distance. Make sure it cooks evenly.
—Got it!
—This is food for my lord. Approach it with the same attitude you would use for martial arts training.
—Of course!
Whoosh!
The salmon cooked over the fire.
But HunGyo was not satisfied even there.
Once it was cooked just right, he brought over a broad leaf, wrapped the salmon in it, and tied it up.
This way, it would not burn, and the salmon's moisture would be preserved, making it even juicier.
"Wow."
Rachel sniffed the air.
As the salmon turned golden and the skin crisped up, a savory aroma slowly drifted out.
Charcoal-grilled salmon was not the end of it.
Salmon stone-slab steak.
Salmon stew boiled with mushrooms, herbs, and root vegetables.
And more, and more.
What was amazing was that even without using a single spice, the seasoning came out perfectly every time.
"Baek Jinwoo."
"Yeah?"
"This is amazing. Seriously, this makes the Tower worth climbing."
Rachel meant it sincerely.
More than the food served at a high-end restaurant, food made like this in nature when you were hungry suited her taste far more.
And besides.
Didn't they have HunGyo, who could make any ingredient delicious?
"We need to eat and train too."
Crunch!
Baek Jinwoo said it while taking a bite of the charcoal-grilled salmon.
"If the difficulty has gone up way more than it was in the old game, then Asmodeus will be just as difficult too. Rather than rushing in blindly, let's get stronger as we go. HunGyo will help too."
The outrageous thing about HunGyo was that he could draw out the summon's highest-grade latent potential.
Which meant Rachel too, if she received HunGyo's training, would probably be able to handle even stronger S-grade summons.
'This isn't the time to nitpick over every little thing.'
From the 51st floor onward, it was probably meant to be a concept where capable humans gathered together and cleared it raid-style.
But.
They could not just wait for the other players to reach the 51st floor.
No one knew what would happen, but at the very least, he was thinking of clearing up to the 60th floor with just the two of them.
"Got it. Anything."
Rachel nodded.
"I'll do whatever you tell me."
The leader had already been decided.
It had always been that way since ancient times. The one who fed everyone was the leader.
Rachel was ready to follow whatever Baek Jinwoo said.