Can't Stand Seeing Anyone Go Hungry

Raised by his grandmother's hands, Seo Ji-oh could never stand the sight of anyone going hungry.

A student who looks like she's at most a high schooler, working without even getting a proper meal?

Honestly, it felt more horrific than any natural disaster. Natural disasters were just the occasional events Earth tossed out when it got bored; if a child was starving, that was a human problem.

Unforgivable.

Having once been a teacher himself, Ji-oh felt a crushing sense of responsibility.

"Does it taste all right?"

"It's soooo good…!!"

"I'm glad to see you enjoying it so much. Excellent."

Look at her dig in.

I hope she gains about five kilos before she leaves.

Nothing made him happier than watching a young student savor food he had prepared.

She eats so adorably.

Ji-oh himself failed to notice, but the air inside the cabin grew warmer in response to the mood of its master—the lord of the forest.

Cha Ah-ra, already flushed with excitement over the first true feast of her life, picked up on the shift at once.

…Huh. Something feels lighter.

The atmosphere seemed to have eased from funeral-parlor gloom to something closer to the air of an intensive-care ward.

Anyway, this is ridiculously good…

Any so-called "educated hunter," as Cha Ah-ra put it, would have been terrified by the anomaly. She could vaguely sense that this cabin was a dungeon and that the black-cloaked figure before her was almost certainly its master, yet dungeons that shifted with their boss's mood were hardly common.

A dungeon that changed according to its boss's feelings was no different from a living creature. In other words, Cha Ah-ra was currently eating inside the belly of a monster named "Ji-oh." Had she known a little more, that thought would have occurred to her.

But she was too busy drowning in the miraculous kindness that had suddenly fallen into her lap.

"Even just the rice is crazy delicious. Um, is it because the rice itself is good? Or because you cooked it so well?"

"The rice is ordinary."

He had drawn the packaging of rice he used to eat back on Earth and created it from that. It had felt oddly nostalgic, like doing college-entrance art practice again after a long time.

Anyway, nothing beats good food for relaxing kids.

In truth, it wasn't limited to kids. Even people who were scared of Ji-oh because of the portrait's influence loosened up a little once they received tasty snacks. Same principle, he figured.

Ji-oh firmly resolved to fatten up this scrawny student.

"What is different is that this rice was cooked in stock."

"In stock…?"

"I used stock instead of water. It's a little unusual in that I used deer bones rather than the more common pork or beef, but to be precise, this rice was made with ox-bone broth."

"…Ox-bone broth…"

Isn't that ridiculously expensive?

City folks can get it at restaurants, but for country people like us you have to wait until the village slaughters a whole cow and then hope you get lucky…

Using it just to cook rice felt almost decadent.

What am I even eating right now?

She had been starving and the food was delicious, so she had dug in without thinking, but this situation might be far more extravagant than she had imagined.

As cold sweat prickled down Cha Ah-ra's back, Ji-oh spoke again.

"It doesn't have to be ox-bone broth. Anchovy stock, chicken stock, or even vegetable stock all taste excellent. If someone dislikes greasy flavors, those would actually be better."

"Uh, no, I mean…"

"There's quite a lot, so please eat as much as you like. Though you should be careful not to upset your stomach. I was going to keep quiet since you seem to be chewing thoroughly, but overeating will make you feel unwell."

"…Thank you."

Even anchovy or chicken felt burdensome, but vegetable stock she could probably manage at home. They had vegetables growing in the kitchen garden, after all.

I should make rice like this for the little one before he goes into the dorms.

They lived so tightly that even plain white rice was a struggle. What they ate most often was roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes; the occasional egg the village chief gave them counted as a luxury.

Vegetable stock I can scrounge from the garden somehow, but rice… how am I supposed to…

Cha Ah-ra muttered the thought to herself, then abandoned it.

"……"

First, she would just enjoy the meal.

I thought I was going to starve to death or get killed by ghosts, and then this kind of luck drops on me.

With her stomach filling, much of Cha Ah-ra's tension melted away.

Because her host was a humanoid monster she could not completely let her guard down, yet the idea that a humanoid monster would not go out of its way to poison a meal that wasn't even part of its rules actually put her at ease.

In that sense, monsters are more trustworthy than humans.

At the very least, monsters did not betray their own rules. Compared with humans who lied as easily as they breathed, the monster who had been nothing but polite from beginning to end—without a single threat—inspired trust.

Of course she should not trust it. There were monsters that feigned kindness specifically to make humans drop their guard. Treating Ji-oh as a monster meant this was a mistake she should never have made.

"……?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, my leg… it feels like it's better…"

"Ah."

Ji-oh nodded.

"Have you ever broken a bone?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. A while back I was carrying cargo in a dungeon, ran into a monster, and broke my leg."

"The ox-bone broth in the rice you're eating has the effect of restoring abnormalities in the bones."

"Oh… ah… oh…"

"Once you finish eating and before you head home, I'll check whether the bone has knitted properly. If not, I should pack some soup for you. I didn't prepare this meal expecting that effect, but I'm glad it helped."

"I—I see…"

Who cooks rice with potions?

He's really showing he's not human.

It looked like a perfectly normal meal, so she had never suspected.

A few spoonfuls of rice and the bone's already mending…

With her limited knowledge Cha Ah-ra could not say for sure, but that had to be a fairly high-grade recovery potion.

The fact that it took the form of ox-bone soup was absurd enough; the fact that he had cooked rice with it left her speechless. She could clearly feel that his entire way of thinking was different from a human's.

Still… I never thought I'd say this, but he seems like a good monster.

As she ate the rice—sticky yet fluffy grain by grain, cooked so perfectly—Cha Ah-ra thought: bad guys couldn't cook rice this well.

Monsters have their own rules, so as long as I don't break those, I should be fine.

She decided to ask outright.

"Um, is there anything I should be careful about when dealing with you, Mr. Seo Ji-oh, so I don't offend you?"

"Things to be careful about?"

"Uh, like… don't mess up the house, or things you especially hate, or things you'd like me to respect."

"Hmm."

The monster blinked twice, then answered.

"If you simply observe basic manners, I would be grateful."

"Really?"

"As long as you don't commit any crimes, I don't particularly mind."

"Ah, crimes…"

She had felt it in the Vein of Gems earlier as well: this monster clearly loathed that sort of thing.

He hates rude, bad humans.

And on that front Cha Ah-ra was confident.

I'm the one who gets bullied; I'm not strong enough to mess with anyone else.

She was an F-class porter—publicly called the slave class, the very bottom of the hunters. She lacked the capacity to commit crimes in the first place.

Learning the monster's rules made Cha Ah-ra feel considerably more at ease. Those were acts that had absolutely nothing to do with a weakling like her.

"……"

Not that she could completely drop her guard.

…His behavior is incredibly kind and polite, yet…

Somehow it was still hard to relax around him.

I can tell he's being considerate in his own way. He hasn't even tried to intimidate me, so I don't understand why I keep shrinking like this. There's this weird pressure…

Still, Cha Ah-ra was stubborn.

"…Could I have just one more bowl of rice…"

"It's nice to see you eating well."

"Oh, I should be the one saying that."

And the food really was delicious.

Maybe Grandma sent this monster from the afterlife; the cooking is out of this world.

Their village chief needed to come learn a few recipes.

"……"

Yu Seong-un's head was spinning.

"I was in a difficult spot, so thank you for the help."

"…Uh, yeah. No big deal."

"I don't know Korean geography very well, so I needed assistance."

"I'm the one who should thank you for calling me."

He never would have imagined a perfectly ordinary human would come tumbling out of that gloomy frame.

"What did you say your name was, Hunter?"

"Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha Ah-ra…"

"Aigoo, you're really tense, aren't you?"

Yu Seong-un was just as tense. He and the guild leader had recklessly let Ji-oh loose out of their own greed, after all.

…Good thing I prepared myself mentally. And the situation is a lot calmer than I imagined.

Even if it had been part of searching for ways to coexist, he had just handed Ji-oh a list of dungeons that would be fine to visit—an act that could easily prove harmful to humanity.

He had been surviving on coffee and no sleep, bracing for any sudden incident. News that some remote dungeon had blown open could have arrived at any moment.

I even thought the Association might have to step in, but it doesn't look like that big a deal. Just one person spat out of a frame.

Still, it was astonishing.

I half-expected it… but I never thought the connection would be this blatant.

Once again summoned by an indecipherable letter, Yu Seong-un had been told by Ji-oh that he had gone to play in the Vein of Gems, found a young human, and felt too guilty to send her out alone—so would he mind escorting her home?

When Ji-oh said "young human," Yu Seong-un had momentarily pictured a child around ten. Thankfully that was not the case.

From Ji-oh's perspective it must be hard to gauge what "young" even means.

Just as people struggle to tell a dog's age, Ji-oh seemed confused.

At eighteen she's a full adult by Earth's standards.

Even if he didn't know the local culture that made Hunter Cha Ah-ra an adult, calling an eighteen-year-old youth "young" still felt a little awkward.

Yu Seong-un rubbed the back of his neck.

"…I should take Hunter Cha home first. Anything I need to know?"

"I don't believe so."

"All right then. We'll continue talking after I get back. Thanks for calling me first."

With Yu Seong-un's farewell the portrait closed its eyes.

That meant there was nothing more it wished to say, so Yu Seong-un turned without hesitation to Cha Ah-ra. Only by delivering this young hunter home could he complete the request that was not quite a request.

"Hunter Cha…"

"Y-yes?!"

"…Ah."

Startled by the overreaction, Yu Seong-un was briefly flustered, then realized something.

"If it's not too rude, may I ask what rank you are?"

"……"

"I know asking for personal information out of the blue is unpleasant, but I have no ill intent."

"…I'm F-class…"

"Ahh, that explains it."

He had thought her tension was excessive; sure enough, she was far too weak to be here.

There's no way an F-class hunter could casually endure Guild Leader Bi Sa-beol's gallery. And this is the fifth basement level.

Bi Sa-beol's gallery was packed with every kind of dangerous item. Entry was restricted to C-class hunters and above; anyone lower was barred for their own protection.

We've never had anyone this weak come in, so I failed to be considerate. It's a very different atmosphere from the Association labs, where even civilian-level researchers can enter under full controls.

As a former Association research team leader, Yu Seong-un could compare the two; each had its pros and cons. From a Gardener's perspective, the Association labs sometimes seemed to abuse the existence of the Source a little too much.

In any case, only staff who could at least minimally enjoy interacting with these dangerous works became curators. An unrelated F-class hunter would find the place pure torment.

"I'm sorry. This is the first time a hunter below C-class has entered, so I didn't look after you properly."

"N-no, no, it's…"

"Shall we step outside for now? I have a few questions, but this doesn't seem like the place for them."

"Y-y-y-yes…"

"I'm the curator here, so please don't worry too much. Stick close to me and nothing will hurt you."

A few of the works did launch preemptive attacks, but he had no intention of going near those. Yu Seong-un guided the trembling, terrified Hunter Cha Ah-ra toward the elevator.

They reached the first floor.

"……"

"……"

Yu Seong-un nearly closed the elevator doors again, but capitalist patience stopped his muscles in time.

Grinning Bi Sa-beol stood right in front of them. Yu Seong-un could not hold back the question.

"…What are you doing here, Guild Leader?"

"I was enjoying the CCTV when a most entertaining scene was captured, you see."

Did he really have to say that in front of the pitiful trembling F-class hunter? It took real talent to look that openly delighted.

All the consideration Guild Leader Bi Sa-beol should have directed toward humanity clearly went straight into his collection instead.

Even in a world where human rights had hit rock bottom, this was too much. For the guest's protection, Yu Seong-un shook his head.

"I don't want to hear any more. I should conduct the interview with Hunter Cha first. She just came out of the gallery and is extremely tense; barging in like this is a problem."

"A most regrettable fact, yet Curator Yu Seong-un has no authority to obstruct my enjoyment. No matter how much you scold me, I am still the guild leader, am I not?"

"Maybe I should get a promotion."

"Even if you did, you still wouldn't outrank the guild leader—though you should have accepted when I offered earlier."

"Hah."

Yu Seong-un wanted to bite his own tongue, but he could not hand this pale, terrified young hunter over to that mad hedonist. If he did, he would also have nothing left to say to Ji-oh.

"…I know. It's an extremely exceptional situation, so of course it caught your interest. But wouldn't it be enough if I check first and then report to you? You are the face of our guild; if you start handling every little task yourself…"

"It would be convenient for you, wouldn't it?"

"Dignity, please. Just a little dignity."

He was really putting on a show in front of a hunter he had just met.

And this is supposedly one of Korea's top three guilds. Way to cheapen the image.

Hunter Cha Ah-ra had completely frozen, unable to process the unfolding situation.

She seemed to have decided that becoming a mere breath of air would be easier than accepting this, but Bi Sa-beol was not the sort to leave a delicious morsel alone.

"Very well. Hunter Cha Ah-ra, was it? What is your full name?"

"Cha… Ah-ra… Cha Ah-ra… Please spare me…"

"Oh dear. You're far too frightened! No one is going to kill you, Hunter!"

His face openly said, Why would I kill such an interesting subject? It was the gaze of a visitor looking at a wondrous relic or a meaningful film rather than a human being.

Apparently Cha Ah-ra noticed as well; she slowly edged behind Yu Seong-un.

…I was also treated with wariness as a stranger, yet she still decided I was safer than that man. Not sure if I should call that wise…

With a pang of pity, Yu Seong-un shielded her. Not that it would help much when the guild leader himself was holding the elevator button of his own building.

"……"

At this point, smuggling the poor hunter out had become impossible.

"…I was planning to go to an interview room…"

"Shall we go together?"

"…Fine."

The best he could do was stand in the middle and act as a buffer.

Ji-oh, hyung did his best.

Bi Sa-beol was positively buzzing.

"So then, Hunter Cha Ah-ra."

"Y-y-yes."

"Would you kindly tell us what you experienced?"

"I… just… nothing…"

"I am not trying to pin any crime on you, Hunter Cha Ah-ra."

This was truly remarkable.

"I am simply in awe."

An existence of the Source taking a human under its wing? And a frail F-class at that.

Unlike Curator Yu Seong-un's claim that he prefers the appearance of overweight humans, Hunter Cha Ah-ra is on the thin side. Or was the choice made precisely so he could fatten her up? Aside from looking rather innocent, she's an unremarkable porter… perhaps that very simplicity is what caught Ji-oh's interest.

Bi Sa-beol's yellow eyes gleamed.

So what he needed was not a sinner but an innocent lamb. Considering Ji-oh's pure nature, there was no need to offer pure blood the way one would to traditional evil gods, yet if we had offered a kind young human from the start we might have gotten a clearer reaction…

Bi Sa-beol recalled Yu Seong-un's face-to-face report after the portrait's sightseeing trip. He had been a little disappointed that Ji-oh's first experience of human society had ended so uneventfully, but this bait—an invitation to visit Earth's dungeons—seemed to have been astonishingly successful.

Is it because he is an existence of the Source that he becomes more active inside dungeons? Ji-oh holds equal goodwill toward the human species itself, so of course he would become lively in places where fewer humans are terrified by his rank. That is delightful in its own right.

Whatever the meaning, a portrait that could freely pull humans into its frame and spit them back out was pure honey to a collector.

Bi Sa-beol's smile deepened.

"All you need to do is explain how you became a picture beyond the frame, what happened inside, and by what chance you met the black-cloaked monster."

He was already looking forward to how fascinating the story would be.

"You will do that for us, won't you?"

"…Yes… uh…"

"Thank you."

How this unremarkable hunter had survived through some artistic miracle—Bi Sa-beol was dying to know.

(To be continued)