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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Company Dinner (3)
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My masterpiece dishes, pineapple kimchi jjigae and soft tofu kimchi, were shunned by everyone.
Even Lee Yuri, who had at least tried to take a bite, hesitated at the visual and eventually put down her spoon.
'It really is edible, but they won't even try it!'
A wave of injustice welled up inside me, but everyone had already rejected my cooking.
Just then, Kang Dohee, the only party member, picked up a spoon, scooped up some pineapple kimchi jjigae, and put it into her mouth.
*Slurp—*
*Clack.*
She put the spoon down with a clatter.
"Mutt. You've crossed the line."
Kang Dohee said in a cold voice.
"What…?"
"Your cooking is an insult to the ingredients, Jin Yuha."
"…An insult?"
My face hardened at her words.
"Yes, it's fine if you eat it that way, but when you offer it to others, you must consider normal palates."
*Gnashing sound*
A sharp sound escaped from between my teeth.
"What you've done is just playing around with perfectly good ingredients. Nothing more, nothing less."
It felt as if my ten years of cooking experience, cultivated in my studio apartment, were being utterly denied in an instant.
Believe it or not, I once proudly called myself a home-cooking master. I had always prided myself on having a knack for cooking.
"Oh, really? Then how well do you cook?"
My pride stung, I retorted to her.
Kang Dohee snorted and rose from her seat.
"Very well, I shall teach you what cooking truly is."
Kang Dohee headed to the kitchen, and I followed her, curious to see how well she would do.
The other party members were equally curious and came along.
'Hah, I've never seen you cook in the game, what could you possibly do?'
Kang Dohee was originally a combat-type character who used her body.
She wasn't suited for delicate tasks like cooking.
Surely, she was just bluffing. It would be a miracle if she didn't burn the instant ramen or scramble the eggs.
*Click-click-click-click—*
Kang Dohee skillfully lit the gas burner.
Then, as if something wasn't to her liking, she tilted her head and spoke to Shin Sehee.
"Flower Garden. Turn the heat up a little more here."
"…Alright."
Shin Sehee, recalling the pineapple stew from earlier, meekly increased the flame at Kang Dohee's words.
*Whoosh—*
Kang Dohee gauged the flame's size, then lightly coated the wok with oil and began to swirl it.
*Spin—*
I watched Kang Dohee with my arms crossed.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down my forehead at how unexpectedly skilled she looked.
'…Sh-she seems to know how to cook a little! But, ah, she hasn't even started yet. It's obvious she'll mess up once the real cooking begins!'
As she heated the wok, she opened her mouth.
"Food isn't good just because it's unique or creative. Did you have such a complacent thought as, 'It'll all mix in the stomach anyway, so I can just put it all together'?"
"…I, I tried to—!"
"Yes, such a recipe might exist. But the fact that it hasn't become mainstream means it doesn't suit the general palate."
Assuming the oil was sufficiently heated, she skillfully gripped a knife and cut the leftover pork from the kimchi jjigae into bite-sized pieces.
And immediately tossed them into the wok.
*Sizzle—*
As the meat fried in the hot oil, a savory aroma and a delicious sound filled the air.
Once the meat was half-cooked, she added minced garlic and a touch of sugar.
The meat's color quickly deepened.
"If you want to try new things like that, you should at least get a chef's license first."
Kang Dohee poured soy sauce with a *whoosh* over the wok. Oil splattered, and flames licked into the wok.
The sound of sizzling oil rained down like raindrops, and she lightly flicked her wrist, holding the wok.
*Whoosh—*
*Whoosh—*
*Whoosh—*
The meat and garlic shot into the air, then returned to the wok, tracing a smooth arc.
And the flames lightly seared the surface, creating a Maillard reaction that made the color even more appetizing.
"…Wow."
"…Wow."
"Insane."
Gasps of admiration came from behind me.
I bit my lip tightly.
'…Hah, it's all just for show!'
That was merely technique.
It wasn't that I couldn't do such things. I simply chose not to.
Home cooking, by its nature, had its own domain.
Kang Dohee added green onions, chili powder, and Cheongyang peppers, stir-frying them quickly while adding a splash of water to ensure the seasoning soaked in well.
Finally, she added a spoonful of sesame oil, placed it on a plate, and sprinkled toasted sesame seeds on top to finish.
Kang Dohee presented the finished Jeyuk Bokkeum to me.
"This is cooking, Mutt."
* * *
After that, Kang Dohee quickly prepared several more dishes using the available ingredients.
Sundubu jjigae made with soft tofu and egg.
Glossy, pudding-like steamed egg custard.
And for the pineapple, she simply grilled it directly to enhance its sweetness.
"Wow, this is even more delicious than what they sell—!?"
Lee Yuri's eyes sparkled as she wielded her chopsticks.
"Hmm, w-well, certainly… This is good enough to pay money for…"
"Dohee junior has a talent for cooking too—!? You're so good—? You're like a professional chef!"
And so, everyone forgot their awkwardness and enjoyed the feast.
Meanwhile, I, the host of this company dinner, wore a stern, solemn, and serious expression as I gazed at the dishes before me.
Yes, I admit it.
Honestly, they looked impressive.
From the sundubu jjigae, chili oil and a half-boiled egg yolk harmonized, emitting pure white steam.
The fluffy steamed egg custard had a pudding-like elasticity, and the finely chopped green onions on top added an aesthetic touch.
And the most impressive among them was the Jeyuk Bokkeum.
The smoky aroma was so rich that it boldly declared this was no ordinary dish, even from the sense of smell alone.
'But, it's just appearance in the end. Ordinary, plain cooking won't satisfy me.'
After all, weren't my taste buds honed by ten years of seasoned bachelor living?
I glared at the dishes as if I were a strict judge on a cooking show.
Then I picked up my chopsticks, grabbed a piece of Jeyuk Bokkeum, and
Brought it to my mouth.
*Pop.*
"…Ah."
An involuntary gasp escaped me.
I closed my mouth a beat late, but closing it only made the flavor clearer.
Yes, the taste.
Taste, after all, was the stimulation of the tongue transmitted to the brain.
The smoky aroma stimulating my nose, and the juices bursting forth between my teeth.
Clearly, despite not having many seasonings, the umami flavor exploded, ravishing my tongue.
And my brain said,
*Give me more.*
This food was one in a hundred.
A taste that would be universally loved by anyone who tried it.
"Mutt, how is it?"
Kang Dohee stood with her arms crossed, her head tilted back, looking down at me as she spoke.
Her gaze clearly looked down on me.
*Tremble, tremble—*
I bit my lip, overwhelmed by a rising sense of defeat.
My ten years of cooking experience made it impossible for me to say it tasted bad, even as a lie.
"…This time, I lost."
I said, my voice barely a mosquito's buzz, heavily suppressed.
Kang Dohee nodded as if she had expected it.
"It seems you've learned something. If you want to cook in the future, first study popular recipes. Start by simply following them."
"…Tch."
Could I endure having my cooking skills disparaged like this?
Later.
Someday.
There would surely be another chance.
Then, I would definitely avenge this humiliation.
I sharpened my resolve internally.
"Junior. It's okay. No one can be good at everything. I have plenty of things I'm not good at either."
Just then, Im Gaeul gently patted my shoulder and spoke.
I turned my dead eyes to look at her.
"They say failure is the mother of success, right? If you keep trying…"
"…You didn't even try it, Senior…"
"W-well, junior! You just… have a lot of mothers! Uh-huh! The more, the merrier!"
Im Gaeul, flustered, avoided my gaze and blurted out a clumsy remark.
*
And so, the cooking incident at the company dinner concluded with Kang Dohee's stern lesson.
Regardless, the initial awkwardness between party members had vanished, and a pleasant atmosphere had settled as everyone ate and drank together.
'Right, it feels like I was sacrificed, but this is what I wanted to see, so let's call it good…'
I tried to steel my drooping spirits. I looked at them and spoke.
"First, these five of us will be the initial members of our party."
The party members turned their heads towards me. Hearing my words, Shin Sehee asked a question.
"Um? Our party doesn't have a healer yet? And I'm not a combat class, so shouldn't we find a specialist separately too?"
"Hmm, I plan to find a healer slowly later. And a specialist even later. Until then, I'm sorry, but I'd like you all to use potions. You all have subspace now, after all."
"Then why can't we recruit temporary party members?"
Lee Yuri asked me. She was asking why we weren't doing it like when I was recruited as a temporary party member in Camilla's Forest.
At Lee Yuri's words, I pondered for a moment.
'Temporary party members… She's asking if we can just recruit them like in a game, use them when needed, and then leave them aside…'
Of course, it wasn't a bad idea. Most users in Velvetis played the game that way.
And the conclusion I reached after thinking it over was firmly established within me, surprising even myself.
I shook my head decisively.
"No, I won't recruit anyone else. If they're not someone who will be with me from beginning to end, I won't recruit them into the party."