Translator: Nox
Chapter: Chapter 32
Seafood Grill on the Rock
"Just sit down already."
At Yoo-beom's urging, she sat down in front of the bonfire.
"Who are these people?"
They couldn't be Hunters. Yoo Ji-ah was certain of it.
Having grown up running from those who came to subjugate them, the siblings loathed Hunters.
"You don't know who they are?"
"How would I know? Who would I know?"
"Why not? There's someone you've been singing about, saying you want to thank them if you ever meet."
"Thank? Is there someone like that to me..."
Yoo Ji-ah trailed off. There was one person who came to mind.
The person who helped her escape the lab. At the time, she had lost consciousness, so she didn't remember anything, but she had heard about it from Yoo-beom.
"Could it be that roommate Oppa mentioned?"
The young Cheon Dowoon clinging to the fifth-floor window flashed through her mind.
His first impression had been bizarre, so she had been scared, but he was someone she wanted to thank if she ever met him.
"How could that person be here..."
It had already been decades ago. She was surprised to see someone she thought was dead right in front of her.
'Oppa wouldn't make things up.'
If so, this person really was that Cheon Dowoon. She could only gape in surprise. She wanted to say something, but she was speechless.
As if understanding his younger sister's feelings, Yoo-beom smiled.
"I already said thank you for you, so don't worry about it. More importantly, is there anything strange?"
"Strange?"
"Your physical condition. How are you feeling?"
At the sudden question, Yoo Ji-ah paused. Ever since the Mana Hole had become tangled, the siblings had intentionally avoided mentioning it.
She was puzzled by the question for a moment.
Yoo Ji-ah's eyes widened. She belatedly sensed the change that had occurred in her body.
"This... how could this...!"
The Mana filling her body was as calm as a lake. The Mana Hole, which had seemed ready to burst at any moment, had become quiet.
"Cheon Dowoon brought some medicine. Ah, that guy's name is Cheon Dowoon. That kid is Kim Nari. You know my sister's name, right?"
Yoo-beom introduced them to each other with a pleasant expression. Even as she listened, Yoo Ji-ah found it hard to come to her senses.
She had once resigned herself to death. If there was any lingering regret, it was only concern for her own flesh and blood.
She was worried about Yoo-beom being left alone inside the Gate after she died.
She knew that his body was breaking down like hers, which made it even worse.
Unlike her, he would be left alone to close his eyes in loneliness. She was always sorry for that. It was painful. It was the only regret she couldn't let go of, even though she had resigned herself to death.
"Ah..."
All those worries melted away like snow.
"Ah..."
Again, the right words didn't come out. She couldn't even tell if she wanted to laugh or cry.
Her heart was just so full. The fact that she could live an ordinary life in the future was overwhelming―.
She looked at Cheon Dowoon. She wanted to thank him, but Cheon Dowoon spoke first.
"The atmosphere is heavy. Your brother thanked me enough, so that's fine. But if you really want to do something, grill some clams."
"C-Clams?"
Yoo Ji-ah's eyes widened at the word "clams" that broke the mood.
"Yoo-beom said so. He said that you're needed to make true grilled clams. I don't know what that means, but he said it can only be completed with you. Do it. I'll take that as thanks."
"Ah... that! Okay."
Yoo Ji-ah jumped up. She looked at her brother. Yoo-beom stood opposite her with a serious expression.
"Ooh, they're going to do something. The atmosphere is unusual."
Kim Nari looked at them with a curious expression. Guu also smacked his lips at the mention of true grilled clams.
Cheon Dowoon was the same. Yoo-beom's grilled clams had been delicious, and he was filled with anticipation that there was something even better.
In the tense and quiet atmosphere, Yoo-beom moved first.
"Taha!"
Yoo-beom grabbed handfuls of clams and threw them into the air. From clams as big as people's heads to small, palm-sized clams.
As the freshly caught clams floated up, Yoo Ji-ah stepped forward.
Her eyes gleamed from within the monster skull she wore like a helmet.
'45 degrees, 22 degrees, 18 degrees...!'
Angle adjustment for swinging her claws complete.
"Euooh!"
Yoo Ji-ah let out a shout that seemed to be drawn up from her core. It was a roar of solemnity before cooking.
She swung her claws, which protruded like hooks. The Mana-filled wind split the clams floating in the air in half.
As the clams opened, she precisely carved out only the meat and chopped it into pieces.
Seeing this, Yoo-beom inserted thinly carved sticks between each of his fingers. Skewers he had painstakingly created over the past decades.
"Oppa!"
"Got it!"
Pabat, shwishwit, tsujeujeut. Yoo-beom's hands moved dazzlingly. The long skewers accurately pierced the falling pieces of clam meat.
"Iya!"
With a shout, Yoo-beom brought the skewers between each of his fingers over the bonfire.
Over and over, flip flip. Puff puff.
"Oppa, now!"
"I know!"
At the signal, he lifted the skewers, and Yoo Ji-ah sprinkled the Mount Demon Natural Salt that she had dried and stored.
Chwararat. The finely ground salt was sprinkled all over the skewers.
"Now for the finishing touch!"
The muscular bird-headed man squatted in front of the bonfire, putting the skewers in the fire and shaking them.
Timing was important. If they were left too long, they would burn.
A high-level technique to remove the fishy smell and only infuse the flavor of the fire.
"Oppa, now!"
At the cry of his hawk-eyed sister, Yoo-beom jumped up.
Steam rose from the skewers held in both hands.
"Hoo... done. This is our siblings' special dish...! Grilled Clam Skewers."
It was exactly what it was.
Yoo-beom presented the skewers between his ten fingers with a confident expression.
"Oooooh!"
Kim Nari clapped her hands with an admiring expression. She was thrilled by the siblings' dazzling movements.
This wasn't something they had done once or twice. It was the movement of experts.
"Amazing. That's the special Grilled Clam Skewers...! I want to eat that."
Kim Nari swallowed hard.
"Okay. Since you clapped, I'll give our little one three especially."
"Ooh, three! I'm getting three."
Kim Nari received the skewers politely with both hands. She looked happy as she smiled with three long skewers.
"Tell me if you want more. I'll make more."
"T-Thank you, thank you."
Kim Nari bowed deeply and ran to Guu.
"One is for Guu and Sasa. I'll eat two. I'm bigger than both of them, so I have to eat two."
She put down one skewer, saying something that was either to herself or to Guu.
Guu and Sasa sniffed the skewers and then took a bite each.
-T-This is...!
Guu's round eyes widened.
-Peep!
Sasa stood tall on his chick legs and shook his head from side to side.
No more words were needed. The two buried their faces in the skewers and began to eat ravenously.
Kim Nari also ate the skewers with wide eyes and puffed-out cheeks.
What kind of taste was it to get such a reaction?
Cheon Dowoon received the skewer that Yoo-beom handed him with a curious expression. He was also curious about something else.
"Do you guys usually live like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"While grilling clams, you... Taha. Iya. Euooh... with those shouts."
Yoo Ji-ah's face turned red at Cheon Dowoon's question. Yoo-beom shrugged and smiled.
"You try living inside the Gate for decades. There's no one here. All we've learned is to do comedy with my sister. Was it fun?"
Cheon Dowoon smiled. It was definitely fun. He laughed as he imagined the siblings usually playing like that.
He smiled and took a bite of the Grilled Clam Skewer.
The flavor of the fire spreading in his mouth. The softly chewy clam meat, the ultimate saltiness seasoned with Mount Demon Salt.
"How does it taste?"
Instead of answering, Cheon Dowoon ate the skewer quickly. The bird siblings smiled contentedly at that.
Their first dish. Their first guest.
Cheon Dowoon, who had put down the empty skewer stick, had an admiring expression.
"To think that you've mastered cooking on your own to this extent... are you some kind of culinary genius?"
"Is it that good?"
"There's a guy I know who has a chef's license. It's a taste that would never lose to that guy's skills."
Cheon Dowoon said, recalling the ramen that Nam Ki-seok had made. Yoo-beom smiled pleasantly at that.
"To stand shoulder to shoulder with a licensed professional. This makes my shoulders a little shrug."
"Do you have anything other than clams?"
"We do."
The siblings looked at each other and nodded.
The seafood grill they had honed for decades. The time had come to present it.
* * *
A loud noise echoed from the rock towering like an observatory.
Tududuk, tadadada. Pabat.
Along with all sorts of noises, the shouts of men and women were also heard.
"Taha!"
"Uooooh!"
"Now's the time, Yoo Ji-ah!"
"Nice timing, Oppa!"
It was a spirited sound that would make a stranger mistake it for a fierce battle.
Inside, seaweed was grilled. Fish was grilled. Squid, shrimp, octopus. Unidentified seaweed and even seahorses that were monster-like.
"The finishing touch is Red Moss and Mount Demon Natural Salt!"
By the time the frantic seafood grill party was coming to an end, it was well past dawn.
Kim Nari, her stomach full, lay sprawled on the grass and fell asleep. Next to her, Guu and Sasa, their stomachs bulging, were sleeping together.
The bonfire that had been burning hotly was now dying down.
"It feels good to have shown my skills after a long time."
The siblings sat in front of the bonfire with relieved expressions.
They had always cooked for themselves, but this was the first time they had served food to someone.
It was a pleasant thing for someone to eat what they had made. They also realized that feeling for the first time.
"Thanks for the meal. Unlimited seafood refills. You really chose a good location for your house."
"Right? We've moved quite a bit while living, but this is our favorite place now."
"That's right. There's no place as good as this for us. The landscaping is also good."
The siblings smiled contentedly. Now that the harshness inside the Gate was no longer an obstacle, this place was just a rich seashore for them.
"Come to think of it, Cheon Dowoon, where are you living now?"
"Forest Zone."
"What...?"
The siblings' eyes widened at the unexpected answer.
"Forest Zone... the Forest Zone we know? The one south of here?"
"Yeah."
"The one you get to after passing through the jungle and the Cliff Zone?"
"That's right. How do you know the location so well?"
Even if they could fly, it wasn't a distance they would walk around for a stroll.
"Oppa and I lived there when we were young too."
"There?"
"Yeah. It's rich in resources there. The problem is that there are just as many monsters, but we were young back then, so we couldn't last long and moved to another area."
Yoo-beom looked at Cheon Dowoon with a surprised expression even as he spoke.
He was surprised that he, like them, was living inside the Gate.
Gold City, or Diamond City, where only a small number of the top elite could set foot.
With Cheon Dowoon's abilities, he thought he would be living in such a place, so it was unexpected.
"Unlike us, you can go back and forth between the Gate. Why are you living here?"
It was a natural question. Cheon Dowoon had also initially intended to get a Return Stone and leave, so he understood why they were asking.
"I was left in the Gate because of various things. I was going to leave at first too."
Cheon Dowoon looked at the siblings and smiled.
"It's pretty good once you live here."
The siblings were dumbfounded by his leisurely words. That expression soon changed to a "well, that's just like him" kind of look.
He was originally a guy with a few screws loose. There was no way those screws would have been tightened properly just because he had become an adult.
Yoo-beom nodded with a convinced expression.
"That's like you. I wouldn't be surprised if you were building a private villa in the Gate."
