Chapter 66

At my act of pretending not to know, Kwak Hanmuk immediately ran out of the restaurant.

Then he brought back Mo Haein, who had just returned with gathered materials, and Je Hyun-oh, who had finished organizing the backyard and was trimming the trees around the restaurant like ornamental landscaping trees.

“This! This right here! Can’t you see it?”

Kwak Hanmuk pointed at Dominic.

Mo Haein followed his finger and looked above my head.

But there was no way she could see Dominic.

“Above the trainee’s head? I don’t see anything. What are you talking about?”

“Try touching Goyo’s head. Captain Mo, please? Just once. Please.”

At Kwak Hanmuk’s desperate plea, Mo Haein reached out toward me.

“I’ll just touch it for a moment.”

However, she couldn’t touch Dominic and only patted my head a few times.

She looked back at Kwak Hanmuk.

“Are you infected?”

“F*ck, this is driving me crazy!”

Kwak Hanmuk, who had jumped back by himself, started begging Je Hyun-oh next.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je, can’t you see it either? Right above Goyo’s head.”

Unable to withstand Kwak Hanmuk’s insistence, Je Hyun-oh also changed his metal hand into the crow glove and touched my head.

After rubbing my hair for a while, he brought his face close to mine.

He displayed an emoticon on his goggles and stared closely, then tilted his head and examined the other side.

After changing his gaze direction and inspecting for a long time, he displayed another emoticon.

Je Hyun-oh, who showed an emoticon with eyes stretched longer than usual, changed the crow glove back into his metal hand.

It was a reaction that meant he thought this was just nonsense meant to bother him.

“No, no, seriously, you can’t see this? I’m the only one who can see it?”

Having moved beyond disbelief and now entering the stage of fear, Kwak Hanmuk looked at Dominic with a pale face.

Receiving his intense gaze, Dominic sparkled and happily wobbled his body.

The pudding slime’s movement completely caught Kwak Hanmuk’s attention.

“I think I’m infected….”

Mumbling absentmindedly, Kwak Hanmuk suddenly shook his head.

“No, f*ck. I’m not. They already checked my infection level.”

Mo Haein crossed her arms and frowned.

“Just what exactly are you seeing? Describe it.”

“Uh…. So. It looks soft. Like that slime? It looks like that. But it’s blue, and it’s sparkling….”

“It’s infection.”

Mo Haein seriously began speculating about the cause of infection.

When she concluded that it was definitely infection, Kwak Hanmuk became indignant, insisting that it wasn’t!

Kwak Hanmuk once again stepped right in front of me.

I looked up at Kwak Hanmuk with eyes that seemed slightly frightened.

Then I apologized in a timid voice.

“Captain Kwak…. I’m sorry….”

At my apology, Kwak Hanmuk covered his face with his hand.

“Ah, Goyo, you don’t have anything to apologize for.”

Then he spread his fingers apart and looked at me through the gap.

“Wait. Why are you apologizing? Now that I think about it, isn’t it suspicious that it’s only attached to Goyo? Could it be pretending not to be visible to me— Ack!”

Mo Haein slammed her elbow into Kwak Hanmuk’s side.

Leaving Kwak Hanmuk behind as he complained that she hit his ribs, she spoke to me.

“Captain Kwak sometimes says things like this, so don’t pay attention to him.”

And so, a world was created where only Kwak Hanmuk knew the truth.

Dominic, who had happily watched everything from atop my head, let out a laugh.

Meanwhile, Kwak Hanmuk rubbed his aching side and muttered to himself.

“Everyone except me is infected….”

Mo Haein looked at him with pity as he continued suspecting the Special Mission Team.

At that moment, Je Hyun-oh pointed at the table with his metal hand.

Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein belatedly noticed the 50 cups of Grass Leaf Tea.

“Trainee. What is this?”

“I made some tea.”

Mo Haein checked the item description of the Grass Leaf Tea with suspicious eyes and immediately looked disgusted.

“You’re not planning to sell this, are you? It’s even priced at 0G.”

“There are people with unusual tastes.”

Of course, they didn’t actually like Grass Leaf Tea.

But the important thing was that they would pay money for it.

However, I needed one helper to sell it.

“Captain Kwak.”

Still keeping the pudding slime on my head, I asked him.

“If you don’t mind, would you go sell it with me?”

I ended up going out to sell Grass Leaf Tea together with Kwak Hanmuk.

When he heard me say that I was going into the dungeon to do business, Kwak Hanmuk was confused.

That was because Sla2Plate’s dungeon only opened at night, and entry was only possible from level 10 or higher.

I explained the future course of action to Kwak Hanmuk in detail.

Then, while bringing along the person who kept sneaking glances at Dominic, I passed through the village and arrived at the dungeon in the eastern forest.

It was a place that did not match the peaceful atmosphere of the village at all.

A massive door made of black obsidian overwhelmed anyone who approached.

Complex patterns were deeply engraved into the surface of the door, and vivid red magma flowed through the grooves like veins.

Its faint red glow made it look like a living creature breathing.

As I approached the door that resembled the entrance to hell, I could feel heat hot enough to burn my skin.

I looked up at the door and shouted loudly.

“Is anyone there? Please open the door!”

Then flames shot up on both sides of the door.

Two fluffy, adorable children appeared from within the pillars of fire.

The children had androgynous appearances, bat wings on their backs, and two red horns growing on either side of their light pink hair.

Their long, drooping lizard tails gracefully swept across the ground.

Their pink eyes with sharp, reptilian pupils stared at me.

They were the demon-type Fire Dragon Tribe twins who guarded the dungeon entrance.

The female, Ella, had eyes with raised outer corners, while the male, Ellun, had eyes with lowered outer corners.

Aside from that, their faces and height were completely identical, as if they had been copied.

The powerful level 99 twins served the role of filtering out visitors to the dungeon.

Because they cruelly executed the unqualified with flames, they were a nightmare to beginners who came to the dungeon without knowing better.

The twins both spoke with equally cold expressions.

“Foolish human. You dare come seeking the entrance to hell.”

“You still lack the qualifications to enter this place. Atone through death.”

However, they had what could be called a single weakness.

I fell to my knees in front of the twins and shouted.

“It was a mistake! Please spare me!”

Perhaps because they were still young, they were weak to someone pretending to be pitiful.

Even in the game, the twins’ hearts were easily swayed, and after helping the player in many ways, they eventually came to truly consider them a friend.

While thinking about the adorable twins, I heard laughter from above my head.

It was Dominic laughing at my performance.

Since I kept showing him things that probably didn’t suit his cinephile tastes, I felt slightly sorry.

I looked up at Kwak Hanmuk.

‘You remember the setting, right?’

Kwak Hanmuk and I were supposed to be brothers who were poor but had dreams, running a small restaurant.

Receiving my gaze, Kwak Hanmuk immediately dropped to his knees.

Then he suddenly shouted.

“Goodness! Chestnut-ah!”

Grab.

Kwak Hanmuk hugged me and began putting on a dramatic performance.

“Our Chestnut is young and didn’t know any better. Please forgive him just this once. He’s far too young to die like this!”

He shook me back and forth. The pudding slime on my head also swayed along with me.

“Look here! Look at his pale face! He’s not even fully ripened yet, he’s just an unripe chestnut! Please spare him.”

An unripe chestnut.

It was amazing that there were still more chestnut-related nicknames left.

I dangled helplessly as Kwak Hanmuk shook me and weakly said,

“Hyung…. I’m fine. Please take care of the restaurant….”

Then I let my head drop.

“Chestnut-ah!!”

As Kwak Hanmuk screamed, the twins looked at each other.

Ellun muttered.

“He’s a little pitiful.”

The Fire Dragon Tribe twins gave visitors one final chance if they acted pitiful.

However, the difficulty of that chance was extremely high.

Ella and Ellun nodded, and words with a terrifying meaning flowed from their cute faces.

“If you answer the questions we give, we will spare your life.”

“Will you accept the challenge?”

“Yes. Please.”

The moment my answer fell, sparks scattered in every direction.

The twins spread their wings wide.

Ella flew into the air and brought her face close to mine.

It seemed too close, so I leaned my head back, but Ella followed by moving forward the same amount.

Kwak Hanmuk subtly reached out his arm from beside me and blocked Ella’s approach.

Ella gave a mocking laugh and spoke.

“Monsters have no form, yet they leave traces upon everything. High mountains, long rivers, and even the kingdoms and civilizations built by you humans will eventually be devoured and fall to monsters.”

Flying behind me, Ellun continued in a lazy voice beside my shoulder.

“It is too fast for you humans, and for us it is only a fleeting moment. Yet someday it will be a monster that swallows us, and everything else.”

“Human. What is this monster?”

Kwak Hanmuk looked at me. His eyes clearly asked how anyone was supposed to solve that.

There were around 100 different quiz types that the twins could give, and some required recalculation every time.

This one, with a fixed answer, was simple and easy.

I answered immediately.

“Time.”

Hearing my answer, Ella burst into loud laughter, making her thick hair sway.

“You are a human of value!”

Ella, who circled around me with Ellun, asked arrogantly.

“Human. What is your name?”

“Please call me Little Lamb.”

Ella and Ellun looked at each other.

“Chestnut…? Unripe chestnut? It wasn’t?”

“Must be a nickname.”

After exchanging a short conversation, they looked back at me.

“Good. Little Lamb. Since you have entertained us, we shall repay you. Speak of what you desire.”

This was the most important part.

In the game, choices appeared.

The first three options were all scams.

If chosen, they did grant the wish.

They greatly increased your money, drastically raised your level, and massively increased the restaurant’s popularity.

But all of the results were bad.

If your money increased, thieves would come that night and steal everything. If the restaurant became popular, customers would flood into the completely unprepared restaurant and cause chaos.

And if your level increased, the twins would later visit the restaurant, decide they had granted the wish too excessively, and burn you to death.

Practically speaking, only the fourth option was viable.

“I want to share friendship with Ella-nim and Ellun-nim.”

“How arrogant!”

Fwoosh!

Flames erupted from Ella. The fire surrounding her flickered as if it could pour over me at any moment.

“Ella, stop.”

Fortunately, Ellun was on my side.

“A promise is a promise.”

Ellun inhaled and blew out a long breath.

Then the flames surrounding me vanished as if they had never existed.

Instead of the sulking Ella, Ellun spoke.

“We will grant your request, but there is a condition.”

The reptilian eyes scanned me.

“From what I see, you are someone who makes food. Whenever you come to meet us, bring human food. We will pay a minimum price in return.”

Bbyorong! A system window appeared.

This was the quest I had been waiting for.

It was a sub quest only available to the Chef job.

No matter what food was given, the twins would only pay the minimum amount of 1G.

Additionally, the maximum number of dishes that could be given at once was limited to 50.

It was a hidden event where, after gifting the twins all 66 types of restaurant dishes and achieving the achievement, they would give a powerful weapon item.

However, the weapon item was not what mattered to me right now.

‘The minimum amount is 1G.’

That was right.

Even if I gave them Grass Leaf Tea, which was worth 0G, they would still give me 1G!