Chapter 5 - A Special Meal
[ Special Meal ]
=== Special Meal ===
Generally, when someone awakens, they register with the Association right away.
Rank confirmation.
Ability category classification.
Determining whether they need management.
This is especially true if the awakened ability is S-class.
What that really means is "management" comes before congratulations.
Because no one knows who might go rogue or use that power to commit crimes.
In my case, it's a particularly big problem.
Since even I haven't grasped the scale of this ability yet, the Awakened Management Association is bound to take an interest.
Whether that interest will help me or become a nuisance...
I wasn't so naive about the world as to not know that, which is why I was delaying my registration.
The problem is, I can't put it off forever.
Awakening tests aren't a one-time thing.
Anyone above a certain age must undergo periodic mana reaction tests.
Normally, awakening happens upon reaching adulthood, but even if someone is judged as non-awakened at twenty—like I was—cases of delayed awakening steadily appear.
The next test is roughly two months away.
'Until then, I have to grow my strength somehow.'
I'm too weak.
Knowing that if things went on like this, I'd have no choice but to be pushed around by the Association, I judged that I needed to become strong enough to have some say in their decisions.
Since this seemed to be an unprecedented 'growth-type' ability, that only strengthened my resolve.
But I'm not about to just sit around waiting for quests that pop up about once a day, relying on the fact that it's a 'growth-type'.
This isn't a game.
I'm not a player—I'm the one this actually concerns.
The quests are linked to 'Room 305'.
Cleaning.
Organizing.
Plant care.
Dishwashing.
The common denominator was obvious.
'Housework.'
The target was Han Cho-yeon.
The space related to her,
her living radius—
the rewards might vary depending on her condition.
Also, if this ability really did come from the 'Snail Bride' I knew about,
I needed to find out if it was bound to a specific target—like Han Cho-yeon right now.
So I came outside to run a simple experiment to figure out the quest conditions, specifically whether the target can change.
I had two theories.
First, the concept of 'home'.
Second, the specific person, 'Han Cho-yeon'.
If it was the former—
a quest should pop up in front of other households too.
I wandered between other apartment complexes, specifically looking for places with Awakened Registration stickers.
Homes with the Association's certification mark on the door.
Even if they weren't S-class, signs that C-class or B-class Awakened lived there.
But no reaction.
"Yeah, yeah, of course it wouldn't be that simple."
Then the latter—the possibility that the ability was bound to Han Cho-yeon as an individual. Or maybe quests targeting other people would only appear after all the Han Cho-yeon related quests were done.
Lost in thought like that, before I knew it, I'd been walking for an hour and ended up near my family's home.
Yoo Seo-rin.
Yoo Ra-eun.
It wasn't far, but since I was living on my own now, this was where the two of them lived.
I paused for a moment, then figured since I'd come this far, I might as well see them before heading back, and started toward the house.
My family's apartment complex was bright even at night.
It was a relatively new, upscale complex, so the exterior, landscaping, and lobby were all spotless.
With two B-class Hunters bringing in income, this level of luxury was no problem at all. It was also thanks to them that I could live on my own.
"The door is opening—"
The hallway was quiet.
Only natural, given the soundproofing and the fact that only four units shared this floor.
I walked toward the house naturally. The familiar front door. As I stood there, trying to think of what to say to Yoo Ra-eun—she'd definitely ask why I was back when we'd just had dinner together last night—
Ttiring!
[A new quest has been issued.]
...?
Why the hell is this popping up here?
[Quest]
- Prepare dinner in Room 1702 and hide. (00:04:57)
Reward: Complete acquisition of Special Meal (SS), increase in Yoo Seo-rin's and Yoo Ra-eun's stamina and mana
Penalty for Failure: Removal of eyeballs
[Special Meal (SS) is temporarily granted to achieve the quest.]
[Special Meal (SS)]
- Consumes mana or stamina to prepare a special meal that increases all stats by 100% upon consumption.
- The stat increase lasts for 12 hours after the meal.
"......"
I stared blankly at the unbelievable status window.
"SS-class...?"
It was absurd. An SS-class skill? That's ridiculous, isn't it? The highest publicly known skill rank was S+. And yet this quest window was saying it'd just hand me an SS-class skill with a single click... the kind of bullshit you'd see in those mass-produced Chinese game ads that make you think of 'I'm sorry!'.
The skill itself was even more ridiculous. Doubling all stats with just one meal? World-class buffers spend hours pulling off crazy stunts and casting buff spells just to get a 20% boost. And that's for one stat. This single skill basically made me a world-class buffer with a single meal.
"I don't know how much mana it will consume, though." But once I entered the house to do the quest, it'd probably switch to the Snail Husband-exclusive status window, so using mana itself wouldn't be an issue.
----------
[Yoo Ga-on]
Strength: F+
Agility: F
Stamina: C-
Mana: C-
Skill: Intangibility (A)
[Quest]
----------
The mana I'd gotten as a quest reward was C-class. I might be short on mana... but there had to be a reason the quest gave me this skill.
Hoping the efficiency would match the skill's rank, I opened the front door and stepped inside.
While I was marveling at it, the time limit had already dropped to under three minutes. No time to waste.
The moment the front door closed, my vision flashed, and a refreshing sensation washed over me. The status window must've switched, releasing my mana so I could feel it.
"Phew."
Time remaining... 2 minutes 53 seconds. No time to think. I stood in the middle of the kitchen.
"Special Meal."
Immediately, my heart sank. The mana I'd felt for the first time just seconds ago was being ripped out of me entirely.
Huk.
Huk.
My breathing grew ragged as I stared at the dining table. Above the empty air, light began to gather.
The kitchen utensils didn't move. The refrigerator stayed closed. I hadn't even taken out any ingredients. Small particles gathered in the air, taking shape—like an invisible hand sculpting the air. A subtle golden light swirled into a plate, and on top of it, a dish with warm steam appeared, already finished. No cooking process. No preparation. A meal that materialized complete from the start.
"Hey... wait... this..."
My knees buckled. My vision spun. Just a single dish, but my whole body felt drained, like I was completely dehydrated.
I struggled to catch my breath against the wave of exhaustion washing over me.
Just then—
Tti-tti-tti-tti-tti-tti—
Ppi-ppik—
The sound of someone entering the passcode came from the front door.
"...!"
I thought my heart would stop.
'Right, hide...!'
The quest condition. My mind went blank.
I stumbled out of the kitchen. The living room? No. The rooms? If they opened the door, I'd be caught instantly.
"Where—"
Then I spotted the small utility room next to the kitchen.
I didn't know why I had to hide when making food for my family wasn't a crime... but if I didn't, my eyeballs would be gouged out, so no time to complain.
Before I knew it, only 14 seconds remained. Using the skill had taken longer than expected—barely any time left.
Tti-tti-tti-tti-tti-tti—
Tti-ri-rik—
Maybe she got the passcode wrong once—the sound of it being re-entered echoed—
"Where...!"
I spotted the small utility room next to the kitchen. A washing machine, a dryer, and a storage closet attached to the wall. Even though I saw Yoo Seo-rin and Yoo Ra-eun often, I hadn't visited this recently moved-into house much, so it took me a while to find a hiding spot.
Time remaining... 7 seconds.
I practically crawled as I shoved myself into the utility room, opened the closet door, and squeezed inside. The smell of detergent stung my nose.
"Ha... ugh..."
The moment I closed the closet door—
Ttiring.
[Quest cleared. Rewards are being distributed.]
At the same time, my consciousness faded away.
The moment the front door opened, Yoo Ra-eun sniffed the air first.
"...Sis."
"What is it? ...Huh?"
A subtle yet deep aroma drifted down the hallway. The kind of rich scent you'd only find in a high-end restaurant. Yoo Seo-rin's eyes instantly sharpened—the look of a trained Hunter. Without even taking off their shoes, the two entered together, suppressing their presence.
Living room. No abnormalities. Windows and locks normal. Mana residue—
"...It's here."
They headed toward the kitchen and stopped at the same time. On the dining table was a perfectly prepared spread. Steam rose subtly, and it glistened with moisture. Yoo Ra-eun's throat bobbed.
"...What is this?"
"Don't touch it."
Even as she said that, Yoo Seo-rin didn't take her eyes off the food. Though only B-class, she had sensitive Mana Perception and used a bit of mana to scan the food. Signs of explosive mana... none. Toxicity... uncertain, but none. No curse-type fluctuations. Rather—
"The purification rate is... strangely high. It doesn't seem like a trap."
It was almost like a compressed, completed buff item.
At that, Yoo Ra-eun chuckled softly.
"So did someone seriously leave us a present?"
"No way. The only other person who knows the passcode is Ga-on."
They both became alert again, scanning for hidden presences or signs of intrusion. The house was incredibly peaceful, quiet. A few seconds of silence.
Then Yoo Seo-rin's eyes sharpened.
"...Wait."
"What?"
"There's someone."
An extremely faint presence, barely detectable. An energy that would've been obvious if they were fully alert. But now—maybe because it was 'off'—the fluctuation was faint.
"The utility room."
With that, they moved in sync. They opened the utility room door, saw the large closet next to the washing machine, and carefully opened it.
""......""
Yoo Ga-on was curled up inside, sleeping. Knees hugged to his chest, breathing evenly.
"...Why is he sleeping here?" Yoo Ra-eun muttered, dumbfounded.
Yoo Seo-rin looked down at his face for a moment. He was pale, but no external injuries. She could feel a small amount of mana from him—something she was sure she hadn't felt yesterday. Was it just her imagination?
"He fainted."
"No external injuries... doesn't seem like he was in a fight."
"It's mana exhaustion."
A brief silence. The corners of Yoo Ra-eun's mouth twitched.
"...But why is he hiding and sleeping?"
He was sprawled half-inside the closet, his soft breathing the only sound.
Saek.
Saek.
The corners of Yoo Seo-rin's mouth also relaxed slightly.
'How cute.'
'...Why is he cute?'
And so the two of them simultaneously had a thought that would make most Korean siblings gasp in horror. But they were only able to think that way because they'd been exceptionally close since childhood.
Anyway, they knew Yoo Ga-on was hiding something about his Awakening. Maybe this was related. No need to wake him and interrogate him—he'd tell them when the time came.
Yoo Seo-rin gently closed the closet door again.
"Leave him be. He'll come out when he wakes up."
"Yeah. Let's not pry."
As if they'd had the same thought, the two were in agreement.
Their gazes turned back to the dining table. The mana from the food was clean—absolutely no harmful traces. Circumstantially, it had to be made by Yoo Ga-on. In fact, their intuition told them it'd be a loss not to eat it.
Yoo Ra-eun picked up a knife first, lunging at the steak as she asked,
"We can eat this, right?"
"...Yeah. Let's eat."
One bite.
Two bites.
Their eyes widened simultaneously.
"...This is insane. It's fucking delicious?"
"...What is... this...?"
The moment they cut, chewed, and swallowed, mana circulated explosively through their bodies. Fatigue washed away completely. Their muscles tightened with vitality. They nodded without a word.
"He definitely said yesterday that his ability was support-type, right?"
"...He did. If you were to ask if this is ambiguous—it's absolutely not."
No more doubts. The two began to heartily enjoy the feast.
...
Inside the utility room, inside the closet, Yoo Ga-on remained unconscious, knowing nothing.