Episode 294. Cooking Class!

Jjaekjjaek-

I woke up from bed, hearing the birdsong announcing the morning.

I thought I was mistaken, but I could hear actual bird sounds coming from outside the yard.

Looking out the window, it wasn’t our house, but seemed to be coming from Alice’s mansion right next door.

I clearly slept hugging Nam Daeun yesterday, but seeing no one beside me, she must have woken up first.

“Argh. I’m tired.”

As I stretched and came out of the room, a fragrant coffee scent wafted.

It was Nam Daeun sitting at the living room table.

“Good morning.”

“Yeah. Did you sleep well?”

Like any other morning, Nam Daeun smiled, slightly raising the corners of her mouth.

Whether it was a cramped dormitory or a spacious house, nothing changed.

“Huuuuh…”

Soon, Liliana, staggering out of her room like a zombie, also popped out.

As if she had already forgotten her embarrassment from yesterday, she yawned and headed for the bathroom.

She might look like that, but she’s a kid who takes good care of her cleanliness.

Sitting blankly on the sofa, watching Liliana, I spoke to Nam Daeun.

“Ugh, I always hate Mondays.”

“Still, today is easy, isn’t it?”

Holjjak-

I blinked, watching Nam Daeun sip her coffee.

How could Monday be easy?

“What’s easy?”

“Didn’t you see the group message from the Academy?”

“Group message?”

“Yeah. They said they were having shortened classes.”

As soon as I heard Nam Daeun’s words, I checked my smartwatch.

Messages piled up.

I had turned off the alarms for messages that weren’t from the heroines, so this was the situation.

I don’t know where it spread from, but my number got leaked, and I’m getting way too many useless contacts like interview requests, ad filming offers, and guild recruitment texts.

“No way?”

There really was a message announcing shortened classes.

I guess I’ll have to change my number and keep the alarms on.

I might miss important messages.

“Huh?”

Just as I was rejoicing about the shortened classes.

I saw a message shining at the very top.

It was a message from Professor Im Sol.

Because she sent the message in the early morning while I was asleep, I only just discovered it.

• Professor Im Sol : Sorry. Can’t contact you for a while. Seems like I’ll be very bu,sy

“…?”

Just how busy could she be for the meticulous professor to make such a typo.

I considered calling or texting… but since she said she’s busy, I decided to leave it for now.

Anyway, I was planning to visit her one last time to say goodbye before going to France, so I’ll ask her directly then.

“By the way, how will you and Dahee commute to school for the week while I’m gone?”

Since I signed the contract for this house under my name, it will eventually be revealed that it’s mine.

But if it gets out that I’m living with Nam Daeun, it’ll become too much of a hassle.

“I have something planned for that.”

Just then, Scarlet walked up from behind.

*

The issue with Nam Daeun was resolved surprisingly easily.

Scarlet told me about a magical tool used at Alice’s house.

She said that if you use this, you become invisible from the outside when entering or leaving.

The effect spreads around the house, so it should be easy with just this.

So there was such a useful magical tool.

It might have been too big to use in the dormitory, but since our house had plenty of yard space, I just tossed it somewhere there.

“The world is truly amazing.”

“Hoyeon-ssi, what do you mean?”

“It’s nothing.”

“What? So anticlimactically.”

The Lumi and Lucy twins, who sit beside me every class.

It’s goodbye for a week with the cute twins too.

“Weren’t you two supposed to be doing practical training with the Ironblood Guild?”

“Yup. We were.”

“Wow, you guys are really doing well.”

The Ironblood Guild only contacts the top-ranking students among the first-years.

This means Lucy and Lumi have become quite strong now.

“Hoyeon-ssi, you said you were with the Iris Guild… If it’s abroad, we won’t be able to see you for a week.”

“It can’t be helped, Lumi. It’ll be a good opportunity for Lee Hoyeon too.”

“….”

Lumi pouted, and Lucy comforted her.

Seeing the two who know nothing makes me feel sorry, but it can’t be helped.

It was definitely an important opportunity for me.

Lucy, who was patting Lumi, made eye contact with me.

“Still… you’ll say goodbye before you go, right? At the club room.”

“I, I’ll be looking forward to it too….”

“Yeah. Of course.”

Anyway, I have to meet all the heroines at least once.

Since I won’t see them for a whole week, I should definitely say goodbye.

…Though I don’t know how intense that goodbye will be.

*

The morning class was cooking time.

You might wonder what kind of bullshit this is, but apparently, it’s a stat that’s surprisingly useful in places like dungeons.

For expeditions into dungeons or gates of unknown duration, people often pack ingredients rather than cooked food.

Among spatial artifacts, there are many that freeze time, but some dungeons nullify artifacts.

Naturally, people tend to pack ingredients that last long and make simple meals.

Of course, this means it’s a useless class for someone like Alice… but there’s no need to say that in a regular class, right?

All the students started cooking, looking at the ingredients before them.

Actually, it wasn’t that serious a class.

The guest chef in front even said it was like telling us to relax before going on practical training, so most people approached it playfully.

The one who received surprisingly high praise was Nam Daeun.

She made a stew that looked delicious; it matched the class theme perfectly, had a beautiful color, and was a mouth-watering visual.

“…Daeun-saengdo is amazing. You seem like you’ll make a great bride.”

“Thank you.”

By my standards, which still carried the baggage of my previous world, that’s a hugely sexist remark, but thankfully, no one in this world seemed uncomfortable with it.

It’s a world where people die indiscriminately regardless of gender if they mess up, so their standards must be different from mine.

As they say, people only learn their lesson when they get hit; upbringing really is that important.

Behind her, I also saw Alice blankly staring at the burnt-black muffin she held in her hand.

Let’s pretend I didn’t see that.

Meanwhile, most of the male students around me were struggling immensely.

“Can Lee Hoyeon-ssi cook well too?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

Kim Young-han, who had completely given up on cooking, approached me and teased me.

I made a passable Kimchi Jjigae.

Originally, the male protagonist in this genre should be good at cooking too… but unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of bonus.

Still, with my experience living alone, I can manage something simple like Kimchi Jjigae.

“…The color seems quite dark, are you sure you did it right?”

“Want to try a bite?”

“I was waiting for you to say that.”

Just in case there were any issues with the cooking process, I used Kim Young-han as my taste tester.

I had to test it before the heroines or I ate it.

Kim Young-han scooped some into a bowl with a ladle, took a generous bite including a piece of meat, and nodded.

“Oh….”

“It’s edible, right?”

How long have I been living alone?

Kimchi Jjigae is a dish you can’t possibly mess up.

Add kimchi, add meat, add vegetables, add water, and boil, boil, boil.

How easy is that.

Kim Young-han savored the stew and then opened his mouth.

“You’re genuinely terrible at cooking.”

“…Really?”

I took a spoonful of the Kimchi Jjigae with the spoon I had.

No, it’s just okay, edible…

“Hoyeon-ssi. C-can I try it too?”

Just then, Lumi approached me, seeing my dejected state.

“Of course. Give me your honest evaluation, Lumi.”

Right.

A guy like Kim Young-han, blinded by jealousy, wouldn’t possibly give a fair evaluation of my stew.

Our Lumi will give a proper evaluation.

“Gulp…”

Kkulkeok.

“I-it’s delicious….”

Lumi swallowed the Kimchi Jjigae with trembling eyes.

“…No, is it really that good?”

If one person says it, maybe, but if two people say that, my confidence really plummets.

“Let me try. I want to taste it too.”

Seeing Lumi’s expression stiffen, Lucy approached.

“You’re my last hope, Lucy.”

Nyam.

Lucy put the stew in her mouth, then glanced sideways, gauging my reaction.

“Um, um… It’s not like you can’t cook, but, uh…”

“Let’s just stop.”

The premise itself was flawed from the start.

Come to think of it, why should I even cook?

Someone else can just do it for me.

For example, Nam Daeun, who they say will make a good bride.

Right, Daeun can just do it for me.

As I was thinking that, someone was coming towards me across the noisy classroom.

“I got praised by the professor for this. Want a bite?”

“…? Uh, yeah.”

Nam Daeun, who was suddenly in front of me, naturally scooped some stew into my bowl.

It was the affectionate gesture she usually only showed at home.

I received the stew from Nam Daeun with a bewildered expression and took a bite.

The stew was full of appetizing aroma and savory flavor.

The texture of the ingredients chewed intermittently was satisfying enough that I couldn’t believe it was preserved food.

Nyam-nyam.

“…It’s really delicious.”

Compared to this stew, my Kimchi Jjigae really was garbage.

“That’s a relief. I put in ingredients you like.”

Nam Daeun smiled as if satisfied with my praise, packed up her stew, and returned to her seat.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she started cleaning her station with a blank expression.

“Were you that close with Nam Daeun? That’s surprising.”

The other students nearby were whispering and looking this way, and only Kim Young-han, who had some acquaintance with me, spoke directly.

“…Yeah. In my own way.”

“Doesn’t seem like ‘in your own way’.”

I couldn’t answer anything because I didn’t understand the sudden situation myself.

I had decided not to act friendly here, so what could have caused such a change of heart?

★ Heroine Status Window

[Nam Daeun]

• [ Affection: 100 ] ( + 0.9 )

• [ Lust: 70 ]

• [ Appetite: 30 ]

• [ Fatigue: 35 ]

Current Status: Was I a nuisance after all… But I wanted to try doing this in front of others just once.

“….”

I chuckled wryly, looking at Nam Daeun’s status window.

It would have been great if she had told me beforehand.

You couldn’t resist the impulse of the moment, huh, Daeun.

Could it be because I pounded her so hard yesterday?

It seems Nam Daeun also loses her composure sometimes.

In the corner of my vision, Alice was looking at me with displeasure.

Since I told Alice about us living together, I find that gaze somewhat bothersome too.

“Lee Hoyeon! E-eat mine too!”

“Please eat mine too….”

Lucy and Lumi blinked, watching Nam Daeun give me stew and leave, then hesitantly offered me their food with trembling hands.

Perhaps because their food looked much poorer in visual appeal compared to Nam Daeun’s, they seemed lacking in confidence.

Of course, compared to my Kimchi Jjigae, everything was delicious.

“…What the. Why is this so delicious.”

Surprisingly so.

Now that I think about it, it wasn’t my Kimchi Jjigae that was the problem, but rather that the other dishes were just too delicious.

“Really? That’s a relief… But when did you get so close with Nam Daeun?”

“I should have fed you my fried rice first….”

“…Let’s talk about that later.”

I tried to avoid the clinging twins’ gaze.

“When? During lunch?”

But Lucy didn’t give up and grabbed my arm.

“…No. I have something during lunch.”

“The nurse’s office?”

“Yeah. Let’s definitely meet after I go to the nurse’s office.”

“Okay.”

Thankfully, Lumi nodded, and seeing Lumi’s reaction, Lucy also let go of my arm.

“Then I’ll be waiting in the club room… so you have to come.”

“I’ll hold my breath until Hoyeon-ssi comes too. Gasp.”

Lucy looked up at me cautiously, while Lumi cutely clenched her fists and puffed out her cheeks.

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely come.”

I smiled at their cute aegyo and took a bite of the Kimchi Jjigae I had diligently made.

I have a lot to do.

Since I don’t even have time to eat lunch, I’ll just make do with this.