Today’s lunch was budae-jjigae. Budae-jjigae is easy to make and great for feeding a large group of people.

First, I cut the main ingredients, ham and vienna sausages, into uniform sizes. For vegetables, I prepared onions, green onions, peppers, mushrooms, and more onions.

After preparing all the ingredients, I put them all in a large pot.

I made the seasoning sauce with gochujang, red pepper powder, minced garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and pepper. After mixing it well with a spoon, I poured it over the ingredients.

The best broth to use is beef bone broth, but since I didn’t have any, I used rice water instead.

Once it starts bubbling, stir it well, then add ramen noodles, dumplings, and tofu according to taste. When I make budae-jjigae, I believe that adding a lot of ingredients makes it tastier, so I threw everything in.

As it boiled and bubbled, a delicious aroma spread throughout the campsite.

“What’s this? You know how to make budae-jjigae too?”

The workers gathered one by one. Sister Ga Young asked in amazement.

“Yeah. It’ll be delicious. It’s better with aged kimchi, but I didn’t have any, so I made it without.”

“Should I bring some next time I come?”

“Really? How? Food spoils in 2-3 days in the dungeon.”

It’s not that I hadn’t thought about it. I had considered asking for kimchi since it requires many ingredients not available here and is difficult to make alone.

I especially missed it when eating ramen.

However, the campsite is at least a 5-day one-way trip from the dungeon entrance. Even if I brought it in, it would all spoil.

“If you sprinkle magic stone powder on kimchi, you can put it in the inventory and it lasts longer.”

It was a method my mom used occasionally. Mom was a true Korean who couldn’t eat a single meal without kimchi.

But that…

“Doesn’t that cost a lot of money…?”

Such things were only possible for high-ranking hunters who used magic stones like water.

Even if you sprinkled S-grade magic stone powder sold in the Hunter Market, it would last a maximum of one week.

An S-grade magic stone costs at least 100 million won, so you’d be eating 100 million won worth of kimchi.

“Are you worried about money for me?”

Sister Ga Young looked at me as if I had said something ridiculous.

Well, her father, the Association President, was a world-renowned S-grade production hunter who earned a lot of money.

He was among the top 3 individual wealth holders in Korea, surpassing even conglomerates.

A person who hunted as a hobby. That was Sister Ga Young.

“But it’s still too expensive…”

“It’s fine. I want to eat it with kimchi when I come here too. You said your phone fell in the water and doesn’t work, right? I’ll ask my dad to make one that can be used in the dungeon.”

“Really? Thank you, sister.”

“Ah. Let’s take a picture to show my dad.”

“Okay.”

Sister took out her phone and took a picture.

Money and connections are indeed the best. When I was working at the company, I refused all support, claiming to be independent.

Looking back now, it was only possible because I was well-fed. Thinking that I’d have to struggle to survive on my own again after she leaves, I wanted to accept whatever help I could get, pretending I couldn’t resist.

“I should go now.”

“You’re leaving? Already?”

In the middle of our conversation, sister suddenly said she was leaving the campsite.

“Yeah. You seem to be doing well. Even though my dad gets updates about you through videos, he might worry if I stay too long.”

“That’s true, but…”

Was there something I said yesterday that offended her? This is too sudden…

My memory is hazy, but I think I just said whatever came to mind. But sister didn’t seem upset. It could be a distorted memory from being drowsy.

“Did I say something wrong yesterday?”

“No? I’m just surprised at how mature you’ve become.”

“But why are you leaving so quickly? Can’t you stay a little longer? Just one day. No, two days. I think two days would be enough.”

I felt disappointed that she was leaving without prior notice. There was still so much I wanted to do for her.

The general store had gotten curry powder, so I was planning to make curry tomorrow. Many sprouts had also grown, so I was thinking of making sprout bibimbap.

If I had known this would happen, I should have hurried. I should have made everything for lunch.

“Why are you suddenly acting like a child? You’ve been so grown-up all this time.”

“…”

I wanted to whine that I’m not an adult, to beg her not to go, but I automatically closed my mouth, afraid that if I showed weakness, sister would worry again.

“I’ll just report back and come again. While I’m gone, keep doing well like you are now. Okay?”

Sister stroked my head as if to comfort me. Trying to suppress my gloomy feelings, I forced myself to answer.

“…Okay, I understand.”

“And.”

The hand that was stroking my head came down and held my hand.

“I think I made a mistake. Without realizing it, I still thought of you as someone I needed to protect. I didn’t realize that telling you not to do anything might feel like shackles rather than being comfortable. I felt the same way with my dad, and yet I did the same thing to you.”

“Sister…”

“I think we were the only ones who didn’t realize you had grown up. I’m sorry, Bom.”

I finally couldn’t control my emotions and hugged my sister. It was warm and comforting.

I missed this warmth so much. I should never distance myself again.

“But don’t suddenly say you’re getting married. I’m not ready to let you go yet.”

“What marriage… Sister, you’ve been saying strange things lately.”

Last time too, she said something about seeing a man’s face, and that seeing a face was useless anyway. She said strange things.

There aren’t any men around me.

“You’ll understand if you wait and see whether it’s strange or not. For now, I’m taking Hunter Chae Dong Hwa with me.”

“Huh?”

“You said Hunter Chae Dong Hwa was ready to leave, right? I’m going to leave with him.”

“Oh… really?”

Come to think of it, Hunter Chae Dong Hwa had been staying at the campsite for the past few days without going on reconnaissance.

‘Was he not doing personal activities because he was going to leave anyway?’

“Have you already talked to the hunter about leaving?”

“Yeah. I told him this morning, and he said he understood.”

If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem like it was planned from the beginning. Did he not give me any hints because he thought sister would tell me?

“Why? Are you disappointed?”

No, he doesn’t necessarily need to tell me he’s leaving… But last time, he told me when he was going far away. This is strange.

“Bom.”

“Huh? What?”

While I was lost in thought for a moment, sister tilted her head and called out to me.

“I asked if you’re disappointed that Hunter Chae Dong Hwa is leaving.”

“No. He has to do what he needs to do.”

Him leaving itself isn’t something to be disappointed about. I just thought that if he’s leaving, couldn’t he at least tell me? That’s all I was thinking.

“Ah, if you’re going, take this with you.”

I took out several commemorative tickets I had been collecting from my inventory. Sister’s eyebrows raised curiously.

“Wouldn’t it be better to sell them? You’re fine, aren’t you?”

“It’s fine if you use them too, sister. I just thought Hunter Han Ryeo-un seemed to like them a lot.”

He was clearly overjoyed when he got the astral projection skill. So I focused on watching action movies that had a high chance of yielding astral projection skills and obtained these.

“It’s not much, but don’t you think this will show that you care about Hunter Han Ryeo-un? Try bringing it up when you give him these, ask him to stay with the 7th reconnaissance team.”

“Thank you. He would be happy to receive these.”

Sister must have remembered how happy Hunter Han Ryeo-un was when he received these. A faint warmth spread across her face.

After our conversation, we ate the completed budae-jjigae. After the meal, sister immediately went into her tent to change clothes.

Hunter Han Ryeo-un and Hunter Chae Dong Hwa were also ready to leave, as if everything had really been arranged.

“Well then, take care. I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. Travel safely.”

Sister waved her hand.

“Goodbye! Come again!”

“Sure. Take good care of Bom while I’m gone.”

“We will!”

The monsters came out to see them off and said goodbye.

“Madam, thank you for your hospitality. We had a great time.”

“Yes. Have a safe trip.”

Hunter Han Ryeo-un bowed his head slightly. Hunter Chae Dong Hwa stood at a distance and nodded slightly.

I also gave him a light greeting.

He wasn’t originally a talkative person, and this much was enough. But I couldn’t understand why I kept feeling unsettled.

‘I thought we had become a bit closer…’

Was it just my imagination? Then why did he tell me his secret? Don’t people usually share secrets only with close friends?

At that moment, Hunter Chae Dong Hwa suddenly turned back and strode towards me. Then he stood in front of me with an expressionless face.

“I forgot something.”

“What is it? I’ll go get it for you.”

“No. This.”

He grabbed my arm as I was about to turn around, and with his other hand, he took something out of his inventory.

Accept / Reject]

“…”

“I brought this as a gift when I went on a long reconnaissance last time, but you were sleeping when I arrived at the campsite, so I forgot about it. I’m not sure if it’ll suit your taste, but please try it.”

“…”

“That senior said it was very delicious.”

I froze on the spot, seeing something so unexpected.

“To be precise, it was something that senior’s younger sibling liked.”

When the words “senior’s younger sibling” came out of his mouth, my gaze, which had been fixed on the Cinsia, creakily moved up to his face.

“Somehow, I thought Yu Bom would like it too.”

“Why?”

Even as my thoughts came to a halt, words naturally spilled out.

“Why did you think I would like something that person’s younger sibling liked?”

Could it be that he’s figured something out?

Maybe he heard about me from my brother, forgot about it, and then remembered?

At first, he certainly seemed to have no idea when he heard my name.

“There’s something in common between that younger sibling and you, Bom.”

He deliberately put on a serious expression and spoke in a lower tone.

“…Do you know the younger sibling?”

“No. I only saw them in a video. The child was crying, but when given this, they stopped crying. Even with tears and snot mixed together and Cinsia juice dripping, they kept eating stubbornly.”

Ack! Why would my brother show such a video!

I screamed internally. When I was young and crying, my brother would giggle and record it.

I can’t believe he still has that!