Kai stared at the frying pan in his hands for a while before smiling. It wasn’t anything special to look at, but to him, it was already one of the most valuable things he had gotten since entering this strange place.
At least now he could properly cook instead of having to roast everything over a fire. He placed the pan down beside him and looked at the remaining fish he had caught earlier.
"I really can’t eat fish anymore." Kai said, staring at it with a tired expression.
He had only been in the dungeon for a short while, yet he was already tired of eating the same thing. If he was going to survive here, he needed to find more food. Kai packed up what he could and left his little shelter, making sure to remember the way back.
He didn’t want to get lost again like before, especially after everything that had happened with the spider.
As he walked through the forest, Kai soon realised finding food wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. A strange creature that looked like a giant lizard suddenly jumped out from behind a tree and started chasing him. Kai immediately ran without even thinking about fighting it. He wasn’t stupid enough to fight a monster when he barely had enough strength to deal with one.
After running for a while, he managed to lose the creature between some rocks. He took a few moments to catch his breath before noticing a strange orange vegetable growing nearby. Kai walked over and activated his Food Appraisal skill.
[Fire Carrot]
[Edible]
Kai stared at the screen before looking back at the vegetable.
"Fire carrot?" Kai said, picking it up. "It looks like a normal carrot."
He decided to take a few with him. As he continued searching, he found even more strange ingredients. There were purple cabbages, glowing berries, giant tomatoes, and something that looked exactly like a potato despite being called a Thunder Potato.
Some of the names were strange enough to make Kai wonder who had named them in the first place, but thankfully they were all edible.
Of course, the dungeon didn’t make things easy for him. At one point, a giant frog suddenly jumped out of the bushes and chased him for several minutes. Later, he nearly stepped into a nest filled with small snake-like creatures before quickly running away.
By the time Kai finally decided he had gathered enough ingredients, his clothes were dirty, his legs were tired, and he was seriously considering whether finding food was worth all this trouble.
"I just wanted something other than fish." Kai complained as he made his way back.
Meanwhile, back at the place where Kai had been staying, three men had arrived. They had already failed to clear a dungeon level and had been sent back to the starting area. While wandering around, they noticed the smoke coming from Kai’s fire and soon smelled the cooked fish he had left behind. None of them had eaten properly in a while, so they didn’t hesitate for long before sitting down and helping themselves.
When Kai finally returned, he stopped in his tracks as he saw the three strangers sitting around his fire, happily eating his fish. He stared at them for several seconds, wondering if he was seeing things. This story is hosted at novelping . com.
"Are you seriously eating my fish?" Kai asked.
The three men froze, their hands still holding pieces of fish. They slowly looked at Kai, clearly expecting him to get angry, but Kai only sighed. He had already been through enough today and didn’t have the energy to argue over a few pieces of fish.
"Well, if you’re hungry, you could have just asked." Kai said.
"Sorry, brother. We saw the fire and smelled the food. We couldn’t help ourselves." One of the men said.
Kai looked at the three men before shrugging. "It’s fine. But if you want more, you have to give me something in return."
The three men exchanged glances before quickly searching through their belongings. They showed Kai some of the items they had collected from the dungeon, and Kai’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw them.
Some were strange materials, others were monster parts, and one was a small glowing stone that Kai had never seen before.
"You’ll give me these for food?" Kai asked.
"Of course. If the food tastes as good as this, I’d give you more." The man said.
Kai didn’t need to be told twice. He quickly started preparing another meal using some of the ingredients he had gathered. The three men watched him cook, and when they finally tasted the food, their expressions changed immediately.
"This is way better than the fish from before." One of them said.
"I’ve never eaten anything this good since entering the dungeon." Another man said.
Kai smiled slightly as he listened to them. He had never thought of his cooking as anything special. It was simply something he had learned and enjoyed doing, but perhaps it could actually help him survive this place.
After finishing their meals, the three men prepared to leave. Before they went, one of them turned back toward Kai.
"You should sell your food. There are a lot of people in the dungeon who would probably trade valuable things for meals like this." He said.
Kai paused.
The armored person from before had said something similar. Now these three men were saying the same thing. Maybe there really was something to the idea.
"We’ll tell the others about you." Another man said. "If they want good food, they’ll come here."
After the three men left, Kai sat beside the fire and thought about what they had said. Then he suddenly remembered something important.
His phone had still been working inside the dungeon, meaning he might actually be able to use the internet.
Kai immediately pulled out his phone and checked it.
"Wait... this actually works?" Kai said, staring at the screen.
He quickly opened an app and decided to post pictures of the food he had made. He didn’t really know if anyone would see it, but there was no harm in trying.
He took a few pictures of the cooked fish and the strange ingredients before uploading them.
He wasn’t expecting much.
However, not long after posting, notifications started appearing.
[Is that dungeon food?]
[Where did you get that fish?]
[Bro, that actually looks good.]
[Are you selling it?]
Kai stared at the comments in surprise. More and more people were beginning to notice the post, and then he saw something that made him smile.
The three men he had fed had already posted their own reviews about his food, telling people about the F-rank chef they had found in the forest.
Kai looked at the growing number of comments and couldn’t help but smile.
"Maybe this really could work." Kai said, already thinking about what kind of food he could make next and what valuable dungeon items people might be willing to trade for it.