The next morning, Kai woke up to the sound of footsteps approaching his little campsite. At first he thought it was another monster, but when he looked up, he saw a group of people standing nearby. They had clearly come because of the posts about his food, and judging from the way they were staring at the cooking area, they were definitely hungry.
"Are you the F-rank chef?" One of them asked.
"Yeah, that’s me." Kai said, still a little surprised that people were actually finding him.
"I heard your food can heal injuries. Is that true?" Another person asked.
Kai shrugged. "I didn’t know about that until recently, but apparently it does."
That answer was enough to get them interested. They immediately began bringing out items they had collected from the dungeon, asking what kind of food they could get in return. Kai looked through the materials and couldn’t help smiling. There were monster cores, strange herbs, pieces of metal and several other things that he had never seen before. He didn’t need all of them for cooking, but he had already discovered that his equipment creation skill could turn some of the materials into useful kitchen tools.
"Alright, give me a little time." Kai said.
He started preparing the meals while the group waited nearby. Kai had slowly gotten used to having people around while he cooked, and he actually found himself enjoying it. There was something satisfying about seeing people eat food he had made and watching their expressions change after the first bite.
"This is so good!"
"Can I get another one?"
"How much for three more?"
Kai laughed as he continued cooking. He had never imagined that something he enjoyed doing back home would become the thing keeping him alive in a dungeon.
After everyone had eaten and left, Kai looked at the materials they had traded him. He picked up one of the strange pieces of metal and immediately got an idea.
"I wonder what I can make with this." Kai said.
He activated Food Equipment Creation, and the metal began floating in front of him. It slowly melted and changed shape before forming into another piece of cooking equipment. Kai watched with excitement as a large cooking pot appeared, followed by a few other useful tools.
"This skill is actually pretty useful." Kai said, picking up the new equipment.
His little cooking area was becoming better with every day. He now had a proper frying pan, cooking pots, knives and other tools. If he kept getting better materials, he could probably make even better equipment later.
Kai spent the rest of the day cooking for more people who arrived after seeing his posts. Some came alone while others came in groups, and every person brought something different to trade. Kai was beginning to build quite a collection of dungeon materials, and for once he didn’t feel completely helpless. Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.
As evening came, Kai sat beside the fire and counted the items he had received that day. He couldn’t help smiling as he looked at everything.
"I actually made quite a lot today." Kai said.
He was about to put the materials away when his phone suddenly vibrated.
Kai picked it up, expecting another customer asking about his food.
Instead, he saw a message from an anonymous account.
Kai frowned and opened it.
[Are you Kai Zhuang?]
Kai stared at the message for a moment before replying.
[Yes. Who are you?]
The response came almost immediately.
[I know the boy named Hori.]
Kai’s smile disappeared.
His fingers stopped moving.
[Hori?]
Another message appeared.
[Yes. He is with us.]
Kai’s heart suddenly began beating faster.
He had spent the last few days wondering what had happened to the little boy after he had left him inside that tunnel. He had hoped someone would find him, but he had no idea whether Hori was safe or even still alive.
Kai quickly typed another message.
The reply took a few seconds.
[He’s alive. He’s been asking about you.]
Kai stared at the screen.
His relief was immediate.
"Hori..." Kai whispered.
He almost smiled before another message appeared.
[We know about your food. We want to meet you.]
Kai’s expression changed.
Something about the message didn’t feel right anymore.
He looked at the darkness surrounding his campsite and then back at his phone.
[Where is Hori?] Kai asked.
The anonymous person replied.
[Come meet us and you’ll see.]
Kai’s grip tightened around his phone.
He didn’t know who these people were, but if they truly had Hori, he couldn’t simply ignore them.
After everything that had happened, the little boy was the one thing Kai couldn’t just leave behind.
Kai stood up slowly, staring at the message.
"Looks like I have to go find you, Hori." Kai said.