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Damn cast members ended up eating my share of Stir-Fried Pork, so my fuel gauge didn’t fill up.

“…I’m not actually that hungry, but seeing the meat snatched right in front of me makes me feel hungry.”

Looks like I’ll have to catch a monster myself and cook again.

“So… you’re saying you’re going to catch a monster yourself?”

“Yes, I never imagined you guys would eat even the pork. Especially the two girl group members.”

“…That’s because you made it too delicious!”

Winter made an excuse, and Yuna’s face turned red as she blurted out something tsundere-like.

They quickly changed the subject, as if to say, “Let’s stop talking about our gluttony.”

“Wow, hearing this, I really feel like your life is on a whole different level…”

“That’s the life of a hero. What can I say?”

“…Heroes don’t really live like that, though.”

Scorpion, perhaps worried about the image of the hero profession, quickly refuted, but I brushed it off lightly.

Where does an A-Class hero get off interrupting an S-Class hero?

“But didn’t you say earlier that the meat came from some slaughterhouse or something? And that they were even friendly to you. Can’t you just get it from there? Or just use regular pork or beef?”

From what I know, the monster slaughterhouse requires at least a day’s notice for meat.

Asking for meat now would be a nuisance. If I ask, they’ll probably try to accommodate, though.

And having already tasted monster meat, regular livestock meat doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

Too lazy to explain further, I tossed them a task.

“Monster meat tastes vastly different depending on the type. I can bring back meat that suits any dish, so think about what kind of food we should sell at the Monster Restaurant.”

“Can you do any cuisine? Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Western?”

“I can’t say I can do everything… but if it’s something I’ve eaten before, I can replicate it to a decent level.”

“Wow, amazing. You could be called an S-Class chef.”

No time to indulge in nonsense.

I’m not hungry, but I’m hungry.

After tossing the cast a task, I headed straight to PD Choi.

“…So you’re saying you’re going to catch a monster?”

“Yes, is that okay? You said we have free time until the evening coin game, right?”

At my words about going to catch a monster mid-filming, PD Choi’s eyes spun in confusion.

But only for a moment.

His ruthless nature to turn any situation into a broadcast angle revealed itself.

“Can we send a camera to follow you?”

“…You want me to take a VJ on a monster hunt? Do you even have an Awakened One VJ on standby?”

He was definitely a vicious PD.

I’ve seen scenes of monster hunts broadcasted multiple times.

But that was when they had not only the hunting team but also a defense team for the crew and a backup team just in case.

Right now, it’s just me.

What if the cameraman gets killed or injured?

Honestly, if I move quickly, I can protect them from disaster-level monsters, if not extinction-level.

But… that’s a bit of a hassle.

It’s best if there’s no need to protect them in the first place.

Still, looking at PD Choi’s eyes, it seemed like filming the hunt would definitely boost ratings, so I compromised by using an action cam instead of a VJ.

I received the action cam from the assistant director, learned how to use it, and put it on.

‘Then… since we’re filming, I should minimize the gore, right?’

Better to finish them off cleanly with magic rather than punching or crushing them with telekinesis.

They’ll edit out the skinning and blood-draining scenes anyway.

Wait, that’s too cruel for the editors.

I’ll turn off the cam briefly to finish the job.

After falling into this world, I’ve become quite numb to “normal” situations, but I really felt it on that uninhabited island.

I still can’t forget the time when everyone watching threw up.

“Alright, I’m off.”

“Be careful… I guess that’s unnecessary. No rush, take your time.”

What kind of talk is this?

Even after explaining the situation, he tells me to take my time because there’s no rush.

“I’m in a hurry, though?”

“…Right, you’re going to get monster meat because you’re hungry.”

But… come to think of it, what kind of healing variety show has you self-sufficiently getting your own meat?

Production team, is this really okay?

***

In the end, Jeong Gyeoul ventured deep into the mountains and caught three monsters.

He went to the nearest slaughterhouse, requested cooperation, paid the facility fee, and started butchering.

His favorite parts were the ribs and the meat around them.

The meat on the outside of the ribs felt like sirloin or tenderloin if compared to beef.

The meat inside the ribs was the tenderloin.

Removing the bones from the ribs gave him flower ribs, inside skirt, outside skirt, and brisket.

There were other good parts, but after generously cutting the aforementioned parts and the sirloin, he returned to the filming site.

“…You came back really fast? It didn’t even take two hours.”

“I can’t miss lunchtime.”

He left after breakfast and arrived just in time for lunch.

Jeong Gyeoul never skips meal times unless there’s a special reason, so even the time to return from hunting was scheduled around meal times.

Anyway, after finishing the hunt and returning, the Monster Restaurant was empty, and the cast wasn’t in the yard either.

“What are the members doing?”

“They played a few games of foot volleyball, so they’re probably washing up now.”

“Ah, I see.”

The assistant director who retrieved the action cam informed him of the cast’s whereabouts.

‘Don’t want it to get snatched again, I’ll eat first and then prepare lunch.’

Freshly caught meat.

It was in a state where anything made from it would be delicious.

Thinking of steak for lunch, but something slightly different for himself.

But it would be better to use similar ingredients and methods.

‘I’ll go with chop steak.’

As soon as he decided on the menu, he started preparing onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms.

He roughly chopped the bell peppers and mushrooms into cubes, but sliced the onions thinly.

He even sliced onions for curry, so chop steak was no different.

After preparing the vegetables, he took out the seasonings to make the sauce.

No need for a recipe.

He roughly knew the ingredients.

And remembered the taste of the seasoning.

Tonkatsu sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, and oligosaccharide.

Even minced garlic, essential for Koreans, went into the bowl and was mixed well.

Since it wasn’t a dish to serve others but just for himself, he skipped tasting.

It wasn’t a delicate seasoning that required tasting, and the combination couldn’t possibly taste bad.

He immediately took out the cleaned wok.

He melted butter in the wok and stir-fried the meat.

When it was about halfway cooked, he added the prepared vegetables and stir-fried until the vegetables softened slightly.

Then he poured in the sauce, turned the heat to max, and stir-fried quickly.

Overcooking even a little would make it tough, so heat control was key.

Then.

Swoosh—

The side door of the Monster Restaurant connected to the accommodation opened, and someone came in.

“What? Winter’s here? What are you doing now?”

“…This time it’s mine, don’t steal it.”

“Come on, just one bite.”

Kim Guk-min, who had already filled his stomach with ramen and Stir-Fried Pork, was once again captivated by the intense aroma of Jeong Gyeoul’s cooking.

“If you steal mine, I’ll halve the amount of steak for lunch.”

“Wow! That’s mean! You can’t do this with food. How can you reduce lunch while emitting such a delicious smell?”

Eating chop steak would mean eating three dishes just in the morning.

Even though reducing lunch would be the normal thing to do, Kim Guk-min seemed genuinely disappointed.

“…Then just have a few bites.”

“Really? Really?”

“Don’t eat too much. Got it?”

“Of course! I’m Kim Guk-min. I always keep promises made in front of the camera.”

The cast, who said they’d only take one bite of the Stir-Fried Pork, ended up eating more than half, leading to this mess.

But Jeong Gyeoul foolishly trusted the black-haired human again.

“Go ahead and eat. The assistant director said to call him when the food’s ready for an insert shot, so I’ll go find him.”

“Got it. If the others come, I’ll guard it so they can’t eat it, don’t worry.”

The assistant director, who would usually be in the yard, was nowhere to be seen.

‘…Damn, I’m getting anxious.’

After grabbing a nearby staff member to ask about the assistant director’s whereabouts, he quickly went to inform him that the food was ready and returned to the restaurant.

“…I knew this would happen.”

“This is so delicious!”

“Amazing, Winter, are you adding this to the menu?”

“What kind of monster is this? I think I can eat monster meat without any hesitation now.”

Kim Guk-min, who was supposed to stop the cast, was the fastest with his chopsticks.

Next to him, Han Seo-jin, Winter, and Yuna were also busy with their chopsticks.

“Hey! You said you’d stop them! You said you always keep promises made in front of the camera!”

“Well, uh, to explain, I never actually promised, and they just pounced like starving hyenas…”

“….”

While Kim Guk-min was making excuses, the members didn’t stop their chopsticks.

Feeling the crisis, Jeong Gyeoul even used magic power to rush to the table.

And that day’s lunch menu was plain rice with seaweed.

 

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