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Chapter 157
So, I was about to say something to overcome the awkward atmosphere…
“Lee-kyung-ah, tell him, ‘So What?'”
“This punk driver…has a lot of useless things to say.”
“Hold it in, noona… We can’t put Lee-kyung-ie on the bus on the way back.”
I laughed awkwardly at the chaos in the back seats and shut my mouth. From what I’ve noticed, the Red Lotus members calmed down when I stopped paying attention to Kim Sangyoon.
Besides, at that time, the seat belt glistening near my face bothered me; I started chewing on it, refraining from speaking any further–not that this conversation needed my input anyway.
“We’ve arrived!” Kim Sangyoon shouted.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
Like that, we arrived at our destination, safe and sound; we could see the swaying, brown dungeon gate.
Other popular dungeons were often noisy because of the many street vendors and restaurants targeting the coming and going Users, but this one was really quiet. Only one or two people would sometimes pass by the [Cookie House]’s front gate.
“Let’s brief ourselves quickly before going in.”
“Yep!”
So, we just sat on a weathered bench nearby and shared information–given to me yesterday by Seo Dawon and Kim Olim–about the structure and flow of the dungeon.
“We need to break through as fast as we can until we reach a crossroads…Be careful not to step on or wound the little cookie children,” I said.
“Understood.”
I explained while looking through my memo notes on my cell phone; My curiosity was triggered as I saw Kim Sangyoon answer confidently with an ambitious expression. These days, Kim Sangyoon was overly ambitious; even now, it seemed as if the Warrior was itching for some action.
However, his bared smile expression didn’t look so bad, so, instead of asking questions about his ferocity, I decided to enter after informing him about the [Cookie House] raid’s fatal risk factors.
While walking behind Kim Sangyoon, I slowly checked over the battle uniform I wore. This was the combat uniform I bought at such a high price, but I was a little excited. The uniform would finally be showcased today! The dragon skin felt nice, and I was fond of the strange, unfamiliar smell of the leather.
“No, this bastard… Now that I take a closer look, it looks like Lee-kyung-ie and this bastard are wearing a couple uniforms.” 1
“Mm?” As I fiddled with the wrist guard, I heard an angry shout behind me. Jung Garam narrowed his eyes and jutted his chin at the warrior. Looking closer, Kim Sangyoon’s combat uniform was also bought from the DAA, the combat clothing brand that tailored my uniform.
However, hmm…Kim Sangyoon was originally a popular streamer and earned good money; it wouldn’t be too outrageous for him to at least be able to afford DAA.
Angered, Jung Garam whispered into my ears, “Doesn’t it feel bad to have been copied like this? Should I stab him?”
Is he crazy?
Of course, I shook my head to dissuade him. Does it make sense to say that Kim Sangyoon had followed me? The combat uniform design was ready-made anyway.
Instead of arguing with Jung Garam, I glanced at Kim Sangyoon walking in front. In a low voice, I whispered to the young Assassin, “What kind of combat uniform did you wear in the past?”
“Me?” Jung Garam replied.
“Mhm. What did you wear when you obtained Matara (the title)?”
“Why? Was it cool?”
“Yeah…I searched for something similar, but I couldn’t find anything?”
“Cough… Actually, I obtained that after much difficulty…”
Jung Garam’s expression suddenly brightened and expended a lot of effort in explaining the origins of his combat suit. At that point, Seo Dawon, who was walking next to me, and I briefly made eye contact; he noticed that my shallow attention span was wandering, but he made no particular moves to point that out.
[Clack Clack.]
And finally, we stood in front of [Cookie House]’s gate. Kim Sangyoon had walked confidently the entire way there; at the entrance, he turned back towards me, and I nodded my head.
[‘Berserker Kim Sangyoon’s party’ will now enter Cookie House. Press the button if you’ve finished preparations.]
[Yes.] [No.]
A familiar system message popped up. I pressed [Yes] immediately; after a while, my vision faded to black.
" "
* * *
[We welcome you to ‘Cookie House.’]
[You can start the event, ‘What are the ingredients for Cookie Dough?’]
Soon afterwards, I felt like my body was being moved someplace else. Even before I opened my eyes, I smelled something savory and sweet–exactly like freshly baked bread or sweets at a bakery.
As I opened my eyes, the system message echoed in my ears; I stood in a small cave covered here and there with crackers. I could also see Kim Sangyoon. The other Red Lotus folks were all standing separately; when they saw me, they hurried to my side.
“We’ve arrived.” Kim Sangyoon equipped [Berserk] and stood in front of me. Lackey, who had been riding in my arms this entire time, jumped down and stood at my side.
Following Kim Sangyoon’s gaze, I could see what appeared to be small bugs slowly approaching us. When we took a closer look, they appeared to be various cereal pieces like Frxxt Loop and CxCo Balls. 2 The cereal bounced against each other, as if it were enticing us to pick them up and pop them in our mouths.
I told Kim Sangyoon, “Those appear to be the cookie children. Should we move to the side so we don’t touch them?”
“Understood.”
[You’ve discovered the Cereal Babies!]
[They would make a hearty breakfast. Of course, if you pick any random thing off the ground and eat it, you may give yourself a stomach ache.]
As soon as we moved out of the way, the system message belatedly and sarcastically conveyed information to us.
I pushed the message out of view, towards the left, and grabbed Lackey’s hand–the skeleton was still looking at the cereal with a curious expression upon its face. Fortunately, Lackey didn’t even protest and docilely stayed put until the Cereal Babies disappeared from view.
“We should now break through to the crossroads.”
“Yes.”
After the Cereal Babies vanished from our sights, we hurried on forward. After walking like that for 20 minutes, a sharply sweet smell poked at our noses. The scent made me wonder if a large amount of dark chocolate was being boiled somewhere.
[Fon-due, Fon-due.]
When we climbed the bulging cracker hill just outside the cave we exited, I was able to identify the source of that sweet chocolate scent. A huge chocolate river flowed right at the foot of the hill on the other side.
Furthermore, nuts like macadamia, almonds, and walnuts (not crackers) were placed like gravel near the chocolate river. Beside all that, a Golem, which seemed to be covered with melted chocolate, continuously called out [Fon-Due] as it patrolled the surrounding area.
[You’ve discovered the Fondue Golem!]
[Coated in chocolate; covered in caramel and almonds! Any User that likes chocolate bars would want to eat this monster in one bite. The red eyes on its face are dried raspberries, providing a refreshing taste on its otherwise rich flavor profile. The chocolate stick it’s holding is made out of 77% cacao! All ingredients are of the finest quality.]
Of course, even with the Fondue Golem’s explanation, I didn’t think it looked particularly appetizing. Even at first glance, the golem was enormous–over 3 meters tall–and the chocolate stick it was holding was just as tall as I was. It was just so bizarre to see such a giant walking around shouting [Fondue] periodically.
In addition, the Fondue Golem would grab the Cereal Babies that were jumping around and throw them into the chocolate river. The Cereal Babies didn’t seem like they wanted to be caught; they looked a bit pitiful, running away.
The Cereal babies that were narrowly caught within the Fondue Golem’s fists struggled like fruit flies. When they were finally thrown into the river, they melted with a screech and, eventually, a silent scream.
After looking at that sight, I looked over the chocolate river once again. With small bubbles rising to the surface and exploding, the river looked almost exactly like magma. The river must be much hotter than it looks.
“There are about 10 in total…Should we start with the nearest one?” Kim Sangyoon asked.
“Yes. I’ll try to lure one over.” I stroked Lackey’s skull and softly instructed, “Lackey-yah, bring one golem over here.”
[Clack Clack!]
Flashing its eyes, Lackey walked down the cracker hill, laid flat on the ground, and crawled towards the nearest golem.
[Fon-due, Fon-due.]
Since Lackey was so small and its body was made completely out of bone, it made little noise when it moved. Even the skeleton’s habitually clanking jaw was held stable by clenching its teeth on its sword. Thus, Lackey could easily approach the Fondue Golem’s back, and, aiming for the Fondue Golem’s waist, Lackey grabbed the sword from its mouth and fixed its grip.
Clunk–!
[Fon….]
Lackey’s sword dug deeply into the Golem’s hip.
It seems that the Fondue Golem wasn’t hit as hard as I had hoped; the golem looked down at its stomach and looked at the protruding sword–tip covered in caramel sauce. Then, it straightened its bulky body. Of course, before the golem could turn around, Lackey quickly recovered its sword and retreated.
[—]
The Golem stopped crying out [Fondue] and blinked at Lackey with its dried raspberry eyes. Soon after, it reached out its big hand and tried to grab at the skeleton.
“Dodge it!” I shouted.
TL: Hello, Thanksgiving is coming up so here’s my present before the holidays! (I might be a lil late for the update after the holidays + black friday. I’ve got some work to do >.