“Kyaa! It’s bulgogi! Look at this! There’s kimchi here, too!”
Arna revealed her joy as she checked the contents of the box. Having eaten nothing but jerky all day, the sight of this food couldn’t have been more welcome.
“My goodness! There’s even scallop slices and boiled spinach! Whoever’s in charge of supplies knows their stuff, don’t they?”
It was Arna, who had just returned from battle mere moments ago.
Still, Arna looked perfectly fine. Not only were there no injuries, but her coat was spotless, without even a speck of dust.
Could this really be the same person who had just come from a fight? We asked Arna.
“Arna. What happened to the three people you encountered earlier?”
“Oh, you mean them?”
Arna tapped her lower lip as if it were no big deal.
“I eliminated them on the spot since they were truly putting up a fight.”
“All three of them?”
“Not really. One ran away before we even scuffled. Hmm, who was that? Oh, it was Baek Joo-hee.”
I had used the Blind Side skill a while ago and confirmed there were three people—Baek Joo-hee, Lee Sang-hoon, and Han Ba-ram.
And she claimed to have taken out B-ranked awoken ones, Lee Sang-hoon and Han Ba-ram, without any trouble.
All by herself, only Arna.
Maybe this training will be a piece of cake if I just hide behind Arna for the rest of the training.
In other words, it’s what people call “getting something for nothing,” right?
Couldn’t be a better plan for me.
“Anyway, enough of that. Let’s eat first, shall we? We still haven’t had a bite today.”
Arna was bouncing up and down with impatience.
That’s right. With the “breadwinner” coming home after working outside, how could the “homekeeper” just sit there? Dinner must be served immediately.
I rummaged through the box for the barbecue set.
“…”
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly open your mouth so wide?”
It’s not here. Nowhere to be found.
Just to make sure, I emptied the entire box but still couldn’t find it.
“What, what are you looking for so desperately?”
“Arna…”
I looked at Arna with the face of someone who has lost everything, a face devoid of hope and full of despair.
“What do you think is the most important thing for a barbecue?”
“Eh? The most important thing? Hmm, it must be the meat, right?”
“No. Wrong answer.”
“Uh, then maybe the grill or pan for cooking the meat?”
“Wrong again.”
We have the bulgogi here.
For cooking the meat, we could make do with this spoon.
But…
We’re missing something more important than the meat or the pan.
“We forgot something even more important than the meat or the pan.”
“What could that be? Lighter or matches, perhaps?”
“Fire! Right now, we don’t have any source of fire, lighter or even matches.”
“F-Fire?”
Arna blinked several times.
And a moment later…
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
She shrieked so loudly that even the sleeping birds must have flown away.
Arna immediately started tearing at her blonde hair.
“Without fire, barbecue or anything is useless, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Unless we eat it raw.”
“Ah, yeah! Flint stones! Let’s try using flint stones!”
“Hmm… Let’s see if that works. Do you think it’s that easy?”
Not all stones are the same. You could rub two random stones together a hundred times and wouldn’t get even a spark, just sore hands.
Besides, rubbing wood together wouldn’t work either. The leaves and twigs were soaked because it had rained recently.
“Ugh…! This is ridiculous…! We can’t eat the meat just because we’re missing fire…!”
“There’s one possible solution.”
“Eh?! What is it?”
Arna leaned forward, quite desperate. Her eyes were sparkling while she hunched her shoulders.
I solemnly clasped my hands as if praying.
“Simply waiting for the harbinger of fire, Prometheus, to come.”
“Eeek…! You’re joking, right…?”
Eventually, Arna couldn’t take it anymore and started shaking me by the collar. It seems even heroes have limits when faced with hunger. She seemed half-insane.
Let’s stop the jokes here.
“The only option is to find fire now.”
“Find fire? Where exactly?”
“Someone must be carrying it.”
Just like I secretly brought jerky, someone might have secreted away cigarettes.
Because the craving for a smoke can be just as strong as hunger. There must be a student who had their cigarettes hidden during the inspection.
“Arna, go find any students smoking. Bring me their lighter.”
“Stop slipping me the tough jobs subtly…!”
“Are you going to stand here and watch the meat go to waste?”
“Uuuuuhhhh…!”
Arna clenched her teeth, understanding there’s no other option.
She grabbed her sword and dashed into the bushes.
“I’ll do it! That’s how it’s done…!”
For the students who encounter Arna, I hope they don’t jump her. She’s more touchy than usual right now.
“Meanwhile, I…”
With Arna going out to fetch the fire, I have a separate job to do at home.
I’ll check the surroundings for any additional food.
“The easiest to find would probably be mushrooms, right.”
It doesn’t make sense to not find mushrooms when we have bulgogi and scallops. Mushrooms are essential for completing the bulgogi sam-hap.
We found some under a tree. It was a huge one with a rainbow-colored cap.
“…”
Even if I know nothing about mushrooms, I could tell this one was poisonous. Eating it would send me straight to the afterlife.
Sshh…Sshh…
“!”
Suddenly, the bushes rustled. Was Arna already back?
Sshh…Sshh…
No. Arna’s arrival would be a lot louder and more savage than this quiet sound.
Sshh…Sshh…
Whatever it is, it’s getting closer. Perhaps an animal?
Prepared for any scenario, I grabbed my only weapon, the spoon.
Battle stance, ready.
“Hooooooowwwwwl…!”
However, what burst out of the bushes was a female student covered in dirt.
She was wailing so pitifully.
“Hoooom…!”
“What’s a grown adult crying about like this? It’s disgraceful.”
“But… B-but…!”
The girl pulled something out from her bosom. It was a can of peaches you’d see in any mart.
“I went through so much trouble to find this food today, but I can’t open it because I don’t have a can opener… Hooooooowwwwwl…!”
“…”
Regular cans usually come with can openers for easy access, but hers did not. It was a completely sealed can.
A barbecue without fire is hard enough, but a can without a can opener was cruel even for a planner—definitely sadistic whoever designed this.
“If there’s no can opener, just pierce it with a rock, wouldn’t that work?”
“But then it will get dirty with mud, and I can’t eat dirty food!”
“You’re really overfed.”
I couldn’t even laugh out of frustration. Apparently, all Awoken users are like this—each with a loose screw.
“I’ll open this can for you.”
“Eh?”
The girl immediately stopped crying and widened her eyes.
“Can you really open this? How?”
“This.”
I showed her the spoon. Second only to a can opener, a spoon is the most common tool for opening cans.
I could easily open a can with this spoon.
The girl handed me the can. She was trembling with excitement.
“If you take it and run, I’ll know, right?”
“I don’t sell my conscience for a mere peach.”
Clack.
I aligned the tip of the spoon precisely at the edge of the can’s cap.
Pushing down carefully, I created a crack and inserted the spoon into the opened space.
Then…
Tchhhk—!
“Wow! It’s open! It’s open!”
As soon as she received the opened can, the girl drank the juice first. She must have been very thirsty.
Then, she started eating the peaches with her bare hands.
“Hey, didn’t you say you couldn’t eat if it’s dirty? What about your hands?”
The girl’s hands were caked with dirt, her fingernails filled with mud.
“Mmph mmph… Did I say that?”
“…”
“Here, do you want a piece? It’s quite tasty.”
“I’d rather eat that mushroom I saw earlier…”
Once the girl had eaten enough, she looked much calmer. She gained enough energy to look around her and turned her head around.
“So, why are you here?”
“I’m waiting for fire.”
“Fire…?”
“Yeah, as you can see, I don’t have a lighter.”
I pointed to the barbecue setup that was missing only fire.
The girl nodded a few times, clearly understanding the situation.
“I think I can help with that fire.”
“What? Are you a smoker?”
“Not exactly, but…”
Trub, trub.
The girl took a few steps back and extended her arm forward.
“I don’t have an amazing ability, so don’t set your expectations too high.”
She closed her eyes and focused.
Then…
Whiff—
A tiny flame sparked on the tip of the girl’s fingers. It was about the size of a cake candle flame.
“Heh heh, since I’m only a D-ranked Awoken, I can barely manage this level…”
“Ooh, Prometheus incarnate!”
I immediately knelt on the spot.
*
At the same moment, somewhere on the island.
“Huff…”
The boy leaned against a tree while exhaling cigarette smoke.
“Ugh… what a shitty training. Time’s not going at all…”
All day, he didn’t find a single piece of food. Naturally, his mood was at its worst.
Thankfully, he had brought cigarettes. At this moment, this cigarette was the only thing keeping him sane.
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do—!
“!!”
Just as he was leisurely smoking, an enormous sound of footsteps disrupted the peaceful night.
“What the…? Is it a bear or something?”
It’s getting closer. Whatever it is, it was clearly monstrous. He needed to run.
The boy hastily stubbed out the cigarette and grabbed his duffel bag.
Ppah—!
But it was too late. His steps hadn’t even left the ground when something rushed out through the bushes.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t some monstrous beast as he expected but a human. A top student, actually: Arna Kristin Dotir.
“Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Give me fire immediately! Hurry! Quickly!”
Arna was shaking the boy wildly, her eyes red with blood. Judging from her state of starvation, she had completely lost her sanity.
“Y-yes! Here it is!”
Unable to handle her insanity, the boy handed the lighter to Arna, along with the number tag stuck to his back.
