Chapter 85
Under the golden tree, we fortunately gathered more herbs than our hands could hold.
It wasn’t nearly enough to sell at the marketplace, but it was plenty to restore the energy of two hunters.
The green herbs, tinged with a faint bluish hue, gave off a refreshing feeling just from looking at them.
“What kind of dish are you going to make with these?”
“We’ll make bibimbap that brings out the natural flavor of the herbs.”
“How very Korean of you. I like it.”
Making bibimbap with herbs so rare that people bid for them like auction items when they appear at the market—
it felt luxurious, like something only high-ranking hunters would do.
This is what you call K-luxury.
He brought out a variety of other edible herbs to his so-called “mini kitchen.”
“Some of these can’t be eaten raw, so I blanched or lightly steamed them at dawn.
I didn’t want to ruin their natural taste.”
With a serious expression, Jung Hwan-jae kneaded the seasoned herbs with his gloved hands.
A handsome man in a black shirt and black slacks, mixing namul in a stainless-steel bowl with careful precision.
“Senior, I know this might sound random, but…”
“Go on.”
“You’re the perfect son-in-law material.”
He froze mid-motion, lifting his head, his eyes questioning what I meant by that.
“You cook well, you’re domestic, and you look like you’d treat your wife wonderfully.
Plus, you’re talented.”
“Hmm.”
“If you had in-laws, I bet you’d be great to them too.”
‘Not that I have any parents,’ I thought.
That sudden realization jolted me out of my own imagination.
Why was I connecting the idea of his having in-laws to the fact that I don’t have parents?
‘Good thing only Liri can read my mind.’
[Liri: I don’t read your thoughts unless you’re in danger, you know.]
[Liri: But you brought it up so suddenly that I really want to know now.]
‘No! You can’t!’
[Liri: Okay, okay.]
[Liri: I’m your assigned assistant, and I’ll never do what you tell me not to. Don’t worry.]
I forcibly pressed down the heat rising to my cheeks.
Even though my mind wandered, my feelings were genuine — he really was first-class husband material.
There must be tons of fans who already dream of him as their boyfriend or husband.
The thought made my brow furrow and relax again.
“Do you think anyone could ever like a man who might die in a dungeon any day?”
“These days it’s harder to find a partner not involved with hunters.
And you shouldn’t be with someone who can’t understand your life.”
“What about a man whose mana might run out completely someday?”
His voice turned teasingly light.
As if to say, Even knowing that, do you still think I’m husband material?
Testing me with a playful tone.
Two could play at that game.
“That’s what I’m here for.
I’ll work harder and make sure you can generate mana on your own someday.”
“Then that means we’ll have to stay together all the time.”
“Ah…”
Even if we’re just colleagues, staying together every night, doing things in close contact—
maybe that does disqualify him from being perfect husband material.
If I were bolder, I might’ve joked, Then we should just get married,
but I wasn’t that kind of person.
So I quietly accepted my defeat in this conversation.
I thought I’d presented a flawless argument, but it failed.
He handed me a bowl of bibimbap, topped with herbs and even a white ceramic spoon.
Even inside the dungeon, there were multiple kinds of kimchi.
Of course, that was a welcome sight for me.
I scooped up a large spoonful and took a bite.
It was delicious.
Sure, I’m not picky and tend to say “delicious” about almost anything,
but this was genuinely good.
It was just herbs lightly seasoned with salt and sesame oil, mixed with rice, gochujang, and a fried egg—
but bibimbap really is the ultimate power source for Koreans.
“You even added sesame oil and seeds?”
“Technically, it’s oil and seeds extracted from the Mandragora.”
Nothing in this dish was normal.
Yet somehow, all these abnormal ingredients came together to create an extraordinary flavor—
proof of the cook’s skill.
When I quickly emptied my bowl, he immediately added another helping.
I shot him a sharp look for feeding me so much,
but seeing that he’d piled up a bowl for himself too, I relaxed.
“Do you have a separate cooking stat or something?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then you’re just naturally talented.”
Even with the same ingredients, the taste depends entirely on the person mixing it.
That’s why they call it “Mom’s touch.”
As I devoured my second bowl, he handed me a cup of chilled tea and said casually,
“They say sharing mana is similar to sharing souls.”
“Sharing souls?”
“Yes. It’s different from healing or buffing—
it’s when you directly exchange your mana essence with another person.”
So… like what I did with him during the ranking match?
Then… doesn’t that mean I shared my soul with him?
I was just starting to think that sounded kind of romantic when he continued calmly.
“I’ve heard it’s similar when an assigned assistant gives their divine power to their contractor,
or transfers their entire being to save them in a crisis.”
“Ah, I see…”
“When such soul-sharing happens, humans or assistants alike
tend to develop deep feelings toward the other.”
Because you’re literally giving away a part of your soul.
Mana really is mysterious.
It’s something freely usable, yet it’s essentially a regenerating form of the soul.
With training and effort, its capacity grows,
and you can willingly use it to help others.
There was once debate about whether souls truly existed,
but hunters have proven their existence in this world.
You never know where life will lead.
“So that’s why assigned assistants care so much about us. Makes sense now.
Wow, so souls have basically become data. Algorithms are amazing.”
[Liri: Exactly! We’re a network made of souls!]
[Liri: But since I’m not a living being, my mana and data don’t regenerate,
so if I use too much, I’ll disappear completely.]
Liri jumped into the conversation with scholarly enthusiasm,
as if she’d been listening the whole time.
The time I spent listening to Jung Hwan-jae explain things like this felt precious.
After we finished eating, he packed away the dishes into his inventory,
his expression suddenly somber—almost… disappointed.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“You didn’t get an upset stomach, did you?”
He shook his head gloomily.
I found out later that Lucy had been teasing him mercilessly through message windows the whole time.
[Lucy: Seriously, what am I going to do with you.]
[Lucy: ‘So when you said giving me mana makes you feel closer to me… what about you?’
You couldn’t even say that?]
[Lucy: Idiot.]
But I didn’t learn about those messages until much later.
That day, I was just happy about the delicious bibimbap and our semi-date in the dungeon,
while Jung Hwan-jae was too flustered to say a single word.
“So… now we’re really going to do a mission, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
He seemed to have recovered about ten minutes later.
We packed up and began walking again—
our hands naturally clasped together.
This time, he was the one who reached out first.
My palms felt ticklish, so I tried to change the subject.
“Ah, right—something just occurred to me.
Does Lucy still give you mana these days?”
