Chapter 24

It didn't take them long to select what dishes to prepare. As soon as they finished their lunch, they jotted down every single ingredient for both dishes.

"Now, let's group ourselves into two so that we can get this job done!" proposed Yumi.

With that said, half of the members summoned the others who were still awake in their rooms so that they could all join in on the gaming realm and begin their search.

But first, once everyone had gathered, they explained what was going on to those who had just arrived. They divided themselves into two groups.

They had opted to bake a simple pepperoni pizza for the first round. The second is a delectable mango crumb bar.

Yumi's crew quickly went to the nearest baking store that sold baking supplies after logging in.

They entered the shop, and Yumi began assigning ingredients to each team member. Their goal is to find a suitable substitute or the precise item to purchase.

"Won't it change the taste?" Yejoon questioned.

"If there are a variety of substitutes, buy them, and we'll test them out later on."

Minjoon's team, on the other hand, was tasked with purchasing the pizza ingredients. So they went to Houndlet Market and purchased all they needed.

Everything was going smoothly until they came to the seasonings. They are unable to locate oregano, basil, and pepper.

This wasn't a good sign because they wouldn't be able to make the flavor of the sauce, which is an important aspect of their assigned dish, without them.

Milton inquired of the chef, "What are we going to do?"

Minjoon got out his phone and began searching for a replica or perhaps a substitute for the three missing seasonings.

Fortunately, they were able to locate a copy of the seasonings they were looking for.

The problem was that they had to go looking for it, but the good news is that they were able to locate these seasonings in the woodland near Houndlet.

"We have no choice. Into the forest we go," he stated.

"I think I'll have to pass this one," Yuto replied, a worried expression on his face. "I'm afraid of the insects getting to me."

The chef understood the samurai's concern and agreed to let him go.

"You kids go back to the cottage with the ingredients we've already bought. Seongho, Jeongmin, and I will go with Minjoon," Jaeseong said.

"Spy, Huo, Grey!" The familiars appeared when summoned. "You guys are in charge of taking care of your master," Seongho stated, to which they all nodded.

Yumi's team returned home an hour later with a package of ingredients.

As predicted, they were able to discover numerous alternatives and duplicates on the market and were required to purchase all of them in order to produce a dessert that would wow the judges.

When they entered the cabin, they noticed Yuto, Milton, and Jun having a snack with their familiars while playing board games in the living room.

"Oh, hey, where are the others?" Yumi said as she placed the box on the kitchen counter.

"And why are you guys here without them?" Jiwoo added as he did the same.

"We couldn't find any seasonings for the sauce, so they decided to find some in the forest," replied Yuto.

"That's dangerous," Sujin remarked.

"Isn't Jeongmin allergic to goblins' blood?" Yejoon wondered.

"It's no problem; they can handle themselves," Milton responded with a shrug.

Although there were goblins in the Houndlet forest, the rest of the huntsmen were as certain as the Hunter that they'd be fine on their own.

Yumi still had other business in the Poffice Guild. So, after placing the boxes of ingredients they had purchased, she excused herself and requested her teammates to look after the ingredients.

"Where are you going, noona?" inquired Seungjae.

"I'll be going to the office. Angela said one of us had to sign up for the cooking competition, and since Minjoon isn't back yet, I'll go by myself."

"I'll accompany you then," Joseph offered, and Yumi accepted.

"We'll be right back," she promised as they exited through the front door. Yumi huffed in horror as she realized they'd have to walk miles back to the village.

Joseph, on the other hand, had a different plan and summoned his familiar in front of him. "Wanna ride?" he offered, and off they went to the Poffice Guild, which took only a few minutes thanks to stripes.

***

"I found one!" said Minjoon as he discovered the last seasoning on his list, oregano, on the soil.

Digger, his familiar, assisted in digging some up and delivering them to his owner. Minjoon grinned as he petted his familiar for doing such an excellent job assisting him.

"Oh my God, finally!" Jaeseong exclaimed, exhausted, as Oreo attempted to assist his master in cooling off by fanning the clown with a leaf.

"We've been walking for an hour now!" exclaimed Jeongmin.

"Now that we've got all the ingredients, let's get out of here before we encounter some monsters," Seongho stated.

Minjoon placed the oregano in a sachet bag inside his satchel bag. A rustle of bushes could be heard nearby as they turned to return home.

They all halted in place, their eyes widening in dread as they looked around.

"W-what was that?" Jeongmin inquired, cautiously peering around him.

Minjoon, who was behind his huntsmen, turned around and noticed two pairs of eyes shining deep in the forest. He trembled away from the sight, gasping in fear.

"Run," he murmured quietly.

"What?" Jaeseong asked, perplexed.

"RUUN!" he cried as three orcs and ten goblins bolted from their hiding place.

One goblin emerged just in front of Minjoon. But, because of his power, he was able to summon his knife quickly and attack before the monster could reach him.

They fled for their lives as the monsters approached faster than they had anticipated. Seongho hastily summoned his companion and mounted his horse.

"Jeongmin-ah, take my hand!" he screamed as the Imaginator extended his hand for the knight to grasp. When their hands touched, Seongho rapidly drew him up to ride with him.

Jaeseong, on the other hand, used his piñata vehicle to drag Minjoon along with him.

Jeongmin then directed his companion, "Moon, use your power and hypnotize them!"

"Understood!"

Moon quickly remained behind, faced the goblins, and muttered, "HYPNO!" as he placed his hand in front of him, and the goblins were now under Moon's power. He forced the monsters to turn and return to their homes.

Moon got back to his master once the job was over, and they praised each other for their accomplishments.

This, however, was not the end of their struggle. An adult tigder jumped in front of their route, meters away, just when they thought they were safe.

"Shoot!" cursed Jaeseong as he hurriedly turned right, while Seongho turned left.

"Hyung, it's chasing after us!" Jeongmin cried as he noticed the monster's attention panning to them, and when the knight got hold of the information, he cursed under his breath and ordered Smoke to keep running.

"We have to help them, Hyung!" Minjoon exclaimed to Jaeseong when he noticed the other pair in danger. And the elder listened to him as he annoyedly clicked his tongue before turning to rescue his hunt-mates.

While the Tigders were still pursuing Seongho and Jeongmin, another Tigder appeared in their path, shocking the two.

They were trapped.

Because of the monster's abrupt arrival, the horse suddenly panicked, causing the Imaginator to fall off.

"Jeongmin-ah!" Seongho exclaimed in panic when he realized his huntsman was no longer behind him and was instead alone on the ground, inches away from him.

The boy's tailbone was injured in the fall, but he soon got back on his feet, ignoring the discomfort. Two adult tigders were pursuing him, and he realized he had to put up with the pain if he wanted to live.

Although he was speedy, his speed wasn't fast enough to escape, and he was caught in his adversaries' webs in the blink of an eye.

Seongho quickly turned Smoke around. The knight came to Jeongmin's aid just seconds before his death.

"SLOW MOTION!" he chanted as the monsters around him slowed down. He swiftly pulled his sword and jumped from his horse, slicing the monster in half.

"Hyung!" Jeongmin yelled, his breathing heavy from his close death.

"Are you okay?" He worriedly asked the boy as he ran to him.

"Yeah, just a little tight." The boy chuckled nervously as he wriggled inside the webs, eliciting a sigh of relief from the knight.

As the elder walked towards him, two enormous black widow spiders could be seen creeping up speedily behind him.

Jeongmin felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw them. He screamed, "HYUNG, WATCH OUT!"

These spiders rushed in quickly and jumped on top of Seongho in a matter of seconds.

Fortunately, Jaeseong and Minjoon came to the rescue before one of the spiders could puncture the knight with its pointed legs, as the clown used his strings to hold the spider back and tie it to a tree.

The momentum caused the knight to fall to the ground as his breathing grew shaky.

Meanwhile, the chef slid down beneath the other spider and cut its stomach in half, killing him instantly.

Jaeseong finished the job by pulling the line that was securing the spider to the tree and slicing its corpse into chunks.

"Jeongmin Hyung, Seongho Hyung! Are you okay?" Minjoon cried frantically as he hurried towards them after the combat.

"Yep, thanks for the help, Minjoon-ah, Jae-ah," Seongho murmured, placing his palms on his chest and feeling his heartbeat nervously.

"Let's agree that we won't go looking for ingredients in the woods with just the four of us," Jaeseong stated, and everyone nodded in agreement.

The clown then moved on to Jeongmin, who was still entangled in the Tigders' web.

"Do you need help with that, Jeongmin-ah?" he inquired.

"Nah, I've got this. I just need to imagine…" he stated as he focused on his ability, and as he did so, his eye color changed to a rainbow and the webs combusted.

Seongho stood there in astonishment. "Why didn't you do that when you could've done that in the beginning?" he argued.

"I couldn't think straight, and I panicked," the boy recounted.

"Let's not argue here. At least all of us still survived," Jaeseong replied.

"Let's go home; the others might be worried that we're taking too long," Minjoon stated as he and Jaeseong extended their hands to the two, pulling them both up.

On the way home, they all rode in the clowns vehicle. All were eager to get out of this forest as soon as possible.

After experiencing something so horrifying, they didn't want to come across any more monsters and be subjected to it again.