Chapter 49 : Grilled Orc Pork Belly Wrapped in Dungeon Cabbage 1

Shia had only been in the dungeon for about 10 minutes.

Although the distance from the gate entrance to the highland area where cabbage was grown exceeded 10 kilometers, that wasn't far considering Shia's physical abilities.

There weren't any monsters that could catch her interest, as they had already been taken care of by Yeonseo.

This place wasn't even listed as real estate or property.

It was practically Yeonseo's private domain.

"One, two, three… nine… wow, I ate a lot."

And within those 10 minutes of entering this private domain, Shia had already plucked and eaten nine raw dungeon cabbages grown by Yeonseo.

"Hing…"

Shia knew she was in the wrong.

Although she had the ridiculous nickname "Antics Saintess" among some Hunter gallery members and malicious netizens, Shia was someone with above-average intelligence and a sense of morality.

Moreover, having lived with Menelapie for over 60 years in the previous world, Shia had absorbed some of the human-centric and loving ideologies.

Thanks to that, she understood how big of a crime it was to steal crops that others had put time and effort into growing.

"Shia, dear."

"Yes…"

"Your mastication skills are truly commendable."

– Hahahahahaha

– I'm gonna lose it hahaha

– Mastication hahaha

Mastication.

It's the mechanical breakdown of food, the very first step in digestion.

Simply put, Yeonseo was asking, "Just how hard were you chewing during that short time to devour those nine huge cabbages?"

"I'm sorry…"

– This is legendary hahaha

– It's rare to see the streamer getting punished…

– I knew this was coming when she started pulling antics haha

Shia was kneeling in the middle of the cabbage field, hands raised.

The sight of Shia, with her grand physique and enormous Holy Power pouch, looking like a kindergartener or a young elementary school student being scolded by her teacher, was both awkward and oddly fitting.

– Why is her body so sexy though? hahaha

– Right?

– She's so big that her thighs are about to burst from kneeling.

– Ooh, ooh!

– Totally doable.

Shia's Holy Power pouch was enormous, but her thighs were also quite thick, making her kneeling position a sight that must have been quite a feast for the viewers' eyes.

"Haha, Shia, stand up. I don't want to be harsh to my younger sister."

– By the way, is that Shia the same person? The returnee who was trending in the Hunter gallery a few days ago?

– The one who's S-rank…?

– She calls her younger sister, so does she know Grandma Yeonseo?

– Maybe, maybe not.

– Last time I watched, wasn't she frying some centipede dragon or something…?

– What? Frying?

Since Shia and Yeonseo's streams were being broadcast simultaneously, the atmosphere in each chat room was vastly different.

Though Shia often stirred up trouble and teased her viewers with provocative interactions, she had strong mental fortitude and an accepting nature.

No matter how much the trolls acted up, Shia rarely got angry.

Thanks to that, Shia's chat was quite the contrast to the clean and serene space that was Yeonseo's chat.

– But wait, does the streamer really know Yeonseo?

At that moment, one of the viewers watching Shia's stream expressed a suspicion.

The malicious viewers, who had long inhabited the internet and the Hunter gallery, knew quite a bit about Yeonseo.

From the moment Shia entered the dungeon, most of the malicious viewers realized that this was Yeonseo's highland farm.

They also knew exactly how things would end if the streamer got caught stealing cabbages from Yeonseo.

These viewers were also well aware of how terrifying Yeonseo's occasional "joint-streaming" could be for trolls.

Some of them had even experienced firsthand what it was like to wander into Yeonseo's "Country Life Grandma" stream, only to get harshly put in their place.

But strangely, Yeonseo's expression and tone towards Shia were so gentle, which confused the trolls.

At the very least, they had expected the streamer to take a dive into the East Sea, so why were the two of them getting along so well?

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize the cabbage was from Yeonseo's farm."

"Haha, only I or the research team from the association would farm in a dungeon, so I understand. Come on, stand up. Are you trying to make this sister uncomfortable?"

"Yes, unnie."

"Fufu, that's right. Good girl."

Well, when Yeonhwa's around, we can use proper titles and formalities, but when it's just the two of us, there's no harm in calling me unnie.

After all, according to the resident registration, Shia is 85 years old, and I'm 86, so there's no problem with calling each other sisters.

Yeonseo, feeling rejuvenated, smiled warmly.

Perhaps pleased with being called "unnie," Yeonseo's earlier annoyance had disappeared, and she kindly helped Shia stand up, holding her hand.

– But why is the streamer calling her grandma unnie?

– She looks like she's in her 20s hahaha

– We know Yeonseo's real age, but maybe the streamer doesn't because she's a returnee?

– That's possible.

– Nah, Yeonseo's just losing her mind hahaha

– Watch your mouth or you'll end up in a joint-streaming session.

– I'm already trembling at the thought.

"Haha, Shia, dear, if I had to make you compensate with money…"

"No, no. I have plenty of money, and it would be disgraceful to extort my younger sister. But since you've come all the way here, I can't send you back empty-handed."

With that, Yeonseo pulled out a card from her pocket and handed it to Shia.

It was a black credit card, issued only to hunters with stable incomes.

"What's this?"

"Just head over to Jeongseon. There are plenty of barbecue places and restaurants in the town. Buy as much as you can eat, Shia 'dongsaeng'."

"Eh… Are you sure?"

Shia gazed at the card with concern, thinking, 'But I eat a lot…'

Last time, when they ate together at a meat restaurant near Hapjeong Station, Shia had eaten so much grilled Black Minotaur sirloin that her stomach was relatively full.

Of course, even in that state, Shia easily ate 30 servings of ribeye.

– Wait, why would you give the streamer a card hahaha

– She's going to max it out hahaha

– Imagine the bank calling Yeonseo about maxing out on country beef, hilarious haha

– Haha, I can't.

– "Excuse me, Yeonseo, you've exceeded your credit limit at Saemaul Beef… Is this really you?"

– Haha!

Glancing at the chat reactions, Shia hesitated.

She didn't mind eating as much as she wanted with her own money, but using someone else's card, especially after being caught stealing cabbage, made her conscience and sense of shame burn.

Noticing Shia's hesitation, Yeonseo shrugged and grabbed her arm.

"Oh, by the way, Shia, have you eaten?"

"No, I'm starving."

"…What?"

Yeonseo's smiling face froze at Shia's response.

"…Shia, dear. This unnie suddenly had a thought."

"What thought?"

"How hungry must you have been… to eat cabbage raw…"

"No, I wasn't that hungry…"

"Look at your arms… Why are they so thin…?"

– …?

– Huh?

– ?

– Excuse me?

– ?

Shia's arms were far from thin.

With the strength to easily crush several monsters with her bare hands, her arms were well-toned, with muscles harmoniously sculpted.

"And those legs… so skinny…?"

– What????

– Did only I see her thighs bursting when she knelt earlier?

– Those thighs were hot as hell…

"Only bones and skin remain… Aren't you barely standing…?"

– Am I hearing things?

– No, my eyes must be broken haha

– I came to see the Antics Saintess but now I'm watching a grandma pull antics.

– Hahaha!

– Yeonseo says she's thin, so she's thin.

– Just agree with her haha

– For real haha

– Grandma's love…

– Heuuuung, Grandma… feed me…

Sneaking a glance at the trolls in the chat, Shia smirked and covered her face with her hand, pretending to shed tears.

"Sniff… Yes, grandma… I was so hungry…"

– Hey, stop with the antics already hahaha

– Antics on.

"I knew it! Go quickly! And stop calling me grandma, call me unnie!"

"Yes, unnie!"

– I'm really going to lose it.

– Saintess Shia, do you have no conscience?

– She replaced her conscience with antics.

With that, Shia took Yeonseo's card, licking her lips, and dashed out of the dungeon.

Judging by the sound of the air splitting as she ran, she was indeed very hungry.

○○○○

It took less than 20 minutes for Shia to arrive in Jeongseon and buy the meat.

It only took 5 minutes to get there.

The butcher took over 10 minutes, fumbling as he unlocked the storage and brought out the large amount of meat Shia requested.

As she left, arms

full of meat, Shia was grinning from ear to ear.

'Hehe, the dungeon cabbage was so good, but if I grill it with pork belly and wrap it…'

Just thinking about it made her mouth water.

Shia smiled as she carried the meat, her face glowing with joy.

She couldn't run back at her usual speed.

If she ran as fast as she normally did, the meat would surely get damaged or lose its quality.

Though quantity and the presence of malicious energy mattered, taste was equally important to Shia.

It would be heartbreaking if the quality of the good meat she bought deteriorated during transit.

– Streamer, streamer, streamer, streamer, streamer, streamer, streamer, streamer!

– Explain yourself!

– Did you forget us?

– Pay some attention to us too.

"Huh?"

Finally realizing that she had been too engrossed in the meat, Shia glanced at the burning chat window.

Ah… now that she thought about it, she had been so distracted by meeting Yeonseo unnie that she completely forgot about the chat.

In fact, she had also forgotten about the stream and the drone camera, too busy daydreaming about eating dungeon cabbage with meat wraps.

But in times like this, it was better to stay quiet.

Shia put down the meat on a bench for a moment and adjusted the drone camera to bring it in front of her.

The winding mountain road in Gangwon-do was eerily silent, with no people or cars in sight.

"Sorry, what's up?"

– Oh, she's finally looking at us?

– How old are you, streamer?

– Why are you calling the grandma unnie?

– Did you know Yeonseo is 86 years old?

– What's your relationship with her?

– What's going on between you and Yeonseo?

"What's my relationship with Yeonseo…? Hmm… We're unnie and dongsaeng?"

– ?

– ??

– That's not what we meant!

"What should I say in a situation like this?"

Shia frowned, pretending to be deep in thought.

['Sisiro Botang' has donated 33,000 won!]

ㄴ When did you meet Yeonseo, how did you two meet, and why are you calling an 86-year-old grandma unnie? That's what we're asking.

– I feel so refreshed.

– Exactly haha

– Is the streamer, like, 80 years old?

– If she's a returnee, that's possible, right?

– But judging by her looks and actions, she's just a kid.

– Let's say she's a kid filled with maternal love.

– That's true.

"Ah, I get it."

They wanted to dig into her personal details a bit more.

Even though she had casually mentioned in a past stream that she was 85 years old, not many people remembered it. Maybe because there were new viewers, or maybe the regulars hadn't caught that detail.

Shia had only been streaming for about two months, but her stream had already gained considerable popularity.

In the beginning, it seemed like there was some unpleasant gossip linking Shia's channel with the channel of "Frank and Joy," but since no official statement was made, the rumors soon died down.

Currently, Shia's broadcast often dominated the top posts in the Hunter Gallery, and for good reasons.

Although her channel had high popularity and a significant presence in the gallery, not much detailed information about Shia was actually revealed.

She was known as a returnee, a streamer certified by the Hunter Association, with an abundant Holy Power pouch, presumed to be at an S-rank level, and notorious for cooking and eating dungeon monsters in extreme gourmet meals.

Besides that, even though Shia frequently held small personal broadcasts, little personal information was revealed, which left malicious netizens always craving new topics and connections to explore, like her link with Yeonseo.

"But until Yeonseo unnie says it's okay to talk about, I can't say much."

– Why, damn it!

– You got a donation!!

– This malicious woman accepts donations and then zips her mouth!

"Should I go ask Yeonseo unnie?"

– No

– No, no, no, no

– It's fine

– Actually, on second thought, it's okay

– I think the streamer's behavior is very ethical and reasonable

– Yeah, you shouldn't speak without the person's consent

– I fully agree with the streamer's opinion

Shia tilted her head, confused by the sudden change in the viewers' attitude.

'Why did these malicious bastards suddenly become so polite?'

Though Shia didn't know how terrifying Yeonseo's "viewer joint-streams" were, most of the malicious viewers in Shia's stream had either experienced or heard firsthand about Grandma Yeonseo's wrath.

If Yeonseo, who seemed close to Shia, were to see this chat…

About half of the 20,000 viewers watching Shia's stream right now might be in for a large-scale joint-stream with Yeonseo.

Too many people for that to happen?

Impossible?

For the strongest hunter, Yeonseo, nothing was impossible.

Shia had no intention of threatening her viewers, but the situation suddenly resolved itself.

She didn't quite understand why, but there was no way these people were being kind or considerate toward her.

'Well, whatever, not much I can do about it now.'

Having finished her thoughts, Shia reached out to pick up the meat she had left on the bench.

"…?"

However, when her hand grasped nothing, Shia turned her head toward the bench.

And on the bench, there was nothing.

The 500,000 won worth of pork belly, 400,000 won worth of jowl meat, 400,000 won worth of pork neck, and 300,000 won worth of shoulder butt—all that meat she had bought with Yeonseo's card had disappeared in the blink of an eye while she was chatting with her viewers.

– ?

– What?

– Where's the meat?

– Hahaha

– Where did the meat go???

– Isn't it on the ground?

– LOL

– Did the streamer's meat get stolen?

– Hahaha

– Is today a meat theft special?

– Haha

Eh, my meat?

Meat, where?

Where did it go?

"Eh, ehh… my meat…?"

○○○○

Gangwon-do was a mountainous region with a low population, so dungeon reports tended to be slower compared to other areas.

The Hunter Association employed many awakened individuals with detection abilities, updating information the moment dungeons appeared, and determining whether or not to dispatch hunters based on the danger level and type of dungeon.

However, they still couldn't be 100% accurate.

There were many dungeons that were too weak to be considered dangerous, had no monsters, or simply expanded the territory without posing any real threat.

In the end, dungeons and monsters remained a mysterious and unexplored territory for humanity.

And a small dungeon appeared near an abandoned coal mining village close to Jeongseon in Gangwon-do.

It was only a 20-minute walk from the dungeon where Yeonseo grew highland crops.

In this dungeon, a few orcs, commonly referred to as "pig-men," had formed a small village.

Calling it a village was an exaggeration—it was just a bunch of crude huts made from rags.

These orcs weren't considered intelligent beings or even a sub-species of humanity.

Muscular, honorable, battle-hardened orcs?

No, these creatures were nowhere near the romanticized idea of orcs.

These orcs were so fat it was questionable whether they could even walk properly, and they looked grotesque, as if their faces had been crushed by a dump truck.

The name "orc" had stuck because a hunter who discovered them first whimsically named them, and it stuck.

These creatures weren't even classified as a separate race; they were just treated as monsters or animals.

Their meat was even categorized as edible by the Hunter Association and sold at a price similar to Jeju black pork.

The taste was said to be pretty good.

Anyway, these orcs had intelligence slightly better than that of monkeys and were as ferocious as wild boars.

The Hunter Association had a standing rule to kill them on sight, though fortunately, most orcs, unless they were evolved variants, were generally weak, ranked between F and D class.

"Meat!"

"Meat!"

"Haha! Human female is stupid!"

The orcs were celebrating their rare, grand haul.

The foolish human female.

Wasn't it strange to see a bench on an unlit, deserted mountain road?

Unlike their fellow orcs, these three knew how weak they were.

If they went outside and attacked humans, even one or two C-rank hunters would wipe out their entire village.

So, in their desperate attempts to use their feeble minds, they came up with a simple plan.

They would steal a bench from a human village, place it on this secluded mountain road, and when a passing human sat down and set down their belongings, they would secretly throw a noose to steal the items.

Of course, this ridiculous plan never succeeded.

The best they managed was to snatch an old lady's handbag while an elderly couple parked near the bench to enjoy the breeze.

But the bag contained no food, just cosmetics and a wallet, which were useless to the orcs.

"Meat! Meat!"

"So much meat!"

"We can eat it all!"

This trio of orcs had finally achieved their first and last great success.

"The human female is stupid. She was so busy talking to that weird glowing metal box that she didn't even notice us throwing the noose."

"Stupid. Stupid. But that's good."

"Haha! Let's eat. Let's eat. We haven't eaten in four days. So hungry…."

BOOM!!

"What was that sound?"

"I don't know."

"I know. It's the sound of those human machines crashing into each other."

"Let's eat first."

"Yeah, let's eat."

Gulp, gulp.

Chomp, chomp.

Crunch, slurp.

"Tasty!"

"This is the best meal ever!"

"Right. Stealing human belongings using a human-made bench was a good idea."

"Haha, we're smart. Chomp, chomp…"

BOOM!!

The orcs were too busy devouring the meat in the bag to notice the approaching sound growing louder.

THUD!!

"Ugh! So noisy!"

"Yeah, why does that sound keep getting closer?"

"Go check it out!"

"Why me?"

"You ate the most."

"Fine."

As one orc left to investigate the source of the noise, the two remaining orcs eagerly dumped the meat from the plastic bags onto the ground.

Even though the raw meat was getting soiled with dirt, it didn't matter to these simple beasts. As long as they could eat, nothing else mattered.

"Let's eat it all before he comes back."

"Yeah, let's do that. Munch, munch…"

While one orc was out on patrol, the other two seemed determined to fill their bellies before their companion returned.

They buried their faces in the meat, chewing voraciously.

Then, after a while, the sound of rustling trees alerted the orcs that their companion had returned.

"You're late! What was it?"

"We left a little bit for you."

The orcs hadn't realized yet.

They hadn't noticed that the shadow in the bushes was somehow smaller than it should have been.

If their intelligence had been a little higher, they might have sensed something was wrong when their fellow orc didn't say anything upon returning and prepared to flee.

But whether they ran or stayed, their fate was already sealed.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Munch, munch, munch.

"Gasp!?"

"That's not our companion!"

"Who are you!?"

The sound of bones being crushed.

Then, a massive, pitch-black shadow, like a blooming flower, emerged from the bushes.

Only then did the two remaining orcs scramble to their feet, taking defensive stances.

They finally realized that the shadow was the same foolish human female from earlier.

"…It was you guys?"

CRACK!!

But they couldn't laugh at her as a foolish human female anymore.

Click, click, click, click, click!

Her blood-red eyes gleamed with terror, and her massive, terrifying tentacles were salivating as they reached toward them.

– Hahahaha

– So it was the orcs who stole the

meat?

– Hahaha

– Oh man, I can't stop laughing

– Pigs eating pigs hahaha

– Hahaha

– Streamer, please set the adult filter before starting?

– LOL

– Oh, my stomach hurts from laughing so much

– Can we immortalize the fact that the streamer got her meat stolen?

The last thing the orcs saw was the bright light from the drone camera before their world was swallowed by darkness.