Together, the young man and I walked around the village. It was still undeveloped and the scenery wasn't great, but it was still okay.

“What is your name?”

“Joseph Lee. I was born in the United States. My ID is also Joseph so you can comfortably call me Joseph.”

“I see.”

I walked with him and we talked a lot. It turned out that he was a war reporter who had been on battlefields and he became a reporter because his name was the same as the renowned Joseph Pulitzer. He said he was working as a paparazzi to make money. He had three family members. What? In any case, it was good that he didn't have much interest in me.

“Excuse me…”

“…?”

Joseph blurted out his question as he walked with me. “You really aren't a woman? I can't adapt because you have a female voice. For your reference, I'm taken. Haha.”

“…Don't talk nonsense.”'

“Ah, yes.”

Joseph seemed to feel embarra.s.sed and started taking photos with his camera. By the way, where did he get that camera? I had never seen a store sell it in the game. I wondered about it and asked him. Then he replied, “I started the game in the Parta Princ.i.p.ality. It is a place where mechanical civilization blossoms. Usually, reporters like me start there to get a camera. It is a place that adopts democracy and freedom of speech is guaranteed.”

I vaguely remembered it. There was certainly a place with that name on the huge map seen in the lord's office. If I remembered correctly, it was definitely next to the North Pole…

“Sooner or later, something big will happen.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Sooner or later, December's Invader would be active. There was bound to be a commotion for a while. An economic restructuring would be forced. Well, this wasn't important. I looked back and asked Joseph, “Why did you try to come in here? You aren't interested in me.”

“Yes, I'm a reporter so it's not like I'm indifferent. It is because I recently received a commission. He is a n.o.ble who has acc.u.mulated great wealth in Fortren and he asked me to investigate because his wife seems to be cheating on him.”

“A n.o.ble's wife? With who?”

“Well, it's hard to tell you because it involves a client's confidentiality.”

“Um, it can't be helped.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

He was politer than I thought. I registered him as a friend.

[The user 'Joseph' has been registered as a friend.]

He wondered with surprise, “Can I accept this to mean that I can come by often?”

“As long as you don't take photos of me and spread it.”

“Um… I actually want to shoot pictures of you, but it can't be helped. Okay, I have a big job this time. It is stupid to miss such a great opportunity.”

Thus, I made another new friend. His name was Joseph and his job was a paparazzi.

* * *

[$1 million will be taken out of the funds for the construction of the Temple of the Wind.]

s.h.i.+t. Now my finances were less than $10,000. I was a beggar. Time pa.s.sed by like a flash. Six days had pa.s.sed in this world and in the meantime, I had been focusing on cooking. The method I chose to build up the trust of the villagers was cooking. The scariest thing in this world was the love of food. There was a sound of oil splas.h.i.+ng and a message popped up.

[Superior quality! c.o.c.katrice Chicken!]

[Even if you hate those who killed the chickens, don't hate the person who fried it!

The nearby c.o.c.katrice was broken down into pieces by a skilled Weather Chef and superbly fried has become a superior quality dish.

Even if you twist the neck of a c.o.c.katrice, the dawn will come. Those who eat it don't have to worry.

If someone concedes a drumstick piece of chicken then they are a true friend!

However, an enemy might eat the drumstick so be careful.

Still, it is delicious enough to give gooseb.u.mps.

-Star Taste: ☆☆☆☆

-Expiration Date: 4 days.

-Health Recovery: 400. Magic Power Recovery: 400.

Efficacy: Those who eat this dish will have their voice volume double throughout the day.

Damage will double against bird-type monsters.

Magic power recovery speed will increase by 10%.

Movement speed will increase by 5%.

* Sun's Blessing: Strength, defense, fire damage, and fire resistance is increased by 50% for 30 minutes.

* Wind's Blessing: Agility, wind damage, and wind resistance is increased by 40% for 30 minutes.]

[The proficiency of the Weather Cooking skill has increased.]

[The people in the nearby area have heard rumors about your cooking.]

[Those who are interested in voices will visit here someday.]

[The limit of the star taste has increased to six stars.]

[The workmans.h.i.+p stat has increased by 2.]

[The super sensitivity stat has increased by 8.]

[The level of the sacred creature of the wind, 'Punghee,' has increased.]

Punghee's level had risen again. I opened the window and saw it was nearing level 40. However, Solar had become a bit stagnant after evolving. Well, there was no reason to rush. It had only been a month since I started playing the game. There was the saying that the more urgent you were, the more backward you would go.

“Punghee.”

“Puuuung♡”

Now she was pretty used to it. Punghee knew what to do even if I didn't tell her. Punghee flew into the air and moved quickly throughout the village.

[The sacred creature of the wind, 'Punghee,' has spread the smell of food!]

If someone knew that a sacred creature was being used like this then they would be shocked. Still, the effect was definite. Look at all the people coming.

[The villager Deila has smelled the food.]

[The taste of this food will increase by 1.5 times when eaten.]

[The villager Galus has smelled the food.]

[The villager Yuria has smelled the food.]

……

A crowd of 50 people gathered here. Each of them grabbed their hungry stomachs and started to flatter me.

“Ohh, Chief! Today it is chicken! It's delicious!”

“Chief, give me just one chicken leg!”

“Isn't there a lot today? I'll eat it well!”

“Grandpa! Just give me one wing piece!”

Most of the villagers had already succ.u.mbed to me. I basically gained the recognition of all the residents for the quest. However, it didn't earn everyone's recognition. Why couldn't I gain the recognition of these three people? The time remaining was one day. It would be a bit difficult if I didn't complete the quest by then. I hadn't hunted for six days because I had been cooking and my heart was about to collapse.

Additionally, the date of the match I promised Gyeonso Dragon was right around the corner. I didn't know if this was okay. Yesterday, he had sent me a whisper. There was a week left and he wanted to ask me if I was prepared. In fact, he already knew I was working hard on cooking. Gyeonso Dragon had sent me the message because he hoped I would take it seriously.

I naturally replied, 'I know.'

I had to prepare for the match. I watched the villagers gathered together when a few voices were heard behind me.

“Ohh, Buroder! It's chicken! I really like this! Lovu!”

“Wow, didn't the delicious smell spread really far away? Punghee, aren't you great?”

“Puung♡”

The wind blew through Punghee's white fur that was like silk. Kim Sujeong seemed to be in a good mood. She had been practicing Divine Firefly Acupuncture by treating sick people these days but was experiencing difficulty because there weren't as many sick people as expected. Then suddenly, a sensation was heard from my feet.

“Cer, you should make noise if you're hungry. Why bite me?”

“Kwal.”

The moment we came here, Cer was released. In fact, she wasn't a summons and it was uncomfortable to carry her around all the time, but it was a pity to keep her in the inventory. This girl came to me only when there was food. The interesting thing was that she ate well no matter what I gave her. The food quality was better than average and the fried chicken was gone the moment it was placed in the bowl.

Cer looked up at me with bright eyes. Her tail was moving from side to side.

“No more.”

“Kwal.”

“What?”

“Kwal.”

“Do you want more?”

“Kwal.”

What was I doing? She was a ridiculous thing but every time I saw her fat face, I couldn't help smiling. Perhaps it was because her affection was ridiculous. Sigh. I opened my inventory, pulled out new ingredients and started frying chicken again. In fact, I wanted to leave it to eat tomorrow but I didn't think it mattered. The quest would be over tomorrow anyway.

A familiar voice could be heard from behind me. “Ah. Elder, aren't you great? This smell is mouth-watering!”

It was Joseph. Curiously, he wasn't very surprised when he saw my face. Of course, he was initially sad because it would've been a scoop if he reported it. Then he quickly calmed down after I hit his forehead a few times. Well, he actually said he wasn't interested because it was only an honor and wouldn't earn him a lot of money.

Joseph sat next to the villagers and asked for the chicken. “Ah, look at this glistening fried chicken. I'm going to take a photo.”

He grabbed the camera and started to take photos of the chicken. Kim Sujeong laughed when she saw it. “Pfft. Oppa, why are you taking photos of something like this? It isn't worth anything.”

“Hey, life isn't all about money.”

“Some things are.”

“Groan. As expected, Sujeong knows a lot.”

…What was this? The two of them were pretty close. Well, Joseph was a married man. Otherwise, I would've turned blazing eyes on the two of them. It was nice to see then getting along.

“Old man, is it chicken again today? I'm sick of it.”

Keronos walked over in a condescending manner and I kicked his a.s.s.

“Shut up. This guy! Don't eat if you're going to complain!”

“Ah, who said I didn't want to eat? I just said I was sick of it.”

Kerenos sat down naturally and ate the fried chicken like nothing happened and the Sylphid Knights followed him in turn. I saw it and couldn't help laughing. A few days ago, I never imagined I would be frying chicken here. I didn't know how things had come to this point. I shook my head and opened the quest window.

-The recognition of the handsome fisherman, Kis 0/1

-The recognition of the diligent farmer, Henry 0/1

-The recognition of the ordinary woman, Diana 0/1

…As expected, I hadn't received their recognition yet. Even if Kis was a bit rude, why hadn't the other two recognized me yet? I was touching my beard and thinking when the full Joseph came over.

“What are you worried about?”

“Nothing.”

“Aish. I think there is something. Tell me. Who knows? I might be able to help.”

After a few moments of contemplation, I told the truth. He asked me, “W-Who are they?”

“That fisherman, farmer, and woman.”

Joseph grinned when he saw the faces I pointed out. “I think I can help you.”