Chapter 25: The Fortress of Living Armor (1)

The name of the ability of Jeong Man-Kook was...

"Cal. Lo. Rie. Buff." Kim Ki-Rok said.

Amidst the first floor hall of the Fortress of Living Armor, Kim Ki-Rok skillfully prepared ingredients on the vast table he pulled out from the subspace pocket while wearing a chef's hat.

"Why did you pause like that?"

"It's cooler that way. Anyway. Calorie Buff. The ability to increase stats by consuming calories has another hidden ability," he revealed.

An ability that even the user didn't know about?

"Excuse me... could you explain what kind of ability it is?"

Instead of addressing the big pot of curiosity he had just stirred up, Kim Ki-Rok focused on cooking.

The fourth sibling, Lee Ji-Ah, eventually became impatient and asked, "What exactly is it?"

"It's more like a sealed effect."

"What?"

"And when you eat the food made by an Awakened with the skill, Cooking, the seal is released."

Even though they had been talking about his ability, Jeong Man-Kook was absentmindedly watching the dish being finished instead.

Yoo Seh-Eun sighed. "Although it's only on special occasions, we

have

eaten food made by an Awakened with a cooking-related ability. However, this seal that you mentioned, Guildmaster, was not released."

"Several conditions have to be met to unlock the ability," Kim Ki-Rok said matter-of-factly.

The first requirement needed to release the sealed effect of Calorie Buff was...

"The food must be delicious. For example, a C-Class dish made by someone who has awakened a D-Class cooking ability."

"So you're saying the chef's skill level is important?"

"That's right."

The second ingredient needed to release the sealed effect of Calorie Buff was...

"A million," Kim Ki-Rok announced.

"A million?"

"A million calories."

"Huh?"

"He must consume a million calories from those higher-class dishes I mentioned."

"Is that even possible?"

"It's possible because of how Calorie Buff worked."

Since it was an ability that consumed calories to increase the user's stats, there were no limits to how many calories could be burned. The only limit was how much food the user could stomach.

"He has to keep eating and using buffs to burn the calories. It's only difficult because you would still feel full after burning those calories. It's difficult, but not impossible. Furthermore, there's no actual time limit on the ability," Kim Ki-Rok explained.

"When you say time limit..."

"You could consume a million calories within a few days, or within a month. Something like that," Kim Ki-Rok responded.

"I see."

As the Five Siblings of Mapogu nodded in understanding, Kim Ki-Rok had completed his steaming kimchi stew topped with meat[1]. He placed the pot on the table, next to the rice cooker and a portable battery he had also taken from his subspace pocket.

Click!

Sizzle!

They were met with the sight of the glossy rice as soon as they opened up the rice cooker.

"Looks like it came out well."

After lightly stirring it with a spoon, Kim Ki-Rok scooped the rice into bowls and placed them in front of each person. The table was decorated with various fried foods, seasoned vegetables, corporate-branded kimchi, bulgogi[2], fried pork cutlet, and meat dumplings. There was so much food, it seemed that the table legs would give. It made the others wonder if they were really inside a Gate right now.

"Since the fried pork cutlet, bulgogi, and kimchi stew have all been imbued with my skill, Cooking, you should focus on these three dishes for your meal, Mr. Man-Kook."

"Thank you. Then, I will dig in."

Rather than evaluating the food, Jeong Man-Kook immediately picked up a spoon and chopsticks. Seeing his actions, Yoo Seh-Eun, the practical leader of the team, decided to check out the completed dishes. "Appraisal."

[

Kimchi Stew (C)

]

Description: A stew made with kimchi as the main ingredient

Effects: Vitality +3, Strength +2

Duration: 90 minutes

A double buff.

"

Haha, haha...

"

It was said that if a skilled Awakened with a crafting ability created a product with a value higher than their skill grade, two buffs would be applied to their creation. The kimchi stew, bulgogi, and pork cutlet all had a double buff.

Meanwhile, the master chef behind this fantastic feast was struggling with Kim Ji-Hee.

"I don't want to eat greens," Kim Ji-Hee whined.

"You have to eat your greens as well." Kim Ki-Rok put his foot down.

"Nooo."

Although she had a sad expression, she bravely took a bite of the greens on her spoon.

"Oh my, oh my. Ji-Hee, you're amazing. Should we have some meat this time? Yes?"

"I like meat."

It looked like a grandma... no, a grandpa with his granddaughter. Yoo Seh-Eun dazedly watched this scene that was reminiscent of a family gathering.

She snapped out of her trance and cautiously raised her hand. "But Guildmaster."

"Let's eat first," Kim Ki-Rok said.

"Okay." Yoo Seh-Eun obliged and picked up her chopsticks.

Out of the dozens of side dishes populating the table, which one should she try first? After a moment of contemplation, she placed the bulgogi on top of her rice and took a big bite.

"

Woah!

" she exclaimed.

It was delicious. Simply scrumptious. The food tasted even better than the famous bulgogi she and her family had tried after she had earned her first paycheck as an Awakened.

"Are you a chef?"

"It's because I've lived a long life.

Haha!

" With his characteristic exaggerated laughter, Kim Ki-Rok turned back to Kim Ji-Hee to prevent her from being picky.

Yoo Seh-Eun gave up on thinking.

Who cares?

Since the food was excellent, she started to focus more on her meal.

The mountain of food disappeared cleanly over time, most of it vanishing into Jeong Man-Kook's stomach. Although, to be fair, everyone else ate more than usual as well.

Though their mouths were happy, Yoo Seh-Eun had also been worrying about her diet.

She suddenly came to her senses and looked at Kim Ki-Rok. "What is the sealed effect?"

"It's called Delicacies."

"Delicacies?"

The siblings all looked puzzled, not understanding what he had meant.

Kim Ki-Rok continued, "Delicacies. Your stats increase permanently if you eat delicious food."

"The stat increase isn't temporary?" Yoo Seh-Eun clarified.

"Yes, once the effect is unsealed."

"That's so broken. Wouldn't that make it the best ability out there?"

"Even if the food is 'delicious', your abilities won't increase if you're used to that dish. You can only increase your stat once from the same dish. For example, if your stats increase after having a delicious serving of bulgogi, it won't increase if you have more bulgogi."

"It seems like there are a lot of conditions."

"The ability increases your stats permanently. It would be strange if there weren't this many. Here's a summary of the ability."

Kim Ki-Rok handed out a roughly folded printout from the subspace pocket.

[

Calorie Buff (C)

]

Description: Consumes the energy of calories absorbed from food to increase physical abilities

Effect: For every 100 Kcal consumed, physical abilities will be buffed by 1

Duration: 60 minutes

Written on the paper was the description of Jeong Man-Kook's skill, which the other four siblings were already familiar with.

"And this is the description of Calorie Buff obtained using my ability, Discernment." He slid another paper on top of the previous one.

[

Calorie Buff (C)

]

Description: Consumes the energy of calories absorbed from food to increase physical abilities

Effect 1: For every 100 Kcal consumed, physical abilities will be buffed by 1

Effect 2: Delicacies (Sealed)

Duration: 60 minutes

[

Delicacies (Sealed)

]

Description: Sealed

Seal Release (Condition 1): Consume a dish of higher class than the chef's ability

Seal Release (Condition 2): Consume 1,000,000 Kcal of a dish that is higher class than the chef's ability

[

Delicacies

]

Description: When consuming food made beyond the limit of the chef's awakened ability, stats will increase permanently

Effect: Permanent increase in stats

"Beyond the limit?" one of the five siblings asked.

"Like a C-Class dish created by someone who has awakened a D-Class cooking ability," Kim Ki-Rok explained again.

"Ah."

That made sense. They also understood why the condition of unlocking the skill was so complicated.

"Now... Hunter Yoo Seh-Eun," Kim Ki-Rok said.

"Yes, Guildmaster."

"You live in Mapo District, correct?"

Yoo Seh-Eun's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"It was written in our contract," Kim Ki-Rok said simply.

Yoo Seh-Eun's face turned bright red at Kim Ki-Rok's response. "

Haha...

"

"And the rest of you live there as well."

"That's right."

"Then, I'll call you the Mapogu Hunter Team. Miss Ji-Yeon and the Mapogu Hunter Team, please begin your respective Gate activities."

The Five Siblings of Mapogu and Lee Ji-Yeon stood up from their seats.

"Mr. Woo-Hyuk."

"Yes."

"Let's do the dishes together."

"Right... Wait, what?"

***

Kim Ki-Rok wore rubber gloves and an apron over his white cooking uniform. Kim Ji-Hee had an apron on as well, decorated with drawings of cartoon characters. She washed the dishes diligently.

Kang Woo-Hyuk asked cautiously, "Um, Guildmaster."

"Yes, Mr. Woo-Hyuk."

"Um... Do I also have a sealed effect like Hunter Jeong Man-Kook?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Kang Woo-Hyuk was somewhat surprised by how easy it was to hear that from Kim Ki-Rok.

"And what would that be?"

"Wouldn't it be better to leave that as a secret so you can experience the joy when it comes?"

Kang Woo-Hyuk was curious. Very curious. But it seemed like Kim Ki-Rok would not reveal his sealed effect ahead of time.

He decided to approach this from a different angle. "What are the conditions for unlocking my ability?"

"I suppose I can tell you that much. Mr. Woo-Hyuk's sealed effect will be unlocked by creating equipment using monster corpses."

"I'm guessing that just like Hunter Jeong Man-Kook, I would need to make a lot of equipment."

"Yes, one thousand weapons, to be exact."

"One thousand?"

"Yes, you must make one thousand weapons."

The number was enough to make someone's mouth drop open.

"But Guildmaster, why can't Hunters read their sealed abilities using Appraisal? Isn't the Appraisal system created by Earth meant to support the Awakened?"

Kang Woo-Hyuk brought up a good question.

"Hmm... Please keep in mind that this is just my speculation."

Kang Woo-Hyuk stopped washing the dishes and looked at Kim Ki-Rok.

"You can listen while doing the dishes," he said sharply.

In response, Kang Woo-Hyuk went back to washing the dishes while listening to his explanation.

"This does not apply to all Awakened, but most will have their sealed effects unlocked when certain conditions are met. It's likely that many people have unsealed their skills without knowing."

"Huh? Really?"

"Let's see... Mr. Man-Kook awakened the ability called Calorie Buff, which requires him to consume food to activate, right? In this case, the seal will be lifted at some point."

"But you said that Hunter Jeong Man-Kook must eat a dish that's higher-class than that of the chef's cooking skill."

"It's a hidden ability that permanently increases ability stats, isn't it?"

"Ah, right."

As it was a skill that permanently increased stats, the seal release conditions were naturally harder to accomplish than others.

"The same can be said for Mr. Woo-Hyuk."

"Is that so?"

"Think about your conditions carefully."

Kim Ki-Rok mentioned the condition of making equipment out of monster corpses. A thousand of them. It was a mind-boggling number, but it wasn't impossible if you were in the industry for a while.

"Oh, I see. The skill would have been naturally unlocked over a long period of time."

Craftsmen do not only make equipment using materials such as mana-infused ores but also monster corpses. Thus, he would have been able to make equipment and gradually unlock his hidden abilities at some point.

"But since you mentioned that this doesn't apply to all Awakened, does that mean there some without sealed effects?"

"Yes."

Kang Woo-Hyuk stopped doing the dishes again and turned to look at Kim Ki-Rok. "That seems unfair..."

"

Dishes.

"

"Oh, right."

"Those who have abilities without sealed effects would have other skills to make up for it. In other words, they don't have sealed effects because their abilities are already powerful from the start."

It was understandable that the Awakened had high-class skills since their Awakening. But what did he mean by other talents?

"

Um

, can you give me an example?"

"There's Miss Ji-Yeon."

"Senior Lee Ji-Yeon?"

"Yes. Miss Ji-Yeon does not have sealed effects. Instead, she has talent as an Elementalist with the condition that she must meet an Elemental."

Kang Woo-Hyuk nodded. "Ah, I see."

After Kim Ki-Rok glanced at Kang Woo-Hyuk, the latter started doing the dishes again.

"Awakened can be divided into those two categories," Kim Ki-Rok began summarizing. "Those who have awakened abilities that suited them and are naturally unlocked when the time is right. Then there are those with awakened abilities related to their talents, but they would need to meet certain conditions to use their ability effectively."

"Conditions?"

"Such as meeting an Elemental."

"

Ah.

" Kang Woo-Hyuk nodded his head again.

—So, that means that we also have sealed effects.

"Huh?"

Yoo Seh-Eun's voice rang in Kang Woo-Hyuk's ears. He unknowingly trembled, then realized that her voice was coming through the earpiece on his right ear. Looking back at Kim Ki-Rok, he asked, "Did you leave the walkie-talkie on?"

"Yes. I didn't want to have to explain it twice." Kim Ki-Rok removed his rubber gloves and sat on the floor.

"You also have a sealed effect, Hunter Yoo Seh-Eun." Kim Ki-Rok said as he helped Kim Ji-Hee take off her gloves.

1.

Kimchi stew or kimchi jjgae

☜

2.

Bulgogi

is a popular Korean dish made of thinly sliced, marinated beef or pork, grilled and eaten with rice. ☜