Plop.
With the sound of something sinking into the water, I widened my eyes.
Snatching this is like swinging a sword.
Following the grain of power, cutting down the target without wavering.
I pulled the fishing rod taut.
It’s a big one!
A strong opponent didn’t come easily. If I’m not careful, I might just lose the bait.
As if coaxing and soothing, pulling and releasing.
And at some point, strongly yanking and pulling up!
Whoosh!
“Ah…!”
The bait was gone at the end of the fishing rod, and only a hook remained dangling.
“Kuh, kekek. Rain, fishing is difficult, right?”
“…I don’t know.”
I was casting my fishing rod into the lake with a sulky expression.
“This also requires technique. It seems that as you raise your skill rank, you can naturally catch big ones too. Hup! Another one!”
“Uugh…!”
My cheeks were fully puffed out.
We should both have low fishing ranks, but Chris was catching fish much better than me.
In my bucket were three minnows, while Chris’s bucket was full of fish big and small.
“Should I say it’s the advantages and disadvantages of virtual reality. You can gain benefits in virtual reality according to the skills you have in reality. Unnie knows a bit about fishing thanks to often following her father, who had fishing as a hobby when I was young.”
“Oh.”
It’s the first time I’m hearing about Chris unnie’s father. He must like fishing.
“Typically, the Fighter in our party is actually an excellent amateur boxer in real life. He even has awards from amateur boxing competitions. Now he’s a complete game addict, except when working. Kekek.”
I recalled the Fighter in Chris’s party.
That sharp-looking uncle who was creating an intense atmosphere.
I had run outpost buses alternately with Chris’s party’s Elementalist and Mage, but I had never run a bus with that Fighter.
Soon I also recalled the two people who had run buses with me.
The gentle and cheerful female Mage Bae Merong, and the taciturn male Elementalist Cherni.
Mage Bae Merong showed great interest in me, but Elementalist Cherni only glanced at me occasionally while running buses together and never approached to talk to me.
I felt like I had seen his face, which seemed to have some customization, somewhere in reality. Still, I who had hardly encountered people after returning, had an extremely limited number of acquaintances. It must be my imagination.
“What level are you now, Rain?”
“I’m 37.”
“Unnie is 38. Judging by how experience barely increases from here, the entry-level for this area’s elite dungeon is probably 38? Although it hasn’t been discovered yet.”
Since entering this area, I, who had turned my attention to sub-quests, life skills, and crafting content, hadn’t achieved level 38 yet.
I had been running forward too much until now. I decided to leisurely enjoy the Astria continent during the time without elite dungeon schedules from now on.
“Still, it’s fortunate that we don’t have to rush thanks to the game company adjusting the content consumption speed. Haah, unnie really couldn’t sleep much until level 25, you know?”
“Heheh. Me too.”
I enjoyed fishing for a while, sitting by the lakeside with Chris, who chattered nonstop next to me.
Even though I, who have difficulty dealing with people and am not good at speaking, couldn’t give many responses, Chris kept talking to me cheerfully.
Plop.
It seems a fish has been caught again. I won’t miss it this time.
Recalling how Chris pulled up fish, I move the fishing rod following the direction the fish moves.
Whoosh!
“Wow!”
I smiled brightly as I looked at the fish as big as my forearm that came up at the end of the fishing rod.
With this fish, I achieved my sub-quest target.
“I achieved my quest target.”
“Oh, you caught them all! But, why did you suddenly go fishing?”
“I wanted to try cooking a bit.”
“Cooking?”
Chris’s face changed strangely.
Food made with the ‘Cooking’ skill among Astria Online’s life skills not only fills the hunger gauge but also gives buffs for a certain time.
Stats decrease when the hunger gauge falls. The buff values from food increase according to the cooking skill rank.
Cooking was a very important skill in Astria Online’s combat as well.
For me with 100% synchronization rate, ‘enjoying the taste’ had a more important meaning for me.
Actually, Lee Seulbi outside went grocery shopping yesterday.
Feeling tired of always eating delivery food and convenience store meals, I decided to try cooking myself.
That day, Seulbi who wanted to eat spicy fish stew made up her mind and bought red rockfish from the mart. I also studied the cooking recipe thoroughly.
The result was a big failure.
I had to eat up the excessively salty spicy fish stew and mushy red rockfish with a tearful face.
“When you do fishing quests, they give you cleaned fish. But…”
I had a staring contest with the big fish in the bucket for a moment. This guy will be my cooking ingredient today.
But, what kind of fish is this?
I wanted to eat spicy fish stew, so I went fishing at a lake in Silva Plains. With my limited knowledge of fish, I didn’t even know what kind of fish I had caught.
Chris squatted down next to me and looked at the fish in the bucket.
“Let’s see, it looks like a fish similar to trout. I don’t know if there’s trout in this game world, but you could probably cook it similarly?”
But now that I’ve caught the fish, I’ll need ingredients to cook.
You can’t make spicy fish stew with just fish. I needed vegetables like green onions and garlic, various seasonings, and red pepper powder for the spicy broth.
While I was pondering after receiving the cleaned fish, Chris had already spread out a campfire, pot, and cooking ingredients. They looked like items purchased from the auction house.
Chris took the fish I held out.
“Let this Chris unnie show off her skills for Rain!”
“Unnie, is your cooking rank high?”
I was going to try cooking myself, but Chris seemed full of intent to cook herself.
“Just trust unnie. I’m not good at all cooking, but having fished since childhood means I have some expertise in spicy fish stew.”
Chris skillfully adjusted the amount of water and ingredients, put in the fish, and started boiling the spicy fish stew.
Bubble bubble.
“Oh.”
As the water started boiling, the spicy scent of the fish stew stung my nose.
The fish stew’s color, which was the same as Chris’s hair color, indicated that she had definitely added red pepper powder.
So red pepper powder exists in this era’s Astria continent. Or is it just a similar crop? There are also items crafted by users, so it might just be game allowance.
“Okay, it’s done.”
I received the wooden tableware and spicy fish stew from Chris and gently stirred the broth.
The stimulating smell and violent visuals. My mouth soon watered.
And one bite.
Chomp.
“Wow!”
My mouth opened wide.
It’s spicy! But delicious!
Chomp chomp chomp, I kept moving my spoon to bring the spicy fish stew to my mouth.
The cleaned fish had its bones properly removed. A wooden spoon was enough for eating.
The cooking I did yesterday wasn’t anything like spicy fish stew. That wasn’t even cooking.
Of course, it’s probably deceiving the brain to feel the taste, but such detail.
Astria Online is godly!
“Whoa, unnie. It’s really delicious…!”
“Is it that delicious? Seeing Rain eat so deliciously makes unnie feel full too!”
I praised Chris’s cooking skills with eyes full of emotion while savoring the taste of the spicy fish stew.
My legs were shaking wildly without me realizing.
While I was frantically inhaling the spicy fish stew, Chris just watched me with a grin.
* * *
“Mountain climbing after fishing. Haah, I feel like I’m seeing our father who’s become completely Korean. His hobbies are fishing and mountain climbing too.”
Chris was sighing continuously while following me as I climbed the mountain.
“…If you don’t like mountain climbing, you can go back down, you know?”
“Ah, no! Unnie loves mountain climbing with Rain the most in the world! Hehehe!”
This unnie complained a lot whenever I climbed mountains to see the scenery. Yet she didn’t try to leave me.
We were walking along a narrow mountain path.
On the right was a high cliff that looked as if it had been cut, and on the left was a dizzying view of a large forest.
How joyful it is to climb a mountain with my own legs.
It’s an emotion I never felt in the Astria continent of that time when I lived chased by a mission.
The wind was refreshing and the scenery was good.
Other users don’t come to mountainous areas with few monsters to hunt.
And sometimes you discover unexpected treasures while climbing mountains.
Woong.
As I came around the peak, a completely different landscape unfolded before me with a strange resonating sound.
“Unnie, I think I found something good.”
“Hue, hue. Yes! Boss! I’m following well!”
“Eep…!”
I grabbed the hand of Chris, who had lost her mind, and showed her the sight before us properly. Finally, Chris saw the same thing as me.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Probably that, right?”
“Ah.”
A structure built as if connecting the gap between mountains.
Unlike the previous Demon King’s Army Outpost, it was a proper fortress-type castle.
On the bridge connecting to the mountain we’re standing on now, a sealing magic circle like the one at the outpost was installed. It’s probably the same on the opposite side, too.
Chris blankly looked at it and muttered.
“Level 38 elite dungeon.”
[Entry Level 38]
[Elite Dungeon (4-person party recommended)]
[Aspero’s Fortress]