Chapter 123 (1/2)

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 embarrassed 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 Principality. 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 noble 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 noble’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.]

Shit. Now my finances were less than $10,000. I was a beggar. Time passed by like a flash. Six days had passed 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 splashing 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 that 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 goosebumps.

-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 workmanship 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♡”