Sizzle.
Somehow, the meat had already been placed on a scorching stone slab.
The Maillard reaction gave the wild boar meat a deep brown hue, making my mouth water just by looking at it. But the scent was even more incredible.
“Gulp.”
Saliva kept pooling in my mouth uncontrollably.
It was such a shame that we had to eat this all by ourselves.
‘I really want Ara and Cheong to try this too…?’
Of all times, they had to be absent while the meat was cooking.
Well, nothing I can do about it. I’ll just have to take some for them later.
Swish.
I secured the meat with a fork and sliced through the thick cut with a knife. The meat offered only slight resistance before yielding to the blade.
“So tender.”
“K-Kyu-seong. Can I eat first?”
Jung So-yeon, who had already picked up a large piece of meat with her fork, asked with a desperate look as if she couldn’t hold back anymore.
I nodded at her and focused entirely on my own meat.
It was probably medium-rare.
When I cut it, the meat juice—red like blood—soaked the glistening cross-section.
The surface clearly displayed the grain of the meat, but the inside shimmered as if it would melt the moment it touched the tongue.
Chew, chew.
Jung So-yeon had already started eating.
She kept moving her mouth but showed no reaction.
She always expressed admiration whenever she ate something delicious, but now she was completely silent.
‘Does she not like it?’
No, that couldn’t be possible, not with meat that looked this good.
I glanced at Choro.
Choro was also eating the meat silently.
At this point, curiosity got the best of me—I had to taste it myself.
I speared a thick piece of meat large enough to fill my mouth.
Stab.
The fork pierced through the tender surface effortlessly. It felt like stabbing into a piece of coated tofu.
‘Wow.’
Just look at this glistening fat.
The way the juices shone alongside the meat reaffirmed my confidence—it was impossible for this to taste bad.
“Nom.”
I put it in my mouth.
Immediately, my mouth was flooded with the rich aroma and deep umami of the meat.
Wait, isn’t this pork?
It tasted like something between pork and beef, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
It was as if it combined all the best qualities of both meats into one bite.
Pop! Pop!
I hadn’t even chewed yet, but the mere pressure inside my mouth caused the juices to burst out.
“Gulp!”
Ah, yes. This is what meat is supposed to be.
I had been eating mostly vegetables and fish for a while now.
Even when I ate out occasionally, I had stuck to a vegetarian diet for over a year.
I was satisfied with that. My crops were incredibly flavorful, and I had even discovered vegetables that tasted like meat, so I never felt deprived.
But I was mistaken.
Meat is meat.
Unlike fish, real meat had an irreplaceable, unique taste.
‘How can something be both fatty and light at the same time? What kind of paradoxical flavor is this?’
And this meat was anything but ordinary.
Choro had called it a delicacy, but that was an understatement—it was the most delicious meat I had ever eaten.
It had the richness of beef yet the tenderness of pork.
And just as Choro had mentioned, there was absolutely no unpleasant odor.
There was a scent, but it was purely the aroma of meat.
If I had to describe it, it was somewhat like aged cheese—a smell that might be divisive.
But when I took my second bite, I was shocked again.
“What the…?!”
The flavor was slightly different.
The meaty aroma was milder.
Even though it was from the same cut, the fat content, texture, and flavor were subtly different.
“So just because it’s attached to the skin doesn’t mean it’s all the same part of the meat?”
Jung So-yeon, who had been eating with a serious expression, responded to my confusion.
“This meat is… insane.”
“So-yeon, you seem to know a lot about gourmet food. You’ve probably tried all kinds of meat, right?”
“Yeah. But I’ve never had anything like this. Of course, since this is the first time I’ve encountered this monster meat, but still… I’ve eaten the famous horned ox meat in every grade, and I’ve tried almost every top-tier monster cuisine.”
As she spoke, Jung So-yeon closed her eyes.
And then, tears rolled down her cheeks.
…Huh? Tears?
Why is she suddenly crying?
“Kyu-seong, thank you.”
“Uh…?”
“Thank you so much for letting me taste something this delicious.”
“Uh, well… I mean…”
I wasn’t sure if this was something to cry about, but I had seen people get emotional over my food before, so it wasn’t completely unfamiliar.
The only difference was that I hadn’t grown this meat myself.
“This meat needs to be analyzed more thoroughly. The taste, aroma, and fat content vary depending on which part of the skin it was attached to.”
“I should take some to my brother first.”
Ideally, I wanted to bring him a fresh hide before the meat was butchered.
Looking at the remaining portions, there was still some left, but not much.
‘One hide could probably yield about five servings.’
Since only the meat attached to the skin was edible, the yield wasn’t very high—five servings at best, if scraped clean.
Fortunately, there were quite a few of them.
I had counted last time—there were 93 wild boars.
Some were still young, but all of them were going to shed their skins soon, so there wouldn’t be an issue.
“How often do they shed?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I’d guess about once a month.”
“Ohh.”
That meant, assuming there were 90 boars, with five servings per hide…
A simple calculation gave me 450 servings of meat per month.
To be conservative, I could expect at least 400 servings every month.
Getting 400 servings of meat every day would be great, but 400 per month felt a little lacking.
Considering how many mouths we had to feed, the only solution was to raise more wild boars and increase their numbers.
After finishing our meal, we headed straight to Jae-seong’s lab—with the rabbits who had cooked the meat.
Knock, knock!
“Come in!”
Inside, we found a group of people busy working with apples.
They had just received apples as a new ingredient, and they were already moving on to the next batch for research.
“Brother! These apples are amazing! They have a strong apple aroma and taste, but the sweetness isn’t overpowering, making them perfect as a sauce, garnish, or additive!”
Jae-seong, unaware that I had brought meat, cheered excitedly.
At the same time, the others gathered around, marveling at the apples.
“You could make a drink while keeping the aroma intact!”
“What if we marinate the meat with apples? That would get rid of any gamey smell and leave a subtle apple scent in the meat!”
“It would be perfect for desserts! A dessert with lemon, and maybe a touch of whiskey…”
As their excitement grew, I cleared my throat to regain their attention.
“Ahem!”
“So, what is it this time? Are you here because of the apples?”
“No, I came with another new ingredient.”
“Another one?!”
Their expressions were priceless.
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
At that moment, the rabbits with us confidently placed the meat onto the table.
Thud!
The fresh meat had a beautiful combination of white marbling and red muscle.
The moment they saw it, they all turned to me with shocked expressions.
“This is…!”
“Brother, what did you bring this time?”
Their serious faces made it seem like they were making some kind of wild assumption.
“I got this meat from the wild boars the Little humans brought. But don’t get the wrong idea. Let me explain everything.”
It would have been great if Choro had explained, but he had stayed behind in the cat village to inspect supplies for Chiyon.
So, I had to explain everything myself.
Once I finished, they finally understood and looked at the meat in awe.
“What about the hide?”
“I gave it to the cats to use as material.”
“Nothing goes to waste, huh!”
Hearing my review of the taste only fueled the chefs’ enthusiasm even more.
Meanwhile, the rabbits, who hadn’t had the chance to cook the meat, watched with envy.
-Beep!
The rabbits who had cooked the meat lifted their heads proudly, touching the meat with an air of superiority.
“It looks like the little humans will be bringing more livestock in the future. Have any of you met them in person?”
“No, we’ve only heard about them.”
“Next time, could you meet them and teach them how to cook? Their ingredients seem different from ours, so they don’t really know how to prepare them properly.”
“Oh, sure! We’ll go together and show them how to cook!”
With that, Jae-seong’s team had not only apples but also meat to research, and they eagerly dove into their work.
Seeing how happy they looked made me feel proud.
“Hmm, it’s about time…”
Quite a bit of time had passed.
Seon-ah should be getting off work and heading to the dungeon soon.
I felt a little bad about giving her work the moment she arrived, but what choice did I have? I needed her help.
“Lee Kyu-seong, Kyu-seong!”
“Oh, Ara! You’re done?”
Ara, smelling of sweet apples, ran over to me.
Then, she suddenly froze and sniffed the air.
“What is this scent?!”
“Meat.”
“Meat?!!”
She looked absolutely shocked.
Grinning, I showed her the prepared meat.
“Ta-da!”
“Oooooh! Where did this come from?!”
“You know the wild boars we brought in?”
“Gasp!”
Before I could even explain, Ara’s face turned pale, and her eyes started welling up with tears.
“Did they say their farewells…?”
“No, no! This is just the meat attached to their shed skin. Let me explain.”
Just like with Jae-seong’s group, Ara had misunderstood.
Once I explained properly, she tilted her head in confusion at first but soon nodded in understanding.
“Oooooh! That’s incredible! These pigs are just factories for making endless meat!”
“Exactly. Thanks to them, we can enjoy delicious meat now.”
…But Ara, why are you eating raw meat?
“Mmm, yum!”
Somehow, she had already started chewing on the raw meat I gave her.
Her face lit up with joy.
“This is delicious!”
“You’re supposed to cook it first!”
“Hmm? But it’s tasty as it is.”
Then, raising the remaining meat, she shouted:
“Let’s cook the rest!”
“Haha, sure, sure.”
Now that I thought about it, Cheong was nowhere to be seen.
I should check on him while also seeing how my mother’s jam and apple syrup turned out.
Leaving the meat in the kitchen, I went to find my mother.
There, I found Cheong fast asleep, his hands and mouth smeared with apple jam or syrup.
My mother smiled warmly at the sight while finishing her work.
“Are you done?”
“Yes. Since the kids helped, it was quick.”
“Let me see. Oh, wow.”
There was quite a lot—dozens of jars.
Though, at a glance, I couldn’t tell which ones were jam and which were syrup. There was a slight difference in color.
“Oh, Mom, we also secured a meat source.”
“Meat? Where from?”
“We found pigs that shed their skin, and there’s meat attached to the shed hides.”
Saying it out loud, it did sound a little strange.
But my mother just nodded, as if she wasn’t surprised.
Considering my crops were anything but normal, she must have figured the meat would be the same.
“I gave some to Jae-seong for research and saved the rest. The rabbits are grilling it now. You should try some.”
“Shall I?”
After finishing up with Jung So-yeon’s help, we headed to the open kitchen.
Just in time, the meat was ready.
“Mmm!!”
My mother and Ara immediately dug in.
Even after I washed Cheong’s face and hands, he was still asleep.
But when I placed a piece of meat in his mouth, his eyes snapped open.
“This is amazing. What kind of meat is this?”
“Wild boar.”
“This is pork?!”
Her reaction made sense.
I also had trouble distinguishing whether it was pork or beef at first.
And then—
The person I’d been waiting for finally arrived.
“What the heck! Why are you all eating meat without me?!”
Seon-ah had returned from work.
Cliche Novel 