I Just Traded in the Forest of Monsters, but the World Changed - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 5
2,400 Points.
‘Still…….’
This was different from before.
“Frozen Pork Belly—I can finally buy this.”
Her hand moved before she could think.
Space warped for just an instant, and a vacuum-sealed chunk of meat dropped into her palm.
Anyone could see it was frozen solid.
“Wow…….”
The wolf’s ears perked up at the sound.
They stood straight, and it stared intently at what Se Hee was holding.
“Ah.”
She scratched the back of her neck absently and scanned the list once more.
•[Ssamjang (200g)] … 300 Points
•[Bundle of Lettuce (10 leaves)] … 120 Points
“I must be insane.”
Pork belly, ssamjang, and lettuce—add them all together and the Points would drain fast.
‘At this rate, I’ll run out in no time.’
Yet her hand was already moving.
Just then, Kasian’s gaze turned toward the meat.
“What is that.”
Kasian spoke, looking at the meat Se Hee held.
“It’s food.”
“I already know that much.”
“Um…….”
Se Hee paused at his words.
“Have you…… never seen meat before?”
Kasian’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.
“No.”
“Then why are you looking at it like that?”
Kasian studied the meat for a moment before speaking.
“The smell is unusual.”
‘Unusual?’
It didn’t seem strange to her at all.
Watching her reaction, Kasian opened his mouth.
“Monster meat has a very distinctive odor.”
“This is pork.”
“Pork?”
“You…… don’t eat pork?”
Kasian looked at the meat for a moment, then shook his head.
“I simply don’t seek it out.”
Kasian tilted his chin toward the forest.
“This forest alone has Monster meat in abundance.”
He paused, then added,
“There’s no reason to hunt ordinary beasts like pigs.”
“I see…….”
Se Hee changed the subject with an unbothered expression.
“By the way, if you’re going to share this with me, it’s upfront payment. This isn’t a favor—it’s a transaction.”
“Upfront payment?”
“Yes. For the food and the space fee.”
The Points she was spending now could be earned back anyway.
“So don’t feel burdened.”
“How much.”
“I said upfront payment, but I’d feel too awkward if you didn’t pay at least something.”
He looked at Se Hee once, then at the meat.
Then he pulled out Gold Coins and handed them to her.
Seven of them.
“We’ll settle the rest later.”
“What? No, that’s already a lot.”
She couldn’t very well return the Gold Coins she’d just received.
The system had already finished the conversion.
Feeling awkward, Se Hee handed Kasian a pair of chopsticks.
“You don’t need to give me anything more.”
Kasian didn’t answer, instead watching Se Hee as she moved busily about.
Se Hee tidied the space and, in place of a grill plate, pulled out a reasonably flat stone and set it over the fire.
The moment she laid the meat on it.
Sizzle—
The sound rippled through the forest.
The meat began to sizzle over the flames.
“Wow… the smell.”
It was then.
[Environmental Effect Occurring: Dispersal of Meat Aroma]
“What, again? Here we go again.”
Se Hee lifted her head.
It was smoke, certainly, but different from before.
Kasian, sitting across from her, had already gripped his sword hilt tightly.
“What’s wrong?”
When Se Hee asked, he replied without taking his eyes away.
“Flame Magic.”
“Pardon?”
“It sounds like the crystallization of Flame Magic.”
Se Hee glanced at the meat for a moment, then nodded seriously as she answered.
“Yes. It’s a high-grade magic made from pork.”
“I see.”
At that response, Se Hee paused mid-flip and looked at him.
‘I was only joking.’
Kasian’s expression held nothing but seriousness, without a trace of amusement.
Instead, the tension in his hand gripping the sword hilt eased ever so slightly.
At the same moment, Kasian’s throat moved very faintly.
At this point, Kasian still didn’t know.
That this meal would not end as a simple act of kindness.
Gulp—
Smoke rose once more as the pork belly finished cooking.
Once the sizzling sound subsided, Se Hee lifted the meat from the fire and laid it on a flat leaf instead of a plate.
Se Hee naturally made her portion first, placing a piece of meat atop the lettuce and popping it into her mouth without a second thought.
Crunch.
With the sound of chewing came the rich, savory aroma of the oil.
……
At the same moment, she felt a gaze from across the way. It was Kasian.
He alternated between watching the meat, the lettuce, and Se Hee’s hands, observing the scene silently.
Like someone who had no idea where to begin or how to eat it.
‘Ah.’
Se Hee realized it then.
‘He doesn’t know how to make a wrap.’
She could hardly leave someone who’d casually handed over seven Gold Coins in the lurch.
“Wait a moment.”
Kasian’s body tensed reflexively.
Because Se Hee was approaching him.
Quite naturally at that.
Unaware of Kasian’s state, Se Hee laid meat on lettuce and brushed a light coating of Ssamjang across it.
‘This much should be fine, right?’
Her hands moved with surprising ease.
She’d never expected her six years of living on her own would prove useful here.
Se Hee folded the lettuce firmly into a generous wrap and, without any hesitation, held it out toward Kasian.
“Here.”
“……?”
Kasian stared at her hand for a moment.
Meat wrapped in lettuce.
His gaze shifted from the wrap to Se Hee’s face.
A brief silence hung between them—whether caution or hesitation, it was impossible to tell.
“Like this, all at once?”
“Yes. All in one bite.”
She said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Kasian stared at the lettuce wrap for a moment.
Since the Curse had taken hold, food had been nothing but something to chew—devoid of sensation or meaning.
And having someone place something into his mouth like this was unfamiliar territory.
It was an act that, at least as far as Kasian knew, could not occur without a certain intimacy as its foundation.
…….
Kasian averted his gaze for a moment, then looked back at the lettuce wrap.
Steam rose from the meat.
The smell had become impossible to ignore.
If he stayed any longer, his composure felt like it might crumble first.
Kasian carefully lowered his head.
Se Hee, utterly unselfconscious, placed the wrap directly into his mouth.
“There. Bigger bite. Yes, that’s it.”
The moment her fingertips brushed against his lips, Kasian’s shoulders went rigid—a faint, barely perceptible tension.
The grease from the meat and the saltiness of the ssamjang bloomed across his tongue all at once.
It was the first time since the Curse had settled upon him.
“……!”
Kasian’s eyes widened.
This was far more than merely delicious.
‘What is this……?’
With each chew, the flavor deepened.
Kasian murmured without thinking.
“Flavors like this exist?”
The moment the words left his mouth, heat flooded his face.
The embarrassment hit harder as he became aware of it.
His mouth was too full to speak properly, yet his heart was pounding for no good reason.
The taste buds locked in place by the Curse seemed to be awakening.
A strange warmth spread through him from within.
Kasian’s eyes naturally drifted toward Se Hee.
Those hands that had offered him the wrap just moments ago, without the slightest hesitation.
‘……Surely not.’
Kasian could not tell whether this sensation had returned because of the food itself, or because of Se Hee who had given it to him.
Se Hee, meanwhile, was thinking something entirely different.
‘His reaction seems a bit much, doesn’t it?’
She glanced at the empty ssamjang container.
‘Maybe I didn’t use enough sauce?’
Perhaps the meat had been too large.
Or the lettuce was so big it might be overwhelming for someone eating it for the first time.
“Are you alright?”
Se Hee asked, genuine concern crossing her face.
“Was the ssamjang perhaps too strong?”
“I’m not sure what that is, but it was delicious.”
Kasian barely managed to swallow the wrap still in his mouth.
After steadying his breath for a moment, he looked up.
“……This food.”
“Yes?”
“Is it always meant to hit the senses this strongly?”
Se Hee tilted her head.
“Hit them strongly?”
Kasian hesitated briefly before speaking.
“I…… can barely taste anything.”
“What?”
“It’s because of the Curse.”
Though she was startled for an instant, Se Hee composed herself and spoke with deliberate calm.
“Ah……. So that’s why your reaction just now—”
Kasian nodded silently.
“So you were like this the whole time before coming here too?”
“Yes. I collapsed earlier because of the Curse.”
“Ah……”
Se Hee cast about for a response and offered him the pork belly again.
“Go on, try some more.”
“What?”
At that, Kasian’s face flushed crimson, and he couldn’t tear his gaze from Se Hee.
Se Hee caught it for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly.
‘……Is this a Curse symptom?’
After studying him briefly, she reached for the meat as if nothing were amiss.
“If you eat some more, you might taste something different the second time.”
Then it happened.
A familiar window materialized in the center of Se Hee’s vision without warning.
[Congratulations!]
Se Hee blinked.
She confirmed the window’s position again. Dead center in her field of view, impossibly bold.
She rubbed her eyes once, tilted her head slightly, but it didn’t vanish.
‘What……why now?’
It was hard to claim nothing had happened—the moment just now felt oddly significant.
Se Hee found herself unable to judge whether this notification was a joke or if the system had simply made its own call once again.
[You’ve fallen into a crush in a single wrap of greens.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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