Housekeeper in the dungeon

EPISODE 53

When Hee-won lifted the eggshell, the gooseberry, which had been sitting quietly in its pot, lifted its head, it was bud with a flick. Then it jumped in place.

The bud opened and closed in an instant.

Pop.

When Hee-won came to, the eggshell in her hand was long gone.

Aaagh, aaagh, aaagh, ooohhh.

The sound of chewing sweets made the man and the snail stare down at the pot, dumbfounded.

The plant was using its flower bud as a mouth to chew on an eggshell… It was a bizarre sight.

“……Did he just eat an eggshell?”

“Yep. He ate well, right?”

“Full throttle.”

Baduk quickly chewed the shell in his mouth……-no, inside the bud-and then looked up at Hee-won again.

The leaves were fluttering like a tail. It was asking for more.

Hee-won placed the eggshell on his palm and held it out in front of him.

The Go player began to gobble it up with gusto.

“You must still be very hungry.”

He quickly ate the shells of four eggs. But he didn’t seem to be satisfied, so he grabbed the railing of the planter and sniffed the buds here and there.

Hee-won looked down at him wistfully.

“Hee-na, can I give you some more eggs? You don’t seem to have enough.”

“What……. Why not?”

Hee-Na nervously opened the refrigerator door and took out the eggs. She took out three eggs and cracked them open.

She was going to make fluffy steamed eggs with these. Adding green onions and orange carrots would make them colorful and pleasing to the eye and the palate.

Meanwhile, Baduk quickly peeled three eggs, and as if that wasn’t enough, Hee-na had no choice but to take out more eggs.

“This time, egg soup.

I thought it would be nice to make a smooth egg soup with cool broth.

I cracked three more eggs and gave them to him, but he was still hungry.

He had already eaten ten eggshells. I wondered where all those eggshells fit on the slender stalk.

“Doesn’t the quest progress say how much more I need to feed it?”

I sighed, cracked five more eggs, and handed them over, and Hee-won shook her head.

“It doesn’t. It just says to keep feeding it until it was full.”

“How long are we going to keep cracking eggs? We’re running out of bowls.”

“Let’s just keep feeding it.”

Baduk was satisfied after eating exactly 28 eggshells. Hee-na patted her stomach and clicked her tongue as she looked at him lying stiffly in the pot.

“If I hadn’t bought an egg, I would have been in trouble.”

I’d already given up trying to figure out what to do with 28 eggs. There weren’t that many variations on Hee-Na’s egg dishes.

Egg rolls, steamed eggs, egg soup, egg fried rice, fried eggs, egg salad, etc……..

Well, whatever, it was clear that I had to eat only eggs until my mouth tasted like chicken for a while.

A plant that is supposed to be standing on the ground is supposed to be standing on the ground, but Badui, in keeping with the plant theme, laid down in the pot like a human.

When he was full, he patted the stem with his leaves and fell asleep.

The only way to tell if he was asleep was that the roots and blades of grass, which were constantly moving, became still for a moment.

It even opened and closed its flower buds repeatedly, making a sound that resembled a soft snore. It was a strange plant indeed.

“No, if it moves like this, shouldn’t it be called an animal?

Hee-Na thought about the definitions of plants and animals. She was confused.

“Isn’t it cute, it just got born, ate excitedly, and then fell asleep?”

But Hee-won didn’t seem to have any doubts, clutching the plant with both hands and smiling broadly.

“You don’t even think it was weird for a plant to walk around? Why are you so nonchalant about it?”

I whispered in a low voice, and Hee-won shrugged.

“There are many plant monsters that move like this in plant dungeons, so it was not weird.”

“What? Monsters? That?”

Seeing Hee-na’s horrified expression, Hee-won held up a hand to calm her down.

“Go is fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I can see plant information with my skill. And its description says ‘gentle and unable to harm humans except in emergencies’. Besides, it was my quest to raise it, so why should anything dangerous happen to me?”

It sounded comforting. But hearing him say that was somehow reassuring.

Even if he was only a D-ranked farmer, and even if he had rarely participated in actual combat, Hee-won had survived in the Hunter world for almost a decade. He had a bit of boldness and a thick skin when it came to dungeons.

She also had a good sense of humor, and given how quickly she’d taken a liking to the game of Go, she couldn’t possibly be harmful.

“Well. The five-colored snail is also unusual. They’re much bigger than normal snails and they’re intelligent, so they can communicate.

In retrospect, when Hee-na first met them, she didn’t think they were strange either. She felt more like a crush.

It was just that she mistook him for a bug and swatted his hand away.

In a way, Hee-won also instinctively felt a crush on someone who could help her.

With that simple conclusion, Hee-na quickly shook off her thoughts and rolled up her sleeves.

“I’ve fed the kids and put them to bed, so let’s eat. it was getting late.”

Tonight’s dinner was finalized: egg rolls, steamed eggs, grilled ham in a circle with egg wash, egg soup, and fried eggs with fried rice.

“By the way, the menu for tonight’s dinner was decided by you, so I won’t take any complaints about the side dishes.”

Hee-won laughed out loud.

“When have I ever complained about food before?”

It was true. It was the first rule of Hee-na’s house that if you ate, you should be grateful for the trouble the person who cooked the meal went through.

But Hee-na pretended not to hear and continued to whisk the eggs.

There was no particular reason. that was what siblings do.

* * *

The next day, Hee-Na was wondering what to do with the leftover eggs and decided to bake.

She decided to make madeleines, which are whole egg yolks and whites. She chose it because it was described as an easy-baked good that even a beginner could make.

I had a few more days of vacation left, so I had plenty of time.

Of course, I already had the oven I needed for baking, which I received as a reward for leveling up to Home Sweet Home.

It was called ‘Oven that doesn’t burn food’ and was rated B.

A B-rated oven should be pretty good, but I hadn’t used it since I got it and it sat in the corner of the kitchen.

Partly because she only cooked simple side dishes, and partly because she had never done the “B” part of baking in her life.

Hee-na lined up the baking ingredients she had bought and thought nonchalantly.

“I’m sure I can make it, right?

She had a lot of faith in her ‘dexterous fingertips’ and ‘this is the flavor’. Even if I messed up, I felt like I could fix it somehow. Plus, hee-na had never failed to make food before.

Just before she started baking, she read the recipe over again. It wasn’t too difficult, just the right amount of ingredients.

“When I’m done, I’ll give them away.

Hee-Na smiled at the thought of sharing her madeleines. It felt good to see people enjoying her creations.

The madeleine molds were smaller than she expected, so she only measured out enough eggs for 10. I thought I’d use the rest to make extra-large egg rolls.

After gently beating the eggs, I sifted in the dry ingredients. I gently added the melted butter and mixed it in, and the dough was ready.

The steps seemed simple enough, but the overall amount of ingredients made it difficult.

Hee-Na gritted her teeth and made her first batch of dough. It was her first time, and she was nervous, but it was harder than rolling 60 rolls of kimbap.

“Bread factory up and running?”

Oh, Haek-yi teased Hee-na, who was grunting, about starting a bread factory. I wanted to retort, but the amount of work was too much for me to say.

“But you’ll be so proud when you’re done.”

Hee-Na glanced away, and then squeezed the dough into the madeleine molds she’d bought. The repetition of the simple task made her concentrate well.

The system also patted Hee-na on the back.

Hee-na baked madeleines for hours. Due to the large amount of raw dough, she had to use the oven several times.

But it wasn’t boring. And there was nothing more satisfying than watching the dough rise under the flickering light.

How much time had passed? Hee-Na finally spread the madeleines across the table and clapped her hands together.

“I’m done!”

She had baked more than 70 madeleines in total. The house was filled with the fragrant smell of baking.

The warm madeleines were flavorful and light. For a first-time baker, it was a great success. Hee-Na shivered as she savored the soft flavors in her mouth.

“It tastes just as good as the bakery ones!

And with a slight savory flavor, it was perfect. Even Hee-Na, who loves rice more than bread, loved them.

She packaged the madeleines in packs of ten. She planned to give them as gifts to people around her.
After subtracting food for home, gifts for Woo Min-ah, Kang jin-hyeon, and the members of the environmental beautification team, there were about a dozen left.

“Who do I give this to?

Hee-na pondered, then slapped her knee.

“I’ll give it to my neighbor and the security office!”