Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

Chapter 22 Talent (2)

“I have no money, none at all.”

She sighed deeply.

Choi Yoo-min is a Holder affiliated with the Academy’s Special Category. Among them was a unique type of Holder known as the Master Forger.

To rune Holders, weekends were like precious gold. It was a time without classes, allowing them the freedom to use it for training and solidifying what they had learned. Thus, many student Holders spent their weekends at the training grounds to enhance their runes. This applied to the Master Forgers as well.

On weekdays, they attended various theoretical and practical classes, and on weekends, they applied that knowledge to craft their unique armors and defensive gear. They could use the Academy’s workshop or even rent a private one. Just like the saying goes, Craftsmen shine brighter with accumulated time, Master Forgers also need to accumulate experience in their spare time. This was a shared principle among all crafting Holder categories.

However, Choi Yoo-min couldn’t put this into practice. Why? Because of money. She lacked sufficient capital.

“Haah…”

Being a Master Forger required a lot of money. Buying magic stones, purchasing minerals, it all costs money. Even the necessary tools and auxiliary items for refining and crafting required funds. Everything revolved around money.

“Lee Hyun-ho is so lucky…”

Lee Hyun-ho, the son of Lee Do-kwon, the renowned Master Forger in the metropolitan area. He was Choi Yoo-min’s classmate who received tremendous support from the start, standing at the top of the advanced class, a position rarely found in the Special Category. He was an elite from a different world, always free from the financial struggles Choi Yoo-min faced. There were even rumors that he had already crafted rare weapons. He was an opponent who made her feel bitter just thinking about him.

“Poor Arin as well.”

And these harsh conditions didn’t apply only to Choi Yoo-min. Her younger sister, Choi Arin, was a Holder of the Alchemist category, and she faced the same challenges. Regardless of the category, specializations related to crafting always required a substantial amount of money. As children from a poor family, it wasn’t a suitable field for them. However, for Holders, the given runes and categories were their talents. They had to persevere and survive with the talents they were chosen to have. That was the reality of this world.

“Sigh… I must find a way to earn money…”

After sighing for a long while, Choi Yoo-min got up with a heavy heart. Master Forgers, at least, had considerable strength. They often took part-time jobs commissioned by F-grade Holders and regular civilians. Even if it was just temporary work, they had to earn money somehow.

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ippotranslations

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“I’m rich!”

Unintentionally, those words slipped out of my mouth after completing the underground dungeon conquest.

After settling the magic stone distribution, such a thought came naturally to my mind.

‘D*mn, I’m rich now.’

The C-grade monster’s magic stones sold for much higher prices than I anticipated. In the typical magic stone trade, there were three ways to go about it: selling them to the government or the guild’s local branch, or engaging in person-to-person transactions. Among these, guild trading was the most commonly used method. Selling to the government required a clan-scale bulk sale, and personal transactions, though cheaper in terms of commissions, were quite complicated.

Guild trading, on the other hand, allowed for straightforward buying and selling at fluctuating prices.

“It’s 7.15 million won per piece.”

The C-grade magic stone assessed by the guild was worth 7.15 million won.

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We had defeated over 120 Lizardmen during the dungeon conquest, so I obtained around 40 magic stones. Simply calculating, it amounted to 286 million won. Unbelievable. After just one dungeon run, I had 300 million won in my hands. Now I understood why other Holders sang dungeon songs with such enthusiasm. That’s how one becomes rich after returning from a dungeon.

“But why am I grilling steak?”

However, now that I was wealthy, I found myself diligently cooking in my single room apartment. I was handling a high-quality Korean beef steak. In my hands were a skillet and a grill press. It felt like I was accumulating more sophisticated kitchen equipment, and my kitchen was becoming increasingly specialized. At this point, I wasn’t even sure who I was anymore—a Holder or a cook.

“Hey! Quiet down! You went to the dungeon without me!”

Naturally, it was Kim Chae-eun who complained. After returning from the dungeon conquest, I invited her to join my party. We needed new party members to progress further into the dungeons. Initially, I only intended to recruit Park Jin-woo to deal with boulders, but I also wanted to add a reliable damage dealer to the party, not knowing what challenges awaited us ahead. Kim Chae-eun seemed the most suitable for that role.

Moreover, I could trust her not to reveal any secrets, and she was a Holder specialized in the rare freezing attribute within the Mage category, which was completely opposite to the fire attribute wielded by Kang Juyeon. Her versatile attributes would undoubtedly be a great help to the party.

However, Kim Chae-eun seemed a little annoyed during the recruitment process. It wasn’t because she refused to join the party; she agreed to any kind of request I made. It was because she was angry about going to the dungeon without telling her anything. The day before, I said I had a special appointment and went to the dungeon, and she found out about my lie.

“No, it’s not like I went alone. We went together as a group.”

“That makes it worse! Why would you go to the dungeon with other girls?”

“…What?”

“I mean, it’s not that… Ugh! Why did you leave me out?”

Thwack-

Kim Chae-eun lightly hit my back with a cushion.

Ouch!

Where did she get this character cushion from? I positioned myself defensively and tried to calm her down.

“Time, time! The steak is burning, the steak!”

“Oops. That won’t do.”

I made an excuse about cooking, and that finally seemed to settle her down. Kim Chae-eun was genuinely fond of Korean beef steak. I finished plating the nearly completed steak slowly.

“Sorry for worrying you. You know, when we hunted the sizzling Salamander last time, we were both in danger. I felt a bit sorry for that and didn’t want to take you along.”

“But still, it bothered me.”

“It’s just… I’m sorry for going to the dungeon without telling you.”

I finished the steak plating and brought out the salad I’d prepared earlier.

Kim Chae-eun, who was watching me quietly, asked.

“What are you going to do with the salad?”

“Salad?”

“Huh.”

“It tastes like kiwi, seriously.”

“…Don’t you like grapes?”

“What kind of grape-flavored dressing for salad.”

Grapes are only good for pudding. This is an undeniable pudding philosophy.

A variety of appetizers and side menus, including beef steaks and salads, were placed on the table.

Luxurious meals that are hard to find anywhere else.

All this makes Kim Chae-eun anxious, but it is also a meal prepared for me who had suffered in the dungeon. My first meal after earning 300 million won.

It was a Do Jae-hyun style of home-restaurant, flexing.

[He who worked hard, ate! Your cooking, which was a series of repetitions, begins to contain sincerity. Your cooking has a special touch.]

[Your rune level has risen.]

[You gained 1 willpower with the rune’s attributes.]

[You have gained the cooking rune derivative skill, ‘Stamina Food’.]

As soon as we finished the meal, an information window popped up out of nowhere.

What is this again, the rune level has risen…

‘A skill?’

[Cooking] is a rune that turns Holder into a good cook. A rune that increases your mastery and skill in cooking, and helps you make high-quality food comparable to a high-class chef when the level goes up.

Kim Chae-eun finds my dish amazing every day. It wasn’t for any particular reason, but because it was really delicious.

However, do people have a skill for [cooking] like this?

Because It was something I had never seen in the original world.

<Skill Information>

◎Name: Stamina Food

◎Derived Rune: Cooking

◎Waiting time: Once a day (Evening)

◎Special Effect: You can make food to recover from fatigue that will soothe your tired body and mind. The dish made with this skill rapidly restores the Holder’s physical strength and magical power.

“….”

I stared at the information window blindly.

This… It’s a surprisingly good skill.

Once a day.

Although it has a limitation that it can only be used at night.

But It has a great practical effect in letting all the fatigue of the day go away and increasing the recovery speed of physical strength and magical power.

I checked the cooking level just in case.

‘Wow. It’s already level 5.’

It was at the highest level among normal runes except for [Sword] and [Dagger].

Due to lack of money, I cooked at home every day, which has raised my skill level.

The rune value is worth it regardless of whether you level up or not, but it’s a rune that even gives you a pretty useful skill…This is the first filial piety rune ever found.

I hope it won’t lead to creating something like a “stat-boosting cooking” from other game novels later on.

“What are you doing?”

Kim Chae-eun, sitting in a chair, looked at me and asked.

I replied, shaking my head slightly.

“Nothing. Let’s eat quickly.”

“huh! I’ll eat well-“

With an eager look on her face, Kim Chae-eun raised the knife.

Cutting off a piece of the beef steak and eating it. It didn’t take long for her expression to turn into emotion.

“Delicious!”

It is Kim Chae-eun’s kind of reaction.

I also cut a piece of beef steak and put it in my mouth.

And I immediately admired it.

I made it… It’s really good.

Is this the power of level 5 cooking?

We were both moved by the sincerity of the cuisine.

For a while, I focused on my meal without speaking.

I couldn’t help but smile at her reactions. As we enjoyed our meal, Kim Chae-eun suddenly asked about the new party members for the upcoming academy underground dungeon conquest.

“Is it just Park Jin-woo, and me you’re adding as the new party members?”

At that moment, I thought about the talented Holders who could be a great help to the party, not only now but also in the future events.

“There are more.”

“New party members?”

“No, not party members…”

I smiled slightly. It was time to find the Holders who would be helpful to the party in the future events.

“Holders that will help the party.”

It was time to find those talents.