No one can resist the allure of delicious food, especially when starving.
As the pot opened, Asuna, who had been waiting nearby, licking her lips, eagerly pulled a spoon from her bag. She carefully took a sip of the chicken broth, and her beautiful brown eyes lit up.
"Hmm...it's delicious."
Though Katsura Kotonoha wasn't accustomed to the atmosphere of eating around a pot, every bit of weight on a packhorse was precious, and carrying a ton of bowls and plates was out of the question. She made do with two wooden chopsticks, scooping up the chicken. After warming it, she put it in her mouth and tasted it. Her large, melancholy eyes lit up slightly.
"Nightmare-kun, you must be Chinese," Asuna suddenly confirmed.
"How did you know?" Luo Jie asked with a smile.
"I've noticed before that many of your habits differ subtly from ours, until I tasted this chicken you stewed..." Asuna pointed to the iron pot that had been taken off the fire, a hint of pride in her narrowed eyes. "It tastes very similar to something I once had at a Chinese restaurant, but yours, Nightmare-kun, is even better."
"It's a shame it's still a little off," Luo Jie said, shaking his head regretfully.
"No, not really... I think Nightmare-kun's dish is already perfect."
Kura Kotonoha's face was sincere. It's said that women who struggle with cooking often have a dull sense of taste, which also means they're not picky eaters.
"No, I'll only see my cooking glow one day. That will be truly perfect."
Asuna and Katsura Kotonoha both chuckled, thinking Luo Jie was joking.
Some of the other time travelers were also cooking, but they weren't as well-prepared as Luo Jie. At most, they'd just salt and roast the game they'd hunted over the fire, and that would be considered a side dish.
Most people's dinner consisted of just flatbread and water—without the means to boil water, even a drink of hot water was a luxury.
"Nightmare-kun." Halfway through her meal, Asuna glanced toward the distant red-haired Klein's group and said hesitantly, "I don't think we can finish this pot of food. Can I send some over to Xing?"
Luo Jie, who was feeding chicken to the golden retriever sitting on his lap, looked up at Asuna with a strange look.
"Isn't it possible?"
Asuna felt a little guilty being looked at. After all, Luo Jie had single-handedly prepared this whole pot of stewed chicken, from the raw materials to the finished product. It was a bit unreasonable for her to use the fruits of others' labor as a favor.
"Ah... nothing. I just remembered something and got distracted. "
Luo Jie smiled apologetically and picked up the thickest stump from the nearby pile of firewood. He split it horizontally with his small [Alaskan Whaling Spear Survival Knife] and dug a groove into it, then poured some chicken and chicken broth into it.
"Thank you." Asuna happily left with the simple wooden basin.
Katsura Kotonoha sat by the campfire, hugging her knees, occasionally adding a few thin sticks to the fire. Suddenly, she tilted her head to look at Luo Jie, a faint smile playing on her rosy lips.
"Nightmare-kun... he dotes on Sister Asuna very much." "
Luo Jie smiled noncommittally. Could he say he was just having a bad taste, simply wanting to see what kind of magical spectacle it would be if Kirito, the protagonist of the original novel, got together with his current and ex-girlfriends?
After dinner, Luo Jie moved the campfire to a nearby location and set up a tent on the scorched ground.
Normal procedure would have required a layer of insect repellent powder around the tent, but the campfire had been lit using the Campfire Technique, and its inherent mental pressure was far more effective than any other powder, eliminating the need for much troublesome camping procedures.
The reputation of this logistical prowess was well-deserved.
The tent was set up, but a serious problem presented itself to the three of them.
Three people, one tent, how were they supposed to sleep?
This dilemma had been considered before, but there simply wasn't a better solution.
Tents are arguably the heaviest of all necessities. Even if they bought packhorses, they couldn't afford to bring an extra tent just for this little inconvenience.
"How about having Xing sleep over here... Nightmare-kun, please go and squeeze in with Klein and the others, please!" Asuna clasped her hands together, making an apologetic expression.
"Yes, sure." Luo Jie smiled, but remained seated by the campfire, intently fiddling with a small ball of air in his hand. "Just ask Xing to come over. I don't think it's very convenient for her to sleep over there alone... I'm not very sleepy yet. I'll help you keep an eye on the fire for a while, and then I'll go find Klein and the others later." "
The night deepened.
After a long day of fighting, the traversers, already sleepy and exhausted, gradually fell asleep, and snoring echoed from the tents.
Most of the untended fires had gone out, leaving only a few lingering embers. Only a few of the night watchers' fires still burned quietly at the edge of the camp.
Luo Jie sat by the campfire, leaning against the woodpile, continuing to study the unfinished [Arcane Missiles] derivative skill.
The cumulative 400 points of cold resistance from his [Snowfield White Wolf King Light Armor] and [Gantz Enhanced Suit - Zero] made him completely immune to the extreme cold. The cool breeze of a few degrees above zero on the grassland at night was a refreshing treat for him.
"Still a little short..."
Feeling his mental strength almost exhausted, Luo Jie temporarily stopped using [Arcane Missiles]. The air mass suspended in his hand suddenly vanished like smoke.
For a while now, he'd been relentlessly researching and developing this derivative skill, but so far, he'd only been able to briefly pause in his hand, unable to get it to spin as he intended.
God knows why he'd suddenly come up with the whim of developing a derivative skill.
Luo Jie figured if he could use all that wasted time to grind for points in some fantasy realm, he'd probably be able to buy at least a melee skill above E-purple.
But it was too late to realize it now. He was a bit obsessive-compulsive about his work, and he couldn't stand the frustration of giving up halfway.
Just this once!
Luo Jie secretly resolved that once he developed this derivative skill for [Arcane Missiles], he would never research any more.
...
In the tent on the other side of the fire, a private evening conversation, completely unknown to Luo Jie, was unfolding between three girls.