I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

After seeing the water in his pot boil, Yuhaka added green peas, diced carrots, and corn kernels to it and cooked them until they were half-cooked. Then he took them out and set them aside.

Then Yuhaka took out his frying pan and started preparing to make fried rice.

After the oil in the pan was heated, the diced onions were added and sautéed until fragrant. Then, diced ham sausages that had just been purchased from Auston were added, and a wonderful aroma immediately filled the air.

While contemplating digging a hole in the living room, Riko smelled a meaty aroma and looked towards the kitchen. Watching Yuhaka cook, the curious Riko approached Yuhaka and asked her:

"Hey, Yu-Yu-chan, what are you cooking?"

Chapter 34 [Squid Rice Wrap (Part 2)]

"Hey, Yu-Yu-chan, what are you cooking?"

Rico watched as Yuhaka poured the cooked diced carrots, green peas, and corn kernels into the pan with the already stir-fried diced onions and ham, mixing them together and stir-frying.

Riko, who had never seen fried rice before, looked at Yuhaka's manipulation with some confusion and asked Yuhaka:

"What's this??"

In response to Riko's question, Yuhaka shook her cat ears and looked at Riko, saying:

"Fried rice~"

Hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko looked a little confused as Yuhaka put diced carrots, green peas, corn kernels, diced onions, and diced ham into the pan. Fried rice? Where's the rice?

Just as Riko was wondering where the rice was, Yuhaka poured the rice that had been cooked and placed aside into the frying pan and mixed it with the stir-fried vegetables. Then Yuhaka stirred the rice to loosen it, mixed the other rice and vegetables evenly, and added some seasonings.

"So this is fried rice..."

Rico looked at the fried rice being stir-fried in Yuhaka's pan and had an "I see" expression on her face. After all, in Rico's eyes, the fried rice that Yuhaka made was very easy to make. After all, Rico had cooked in the orphanage, so she could naturally see how Yuhaka made the fried rice.

Furthermore, fried rice gave Rico some new creative ideas for cooking, such as making rice balls. The rice balls made at the orphanage were made with regular white rice and seaweed, and the fillings were made with soybeans and smoked fish. However, the taste... well, Rico and Nado didn't like it...

Just as Riko was thinking about making rice balls with fried rice, Yuhaka had also finished cooking the fried rice. After putting the fried rice on a plate, Yuhaka set it aside.

Then, under Riko's questioning gaze, Yuhaka took out the squid that had been prepared and began to prepare for the next step.

Yuhaka picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful of the cooked fried rice, and stuffed it into the bag-like belly of the squid. This action taught Riko, who was observing from the side, something new. It made Riko realize that besides grilling and frying, squid could be prepared in other unique ways.

After stuffing the remaining squid belly, Yuhaka picked up the toothpick and used it to pierce and seal the opening of the squid belly to prevent the fried rice inside from leaking out.

Then, Yuhaka heated oil in the pan again and then put the stuffed squid belly and squid tentacles into the pan and fried them until both sides were golden brown.

When the squid was almost done frying, Yuhaka took out the barbecue sauce that was placed aside and brushed a layer of Merlin Cat's special barbecue sauce on both sides of the squid. After frying until the squid smelled fragrant, Yuhaka used chopsticks to put the squid into a wooden plate.

As Riko waited on the side, the smell of Merlin's special barbecue sauce made her mouth water. At the same time, her stomach rumbled.

However, more than her rumbling stomach, Rico was quite interested in the name of the dish.

"Hey, Yu-Yu-chan, what's the name of this dish?"

In response to Riko's question, Yuhaka replied:

"Squid Rice Wrap~"

Upon hearing the name, Riko nodded and said:

"The names unexpectedly correspond!"

Nanachi, revived by the aroma of squid rice rolls, stood behind the two, drooling, and said to them:

"Hmm...shouldn't we start eating first, before talking about names? We're hungry."

……………We've started……………

In Nanachi's living room, Yuhaka, Riko, Nanachi, and Mitty sat around the table and started their meal.

Rico picked up the slightly hot grilled squid filled with fried rice from the wooden plate. After removing the toothpick that held it in place, the aroma of the fried rice wrapped around the grilled squid wafted out, creating a unique scent that blended with the squid's aroma.

"Jiggle (swallows saliva)..."

Smelling the dual aroma of the squid rice roll, Rico subconsciously swallowed. Then, Rico opened her small mouth at the sealed part of the squid rice roll, and then felt a unique flavor and the chewy texture of the squid spreading in her mouth.

Although there are many fishing boats in the town of the giant cave, Riko, who lives in the orphanage, has not eaten squid many times. After all, squid is not much cheaper, and the orphanage will buy some more expensive ingredients to cook during festivals.

However, compared to the squid dishes made at the orphanage, the squid in Yuhaka's squid rice rolls had a unique flavor. Riko then recalled that Yuhaka had spread a layer of sauce on the squid when she was frying it. Could it be that the unique flavor was due to those sauces?

I'll ask Yoyo-chan how to make those sauces later.

When Riko took her second bite, her eyes widened and her legs tightened. Unlike the first bite, which only contained squid and the secret sauce, the second bite included fried rice. The different flavors and textures created a unique blue-red storm as the food mixed together.

The blue color comes from the chewy texture of the squid and the unique flavor of the secret sauce.

The red color represents the flavor of fried rice made by Yuhaka, with the sweet taste and crunchy texture of green peas, diced carrots, and corn kernels, along with plump rice.

When these two different flavor storms merged together, they created a sensation that made Rico feel as if she were being swept into a vortex, leaving her unable to extricate herself for a long time.

The rich aroma of onions and the meaty fragrance of ham wafted over, and the diced onions and ham had such a delicate texture. The rice, wrapped in green peas, diced carrots, and corn kernels, had a crunchy texture and was full of sweet flavor after being chewed. The flavors of various ingredients melted in her mouth, constantly impacting her tongue. Even after she swallowed, she could still feel the two flavors filling her mouth.

Soon, driven by the delicious squid rice rolls made by Yuhaka and their hunger, Yuhaka and her friends quickly finished the squid that was almost the size of their arms.

"Wow... I feel like my body is full of energy, and I feel all warm and cozy..."

Wearing a white dress, Rico lay on a rug made of animal fur, reaching under her dress to touch her belly, completely oblivious to the fact that her white panties were showing.

But Rico raised one hand and squeezed it in front of her. She could clearly feel as if she had inexhaustible strength in her body. Was this just her imagination?

If Riko had a system panel, she would definitely see two statuses on her status bar.

[Attack Power Up (Small)]

[Natural Recovery Power Up (Small)]

Chapter 35 [Yohaka: I'm not a monstrous being?]

After finishing their squid rice rolls, Yuhaka, Nanachi, and Riko sat down at the table. Riko looked at Nanachi and Yuhaka and said:

"So... Nanachi, Youyou, and Mitty were originally human?"

After speaking, Riko glanced at Yuhaka, Nanachi, and Mitty. At first, Riko was startled by Mitty, but she quickly recovered and poked Mitty with a curious and excited expression.

Nanachi, standing to the side, nodded in agreement, her hands clasped together. Then, Nanachi said to Riko:

"Yes, that's right. Rico, you've heard about the rising load on the sixth floor too."

Hearing what Nanachi said, Riko nodded and said:

"Hmm, I remember it was something like [loss of human function or entering a near-death state], ah! Could it be...?"

Nanachi nodded, patted Mitty's little head, and said to Riko:

"That's right. If you survive the curse of the sixth level of the Abyss, you will become like this. Your personality and intellect will disappear. Just like the literal meaning, you will be reduced to a living corpse."

"No matter what we do, it can't be fixed."

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko felt a pang in her heart, but seeing that Nanachi and Yuhaka could still communicate with her, Riko became curious and asked them:

"So... what's going on with Nanachi and Youyou? You two don't seem like you've lost your personalities at all."

In response to Riko's question, Nanachi simply shrugged and spread her hands, saying:

"Well...you and I are the exceptions among exceptions, so it's best if you don't have any expectations about us."

Then, as if remembering something, Nanachi clapped her hands and said to Riko:

"By the way, if the cave explorers find [living remains], they will clean them up and then collect the relics."

"Eh?!"

Upon hearing Nanachi's words, Riko broke out in a cold sweat, as she had never heard of cave explorers killing undead.

"Well... although dying might be more fortunate. If people find out that we returned from the sixth level and still have the possibility of retaining human functions and personality, they will try every means to capture us."

Hearing this, Riko also showed an incredulous expression, but then she thought of what that old man with the black flute had said... and suddenly Riko felt that she could completely believe Nanachi's words.

"Don't worry! Nanachi-chan! Yu-Yu-chan! Mi-Ti-chan! I'll keep your secret! I absolutely won't let anyone kidnap you!"

Riko said this as she hugged Nanachi and Yuhaka tightly. Nanachi, standing to the side, gave a "plan is done.jpg" look, thinking that this girl was really easy to fool. Yuhaka, on the other hand, looked dumbfounded, completely not understanding why Riko would suddenly hug her.

………………

"Wow! It really is the fourth level, the [Champion's Cup]!"

Riko gazed at the plant in the distance that resembled a giant cup and exclaimed in amazement. She knew that her record for diving to the Abyss was only a little over 100 meters, but she never imagined that one day, when she was still an apprentice in the Red Flute, she would actually be able to reach the fourth level of the Abyss.

This is a place that only Black Flute Cave Explorers are allowed to visit.

Standing to the side, Nanachi looked at the excited Riko, raised her finger, and said to her with a serious expression:

"Are you that excited? Although it's a bit of a downer, we still need to make it clear that going up from the fourth floor will cause severe pain all over your body and bleeding from all the holes in your body. This is no joke."

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko scratched the back of her head and said:

"I know that, and I'm a little scared too."

Seeing Riko's embarrassed expression, Nanachi simply sighed and said to her:

"Don't worry, Youyou and I will take you back together later. If anything happens, Youyou and I will take care of you, so don't worry about that."

Yuhaka, standing to the side, also wagged its large tail and raised its hands to Riko, saying:

"A real man, cute big breasts~"

Seeing Yuhaka's adorable antics, Riko's eyes lit up, and she scooped him up, nuzzling his cheek and secretly stroking his big tail. She then said to Nanachi and Yuhaka:

"Thank you, Nanachi, Youyou~"

But then, as if remembering something, Riko suddenly paused, turned around, looked at Nanachi, and asked her:

"By the way, Nanachi, if you take me up there, won't we also be affected by the rising load?"

In response to Riko's question, Nanachi simply shrugged and said to Riko:

"Don't worry, we're not greatly affected by the increased load. As for Youyou, there's no need to worry. We've hardly ever seen her affected by the increased load."

"Mmm, that's really nice..."

Hearing Nanachi's words, Riko showed an envious expression. After all, the increased load has always been the biggest obstacle for explorers to return. Ehka, whose face was being rubbed by Riko, squinted comfortably. For Ehka, the field had little effect on her. After all, Ehka had eaten a lot of native creatures of the Abyss, and the [Primal Adaptability] skill had long made Ehka completely immune to the unique field environment of the Abyss.

Soon, Yuhaka led Riko and Nanachi to the spot where he had dug the hole. Riko looked at the hole, which was almost as tall as her, and said with a twitch of her lips:

"So it really was about digging holes..."

Riko initially thought it was something else, but she didn't expect it to actually be digging a hole. Nanachi, who was organizing the medicine (given by Yuhaka) nearby, didn't feel anything about it. After all, Nanachi already knew that Yuhaka could dig holes, and there was no other way to safely reach the third level of the Abyss except by digging a hole to avoid the flying velociraptors that lived in the great fault line of the third level.

"Eh?"

As Riko pondered how the tunnel had been dug, Ehaka transformed from its first form into its second. Ehaka suddenly sprouted carapace and a second pair of arms, leaving Riko astonished. Nanachi, standing nearby, patted Riko on the shoulder and said: