Mebius World Online – Mari’s VRMMO Diary, Embarking on a Laid-back Adventure as a Novice - Chapter 30

30. Mari-nee and Forest Deer Whereabout (Part2)

My prolonged battle unexpectedly came to an end due to the depletion of potato stock.

I don’t want to think about how many hours have passed since then.

“Well, thanks to Maria, we survived.”

“That’s harsh, Vanessa-san. There really wasn’t any choice other than to endure it.”

Even with the game-like compulsion included, it stings a bit.

“Sorry, sorry. Even for me, it was unexpected. After I tried selling them at the store, rumors spread like wildfire, and before I knew it, my place turned into a potato chip shop.”

A potato chip shop…

“With customers flocking in like this, I had to think about the way I make and sell them. Following Maria’s advice, changing from serving them on plates to rolling them up in funnel-shaped parchment was a great decision. It saved me the trouble of washing plates, and customers who wanted to take them home were delighted.”

“But isn’t parchment paper expensive?”

“Parchment paper is made from the skin of Recovery Sheep, monsters that regenerate skin. It’s not that expensive. So, even if you subtract that cost from the sales, the balance is more than enough in the black.”

She didn’t just casually say something scary just now?

Parchment paper is made from sheep monsters that regenerate skin.

In other words, those sheep are being peeled, fed, waiting for recovery, and then peeled again, right?

…Well, let’s not think about it anymore.

“Now that it’s a bit late, did you have something you wanted from me?”

Upon hearing that, I remembered the original purpose I had forgotten.

“I’m looking for a smoking stove to make jerky and dried meat. Do you have any idea where it might be?”

“A smoking stove? We have one. Although it’s a bit early, I’m closing the store for today, so use it as much as you want.”

Oh, the effort I put into helping paid off.

Guided by Vanessa-san, we headed to an open space behind the shop.

There was a shelter, and underneath it, a wooden box about the size of a school cleaning locker.

“This is the smoking stove. Open it and see.”

Following her instructions, I opened the door, revealing a tiered metal mesh and a stove-like object at the bottom.

“The one at the bottom is the heating tool. Place an iron pot on top of it, add wood chips of the desired flavor for smoking, then place the food you want to smoke on the metal mesh, and close the door. If you pay attention to time and temperature, you can make delicious smoked food.”

“Are there any guidelines for time and temperature?”

“It depends on the material…”

I conveyed the material, and she gave me some guidelines.

“You’re free to use the kitchen however you want. By the way, Maria, you should have leveled up your cooking to the next stage.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

Distracted, I hadn’t noticed, but there indeed was a notification.

The skill points required for acquisition were high, but there was no reason not to get it.

Thanking her, I promptly started preparing jerky in the kitchen.

Firstly, I needed a brine, a liquid seasoning to permeate the meat.

It wasn’t anything complicated—just mix white wine, herbs, chopped garlic, and ginger, add salt and a hint of honey, and it’s done.

Next, I took out the ?Forest Deer Meat Clump? I had and skillfully sliced it thinly using a knife controlled with the ?Preparation? skill.

Since a significant amount of the ?Forest Deer Meat Clump? would be reduced when turning it into jerky, I intended to make all of the meat into jerky.

After cutting the meat, I used the ?Preparation? skill to rub salt and then soaked it in the prepared brine.

Keeping the meat in the liquid, I put it in what could be considered a refrigerator, which contained ice lizard scales.

Ice lizard scales emitted cold, and in terms of structure, it might be more accurate to call it a cold box than a refrigerator.

After putting it in the box, it was time to use ?Acceleration?.

Since the soaking time varied according to various sites, I decided to do it for about three days this time.

I had a rough idea from when I used ?Acceleration? to make the wolf bone soup last time.

Once ?Acceleration? was activated, I started making smoking chips while waiting.

?Acceleration? consumed MP continuously once activated, but it had the convenient characteristic that I could do something else while it was active.

Switching to the ?Silver Thread? made from ?Giant Spider’s Silk? and taking out the ?Walnut Wood?, I thought, “Surprisingly big, this piece of wood.”

Although it lacked the length for building materials, it was thick enough that only an adult could carry it.

With this, I could probably make a large amount of chips from a single piece.

I skillfully wove the threads around four times and then expanded and scattered them at once using the equipment’s elasticity.

Performing this process vertically, horizontally, and three times in height resulted in a mountain of ?Walnut Wood Chips?.

After an hour had passed, I took out the meat and carefully wiped away any moisture.

Returning to the smoking stove, I placed the prepared meat on the wire mesh. Once I removed the entire wire mesh, I bundled it up with string, making sure no one was around, and spun it vigorously.

Usually, the meat would be left to air-dry naturally over time, but this time, I used a somewhat forceful method to speed up the process due to time constraints.

Because excessive moisture removal would make it too hard to eat, I kept an eye on it while continuing to rotate it.

When the size of the meat was reduced to about two-thirds of its original size, I stopped and returned it to the smoking stove, adding the ?Walnut Wood Chips? and finally starting the smoking process.

I set the temperature low, activated ?Acceleration?, and waited for four minutes.

Considering the effect lasted for about five hours, it would be incredibly convenient if we could use this in reality.

Well, that goes for both ?Thread Manipulation? and ?Manipulator? as well.

When I opened the smoking gun, the inside was filled with meat that had a color between black and burnt brown.

When I picked it up, it had indeed turned into proper jerky.

?Forest Deer Jerky?

Jerky made from Forest Deer meat, thoroughly marinated for flavor. It has a subtle sweetness, and the essence of the meat is condensed. The smoking process adds a rich aroma.

(Cooking Buff) AGI +8 (2 hours)

Oh? There’s a cooking buff attached.

Until now, the cooking descriptions were just explanations, but maybe it’s because of acquiring ?Cooking (Intermediate)??

I should ask Lurette about it next time.

I don’t know how effective this cooking buff is, but well, I can think about it after making it.

After repeating the drying and smoking process several times, nearly 300 pieces of jerky were completed.

With this much, I won’t have trouble with portable snacks for a while.

After cleaning up and expressing my gratitude to Vanessa again, I performed special training for acquiring the death skill and then logged out.

(Maria – Marionettist Lv.16)

STR: 1
VIT: 4
AGI: 6
DEX: 67
INT: 4
MID: 18

(Skills: Skill Points +24 ? +19)

?String Manipulation?Lv.15
?Manipulator?Lv.7
?Clown?Lv.10
?Capture?Lv.5
?Cooking?Lv.10 ? ?Cooking (Intermediate)?Lv.1
?Preparation?Lv.6 ? Lv.8
?Acceleration?Lv.3 ? Lv.6
?Darkvision?Lv.3
?Meditation?Lv.4
?Visual Enhancement?Lv.2
?Auditory Enhancement?Lv.3

Mebius World Online – Mari’s VRMMO Diary, Embarking on a Laid-back Adventure as a Novice - Chapter 30

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