The reason I learned how to butcher animals is because...

“I had a friend in Majang-dong.”

“Coo-rrr?”

“We drank a few times, so I learned the technique.”

In reality, I’ve never fully disassembled a whole animal before.

There was someone who used to say you can’t just leave the handling of knives to anyone, so when I asked about buying large cuts of meat for home, he taught me how to break it down by parts. That was all he showed me.

I’ve never really butchered an animal before.

“But even though I’ve never done it myself, I know how to do it.”

Gio had a good learning ability.

“It doesn’t seem cold, so maybe it hasn’t been dead for long? It’s like a warm stone.”

“Coo-rrr?”

“I need to drain the blood. Once too much time passes after death, it becomes difficult to drain the blood properly.”

The blood that flowed from the forehead seemed to soak into the ground for quite a while, but for something like that, the body of the deer was unusually soft, and Gio seemed a bit nervous. It seemed like something in this world, where food doesn’t spoil or deteriorate easily, had affected it.

Yes, “food,” I said.

“…I wonder if it’s really okay to consider a dead deer food.”

Gio himself was attempting the butchering.

‘Anyway, it’s much easier if the body hasn’t stiffened.’

Dragging the deer, which was as large as a house, Gio hung it on an appropriately tall tree. Then he made a hole in its neck so the blood could drain out.

“Honey.”

“Coo?”

“Dad must have evolved.”

“Coo-rrr?”

“I thought it evolved through portraits, but I didn’t expect it to get stronger.”

It was impressive that he had no trouble hanging a deer bigger than himself on a tree, but whether it was because the laws of physics were less applicable in this world of paintings or if Gio had gotten stronger, it was hard to tell.

“Well then, while the blood is draining, should I try removing the innards?”

“Coo-rrr-rrr.”

“…Honey, don’t drink the blood from below. You’re gross.”

The sight of a tiny bird drinking flowing blood was horror in itself.

“Dad’s scared.”

“Coo.”

“I’m not lying.”

The trust between father and son was absurdly low.

“…”

It was funny enough, so it was fine.

‘I should take out the innards before they spoil.’

According to the laws of the painted world, it didn’t seem like it would spoil easily, but there was that experience with the fruit of the mangrove that had hardened like ore after being exposed to the sun for too long.

It was best to do what could be done in case something went wrong.

“The skin is thick.”

There was also quite a bit of fat under the skin.

“The system says this deer came from the rainforest. Usually, rainforests are humid, aren’t they? I don’t know why its fur is so thick and full of fat like this.”

“Coo.”

“Stop drinking the blood, honey. Dad said it’s creepy.”

“Coo-coo-coo…”

“I won’t forgive you just because you’re cute.”

There was no way I could think of something good with a bird that smelled like blood.

“Coo.”

Honey muttered and grumbled for a while before suddenly spitting something out.

“…”

“Coo-rrr-rrr.”

“Is that… a jewel?”

It was a shiny jewel that Honey really liked, but after Honey turned bright red and spat out the red jewel, it didn’t seem like it was a coincidence that Honey had returned to his original color.

“Did the blood turn into a jewel?”

“Coo-kk.”

“Once again, our son is extraordinary.”

Gio decided to ignore it.

“Can I later paint something with that?”

“Coo-rrr-rrr!”

“Thank you for letting me, I won’t complain if you drink more.”

“Coo-kk!”

“You’ve thought of something yourself, haven’t you?”

Drinking the blood of hunted animals might not have been that strange. Gio, being human, thought, ‘What the hell is that,’ but at least Honey wasn’t a normal bird. It made sense that he had animal instincts.

‘It doesn’t matter as long as we can return to our original state.’

Though Gio had given birth to his son with paint, suppressing animal instincts wasn’t something a parent should do. If Honey didn’t die from drinking deer blood, then it was fine.

“I’m going to start cutting the belly now, so be careful not to get the innards everywhere.”

“Coo.”

“Right, let me see…”

Gio focused his nerves on his fingertips and felt along the deer’s belly.

“I’ve heard that starting from the anus makes it easier to cut.”

Starting from the anus might seem like a cruel thing to say as a living being, but the food chain works that way.

“Ugh.”

The knife hadn’t been specially sharpened, but it cut through the belly easily because it was so sharp.

When the deer’s belly opened, the innards inside were visible, and Gio saw something strange.

“…?”

Why is there a jewel here too?

‘It seems much bigger than the jewel Honey spat out.’

It was located roughly where the heart would be.

“…Isn’t this kind of funny?”

A jewel for a heart—common sense was being destroyed.

“How did they purify the blood and make this?”

“Coo-rrr-rrr.”

“I’ll make sure it’s safe later and give it to you, so come down.”

Honey, who loved anything shiny, was causing a fuss, but Gio shook his head. Even if it was a jewel, giving the innards of a beast felt a bit awkward.

“Let’s just finish the butchering.”

Gio continued to cut the belly from the anus area up to where the ribs were. This was his first time doing such dissection, but thankfully, he didn’t cause any accidents with the innards.

“The blood needs to be properly drained too.”

“Coo?”

“If you don’t drain the blood in time, it will sink into the meat. Then the texture of the meat changes easily, and it gets too fishy… if possible, you should drain the blood as soon as you catch the animal.”

He carefully removed the rest of the innards without bursting anything.

“If it bursts, it’ll be a disaster.”

You’d be seeing hell.

The skin should start from the hind legs, which are easier to reach.

“There’s so much fat, I don’t know if I’ll be able to use the skin.”

“Coo-loo-loo?”

“If I’m going to dry the skin to make something out of it, all this fat needs to be gone. But the fur is soft enough, so if I make a cloak, it’ll be useful when we return to reality later.”

“Coo.”

“I can’t rely on you forever.”

The day before the sightseeing trip, Gio had considered painting a winter coat since he didn’t have one. But holding Honey alone kept him warm, so he didn’t need a winter coat.

However, he couldn’t always do that.

“I’ll have to process the skin properly.”

Anyway, it was a good thing that so much fat came off.

“The meat smells pretty good. Even the fat has a savory smell. Don’t throw out this fat. You should refine it and keep it for later, it’ll really add flavor when making stir-fry dishes.”

“…”

“You won’t think it’s as tasty as you imagine, though.”

Gio smiled at Honey, who was eyeing the fat.

It felt like looking at a mirror or an album. This was family. Honey definitely took after him in being a big eater.

“Do you plan to gain more weight by eating?”

“Coo.”

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

The thick skin was cut off, and slowly, Gio peeled the deer’s fur off, confirming the muscle grain. Luckily, the skin wasn’t too tough, so it wasn’t hard to work with.

“Starting from the hind legs… then the torso…”

He carefully removed the skin from the hind legs, where there was no meat, just the bone, and moved on to the body, front legs, then finally removed the skin from the deer’s head and fully dismantled it.

Surprisingly, the skin was fairly intact because he hadn’t made any mistakes.

“Let’s separate the fat.”

“Coo-rrr.”

“…Just taste it.”

Gio allowed Honey to taste the fat, and Honey, after getting permission from his father, writhed in agony.

“I told you it wouldn’t taste good.”

“Coo, coo… coo-ru-ru…”

“Trust me, I know it’s not tasty.”

“Coo-ru-ru-ru…”

“Are you crying?”

Honey, shocked by how bad the fat tasted despite its savory smell, whimpered sadly. Gio put him in the hood of his cloak to comfort him.

“Now, let’s really get to butchering.”

He had separated the innards, skin, and fat, so now it was time to remove the lean meat.

‘Just like the system explained, the smell is definitely good.’

They said wild animal meat is tough and smells like game, but this didn’t seem to have that issue.

Since Gio really enjoyed cooking, he knew well what fresh meat smelled like. Even the best-raised veal always had a peculiar, fishy scent.

But this deer didn’t have any unpleasant odor.

“…It kind of smells like nuts.”

It was more like walnut than peanut.

“That’s funny.”

It was the first time he smelled something like this from meat, and though he was a bit startled, it didn’t feel as weird as mint-flavored potato chips. On the contrary, the scent was quite harmonious, bringing a unique pleasure.

“Definitely a different world.”

“Coo-rr?”

Even though the ingredients seemed similar, the smells and tastes were slightly different from Earth’s.

“Actually, the fact that the heart is a jewel is a bit disappointing. Fresh hearts of animals are pretty good for cooking, and I was thinking of grilling it… but with it in this state, eating it is a bit tricky.”

“Coo-rrr-rrr.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, but you can probably eat it. I’ll cook it for you.”

It wouldn’t taste good in this state, though.

“…But there’s a lot more than I expected…”

The soft meat buried deep inside the ribs was removed, and the legs were dismantled, with the solid meat stripped away.

“Hmm.”

This part should be slowly stewed. The upper leg meat seemed soft enough to eat.

Then, when all the ribs and tenderloin were removed...

“Ta-dah.”

“…”

“A mountain of meat.”

“Coo.”

“Is it a lot?”

“Coo.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

The system must have suggested drying it under the sun for a reason. With this much meat, it was best to preserve most of it by salting or drying.

“If we store it in the icehouse, it won’t spoil, but still, it’s better to make what we can.”

First, jerky and sausage came to mind.

“Should we make jerky first?”

Sausages would take much longer.

“Let’s drain the blood first.”

“Coo-rr?”

“Even though I hung it upside down to drain the blood, it won’t all come out. The time it hung wasn’t long enough, so to remove the smell, we need to soak it and drain the remaining blood.”

Gio soon came out of the cabin with a large basin.

“Honey, put the meat in here.”

“Coo!”

Honey, held hostage by the delicious jewel heart, was a good worker.

They put the meat for jerky in the large basin, then poured water from the stream that flowed lazily around the cabin. The stream in the forest was always very useful.

“If this were from Earth, I would have added some rice wine…”

But since wine was the only alcohol available and the meat didn’t smell gamey, it was fine.

“Let’s make the seasoning while the blood drains.”

“Coo?”

“The crops in the garden have all grown, so we should use them now.”

After washing his bloodstained hands, Gio picked some crops from the monster field and returned to the cabin. Luckily, the monster field didn’t mind him taking some crops.

“I knew it was worth giving the sun and water. Feels good.”

In the kitchen, Gio took out some powders from the shelf.

“And let’s use some green too.”

He took out the green from the mangrove fruit that had been stored in the kitchen corner. It was something he had left for Yoo Seong-Woon before.

“This green will help bring out the sweetness.”

“Coo-ru…”

“It might sound weird, but surprisingly, it’ll taste good.”

Sweet and salty was an unchanging truth everywhere.

Gio checked the ingredients.

“Fresh onions. Since there’s so much meat, about 10 should do… I already have garlic powder and ginger powder here. We’ll add a little sugar and the mangrove green to make the jerky seasoning.”

Making jerky wasn’t that difficult.

He finely chopped the onions and made a paste, mixing it with various powders to remove any gaminess. After adding a little sugar and the green for sweetness, the jerky seasoning was ready.

“Hopefully, the blood has drained enough by now.”

He placed the seasoning on a plate and washed the cutting board and knife. A good amount of time had passed.

Looking up at the sky between the tree leaves, Gio left the cabin. When night came, Honey, who glowed softly like moonlight, helped him not trip in the dark.

“Ah… this ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) seems about right.”

“Coo-rr?”

“This is gross, just the blood-water.”

“I’ll give you something else later.”

Gio placed the damp meat into a strainer and returned to the kitchen.

“I need to hurry up and finish so I can sleep.”

Now, it was easy.

He lightly shook off the moisture from the meat and, when it had dried enough, massaged it with the seasoning he had prepared. After letting the seasoning sink deep into the meat, Gio washed his hands.

“It’s done…”

“……”

“…Honey, why do you keep eyeing the innards?”

Even though it was his own son, he couldn’t understand that taste.

In the end, Honey and his waterfowl friends happily shared the deer’s innards. The golden waterfowl lake with the bloodstained innards floating in it was strange and eerie in its own way.

“Ah, leave this out.”

“Coo.”

“I’m going to make sausages.”