A Clash of Culinary Ideals

The players watching the conversation from the sidelines were deeply moved. Kim Tae-hyun was creating opportunities for novice chef players whom nobody else cared about! And the NPC chef—even if he was a goblin—was doing his absolute best to repay Tae-hyun's trust!

"We will do our absolute best as well!"

"We'll make dishes far more amazing and grand than anything we've ever done before...!"

"..."

Tae-hyun flinched, but the others didn't notice.

"Master Stau, we look forward to working with you!"

"We want to learn from you, Master Stau!"

"H-H-Humans. Do not get ahead of yourselves. My teachings are incredibly harsh."

Stau stammered, receiving such passionate attention for the first time in his life. But the players were burning with enthusiasm.

"We are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prepared!"

"We will follow whatever quest you give us!"

"Good, good! Humans! In that case!"

Thud.

Stau slammed a bizarre, never-before-seen ingredient onto the cutting board.

The players tilted their heads and asked, "What is this?"

"The Cursed Pirate Warrior's Tentacle!"

"..."

"...????"

"Today, we shall cook using this!"

"Uh...?"

"Wait, what??"

The chef players realized something was deeply wrong, but no one raised their hand to protest. The NPC chef Tae-hyun had brought along simply looked too impressive for that! Let's just learn first and ask questions later!

"Alright! Shall we go hunting today?"

"I think I can hit level 120 this time. Did everyone get their blessings? Let's grab some food before we head out."

Rumble—

Now, players made sure to eat before going on any hunt or quest. Even high-level players did so without exception. They had realized the food here was truly special.

"Wow, there's so much delicious food today. That chef makes a really good meat rice bowl."

"The seafood noodles are decent too. The stat buffs are great... Huh? What's that?"

The party members spotted an unfamiliar dish sitting on the table.

The name was also peculiar. [Weird Food]!

Compared to the other lavish dishes, it was a dull, unidentifiable, wriggling mass.

"I've never seen this dish before."

"Ah, I think that guy made it. His other dishes are usually pretty good."

A party member who recognized the chef waved. Strangely, the chef's face looked incredibly haggard.

"Looks like there's only one of these. Did everyone else take them because it's popular?"

"Then it's mine!"

"Hey, no fair!"

"Finders keepers! Thanks for the food!"

The player who snatched it up quickly began to eat the [Weird Food].

And then, he collapsed.

"Kehooooogh?!"

"Gonzalez?!"

"Are you okay?!"

"Kehogh, kehoooogh, kehooooogh!"

The party member trembled violently, unable to get up.

"W-What kind of food did you put out?!"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

As the protests poured in, the chef looked at Stau with a tearful face.

"Master Stau! I told you this would happen! If we use these kinds of ingredients..."

"Hmph! Foolish human. Do not back down!"

"What?"

"A great step forward always requires sacrifice!"

Stau stepped forward. The complaining party members gasped. A goblin?

"Stop whining, you weak humans!"

"...?"

"How dare you complain when you are eating a masterpiece of my teachings for free!"

"N-No, my friend just collapsed and is paralyzed..."

"That is of no importance!"

Because he spoke with such absolute confidence, the players were left speechless. This goblin had skin thicker than a castle wall!

"You need only eat my food in silence and marvel at it!"

"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

"Hey, hold back! We're inside the territory! If you start a fight, you'll get banished immediately!"

"But that thing..."

"I-I'm fine..."

The friend who had been paralyzed finally stood up, and the rest of the party let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Just what kind of effect did that food have to do that to you?"

"It's not the effect... the taste..."

"The taste? What about it?"

"Was it delicious?"

"No. Truly... it was the most disgusting taste I've ever experienced in my life..."

"..."

"..."

Food that looks good tastes good. Conversely, food that looks terrible... usually tastes terrible.

"I never could have imagined such a taste existed in this world..."

"Hmph. I have expanded your world, so you should be grateful," Stau said, raising his chin arrogantly.

Tae-hyun watched the scene from afar with a satisfied smile.

Yes. That's it, Stau.

No matter how much the players protested, Stau would keep making Weird Food and force the other chefs to do the same. Then, the players would gradually grow terrified of the food stall!

Tae-hyun would be able to cancel this gold-devouring charity event without ever ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠getting his own hands dirty...

"But the effects are insane."

"Huh?"

"The taste is like garbage, and it paralyzes you, but the stat buffs and permanent stat increases are incredible."

"????"

The others stared at their friend with disbelief.

"Does that even make sense? For a dish that tastes that bad..."

"No, seriously, the effects are amazing."

"Are you just saying that because you're mad you had to eat it alone?"

"No, I'm not!!"

Frustrated by the misunderstanding, the player beat his chest.

"Just try it once, you guys!"

"Hmm... I don't know about that..."

"Do we really have to?"

"My friends, it seems we might run out of food before you can even try."

Stau, who had been listening to their conversation, chimed in with a very goblin-like grin.

"Do not worry, humans. I am generous. I have prepared plenty of dishes so that all of you may partake."

"..."

"N-No, that's really not necessary..."

"Eat! If you do not eat, I will forbid you from eating any of the other food here!"

"Who the hell is this goblin?!"

The players resisted, but they couldn't overcome the authority of Stau, who had already taken complete control of the chefs.

One minute later.

"Kehooooogh..."

"Kehek, kehek, kehek!"

"Gwaaaagh..."

They writhed on the ground. Stau nodded with a pleased expression.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Good medicine tastes bitter! Remember this, humans! You cannot become strong by only eating what tastes good!"

"...!"

"!!!"

"!!!!!"

The surrounding chef players looked as if they had achieved enlightenment.

"This is the future of culinary arts! The path that all chefs must walk! Do you understand, humans?!"

"I see! Master Stau!"

"Just like herbal medicine! Bitter to the tongue, but good for the body!"

"What is herbal medicine, human?"

"Ah, well..."

"Enough! That is not important! Make Weird Food exactly as I have instructed!"

"Yes!"

Of course, not all chefs had gone mad... or rather, fell under Stau's influence. The chefs who were still sane rejected Stau's orders.

"No, but this is just too disgusting..."

"I changed my class to chef to eat delicious food. I don't want to eat weird things."

Stau jumped up and down in anger, but those chefs stood their ground.

As a result, the chef players in the territory split into two factions: the Stau-influenced "Weird Food" faction and the Sane faction.

"Hey! Do people play Pan-On to eat weird things, or delicious things?"

"You uncultured fools... food that only pleases the tongue is not true culinary art!"

"Then is putting monster meat in there true culinary art?!"

"Ahem! Dishes made with monster meat are a traditional cuisine of our country! Haven't you ever had herbal medicine?!"

"You crazy bastard! What herbal medicine in the world is made of monster meat?!"

It was a fierce clash! If they had been combat classes, they would have settled it with a duel, but they were chefs.

"Fine! Let's settle this with a cooking battle!"

"Bring it on! That's exactly what I wanted!"

"The rules... whoever can eat more of their own dishes wins!"

"As if we'd lose!"

The chefs decided to ask the players wandering around the Archisus territory to act as judges. In a way, it was the most objective method!

Of course, the dishes were made using ingredients from Tae-hyun's warehouse.

Bubble, bubble, chop, chop, chop—

The chefs split up and began cooking with burning passion.

Passing players watched this unusual sight in surprise.

"What's going on? What's up with the chefs?"

"They're having a cooking duel."

"One side is making 'that food'."

"What? 'That food'?"

Rumors had already spread through the territory. A sinister cooking skill called Abnormal Cooking existed!

They heard that while the taste was hellish, the effects were far more powerful and lasted much longer than normal food.

"Do we... really have to eat that? I have a weak stomach."

"Hey, but I heard the effects are absolutely killer."

"You mean it literally kills you?"

"Not like that... though they say the taste is bad enough to kill."

"As expected of Lord Tae-hyun. Did you devise this secret plan to encourage the believers in the territory...!"

Galakpad clapped in admiration.

The two chef factions competed fiercely. The result of this intense rivalry was mutual improvement!

"Heh. That was a good match. You're not bad."

"You guys too."

The chefs shook hands and praised each other. The result was nearly a tie. After a neck-and-neck battle, they had come to acknowledge one another.

—From now on, let's respect each other and compete!

"..."

Tae-hyun stared at the chefs with a sour expression.

He had devised this plan to stop them from giving away free food, but it had only fueled their passion even further.

"As expected of Lord Tae-hyun! Which believers will you help next?"

"I'm not helping anyone."

Tae-hyun quickly gave up.

For some reason, whenever he tried to intervene in this territory, things always flowed in an unwanted direction.

Instead of making things worse by meddling further, he decided to head to Mora City, the capital of the Atali Kingdom!

Mora City, the capital of the Atali Kingdom.

It was a place that held quite a few memories for Tae-hyun. It was where the Atali King's assassination quest, orchestrated by the Sadiq Church, had taken place!

Those Sadiq bastards staged their ambush here...

Thanks to the Sadiq cultists invading the royal palace, Tae-hyun's territory quest had begun.

Of course, Tae-hyun had relentlessly chased and tormented the Sadiq Church out of spite for having his ring stolen...

"Oh, is that not Count Kim Tae-hyun! It is an honor to meet you."

"Count Kim Tae-hyun, who defeated the Sadiq Church! I have always admired you!"

As soon as they passed through the city gates, NPCs recognized Tae-hyun!

Although his Infamy was incredibly high, his massive Reputation and noble title of Count firmly backed him up.

Cain watched Tae-hyun and smacked his lips in envy.

"I want to be treated like that too..."

"Even if you don't have a title, don't NPCs usually praise you when you clear a major quest?" Choi Sang-yun asked, looking puzzled.

While everyone raised their characters differently, rankers usually had cleared at least one major quest. After clearing such quests, nearby NPCs would flock to them and treat them like heroes.

"...I don't recall."

Before reaching a high level, Cain had mostly accumulated Infamy rather than Reputation. And after meeting Tae-hyun, he had done nothing but suffer while chasing him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around...

The only NPCs he ever met were those of the Archisus Church, and they treated Cain exactly as his class name dictated.

—Ah! Slave of Archisus!

—Long live the Slave of Archisus!

Even when they praised him, the class name made him feel dirty!