The Culinary Duel at the Shelter

I hid in an alleyway where no one could see me and changed my clothes. Oh, man—I felt like my human dignity had finally been restored. Up until now, I’d been walking around like a flasher, with nothing but a cloak covering my bare skin. I was no longer a perverted little girl with an exhibitionist streak.

I caught my reflection in a cracked mirror leaning against the wall. “Oh?” This was actually… I tilted my head, changed my pose, and checked again. “Cute.”

They say clothes make the man, and they were right. Unlike when I was draped in rags, my impression had brightened significantly. It was a sporty look overall. The combination of the shorts and boots, in particular, gave off the vibe of a lively, energetic girl.

“I remember there being tons of outfits for female characters in the big cities.”

I’d never had any interest in dressing up female characters before. Unless the game forced it on me, like with a jungle warrior or a saintess, I always ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠locked the character’s gender to male. But seeing myself like this… maybe there was some unexpected joy in raising a female character after all?

I was lost in the thrill of my new appearance when— “What am I doing right now?” A sudden wave of reality hit me. Cute? Give me a break. This wasn’t right. Being possessed as Estelle was one thing; that wasn’t my choice. But enjoying this situation? That was a different story. I was terrified that my fundamental identity might actually be changing.

I turned away from my reflection and hurried my pace. …Or, I tried to hurry.

… …

Just one more time before I left. Like Michael Jackson, I moonwalked back in front of the mirror. I lifted the hem of my cloak with both hands and kicked one foot back slightly. Then, I spun around once.

“…”

A complex mix of emotions that were hard to put into words bubbled up inside me. My face in the mirror was flushed bright red. I pulled my hood low and scurried away from the spot.

I tried to find the two merchant NPCs I knew, but the timing was terrible. The NPC in charge of leveling up magic stones and the one who handled spellbooks were both away from their posts. That was the problem with the merchants in the Garden frontier; they only did business when they felt like it.

‘They didn’t go off and die somewhere, did they?’ The thought crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. ‘They’ll crawl back out eventually if I wait.’ It wasn’t a time-sensitive emergency, so I decided not to stress over it. I changed my plans and headed to my next destination: the Garden Adventurer Shelter.

It was a rest stop run by the Empire. Inside, there were several large square tents set up, and exhausted adventurers were wandering around like zombies. If you only looked at the atmosphere, it felt more like a refugee camp than an adventurer’s shelter… but the appeal was that you could handle room and board for a low cost. For someone like me, whose pockets weren’t exactly deep, it was a godsend.

“500 gold a day. Includes one meal. Payment upfront,” the clerk said. After checking in, I wandered through the shelter, inspecting the tents. The inside of a tent that could hold about ten people was dark and damp.

—Snore, snore…

Some tents were filled with the sound of thunderous snoring. —Snort, snort… —Snore, snore… —Snort- snore… snort- snore… If you listened closely, someone else’s snoring would join in, creating a harmony. Good grief. I definitely had to avoid this tent…

I looked for a better-looking tent, but it seemed the foul smell of sweat was unavoidable no matter where I went. ‘In the game, you just enter the tent, the screen goes dark for a second, and it’s the next morning.’ But there was no skipping here. This was the realistic hardship of being inside the game world. Well, if I could avoid the wind and rain and get a night’s sleep for a pittance, I supposed I had to endure this much. Besides, I realized belatedly that it had been a while since I’d washed, too.

After finishing my tent tour, I headed to the cafeteria. In truth, the cafeteria was the main reason I’d stopped by the shelter. There were many ways to raise a character in the Garden frontier, but the most efficient route I preferred was the one that started by taking quests at the shelter.

I pushed back the tent flap and stepped inside, and a wave of hot air hit my face. “Please, just a little—can’t you give me just one more ladle?”

“What are you talking about, you beggar? Just eat what you’re given—!”

As soon as I entered, a booming shout greeted me. Inside, a giant of a cook was throwing a tantrum with a ladle in his hand. Compared to his massive frame, the dirty apron he wore looked far too small. It looked like a single handkerchief stuck to his belly.

‘That’s the guy.’ Gordon, the cook in charge of the shelter’s cafeteria. His nickname was ‘Gordon the Foul-Mouthed.’

I received my soup in a dented tin bowl and returned to my seat. It was called ‘Shelter Special Nutritional Soup,’ but to any Korean, there was only one name that came to mind. ‘This is just slop.’

What kind of ingredients were in this? I squinted and examined it carefully, but… all I could tell was that it was something overcooked, mushy, and devoid of any recognizable form. I took a spoonful and tasted it.

The quest ‘Corruption in the Cafeteria’ starts when the player complains about the taste of this terrible food. The story goes that, one way or another, Gordon and the player end up in a cooking battle…

‘Huh?’ I frowned. I took another spoonful. ‘It’s not bad.’

This soup was tastier than I’d expected. That was strange. The game said it was awful. ‘Is it because I’m hungry?’ They say hunger is the best sauce. A bowl of hot slop poured into a starving stomach after a long day of struggling outside. It was surprisingly decent. Before I knew it, I’d finished the bowl.

‘Ah, dammit.’ I was supposed to pick a fight about it tasting bad, but I’d scraped the bowl clean. I could see my own face reflected in the bottom of the bowl. Why did you make it taste good for no reason? Gordon, you weren’t like this originally.

I was lost in a strange, annoyed feeling despite having eaten well when— “Say that one more time.” Gordon’s cold voice rang out. “What did you find in your soup?”

Gordon was glaring at a young girl with a murderous look in his eyes. “I-it’s just—it looked like a cigarette butt…”

“A cigarette? A ciiiigarette?” The girl, who had hair down to her shoulders, couldn’t even look Gordon in the eye and was trembling. “B-but maybe I’m wrong—I might have seen it wrong, but just in case—I thought you should check…”

“My soup! You’re saying there’s a cigarette butt in my soup!”

Eek—! The girl hunched her shoulders as far as they would go. She looked like a terrified squirrel, trembling in fear. “N-no! I’m, I’m sorry!”

Perfect. I’d been wondering how to start the quest, but a chance had arrived. I stood up and threw my soup bowl onto the floor. Clatter-clatter— The bowl rolled across the floor and stopped between Gordon and the girl. The eyes of everyone in the cafeteria turned to me.

“What do you mean, ‘no’? It’s definitely garbage food.”

In this atmosphere, no one would notice that I’d actually scraped my bowl clean, unlike what I’d just said. “And who are you?” Gordon glared at me.

“Sorry to interrupt, but she’s right. You’re a trash cook who only makes terrible food.”

“Uh—I didn’t say anything quite that harsh…” the girl muttered.

“You stay out of this,” I said. The air in the cafeteria was thick with tension, as if it would explode at any moment.

“You little brats… what do you know? You should just eat what you’re given as beggars, and you’re talking about the food? Terrible?”

“But it’s true.” There was no need for politeness. I’d come here to pick a fight from the start anyway. A thick vein throbbed on Gordon’s forehead.

“Why is that? You’ve been stuffing all the money the Empire supports you with into your own pockets, so what do you expect? Even if you wanted to put something in the pot, there’s not a single bean left.”

For a moment, Gordon’s pupils dilated in shock. Embezzlement of operating funds. It must be a fatal weakness he wanted to hide at all costs. “Kid. You’d better not run your mouth just because you have one.”

Unlike before, Gordon’s voice had dropped to a low, dangerous register. It meant that he could no longer brush this incident aside lightly.

“Fine, then show me the ledger.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why should I do what you say?”

“Why, do you have something to hide? If you’re innocent, it shouldn’t matter if you show me the ledger, right?”

“I’ve been letting you slide, you little brat…”

In truth, Gordon was right. I didn’t have any evidence for my claims yet. Gordon could just ignore my provocation and keep playing dumb. So, I offered him a sweet bait.

“You’re just a trash cook who makes garbage food. I could do better than this myself.”

A mouth-watering piece of bait he couldn’t resist biting. Come on, what are you waiting for? Even a cook working in a beggar’s cafeteria has pride. Can you really stand for that?

“Kid, you’d better be sure you won’t take back what you just said.” Gordon’s lips curled up. Gotcha.

And so, the ‘Corruption in the Cafeteria’ quest officially began. The rules were simple. Each of us would prepare a dinner, and the one who made the tastier dish would win. After the adventurers tasted the food, they would vote for their favorite, and the person with the most votes would win. If I won, I’d get not only Gordon’s ledger but also the right to investigate his corruption as much as I wanted. And if I lost? Well, then I’d be screwed.

Gordon, with his nasty temper, was sharpening his knives to make the cheeky brat pay the price. The penalty was to work as an unpaid slave for ten years. On top ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of that, I’d have to wear a sign around my neck calling me a liar and run around the village a hundred times in the nude.

“Um, will this be okay?” the girl asked, looking at me with a worried expression. Somehow, she’d been lumped in with me and was participating in this match as well. “You don’t have to go through this match because of me—”

I hadn’t done it because of her, exactly. “Don’t worry about it. I did it because I wanted to. More importantly, help me prep the ingredients.”

“O-okay!” The girl ran over and dragged a burlap sack over. When I looked at the ingredients inside, a bitter laugh escaped my lips.

“This is too much…” The girl looked like she was about to cry. Potatoes, carrots, and onions that were on the verge of rotting. A few scraps of leftover meat. The state of the ingredients Gordon had provided was the worst.

“To have a match with ingredients like these… it’s unfair! We’re bound to lose.”

Would we, though? That wasn’t necessarily true. Gordon had definitely pulled a dirty trick. He’d probably hoarded all the fresh ingredients for himself. However, if your ‘Cooking’ skill was high, you could win against Gordon fairly even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with rotten ingredients. It was even possible to make a full-course royal banquet out of these ingredients and make Gordon’s jaw drop. How could you make such a grand dish with just potatoes and carrots? I didn’t know either. A max-level ‘Cooking’ skill was basically alchemy. Anyway, it worked in the game.

“What’s your name?”

“M-me? I’m Flora.”

“Flora, take these gloves and the knife.” I placed them in her hands. “From now on, you’re going to prep the ingredients. Peel everything, wash it, chop it, and gather it over here. Can you do that?”

“I-I’m not very good at it—but I’ll try my best! Just leave it to me!”

I hadn’t considered Flora’s help in my original plan, but I wasn’t about to turn down help. After leaving the prep work to Flora, I headed into the storage room.

‘I said that to provoke him, but Gordon’s slop was actually edible.’ If he could draw out that level of flavor from terrible ingredients, it was highly likely that a ‘Cooking’ skill bonus was in effect. On the other hand, I hadn’t learned the ‘Cooking’ skill yet. If I fought him honestly without an ace up my sleeve, I’d definitely lose.

‘Of course, I have no intention of fighting him like that.’ Why would I challenge him to a match without something to rely on?

There was a hidden strategy designed into the ‘Corruption in the Cafeteria’ quest that allowed you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to win even without the ‘Cooking’ skill. That made sense, because a player who had just started in the Garden western frontier wouldn’t have spent all their time training only their ‘Cooking’ skill. It wasn’t like you’d restart your character from scratch. It wasn’t a game about raising a wandering chef, so who would do that?

Potatoes, carrots, onions… the hints were already given by the ingredients themselves. While rummaging through the storage room— ‘Found it.’

In a box buried under thick layers of dust beneath a shelf, I finally found what I was looking for. Gordon wouldn’t have dreamed that such an ingredient was hidden in his storage.

Cheat code found. You’re dead.