Chapter 21

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 21

Chapter Title: Hehe! You Can't Go!

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1.

An apartment in Seoul. A woman with blue hair lay on her bed.

Her phone screen showed the broadcast end notification.

"The chat reactions weren't bad."

Muttering to herself, the woman moved her finger to enter a certain community.

Her brow furrowed at the sight of the gallery name. With a deep sigh, the woman tapped on the featured post.

She had once searched for her own name on the gallery and gotten hurt by it, so lately she hadn't gone anywhere near it.

'I don't really want to look, but...'

This was the perfect place to see the most blatant and honest reactions. It was a space utterly devoid of any pretense.

She scrolled through the featured posts one by one with her finger. The overall public opinion was pretty good.

Of course, there were occasionally annoying posts like this. It was a place where all sorts of people gathered, after all.

However, posts like these usually got way more dislikes than likes. The fact that it even made it to featured was probably just someone posting it like "Look at this retard!"

'No matter when I check it...'

She shook her head and left the gallery. Staring at it longer would just hurt her for no reason.

"At least it wrapped up nicely, so that's a relief."

The woman lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Ding-

Lost in a daze, she heard a notification sound. She reached out, grabbed her phone, and checked the screen.

"Noir?"

The message was from none other than Noir. Probably an apology for causing trouble.

"As expected."

She chuckled softly and typed a reply.

'Haven't had beef in ages. Usually only during holidays.'

As a streamer backed by a major corporation, Elena made a ton of money, but she wasn't all that into food. She liked tasty things, sure, but the hassle outweighed it.

She had gone to an omakase place once after talking with her agency. It was certainly delicious enough for the price, but―

'Small portions, leaves you wanting more. And it's so stuffy.'

The upscale atmosphere made her feel like she'd choke. She preferred staying home anyway, so she didn't enjoy going out much.

In short, she liked good food but not enough to deal with the hassle. She even questioned if it was worth it.

'If only someone came to my place and cooked for me. Like a catering buffet.'

Ding-

As she rolled around on the bed with idle thoughts, another notification chimed.

Elena bolted upright in bed. She had just been thinking about someone coming over to cook, and here was the offer.

Elena calmed her excitement and kept the conversation as level-headed as possible. There were all sorts of potential issues.

"...Fine?"

She tilted her head and muttered to herself. It was a habit from streaming.

What was the most important part of a cooking stream? The cooking process and eating the food, right? And they said it was okay even without that?

'How the hell do they plan to run it?'

Elena sent the same question via message. The reply was completely unexpected.

"Hmm."

It was a name she'd never heard before.

'That possible?'

Hard to believe, so she searched it up separately. The results were surprising. You really could cook food in VR and even taste it.

It wasn't cheap either. Monthly subscription over 2 million won. Even the ingredients weren't free.

Subscribing to 'Flavor Link' gave basic points, but using them up meant paying for more to buy ingredients.

'Who the hell uses this? No wonder hardly anyone knows about it.'

In fact, very few people used the program.

'And they're paying for it just for me?'

Honestly, Elena felt a bit burdened. It was just so expensive.

"Hm."

She pondered for a moment. If they planned to do cooking streams anyway, it changed things. It wasn't just them imposing.

'Kinda curious.'

What would VR food taste like? How good was Carrier's cooking? Curiosity bubbled up for some reason.

"No. But with skills like that in games, doing cooking streams? What are they thinking?"

It was an incomprehensible choice for Elena.

With that level of game talent, they could dominate streams forever. Why attempt a never-before-seen VR cooking stream of all things?

If she had that skill? She'd game every day and rake in viewers.

'They say VR senses differ from reality, so not everything's easy.'

Actually, that wasn't for her to understand. Carrier would handle it.

Elena thought for a bit before typing.

Elena flopped face-down on the bed.

The collab was set for two days later, but she had nothing to prepare. Just show up and enjoy the food.

'Wonder how it'll turn out.'

If it succeeded, it could make waves in the streaming world. No one had tried anything like it before.

Especially inviting VTubers as guests to cooking streams. That opened up a huge pool of potential collabs.

'Not sure if it'll be that easy.'

2.

I scooped some salt with my finger and licked it. I could taste the saltiness, but it was weaker than I'd expected.

"How's it for you, sis?"

"It's different from the salt I know too. The saltiness is way milder, I guess?"

I nodded and checked the sugar and vinegar.

"...Same here."

Sweet and sour tastes were there, but much weaker compared to reality.

"We got scammed, right? They said it was almost like real taste!"

"It's similar. Just weaker than expected. Thinking about it now, it was suspicious."

Cooking in VR was possible? Chefs would've been all over it ages ago. A space free of real-world constraints for perfect cooking practice.

Yet it wasn't widespread, meaning there was a fatal flaw. And that flaw was the most crucial part: 'taste.'

'They can make games super realistic, but not taste?'

I didn't know the details, but taste must be a complex, finicky sense.

"Should we cancel the collab now?"

"Elena has been super accommodating already. Canceling now would just piss her off. We can't cause more trouble."

"But she'll be disappointed eating food like this... She seemed really excited..."

We both sighed deeply.

'Damned if we do, damned if we don't.'

Couldn't advance or retreat. Either way, someone would get hurt. How to fix this?

"Wait, that might work..."

A sudden idea hit me. I lightly channeled power into my fingertips. Invisible mana began flowing through my body.

'It works.'

I infused the mana into the salt, then licked some off my finger again.

Saltiness exploded. Intensely. Just like reality.

"Sis, try this."

"Salt? Isn't it the same as before?"

"Just eat it."

At my urging, Sis scooped a heaping spoonful of salt.

"I think you need this much to match real saltiness."

"Sis, wait...!"

Her sudden move caught me off guard, but too late. The spoon went straight into her mouth.

Sis froze for a second. Then her eyes widened slowly, face turning beet red.

"Kek―!"

The salt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠erupted from her mouth like an explosion. I stared blankly at the flying grains.

"Kuhuk! Kkhk, kekek!"

Sis clutched her mouth, coughing nonstop. She nearly toppled over, then jumped up.

"W-Water!!!"

She snatched the water bottle in front of her.

"Ugh...!"

"Sis, hold on, if you do that...!"

The moment she uncapped it and gulped down the water.

"Puuuuaak―!"

She spat out the water too. The remaining salt dissolved, unleashing another salt bomb.

"Told you not to..."

I shook my head watching her. But her reaction confirmed the mana taste boost worked on others too.

'Don't know the mechanics, but this could work.'

VR cooking streams weren't a pipe dream anymore.

"Sis, get up quick. Gotta test the other flavors too!"

"Cough cough...! Are you a psychopath...? Can't you see I'm suffering?"

"It's just VR anyway."

"...You lunatic. Where's the sweet Hayul who was so nice to me!?"

"She died. Now get up."

"Sigh... My fate..."

Sis grumbled but struggled to her feet.

"Alright, let's start with this."

I grinned and pulled out the capsaicin. It had the most intense, straightforward taste.

"...For real?"

"Dead serious."

"I-I need to get outta here..."

"Hehe! You can't go!"

Now it was experiment time.