As the game went on, more and more comments filled the stream, but the players clearly didn't have time to read them — they were completely focused on the game.
On one side, the Luke and Rock had more or less reached a truce.
But no matter what, under Luke's lead, their team had finally started cooking like proper chefs.
Meanwhile, Eric and Ash were still stuck in total chaos — arguing while frantically trying to cook in the game.
"What do we do? Think of something! We're gonna lose!"
Ash looked at their score, which had dropped to -140, while Rock and Luke's score had climbed from -140 to -70. He was starting to panic.
"Damn it, what can I do? We're behind and we can't exactly throw punches in real life! Just plate this dish and serve it already!" Eric said while trying to throw the ingredients together.
"Plates! We need plates to serve! Only your side has the sink to wash them!" Ash ran to the serving counter with food in hand, only to get a message saying the dish needed to be plated.
"Damn it, why is this game so picky? What, can't we just eat with our hands or something?" Eric looked totally fed up.
"Come on, Eric! Don't mess around! Wash the plates!" Ash yelled.
"Wash what? What's there to wash! Isn't that just wasting time?"
Eric was getting mad. Then suddenly, a thought popped into his head. He threw the dirty plate aside, and sent his in-game big-bearded chef straight into Luke and Rock's area.
Without saying a word, he swiped a clean plate.
"Ash! Catch the plate!" he shouted, tossing it over.
Then he looked up at the recipe orders, glanced at the dish their opponents had just finished but hadn't served yet — sitting right on the outer counter — and without missing a beat, pulled a smooth move.
"Ash! Catch the food!" Holding the stolen dish, Eric dashed over to Ash.
"Eric, you're killing it!" With those two stolen dishes served, their score shot up from -140 to 0.
Meanwhile, Rock, still quietly chopping and washing, suddenly realized their hard-earned dish and plate were gone.
"Hey! They stole our dish and plate!" Without hesitating, he threw a dirty plate toward Eric.
Not that it helped much.
"This is outrageous! You two stole our food!" Luke was totally dumbfounded.
At first, when he started playing this game, he thought it would be a calm, cozy experience.
But once he really got into it...
He had to admit something — this game seriously messes with your blood pressure.
Especially when your teammate doesn't think the way you do — it really gets to you.
It's easy to lose your cool, even just a little.
And now he realized, it's not just your teammates — even your opponents can stress you out in this game.
They were shocked to see that even the food and plates on their own side could be stolen by their opponents—who could then serve them to customers and gain points for it?
Their hard work was being taken away!
"Ash! You're good at this stuff—leave it to you!" Eric, now being scolded for what he did, quickly called out to Ash.
"Come on, can you even call this stealing when it's just part of the game?"
"And what does stealing even mean? It means doing it without anyone noticing. But Eric did this right in front of you! He borrowed it openly!"
"And let me just say one more thing—Luke, Rock, you two listen up. Everyone watching the stream, listen too. Streaming this game isn't just about showing gameplay. As streamers, what we present has depth." Ash suddenly dropped into a serious tone.
"When we stream a game, we're supposed to share some life lessons with the audience—things they can learn from. Nowadays, there are so many clickbait accounts constantly feeding people fake feel-good advice."
"What Eric did just now is actually meant to show you that the world isn't always fair! Even if you do the right thing, not everyone else will! You might be working in a company, doing all the hard work, but there will always be someone who—sigh—steals the credit. They slack off most of the time, but when the boss shows up, they swoop in, snatch up the job you nearly finished, and then what? Take all the glory!"
"We're not saying people should do that. We're showing you that there are shady people like this in real life! You shouldn't try to hurt others—but you should protect yourself!"
"So this is why we're sharing this—to keep people alert. That's what a real BEST livestream is about: teaching people something real about life. How many business owners who went bankrupt watched our streams and were inspired to start over? How many divorced couples made up after watching us? That's what livestreaming should be! Don't you ever feel like the world is just full of darkness? That's because your spirit isn't strong enough. You have material stuff, but not enough spirit."
"So both body and mind need to be nurtured. And now someone might ask, 'Ash, how do we strengthen our spirit like yours?' Easy. Just get a membership and become a little sapling. Every afternoon to evening, join us in the stream for a true spiritual cleanse!"
After that speech, the whole stream went silent.
"Ash, you really missed your calling—you'd be amazing at running a pyramid scheme!" Eric couldn't help but sigh.
He even forgot that he had originally been brought on as a negative example.
But clearly, the speech didn't manage to convince Luke and Rock.
As Eric kept trying to snatch the plates, Rock ran over too, ready to make his move.
In an instant, what used to be a kitchen for cooking turned into a battlefield.
Ingredients and plates were flying everywhere, and no one was even watching the pots on the stove anymore.
That tiny boat called Friendship—just like that, it capsized.
......
It was Valentine's Day, and aside from the two new VR games from NetDragon and SkyNova, there really weren't any other fun new games lately.
And honestly, those two VR games only worked well for a few really skilled streamers. Most viewers just watched for the visuals or the plot—just to be part of the hype.
So Overcooked started popping up on a lot of streamers' radar.
In just one day—thanks to earlier promos and the reach of major streamers—
Overcooked exploded across all the big streaming platforms.
After all, it's a multiplayer game, and it dropped on Valentine's Day. It gave off a cozy, heartwarming vibe at first.
Of course, that was just what they thought.
Because once they called their friends to play and paired up in teams,
That calm little boat of friendship got thrown into a storm right there in the kitchen—
And flipped, just like that.
In countless livestreams, best friends turned on each other in an instant.
(End of The Chapter)
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