"Ugh."
Deep in the jungle, Yao Guan leaned with one hand on his hip and the other on a tree, retching onto the ground.
Lu Feng looked around, "Do you even know the way? You said it was only five kilometers, but we've run almost ten now, haven't we?"
"Didn't I just say, ugh… you guys, ugh… ran in the wrong direction, but you didn't even stop," Yao Guan fumed.
"Did I?" Lu Feng scratched his head and looked at Anka.
"Roar (You pointed the way, why are you looking at me?)"
"Ahem, let's not talk about useless things. Yao Guan, where are we, and how do we go from here?"
Ignoring Anka, who was glaring at him angrily, Lu Feng walked over to Yao Guan as if no one else was there and patted his shoulder.
Yao Guan, who had almost thrown up his New Year's Eve dinner, finally recovered after a long while. He looked around.
"I don't know this place. I've never been this deep before, but I can still barely tell directions. As long as we keep heading southeast, we won't go wrong."
The group rested for a while and was about to set off again when they suddenly heard a shout from behind the bushes ahead.
"It's hooked!"
Yao Guan was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "We've met the protagonist! Quick, let's go see!"
With that, he rushed towards the bushes ahead, showing no trace of his cautious, timid demeanor when he first entered the derived world.
Seeing Lu Feng still standing still, Yao Guan turned back to call him.
"Don't just stand there, hurry up! We've met the protagonist, A Lu. He's not only incredibly strong but also on the friendly side. If we follow him, we can get back safely."
As soon as he passed through the bushes, the ground beneath Lu Feng's feet trembled violently.
What greeted his eyes was a large fish about 7 meters long. Even more miraculously, this fish actually had two large pincers.
Lying on the ground with this fish was a giant rooster, 13 meters long and 4 meters tall.
These two unique creatures, the Lobster Fish and the Five-Tailed Eagle, are specialties from toriko. They are not only powerful beasts with capture levels of one and two, but also rare delicacies.
A muscular young man with blue hair, wearing a yellow vest and purple shorts, looked at the spoils on the ground with a joyful expression.
This was none other than A Lu, the protagonist of this anime.
Lu Feng had encountered the opening scene of the anime!
Then, the big-nosed young man in a blue suit standing respectfully beside him must be Komatsu, the male lead of this series.
"Hey, you two in the back, no, two plus one fierce tiger, what are you doing lurking there?"
A Lu didn't turn around, but he was perfectly aware of the situation behind him. He pointed to his nose.
"I have a sense of smell that surpasses a police dog's. No one can escape my nose's tracking."
Yao Guan immediately stepped forward to explain.
"I am a three-star chef of the IGO, and this is my partner, Bai Ze. We just got lost and stumbled upon this place."
A Lu turned to look at Yao Guan, smelling food and spices on him, confirming he was indeed a chef.
He then looked at Lu Feng, whose strength was average, and ignored him.
Finally, he looked at Anka, and his mouth immediately began to water.
"What kind of animal is this? I've never seen it before. I really want to taste it!"
Anka shivered violently, a surge of fear rising within it, and all its fur stood on end.
Even more terrifying, a bizarre and extremely grotesque illusion suddenly appeared before its eyes!
Anka found itself, at some unknown point, on an enormous platter. Behind the platter was a gigantic red demon.
It opened its gaping maw, revealing sharp, pointed fangs, and thick drool continuously flowed from its mouth, seemingly impatient to swallow Anka whole.
Seeing this, Lu Feng immediately stood in front of Anka. "This is my partner, not some food."
He clearly knew A Lu's character: kind-hearted and loyal. So, as long as he acted a little fearless, he could easily deter this big eater.
"Oh, he's your partner, then I can't eat him."
Indeed, when A Lu heard that Anka was Lu Feng's partner, he immediately put away his appetite and no longer regarded Anka as food, but as a fellow Gourmet Hunter's companion.
Anka also breathed a sigh of relief. It truly felt like it had just walked through the gates of hell and back.
Komatsu, standing nearby, hadn't forgotten that he was there on a mission. He stepped forward again and respectfully said to A Lu,
"A Lu-san, regarding the Gourmet Hunter job you were commissioned for…"
"The Kaila Giant Crocodile, right? Alright, I'll take this commission!"
A Lu would never refuse any commission related to gourmet food.
Yao Guan and Lu Feng also successfully returned to the city with A Lu. This time, with A Lu leading the way, there were no more glances daring to spy on them… At the entrance of the Gourmet Hotel, Komatsu looked at Yao Guan in surprise.
"What? You're also a chef here? How come I've never seen you?"
"When I joined, Chef Komatsu, you happened to be away. I usually travel outside, so it's normal that you don't know me."
Don't let Komatsu's perpetually timid and bullied demeanor fool you, making him seem like a complete pushover.
However, what's unexpected is that his hidden culinary skills are top-notch worldwide, unmatched by anyone.
Not only that, as the renowned head chef of the Gourmet Hotel, Komatsu is Yao Guan's direct superior.
Despite Komatsu's high position, his personality is exceptionally amiable and friendly, making him very easy to get along with.
Yao Guan seized the opportunity, quickly stepped forward, and enthusiastically introduced Lu Feng, who was standing nearby, to Komatsu.
"This is my temporary partner, Bai Ze, whom I met during my travels. He wants to join our IGO organization and become a Gourmet Hunter. Chef Komatsu, could you do me a favor and introduce him?"
Hearing Yao Guan's request, Komatsu smiled, politely extended his right hand, and shook Lu Feng's hand firmly, saying warmly,
"Oh, so it's Mr. Bai Ze. Hello, hello!"
At the same time, his gaze inadvertently swept over Anka, who was standing beside Lu Feng, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. He then smiled and said to Lu Feng,
"This must be your partner, I can tell at a glance that he's extraordinarily strong!"
Being able to establish a good relationship with someone like Komatsu was a dream come true for Lu Feng.
Although Komatsu himself didn't possess great martial power, due to his special position, everyone he interacted with on a daily basis was an important figure from various fields.
Lu Feng secretly calculated that if he could maintain close contact with Komatsu, even just a little bit of reflected glory would likely bring him numerous unimaginable and substantial benefits. Thinking of this, Lu Feng's smile grew even brighter.
With Komatsu's introduction, Lu Feng successfully joined the IGO and also obtained his Gourmet Hunter qualification certificate.
Although the outcome would not have been different if he had come alone, he would have inevitably gone through complex procedures such as identity verification and various assessments.
Now, being able to skip these troubles and achieve it in one step was naturally for the best.
[Hunter has completed Main Quest (1): Faction Selection. This quest has no reward. Subsequent quests are now open.]
[Main Quest (2): Advanced Gourmet Hunter]
Difficulty Level: LV.5
Quest Brief: Rapidly raise your Gourmet Hunter level to prepare for subsequent quests.
Quest Information: Increase your status by any means: accepting commissions, submitting high-grade ingredients, bribery, etc.
Quest Duration: Twenty days
Quest Reward: 1 attribute point, 1500 Reincarnation Paradise Coins
...Twenty days is plenty of time, enough for Lu Feng to thoroughly explore this world's…Novice Village .
toriko is a high-power world. Even in the human world, if you run around randomly, it's not impossible to encounter beasts with third or even fourth-tier strength.
Lu Feng is still a novice in Reincarnation Paradise, so it's best to proceed cautiously.
Seeing Lu Feng staring into the air in thought again, Yao Guan chuckled and leaned closer.
"Mr. Bai Ze, you don't know much about the world of 'toriko', do you?"
"If you have something to say, say it! If you have gas, release it!" Lu Feng disliked Yao Guan's tendency to beat around the bush.
"After joining a faction, the next step is to increase faction reputation. Reincarnation Paradise generally follows this pattern. To quickly and safely increase reputation in this world, you must be very familiar with its creatures."
Lu Feng had already guessed Yao Guan's thoughts. "So you want to be my guide?"
"What guide? It's so dangerous outside, I'm not going!" Yao Guan jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, his expression agitated.
He pulled out a thick booklet from his storage space.
"This is an animal encyclopedia of this world. Besides all the creatures that appeared in the anime, there are many that weren't even shown in the anime. I've recorded them all in detail. This is my private collection!"
"Less talk, how much?"
Yao Guan beamed. He liked dealing with smart people; they understood quickly. "800 Reincarnation Paradise Coins, no cheating."
"800 Reincarnation Paradise Coins? Why don't you just rob me! In the Paradise, this thing sells for 50 at most!" Lu Feng's eyes widened.
"Hehehe, you also said, 50 is the price in the Paradise, but this is a derived world, so of course, it's a different price," Yao Guan said matter-of-factly.
"Damn it, that's so dark! You're not from the Black Sail Merchant Guild, are you?!"
"Mr. Bai Ze, you have good eyes!"
Yao Guan then pulled out a black hood and put it on.
"You…" Lu Feng was so choked up he couldn't speak.
"Fine, you're ruthless. 800 it is!"
After a quick transaction, Lu Feng turned and walked away. He didn't want to see this profiteer again for a while.
But he hadn't even taken two steps when Yao Guan called out to him again.
"Mr. Bai Ze, don't be in such a hurry to leave. I have another 'good deal' for you."
Although Yao Guan was very annoying, his items were indeed very valuable.
"I said, you can't just fleece one person!"
"It's not like I've met anyone else yet." Yao Guan was a bit embarrassed, but then he said,
"The fastest way for a Gourmet Hunter to level up is undoubtedly to accept commissions. But the tasks on the commission board are varied, and most of them are quite far away. If you take tasks from there, you'll waste a lot of time on the journey. What a pity, time is money, my friend."
"So?"
"So, I can post some nearby tasks." Yao Guan took off his black hood, put on a white uniform and hat, and transformed into a chef.
"I am a three-star chef at the Gourmet Hotel. I can use my position to post commissions for acquiring nearby animal ingredients. You can just take tasks directly from me, how convenient is that?"
"And the price is…"
"800 Reincarnation Paradise Coins, no cheating."
Lu Feng: I hate profiteers!