My lot in life was to suffer utterly and completely. I woke up in a world of pain and uncaring apathy that cared not for the tribulations of those that lived with in it.
I was reborn into this world to be a grand Void Hunter! An adventurer who would have a harem of Thiren beauties due to my martial valor and world-shaking strength!
But I was betrayed... Forgotten, and abandoned by this impure world.
My tears went down my face as my heart died within myself.
"Its... Just to fucking too good!" I cried as I leaned down and began punching my table and wailing at how my cheat was cheating me!
I already spent my previous life as a fucking chef before dying horribly and getting reincarnated! How could my best ability once again just being a chef!
Despite my tears, despite my tantrum however... I didn't stop eating the perfectly cooked egg fried rice.
Each bite, I could count each individual grain of golden gleaming rice. Each bite, I could taste vigor of the green onions. Each bite... I could taste the harmony of the eggs that interspaced between each grain of rice.
Not only was it a fucking flavor orgasm in my mouth that made me rock back and forth with helpless delight at the flavor. But the dish itself gave me a stamina and defense buff for four hours.
My overwhelming love for the dish, and hatred for my lot in life was interrupted by a loud ding from my phone and I looked over to see that General Chop had sent me a message.
"Hmm? A list of Hollow Investigators and... Even 'raiders'. That's brave of you." I muttered with a wry smile as he sectioned off the sides of reccomended people with a polite tag of 'chaotic' people.
In other words, if I dared to put any trust in them? Ha then it would be my ass in anycase.
And after a moment of thought of scanning through the list. I didn't recongize anyone of note and I had been keeping busy taking other small commissions for the last week to build up social credit on the Interknot.
But as I was looking through the interknot to check out these people that were getting reccomended to me. I paused at seeing the Cunning Hares account making a post.
Which was clearly written by Nicole herself and the post about their crew looking for an extra hand in muscle for checking out a Hollow in the badlands outside of New Eridu and needing help to move some cargo from a lost ore truck to a hauler they were bringing.
And as for payment... Yeah Nicole was fucking cheap as hell, and no one even replied after an hour of posting besides poking fun at her for being a cheap ass.
So after a moment of thought. I shrugged and messaged back as I knew such a trip would take a couple of days at least.
[Double the payment and stock up on raw food ingredients for me. And I will go, I am a chef who can make this trip alot more comfortable.]
And there wasn't even a fucking minute between my post before the Cunning Hares account quickly messaged me.
[Oho? A registered Hollow Investigator is willing to go outside of New Eridu's comfort zone? How good of a chef are you. And most importantly, I won't pay more then twenty five percent extra!]
I smiled and then sent the picture I took of the gleaming egg fried rice when I first cooked it, and when it was steaming hot.
Then I messaged back with an 'innocent' smiley face.
[Fifty percent above that asking price. I can work at General Shops as a line cook and make more than your asking price in half a day.]
Seeing the Cunning Hares's logo popping up and going away. I could tell Nicole was typing out curses and insults before deleting them before she sent a voice message that made my eyebrow raise in interest.
Then I just laughed as I could all but feel Nicole's heart bleeding with the pain in her voice. [Hmph fine! But you are also coming over to the Cunning Hares workhouse to cook breakfast with the ingredients we have. You better not be late or I will take away all your pay even if you work for us!]
Utterly adorable I tell you. But seeing as I actually had work tommorrow I just sent her a thumbs up and a quick confirmation and then... Well, it's not like I was going to take on a possibly dangerous or long-term commission when I had another one tommorrow first thing in the morning.
So I just went to bed to get ready bright and early tomorrow.
-
The next day I got up bright and early... And due to how I knew Nicole was such a fucking cheapskate, I literally went out and bought the ingredients to make their breakfast.
As it would be really. Really awkward if Nicole expected me to knock off her socks with a toasted bread sandwich and ice soup for breakfast.
So with that in mind, I got everything I needed to make a full English breakfast... And because I knew Billy was a robot, I also mixed up some battery acid with several different electric-based materials to make a 'battery sandwhich'
Once I got everything together. I made my way across New Eridu to where the 'Gentle House' was with my ill-gotten goods hanging in my hands while I had my own supplies in a large backpack on my back.
As for going camping in the Outer Ring meant I was going to be out in the badlands, so I needed a tent and such so I woudn't be out sleeping with the snakes and other nasties.
The 'Gentle House' where the Cunning Hares was based off also reflected Nicole's cheap nature. They had seemingly taken a metal storage building and boarded up the skylights to provide more insulation and lived inside of the large storage building.
"Whelp, let's see what the damage is inside... I just hope that their stove top works, or I am screwed." I muttered.
I came up to the garage door entryway, and with a load banging noise, I fist banged off of the door's thin metal like a gong of a door bell even if I didn't put much force into it.
There was a pause before I could hear a loud clatter of things being moved away from the door? And then with a loud ringing clatter of metal being folded. The garage door got pulled up.
"Hello, Gatcha Gremlin! My name is Billy! Billy, honorary member of the Starlight Knight troops!" The flashy android said as he put on a jojo-like pose with his twin hand cannons in his hands.
My face twitched as I was reminded how Billy was utterly addicted to the local Power Rangers rip-off. But I said in a more normal greeting. "Hello Billy. My name is Jake."
And after finishing my line I offered a hand to Billy who twirled his guns and put them away before shaking my hand with a chuckle, leaving him as he said.
"Ah well I am glad you came so early. Nicole and Anby just woke and are getting ready for the day... So uhh I heard that Nicole suckered you into being muscle and being our chef is that true?" He asked a bit sheepishly.
I nodded calmly and said evenly. "That is correct. I am looking for a team to integrate with that does Hollow exploration. But it isn't tied to a faction like the TOPS, the Mayor, or the military."
Billy waved me in though he scratched his metal head as he said helplessly. "Sounds like you just want to stick to being in the Outer Rim and have it's freedom."
And without a lick of hesitation, I said flatly. "Nah, the Outer Rim is too hot. And more importantly, it has major resource issues... I would rather die in a hollow than die of dehydration or starve to death."
"Whelp, you aren't wrong there haha." Billy chuckled loudly as he brought me to the kitchen area.
And by kitchen area... It was an electric stove that looked like it was stolen out of an abandoned apartment building. A sink filled with silverware and no running water. And their cabinets likewise looked like they were stolen out of a fucking dumpster.
'Ok, Jake... You worked in some shitty kitchens before. Just think of it as working to save some poor bastards that had to live in a meth trap house or something.' I thought to psych myself up.
As even my shitty apartment was better set up then this.
I then went to the refrigerator and pantry.
I looked back to Billy and said flatly. "What... What the hell am I supposed to cook with a box of clearly stolen cracker packets from a breakfast diner, a shoe box filled with ramen seasoning packets, a bag of lunch ham that is clearly stolen from a trash can that was just declared expired, and a single packet of tofu!"
Billy just shrugged and said shamelessly. "I mean... The eggs are fresh, we have a contact who gives us a bunch of fresh eggs in return for delivering food scraps from other restaurants."
I already wanted to fucking strangle the robot. But I just took a breath. I woudn't be defeated by a fucking shoebox of ramen seasoning. After all, I already expected this and brought my own stuff.
So I just snorted and started up a cooking storm with the heavy scent of sausage and ham cuts frying filled the air of the rather unventilated building.
And the hungry ghosts weren't far as a soft, deadpan voice rang out from behind me. "Is that the evil harbinger of death. He who takes our souls via devilish food that makes us let go of our lives?"
Even as I worked to flip some eggs around, I said with a small smile. "Nope, only the best chef in New Eridu."
I mean... It wasn't an exaggeration, obviously. No other chef, as far as I knew, could literally make someone stronger via well-cooked food.
Then, with a moment of thought, I looked back and took in the silver-haired form of Anby, and I said with a smile. "My name is Jake Bariss. Is there anything allergy-related I should know?"
Andy blinked with those amber eyes filled with thought before she said quietly, but with a firm nod. "I am deadly allergic to not having burgers with each meal."
My lips twitched at that, but I just shrugged and said easily. "Hey, that's understandable... Can't go wrong with a burger I guess?"
So I made a mental note to use some of the sourdough bread I got to cut into thick sandwich slices to make her a breakfast burger out of ham, sausage, bacon, eggs, cheese, and a bit of mayo. All the while, she also got the beans, fried tomatoes, and mushrooms on the side.
All my cooking took a good long while so all to soon Nicole also came out of her 'room' that was sectioned off in the storage area via some plywood that was covered up with foam padding that had blankets stapled to them for noise cancellation.
And the very first thing out of her mouth was. "I can't compensate for the ingredients you bought yourself even if you sell me!"
Finally finished with cooking the food, I looked at the walking doujin making machine that was Nicole Demara with her low-cut top and booty shorts, and I said with zero fucking shame. "Nah, if you were sold. You would be worth alot more than you think!"
Which made Billy howl with laughter and Nicole herself had her eyebrow twitch at my words, which left no leeway for her.
But words... Words were done for now. As everyone paused at the dishes I had made.
Nicole and my own full English breakfast as well as Anby's breakfast burger. All the pieces of the meal glowed on its own well beyond the shitty industrial lights hanging from the roof of the building.
And as the two women just stared at the food plated in front of them. I then coughed and said. "Hell Billy, I don't know if you would like this as well. But I made you a custom battery to drink energy from?"
With a whirl of almost cartoony energy, Billy took the wrecked battery I unwrapped from my backpack, and with a loud groan, his form sparked with energy as his form vibrated with joy.
"Ohhhh that's the good stuff!" He said with utter joy before pausing as he said in confusion. "Wait! My energy storage has overflowed by thirty percent, and it's not straining my internals!?"
By now, the two girls had finished taking their pictures of their food to reblog it elsewhere and then... Anby bit into her breakfast burger.
Then with her mouth still full of said burger. I could see hearts in Anby's pupils as she slowly nodded while Nicole?
Nicole was weeping as she muttered under her breath between bites. "How? How can I pay to have a professional chef working for me every day? How could I go back to fast food after this? If I marry him, could I sell him to like Astra Yao as a personal chef... But woudn't that mean he woudn't cook for me?"
All of that concluded with my face twitching as the Chaos Gatcha pinged.
[Seduce a woman with your food to the point of her being unable to live without it X2 Gold Ticket]
[Become life time bro's with a robot with too many emotions via being the best bro he could ask for... Also for not making fun of Starlight Knights at the first meeting with him.- 1 silver ticket.]