Restaurant Hidden Rules

To be honest, no one, including Bai Zhi, expected that Positive and Negative would appear in this form.

Everyone else came out of their rooms, while this person clearly had just returned from outside; the difference in their appearances was striking.

"Wait a minute, you haven't been sitting in the kitchen all this time, have you?"

Looking at the Young Girl in front of him who had turned around and seemed to have no intention of saying anything, August Desolation with an expression of seeing a ghost, or you could say he was horrified.

"You stayed until now before coming back. Did you have that much Sanity and physical energy to spare?"

Last night, because he didn't turn off the lights on time, a troublesome Diner came to his door. Although he almost broke the rules and assaulted the Customer, the customer's request was quite simple.

[Restaurant Hidden Rule One: extra working hours.]

In addition to working hours for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there is also Midnight Snack Time.

If the lights aren't turned off on time at night, there's a good chance that hungry Diner will come knocking and demand that the Chef cook for them.

He was one of the three Chef caught in the act last night.

[Dawn Lord ▪ Positive and Negative] lives in room Number Two, [Absolute Mole ▪ Fireworks of Romance] lives in Room Five... and myself.

If someone gets caught red-handed, they might feel nervous, but when there are other people in the same boat, that nervousness is greatly relieved.

At first, August Desolation was a little nervous, thinking that he would have to fight right from the start, but he was relieved when he learned that he was just asked to cook.

However, he later realized that he had relaxed too soon.

Cooking for those Inhuman Existence was not as simple as the assessment he had experienced. The rapid depletion of his Sanity Value, the massive loss of his physical strength, and the rapid exhaustion of his spirit... After just completing one dish, he felt as if his entire being had been drained.

Even after resting for a few hours after returning, he still felt extremely weak. Fireworks of Romance was in the same situation, but she had returned a little earlier than him.

Preparing just one dish nearly killed them, but that so-called Dawn Lord Positive and Negative didn't return until morning... Is the difference in their strength really that great?

Keep in mind that just sitting in the Back Kitchen doing nothing will cause your Sanity Value to drop slowly and steadily, let alone handling ingredients and cooking according to the menu. The physical burden on you is not as simple as 1+1.

Is this petite Young Girl in front of me truly human in essence?

"... The dishes prepared should be used to replenish one's own energy."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi began to speak with a thoughtful expression.

"The rules state that each of us is allowed to prepare one dish each day; that should be our temporary worker compensation. The significant depletion of Sanity Value, and mental energy can be replenished by eating food..."

"How could anyone possibly eat that kind of thing!?"

Before Bai Zhi could finish speaking, August Desolation interrupted him with a look of horror on her face.

"You have no idea what kind of culinary abomination that is... no, or rather, 'culinary abomination' is not even an appropriate term. It should be called 'Eldritch Cuisine.' Just looking at it would cause your Sanity Value to plummet. No one could bring themselves to eat it, right? Isn't eating that stuff practically suicide?"

"No, the taste is actually quite good."

The Young Girl walking in front suddenly turned her head, her gaze lingering on Bai Zhi for a moment before she gave August Desolation a slightly eerie smile.

"As Chef, it's perfectly normal to taste the dishes you've made."

"..."

Feeling inexplicably flustered by the gaze of the Dawn Lord in front of him, August Desolation decisively chose to keep quiet.

Although the Young Girl in front of him was not even up to his chest and was quite petite, for some reason, he suddenly got goosebumps all over his body when she stared at him.

It seems that something bad will happen if the other party is watching you...

After a moment, seeing that August Desolation was no longer speaking, the Young Girl turned her head away somewhat listlessly and continued walking forward.

After that enclosed Corridor that temporarily served as their Dormitory, a very wide long corridor appeared before them, with windows on both sides, seemingly offering a view of the outside world.

However, upon closer inspection, they discovered that what they saw were not windows at all, but rather opaque mirrors. They had to get extremely close to see their reflections in the mirrors.

"Did you leave from here last night?"

Turning his head to look at Fireworks of Romance who had walked up to him, Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly and asked her a question.

Because he got closer to examine the mirrors, he ended up last.

"And, are you alright?"

"Do you think I look okay? To be honest, I feel like I just ran an 8,000-meter marathon and then swam 20 kilometers in the ocean... Can you lend me a hand?"

Rolling her eyes, and glancing at the group walking ahead, Fireworks of Romance placed her hand on his shoulder without saying a word.

"What, have you lost your dignity?"

With a slight pout and a muttered complaint, Bai Zhi left the window and continued walking forward, but deliberately slowed his pace.

"Come on, what authority... From the beginning until now, has any of you given me even half a bit of authority? None of you are pushovers."

He muttered resentfully about the Fireworks of Romance.

"I've decided. When I get back, I'm going to announce my debut as an idol and create a super cool and super handsome persona for myself. As long as my persona doesn't collapse, my authority will be endless..."

"What, are the Relevant Department already planning to implement this plan?"

While dragging the other person along at the back of the group, Bai Zhi asked with some surprise.

Once the existence of Player and Anomaly is made public, it will inevitably cause a huge uproar throughout the world. Under such circumstances, the government will inevitably create a few typical examples among the Player to appease the panic in the hearts of common.

--Player Idol Project.

In other words, when that time comes, the status of those popular celebrities will be replaced by Players.

"... That's why I hate dealing with smart people like you."

She turned her head and glanced at the person beside her. The corner of her Fireworks of Romance twitched slightly, and she decisively changed the subject.

"Oh, by the way, there's a small favor I need to ask you."

"What's up?"

As he casually answered, Bai Zhi squinted and looked ahead.

--After walking for several hundred meters, the road finally came to an end.

"Let me sleep at your place tonight."

"Oh... what?"