Will Cooking Be So Delicious After Leveling Up That Clothes Explode?

In the living room of the part-time kitchen.

"Whoa!!"

Weedle happily ate the food he had gotten with his own... ah, no, with his mouth.

The first step to becoming a mature Pokémon was learning to eat on his own!

"Quite a mess..."

As Weedle happily ate, Mu Yun walked out of the bedroom.

Looking at the open refrigerator, the haphazardly placed wooden chairs, and the white String Shot scattered throughout the room, Mu Yun's lips twitched before settling into helpless resignation.

Fortunately, while the place looked rather messy overall, there was not much to deal with besides closing the refrigerator.

That large patch of snowy-white String Shot would disperse on its own after ten-odd minutes.

Yes, disperse on its own.

In fact, all tangible creations manifested through Pokémon moves were composed of energy. How long they lasted depended entirely on the user's level, the amount of energy used, and the move's proficiency.

Take Weedle's String Shot, for example.

Before reaching Beginner proficiency, it lasted less than a minute. Other than training, it was basically useless in actual combat.

At the Beginner stage, its duration shot up to around three minutes.

And now, at the mastery level, it could last more than ten minutes and could even serve as a temporary rope in the wild.

"Whoa!!"

Perhaps sensing movement behind him, Weedle, who had been burying his head in an Energy Cube, suddenly looked up and turned around. The moment he saw Mu Yun, he immediately wiggled his body as though seeking praise.

Like a three-year-old who had successfully cooked for himself for the first time and wanted to be complimented.

The helplessness at the corner of Mu Yun's mouth vanished instantly when he saw the childlike Weedle.

He walked over with a smile, rubbed Weedle's little head, and said gently, "Xiao Du, you're amazing. You've learned to eat by yourself!"

"But remember to close the refrigerator next time, or everything inside will spoil."

First, affirm what he had done right, then point out what he had done wrong.

That way, it would neither discourage Weedle's enthusiasm for improving himself nor prevent him from quickly recognizing the problem and correcting it next time.

"Whoa!!"

Weedle glanced at the open refrigerator door and nodded vigorously.

Then he tilted his head up slightly, aimed at the refrigerator, and moved his mouth.

With a puff, a strand of snowy-white String Shot shot out and struck the refrigerator door with perfect accuracy.

Pushed by the String Shot, the refrigerator door immediately swung shut.

"As expected of my Xiao Du. So smart!"

Looking at the closed refrigerator door, Mu Yun was briefly stunned before smiling even more broadly and rubbing Weedle's little head again.

Smart and well-behaved children really were lovable.

After praising Weedle once more, Mu Yun turned around, opened the refrigerator, took out three eggs, and began preparing breakfast.

"My Cooking skill only needs a few more experience points to level up, right?"

After skillfully placing the raw eggs into cold water, Mu Yun summoned his host panel and glanced at the skill section.

[Skill: Cooking (LV1, 96/100), ...]

"Four points short... Forget it, I'll make something nice and fill it up in one go!"

After more than a week, Mu Yun had learned that the experience gained by Cooking mainly depended on how lavish a meal was.

The more expensive and scarce the ingredients, the more varied and complicated the dishes, and the more diverse and delicious the flavors, the more experience he would gain.

Normally, he could not be bothered to make anything complicated in the morning.

But now, seeing that his Cooking skill was only one step away from leveling up, he could not help feeling tempted.

After looking over the ingredients in the refrigerator, Mu Yun quickly came up with an idea.

Steamed egg custard, egg pancakes, pickled vegetables, shredded potatoes...

Mu Yun took out every usable ingredient and swiftly turned them into breakfast dishes.

Finally, after more than an hour of work, a breakfast even more lavish than his usual lunch appeared on the dining table.

[Ding! The host has prepared a rather thoughtful and lavish breakfast. Cooking skill experience +5!]

[Ding! Through persistent effort, the host's skill—Cooking—has broken through to LV2!]

[Cooking (LV2, 1/1000): Dish deliciousness +100%. The consumer has an extremely small chance of triggering Gourmet Illusion (a brief, wondrous hallucination caused by food that is too delicious).]

The instant the system notifications sounded, countless pieces of knowledge regarding knife work, seasoning, and heat control slowly flowed into Mu Yun's mind.

LV2 Cooking was equivalent to that of a Professional Level chef. With all kinds of theoretical knowledge and practical techniques, Mu Yun could now easily pass a chef certification exam.

Once he had finished absorbing the knowledge, Mu Yun examined the changes brought about by the Cooking skill's upgrade.

A 100% increase in deliciousness was easy enough to understand.

It simply meant the food would taste better.

As for how delicious it would be after doubling, he would have to try it in a moment to find out.

"Gourmet Illusion?"

Mu Yun raised an eyebrow as he looked at the second effect.

This Trait inexplicably reminded him of a food anime from his previous life, where people would suddenly have their clothes explode while eating.

Although this Trait did not make clothes explode, the sense of immersion in fantasy was quite similar.

He just did not know how small that extremely small chance really was.

After briefly looking over the Traits gained from the Cooking upgrade, Mu Yun withdrew his attention and took another two eggs from the refrigerator.

Since he had already made a whole tableful of dishes and there were not many ingredients left, he could only make a simple fried egg to test the effect of doubled deliciousness.

He heated the pan, added oil, and cracked in two chicken eggs of equal size once the oil was hot.

Once they had set slightly, he sprinkled on a little salt, Sichuan pepper powder, and cumin powder.

Mu Yun could clearly sense that, perhaps because the Trait was taking effect, a rich fragrance drifted from the pan from this ordinary fried egg he had made countless times, enveloping him like mist.

The scorched fragrance of egg mingled with fat, the spicy aroma of cumin blending with Sichuan pepper, the mellow scent of everything coming together...

It was obviously just the simplest fried egg, yet at that moment, it was more enticing than the sizzling, oil-dripping beef and lamb skewers from a roadside barbecue stall during a night run. His Adam's apple could not help bobbing.

"Whoa!?"

Even Weedle, who had just finished an Energy Cube nearby, could not help lifting his little head and staring over with his round eyes.

After all, due to the structure of their taste buds, most Pokémon did not enjoy human food.

It was like someone who ate large amounts of spicy food for a long time. Their taste buds would become desensitized, and they would no longer like bland-tasting food.

Pokémon were the same.

For Weedle, aside from spicy dishes like stir-fried pork with chili peppers, which he would take a few bites of, he normally only ate Energy Cubes and Moomoo Milk.

"You want some too?"

Mu Yun came back to his senses from the fragrant aroma and looked at Weedle, who was gazing at him.

"Whoa!!"

Weedle nodded impatiently.

Seeing this, the corners of Mu Yun's mouth lifted slightly.

This was the first time he had seen Weedle take such an interest in food he had cooked.

How should he put it...

It felt like an old father returning after mastering a craft, pulling off an impressive performance, and utterly astounding his child.

"All right, then let your father show you his Cooking skills!"

Mu Yun immediately picked up the seasoning jar containing chili powder from beside him.

The bright red powder was shaken evenly over the golden-white fried egg.

As the chili powder fell, drool seemed to seep from the corner of Weedle's mouth. For the first time, his tiny eyes were filled with Covet for food.

Soon, the two fried eggs came out of the pan and were placed on separate plates.

The one decorated with bright red was Weedle's.

The other was his.

"Give it a try. If you like it, I'll make it for you again next time."

As he spoke, Mu Yun picked up his chopsticks and eagerly tasted the fried egg with its "deliciousness +100%."

The moment it entered his mouth, Mu Yun's eyes widened, disbelief filling his pupils.

This was a fried egg?

Was it really this delicious?

Did I really make this?

Though three questions flashed through his mind, Mu Yun's hand did not stop in the slightest. In just a few bites, he had stuffed the entire fried egg into his stomach.

After coming back to his senses, Mu Yun looked at Weedle beside him.

Weedle was also eating with immense delight. Chili powder covered the corners of his mouth, turning them bright red, while his little eyes had narrowed into slits. He was clearly satisfied beyond measure.

With the 100% deliciousness boost, even a picky Pokémon could become addicted to a fried egg.

It was hard to imagine what kind of effects there would be once his Cooking level rose a few more times.

By then, even if Arceus showed up, he would probably beg Mu Yun to cook him a few dishes.

Imagining the bizarre sight of the alpaca god lying on the ground, exposing his belly and acting cute like a little glutton, Mu Yun could not help smiling.

Cooking was great. He needed to practice Cooking!

After savoring the aftertaste, Mu Yun looked at the lavish breakfast on the table and somehow found it rather bland.

Unfortunately, his current circumstances did not allow him to waste food, and he was not someone who wasted food in the first place.

He could only force himself to finish the entire tableful of breakfast.

The breakfast that had originally tasted fairly good was truly more than a notch inferior compared to the fried egg with its 100% deliciousness boost.

Fortunately, every meal in the future would be this delicious!

"Full and satisfied, Xiao Du, let's begin today's training!"

"Whoa!!"