The Max-Level Chef’s Magical Town Game

“Giselle’s Restaurant Launches New Warming Dishes! Great quality at affordable prices, come and buy!”

—In the early morning, as the residents of Dragon Town woke up and stepped outside, they found this flyer in their mailbox.

Ye Mu also had a mailbox at her door, and Ivy would help her check it during her shifts. However, not many people lived in this world yet, so there weren’t many letters or packages sent to her. Most of the time, the mailbox was empty, and when there was something, it was usually this kind of advertisement, which Ye Mu couldn’t be bothered to read, and Ivy didn’t pay much attention to either.

But this particular flyer caught Ivy’s eye right away. She grabbed it and ran upstairs, shouting, “Miss Ye!”

Ye Mu was daydreaming by the window on the second floor, and Ivy’s voice pulled her back to reality. Turning around, she saw Ivy peeking into her bedroom and stood up, asking, “What’s up?”

“Look at this,” Ivy handed her the flyer. “It’s so strange.”

Ye Mu unfolded the flyer and was momentarily surprised by the words “warming dishes,” but after reading it, she replied, “It’s not like we’re the only ones who can offer this kind of dish. It’s not that strange.”

She was just a good cook, not a deity!

Ivy pouted. “I’ve never seen this kind of dish before you came to Dragon Town.”

Ye Mu frowned. “Not at all? None of the dishes I make, or even those that aren’t as good, are available?”

“Nope.” Ivy shook her head firmly. “Otherwise, why would everyone be gnawing on raw chili peppers?”

Her statement made Ye Mu feel something was off. It was possible that her cooking had inspired others to realize that chili could be added to dishes, leading to imitation. But to be safe, she asked Ivy for help: “Could you buy two portions of the dishes? I want to see what’s going on!”

After saying that, she realized that since Ivy was working as a waitress here, she might be recognized, so she added, “Forget it, don’t go by yourself. Ask a friend to help buy them, it’s safer that way!”

“Okay!” Ivy understood and nodded, sent a message to a friend. About half an hour later, a girl about Ivy’s age arrived at the Nightfall Restaurant, pulling out two portions of dishes from her backpack and handing them to Ye Mu.

While chatting with her, Ye Mu took out a portion of her [Mushroom Scrambled Eggs] as a thank-you gift. The girl’s eyes lit up, and she squealed as she ran outside, “Ahhhh! The culinary god gave me food!!!”

“…” Ye Mu was frozen for a few seconds and awkwardly turned to Ivy, saying, “Um… if your friend wants to come to the restaurant to eat, she can come anytime. If there’s no space, just take her to the kitchen to eat…”

Why make such a fuss!

Ivy suppressed her laughter. “She comes here often! It’s just so exciting that you personally prepared a gift!”

Ye Mu was left speechless, faintly sensing that her reputation as a “culinary god” was still on the rise.

Then she opened the two portions of dishes and took a spoon to taste them seriously.

[Spicy Tofu Rice]—the panel displayed that it provided immunity to cold effects for one hour and restored 10,000 health points.

She took a bite, and the rice far outnumbered the tofu, with the crushed tofu and spicy soup scattered among the grains, resulting in a very bland flavor.

The [Spicy Stewed Meat] also only provided immunity to cold effects for one hour, but restored 8,000 health and mana points, which was quite decent in terms of values.

As for the taste, Ye Mu found it similarly bland. The owner seemed reluctant to use more seasoning and added too much water, turning what should be a rich dish into a watery soup.

The appearance was also lacking, he had used too many types of vegetables, cutting them too finely, which made the dish look messy. Upon closer inspection, there was duck blood in it, but it had also been mashed into irregular dark red chunks, which was quite unappetizing.

The only intact pieces in the whole dish were the meat slices, which still had a strong fishy smell despite being stewed in soup.

This reassured Ye Mu. With just these two dishes, it would be impossible for them to compete with her in the market. While they could be considered good value in terms of numbers, their taste was vastly inferior. She believed that customers with specific taste preferences wouldn’t choose these dishes.

As for those pursuing extreme cost-effectiveness, they weren’t her target customer anyway. Relying on simple flatbreads to fill their stomachs and sleeping to restore stamina, along with a bit of plain boiled meat and vegetables to recover the health and mana that sleeping couldn’t restore, was the most economical lifestyle in this world.

But… wait!

Just as Ye Mu was about to put down her spoon, something struck her, and her gaze shifted back to the two dishes.

Spicy Tofu Rice—was it just mapo tofu with rice?

Spicy Stewed Meat had duck blood—was it duck blood with meat slices and crushed vegetables?

Two “formulas” popped into Ye Mu’s mind.

Although she didn’t want to believe it was true because the taste of these two dishes was so poor. If someone was modifying ready-made dishes and ended up with this kind of result… she would want to say, please don’t waste the ingredients.

However, this coincidence was too uncanny. She had just sold [Mapo Tofu] and [Duck Blood] yesterday, and today these two dishes had emerged.

Thinking further, she suddenly realized that while the flavors of those two dishes were bland, they had used seasonings!

The fact that potions could act as seasonings—this was her own little discovery! She hadn’t told anyone about it!

With this thought, Ye Mu was basically certain that these two dishes were related to her. But even so, she couldn’t say much about it because it was business, she couldn’t stop others from “sourcing” ingredients from her for reprocessing.

But the price of the dishes was also wrong!

Ivy’s friend had bought these dishes, and naturally, they would seek reimbursement from her, so the earlier mentioned price was 50 copper coins per portion.

This price was indeed lower than the simplest boiled meat slices and stir-fried vegetables, but if they were “sourcing” from her, using one dish priced over 200 copper coins to break it down into four or five portions for reprocessing, then her cost alone should exceed that price!

The more she thought about it, the more off it seemed.

Ye Mu then recalled Jeff’s mention of the money seeming short last night. At that time, she hadn’t thought much of it, assuming it was just that she had prepared fewer dishes yesterday, but now she couldn’t help but start imagining other possibilities and suspected there might be another reason.

However, she decided not to act hastily and instructed Ivy not to mention this to the other three employees to avoid raising suspicions.

As for the rest… worrying without evidence wouldn’t help. She had no clue who the thief was, and since it wasn’t business hours yet, the culprit wouldn’t likely show up. Even if they did, she might not catch them in the act, so instead of fretting prematurely, it was better to focus on what needed to be done.

Thus, she followed her original plan and went to find Isaac.

Isaac had mentioned his suggestion of establishing a territory yesterday, which had surprised her like a far-fetched fantasy, so she didn’t agree.

But after some careful thought, she found herself increasingly considering that it might be worth a try.

After all, the game mechanics worked that way, so why not experiment with new gameplay?

She had always enjoyed “start her own business” in games. Back in college, she had played a popular online game where players could establish guilds, but by the time she started playing, the world was filled with large guilds, making it tough for small ones to thrive.

Even so, she preferred to gather her friends to create a new guild, allowing dozens of people to relax and enjoy themselves, away from the pressure of large guilds.

The situation now was somewhat similar. In Dragon Town, she hadn’t experienced the pressure of a large guild, but having dealt with the landlord’s price hikes and a competitor suspected of stealing from her, she had already sensed an unfriendly atmosphere.

Especially the latter, if things were as she suspected, it was quite malicious.

And in this Dragon Town, there were probably more unfriendly competitors than just this one.

Moreover, there were the outrageous taxes!

From any perspective, collecting a direct 50% tax on revenue was too much!!!

After being battered recently, Ye Mu felt it was better to seek new opportunities rather than be exploited here.

Most importantly, she had Isaac as an investor, which meant she wouldn’t have to spend her own money, significantly lowering her trial-and-error costs!

Ye Mu made up her mind and sent a message to Isaac. She originally planned to meet him, but Isaac came over himself.

Ye Mu still had doubts about his motives, not quite understanding what he aimed to gain from this investment, and she repeatedly confirmed with him, “You really don’t want management rights? Or a cut of the profits?”

Isaac affirmed that he didn’t.

“…Why not? Is this charity?” Ye Mu said this with a teasing tone.

Unexpectedly, Isaac nodded, “Sort of.”

Ye Mu replied, “Huh???”

“It’s not charity towards you,” Isaac chuckled. “Most territories have excessively high taxes, making it difficult for the poor. So I’ve always wanted to establish a low-tax territory to help them live better.”

“I see…” Ye Mu’s doubts were dispelled. This explanation made sense.

But another question popped up: “Why choose me?”

She understood that for various undisclosed reasons, she couldn’t engage in such activities, yet they weren’t very familiar with each other.

Isaac looked at her sincerely: “Well, you’re already doing charity in a way, so what difference does it make?”

“I… huh? I’m doing charity?” Ye Mu’s eyes filled with confusion. “Am I?”

Isaac asked with a half-smile, “Aren’t you?”

“…?” Ye Mu stared at him, her confusion deepening.

She clearly read something in Isaac’s eyes: everyone understands!

But she had no idea what he was talking about.

After a moment of silence, she asked in bewilderment, “Can you just say it directly? Is there some misunderstanding between us?”

“Uh?” Now it was Isaac’s turn to be puzzled.

He furrowed his brows, looking at her in disbelief: “You really don’t know at all?”

Ye Mu shook her head, “I haven’t donated a single copper coin.”

“Haha…” Isaac laughed, a complex expression in his eyes. “It’s already spread among adventurers, and you still don’t know!”