Chapter 2 - Novice

Ding!

Name: Liang Lei

Age: 20

Class: Chef

Tier: Novice 1

Skills: Eyes of the Yellow Maiden.

Cooking Skills: None.

What do you mean novice?

Lei's first reaction to the blue screen that hovered before his eyes was to gawk at the tier part. They had to be messing with him, thinking that he was a novice chef.

If he was a Novice chef then what about the others? Surely the system, or whatever the hell this was, wouldn't see them as cooks.

Easy now. You're being too hard on these people. Not their fault, right? They did nothing to you.

He drew in a deep breath to clear his mind, just to find dozens of people staring strangely at him. It was only then that he remembered he was in the middle of the market, behind the stall, cooking for a little crowd.

"The next batch will take some time," he said, smiling out into their faces for good measure.

Yes. Focus on the work at hand. You can wrack your brain some other time.

Lard, in. The sizzling wok and the curling smoke welcomed him into their warm hands, pulling him away from the system's nonsense. The onions were happy to dive in, and the peppers mixed beautifully right in their ranks.

"Hey, are you all right?" Fatty Lou said with concern in his eyes. "Let's take a break, if you want. We've already sold enough—"

"I'm fine, don't worry," Lei cut him straight away. This was good. Cooking eased his mind and allowed him to break free from his worries.

Add the tomatoes. Stir the mix with a stick. Ten eggs, all yellow and spotless. Don't forget the salt and the black pepper.

He found his way back into that monotonous rhythm, and the world slowly became light again. He swept the tomatoes from the chopping board, giving the wok a little shake before pouring them inside, breathing in the salty smell.

But then again, there was a lot to think about. It wouldn't hurt to check it, right? Not like he had anything better to do while waiting for the dish to cook.

Alright. Let's see.

First, he raised one hand over the Tier part, his smile straining at the edge of his lips. Then he focused his thoughts on the [Eyes of the Yellow Maiden] skill.

[Eyes of the Yellow Maiden: MAX] - The Yellow Maiden's eyes leave nothing unseen.

Well, that was helpful. Lei expected the system would give him clear instructions, or at least tell him how he could use this thing. But seemed as if it preferred a rather direct approach.

So Lei focused on his eyes. Closed them. Pinched them hard. But soon it occurred to him that he didn't remember what color his eyes were. Black, was it?

Is the color really that important? The intent is what matters—-

A peculiar sensation pricked his skin. Felt like a cold wind was slithering up his legs, through his chest, and finally settling over on his lids. His eyes jerked wide open, staring round down at the sizzling wok.

[Common Wok: Poor Quality]

What?

He blinked, and this time, focused on the ladle that lay near the wok.

[Common Ladle: Poor Quality]

Okay.

He shook his head, and gazed down at the chopsticks in his hand, juice dripping down their edges.

[Common Chopsticks: Good Quality]

Lei blew out a long breath. There was a budding headache crawling from the nape of his neck, sending jolts of pain up his head.

At least the menemen looked ready.

[Menemen - Basic Dish]

"Alright, next up!" he shouted, waving off the screen as though it was an annoying fly. He took the bread, sweat trickling down his back, and poured the menemen inside.

His hands almost blurred as he delivered one order after another, stealing glances from the coin pile that kept growing at the side from time to time. It helped to see them glinting under the sun. It sang, the money did, and its sound was the most beautiful thing in the world.

[Copper Coin: Poor Quality]

Can you just stop?!

"Brother Lei," came a voice from the side. "Your eyes…"

Lei snapped his head at Fatty Lou, glaring out into his face, furious for no particular reason. He squinted up and thought of bugs and flowers to keep his focus away from his eyes. He didn't have in him to see if the system would list certain qualifications of his only friend in this xianxia world.

"What about my eyes?" he asked, hoping that little trick had done the job.

Fatty Lou looked rather doubtful but still nodded. "For a second I thought I'd seen them blazing, but they look normal now."

"Must be the heat," Lei said.

"Yeah, it's bloody hot today." Fatty Lou forced out a smile.

Blazing eyes, and a sudden fury. Are these the side effects of this skill?

Though he didn't know who this Yellow Maiden was, there was no doubt that he had to be careful while using this skill. This was a xianxia world, and for all he knew, there could be a cultivator posing as some wrinkled old man to experience the mortal life to get rid of his inner demons hiding in the crowd.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Still, he couldn't help the smile settling widely on his lips. From the first moment he opened his eyes and saw that floating screen he knew something was strange. The reincarnation part hardly seemed like a normal affair, too, but he'd made peace with that way faster than he'd thought.

A month spent inside a rotten cage of a house that had been wrecked and burned by a stray cultivator's nuke made it hard to dwell too much on these things.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

But this system was new. It deserved some attention. For the whole month, he'd been busting his ass to unlock this damned thing, and now his efforts were finally rewarded.

Other than that eye skill, though, there didn't seem to be any particular use of this thing. He'd at least expected a cultivation manual, a real cheat like those people got in some novels.

There was a pause in his thoughts as he felt the cold wind ease through his skin again, a curious snake slithering round his chest. He hooked a finger around his collar to check if there was anything different but saw only smooth, hairless skin. Nothing was out of place in his body, but the cold was there.

Then it got colder still, and Lei started trembling. Felt like he'd dropped dead into a blizzard, shaking senseless, rubbing his arms in an effort to spread some warmth around his chest. A jab, followed by another voice made him double over the stall, breath wheezing in his chest, heart pounding in his head.

It was as though thousands of needles were trying to run him through.

"Uh," he grunted, feeling with one hand the stall, searching for something to balance his feet as the world spun around him.

A strong arm grabbed him by the shoulder, pulled him closer, and nailed his body back on the ground. Fatty Lou was speaking, but other than the strange buzzing inside his mind, Lei couldn't hear a damn thing.

What the hell is happening?!

Eyes round at the crowd, people gulped down their dishes one by one, smacking their lips contently. Lei found that at each bite the needles poking at him grew in numbers, scores of them pressing him tight from all around.

"Stop!" he shouted, waving a hand to the crowd. "Stop eating!"

"Brother Lei, are you—"

Lei yanked Fatty Lou by the collar, stared up at his eyes, and pleaded, "Make them stop…"

Fatty Lou looked greatly disturbed, but nodded at the words before roaring into the crowd, "Stop it! I want all of you to stop eating!"

People stopped. Lei could feel the pain around his chest alleviate into a mild sting. Rather than the needles, now it felt like there were thousands of ants crawling round his body. He set his jaw tight as he resisted the urge to scratch the itch, but there wasn't any part of his body that didn't ache from that episode.

He didn't have the time to consider any of that when a blue screen popped up before his eyes.

Your [Tier] has increased by 1 level.

Eh?

Skill Choices are available!

Ding!

[Soothing Touch - Novice 1]: Infuse your dishes with a calming aura that affects both you and the consumers of the food, reducing stress and increasing focus.

[Essence Enhancement - Novice 1]: Increases the potency of spiritual ingredients you use in your dishes.

[Spiritual Sensitivity - Novice 1]: Allows you to discern the spiritual essence of ingredients, identify hidden properties, and detect spiritual anomalies.

Lei stepped back, sweat trickling down his face. He didn't know what to do, or which one to choose.

I need to think before making a decision.

He dismissed the interface and wiped his face with the back of his hand as he stared at the crowd. They were waiting for his word, fingers clenched tight around loaves of bread. Lei gave Fatty Lou a nod.

"Go on, finish them up!" Fatty Lou said, and the crowd started devouring the dishes while Lei braced himself for another wave.

It wasn't hard to understand. There was something, some connection between the food and the pain. Each bite was a jab at his core, but it also boosted the system on some level.

Is this spiritual energy? Feels like it. I'm gaining energy as they eat my food.

Lei sighed, and slumped over on the side, threw his head back, and stared out into the skies. He raised a hand when he saw Fatty Lou's concerned face.

They had sold enough.

The energy poked him good, but as the people finished their meals, the pain became more bearable. Sighing a breath of relief, Lei focused on the system once again.

Twisted, and dangerous, but exciting, too, isn't it?

A curious thing — that's what it was. Strange that some system had taken his soul away after that crash, hurtled it down here, and made him a chef again. Not that he had any complaints. Quite the opposite, he would've become a chef himself if given the choice.

He didn't know any other thing. For all his life he'd worked in this kitchen or that, trying to carve out a little place for himself in the big bad world. No doubt it changed him, but he was less sure now if the change had been a good one.

A slave. Yes. That's what that change was all about. The only thing his dishes had done was to make some bastard richer. The smug smiles, those pompous fools, the sight of the crying cooks; scenes flashed before his eyes, and he was the bad one in most of them. He'd become a dog on their leash. Told himself there was no other way.

But this was… different. Things did start to seem a touch brighter to his eyes, now that he thought about it. It'd been this way after he opened his eyes to this strange world.

"Brother Lou," he said, wincing up his feet, and taking a last look at the crowd. "Let's call it a day."

Fatty Lou fixed him with a scowl. "I don't know what's happened to you, but you look like shit."

That was another way of putting it. But it was a good kind of shit if Lei had to say so himself. He clapped him on the shoulder, shaking his head. "I've never felt better."

"Fair enough," Fatty Lou said. "You go and rest. I'll deal with the stall."

"Thanks." Lei turned away and waved his arms to see if they'd sing. They didn't. "I'll see you tonight," he said and made for the old house.

…..