The city gate was massive. Each door was the size of a three-story building.
“Why would they make doors this big?” Jack asked.
“What do you mean?” Amari answered, frowning.
“I thought that these walls were supposed to keep the dinosaurs out. Why make the doors large enough to let them in?”
“Oh, I see what you mean. Think about it. Whenever someone hunts a dinosaur, how could they ever bring it back to the city if the gate wasn't at least this big?”
“Can’t they chop it up after they hunt them?”
“Sometimes they do. But sometimes the goal is to capture them alive.”
“Why would they do that?” Jack asked, horrified at the prospect of a dinosaur running loose in the city.
“To tame them, for the zoo, the historical society—the list goes on.”
“I suppose it makes sense, then.”
“Come, let's choose the best meal for the expedition. Look for any food stalls that sell compy meat.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your choice of meal can make or break the success of any quest. Here are a few good rules of thumb if you've never visited the food stalls. Look for anything with compy meat on the menu. Most compy dishes provide damage bonuses when fighting them, but we can skip those. Our quest doesn't require us to kill any compies. One of the dishes is bound to have some kind of bonus to help keep compies away. That’s what we want.”
“Also, since the expedition is between gates, it will be at least a 90-minute trip each way. Therefore, choose any dishes that give buffs that last for at least two hours. That should keep us covered for both the trip there and raiding the ruins. Got it?”
Jack had learned that when Amari started droning like this, he wasn’t just talking to him but to his internet audience. He didn’t mind it. Amari saved him the trouble of looking for answers to his questions online.
“Okay, but what's the difference between this food and the one I'll make?” Jack asked, confused. Buying the pots hadn’t been cheap, but now it seemed like that expense could have been avoided.
“It’s different. Apples and oranges. What you can cook as a low-level bushcrafter only lets you recover health and stamina. Food made by proper chefs can give you very significant buffs. You'll understand it once you try it. I’ll go this way. You go that way. Message me if you find something.”
Jack saw Amari disappear into the hustle and bustle of the food court. There were dozens of stalls of all shapes and sizes and a crowd of players, forming what looked like a gourmet festival.
“Brontossaurus tail steak! Bring the whole party over, and one of you can eat for free!”
“Abeliasaurus stew! Great for rangers and rogues!”
“Axteroxyln smoothie! Great intelligence booster! Closing shop, so selling everything at 20% discount!”
An endless contest of hawking and screaming was the only thing that rivaled the chatter of the many customers. Surprisingly, these booths and stalls belonged to players. Some of them wore drabs, signaling that they were not too far from his level, whereas others were in pristine white clothes with long hats, making them look like chefs from top-tier hotels and restaurants. Jack was drawn to one of the fanciest booths. As he inspected the dish for sale, his eyes practically popped out of his sockets.
Octossaurus Filet (Rare)
Description: Fileted octossaurus tentacles with a drizzle of forever oil and a sprinkle of eden herbs.
Effects:
Increases chance of catching rare fish;
Boosts damage against all aquatic creatures by 20%;
+10 strength;
+100hp;
+500 stamina;
When inside water you gain a 30% movement speed bonus.
Lasts 3 hours.
What surprised Jack wasn’t just its incredible buffs but its price: it was on sale for 30 gold! How was he supposed to afford it?! Jack took a screenshot and sent it to Amari.
“Sorry. I should have explained myself better. I forgot this is your first time at the food stalls. Don’t even bother with those fancy-looking chefs. That one is a journeyman, probably even an expert. They won’t charge less than ten gold per dish. Look for novice chefs.”
“How?”
“Look for people who have equipment similar to ours. The dishes they make should look simpler, too. They have to pay a fee to the city to rent each stall. The closer to the gate, the more costly it is. Newer chefs tend to flock to the fringes. Their prices are better, and the dishes are better for us. Choose something more suitable to our level that preferably serves compy meat. Remember how they look from the taxidermic section at the museum?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Yeah. Will keep you posted.”
Jack walked around and caught sight of a player roasting small dinosaurs over a bonfire. He had pierced them through with a stick and kept steadily rotating it to grill the meat evenly. Even though it was already crispy and golden, Jack guessed that it could be compy meat. Catching a potential customer staring, the chef called out to him. “Can I get you a serving, sir?”
“It depends. Is that compy meat?”
“No. Close. It’s nemicolopterus. It’s delicious. Why don’t you try it?”
“Sorry. Thanks anyway.” Out of curiosity, Jack approached and checked the details of the dish as the chef tried to sell his food to another passerby.
Roasted Nemicolopterus (Common)
Description: A grilled nemicolopterus that has been seasoned with mint and rosemary.
Effects:
15% damage when hunting nemicolopterus;
You can climb trees and ledgers 20% faster;
+50 stamina for 90 minutes.
It was just as Amari said. If a meal used a particular type of meat for its ingredients, it could grant bonuses to hunt that animal. He kept cruising the food court and found a player who seemed to be of a similar level to him. He displayed quick, precise knife work as he chopped different vegetables. Jack could spot onions, carrots, and cauliflower, but there was a vegetable he had never seen before. It was spiky and oblong, something between an eggplant and a pineapple.
After the cook chopped the vegetables, he threw them into a hot pan. He threw spice after spice at timed intervals and then added wine, creating a burst of blue flames and scaring a player passing by. The cook put it neatly into a clay plate and set it next to a few more steamy similar plates.
Stir-Fried Eggapple (Common)
Description: A nutritious combination of vegetables with a finish of strawberry wine.
Effects:
+20hp;
+30 stamina bar;
+2% damage;
+5 block.
It seemed like vegetarian meals didn't give powerful specific buffs but, in turn, provided valuable bonuses for whatever situation. He had to ask Amari if his deductions were correct. The more meals Jack inspected, the more incredible the octossaurus filet seemed. Just as he was about to visit another stall, he received a message from Amari with coordinates.
Jack used the game system to do the thinking for him. He inserted the coordinates and followed the directions. He found Amari caught in a lively discussion with a young woman. She had tanned skin and dark eyes and wore a blue bandana that covered her hair.
Even as they discussed, she kept deep-frying the nuggets. The sound of the sizzling oil, the heat of the pan, and the spicy scent of the freshly fried nuggets made Jack’s mouth water.
“Two servings of compy nuggets for 40 a piece. Final offer,” Amari said in a decisive tone.
The girl seemed to hesitate for a moment but ended up nodding. “Deal.”
Amari was ready to take silver from his pocket. Jack took a deep breath and stepped up. “I'll cover for both of us.”
Amari whirled toward him, surprised. “Are you sure? Isn't this too much for you?”
“It’s the least I can do,” Jack said, shrugging.
Amari put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Aha! Greeny! Look at you, all generous. If you can afford it I won’t say no. You’re the embodiment of something I keep saying in my channel. When we're generous to others, others are generous to you. This is the best way of gaming, man. Pay it forward.”
Jack painstakingly took the silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the vendor. She threw a few nuggets on a couple of clay bowls, ignoring Amari’s speech. As Jack saw the bowls, he smiled. Who knew? Maybe he had crafted these!
Jack felt conflicting emotions as he saw Amari grab his serving of nuggets. Why had he paid for Amari’s nuggets? Was it because he knew that his viewers would find the gesture generous and that it could make his potential audience like him more? No, that wasn’t it.
On the one hand, he felt obligated to settle his debt. Amari had paid for most of the consumables necessary to complete this quest, and it felt wrong not to offer him this meal. But that wasn’t just it. Even though it was a lot of money, and Jack was partially cringing over the huge expense, it felt good. He couldn’t quite explain it.
“Eat them while they’re still hot,” urged Amari, interrupting Jack’s soul searching. “That's when they'll taste the best. Hmmm. I'd forgotten how good compy nuggets are.”
Jack put one of the nuggets in his mouth and bit into it. They were crispy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside. They didn't taste much different from chicken but had a gamier flavor. Once he had one, he couldn’t stop. He had one after the other. Jack received a series of notifications as soon as he finished the meal.
You’ve received [Compy Nuggets Buff].
The scent of your sweat drives nearby compies away. They are scared to approach you;
The stamina bar is increased by 100;
Resources spawn slightly quicker;
This buff lasts two hours.
Apart from these benefits, his health and stamina bars filled up. After running around the city, Jack's stamina bar had been relatively low. Now, it made perfect sense to him that the food stalls would be near the gate. This way, players could start quests and hunts with full health and stamina!
“What did I say? Worth it or not?” Amari asked cheekily.
“You're right. This is good.”
“Thanks for the meal!” he said to the girl.
“Anytime, chief!” the cook shouted as she continued making a new batch of nuggets.
“Come, Jack. Let's go to the gatekeepers.” Jack followed Amari as he wormed through the crowd toward the gate.
“Listen, Amari, I have a question. Most of the prices in the game are regulated by the market. Right? The game decides how much our stuff is worth.”
“That's correct.”
“But you were haggling at the food stalls. How come?”
Amari smiled. “Good catch. It's one of the benefits of being a chef.”
“What do you mean?”
“Food should be eaten fresh, or you risk it spoiling. It's something that has to be sold immediately after making it. It can't be sold in the market. Chefs take advantage of this."
"Chefs set up their stalls and sell directly to the public and can haggle the prices. They can make a quick buck if they meet rich, impatient, or unknowing players. For example, when I approached this girl, she asked me for 60 silver for a batch of nuggets. I negotiated it down to 40 because I know their worth. But if I didn’t, I would pay 50% more than the item’s worth.”
Jack gulped. “I see.”
“The game's economy is very complex, Jack. Regulating the prices for the more common goods lets the developers monitor the economy and prevent inflation. At the same time, you'll see that as you gather more rare items, you stop using the marketplace and go more often to auctions.”
Jack nodded. He had figured out as much from his conversations with Rob.
“The next part is going to be funny. We need to bribe a gatekeeper to let us out.”
“What? We need to bribe him? Aren’t we doing the city a favor by going out there and exploring?”
“It’s part of the game. The guards are dirty.”
Jack looked at his inventory and found only 30 silver coins left. He hoped that getting out of the city wouldn't be too expensive and that the quest would be worth it. He had spent over two gold securing items and having the compy nuggets. Would he break even after he finished the quest?