Taking the System’s notification as the go-ahead and not wanting to have his creation burned to a pile of ashes, Severin quickly made his way over to the silver oven. He put on the provided heat-resistant Oven Mitts and removed the tray found inside. Not without having one eye on the remaining System messages, though.

[Based on host’s past experience, the newly created dish has been recognized as so-called ‘Pizza’.]

“What?!” Severin couldn’t help but exclaim, almost burning himself in the process. Reading the announcement left him more than just a bit creeped out. “So, can it read my thoughts? Maybe directly access my memories?” While being able to directly recognize exactly at which point the pizza in the oven was done, in Severin’s mind was already somewhat questionable, especially considering that the System shouldn’t have any knowledge about the dish, but still somewhat acceptable. Calling it by its name and referring to Severin’s past experiences, however, made him almost feel violated.

Almost.

It didn’t exactly come out of the blue. Not only was there very obviously some kind of magic involved with this whole transmigrating business, not to mention that magic was an integral part of this world, but Severin had already long asked himself whether the System choosing him in particular was actually random or not. If it wasn’t, one had to wonder by what criteria he was chosen. Criteria on which all potential hosts had to be checked, and which probably also had to include their thoughts and memories and experiences. According to Severin’s speculations, anyway. Besides.

The whole ‘host’ thing very much sounded as if the System had become an actual part of him. Using him. Like a parasite. So having a direct connection to not only his body, while disturbing a thought, wouldn’t be all that unexpected.

For this short moment, it still threw him off his game.

Severin lay down the tray and took a deep breath.

The pizza in front of him looked better than he had feared. And then the tempting smell. Under different circumstances, he wouldn’t have been able to put up any resistance and would’ve directly gone for a big slice while totally disregarding the danger of accidentally burning himself in the process.

After the previous considerations, however, his appetite wasn’t all that huge anymore. So, while he still had to swallow his saliva and had to force himself to turn away from the inviting sight, he decided to first check out the remaining messages.

[Improved recipe added to the recipe book. Corresponding ingredients will be provided.]

He halted once again. “What does this mean? Does this change anything?”

What Severin was questioning was not the actual meaning of the words before him, but their implications. “This improved version doesn’t come from my memory, that much is for sure. So…? Maybe it’s a recipe I would’ve learned sooner or later, anyway? Provided by the System. Or is it something anyone… anything?... with some cooking skills can come up with after witnessing my own attempt? Well, it might also come from my subconsciousness, I guess. I mean, I might have watched a few of those cooking shows that aren’t really about cooking.” Severin didn’t dare to think about these matters too intently. He still wasn’t in the mood to debate whether or not his mind and thoughts might be monitored.

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Not least to distract himself, he instead decided to take a quick look at the new recipe and to absorb the included knowledge.

“So that’s how you do it”, Severin exclaimed with much more enthusiasm than he actually felt. Apparently, the new and improved version still had him make his own sauce from scratch, but now at least he was provided with a technique to peel the tomatoes without making too much of a mess, which would allow him to avoid unnecessary waste. “Heating followed by sub-sequential cooling. Makes sense, I guess.”

In reality Severin couldn’t care less. He simply wanted to keep his thoughts from drifting.

“Let’s see. There is still more, it seems.”

[New quest unlocked!

Mix and Match I

Quest task: Discover or come up with a total of five new recipes. Outside help apart from that provided by [Employees] is prohibited.

Quest reward: Host will get to pick one item out of a randomly chosen assortment of products. Limitless supply of selected item will be provided. Item in question does not require manual crafting. Presented choice of items is not restricted by host’s currently learned professions.

Additional Information: To further reward the host’s creativity and initiative to actively improve and expand the Emporium and its range of products, further options regarding the host’s income conversion are unlocked for all self-discovered recipes.

Current progress: 1/5 ]

This was enough to distract Severin from his previous thoughts. He was almost ecstatic.

“So even in the case that the System decides to scam me in regard to the rewards, and even if I won’t be able to discover any more recipes, in the worst case I can still purchase the pizza for half its price!” He had immediately confirmed that he could adjust the conversion rate for his newest dish to up to fifty percent.

“After that I can simply readjust it again, haha. Too bad I can’t control the price itself.” Severin was uncharacteristically pleased, not only with himself but also with the System. Even more so after confirming that he wasn’t charged anything for the single pizza that was currently still waiting for him.

“Seeing that it’s only called ‘Pizza’ and not ‘Margherita’ or something along those lines, I suspect the System doesn’t make a distinction based on its toppings. Too bad. Otherwise, coming up with four more recipes would just be a matter of time.

But for now, even with the few additions to the list of available ingredients, I don’t see anything new I could create. Maybe pasta?”

Those cooking shows really didn’t teach him much.

Severin read through the quest text once again.

“‘Not restricted by host’s current professions.’ There’s this word again,” Severin said unhappily, but it was actually another part of that sentence that really caught his attention.

“Current professions… does that mean…? Finding new recipes shouldn’t be limited to just cooking, right?!”