"I'm Six."
The time has finally come. In a secluded corner of a deserted park, the camera quietly began its automated recording. The shoot I am about to conduct involves the forbidden domain I have kept sealed until now: a 'cooking video.'
I will never forget the first cooking video. It was my very first upload, a trauma that caused a disaster so great I wanted to shield my eyes. As for why I am attempting that taboo once more...
It is because of fan demand. I have received many passionate requests—so many that I wonder what could possibly drive you people to this extent. My first cooking video was supposed to have ended in a complete failure. To be blunt, it had no redeeming qualities. Despite that, it boasts the highest view count of all my videos (though it is a re-upload).
At first, I thought they just wanted to mock someone else's failure. However, while that intent surely exists, it feels like there is more to it. They are mocking me, but at the same time, they seem to view me with a certain fondness... I don't quite know how to express it, but I feel that nuance is heavily present.
Responding to fan expectations is also the duty of an iTuber. I, too, am evolving as an iTuber every day. My videos of physical contact with wild animals have gained a certain level of popularity, and my own style is beginning to take root.
If I can lead this second cooking video to success, I might be able to add a new direction to my iTuber style. To cultivate a new viewer base, it is desirable to keep taking on new challenges without being trapped by past failures.
Thus, I have planned this second installment of cooking videos with full preparation. And let me state this clearly: I am not the same person I was back then, when I didn't know the first thing about iTube. With the numerous simulations I've thought through for this day and the skills I've acquired as a content creator, failure is impossible.
'I will win one hundred percent.' I pointed firmly at the camera with that determination. I'll cut this scene later.
Now, let's immediately announce the dish I'll be introducing today. Simply put, it's a mushroom dish. And not just any mushroom. I held up a large blue mushroom toward the camera as if to show it off.
I gathered this in the forest yesterday. The current season is winter, far from the season for mushrooms. Yet, deep in the snow-covered forest, I discovered this single, large-grown mushroom. Even just the diameter of the cap easily exceeded ten centimeters.
Since it was rare, I took it home for the time being, and upon looking it up on the internet, I found it was a species called the Frozen Moon Mushroom. Apparently, it is a mushroom that only grows in extremely cold environments. It is a phantom ingredient that even Gourmet Hunters pursue, and it is said to almost never appear on the market.
I regretted that I could have made a video from the moment I entered the forest to the point of harvest if I had known in advance, but that would be wishing for too much. That is the background of how this project came to be.
A phantom mushroom that is rarely obtained. It is no exaggeration to say that the success of today's dish is guaranteed by its existence alone. With such a high-end ingredient, it's bound to be delicious no matter how I cook it. But I did not become complacent.
In this day and age, a quick internet search yields plenty of simple recipes that even an amateur can easily make. If I look at a few of those and combine them, the number of arrangements is infinite. I lined up the ingredients I had prepared on the cutting board and pulled out my survival knife.
First, I cut off the stalk of the main star, the mushroom. I cut the stalk into bite-sized pieces. Then, I put them into a plastic container along with some small shrimp and scallops that I had pre-treated and lightly cooked. I seasoned those ingredients with cheese, minced garlic, hawk's claw chili, salt, and pepper.
Here, I flipped the remaining mushroom cap over to use as a dish. I dropped olive oil into it from a needlessly high position. Into the generously poured oil, I began to pile the ingredients I had just mixed. And for the final touch, I added butter.
I piled a mountain of handmade-style grass-fed butter from Minoru Ranch onto the overflowing mushroom dish. All that was left was to grill it. With a careful hand to avoid spilling, I carried it over to the portable stove.
This stove is the one I used in my first cooking video. I didn't think it would see the light of day again, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, so I had been storing it at my temporary base in the mountains. Immersed in deep emotion, I finally ignited the flame.
I felt the reality of my own growth. This dish is much more 'cooking-like' compared to the Jagabata-kun incident. I hugged my knees in front of the stove and silently observed the mushroom as it slowly grilled. Last time, I couldn't bear the silence and tried to eat it before it was properly cooked, but I don't need to worry about that now. I can just cut the waiting time in the edit.
The towering pile of butter began to melt from the heat and, as if it were a natural conclusion, started to spill over the edge of the dish. The fragrant smell of the grilling mushroom mingled with the rich scent of the dripping butter being seared by the fire.
Ideally, using an oven rather than a grill would allow the heat to distribute more evenly and produce a more delicious result, but I decided against it because preparing the equipment was a hassle. Most importantly, if I put it in an oven, it would be difficult to film the cooking process.
Since I am introducing this as a cooking video, the visual 'deliciousness' of the cooking process is indispensable. In fact, one could say it takes priority over actual deliciousness. To put it extremely, it doesn't matter if the taste is bad as long as it looks good.
It's called a phantom ingredient, but I don't actually know what this mushroom tastes like. This was the only one I could harvest, so I couldn't do a trial tasting. If I used an incompatible cooking method, I wouldn't be able to bring out the flavor of such a high-end ingredient.
But that doesn't matter. The most important thing is 'the aesthetic.' The information the viewers can perceive is limited to their vision. Furthermore, the mushroom used in this recipe is a rare ingredient that is difficult to obtain. It's not a dish they can imitate and make.
I had some guilty thoughts like that, but I figured there was no need to worry. The other ingredients and the cooking method are perfectly sound, and I can't imagine a bad dish coming out of this. The dish grilling before my eyes has a truly appetizing smell.
"Looks good."
I let out a perfunctory comment. But that's fine. If there are details about the recipe or information I want to supplement, I can edit that in later with subtitles. The painful silence can also be eased with BGM. Based on my experience so far, if I try to say something clever, it's highly likely to just make things more awkward. Therefore, I believe this natural reaction is best.
While all this was happening, the dish was nearing completion. This much heat should be enough. I removed the camera from the stand and took a close-up shot.
"Frozen Moon Mushroom al ajillo, complete."
It turned out quite well. However, as expected, the grill focused the heat on the bottom, causing the mushroom dish to overcook and char, but that actually worked in its favor. The Frozen Moon Mushroom is blue, and as an ingredient, I can't shake a slight sense of resistance from its color. But by charring it, the blue becomes less noticeable under the grilled color, which is actually a plus in terms of appearance.
Within the dish made from the mushroom cap, the olive oil, butter, and the dashi seeping out of the mushroom were concentrated. Added to that was the savory seafood flavor of the shrimp and scallops, and the garlic aroma that enhanced it all made it even more appetizing. When I made a crisp cut with the knife, the exquisite soup overflowed. For a final touch, the cheese flowed out smoothly.
I've already thought of those impressions even though I haven't eaten it yet. Now I just have to eat it and say the lines according to the script. I've left nothing to chance.
"I will eat."
But then, I suddenly realized something. With victory right before my eyes, I had let my guard down completely. Once more, I carefully checked my surroundings.
The last cooking video failed to even end properly due to the unexpected intrusion of a stray dog. I have been vigilantly on guard this time to avoid making that same mistake. Good, there are no signs of people or animals nearby.
"I will eat."
I finally did the actual tasting. I cut a piece of the piping hot mushroom dish with my knife and brought it to my mouth.
...! This is...
"Munch munch... the olive oil and butter... cough... and the mushrooms seep... guh... seeping out, delici... ugh!?"
An intense acridity that ruined the flavor of every ingredient, an acidity so strong I mistook it for stomach acid flowing backward, and a spiciness that more than made up for it by overwriting everything else began to spread through my mouth, thoroughly destroying the taste buds on my tongue.
This is... poison. It's not a matter of it being delicious or disgusting. It's a poisonous mushroom.
This Frozen Moon Mushroom is mainly discovered in extremely cold environments below minus forty degrees. It can be found in warmer cold regions, but in those climate zones, it is often confused with another, very similar type of mushroom.
That mushroom, called the False Frozen Moon Mushroom, has a very similar appearance, and it is difficult for anyone but an expert to tell them apart. Because it contains highly toxic components, it is said that amateurs should not touch it even if they find a Frozen Moon Mushroom.
While suffering from the poison, I remembered that information. Yes, I knew. I had proceeded with the shoot while harboring the suspicion that this mushroom might be poisonous.
If it were a real Frozen Moon Mushroom, I would upload it as a standard cooking video, and if it were a False Frozen Moon Mushroom, that would become a topic of conversation in its own right. I would change the video title to 'CAUTION: Tried Eating a Phantom Mushroom (Poisonous)' and deliver it to the viewers.
A perfect plan that accounts for every situation. Combined with the attraction power of my Pomerni Children privilege, it would easily surpass one million views... Despite being hit by intense abdominal pain, a smile escaped me at the potential of the False Frozen Moon Mushroom as a viral topic.
"Geboah!!"
At that moment, an oversized urge to vomit surged up. I tried to endure it by covering my mouth, thinking that throwing up in front of the camera would be bad, but I could not resist the explosive energy that felt like champagne bursting in my stomach.
The sight was exactly like a volcanic eruption. A mass of red bloody vomit, like magma, overflowed in large quantities. Along with that gruesome hematemesis, which felt as if my entire stomach lining had been scraped off and spat out, a wave of anxiety that this might actually be bad washed over me.
Six's body can be healed using life force even after taking damage. However, that is purely a passive reaction, so it doesn't mean the damage is being nullified.
Regarding toxins, it was impossible to completely wipe out the effects. Even if physical damage can be repaired, the poisons taken into the body cannot be removed. I had no choice but to wait for them to be detoxified by my internal organs or expelled from the body.
However, if I continuously invested life force, I wouldn't waste away. The human body is well-built; if internal organ functions are preserved with life force, most toxins can be neutralized or expelled. Even slightly dangerous poisons can be recovered from in about half a day with rest and plenty of fluids.
However, it becomes troublesome when the poison significantly exceeds that neutralization efficiency. I would have to not only preserve internal organ functions but also constantly keep repairing the organs being destroyed. It goes without saying that this would consume a massive amount of life force.
It seems the poison of this False Frozen Moon Mushroom was even more toxic than I had thought. Deciding that staying like this was dangerous, I immediately set about emergency detoxification measures. I picked up my survival knife and plunged it into my own stomach.
SLASH!
Ignoring the splattering blood, I cut open my abdomen. I thrust my hand under the skin, grabbed my stomach, and dragged it out of my body. Part of my intestines came along with the stomach. I severed the trailing tubes of flesh at an appropriate point and shoved the rest back into my belly.
This is the Six-style emergency detoxification measure. I remove the entire area contaminated by the poison and recreate it. It had been proven that when afflicted by a powerful toxin, doing this suppressed the life force consumption required for complete detoxification and allowed for faster recovery.
If I were bitten by a venomous snake, I could use this treatment method casually, but in a case like this where I have ingested poison, it takes quite a bit of courage. It involves excruciating pain, but it is still better than continuing to suffer the pain of a lethal toxin.
The external wound on my abdomen had already vanished, and the regeneration of my internal organs was complete. It seemed I had managed to remove most of the poison before it could spread throughout my entire body. My physical condition felt much better. I wiped the sweat with my arm and let out a sigh of relief.
Then, I finally noticed. My eyes met the camera that was still recording. On the ground was a massive pool of blood and spilled internal organs, and Six was standing there covered in blood, gripping a survival knife.
I wondered if there was a way to wrap up this situation successfully. I set my high-speed thinking to work. My experience as an iTuber guided my actions. I struck a pose in front of the camera.
"Ch... Che-check it out."
And so, this video was archived without ever being uploaded.