The small fire burned reluctantly.
It wasn't just because the wood was wet, but because the ground beneath it seemed to resist the heat. Every time the fire grew a little, a thin, greenish smoke rose, mingling with the lingering smell of swamp.
Minglan squatted in front of the fire, rubbing his palms. His body shivered, not from the cold, but from the late-set exhaustion. Only after the night set did his body remember how close he had come to death several times that day.
Yalin sat across from him. Her eyes were half-closed, her face facing the fire, though she clearly wasn't actually seeing the flames.
"Is something wrong?" Minglan asked quietly.
Yalin shook her head. "No. I'm just listening."
"Listening to what?"
"The ground," she replied lightly. "The fire is bothering it."
Minglan didn't know how to respond, so he turned back to the ingredients spread out on the large leaf. Root vegetables with rough skin. Small pieces of meat, already starting to dry out. Dark seeds. Dried mushrooms with a pungent odor.
Simple ingredients, simply for survival.
In games, combinations like this often produce mild poison neutralizers.
But keep in mind that the game they're playing is a crazy one where almost everything contains poison.
In fact, it seems like there's no such thing as a poison neutralizer in this game. If you get poisoned, you'll die. That's it.
Not getting another answer, Yalin probed, "What are you doing? Why is it so quiet?"
"I'm just examining the ingredients you brought out earlier."
"Huh? What for?"
Minglan looked at the innocent-faced girl and wondered how Yalin had managed to survive for three months in a place like this with such low awareness for food that goes into her guts.
"Don't you know everything here are usually poisonous?" Minglan said, trying not to sound patronizing.
"I know," Yalin replied flatly, "but all the poison in the ingredients can be removed if we process them properly."
Now, that is new.
Yalin walked over, hands feeling around looking for something, and then she picked up a dried mushroom. "Take these mushrooms for example," she held them out to Minglan, "we have to boil them first, and we have to do it as soon as we pick them. After that, we have to squeeze out the water and dry them. Then they're safe to eat."
...Minglan admitted he was a fool. It never occurred to him that how one process their food could remove the toxic substances in the ingredients.
"What about the others?" Minglan asked.
Yalin put the mushrooms back on the cloth and lifted her face to face Minglan. "Root vegetables need to be wrapped in green leaves for about three hours to remove the poison. Vipers meat should be cut into small pieces and washed with fresh water, such as rainwater, to remove the poison. Dried seeds are usually safe to eat, so there's not much that needs to be done."
Minglan was silent for a long moment.
Not because he didn't believe it, but because he felt… slapped in the face.
"I've never thought about things like that. I just thought I had to find non-poisoned food," he said.
Yalin tilted her head slightly. "If that's the case, how are you supposed to survive in a world as dangerous as this one? You should start thinking about it more often now. We can't always avoid problems, often times we have to solve it."
Yalin moved calmly around the fire.
Her hands didn't hesitate, even though her eyes couldn't see. She recognized each ingredient by touch and scent. She quickly and skillfully chopped the root vegetables into small pieces after peeling them thoroughly. She squeezed the mushrooms to ensure there was no bitter water residue. Then, she cut the meat into even smaller pieces and rinsed them repeatedly with clean water from her stash.
Minglan could only watch.
There was no worry in her movement. No second guessing.
As if losing her sight wasn't the biggest problem she'd ever faced in her life. As if losing her sight does not affect her cooking ability even a little bit.
As everything was placed in the container suspended over their small fire, the aroma slowly changed. The sticky swampy smell was replaced by a warm, simple, yet distinct fragrance. Minglan's stomach contracted gently.
"...it smells good," he said absently.
Yalin smiled faintly. "If it wasn't good, I wouldn't eat it."
The fire was extinguished as soon as the food was ready, in case the smoke and warmth will attracted some unwanted guests.
Yalin poured the food into a smaller container and then handed it to Minglan first.
"Eat," she said. "While it's warm."
The first bite left Minglan speechless.
Warm. Savory. Not overpowering, but just right. The root vegetables were soft, the mushrooms weren't bitter, and the meat added flavor without stealing the spotlight from the other ingredients.
"I didn't see you add any seasoning when you cooked it, but how come it tastes so good?" Minglan was truly amazed. Was this innocent girl a genius? A magician? Or what?
Yalin, who had already started eating, smiled. "Nature has already seasoned all its products. As long as we prepare it properly, we don't need salt or other seasonings."
A few seconds passed in comfortable silence.
Too comfortable.
Transparent text appeared in the air.
[Hunger: 0%]
[Hydration: 99%]
[Body Status: Stable]
[Debuff: Undetectable]
[Remaining Elimination Time: 6 Days 11 Hours]
[Contestants Remaining: 41]
Huh, it turns out cooking really does make a huge difference. Tonight's meal, compared to the charred viper meat he had eaten this afternoon, has such a huge difference that it was almost embarrassing.
They both agreed to take turns sleeping.
Trying to be a gentleman, Minglan chose to let Yalin sleep first.
He sat with his back to Yalin, his eyes intently watching the night.
Six more days. If he wasn't mistaken, the system that had been quite helpful to him today would disappear by the end of the six days.
Even with the system's help, he had almost died many times. He wondered if he could survive without it? Would the Seven Earths Culinary Academy be even more deadly than the elimination round he was currently in?
After all, even when playing the game at home, he had never made it to the Seven Earths Culinary Academy.