Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 494 - 493: Rare?

Chapter 494: Chapter 493: Rare?

Hearing this, Xia Yu furrowed his brows instead.

A dish? Even a clever housewife can’t cook without rice. The lack of ingredients was already troubling enough.

"Cookware!"

Xia Yu had a sudden thought, wanting to take the blue replica version of the [Greedy Wolf Knife] out of his inventory and offer it up. Ever since he got the true purple version of the [Greedy Wolf Knife], this blue cookware had been gathering dust.

But considering it was inappropriate to be so blatant in front of the man, he glanced over, only to see the man leave the main hall with a hearty laugh.

Without further hesitation, the heavy cookware was placed on the altar. As soon as Xia Yu let go, wham.

A blinding flash of light, and when Xia Yu opened his eyes again, the knife was gone!

"Uh?" He was slightly dumbfounded.

A reaction?

At this moment, Xia Yu raised an eyebrow, vaguely sensing an intention coming to him, a yearning that meant—

I want more!

"Damn it!"

Was he dealing with a gluttonous deity?

Ahem. Afraid his thoughts might blaspheme the deity, Xia Yu didn’t want his exhausting mountain climb of the past few days to be in vain. He carefully checked his inventory.

He skipped over the golden recipes

And the purple items as well.

"Then how about this pan?"

He placed a blue frying pan on the altar, which was used to increase the probability of dishes glowing, though it was seldom used.

Placing it there, the pan vanished again, yet the altar still had no response!

"Not right!"

Xia Yu looked closely and discovered that there was a faint light emanating from the stone altar. It turned out that at some point, a lamp had lit up inside the altar. There were four similar oil lamps in total, and only one was now lit...

Gritting his teeth.

With the blue items gone, he had no choice but to use a purple item!

"[Pixiu Wood Carving]!"

A strange purple quality wood carving held in his hand.

Whoosh!

A peculiar wind started blowing into the open main hall, and the sound of the wind carried whispers of yearning. Xia Yu felt a chill on his scalp and could only grit his teeth as he placed the wood carving on the altar.

Instantly, the remaining three lamps all lit up!

Xia Yu patiently waited.

After a while, a fox with beautiful, snowy white fur leaped into the main hall, half-sitting at Xia Yu’s feet, looking up at him with intelligent eyes, as if seeking his opinion.

A burst of hearty laughter erupted as the scruffy man returned.

"This is the messenger of Chuyun."

"Messenger?"

"Yes, it represents the will of Chuyun and will serve you for seven days. During these seven days, you can command it at will and let it help you search for the rarest Fantasy Ingredients in these mountains."

At ’rare,’ the scruffy man gritted his teeth in jealousy.

Jealousy?

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu asked, "Do all Gourmet Hunters need to offer tributes to hunt?"

The scruffy man chuckled in disbelief, "This is a shortcut!"

"This vast uninhabited mountain area is teeming with wild beasts and fantasy species. You have to at least traverse the mountains to familiarize yourself with the terrain before you can hunt for the Fantasy Ingredients you desire. Don’t think of hunting as too simple. Sometimes, isn’t it more convenient to rely on mystical powers..."

Xia Yu thought, "Doesn’t that equate to a quest marker?"

"Do you think everyone is as generous as you, offering tributes from the moment they arrive that satisfy Chuyun?" said the scruffy man speechlessly. "The last time I got a messenger’s guidance was eight or nine years ago. Hmm, my memory is fuzzy!"

"Really don’t know what tribute you offered!"

Bang!

As he spoke, the scruffy man kicked the stone altar in anger, saying, "I’ve offered up every one of my dishes, but only succeeded the first time. Later, the altar completely ignored me!"

"Damn it!"

This...

Xia Yu was shocked and looked at the white Spirit Fox sitting at his feet. This messenger fox didn’t care about the scruffy man’s desecration of the altar, stretching its scarlet little tongue to lick the fur on its forelimbs, grooming itself.

"Ding, [First Fantasy Ingredient Hunt] quest information has been updated."

The system popped a notification.

"Hunt the marked fantasy species!"

"Reward—Unlock the corresponding Fantasy Ingredients!"

At this, Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

Marked rare ingredients?

What could it be?

Xia Yu couldn’t help but speculate and look forward to it, only to be interrupted by a shout:

"Kid, hire me!"

The scruffy man pulled out a crumpled mercenary certificate from his pocket, "I’m a certified professional Food Mercenary!"

The mercenary certificate bore the man’s name:

Jintan Shun.

It had the IGO and Japan Government stamps.

"Hire?"

"Hey, don’t underestimate fantasy creatures!"

"The rarer the fantasy species, the more formidable and intelligent they are... In these ten years, I’ve seen too many experienced veterans crash and burn. How can you handle them alone?"

Beckoning to Xia Yu, the scruffy man led him to a small wooden hut next to the shrine’s main hall.

"These houses, I built them myself over the past decade..."

Casually saying this, he pushed open the door.

As the interior scene was exposed to view, Xia Yu took a sharp intake of breath. This was a hot weapon shack; the exterior looked ancient, but inside it was a weapon shop, with various heavy weapons mounted on the walls.

There were hunting rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.

The scruffy man directly picked up an AA-12 shotgun, loaded the ammo drum, looking excited.

"Let’s hunt!"

"Wait—"

Xia Yu rubbed his temple, stopping the more excited and thrilled Jintan Shun, his mind needing to organize many things. He needed a guide, and also needed a combat partner, so after considering for a bit, he slowly asked,

"What do I have to pay to hire you?"

This obviously was a question that hit the right spot.

Jintan Shun lowered the AA-12 shotgun in his hand, coughed, and said, "I don’t need money. If the hunt succeeds, give me a third of the ingredients as my commission."

Using ingredients as payment? Xia Yu was taken aback.

"A quarter will do!" Jintan Shun saw his silence and thought the price too high, so he gritted his teeth and cut it down.

Xia Yu chuckled inwardly.

His mission’s reward was the unlocking of the corresponding ingredients in the Chef God Mall, so as long as he had enough Fame Points, he could buy them endlessly. Therefore, he didn’t mind this commission at all.

On the contrary, Xia Yu was curious. What exactly was this man collecting ingredients for, staying in the mountains for ten years?

"I’m preparing for a life-and-death food battle." Jintan Shun had only one sentence.

Xia Yu felt a solemn respect arise.

"Alright! I’ll hire you!"

That day.

Xia Yu stayed temporarily at the Chuyun Shrine, exhausted from climbing the mountain for three days, needing a night to recharge.

At night, Xia Yu sat on the bed.

This was a house built by the Gourmet Hunter in the mountains, with the Silver Fox lying on the ground not far from the bed. Unchanged was the messenger still grooming itself, occasionally lifting its head to look at Xia Yu.

"[Pan-fried Gem Meat], should I eat it here?"

Xia Yu pondered.

"Host recommended to consume forbidden dishes, guaranteeing 100% food cell awakening; physical attributes will be comprehensively amplified and undergo a secondary enhancement!" The system proactively prompted for once.

"Huh?"

Xia Yu’s eyes lit up, "Amplified and enhanced?"

"Then what abilities will the [Devil’s] food cells have?" he asked.

"Please explore on your own!"

"Alright then..."

In another room.

Jintan Shun was quietly cleaning firearms, staring pensively for a long time at a photo on the table.

"...I’ll be back soon!"

The next day.

Having returned from the colorful punk hair state to normal, Xia Yu, accompanied by the recluse Gourmet Mercenary Jintan Shun, followed the Spirit Fox messenger’s lead to embark on the hunting path.