“System, check the quests. Are there any that can help me get stronger quickly?”
“Ding. Searching… Complete. Recommended side quests: Kitchen Demon, Beginning of the Flame-Chasers, Evolution and Ascension, Beginning of Paradise.”
“Introduce them. Arrange them from simple to difficult.”
Side Quest: Beginning of the Flame-Chasers Description: As a Host who currently cannot even truss a chicken, joining The Flame-Chasers will both make you stronger and let you latch onto the powerful.
Requirement: Join The Flame-Chasers.
Position does not matter.
Reward: One 10-pull gacha.
Side Quest: Evolution and Ascension Description: If the Host wants to become stronger, Dr. Mobius is highly recommended.
Building a good relationship with her will bring absolute benefits.
Requirement: Become friends with Mobius.
No time limit.
Reward: Talent – Learning Ability (Red)
Side Quest: Beginning of Paradise Description: Don’t ask.
The answer is Elysia!
If you don’t want to get close to Elysia, you might as well not have transmigrated.
Reward: Elysia herself is the best reward.
Side Quest: Kitchen Demon Description: The most recent and highest-danger quest.
Extremely likely to trigger the Host’s Immortality ability.
Tomorrow, eat the meal cooked by MEI.
Reward: Talent – Flash of Inspiration (Red)
“Red talent? Why didn’t any appear in previous gacha?”
“Ding. Red talents can only be obtained as quest rewards. Their strength ranges from Purple level to beyond Gold.”
“So the weak ones are about the same as Purple talents, while the strong ones are even better than Gold talents?”
“Ding. Correct.”
Yuji looked at the quest descriptions and rewards.
What did “Elysia is the best reward” mean?
Could it be…
“Ding. Wrong timing.”
“Hm? What timing is wrong?”
“Daydream timing is wrong.”
System, I’m eating a lemon right now!
Calm down, calm down.
“Then what do you mean?!”
“Ding. The meaning of the reward is that once you become Elysia’s friend, she will do everything in her power to keep you alive.”
“Oh~ That does sound like something Elysia would do.”
Whatever.
Let’s check the talent reward descriptions first.
Talent: Learning Ability Description: The Host’s learning ability and comprehension will be greatly enhanced.
Talent: Flash of Inspiration Description: The Host will sometimes experience a sudden flash of inspiration.
Yuji lay on the bed, unable to sleep no matter how he tried.
He carefully read through everything until the middle of the night and finally saw two words written between the lines across the entire screen: “Useless.”
Forget it.
Sleep first.
There was still a hard battle to fight tomorrow.
……
The next day, in front of MEI’s house.
“Ding-dong, ding-dong—”
The door opened, but it was not MEI.
An older lady opened the door.
“Hello. Are you Miss MEI’s classmate?”
“That’s me. And you are…?” Yuji looked at her.
The lady was dressed in men’s clothing with neat short hair.
“No need to be polite. Please come in. You are Miss’s guest. I am merely the housekeeper. Miss has already informed me that you would be visiting.”
“To prevent you from getting lost, I will lead the way from here.”
Yuji nodded and followed the housekeeper through MEI’s home.
He had to admit, the place was truly enormous.
Getting lost was not impossible.
After walking for several minutes and taking a few turns, the housekeeper told Yuji that the building in front was where MEI lived.
She opened the door and let Yuji enter alone.
“Hello? MEI? Are you…”
Yuji entered and called out tentatively.
What entered his sight was MEI lying on the sofa in her pajamas, with a large pile of papers covered in various formulas scattered across the floor.
“Did she stay up the entire night researching the solitary wave algorithm?” Yuji felt a bit of a headache looking at this scene.
He did not know whether to let MEI continue sleeping or wake her up.
Forget it.
Better let MEI get a proper rest.
Yuji carefully gathered the papers on the floor and arranged them in order according to the deduction sequence.
He glanced at MEI, whose sleeping posture was somewhat revealing, and frowned.
So he… went upstairs, found a blanket, and covered her with it.
Looking at the blanket he had just placed, Yuji nodded in satisfaction.
Then he sat down on the sofa beside MEI and took out the Archery Instruction Manual.
He did not know how much time had passed.
In her dream, MEI seemed to see a large machine head.
When she realized that the flashing red light was not an eye, she woke up.
Just awakened, MEI opened her eyes in a daze, still a little confused.
Then she heard the soft sound of pages turning.
She turned her head and vaguely saw Yuji reading.
Next, she felt the blanket on her body and saw the papers on the table.
Mm… It seemed she had forgotten something.
Oh right, why was Yuji here?
And yesterday she had only been wearing… Wait!
Once MEI understood everything, she was so startled she did not dare to move.
After all, she was still a young girl and would still feel embarrassed.
Right now, MEI was terrified that Yuji would discover she was already awake.
“Already awake, MEI?” Yuji had noticed her movement.
In fact, the moment she turned her head, he had already realized she was awake.
MEI could only gently pull the blanket higher and slowly sit up.
“Mm, I’m awake.”
Seeing that MEI was awake, Yuji picked up a cup of warm water and handed it to her.
“You stayed up too late last night. Do you feel a little unwell right now? Here, drink some water first.”
MEI took the cup and subconsciously took a sip, then suddenly realized the water in the cup was not full… Whatever, she had already drunk it.
“How long have you been here?” MEI asked softly.
“A few hours. I saw you sleeping the whole time and didn’t have the heart to wake you.”
Yuji stretched his body a little.
After reading for a long time, he had finally raised his combat skill to Lv.3, and that was with the help of talent.
The System was truly miraculous.
Reading a book could train the body.
Right now he felt he could defeat his former self with one hand.
“It’s not early anymore. It’s already one in the afternoon.” Yuji stood up and looked at MEI.
MEI was still sitting on the sofa holding the blanket, not knowing what she was thinking.
Yuji did not mind.
He walked to the kitchen doorway.
“I’ll make lunch first. Then dinner will be left to you, MEI.”
MEI did not answer and remained sitting there.
Yuji opened the refrigerator in the kitchen and found that it truly had everything.
He could fully display his skills.
After some time, Yuji finished cooking and carried dish after dish of delicious food to the table.
MEI had already changed clothes and was sitting there.
“Looks good, smells good, and tastes good. You’re really skilled at cooking!” MEI tasted a bite of the food Yuji had made and praised him.
“Thank you for the compliment. It’s all from cooking often.” Yuji sat opposite MEI and ate together with her.
While eating, MEI seemed a little distracted and glanced at Yuji from time to time, making Yuji’s heart jump slightly.
“MEI… is there something you want to ask?” Finally, Yuji could not hold back and asked.
“Ah! No, no. It’s just… just… um…” MEI spoke hesitantly, seeming a little embarrassed.
Yuji seemed to understand what MEI wanted to ask, so…
“About today you… / About that formula from yesterday…” Both of them asked almost at the same time.
“Uh… I thought…” Yuji felt a little embarrassed.
As someone who had been single since birth, he had truly never encountered this kind of situation.
MEI only softly said that she did not mind.
Did she really not mind?
At the very least, Yuji saw that MEI’s ears were a little red.
“Ahem. About that formula from yesterday, how did you get it?” MEI suddenly switched to a very serious attitude.
“Would you believe me if I said I dreamed it?” Yuji could not think of a reason either.
After all, that formula was something no person from Earth could have come up with.
“I believe you!” MEI answered without the slightest hesitation that she believed him.
Yuji’s words made her think of the large machine head in her dream.
But her trust in Yuji was not that simple.
“Eh?” Yuji had not expected MEI to truly believe the words he had casually said.
He could only change the topic.
“What are you planning to make today?”
“Me? Let me think. Let’s start with something simple—egg fried rice.” MEI also had no intention of asking further.
Everyone had their own secrets.
After the two of them finished eating, MEI cleared the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
Then they began today’s studying as a way to digest the food.
“So quantum entanglement is a fundamental phenomenon in quantum mechanics that describes the special correlation between two or more particles. Understand?” (Author is illiterate and understands nothing. This was searched online.)
“Oh~ Got it, Teacher MEI!” (I don’t understand either.)
When the time was about right, the roles reversed (Is this the correct phrase to use?!), ahem, it was Yuji’s turn to teach MEI how to cook.
Yuji and MEI went to the kitchen.
Yuji explained every step in great detail, down to the point that even a fool could succeed.
MEI was also very confident in herself and began cooking.
Yuji watched MEI operate step by step and felt a little more at ease.
There were no extra movements or actions.
Afterward, Yuji asked, “Have you finished reading the book I gave you?”
“The book? Not yet. I was solving the solitary wave algorithm you gave me all day yesterday. The book is still on the table.”
The table?
Yuji subconsciously turned his head to look at the table, and a sudden sense of unease and crisis appeared!
“Boom!” Accompanied by the sound of an explosion, Yuji subconsciously hugged MEI and jumped out of the kitchen (Combat Instinct: My turn!).
The timely action meant neither of them was injured.
But both of them were covered in dust and looked gray.
Fortunately, there was no fire.
Only the pot had exploded.
However, the kitchen would need some repairs.
“Um… are… are you hurt?” MEI had originally intended to ask Yuji to let go of her first, but for some reason she gave up and instead started caring about Yuji.
MEI’s heart kept pounding.
She did not know whether it was from fright or something else.
“I’m fine. Just a little damage to my clothes.”
Yuji spoke with a relaxed expression, his hands still holding MEI.
The sudden accident just now had made him a little tense.
The current him was no longer the person who would freeze in place when encountering danger, controlled by his body.
He could fully control his own body.
As for why he still had not let go—don’t ask.
The answer is that he forgot.
The loud noise had already drawn the housekeeper over.
After a thorough inspection, she found no problems.
How the explosion had happened could only be blamed on the pot that had been blown into formless scraps.
(Pot: I’m taking the blame for myself?)
There was still some good news, though for Yuji it was bad news.
After Yuji let go of MEI, she found the egg fried rice from the kitchen debris.
For some unknown reason it was completely intact, yet it had already turned into charcoal.
And so, under MEI’s hopeful gaze, Yuji suppressed a sense of crisis more than ten times stronger than before and ate that egg fried rice.