Jasmine raised one eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the system. An amused smirk tugged at her lips as she pressed Yes.
You should give me more missions like this, dude.
[Chef God’s Recommendation: Be careful what you wish for.]
Jasmine’s smirk twitched.
[You are currently requesting additional work while complaining about the work already assigned to you. Your consistency is admirable.]
You damn Chef God.
[Please show some respect toward Chef God. He is a divine authority responsible for your continued culinary development, not your "dude."]
Jasmine grinned bitterly.
Fine. I’ll call him Your Petty Highness.
A brief pause followed.
[Chef God acknowledges the improvement.]
I was being sarcastic.
[Chef God was not.]
Jasmine’s mouth twitched again.
The translucent screen hovering before her suddenly changed.
[Chef God’s Emergency Quest: A food shortage has been detected among the lower-floor residents.]
[Objective: Prepare food for at least five residents from the left side of the cafeteria and have all five consume their portions before the cafeteria closes.]
[Time Limit: 20 minutes.]
[Reward: 400 GR.]
[Failure to feed five residents within the allotted time will result in the forfeiture of the reward.]
Jasmine’s eyes widened.
The quest itself was easy. At least, it would have been if she could access her Divine Kitchen.
But here?
With a bunch of strangers who had spent the last few minutes looking at her like they were deciding where to aim a bullet?
Jasmine lowered her gaze to the half-eaten food in front of her.
Should I feed them my leftovers?
She shook her head.
You damn Chef God.
[That is why Chef God recommends thinking before accepting a quest.]
Jasmine’s eyebrow twitched.
You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?
[Chef God does not experience petty satisfaction.]
There was a brief pause.
[However, your current predicament is surprisingly entertaining.]
Jasmine stared at the screen.
Your Petty Highness it is. No, It should be Your Petty Lowness.
The countdown appeared beneath the quest.
[19:56]
[19:55]
Jasmine clicked her tongue and swept her gaze across the cafeteria. People on the left side were already beginning to leave. She had less than twenty minutes to cook for five people, which meant she needed ingredients, a kitchen, and enough customers to make the whole thing worth it.
Her gaze dropped to her BeepAir.
120 credits.
Right... I could put all of it into this and make even more, couldn’t I?
Jasmine quickly stuffed the rest of her meal into her mouth, chewing until her cheeks puffed out. A Guide with an overly elaborate hairstyle giggled when she saw her, but Jasmine barely spared her a glance.
If she was going to spend all her money anyway, she might as well turn it into more money.
Her eyes swept across the cafeteria again, this time with a different purpose.
She wasn’t looking for five people anymore.
She was looking for customers.
Her eyes wandered across the left side again.
Then she spotted the short burgundy-haired Guide who had been stealing glances at her ever since she entered the cafeteria.
The girl was slowly heading toward the exit, looking disappointed after missing out on the Cassava Combo.
Jasmine stood and walked toward the metal barrier separating the two sides.
"Hey."
The girl stopped.
Jasmine leaned against the barrier and looked at her.
"Why have you been stealing glances at me? Is there something on my face?"
The short burgundy-haired Guide visibly startled.
"Oh... no, no. There’s nothing wrong with your face." Her voice was soft and hesitant. "I was just curious about you. Everyone talks about you."
Jasmine blinked.
She hadn’t expected the girl to be this timid.
But her answer gave Jasmine an idea.
"Hm. It is bothersome, indeed, having so many people talk about me." Jasmine smiled. "If you’re curious about me, why don’t you stay? I can get you some tasty food for fifteen credits."
The girl’s eyes widened.
"What? H-How? The Cassava Combo is already sold out. We can’t buy the food from the right side."
"You’ll buy it from me." Jasmine kept smiling. "There’s no rule saying residents can’t buy food from each other, right?"
The girl hesitated and glanced toward the stern-looking cashier.
Jasmine followed her gaze.
One problem at a time.
"Uhm... but..."
"One more thing." Jasmine lowered her voice. "Can you bring ten other people with you? Tell them Captain Oleander will consider one of them for the Elite team’s first hunt."
"Ah, really?" The girl’s eyes immediately lit up. "Fine, fine! I’ll bring my friends!" Her timid voice turned bright as she bolted toward the exit.
Jasmine watched her go with a relieved smile.
Perfect.
Every year, the Elite team gave a small number of ordinary Sentinels and Guides the chance to join their first hunt. Hundreds of people were willing to do almost anything just to make it through the selection.
Jasmine felt a little proud of herself.
Apparently, staying up all night researching the Federation hadn’t been completely useless.
[17:31]
Jasmine’s smile faded when she saw the countdown.
She turned toward the cafeteria counter, where the cashier was already watching her suspiciously.
Jasmine approached with a half-forced smile, her steps steady as though she were approaching prey that had nowhere left to run. Her gaze fell on the name tag pinned to the woman’s chest. Evelyn.
"So, Evelyn, can I buy three Rice Combos and an additional fifteen credits’ worth of rice?"
Evelyn stared at her.
"Do you want to eat it here?"
Jasmine smiled.
"Yes and no."
The cashier’s expression became even more suspicious.
"I’ll cook it here. Can I meet with the head chef or whoever is responsible for the kitchen? Tell them it’s urgent and part of Professor Hatthon’s research."
Evelyn looked uncomfortable.
But the mention of the head of the Sentinel Bureau was enough to make her hesitate only briefly before she finally turned toward the kitchen.
"Wait here."
Jasmine glanced at the countdown.
[16:42]
Good.
Three minutes later, Jasmine was standing inside the cafeteria kitchen.
Her order was neatly arranged across the kitchen island: three portions of Rice Combo, plus enough red-bean rice to make roughly four additional portions.
The head chef stood across from her, looking concerned.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Don’t worry. You’ve already seen the rumors about the professors praising my cooking, right?" Jasmine glanced at the man in the chef’s uniform. "It’s part of their official research on me. I can call him if you want. But he might get offended, wouldn’t he?"
She smiled at her own lie. "Consider yourself lucky. You get to see it firsthand."
One of the kitchen staff frowned. None of them dared question anything that might involve a higher-up in the Bureau.
"And what exactly are you planning to do with these expensive ingredients?" one of the staff asked.
"I bought them." Jasmine gestured toward the food. "The cafeteria isn’t losing anything, right? I’m only borrowing the kitchen because this is part of the Bureau’s research. I don’t have my own kitchen yet."
Jasmine had learned long ago that attaching an important person’s name to something could make doors open much faster. Back when she’d been G-69, anything done under the Assassin Bureau’s authority was considered legal as long as it came from the higher-ups.
Jasmine swept her gaze around the kitchen. It was functional enough—not grand or particularly well-equipped, but it had all the essentials.
Jasmine’s disappointment came when she looked at the spices counter.
Salt. Sugar. Pepper. Coriander. Onion. A few pre-measured spice mixes. That was it.
For a cafeteria, she had expected at least a decent supply of basic spices and aromatics.
Apparently, that had been too ambitious.
The three kitchen staff worked strictly according to the provided recipes. Jasmine had seen some of them while waiting, and they were so basic that she could have handed them to a ten-year-old who had just discovered cooking and decided to experiment.
The kitchen staff exchanged worried glances.
The head chef, however, looked more curious than nervous.
The rumors about Jasmine’s cooking had spread through the Bureau overnight, and now he finally had a chance to see whether they were exaggerated.
Jasmine ignored them. Her attention was already on the ingredients in front of her.
[14:51]
[14:50]
Jasmine took a slow breath as she watched the countdown.
Then her gaze settled on the red-bean rice and medium-done lamb steak, topped with sliced onions, in front of her. Her expression turned serious.
Let’s get this over with in ten minutes.