As Zen rolled the food trolley with Bolt and Yelena in tow. He thought about the few ways he could react to seeing everyone in the guild again.
The first was to pretend that everything was alright and go back to that more playful atmosphere to lighten the serious mood. There was nothing wrong with lingering in the celebratory mood after their victory against Guild Carnage. However, his reaction that morning when Liu Feng woke him up was a little too strange for the Seer to overlook it.
The best option was to remain silent and not attract too much attention to himself. It usually worked while he was still working as a chef when he was a civilian. On good days, his boss would completely forget him and Zen remembered how he would share the stolen meat with Celine on days like that. It was a good solution if the situation allowed him to play a background character. Unfortunately, Zen had no idea his party members would allow him to remain a background character.
As skeletons did not drop loot, the only way to gain anything from this floor was to find loot chests or fight variant monsters like the Skeleton Knight. The loot Charlie found from their first loot chest was devastatingly ordinary. If Zen wanted holy water, he would make it himself.“It’s not entirely bad,” Charlie defended himself. “Think about the parties without a cleric!”Zen deadpanned. “I can create an entire well worth of holy water higher grade than that,” he explained. “Even if that loot was the deity’s grace, the only thing that I will accept is their goodwill. Have you seen how easily we have been defeating these regular skeletons? Basil doesn’t even have to cast Petrification. Benjamin and Jessica have been crushing skulls and spines the whole time.”It was true. Charlie had no chance to use any of the items he had. The holy water loot that should work to weaken undead mobs was not needed h
While waiting for Party Freedom to log in, Zen spent time chatting with his party members in the vanguard. Oritha and Sasha had gotten impatient and decided to go rogue.“I don’t think that technique is wrong,” Liu Feng commented. “If we kill and destroy enough, we could accidentally kill the boss monster and clear this stage.”Law of the jungle… Zen wondered if there was something else they were missing.“If that does not work, would you revisit the twentieth floor again?” Zen asked. “I feel like a huge hint would be in it. When we were clearing the tenth floor, we stumbled into a side quest that came with a very useful item.”After listening to Zen’s summary, Akiko agreed to split from the group to seek the unknown clue Zen was referring to. Although she had no idea what to look for, her unique bloodline ability allowed her to fly and pass through solid structures to enter hidden rooms. It was a
From weapon to combat basics, Liu Feng and Akiko pounded them into Zen’s brain for the whole afternoon. The team bonding activity Zen craved was more torturous than he thought. Why couldn’t they be more like Party Freedom? Although not physically demanding because he was still a patient, Akiko’s demonstration and mock combat were still mentally stressful because her killing intent, even in training, was real.“Good work,” Liu Feng commended after three whole hours.Zen had no idea if that was directed to him or Akiko. Unlike the two monsters, the poor chef could no longer feel his arms. Thankfully, dinner had already been prepared.“That’s a wrap,” Liu Feng concluded and Akiko quietly commended Zen’s effort to keep up, echoing what Liu Feng said earlier before excusing herself to shower.Among the three of them, Zen was the sweatiest and needed the shower the most. However, he was so tired that he could
Sniffle.Liu Feng frowned at the unexpected sound coming from his right. It was unlikely for Chatura to suddenly catch a cold. However, the sniffling became worse, and his confusion increased.Alarmed by the stream of unending tears, Zen quickly reached for the box of tissues. He added more chopped chilli to the seasoning because Chatura was a native Indian. Was she not accustomed to the native spice tolerance?“I’m sorry!” he quickly apologised, offering tissues. “I added a few more chopped chillies because I thought that was how you’d like it. Would you like a milkshake to help with the spice?”The crying worsened, and none of the assassins knew what to do. Just how many chillies did Zen add to that butter chicken sandwich?Declining the tissue box, Chatura put the sandwich down and wiped her tears with her saree.“It’s been a while since I’d eaten something this spicy,” she sniffled. “
Zen, as Chatura gathered from other students, was as they described. He was like a lamb surrounded by wolves. She knew how Zen recruited the Gorski heir. The cyborg had eyes almost everywhere, and Chatura prepared a double when she knew how the cyborg would do his background checks on her.Yet, after much contemplation, Chatura decided to reveal herself. Zen was a difficult person to get to. Yet, the most difficult task was understanding the gamer’s game plan. On the surface, Zen appeared to be an optimistic fool with no grand plan except to fawn and survive. Many people claimed he was adopted by those in power who merely wanted to keep him like a cute pet. She could see that. However, their internal dynamic was a little more complex. It was unclear who the true master was, given the way the rest of the people interacted with Zen.As lunch hours approached, Party Freedom’s main members showed up. Charlie had casually struck up a conversation with the new invigi
The kitchen was as lively as ever. Zen decided to prepare beef for lunch, inspired by the Minotaur. Party Freedom went to catch up on their dirty pile of laundry together, and Zen promised to cook their share as well. Not everyone from Party Godly Food was around. Zen missed the girls. Sasha was training with Oritha and Akiko. Unlike the boys of their party, who were mostly eccentric loners, the girls had better teamwork. Meal time was the only time Zen saw Liu Feng, and dungeon diving was the only time he saw Damian.“And steamed beef chuck was inspired by the deadly sauna spell?”Sheepishly, Zen nodded. The Seer saw through him easily. It was difficult to create a creative menu when he spent most of his time in the dungeon. Back when he was a civilian chef, Zen remembered how hectic kitchen life was. Even after lunch rush, they were always busy. There was always something to do. When the apprentice chefs were busy cleaning up and prepping ingredients, the sen