Pokémon: Hard work pays off, moves can be upgraded infinitely.

Third floor of the cafeteria, stall number 007.

Because this floor is specifically for the senior high school elite class and some teachers to eat, there are not many dining halls, only seven in total.

Most of them focus on delicious stir-fries, except for one branch, No. 001, which serves large-pot dishes where customers can get their own food.

"Mu, these are all the dishes you need, they've all been prepared for you."

As soon as I stepped into the kitchen of Hall 007, a middle-aged man with dark skin and a thick stubble on his face, dressed in a white chef's uniform, greeted me with a smile.

He was none other than Chef Wang, the one Mu Yun was in charge of arranging food preparation for. He was an elderly man who had worked in the canteen for nearly twenty years, mainly responsible for the logistics of purchasing canteen food.

"Thank you for your help, Master Wang."

After changing into a pristine white chef's uniform, Mu Yun glanced at the neatly chopped vegetables and meats and expressed his gratitude.

"No trouble at all, it's my job," Master Wang said politely.

There was no way around it; this was someone the vice principal had personally arranged, so he had to serve them well.

He didn't want to move away from such a lucrative position so soon.

After a brief chat, Mu Yun began preparing lunch for the day.

Due to time constraints, he naturally wouldn't be able to make exquisite stir-fries to order like the second to sixth branches. Instead, he would be able to cook large batches of dishes, just like the first branch, with customers serving themselves.

While it certainly can't compare to the taste of freshly baked food, thanks to the added appeal of the product description, it won't be too bad.

Thinking it over, Mu Yun held the pot in one hand and picked up a large ladle in the other.

Although it was his first time using professional chef equipment, Mu Yun was no stranger to professional chef tools thanks to his LV2 (ordinary professional) level of inherited experience.

After all, professional chefs all have years of experience in the industry, so how could they be unfamiliar with the tools they use to eat?

Seeing that Mu Yun was about to start cooking, Master Wang didn't continue to talk and tactfully retreated to the kitchen doorway so that Mu Yun could find him if he needed anything.

"The interests of rich kids these days are really strange. They're of school age and they still have to cook in the cafeteria. I just can't understand it," Chef Wang sighed to himself.

He didn't think Mu Yun was there to work and study. After all, most of the people who came to the kitchen to work and study did jobs like serving food on the first or second floor.

He had never met a head chef before.

"Hiss! What's that smell? It smells so good!" Just as Chef Wang was lost in thought, a rich aroma of stir-fried meat wafted from the kitchen and forcefully entered his nostrils.

"Is this... the taste of braised pork slices?"

Soon, Chef Wang could tell from the aroma wafting through the air which he had prepared the dish that Mu Yun had made.

As a veteran chef with twenty years of experience, he knows the taste of braised pork slices very well, but it is precisely because he knows it well that he is full of doubts.

Isn't the aroma of this braised pork slices a bit too overpowering?

It can't be some kind of high-tech or grueling feat, can it?

But soon, Master Wang dismissed the idea. After all, he was the one who bought the goods and supervised the preparation of the vegetables. He knew exactly what technology was involved.

He's probably tired of living if he's going to give students, especially the rich and powerful ones in the Elf Class, all the high-tech and ruthless stuff.

so.......

"Have the young masters of today become so incredibly skilled...?" Master Wang swallowed, his mouth suddenly filled with saliva, and craned his neck to look into the kitchen.

If he weren't afraid of disturbing the other person's cooking, he would have rushed in to try it. This braised pork slices smell so good, it must be so damn delicious!

Time passed amidst the flames and the smoky aroma of the wok.

As the last theory class ended, the students of the Elf Class all went to the third floor of the cafeteria.

"Wow, what's that smell? It smells so good!"

"Yes, is it a holiday today? This is the first time I've smelled such a wonderful fragrance!"

Several students from the Elf Class who weren't delayed arrived at the cafeteria first and were immediately drawn in by the rich aroma.

By the time they realized what was happening, they had already arrived in front of the line for branch number 007.

Strangely, the line grew longer and longer, but showed no sign of moving.

They turned to the side and discovered that inside the clean and tidy dining area, a transparent tempered glass barrier separated the food from the people.

Beneath the tempered glass were twelve large iron plates, ten of which were already filled with dishes that looked incredibly delicious and had an excellent color.

The remaining two empty spaces, placed among the ten dishes, are not only not overlooked, but rather attract attention.

Everyone was wondering, how delicious must this dish, which hadn't even been made yet, be to be placed among so many other delicious dishes?

"Chef, can we start eating now? I'm so hungry!!"

"Yes, sir, why don't you start cooking over there while I open the safety lock here, and we can serve ourselves the food!"

The people at the very front of the line were so close together that the rich aroma almost completely enveloped them, and the dishes shimmered with an enticing luster under the transparent glass.

The agonizing feeling of seeing and smelling something, yet being just one step away from eating it, made them incredibly eager. If it weren't for the familiar faces around them, they would have loved to climb over and see how delicious the fragrant dish must be!

"Coming, coming! The last two dishes, almost here!"

Mu Yun's voice came from inside the kitchen, but because of the rumbling of the range hood and stove, people outside couldn't tell the speaker's age.

Inside the kitchen, Mu Yun looked at the two dishes as the sauce was being reduced over a high flame, his eyes filled with anticipation.

There were twelve large pot dishes in total, including both meat and vegetables. Although the variety was less than what Xiaomeng's family used to make, and the taste was slightly inferior to the usual small-portion stir-fries, the quantity was definitely superior.

I wonder how many experience points I'll gain this time.

Thinking it over, Mu Yun served the last two dishes after the sauce had reduced.

They are braised pork belly with a good balance of lean and fat and a reddish-brown color, and lion's head meatballs that are plump, round, and chewy.

As the last two dishes were cooked, a system notification sound appeared in Mu Yun's mind.

..............................

[Ding! The host has prepared a very thoughtful and sumptuous lunch. Cooking skill experience points +82!]

【厨艺（LV2，543/1000）→厨艺（LV2，625/1000）】

..............................

"82 experience points, more than double that of Xiaomeng's family! That's almost seven times the normal daily earnings!" Hearing the system notification, a hint of surprise flashed in Mu Yun's eyes.

One meal is enough for a week, that's how you gain experience!

At this rate, five meals at most will be enough to upgrade my cooking skills.

Unfortunately, I have to go to the gravity chamber to train after school in the evening, so I don't have time to cook in the cafeteria. Otherwise, I could have halved the time it would have taken to improve my cooking skills.

But Mu Yun didn't care. After all, improving his physical condition was definitely more important than cooking skills.

Putting everything else aside, what if I were lucky enough to meet the lovely Diamond Princess Diancie in the future, and I couldn't even lift her up? Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?

With her lower body made entirely of rock and diamonds, Diancie's weight is estimated to be no less than 100 kg.

(Some Pokémon's stats are not entirely the same as their Pokédex entries, such as the height of a certain Pokémon that cannot fly.)

"Brother Yun, how's it going? Do you need the three of us to help you?"

Just as Mu Yun was overjoyed, Liu Jianhao's voice came from the kitchen doorway.

Looking towards the sound, one could see three people dressed in identical white chef uniforms: Liu Jianhao, Zhao Hailong, and Wu Tu.

"You're here just in time. Take these two plates out, and then you can get whatever you want to eat. Anyway, this is a free cafeteria, so we don't need to watch over it," Mu Yun said to the three of them while holding up his chef's uniform.

Whether it was out of concern that no one would eat the communal meals, or simply due to policy reasons, the two communal meal stations on the third floor, number 1 and number 7, were both free of charge.

Even so, many students who have time still choose to eat at the expensive stir-fries.

After all, students who can apply to the elf class to raise elves are not short of money for food. Compared to the mass-produced meals that might be cold or not salty enough, a delicious stir-fry is obviously more to their liking.

"Wow, it's braised pork and lion's head meatballs! If you pour this over rice and mix it up, the taste will be amazing!" Wu Tu followed Liu Jianhao and Zhao Hailong into the kitchen, his eyes lighting up as he smelled the enticing aroma wafting through the air and looked at the two iron plates.

He swore he had never wanted to eat one, no, two dishes so much in his life!

No wonder he's his mentor and friend; even his cooking skills are top-notch!

As the last two dishes were served, the long-awaited queue exploded like water droplets falling into hot oil.

After Mu Yun and his companions finished serving themselves the dishes they wanted and left, a fierce battle ensued.

Although Mu Yun prepared twelve dishes, and the portions were quite large, as the saying goes, a half-grown boy can bankrupt his father.

Senior year of high school is the time when students can eat a lot, and the food smells so good that every student serving themselves would scoop out big spoonfuls of food onto their plates, as if afraid they wouldn't have enough.

So much so that when the group had only gone halfway, all twelve iron plates had completely disappeared.

Even the iron plate was used by some shameless students who poured several bowls of rice on it and ate it as soup.

"Luckily, the three of us are related, otherwise, if we had come this late, we probably wouldn't have been able to finish eating before the food was even hot," Liu Jianhao said, looking at the students scrambling for the iron plate while enjoying his meal.

These days, you need connections to eat well!

"It's not the three of us, it's me. Hurry up and say thank you!" Zhao Hailong said, chewing on a chewy lion's head meatball.

Liu Jianhao ate a mouthful of rice, then took a bite of braised pork, before looking up at Zhao Hailong with a disdainful look, unusually silent in response.

For the sake of the delicious food, I won't bother with you, you scoundrel, today.

"Thank you, Brother Hailong, you're such a kind person!"

Wu Tu didn't catch the hidden meaning in Zhao Hailong's words and thanked him generously.

This made Zhao Hailong a little embarrassed, and he quickly waved his hand.

Mu Yun smiled as he watched the three of them enjoying their meal.

As the person in charge of cooking, he was naturally very satisfied to see everyone enjoying the food so much.

"Hiss!!"

"Pop!!"

Xiao Du and Bo Feng, who were standing to the side, were also enjoying the delicious food that Mu Yun had prepared for them after finishing the top-quality [Speed] Energy Cube.

Blue, Growlithe, and Rhydon, thanks to their connections with their trainers, also managed to get their hands on quite a few lion's head meatballs, braised pork, and other dishes.

Only the poor Onix, because of its enormous size, couldn't be released.

Wu Tu: It's okay, Yan Da. Trust in our bond, I'll definitely get my revenge for you!

Onix: ?

..............................

[Ding! The Elf Armored Rhino has triggered a Culinary Illusion due to the host's delicious food, gaining 100 cooking skill experience points!]

【厨艺（LV2，625/1000）→厨艺（LV2，725/1000）】

..............................

[Ding! Human XXX has triggered a culinary illusion due to the host's delicious food, gaining 100 cooking skill experience points!]

【厨艺（LV2，725/1000）→厨艺（LV2，825/1000）】

..............................

Just as he was finishing his meal, two system notifications suddenly sounded in Mu Yun's mind.

"Did the armored rhinoceros trigger a culinary illusion?"

Mu Yun looked at the armored rhinoceros lying next to Zhao Hailong, her eyes closed, chewing on a lion's head. At this moment, there was a strange pink on her iron-gray skin.

Poor child, he's never had anything good to eat.

So far, Mu Yun has only heard four hints about the food environment: twice from Zhao Hailong and once from Ironclad Rhinoceros.

All three times were related to this person and the elf. I really don't know what kind of life they lived in the mountains.

"My cooking skill proficiency is already at 825. I estimate it will level up in two days at most. LV2 cooking is already so delicious, I wonder how LV3 cooking will be..."

Mu Yun thought to himself.

He just hoped that at most the food would come out of the pot with a golden flash, but he really didn't want any groans or clothes to burst off. He didn't want to be labeled a perverted, lecherous chef at such a young age.