I'm just an internet cafe owner

However, Erina Nakiri stopped halfway through the cut.

"Not enough, this... it's still not enough. I feel like I can't break through."

"Lady Erina! Please don't torture yourself like this."

"Torture?"

Erina Nakiri shook her head: "It's not torture, Hisako, I'm not enough."

"My goodness! You're already very strong. If you keep getting stronger, even the academy won't be able to stop you."

"Oh right, this academy, and those few. But they're too weak. You're right, this academy can't stop me anymore. I'll talk to my grandfather about dropping out."

"?"

Erina Nakiri took a deep breath. Weeks of learning and training had rapidly improved her basic skills. According to the chef's assessment, Erina Nakiri had already reached the level of a master chef, but compared to a master chef, she had a fatal flaw: a lack of innovation. That's right, she was now thinking about creating original content. But just thinking wasn't enough; she felt she needed to put it into practice.

She even planned to challenge the Master Chef assessment in the Little Chef world, but unfortunately the next chef assessment was a bit far off. But no problem, she has now mastered the most basic cooking according to the recipe, and she can move on to the next level.

During this process, Xiao Dang

She felt that what her family said made a lot of sense: "Once you learn to cook, why do you need a recipe? You can basically guess how to make a dish, and there are only a few types of textures."

Creativity is a hurdle that is difficult for almost all chefs to overcome, but once you overcome it, the future of your culinary career will be as vast as the stars.

That's why Erina Nakiri prepared even more diligently, and she also spent these days cramming on knowledge about various ingredients. High-end or ordinary, as long as it's edible, she would learn about its properties, and if she came up with any interesting ideas, she would even try them out herself.

That's why she realized how small the world was within this school. She truly felt like a frog in a well. She wanted to be like Liu Maoxing, traveling the world and tasting the cuisines of every corner of the globe, instead of limiting herself to high-end ingredients, upscale restaurants, and sophisticated recipes. She even found the so-called international evaluations rather boring.

Everyone's taste and preferences are completely different. Industrialized and standardized production methods are not bad for this kind of cuisine, but they just haven't reached their peak.

Erina Nakiri wants to witness the vastness of this world's cuisine! These days, she's been online and playing other games. The game she's playing is none other than Elden's Ring. She's heard Liu Yuan's words and wants to try conquering this fantasy world with food.

But she was too weak. Even Little Chef had awakened Rataen with his food, and she couldn't even subdue the tree guard at the gate. She had to drop out! She absolutely had to drop out. The school environment was too cramped, and she knew all these people's strength perfectly well. She wanted to see a wider world.

Senzaemon Nakiri was completely dumbfounded after hearing Erina Nakiri's idea.

"Are you crazy?"

"No."

Erina Nakiri looked intently at her grandfather and said, "Grandpa, I don't want to be a frog in a well anymore. This world is too big, and I want to see it."

After witnessing the happy expressions on the faces of those people while working in the ghoul world, Erina Nakiri gradually realized that Chef Kosuke was right. Cooking is about bringing happiness, not about how beautiful it looks or how high-end the ingredients are.

A dish is successful if it makes the person eating it feel good and happy.

"But in this world, Totsuki Culinary Academy is the best culinary school."

"But there is no best food in the world here."

"you!"

Her grandfather nearly choked on his breath. Seeing his condition, Erina Nakiri began to explain her thoughts: "Grandpa, you've already tasted my cooking, whether it's Chinese or Western cuisine. I've reached the pinnacle of what I've learned. I want to innovate, I want to witness more delicious food. Grandpa, I'm not being willful, I've thought this through carefully, and I have the ability to protect myself."

Are you really serious?

"Yes."

Senza Nakiri thought of the dishes his granddaughter had been making these past few days—deliciousness he had never tasted before, and astonishing knife skills and wok-tossing techniques. A pot of iron sand, yet her hands didn't tremble as she tossed it around.

Thinking of all this, he spoke up.

"Yes, but someone must accompany you and protect you."

"Protect me? Sure, it doesn't matter. I just want to see the world. By the way, Grandpa, I recently learned a new dish. It's a bit complicated. Would you like to try it?"

"Okay!"

And so, Senzamonae Nakiri saw something that shattered his worldview.

Erina Nakiri made a steamed dumpling, and then... the dumpling stood up. This completely defied all common sense about physics and cooking, and even more so, all her life experience.

"Let's go! Let's go! This school really can't accommodate you anymore."

"Grandpa is the best!"

Erina Nakiri hugged her grandfather and whispered, "Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll come back to see you every week. If I find anything delicious, I'll learn how to make it for you."

"Hahaha! We'll be waiting for you to come back."

So Erina Nakiri packed her bags and prepared to leave, while her best friend Hisako Shinto dropped out of school. According to her, she couldn't stand being at school for even a minute without Erina Nakiri.

While out searching for delicious food, she was also researching culinary techniques. Although her progress in the game wasn't as insane as that of Little Chef, she finally defeated the first enemy in the Elden Ring, the Tree Guardian, as she entered the world.

Use food to complete the game.

Chapter 368 Online Guidance from Instructor Liu Yuan~

Inside the Elden Ring, the witch Lani is watching Erina Nakiri's performance in front of her.

Eating? It wasn't really that important to her in her doll-like body, but the newcomer, the Faded One, insisted that she try some food. The witch, who trusted her subordinates, was naturally happy to do so.

But the golden light emanating from the food as it came out of the pot filled her with doubt. As the meatball entered her mouth, her thoughts drifted back to her childhood.

She played happily with her brothers. As the child of a king and a god, she enjoyed unparalleled glory and wealth from birth. But she would never forget that afternoon when her brothers made her snacks, meatballs made from monster meat.

The meatballs in her memory were so delicious, and these meatballs... are exactly the same as she remembered. Even she was captivated by this delicacy.

Princess Lani of the Moon... Conquest complete.

“I understand what you’re thinking. This is destined to be a difficult road, and I… will do my best to help you.”

With the end of today's game time, Princess Lani of the Moon has been won over. At the same time, Erina Nakiri received a notice of shop closure.

"Has another day... passed?"

Erina Nakiri's eyes held a hint of confusion, not about the future, but about life itself. In the game, she could fully express herself, but in real life, the thought of things that made her sad made her want to cry.

Little Master Chef can't help her because he's a chef, an excellent chef who will one day become the best in the world. A chef can solve any problem related to cooking skills, but he can't solve the problems of capitalists.

She confided in her grandfather, but he didn't have any good solutions either. She could only release her stress through video games.

The game's bosses are all simpler and more relaxed than the real world she lives in. Both Rataen and Lani are very easy to romance. Find their origins, find the taste of their hometowns, and use their hometowns and memories to awaken their sanity.

If crimson decay erodes the spirit, then let food awaken it. If it erodes flesh and blood, then let food therapy heal the body.

Whether it's physical or emotional issues, she can resolve them with food, but reality...

She sat in her seat, unable to let go of the feeling for a long time, while Kinji Toyama, who was sitting next to her, saw this scene.

"Erina Nakiri, right?"

"You are... Kinji Toyama? What do you need me for?"

Kinji Toyama calmly said, "I sense your confusion. I can't resolve your confusion, but there is someone in this internet cafe who is omniscient and omnipotent."

"Who?"

"he!"

From the moment she started coming to the internet cafe, she was always guided by Xiao Dangjia. Xiao Dangjia gave her goals and confidence in her cooking, but reality…

"I understand, thank you, I owe you a favor."

"As for favors, you can help me with my wedding banquet when I get married in the future."

"no problem."

Erina Nakiri got up. These days had taught her a lesson: it's not shameful to speak up when you have something to say, or to ask for help when you can't solve a problem yourself.

At the front desk, Liu Yuan was cracking sunflower seeds and complaining: "Watching a newbie play Red Alert today almost killed me with laughter. The Type 08's coal trucks had already arrived, but instead of capturing the base, they were placing bunkers. Are you kidding me? The Type 08 couldn't even defend against three bunkers. Hey? You're... Erina Nakiri, is there anything I can help you with?"

"That's...like this..."

Erina Nakiri shared her problem, a problem she felt she couldn't solve.

After dropping out of school, she began searching for delicious food around Totsuki Culinary Academy, relying on her sense of smell and online recommendations.

Yesterday afternoon, she did find a lot of delicious food, but she also encountered difficulties. Bad money drives out good, forcing small shops to change hands, or they'll raise prices. Or, larger shops, in order to save costs, are using seasonings that have been used multiple times.

She used to only focus on top-tier cuisine, and the chain restaurants she was introduced to were all top-notch. But when she stepped out of the campus and brought the high-end to the public eye, she realized how cruel the world could be.

Liu Yuan nodded after listening to Erina Nakiri's story.

"I think I understand now. Your world is a world where cooking reigns supreme. Bad money drives out good, and your grandfather wants to test you, so you don't know what to do. Right?"

Erina Nakiri nodded. Having learned so much about cooking, she found all those random, trivial things really boring. But getting involved in them was distracting.

Liu Yuan sighed and said, "Your world is indeed not easy, especially under the control of capital, it's hard for small businesses to survive. But you still have a chance."

"really?"

"Of course there are. Your identity, your strength, your family. Your grandfather may say he won't help you, but your family is still your strongest connection. If you were just an ordinary person, my advice would be to go on a killing spree and leave blood on the ground. But your identity is a little different. I do have a way to strengthen your family while taking a piece of their flesh."

"Please speak, boss."

"That is... exploring restaurants."

"what?"

"Don't be confused, come on! If I'm not mistaken, the internet in your world is just emerging, with many video websites. Let me teach you a trick. It won't cure them completely, but it will annoy them."

Liu Yuan smiled at that moment.

After hearing all this, Erina Nakiri looked skeptical, but remembering everyone's reliable recommendations, she believed them.

At four in the morning, back in her own world at the hotel, Erina Uchigiri walked to the window, looked at the still dark sky, and took her things out of her luggage.

"Young Miss! My goodness, it's only four in the morning!"

Hisako Shinto sat up, her eyes wide, upon hearing the sound of the wok being tossed.

"I told you to go to bed early but you didn't. Just bear with it. If you can't stand it, then come along with me."

"Come together? I really can't do that!"

Hisako Shinto felt like she was going crazy. She originally thought that dropping out of school and running away with Erina Nakiri would be enjoying life, but now it was not enjoying life at all, it was suffering!

Every day at 4 a.m., Erina Nakiri gets up on time to spend an hour flipping the wok and an hour practicing her knife skills.

As for where the slices and shreds cut from practicing knife skills went? They were sold in the player store.

Not only do I make a little money, but I also avoid wasting food.

"You should start exercising too, otherwise you'll gain weight if you eat with me every day."

"Hey?"