Chapter 6: Cooking and Potion Making
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11th Login.

Today I decided not to go hunting and use my production skills.

I had gathered quite a few medicinal herbs, and I thought it was time to do some cooking.

The items, fur, tusks, and meat from the hunt were sold directly to the hunting guild, and the rabbits I captured alive were sold off to a pet store. That was how I earned my cash income.

I thought about selling the medicinal herbs but decided it would be fun to make my own, so I left them behind. As a result, the backpack overflowed, and although I repacked it in a separate bag I had purchased, that bag was also full. I thought I could not carry more bags with me, so I consumed them here.

To master a skill, you must spend a skill point. You get one point when your skill level exceeds 10. The next time you reach 20, you get another point. This means that for every 10 levels, 1 point is added to your skill. Now that I have reached level 10 in 【Hand-To-Hand】, I have 1 unspent SP. I had planned to master 【Presence Detection】, but I changed my plans and master 【Potion Making】I have a cooking set, so I'm going to start by learning 【Potion Making】.

Since I have a cooking set, I first buy the tools for preparing the food.

Next, I went to the market to get ingredients for cooking, including seasonings. Perhaps I should have left some of the meat I had hunted, but it would have rotted if left alone, so I had to sell it all off.

I also bought some tableware. I chose wooden ones because I didn't want them to break.

After completing these preparations, I went to a suitable inn and rented a room. It might have been better to do it outside, but there were people watching me. I didn't want to get tangled up with strange people, so I played it safe.

Let's start with the cooking.

I took out my cooking set and put it on the table. I turned on the portable stove and put the pan on the fire. I drop a little oil on it, spread it out, and wait for it to get hot.

In the meantime, I took out three eggs I had bought at the market and dropped two of them, breaking them into a soup wooden plate that served as a bowl.

When the pan was hot, I cracked the remaining one and dropped it into the pan. When the whites were set, I poured a little water from the water bag around them and put the lid on. A little later, I took off the lid and transferred the finished half-boiled fried egg to a wooden plate.

Yes, it turned out well, at least for the time being. The half-boiled fried egg was ready.

Then a window message appeared.

『Do you want to register this dish as a recipe?』

I selected "Yes" without hesitation, and a menu opened to create a new recipe item. I checked it, and sure enough, there was a recipe for fried eggs.

This is the 【Cooking】 skill in this game. First, you cook a dish on your own. Then, you can register the dish you have made as a recipe. Now, from the next time on, you can make a dish simply by operating the menu without cooking it directly.

There is also a simple cooking method where you simply obtain a recipe, register it, and cook it automatically. This is less time-consuming. However, the time required for cooking is the same as for actual cooking, and of course, it is impossible to create a dish without preparing all the ingredients.

In addition, each dish has a star rating from 1 to 10, but if you use the simple cooking method, the maximum rating is 5, no matter how high your skill level is. In addition, the growth rate of simple cooking is said to be much lower than that of actual cooking. According to the test, the growth rate of skills with simple cooking is one-tenth of that with actual cooking. If you want to improve your skills, it is much more efficient to cook. Not only in terms of the time it would have taken, but also in terms of the costs involved in procuring the ingredients.

And for simple cooking, the star rating of the recipe is also relevant. For example, let's say there is a 3-star recipe. If you cook it simply, the upper limit will remain at 3 stars. It is based on the recipe. This is true regardless of the 【Cooking】 skill. However, if the food is prepared according to the recipe, the result will be better according to the skill level. So, those who get the recipe are said to cook it by themselves first. And if the result is rated higher than the recipe, they will overwrite it. In this way, they can cook simply according to the evaluation after overwriting the recipe. The upper limit remains the same, though.

Right now, the fried egg I made is a 4-star dish. That means it is a little better than normal. Now that I have registered it as a recipe, I can make a fried egg with a rating of 4 anytime I want. With my current skill level, the disadvantage of simplified cooking is irrelevant, but considering the growth rate, it would be better for me to make it myself.

And, although it is still a topic that I have no connection with, the effect of a temporary increase in status will be added when the star reaches 7 or more. However, the upper limit for simple cooking is 5, so you can't get the additional effect. If you want to get the additional effect, the only way is to make it by hand.

Therefore, mass production of dishes with additional effects seems to be quite difficult. Come to think of it, my favorite chicken stall at Tiokris is a 6-star restaurant. If it becomes a 7-star, I'm sure the owner will be very prosperous. ...... Oh, I haven't eaten today. Let's go eat later.

I lightly sprinkle pepper on the fried egg. Pepper and soy sauce are my favorite ingredients for fried eggs, but I don't think soy sauce is available in this world at the moment. I couldn't find it in the market. So I'm thinking of making it in the future through 【Food Processing】.

Putting the fried egg aside for a moment, I began to work on the next dish.

Peel the onion, cut it in half, and chop it. Cut the other half into strips. Put the chopped onion into the egg in the bowl, add a pinch of salt, and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the frying pan little by little. When the mixture fills the pan, stop pouring it in and gradually roll the hardened eggs toward you from the edges. When all the eggs have been rolled, pour in the remaining beaten eggs and repeat the same process.

「Finished!」

The omelet with onion is ready. The rating is 4 stars. This was also incorporated into the recipe.

Now for the next dish: ......

Next time, I'll make something more elaborate, but here's what I made this time:

・A fried egg

・Fried egg with onion

・Stir-fried wolf meat with vegetables

・Rabbit meat grilled with pepper

Rabbit meat with pepper. I referred to the wiki article about Wolf as it mentioned dogs used for food. There seemed to be soup, grilled, stew, etc., but there was stir-fried meat among them, so I took the liberty to stir-fry it with vegetables.

But I wonder how many recipes exist in this world. I wonder if I should go to the Grand Library again. I wonder if there are cookbooks or something like that.

 

Now that I have finished eating the food, the next step is to try making potions.

Unlike cooking, it is impossible to make a simple potion even after obtaining a recipe. However, it is still easy to make. For a simple potion, all you need to do is boil down some wound-healing herbs.

From the beginner's set of potions, I took out a mortar, pestle, and pan, filled the pan with water, and put it on the fire.

Take out the wound healing herb from the bag, tear it into small pieces, put it in the mortar, and crush it with the pestle. I heard you can boil down the leaves as they are, but I think this way will bring out more broth ――or rather, medicinal properties--so I took the trouble. By the way, there is no evidence at all.

The crushed wound-healing herbs are put into the boiling pot one after another. The leaves of the wound-healing herbs are green, but when they are boiled down, they turn blue. This is the same color as the potion sold on the market.

Since we did not know how much of the wound-healing herb should be added to the water, we added more and more wound-healing herbs to get the color closer to that of the commercial potion.

Eventually, when it was about the same thickness, I stopped adding it and turned off the fire.

I put a little on my finger and licked it. It tastes the same as the commercial potion. It is a medicine, so don't expect it to taste good. I think it is probably working well. ......

While waiting for it to cool down, let's prepare the vessel. We'll use empty potion bottles.

By the way, jars for potions are sold at the store. I use 『used potion bottles』". 

In GAO, potions are used for either drinking or pouring. Drinking is the most common method, but in an emergency, when there is no time to make the target drink, the potion is poured directly on the target. Naturally, drinking the potion is more effective, or rather, it is less effective if the subject is exposed to it.

And when the potion is used, a bottle is left behind. Most players throw these away on the spot. This is because even one empty bottle reduces the capacity of a bag or an item box. Some may decide that there is no use for it and throw it away.

However, these bottles can be reused. After all, they are the same as the bottles sold in the market. There is no problem as long as they are washed clean. It is a waste of resources. Long live recycling.

If these were pharmacists with their own workshops, they would probably order and prepare a large quantity of bottles, but for beginners with little money to spare, or those who are just doing it on their own, it is sometimes more convenient to do it this way. If only they weren't so conscious of not wanting to use something that someone else has already put their mouth on, even if it's been washed clean. Also, this recycling is not my idea, but a tradition since the beta era, just in case.

Well, it's time to go. I dunk the empty bottle directly into the pot, transfer the contents into the bottle, and cork it with a cork also recycled in the field. Now, the bottle is ready to drink.

The result is three stars. It was exactly the same as the commercial potion. After registering the recipe, I filled the bottles with the leftovers. ...... This isn't very efficient. My hands get dirty. I'll look for something like a funnel next time.

This will ensure that I have enough potions for my needs. I should turn the rest of the wound-healing herbs into potions, too. ...... Oh, I'm running out of bottles. Even if I use all the empty bottles, I'll still have quite a few herbs left over. ...... Well, let's make as many as we can. Be careful not to make it in vain.

Unlike cooking, there is no upper limit to the evaluation of medicinal preparations, even if they are created simply after making a recipe. Instead, I hear that the quality is not guaranteed and may be terrible. The growth rate is the same as that of 【Cooking】, and it is significantly lower with simple preparation.

Whether cooking or preparing medicines, manual labor is probably the most reliable method.

Aconite is out of my hands at the moment, so I am putting it on hold. As for the poison-eliminating herbs, I cannot touch them at present because antidote potions are made for each poison. If you find a poisoned animal or monster, hunt it down to see if you can find the ingredients.

Also, I think I have the recipe for the potion in the library. I'll look for that later, too.

After finishing all the work, I went to the Grand Library to visit. Looking for recipes for food and potions. I don't expect that I will suddenly be able to make all of them, but just knowing them will be helpful in the future.

Passing through the busy street, I stepped into the Grand Library, which I visited yesterday.

「Nn......?」

It was not long before I noticed something unusual. It was clearly different from yesterday. What was different was the number of adventurers, or players. Yesterday there had been only me and Luke, but now there were over ten players all gathered around the table. The location is where the law books used to be.

I had a good idea of how it happened.

「There are a lot of customers here today, aren't there?」

I spoke to the librarian as I paid the fee.

「Yes, everyone seems to read law books like that. I wonder what's going on? I've just seen this happen for the first time. Sir, can I help you?」

She looks puzzled.

I think the reason is probably because Luke has slipped up. I can't think of any other reason for a player to be interested in the law. No, it's possible that there was some event.

I falsely claim I don't have any idea and ask where to find the cooking and substance-related materials.

As I head that way, I listen to the guys reading the law books, and they seem surprised that there is a law. I hear words that sound like the contents of another law book, not just criminal law.

Luke's quick action seems to have spread the information well. A celebrity is indeed a celebrity. I searched for Luke's guild and found that he was quite famous among the old-timers. I strongly feel that the power of a name is significant. Even if I had been the one to start the thread, I honestly doubt that it would have spread this far.

It doesn't matter who does it, but the one who is more effective is always better. Meeting Luke seems to have worked out for the best. Although, he would have probably come here eventually even if he hadn't met me.

Well, let's leave it at that. For the time being, I have no choice but to watch the transition.

I switch my attention to my goal. I pick up a book and flip through the pages to find recipes for what seems to be home cooking in this world. There are many dishes that can be found in real life.

Since I don't want to try otherworldly cuisine out of the blue, I'll start by bringing in recipes from the real world to hone my skills. Then I'll try my hand at cooking here.

Then there is only one thing to do.

I go back to the reception desk, buy a pen, ink, and three plain books, and return to the bookshelf.

Then I grab a recipe book, grab a table, and start working on the manuscript.

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