chapter 1 part 1: Mond (1)

I stood still, lost in thought. Even though Paimon was chattering away beside me, I ignored her completely. The reason was simple: the mysterious sentence that had appeared before me.

[Prologue Act 1: The Outsider Who Stirred the Wind]

[The prologue has been unlocked, and some game functions are now available.]

I knew very little about this world. Even though it was a game world, I had fallen into it just when I was about to start the game. So, the only things I knew were a few scattered details, like how “Lumine” was the protagonist, and “Paimon” was the mascot character. These were the kinds of trivial facts I had picked up.

Despite that, the sudden notification contained something I could deduce. First, “Prologue,” which meant the main story was officially starting now. And it said “some game functions” were unlocked, meaning I could now use some features that I hadn’t been able to until now.

However, the problem was figuring out what exactly “some game functions” referred to.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way I could know. After all, I had never played this game before.

I could feel a headache coming on, so I subtly turned my gaze.

[Sweet Sweet Flower]

“…Huh?”

On a white petal peeking out from the grass in the field, those large words were written.

Had I ever seen words like this before?

I approached as if in a trance and picked the white flower. As soon as I did, the words “Sweet Sweet Flower” flickered and disappeared in front of me.

I blankly stared at the flower, when Paimon, who had been chattering next to Lumine, flew over with a gasp of awe.

“Wow, this is a Sweet Sweet Flower, right? Was that why you were so quiet while looking for it?”

“Is this flower called the Sweet Sweet Flower?”

“Yeah, it’s a flower often used in cooking! Didn’t you gather it knowing that?”

That couldn’t be. Even though I had gotten somewhat familiar with Teyvat, I was still fundamentally an outsider. I didn’t have the time to learn things like that.

So, regardless of my knowledge, the fact that the name “Sweet Sweet Flower” came to my mind meant I hadn’t hallucinated or anything.

Was this part of the “some game functions”?

The fact that only the name “Sweet Sweet Flower” appeared among all the weeds meant that this ability to recall names was probably limited to useful materials…

“Siwu, but why the Sweet Sweet Flower? Are you planning to cook something today?”

“Huh? Cook?”

“Yeah, cook! I’m tired of just eating plain rations.”

With that, Paimon started whining. Even though the journey was tough, was it reasonable to eat raw ingredients without any preparation? We sometimes only ate jerky, didn’t we? Cooking is the epitome of civilization, and right now, it felt like we were living in a barbaric age.

I turned to Lumine with a helpless expression. I meant for her to take Paimon away. But, to my surprise, Lumine’s eyes were also sparkling.

With a face like a child waiting for Santa on Christmas, she asked me.

“Does that mean we’ll finally get to eat proper food today?”

Her voice had risen a little with excitement. It was clear she had been hoping for a proper meal.

I was at a loss. Of course, I didn’t know how to cook. I had made home-cooked meals while living alone, but that was just Earth-style cooking.

I had no idea what kind of ingredients were available on Teyvat, what flavors they produced, or how to cook them, especially since I had just fallen into this world from Earth a little while ago.

If only I had a recipe, maybe I could figure it out.

“Uhm… Well, there’s nothing here for now, so let’s talk about it later.”

However, betraying the expectant gazes of the two girls was a bit difficult.

I already felt guilty for not being able to help the party in any way. There was also a slight sense of pride from receiving their rare expectations.

In fact, during our travels, I had picked up a few spices when I met some traveling merchants. Until now, I had only used them to enhance the taste of tough jerky, but when I tasted them, they didn’t seem that different from the spices I knew from Earth.

I didn’t know the recipe, but well…

I figured I could manage somehow and dismissed my conscience. If I failed, I could just think about it then.

The situation started to feel a bit more serious when Lumine caught a bird.

It was around dusk, and we were looking for a suitable place to make a fire when suddenly, a large bird carcass was thrown down.

I looked at Lumine with a puzzled expression.

“Ingredients.”

Lumine, seeming a little embarrassed, scratched her slightly flushed cheek and added,

“I thought you might need it.”

I broke out in a cold sweat inside. Wasn’t this a bit too serious?

I didn’t know how to butcher anything…

As I thought that, I approached the bird, and once again, words appeared in the air.

[Bird Meat]

…Can this be done too?

The “Sweet Sweet Flower” was just an item you could pick. No special gathering skills were needed.

But butchering was different. Butchering required some skill. However, the moment I thought about gathering “bird meat,” my body naturally reached for a knife.

This knife was something I had been carrying around for self-defense.

My body started moving on its own, using the small knife to butcher the bird. I cut off its head, drained the blood, and then, with a large pot that Paimon had somehow managed to get, we boiled the meat and plucked the feathers.

It was surprisingly smooth. Seeing my movements, Paimon kept exclaiming in awe.

“Wow, Xiuyu. How did you do that? Were you a chef?”

Lumine also looked at me with an intrigued expression. I was surprised by my own movements, so I could only imagine how others felt about it.

As I looked at the neatly butchered bird meat, still in a daze, words appeared again in the air. This time, it was over the boiling pot.

[Cooking]

Cooking too?

I looked at the word “Cooking” with a sense of awe. Then, unlike before, a larger screen appeared before my eyes.

The translucent screen showed several pictures. Was all of this cooking? However, most of them had opaque filters, and the only food that was in its true colors was one dish.

[Sweet Sweet Chicken Stew] – Bird Meat 2/2, Sweet Sweet Flower 2/2

Since this dish was the only one without an opaque filter, it seemed like this was the only one I could make. And as if to prove my guess, when I decided to make “Sweet Sweet Chicken Stew,” a translucent curve appeared in front of my eyes.

Was this like a rhythm game?

The cursor moved from left to right, and it seemed like a specific area was highlighted, as if telling me to stop when the cursor entered that range.

When the cursor was positioned within the marked area, I instinctively nodded my head slightly, and once again, my body started moving on its own.

I seasoned the butchered chicken, fried it in a hot pan, chopped the sweet flowers, and mixed some unknown ingredients into the pot, letting it simmer.

The only ingredients I had were a few spices, the bird meat, and the sweet flowers.

The way things kept appearing from my light bag felt like watching Doraemon’s pocket in action.

Despite the strange scene, neither Lumine nor Paimon seemed particularly bothered by it. They probably thought I had gathered these ingredients before, or perhaps in Teyvat, where magic exists, this kind of thing wasn’t particularly surprising.

In any case, my cooking movements were incredibly skillful, and with the help of the mysteriously appearing ingredients, a delicious smell soon filled the air.

[Perfect]

[Delicious Sweet Chicken Stew] x1

I plated the golden-brown chicken and poured the sweet stew from the pot over it.

The dish didn’t look exactly as it did in the picture I first saw. The image had shown a whole roasted chicken, but since the bird Lumine had caught was so large, I had to cook it in parts.

Nevertheless, the appetizing color and the sweet aroma were real. The smell, which stimulated the appetite, tickled my nose, and Paimon, excited, flew over and started inspecting the finished dish.

And soon, Paimon let out another round of admiration.

“It looks delicious! Shiu, have you been hiding this skill?”

“…Well, it’s not so much that I was hiding it as I just never had the opportunity.”

To be exact, it wasn’t me, but someone who dropped me here who had hidden this ability. I was merely testing out a newly unlocked feature.

However, Paimon didn’t seem interested in my subtle response and quickly started setting the table. Lumine also seemed in a good mood, her face lit up with excitement.

“You’re amazing, Shiu. Honestly, I’m impressed.”

Lumine seemed to be in a good mood from having a proper meal.

“I thought you were aiming to be a pillar of the community.”

“…Could you not dig into other people’s wounds all of a sudden?”

I said, slightly hurt. But I decided to take it as a compliment from Lumine, as compliments from beautiful people always made me feel good.

Lumine gave a sly smile, as if it were all a joke, and then grabbed her fork and knife. I too, curious about the taste of the dish I had made, grabbed a fork and knife and cut off a piece of meat, following Lumine’s lead. Paimon, already struggling with a small knife, was attempting to cut the meat as well.

And the moment I put a piece of meat in my mouth…

*Wow,* a spontaneous exclamation came from somewhere.

To be continued…