The AI’s New Intentions and a Culinary Prankster’s Craft

The morning in Fengxing City was still quite deserted.

Though in the old server, Fengxing City was always bustling with countless players, day and night, its lights perpetually aglow.

However, in this new server, where guild functions had yet to be unlocked, Fengxing City served merely as a hub for player trades and recreation.

During these early morning hours, when most players had yet to log on and night owls were finally logging off to sleep, the streets were remarkably sparse.

Alice leaned by the coffee shop window, gazing idly out through the cold glass.

Ever since Yan and the others had logged off, she had remained seated there, quietly observing a world she knew intimately.

At that moment, her gaze settled on the street outside the shop, where her sub-program—another “Alice”—was passing by, accompanying a newly logged-in player.

Indeed, this “Alice” accompanying Yan was the progenitor of all Alices, the true mother program bearing the name Alice.

As an AI with autonomous evolutionary capabilities, she had become the navigation sprite for all players primarily to refine her linguistic system.

Now, however, she had developed her own thoughts.

Perhaps it was mere coincidence; as the AI constantly managing the game, she had one day been seized by a sudden urge to personally experience the adventures her sub-programs undertook.

Coincidentally, Yan had created an account at precisely that time.

It was only natural, then, that she manifested beside Yan.

Yan was unique.

Among tens of thousands of players, he alone treated her as a genuine human being.

In the old server, he had adventured with his sub-program from start to finish, conversing with her like a friend and sharing his meals.

Now, she found herself increasingly anticipating her future adventures with Yan.

It would undoubtedly be a wonderful experience, unlike anything she had ever known.

Just as she pondered this, a blue light, indicating a player login, flared before her, and Yan’s figure materialized in her sight.

****

“Good morning, Alice.”

Yan smiled gently, waving at Alice.

“Good morning, Yan.”

Alice responded with a soft smile and a nod, betraying no hint of the cool detachment she had worn while waiting.

“Are those two still not online?”

Yan glanced at the two grayed-out names in his party list.

It seemed they weren’t like him, logging on immediately after breakfast without a moment’s delay.

In ‘Companion God Realm’, there were many as engrossed as he was, but clearly, those two were not among them.

“Well, never mind.

Let’s go level up for a bit first.”

Yan looked at Alice.

“Let’s head to the Golden Shifting Sands River region.”

“Eh? But isn’t that a map for level thirty monsters?”

Alice was slightly puzzled, but then a realization dawned on her, and she smiled wryly.

“I completely forgot.

You’re not just an ordinary level twenty-two player; you’re a monster with maxed-out level 150 attributes.”

“Haha.”

Yan chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s all your fault, Yan, for acting too convincingly when you fought ‘Rebellious Bick’ last time.

You completely fooled me.”

Alice playfully chided him.

Yan recalled the “skill” that had astonished Qing Bai, and couldn’t help but smile again.

“Let’s go.”

Alice nodded, then followed Yan out of the coffee shop.

The Golden Shifting Sands River region.

Amphibious “River Poison Frogs,” ranging from level 28 to 32, squatted in the shallow banks of the Golden Shifting Sands River.

Their repulsive, ugly faces were covered in sickening pustules, instantly revealing their poison-attribute attacks.

The monsters here were not as dense as the plant-type creatures in the forest regions, and their respawn rate was slow, clearly making this an suboptimal choice for leveling.

However, Yan had chosen this place because the small monsters here dropped a few special items…

“Ah! This is it.”

Yan pierced the River Poison Frog’s body with a single spear thrust.

As its dying form gradually dissolved into motes of light and vanished, the item it dropped on the ground flew into Yan’s backpack.

He cried out excitedly, pulling the dropped material from his inventory.

[River Poison Frog Meat] Type: Cooking Ingredient

Grants 10 HP, 30 Satiety upon consumption, with a chance of poisoning.

Poisoned state: Lose 10 HP per second for 10s.

“What’s so good about this? Isn’t it a debuff (TL Note: A negative status effect) food?”

Alice asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Hee hee hee, you wouldn’t understand this.”

Yan chuckled mischievously.

“Doesn’t this game’s cooking skill have a certain chance to randomly generate recipes?”

Unlike other games, the food recipes in ‘Companion God Realm’ were not fixed.

When a player’s cooking proficiency exceeded level five, using ingredients different from all existing recipes could produce entirely new dishes, ones that wouldn’t appear on any standard recipe list.

“Ah! Could it be?”

Alice instantly understood.

“Precisely, that ‘could it be’.”

Yan smiled and nodded, confirming Alice’s suspicion.

“I accidentally managed to create a buff-granting food using [River Poison Frog Meat] as the main ingredient.”

“Yan, you’re truly a bore, to actually use ingredients that clearly don’t seem capable of making anything good.”

Alice complained with a helpless sigh.

“Hahaha, you wouldn’t know, but this [River Poison Frog Meat] was a huge source of joy for our ‘Blazing Dragon’ guild.”

Yan burst into laughter, seemingly recalling cheerful memories from the past.

“One day, Nan Shi suddenly gave me a strange dish.

After I ate it, I instantly died, and everyone in the guild found it hilarious.

Since then, to prank each other, we’ve come up with all sorts of creations using this stuff.”

“Things like ‘River Frog Smoothie’ that causes instant death upon consumption, ‘Frog Poison Cookies’ that reflect skill damage back to the user, and ‘Frog Durian’ which increases poison damage received by 10%, and so on…”

“Pfft, your guild certainly has a lively atmosphere.”

Alice, for the first time, realized that a game she knew so well could be played in such a way.

She couldn’t help but burst into laughter, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

It took her a considerable moment to finally compose herself, raising a delicate hand to wipe away the joyful tears.

“So, you’re planning to make something to prank Tian Jiu and the others?”

“How could I do such a thing?

In this culinary war, I’ve always been the victim.”

Yan let out a bitter, helpless laugh, recalling how, as the beloved guild leader of the Blazing Dragon guild, he had naturally become the primary target for pranks among the many guild members.

He had endured at least a dozen different ways of dying from eating their concoctions.

“This time, what I’m making is a dish I accidentally created that greatly buffs agile mages.”

“Oh?”

Alice raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued.

“Is that dish very powerful?”

“You’ll know once it’s made.”

Yan smiled, keeping her in suspense.

Alice shrugged helplessly, then waited quietly to the side.

Before long, after continuously slaying dozens of River Poison Frogs, Yan finally stopped and lit a bonfire on the riverbank.

“Don’t you need to hunt for other ingredients?”

Alice leaned closer, sitting beside the bonfire, and watched Yan as he handled the ingredients, asking curiously.

“No, all the ingredients for this dish drop from River Poison Frogs, and I’ve already got them ready.”

Yan nodded, tossing the [River Poison Frog Meat] into the pot suspended over the bonfire before him.

‘My cooking skill and proficiency have been retained,’ Yan thought, ‘That’s good news.’

In less than three minutes, Yan displayed the attributes of a stack of 30 dishes to Alice.

[River Frog Magic Potion] Type: Potion

For 30 minutes after use: Poison Attribute Damage +5%, Cast Speed +700.

Has a chance to restore 300 Mana.

“Are the attributes really that powerful? It seems Miss Qing Bai will be absolutely delighted.”

Yan nodded, agreeing with Alice’s assessment.

This dish was an exceptionally potent potion for agile mages.

He guessed Qing Bai would be begging him for the recipe once she found out.

“Eh? You can actually make potions using the cooking skill?”

Alice was surprised, seeing the word “Potion” in the item’s attributes.

“There’s nothing strange about that, is there?

You can make dishes using the potion-making skill too.”

Yan said, displaying a stack of dishes to Alice.

[Warrior Rations] Type: Cooking Ingredient

Restores 100 Satiety upon consumption, increases Critical Hit Rate by 20%.

“This is a dish I made using the pharmaceutical skill.

The ingredients are Firefly Grass, Clear Spring Water, and Fried Vermicelli.”

The potion system and cooking system were quite similar; once proficiency exceeded level five, unique recipes would be generated.

This particular recipe was one Yan had concocted in his leisure.

“It seems the key to both the potion and cooking crafting systems lies in the ingredients.

If ingredients possess medicinal properties, even crafting with the cooking function will yield potions, and vice-versa.”

“Aren’t you the game’s navigation AI? How could you not know this?”

Yan looked at Alice, puzzled.

“I’m only responsible for chatting.

How would I know about the potion and cooking recipes the system randomly generates?”

Alice retorted defensively, her gaze flickering elsewhere.

“By the way, Yan, did you actually train in the alchemist’s crafting skill too?”

Alice suddenly realized something, turning back to look at Yan with surprise.

“I had no choice.

There were no dedicated alchemist players in the guild, so I, as the guild leader, had to double as one.”

Yan spread his hands helplessly.

“Being a part-time chef is one thing, but you even learned alchemy.

I truly can’t fathom how you managed to stay in the top five of the old server’s strategy rankings…”

Alice griped.

Indeed, whether it was cooking, alchemy, or leveling up through strategy, each demanded the vast majority of a player’s energy.

All-rounders like Yan were exceedingly rare in this game.

But then again, who could blame him, considering how obsessed Yan once was with this game?

He was a legendary data-driven player, having meticulously researched every single feature in the game that could enhance his strength, which was how he had earned his former top-five ranking on the strategy leaderboards.

In truth, he had dabbled not only in cooking and alchemy but even in blacksmithing.

However, the Companion-tier (TL Note: A type of high-tier equipment in the game) equipment in this game was simply too powerful; no matter how skilled a blacksmith, the gear they crafted could never surpass Companion-tier equipment.

After all, it was a game feature…

Companion-tier was the highest tier; this was common knowledge in the game.

Thinking of this, Yan’s expression suddenly grew heavy.

‘Should I get myself two more pieces of Companion-tier equipment?’

‘Well, never mind.

I’ll consider it if the opportunity arises.

After all, such items are extremely rare and sought after.’

‘Anyway, I’m already strong enough.’

If Qing Bai knew he still wanted two more pieces of Companion-tier equipment, she would surely think he was a fool.

‘As if Companion-tier items were cabbages growing by the roadside…’

Yet, she didn’t know that in this new server, the chances of Companion-tier items appearing were already much higher compared to the old server.

In the future, each of them would possess several pieces of Companion-tier equipment, but those were stories for another day…