The strange sound of heavy footsteps quickly drew the players' attention.
"What's that sound?"
"Something's not right about it…"
Players glanced left and right, until they finally pinpointed the direction the noise was coming from.
Moments later, a massive black creature emerged from the jungle and came into view.
It stood nearly three meters tall, its body enormous and its muscles grotesquely swollen. A pair of crimson eyes blazed with an eerie, unsettling light.
It spotted the players in the distance, sniffed the air several times with great force — as though it had caught a scent.
Thud, thud, thud…
Filled with savage excitement, it beat its chest and broke into a bounding charge, its pace growing faster with every stride.
In seconds, the hulking creature had come crashing toward them.
Only now could the players make out its shape clearly — it resembled a black bear, but far more terrifying than any ordinary one. This thing radiated sheer menace.
"A monster — it's coming straight for us!"
"What do we do?"
"Organizer! What are you doing?! Get it away from us!"
Faced with the charging monster, the crowd erupted in shouts. Many of the players closest to it instinctively stumbled backward, terrified of being seized and torn apart by the bear-creature.
"ROOAAR!"
"Can't you see a monster is here?! Do something — drive it away!"
One newcomer player happened to be standing nearest to the Organizer's staff. He screamed at them to chase the monster off and restore order — but the Host Mask Man and every other staff member simply ignored him, showing not the slightest reaction.
That only made the newcomer panic harder.
Lin Ye, Cold Frost, and a handful of veteran players understood at once — this was no accident. It was inevitable. The bear-creature was part of the trial for this fourth event: Cuisine.
"I'll handle it," Cold Frost said, glancing at Lin Ye to gauge his read on the situation.
By now the black bear had already forced its way into the cooking area. Its bloated body shuddered with every step. It raised one of its thick, tree-trunk arms and brought it crashing down toward a nearby newcomer.
But the newcomer reacted fast, throwing themselves out of the way in a desperate scramble.
The surrounding players fled in all directions.
No one spared a thought for the cookware, stoves, or ingredients anymore.
The black bear let out another roar. Its red eyes swept around, then locked onto the nearest cooking station. It lunged forward and slammed a massive paw down.
BOOM!
The stove let out a violent crack as it buckled under the blow.
"Our stove!"
"No!"
"It's smashing the stoves!"
The moment it destroyed the first, the bear immediately charged toward the second nearest station.
It swung its arm again. The enormous paw rose, and came down with savage force.
BOOM!
A second stove was gone.
Still it didn't leave. Its eyes moved again, fixing on yet another station.
It seemed to be targeting the stoves specifically.
"Everyone get back to your stations!" Lin Ye bellowed. "There has to be someone at each stove — otherwise the bear will destroy them!"
There was a stove even closer to the bear's current position, yet it ignored it entirely, choosing instead to go after one further away.
The reason was obvious: the nearer stove had someone at it — a woman who had been too terrified to move and was still frozen in place on the ground beside it.
"But — but…"
The fleeing players hovered and hesitated, too frightened to move back to their positions.
"Miss Cold."
"On it."
Cold Frost moved. Her figure vanished in an instant, and when she reappeared, she was standing directly in front of the black bear.
The bear had just begun to raise its arm when the human appeared before it.
A flash of confusion crossed those bloodshot eyes — then pure, explosive fury. It threw back its head and let out a thunderous roar, then swung its massive arm with full force.
Swish!
Thud!
Cold Frost stepped aside, appearing at the bear's flank. Her longsword drove in from an unexpected angle.
Tremendous resistance pushed back against the blade.
Cold Frost clenched her muscles and leaned her full body weight into the thrust, forcing it deeper.
"AUUGH!"
"ROAAR!"
A shriek of pain rang out.
The bear's rage erupted. It twisted its massive body and swung its left arm in a violent arc.
BOOM!
But it connected with nothing.
Cold Frost had already pulled her sword free, circled aside in a few quick steps, and driven the blade in again.
Compared to the monster she had imagined, this black bear was not all that difficult to handle.
The other veteran players watched closely.
One of them had been even closer than Cold Frost moments before — but without knowing the bear's strength, he hadn't dared to act rashly. If the bear turned out to be too powerful, he wouldn't stand a chance — and that was a risk he wasn't willing to take.
His priority was self-preservation. Every other veteran shared the same instinct.
But now, watching Cold Frost work, it was becoming clear — this black bear wasn't that strong. Cold Frost was a LV5 veteran, certainly, and had significant advantages in raw power, but even so, the exchange made the other veterans think: I could probably handle that.
Swish!
Another strike.
The bear was bleeding heavily.
With a heavy crash, it collapsed to the ground.
Cold Frost pulled her sword free and stepped back several paces, keeping her distance in case the beast made a dying lunge.
Unexpectedly weak.
Cold Frost had expected a real fight. So had Lin Ye — surely a monster that showed up like this would have some teeth to it.
He glanced over at the Organizer's side. The Host Mask Man and the other staff members showed no change in demeanor whatsoever. The bear's collapse hadn't gotten so much as a reaction from them.
Something was wrong.
The bear's appearance should have worked in the Organizer's favor — it was supposed to serve their purposes. So why did they look completely unbothered when it went down? As though they didn't care at all.
There had to be something more going on here.
"Ha! Nobody messes with Miss Cold!"
"Three moves and she dropped that thing."
"What was it thinking, coming over here? Practically suicide."
"Weren't we supposed to be cooking meat dishes? Why not make bear paw! I've heard it tastes incredible."
In the real world, bears were a protected species — bear paw was completely off the table. But here in the Strange instance's world, apparently nothing was off limits.
The only question was whether anyone present actually knew how to cook it.
Miss Erina Nakiri heard the chatter and quietly filed the thought away. Bear paw was an incredibly rare ingredient.
The players who had scattered now began drifting back one by one.
They still had plenty of cooking time, but they needed to get moving — there was no telling whether more disruptions were coming.
The two groups whose stoves had been destroyed were in particularly dire straits.
A few newcomers walked up to the dead bear, raised their boots, and gave it a series of hard kicks.
"That's for wrecking our stove, you stupid thing."
"Think you're tough?! Look at you now, flat on the ground."
"Get up if you've got the nerve!"
They cursed and vented their frustration.
"ROOAAR!"
With a thunderous bellow, the black bear's massive paw swept sideways. The explosive force slammed into one player and sent him crashing into two others behind him.
Three people went flying end over end, launched backward by the sheer power of the blow.
Pfft…
"AAAHH!"
"The bear — it's not dead —!"
Screams tore through the air.
The black bear was not dead.
The entire venue was stunned. Cries of pain continued without stop.
The Host Mask Man allowed himself a small smile.
Cold Frost narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Is the bear a Strange entity as well?"
Could ordinary damage not put it down for good?
"I'll handle it. One strike." A veteran player let out a battle cry, surged forward, and brought a hatchet swinging down with explosive force.
The newcomers' eyes lit up with excitement and anticipation.
Finally, a veteran was stepping up.
Swish!
A fierce whistle tore the air as the veteran threw every ounce of his strength into the blow — muscles taut, body fully committed.
This strike could not be stopped.
Thud…
A dull, heavy impact.
"ROOAAR!"
The black bear bared its fangs and let out a bellowing roar.
The veteran went flying backward, tracing a wide arc through the air.
Crash, crash, crash…
He hit the ground hard, bowled through a scattering of ingredients, and took down several nearby players in the process.
Silence fell across the entire area.
Didn't he say one strike? How did he end up being the one taken out in one strike?
Zing…
Cold Frost struck again from the side and slightly behind — her agile silhouette blurring into a streak of motion, sword edge slashing down, blade biting deep.
Her graceful form and dazzling swordsmanship drew wide eyes from every direction.
"Miss Cold is the real deal."
"Absolute unstoppable force."
"The bear looked easy to handle, but that's only because she's the one doing it. Anyone else would be in serious trouble."
The newcomers understood now. The bear had only looked manageable because Cold Frost was the one fighting it. For any other player, it would have been a completely different story.
Bang, bang…
Crash, crash, crash…
This time, the exchange between Cold Frost and the black bear was far more grueling — neither able to gain a clean advantage.
Cold Frost could no longer put it away as quickly as before.
The girl with long black hair furrowed her brow.
Had the bear been deliberately holding back earlier? That shouldn't be possible.
Even a Strange entity facing death wouldn't sandbag on purpose — unless it simply hadn't been holding back at all.
"Miss Cold — draw it away. Lead it out of the cooking area."
"Got it."
Cold Frost immediately followed Lin Ye's instruction, falling back and luring the bear outward.
The bear gave chase for a few steps — then, when Cold Frost had moved a bit further away, it stopped short. It looked around, then turned and went thundering straight toward the nearest unmanned stove.
"Just as I thought."
Watching the bear's behavior, Lin Ye had figured out the pattern.
"Stop it. If it keeps going, nobody's clearing this event."
Lin Ye looked to the other veteran players. They were still in wait-and-see mode.
"Restrain it — limit its movement. I have a way to kill it."
Tanaka gave a nod. "Coco, let's go."
"Fine by me!" The veteran player Coco nodded and agreed.
The two veterans charged in, and a third veteran moved as well — the one who had received ingredient information from Erina Nakiri. Now was the perfect chance to redeem himself and change the impression he'd left.
"I knew this cooking event wouldn't stay quiet for long."
A strange black bear had appeared now. What might come next?
Anything, he figured. Absolutely anything was possible.
The veteran who had previously been targeted hesitated for a moment, then decided to join in as well.
He wasn't sure whether it would change anything, but he might as well try his best.
Including Cold Frost, five veteran players combined their efforts and finally managed to restrain the bear.
"Hold it in place — don't kill it."
*"ROOAARR!"
"ROAAR!"*
The black bear threw its head back and bellowed at the sky, thrashing its arms wildly. Even five veteran players working together were finding it an enormous strain to hold it.
"Everyone else — back to your stoves! There must be someone at each station at all times. Right now. Move."
Under Lin Ye's command, players whose stoves were positioned farther from the fight steeled themselves and made their way back to their positions.
Those whose stoves were closer to the action were too frightened to take a step forward.
Lin Ye walked over and kicked one of them — a sharp, hard kick that landed squarely.
"Move."
"I'll have no problem breaking your legs and dragging you over there."
Among the two newcomers in question was a woman who appeared to be around thirty. She looked absolutely miserable — eyes glistening, but too terrified even to let the tears fall.
"Now."
Seeing Lin Ye raise his hand again, the two newcomers — one man, one woman — clambered shakily back to their station.
"That goes for the rest of you too."
"But — our stove is already destroyed. Do we really need to —"
"Yes."
Lin Ye's cold gaze swept over them.
Several players went pale with dread — caught between fear of Lin Ye and fear of the black bear. But the moment Lin Ye drew his Dagger, the last of their hesitation evaporated, and they bolted back to their wrecked stations in a scrambling, stumbling rush.
Lin Ye had been watching the Organizer's staff the whole time. The shift in their demeanor confirmed that his approach was correct.
"Move out — draw the bear outside the cooking area, then kill it."
But hadn't the luring attempt just failed?
The veterans didn't voice any doubts — they simply moved. The five of them spread out, and Cold Frost made a show of calling out loudly to draw the bear's attention.
This time, when the bear reached the boundary of the cooking area, it did not stop and turn back as it had before.
Once it crossed outside the boundary, Cold Frost clearly felt the bear's power drop.
This was the same level it had been at during their first exchange.
So that's it.
She had a theory now.
It had to be connected to the cooking area — and to the destroyed stoves.
The fact that Lin Ye had even figured that out spoke to a truly remarkable capacity for observation and analysis.
Though, looking back, Cold Frost reflected — given that the bear had specifically targeted unmanned stoves, and given how its power had surged after being "killed" the first time, the theory wasn't impossible to arrive at. Many players in the venue probably could have reached the same conclusion, if only they had kept their heads. The chaos of the situation had stripped most of them of the calm needed to think it through.
"Lin Ye's presence helped too," she noted privately. "The players needed someone to trust — without that, they would've scattered, and no one would have gotten back to their stoves in time."
Without that foundation, the bear would never have left the cooking area at all.
At last, the black bear went down for the second time.
This time, the veterans didn't leave anything to chance. Blades came down in a relentless flurry, and the carcass was systematically dismembered.
Head, all four limbs — severed cleanly.
"Come back from that if you can," Tanaka muttered darkly.
The fight had cost them a tremendous amount of stamina.
But they had gotten through it. The black bear was dealt with.
"That was a Strange-infected bear, wasn't it?"
"Has to be."
"We killed it once earlier, but it came back — stronger than before."
"What if we'd killed it a second time? Would it have resurrected again, even more powerful?"
If the bear had come back even stronger, the five of them combined might not have been enough to handle it cleanly. They would have been looking at serious injuries — or worse.
The veterans returned, and the looks they cast toward Lin Ye had shifted somewhat.
Lin Ye hadn't personally entered the fight, but without his insight and coordination, that black bear would not have been dealt with nearly so quickly.
"Start cooking as fast as you can — things won't stay quiet from here on out."
Lin Ye looked at the dead bear. There were no signs of revival — for now, at least, it appeared to be finished.
"I checked the time. The bear showed up thirty minutes after the Cuisine event began. My guess is that disruptions like this — creatures attacking to interfere with our cooking — will come every half hour."
Every half hour?
That was manageable.
"The difficulty will escalate each time."
The moment those words landed, every face around him tightened.
If the next creature was stronger than the bear, how would they deal with it?
No one needed Lin Ye to spell it out — they all understood: the next creature would likely come with new rules of its own, just as the bear had.
"Cook. Get moving."
"Quickly, quickly!"
"Finish the dish first — priority one."
Only once the food was done would they have fulfilled the most important requirement of the fourth event.
The disruption had affected Miss Erina Nakiri's group as well, though not severely.
"How are we doing?"
"Leave the cooking to me," the golden-haired young girl told Lin Ye with quiet confidence.
This was what she could do. The first three events, she had been the one being looked after. Now, it was finally her turn to carry the weight.
"Good."
Erina Nakiri returned to her work, tasting, adjusting, pushing herself to produce something extraordinary.
In truth, Lin Ye and Cold Frost had both mentioned to her earlier that she shouldn't chase perfection — with all six judges being players, passing would be easy enough. Just produce something presentable.
But Erina Nakiri refused to approach it that way. She intended to go all out and create the best dish she possibly could.
She had full confidence in her own cooking. There were other chefs among the players in other groups, but she didn't believe any of them could beat her. Still — if she only half-heartedly put together something passable and then lost, that would be a humiliation she would carry for the rest of her life. A stain she could never forget.
She would not allow that to happen.
So she would pour everything she had ever learned into this dish. Into making it the best it could be.
She had to master each ingredient's flavor profile, then combine her existing knowledge with her chef's intuition to coax out the finest possible expression of each one — bringing them together in perfect harmony.
"Taste this."
Ten minutes later, Erina Nakiri had finished her first dish. She plated a small portion of the rabbit meat onto a side dish and presented it to the other two.
Cold Frost tasted it first. "Mm — that's actually really good."
She found it genuinely delicious.
The grey rabbit meat was firm and springy with a satisfying elasticity, and under Erina Nakiri's hands it had been coaxed into something remarkably flavorful.
Before she noticed what she was doing, Cold Frost had finished the entire portion.
Lin Ye ate his share. "Not bad at all — quite good."
But a moment later, Shared Taste activated, and the flavor impression was transmitted over to Erina Nakiri.
The golden-haired young girl frowned slightly.
She had deliberately avoided tasting her own rabbit dish, specifically so she could experience its flavors through Lin Ye's Shared Taste. She felt this would bring her closer to what a diner actually experienced.
"Not good enough. Let me try the beef and the snake meat."
"Don't worry about the time — I'll manage it," she said. "I've got a solid enough feel for that blue vegetable's properties now. I don't need to spend more time working out its flavor profile."
"Alright."
Lin Ye said nothing more.
Meanwhile, at the other cooking stations across the area, flames burned, iron pots hissed with rolling heat, wisps of steam curled upward, and aromas drifted through the air.
But amid those aromas — among them was something else entirely.
"God, that stinks."
"Who the hell is cooking something that smells like sewage?!"
"Throw it out! That reek is suffocating — are you trying to gas us all to death?!"
A wave of complaints erupted from players across the area.
The smell was absolutely revolting — like something had gone very, very wrong.
Erina Nakiri caught a whiff of it too. Her expression remained calm and focused as she continued working.
Cold Frost stayed on watch as instructed, alert to the possibility of another sudden ambush. If a black bear could appear, other dangerous creatures certainly could too.
"I'll go take a look."
"Want company?"
"Stay with Miss Nakiri."
"Got it."
Lin Ye walked down the row of stations, passing each one in turn.
Most players greeted him warmly as he approached — even the ones he'd kicked and threatened earlier were all smiles now, though whether those smiles were genuine or forced was another question entirely.
Blorp, blorp…
Lin Ye finally tracked down the source of the smell.
It was coming from one of the groups with a destroyed stove.
The players there had rigged up a makeshift stove in an emergency, improvised but functional enough to hold a pot. Something was simmering inside.
"Intestines."
The shape was unmistakable. Combined with the very distinctive odor, Lin Ye immediately knew what it was.
"That's right, Brother Zero — intestines."
Blorp, blorp…
The fire burned on, steam rose from the pot.
The players in charge of the dish were intently focused on their work.
"Why go with intestines?"
"None of us three are trained cooks. We can manage basic home cooking — decent enough, but nothing special," one of them explained. "I was going to do braised pork belly originally, but when the bear showed up earlier, the meat I'd been preparing for the braise fell on the ground. No good after that."
"And then the other cuts of meat — I thought about using the bear," he said, gesturing toward the dead creature.
"But I genuinely have no idea how to cook bear meat. Intestines, though — I figured the approach is roughly the same. And with the right spices, braised low and slow, it actually shouldn't taste bad at all. Most importantly, we can still incorporate the required ingredients, and our makeshift stove can handle a long braise. It's all we've got."
A simple enough technique — season, add spices, simmer until done.
Lin Ye nodded. "I'm looking forward to what you put together."
"Thanks."
"Does it have a name yet?"
"Not yet… Brother Zero, why don't you pick one?"
A name floated into Lin Ye's mind. "Call it Jiuzhuan Feichang."
"Perfect name. Jiuzhuan Feichang it is."
"Actually — one more thing," Lin Ye said, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Follow what I'm about to tell you, and I promise the Organizer's judges will like it even more."
The cook's eyes widened slightly, his expression full of eager anticipation.
He wanted to hear what Lin Ye had in mind.
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