Eren had already given Lyra hundreds of pieces of Verdant Breast, Chimera Thigh Meat, and Unfertilized Chimera Eggs.
Everything was perfectly stored in her kitchen's storage.
Since all of them were boss drop items that would instantly grant a massive amount of Life Essence for a Chef profession upon cooking, Eren lied that he had received them from the "secret organization" and handed them over to her.
And that was a mistake he was currently regretting.
"Lyra, come on… Just use a couple of them for testing… Please…"
"No, I won't. Cooking them without using a real recipe is such a waste."
Eren's eyes twitched in annoyance as he heard the words real recipe.
Eren had been transmigrated into this fantasy world for more than two years.
It was wonderful in most aspects, but in some areas, it was far too backward for no reason.
The first was medical and anatomical knowledge, it was far too low compared to the modern world.
Everyone relied too much on spells and potions, completely neglecting actual science, despite having advanced technology like cars, trains, and phones.
From the history Eren had learned at school, the lost civilization, humans before the Spiritual Calamity, had a level of development very similar to his previous world.
But once humanity was pushed to the brink of annihilation, much of that knowledge and technology was lost in the struggle.
Modern conveniences like cars, trains, and cellphones were actually provided by the Gaya System itself.
Even so, most people preferred researching spells and spiritual aspects rather than studying actual science, turning current society into one largely ignorant of modern scientific knowledge.
When Eren first transmigrated into the body of a sixteen-year-old boy, he struggled the most because the norms of this world had changed beyond reason, while even the basics of modern science had vanished.
Everyone relied far too much on the Gaya System.
That reliance even extended to their food culture.
The Gaya System only provided large amounts of Life Essence when perfectly nutrient-balanced food was made, and such dishes were considered "real recipes."
Anything else was frowned upon.
The majority of people didn't even know what nutrients were.
As a result, most Gaya-approved foods consisted mainly of protein, followed by carbohydrates, vitamins, and mineral-rich ingredients, became the norm.
This also contributed to the generally taller and stronger physique of humans in this world.
But the problem was repetition, everything was made again and again, with no innovation at all.
Eren had already grown sick of eating the same types of sandwiches, steaks, salads, buns, and breads. He craved modern food badly.
He want to eat fried chicken, coke, and chips.
However, every ingredient here was slightly different from his previous world.
There were no normal livestock, and even plants were mutated with spiritual energy.
What was even more annoying was that cooking monster meat properly required a Chef class, someone who could convert the hostile spiritual energy within the meat into something beneficial.
Since he had obtained premium-quality meat from the dungeon, he gave Lyra a small portion and asked her to replicate fried chicken.
To balance the nutrients, he also designed a vegetable and fruit salad combo and suggested she try it.
But she kept insisting on rejecting his idea.
This was the exact reaction everyone in this world had, which he found extremely strange.
People in this world were afraid of change and unwilling to try anything new.
She considered his recipes useless simply because she didn't recognize them.
And that pissed him off greatly.
"Then I won't tell 'them' about your progress… I will tell 'them' that you made no progress..."
Lyra's face stiffened instantly upon hearing that.
"You… don't be so petty…"
"Yeah, yeah… I am being petty… so what? You won't do anything I ask for, then I won't do anything in return…"
Lyra immediately fumed with anger and started punching Eren's back, but her hands were so tiny and harmless that, considering Eren's current constitution, he felt absolutely nothing.
He stood completely unbothered, ignoring her tantrum.
"H-Hey, Lyra, stop it… Everyone's looking at us weirdly…"
"Yeah, you know how he is… just give that recipe a try…"
"H-haha… why don't you two calm down a little?…"
Everyone at the train station gave Eren and his friends strange looks as the others tried to restrain Lyra.
After some convincing from Kael, Rowan, and Garrick, Lyra finally gave in.
"Fine, I'll make whatever you want… so don't be an asshole!"
Eren broke into a wide grin upon hearing that, which only made Lyra angry again as she continued punching his back despite everyone trying to stop her.
At that moment,
"WHOOOOOO—!!!"
A deep, thunderous sound echoed across the station.
The ground trembled as a massive train approached, steam hissing violently.
Its next destination glowed faintly on the brightly lit panel: Virelith City.
The doors slid open with a heavy metallic hiss.
"…I'll be back."
Eren bid farewell to his friends, stepped into the train, and took his seat.
Within a few moments, the doors began to close.
"WHOOOOM—!!"
With another deafening roar, the train began to move.
Eren smiled calmly at his friends, who were still standing on the platform, as the scenery outside began to change within seconds.
The train accelerated rapidly, soon reaching its maximum speed.
Eren took out his phone and began going through information about Virelith City.
Another small city, just like Tidewatch.
All the information appeared on the forum screen in no time.
The first details he checked were about the dungeons located in the wilderness surrounding the city. Information about five dungeons popped up instantly:
[Crimson Abyss of Velkaris] and [Chains of the Devouring Pit] — Abyssal faction
[Whispering Vault of Nyth'ra] — Eldritch faction
[Sanctum of the Fallen Seraph] and [Radiant Spire of Luminastra] — Divine faction
Eren took his time reading general strategies, loot information, and details about recent guild raids.
"Oh…! The Silverfang Union guild is planning to raid [Chains of the Devouring Pit] on Nightmare difficulty today…"
This time, instead of directly barging into the dungeon directly like he did before, Eren took his time to check if there was any information about guild schedules for Nightmare difficulty raids.
He was planning to sneak into the dungeon with them if there were fewer people.
If they were already full, he would wait until they exited and enter at the same time they came out.
That would reduce the number of red gate appearances to just one, making it less obvious that someone had sneaked in.
"I should have looked into this kind of detail before making a move…"
Eren kept realizing just how amateur he had been, as he hadn't even bothered to check such details the previous day.
But worrying about what had already happened wouldn't change anything.
So he simply memorized all the guild schedules for Nightmare difficulty before taking a short nap on the train.
By the time he woke up, the train had almost reached its destination.
Once he got off the train, Eren took out his phone, searched for a nearby trading center, and booked a taxi.
He glanced at his ring, which was half full.
"It's time to sell everything… I wonder how much I'll get once I sell all of these directly…"