The system scanned for a long time but found nothing, Ye Zhizhou found that the spiritual power that he had sent out gradually stopped moving, and a light, comforting feeling rose in his brain. Suddenly, the originally lightly appetizing fragrance became something that made one's mouth water and drool. After about ten seconds, the food's fragrance turned into a familiar scent of mint. His spiritual power instantly let down its guard, cheerfully and idly floating around trying to find the familiar spiritual power that it had been entwined and mingled with for decades.
[Scan complete. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Wanfu meat, Phoenix Tail Shark Fin, Dried Sea Cucumber, Stir Fry Silkie Chicken all have insect poison in them. When used on humans, it can have a hallucinatory effect. Long term use can cause brain damage. Applicable pill: Universal Qingwan Pill ]
[ Abnormal mental fluctuation detected in Host. Asking Host to please pay attention! ]
The light screen that popped up directly in front of him caused Ye Zhizhou to instantly snap out of it. He quickly came to from the familiar scent that encompassed his whole body, swallowed the pill given by the system and withdrew his spiritual power while pinching his nose to block the smell.
His muddled mind gradually became clear. He looked at the system prompt and then looked at the table full of colorful and fragrant dishes. His stomach was filled with nausea. “Insect poison? There are insects in these dishes?”
[ Preliminary scans have determined that there is a mixture of several kinds of poisonous insect venoms. More testing is required to determine the specific types. ]
“There's more than one kind?”
[ Five or more types. ]
He took a deep breath and pushed the nearest dish a little further away. “How on earth did these dishes pass food inspections? Just the smell of it made me go into a trance. Do none of the other customers notice anything?"
[The toxic effect can be hallucinogenic, but with a lower quantity, it's harder to detect. The degree of stimulation for the person is related to their inner quality. The host has awakened spiritual power, moreover, your spiritual power level is high so you were more deeply affected. ]
… So it was like that.
After the pill fully went into effect, Ye Zhizhou probed and sniffed the air of the private room. He found that the familiar smell of mint had changed back to the original aroma of food he had initially smelled.
So, the hallucinogenic effect of these dishes made people smell and taste their most favorite thing? It was no wonder that the male leads were so quickly trapped by the protagonist's skills. With just a meal, they could feel experience their most beloved things, it was really worth it. And right now he was just smelling it. If he ate these dishes, could he directly feel the pleasure of kissing, touching and more with his lover?
A light screen once again popped up in front of him, blocking the hand that was stretching towards the chopsticks. [ Asking Host to please focus on the mission. ]
He sobered up and quickly stuffed another pill into his mouth. It seemed like his self-control was weakened while he was surrounded by this fragrance… As far as he knew, although the male leads didn’t awaken their spiritual power, their brains most certainly would have to function very well, so they would be more affected by these dishes, and the fact that their self-control would also be weakened by the fragrance… Could it be that the Imperial Feast recipe book left to the protagonist by her mother, also could have been called the Miao People's Bewitching Exercise book?
Not daring to stupidly stay in these noxious smells, he hurriedly got up and left the room. He was ready to go back into the game to let Tongtian slowly test what kind of bugs were in the protagonist's food. Right now, he's going to determine why the protagonist's dishes had various buff effects in the game.
In the VIP room across from Ye Zhizhou’s room, an evil-looking man with a cold expression on his face directly picked up the cup of cold water on the table and poured it on his face After the muddled feeling in his mind completely disappeared, he wiped his face and stood up angrily, sneering. “What Gentleman’s Pavilion, only cowards would like these dishes that bring a false sense of satisfaction, wait for my complaint!” After saying this, he got up and left.
The middle-aged man sitting beside him was stunned by his reaction. He quickly stood up to stop him and frantically said, “Vice President Ge, this is… this is, Vice President Ge? Vice President Ge, our business idea…”
Bang!
The door closed in front of his eyes.
“What the hell! If it wasn't for him having a ferocious father…" The middle-aged man's attitude changed and began to hit the door irritably.
The young man sitting on the other side pushed up his glasses and said coolly, “Not only does he have a powerful father, but he also has a brain that can make money. The currently popular holographic game was developed by him. Boss Wang, please speak cautiously.”
Wang Shu, with a stiff expression, hurriedly squeezed out a smile and turned around to say, “Young Master He, I showed you something embarrassing. The dishes from Gentleman’s Pavilion are very good. They’re much better than Fu Yuan’s dishes. Let’s…”
“Continue without me.” Young Master He stood up, gathered his things and began to walk out. “I think Fu Yuan is very good, especially the two new Imperial Feast dishes that their family recently launched, they’re a real pleasure to taste. And… Young Master Ge’s palate is very well known. Since he said there was something wrong with these dishes, then, there must be something wrong with them. Thank you for your hospitality, Director Wang, but unfortunately, I can't enjoy it, I'll be leaving first."
When the door closed in front of him again, Wang Shu’s expression couldn't be held back anymore and became distorted. “A group of damned rich second generation! And that Fu family, I obviously succeeded in digging a pit for them yet they unexpectedly changed their fortune. Who gave them the funds?!”
There were two knocks on the private room’s door. Jun Shujing came in holding a bottle of wine with a smile on her face. Seeing that there was only Wang Shu in it, she was startled and asked, “Vice President Ge and Young Master He haven't arrived yet?”
“They left!” Seeing the one who walked in was his business partner, Wang Shu managed to suppress his anger and said in a deep voice, “Who was the one that funded the Fu family? I have clearly exchanged greetings with the higher-ups. The Fu family couldn't have possibly borrowed money while they're going bankrupt!”
“They left?” The smile on Jun Shujing’s face disappeared. She frowned and set the wine on the table. “Why did they leave? Why did you screw things up again? I overlooked the issue with Fu Xia last time but the dinner for Vice President Ge this time was related to all my in-game business. Can you use your brain?”
Wang Shu looked at her incredulously and suddenly sneered. “Jun Shujing, don’t think so highly of yourself. Vice President Ge wasn't angered into leaving by me, he was disgusted by your dishes! Wasn't your cooking always previously successful? How did you kick the iron board this time? I’m just your partner, not your subordinate. Pay attention to how you speak to me!” After saying this he also turned to leave, slamming the door as he left.
Jun Shujing, who had been praised and flattered by others all this time, was so angered with his attitude as she exploded, "He can’t handle things properly so he dares to throw the blame onto my dishes. How could my dishes be the problem?" As she said this, it seemed like she gained confidence and found her backbone, so her mood soon calmed down. She took out her phone and scrolled through it, hesitating for a while, before calling Qi Xing, who was the most indulgent. This time, she had wanted to find Vice President Ge to stop that holy level quest or ask him to just directly ban Ye Zhizhou. Tang Ye and the others have always thought that she wanted to let go of the game, so they had a supportive attitude towards that holy level quest. But, she actually wanted to ruin the quest, and could only do it secretly.
After going home and entering the game, Ye Zhizhou once again ignored the exploding world channel chat. After hiding his ID, he ran to the protagonist's in-game store to buy a bunch of food with buff effects. He then had Tongtian scan them.
[ All of them contain Zerg toxin. It's slightly different from the species in the real world. The effect of the toxin is stronger. ]
The effect of the toxin is stronger? He looked at the delicate bun in his hand, which was emitting a fragrance of wheat and meat, and hesitated for a moment before taking a small bite.
The 80% real-life fidelity simulation truly brought pleasure from the sense of taste and smell, even the sense of swallowing in-game felt very realistic. His body immediately warmed up after he finished eating the meat bun. He opened up his character window and found that there was a +10 Constitution buff under his character icon, lasting for 30 minutes.
After the fresh taste on his taste buds faded, a sense of satisfaction rose in his mind, which was slightly different than the floating feeling in reality. He took out a bowl of soup, tasted it and found that the comforting feeling once again changed into something slightly softer and cozy. His character had gotten a +10 Attack buff. He frowned and then ate several kinds of other foods. Finally, he determined that the mental pleasure brought by the protagonist’s dishes were equally as effective in-game because this broken game’s degree of similarity to reality was too high. He wondered, if he had drunk a bottle of pesticide right now, would be on the ground rolling in pain?
The addictive and comforting feeling brought by these dishes could be explained by the Zerg toxin that was added to the Imperial Feast dishes, but what about the buffs?
Unconsciously, he walked to the training area as an idea flashed into his mind. This was a game. Bugs were a type of monster which had various types of attributes. The protagonist most likely used these insects’ toxins in her food. Could it be because the protagonist added these strange things to the dishes, the dishes had the positive attributes of the monster itself? But… Using monster parts as ingredients for dishes was something that many people have thought of and tried. Their results were all completely inedible poisonous dishes. Why was it that only the protagonist’s food was edible and had buff effects?
No explanation made sense.
He poked open the system information and looked through it carefully. After all kinds of conjectures, he finally found the real point of re-evaluation—The Imperial Feast recipe! The finished products had various buffs only when the protagonist cooked according to the Imperial Feast recipe; all of the food that he bought just now were Imperial Feast dishes!
The Holy Level Quest's prompt was still shining in midair. He raised his head and looked at it closely, his thoughts becoming more clear. He had triggered the Holy Level Quest after making an Imperial Feast but the protagonist clearly made Imperial Feast dishes before him, so why hadn't she triggered the quest? There was only one difference between his and the protagonist’s Imperial Feast, that is, the protagonist had added materials to the Imperial Feast. For this reason, the system determined that the protagonist’s Imperial Feast couldn't trigger the quest, but what the protagonist made indeed was the Imperial Feast… Couldn't trigger the quest, so a lesser reward of unlocking the buff effect, but only for her, was applied? So in fact, the buff effects of the Imperial Feast dishes weren't caused by the protagonist's added ingredients, but by the system settings. Those added insect poisons only increased the illusion of taste and smell…
He remembered that GM said “Don’t want that group of people to continue affecting the game balance” and the corner of his mouth quirked. It couldn’t be like this right…? So, the protagonist’s “golden finger” of being the only one who could make buffed dishes was actually created by the game’s high reality simulation and weirdo settings.
But that wasn't right either. Wasn't the protagonist’s recipe leaked? There should be no insect monster ingredients in other players’ products. Why didn't they trigger the Holy Level quest? And also, why were there no buffs?
He suddenly remembered that Fu Xia had said she had been wronged in the original plot. He became startled and quickly opened the game’s forum to search for the protagonist’s leaked recipes from back then. His expression became heavy after carefully looking at the recipes.
No, these leaked recipes weren't an Imperial Feast. He lived in ancient times for two lifetimes, and he has also made Imperial Feasts himself. He could easily guess what the finished products made by these recipes looked like, and it absolutely wasn’t the same as what the protagonist sold. In order to prevent speculation errors, he rented a kitchen from the in-game store, cooked a meal according to these leaked recipes and then went to Gentleman’s Pavilion to buy the same dish. He set the dishes next to each other, and after tasting them one by one, he completely confirmed his guess.
It was really different. The leaked recipes were either missing ingredients, had the wrong heat levels, or mixed up two similar ingredients. He put down his chopsticks with an ugly expression. Back then, the protagonist might’ve framed Fu Xia for the issue of leaking her recipes…
【 You have gained: Reduced Health Debuff x1, Bleeding Debuff x1, Deceleration Debuff x1, Blinding Debuff X1 】
A series of debuff prompts appeared. His body immediately became heavy, his vision blurred, he started feeling dizzy and his limbs became powerless. His heart jumped in fright. Ye Zhizhou was just about to call Tongtian when he suddenly remembered that this was just a game. He soon calmed down and opened the game character window to check his character's status. He saw that all the previous buffs under his character icon had disappeared and were replaced with various negative effects with different durations.
“What happened?”
Tongtian quietly laid in his backpack, not giving him an answer.
After he asked, he realized that he already knew the answer and speechlessly rubbed his face. Since the other players made a lot of poisonous food by adding the carcasses of insects and other beasts to their dishes, it wouldn't make sense if the protagonist’s dishes weren't also…
【 Your friend GM Lu is online 】
GM Lu: You’ve been online for a few hours already yet you haven’t even done one task, are you looking for death?
“…” This unsatisfied ghost GM.
GM Lu: And you even ate a bunch of messy things. Are you that hungry and gluttonous?
GM Lu: Stay there and don't move.
【 Your friend GM Lu is offline 】
A minute later, a cold-faced handsome man named Side Account 003 appeared in front of him. He threw him onto an albatross and flew to the largest NPC restaurant in the city.
“… Side Account Brother, I'm really not gluttonous.”
“Get rid of the food in your bag before you say that.”
The albatross landed at the door of the restaurant. The cold-faced handsome man put away his mount, took him to the second floor of the restaurant, ordered all the signature dishes for him, and then sat opposite of him with his arms crossed. “The taste of these dishes mirrors the skills of the top chefs in the real world. I guarantee that they taste better than those messy things you bought, and there are no debuffs. Quickly eat, after you finish, go do the quest.”
He looked at the menu price list and was a little flustered. The food sold in the NPC restaurant was truly delicious but was also super expensive. Did this Side Account Brother have the money to pay for it? He doesn’t want to have to go scrub dishes in the back…
Facing the distrust in his eyes, the cold-face handsome man’s expression became even colder and he drew his sword. “Kill you to level 0 or offline PK, you choose.”
He resolutely picked up the chopsticks and ate while feeling both worried and pleased. He was worried that he didn’t have the money to pay the bill, but he was pleased because he didn’t have to worry about getting fat or overeating in the game. He could eat as much delicious food as he wanted. Great news for foodies and a paradise for people who were on a diet!
Half an hour later, the dishes on the table were all empty. The cold-faced handsome man paid without blinking. He put down his sword onto the table and looked at him coldly. “Since you ate your fill, quickly go to work. Also, in the future, you're not allowed to eat anything messy.”
He moved his mouth, wanting to reply, but since his food was just paid for, Ye Zhizhou was reluctant. For some indescribable reason, he was unable to get angry with this GM, so he could only hold back and open the 26th quest checkpoint.
The stagnant quest prompt in mid-air began to change quickly, and the two words ‘Ye Zhizhou’ began to flood the screen again.
The cold-faced handsome man sat at the table where he was the only one left, silently reading the two words, Ye Zhizhou, and suddenly frowned before pressing on his forehead. He glanced at the empty plate that NPC had no time to take away, hummed and smiled. “He can really eat. He hasn't changed. He's still really gluttonous—” In the middle of his sentence, he stopped again, and his headache became worse. "Who was… Just who was it that I just thought of… Damn! Damn! Damn!” The air twisted and he disappeared from the game.
In an office building in the center of a city, Ge Lu, who was forced from the game, sat up from the game pod with an ice-like expression.
The assistant heard the noise, pushed the door open and came in. When he saw the terrible expression on Ge Lu's face, he shrunk back and asked in a low voice, “Vice President, do you… Want me to call Dr. Chen?”
Ge Lu looked at him deeply, before coldly saying, “I want the information of the player who triggered the Holy Level Quest immediately, right now.”
The assistant’s voice became even smaller. “But Vice President, you said not to allow people to randomly access the player's information…"
Ge Lu narrowed his eyes and suddenly showed a vicious smile. “Then, give him a prize. Reward him for triggering the hidden quest and maintaining the game balance. I’ll send the gift myself. Now, can I get his information?”
The assistant was shocked by his smile and nodded like a chicken pecking rice. “Yes, yes, I’ll go and get his information right now.”
The office became peaceful once again. Ge Lu raised his hand to cover his eyes, leaned against the game pod and murmured, “Ye Zhizhou… Where on earth have I heard this name… And the person in the dream… Who are they…”
The author has something to say:
Thank you Lao Tan for the rocket! Thank you Iceberg for the two mines! Thank you Giant Floating Whale, ︶ㄣThinking of protecting Lily, Weeping Autumn for the mine! I love you so much = 3=
PS: Looking for mistakes and was a few minutes late, sorry, QvQ
And now we know protag was drugging everyone….
Oo, ML remembers the name YZZ 
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