[Ordinary Dish (Fried Cucco)]
World: The Legend of Zelda, Fantasy Realm
Quality: Gray
Effect: Heals 5 HP and increases natural HP regeneration by 5% for 4 hours
Note: A basic chicken dish containing Cucco meat and various other ingredients.
Note: The louder they scream, the juicier they taste.
[Failed Dish (Fried Cucco)]
World: The Legend of Zelda, Fantasy Realm
Quality: Unranked
Effect: Heals 2 HP and increases natural HP regeneration by 2% for 2 hours
Note: A basic chicken dish containing Cucco meat and various other ingredients.
Note: The louder they scream, the juicier they taste.
“Haha, I like this one. I always hated those damn chickens. I probably died a bunch of times because I ‘accidentally’ hit them,” Alex says with a laugh.
“You even know specific chicken types from games? Alex, get some help!” Tereza teases, clearly amused.
“Anyone who plays Zelda games knows about them,” Alex retorts, then turns to Menchi. “So I take it the unranked [Failed Dishes] were your unsuccessful attempts, while the [Ordinary Dishes] are what you consider failures because they didn’t exceed the default result. Honestly, they’re probably the standard outcome if you don’t make mistakes but also don’t do anything to improve the quality. Still, this is what you need to aim for. If you can maintain this level, Green Ingredients will turn into Green-Quality dishes!”
Menchi says, “Yeah, I’ve bought a bunch of Cuccos to cook up. What’s strange is that even while cooking, I can immediately tell the portion size I need for the item to be accepted by the system. If I’d only use half the ingredients, it would probably turn out as something worthless. I failed the first few batches, but I quickly got the hang of using my new equipment and cooking with these types of ingredients. My Hatsu also took some time to get used to. Anyway, I even managed to create this here—this is what I’d consider an acceptable result,” she says while showing Alex another plate.
[Successful Dish (Fried Cucco)]
World: The Legend of Zelda, Fantasy Realm
Quality: White
Effect: Heals 10 HP and increases natural HP regeneration by 10% for 8 hours
Note: A basic chicken dish containing Cucco meat and various other ingredients.
Note: The louder they scream, the juicier they taste.
“Not bad! A White-quality dish… What’s the quality of the Cucco meat? Just Gray, right? So it looks like you managed to enhance its natural grade! That’s awesome, congratulations. Also, I can’t believe the difference between these dishes. With every grade improvement, the effects doubled. The White-quality dish is something that even has some use for me, while the Gray, and especially the unranked dish—are probably not worth carrying around,” Alex says, analyzing the results and praising Menchi’s progress.
Tereza hugs Menchi, rubbing her head affectionately while showering her with praise. “You’re so talented! This will be such a huge help.”
Alex cringes at the display and immediately exposes Tereza. “Don’t lie... these are a good start, but seriously, we’ll probably need food that’s a grade higher than this. Honestly, 10 HP and 10% increased HP regeneration might’ve been effective a few missions ago, but I need way more now. That said, I agree with you—this is a great result, especially considering you were only working with Gray-quality ingredients. Did you just stick to the evil Cuccos, or did you try anything else?”
Menchi nods and explains, “I made a few other dishes. This one is apparently some kind of Blobfish from the world of One Piece, and the other one I bought from the same player who sold me the Cucco meat.”
[Successful Dish (Braised Blobfish)]
World: One Piece, Fantasy Realm
Quality: White
Effect: Heals 30 HP over 10 minutes. Must be eaten outside of combat. The effect vanishes if the player engages in battle during the healing duration.
Note: A basic fish dish containing Blobfish meat and various other ingredients.
Note: :(
[Successful Dish (Cucco Eggs Benedict)]
World: One Piece, Fantasy Realm
Quality: White
Effect: Heals 15 HP over 5 minutes.
Note: An egg dish containing Cucco Eggs and various other ingredients.
Note: Almost looks like it’s made with gold.
“I see, so that’s another two types of food. I recognize both. I remember eating [Freshly Baked Pumpkin Bread] from Final Fantasy 9, which also recovered a bit of HP and increased HP regen, kind of like the Fried Cucco. This one, though, is more like the [Gotcha Pork Roast] I ate, while the dish made with eggs is similar to the simple generic [Smoked Wolf Jerky].
“I have to say, this is great. All three types of food have their uses. The fish dish is perfect for recovering a lot of HP between battles, while the fried Cucco works as a kind of buff food. It’s useful to eat before engaging in combat, but you could also use it if you’ve already taken some damage and have a moment to spare. The egg dish feels more like a generic recovery food—probably the most useful one to me, if I had to choose. Anyway, having access to all three types is a luxury. I love it. This is exactly the outcome I was hoping for,” Alex says, genuinely impressed by Menchi’s results after just a few days.
I guess a Purple-quality follower with Advanced skills is no joke. My investment was definitely not a mistake. I can see the huge potential in this. If Menchi can start preparing Green, or maybe even Blue-quality food, I’d feel way more confident going into missions. I hope she can keep improving before our next mission starts, Alex thinks, a satisfied smile on his face.