A Stay-at-home Dad’s Restaurant In An Alternate World

“Wait. What did you say?”

“Congratulations! You’ve triggered a new mission! You have 24 hours to capture a wild fire chicken, by yourself! Completing the mission will get you a golden knife and unlock the new ingredients and kitchenware; failing it will lead to strength falling by 0.5,” the system repeated.

“No, before this.”

“I think not.”

“Right. I’d better start preparing ingredients.” Mag closed the fridge door and drank some water to calm himself down.

What the f*ck?! It wants me to capture a 1st-tier magical beast?! And in 24 hours? Now I understand why it acted a little strange earlier. It set a trap for me! This f*cking system!

The customers will be furious if I close the restaurant today. They may not eat here again. I hope they won’t break my window. I feel bad having to do this.

“I already told you about the mission,” the system said, annoyed. “Your 24 hours starts now. I don’t care if you finish it or not.”

“What books are you reading these days?” Mag asked abruptly.

“How to Become an Actor.”

“You must be very proud to see that your act worked so well!” he said angrily. The countdown began in his head, and he became a little worried suddenly.

He didn’t worry about having to fight a fire chicken; he thought he should be able to kill one with a proper weapon.

Neither did he worry about the customers he was going to let down.

He was worrying about his promise to Amy. He had promised her that he would cook a new dish with a lot of meat for her today!

The last thing he wanted to see was Amy’s disappointed eyes. He started pacing the floor nervously. “System, do you sell braised chicken and rice?”

“Sorry, I don’t sell any food.”

“Buy one for me from the Earth then. I’ll pay you.”

“It’s not easy even for me. And it’s very expensive.”

“How much?”

“50,000 gold coins.”

Mag lifted his eyebrow. “How much for the new knife, pot, and pan?”

“You can’t afford to buy them, either.” The system really enjoyed putting him down.

“You…” Mag took a seat, brooding. The damned system struck back. If only I had much more money…

It seems I have no choice but to finish this mission. But, I don’t want to let Amy down. He thought a moment. “I can use the ingredients as I like, right?”

“I wouldn’t try and invent new dishes if I were you,” said the system. “You’re just a rookie cook right now. The things you might invent would only bring shame to this restaurant. You’d lose customers!”

“Who said anything about inventing new dishes? I just want to cook something new for Amy.” Mag stood up, put on his apron, and walked towards the kitchen.

“I think I’ll make some braised shrimp, with green peppers and eggs,” Mag muttered. “Too bad I don’t know how to make red braised pork belly, but I think some stewed meat will be good too.”

“I—”

“Keep talking and I will never upgrade the restaurant,” Mag interrupted, cutting pork belly.

The system fell silent right away.

Mag only used some lean part and put the rest back into the fridge.

A while later, Amy came downstairs with Ugly Duckling. She had changed into her robe, her silver hair undone with a wisp of ahoge. “Smells good! What’re you cooking, Father?” she asked, surprised.

“Something you like. Why don’t you sit there and wait a moment?” Mag said, smiling at her.

Amy nodded. “Okay.” She took a seat and looked toward the kitchen with great expectations.

The shrimp had turned red and was giving off a pleasant smell. He was cooking it according to the method of cooking braised chicken, only that he had just used ginger, garlic, chilis and stuff. He added in some soy sauce and braised them for a while. At last, he moved them neatly onto a plate.

Mag cleaned the wok and cooked green peppers and eggs. The golden eggs and green peppers looked very appetizing.

Then he cut the stewed meat into thin slices and made some sour and spicy sauce. He put the dishes and rice on the tray and walked out.

Amy’s eyes went wide, staring at the tray. “Wow! What are these, Father? Did you come up with all these new dishes last night?”