Chapter 4 - Kung Fu Was Not on the Menu
Eli asked the Heavenly Kitchen Ledger for a combat skill.
[Denied.]
"Knife fighting?"
[Host currently peels potatoes with excessive wrist tension.]
"Fireball?"
[You own Purifying Flame, not Arson Flame.]
"Running away?"
[Cardio is free.]
The countdown reached two hours and twelve minutes.
Eli hated the system.
He also needed money.
Those problems combined into an idea so bad it became useful.
He opened a pop-up food stand.
Reggie found him a folding table. Mrs. Alvarez from downstairs loaned him a camping stove. Mei provided the one weapon every broke family possessed: a drawer full of plastic grocery bags saved since approximately the Bronze Age.
Eli posted online:
HOT GINGER CHICKEN RICE — PAY WHAT YOU CAN.
People came.
Office workers. Delivery drivers. A nursing student who had skipped breakfast. Two teenagers who paid with three dollars and a Pokémon card.
Every sincere meal gave Gratitude Qi.
At 100 points, the system chimed.
[Ember Body II achieved.]
[Physical optimization: +12%]
[New Skill: Knife Intent (Basic)]
The next onion Eli chopped nearly became transparent.
"Okay," he whispered. "That one is useful."
At 1:37 p.m., the hostile cultivator arrived.
She looked like somebody's grandmother.
Five feet tall. Purple raincoat. Grocery trolley.
She bought one bowl, ate three bites, and sighed.
"Too much ginger."
Eli's Appraisal screamed.
[Name: Madam Sato]
[Realm: Steam Meridian — ???]
[Occupation: Auditor]
[Threat: You are a dumpling in front of a wolf.]
"You traced me," Eli said.
She nodded.
"You purified consortium property."
"You mean cursed soup."
"The young have no respect for terminology."
She lifted one finger.
Pressure dropped over the sidewalk.
Eli's knees bent.
His folding table cracked.
Customers screamed and backed away.
Then Madam Sato tasted another bite of chicken.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Who taught you this flame control?"
"A rice cooker."
"Do not mock me."
"I wish I was."
The system flashed.
[Emergency Culinary Challenge available.]
[Defeat superior cultivator through recognized kitchen contest.]
[Stake: Right of Inquiry]
Eli accepted before asking what Right of Inquiry meant.
Golden light formed between them.
Madam Sato's pressure vanished.
She stared at the challenge seal.
Then laughed.
"Heavenly Kitchen law? Here?"
"Apparently."
"What is the dish?"
The system answered both of them.
[Challenge: One Bowl. One Dollar. Feed a grieving heart.]
Madam Sato's smile disappeared.
Across the sidewalk, a firefighter sat alone at a bench, staring at an untouched cup of coffee.
Appraisal showed no curse on him.
Only grief so heavy Eli almost smelled it.
Madam Sato whispered, "Cruel system."
The contest began.
Eli thought he was fighting for survival.
Then the firefighter looked up and Eli saw the black Nine Banquet symbol tattooed beneath his sleeve.
The judge was one of them.
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