Pride Online

Chapter 90: Split Part IV

“Calm down, Mister Allen. Or we won’t be able to talk the business with him.” The long-haired man said jokingly.

“That’s my line, Nero! ...I was just about to threaten him, and you already struck one dead, can’t you see that?”

“Well, well, I was just defending myself.”

“Nonsense.” The words without a smile of the brown-haired man made Green gulp down quietly.

“W... who are you? What do you want?” he asked sufferingly.

“You don’t have the right to ask questions. From now on, what you can choose is to answer or to die!” Allen replied with a deep voice, making Green start sweating.

“Don’t threaten him like that, Allen, or he’d not take our deal.” Nero laughed as he was stepping over the burned body of Red to confront Green with a smiley face.

“I heard that you’ve been looking for Vincent, haven’t you?” The unexpected question made Green pause.

“W ...why’d you ask?”

“I told you that your only right was to answer only. Why are you asking us, huh?!”

“Ow!!” The big guy screamed out, when the other one pressed the blade in his throat, making the blood run down his neck.

And the most shocking thing was the pain that was spreading all over his neck!

Why is it hurting? I’m in the game, aren’t I? And why does the pain from the blade feel so real?!

“Go easy on him, Allen. He might pass out from fear, just like the other.”

“I will if he agrees to answer my questions.” The blond guy just forced out a wry smile, before looking at the disadvantageous one with a delighted face.

“Then, let me ask him once again. Are you looking for Vincent, right now?”

“Y... yes!” Green answered, fearing the simulated pain that was leaning against his neck quite a lot. If he kept on being reluctant, he did not know how they could torture him either!

“Oh. So, the Sentinel like you is aiming for those three key items.”

“H... how’d you know?” The one who was being threatened almost cried out senselessly.

The question he was curious about the most was how these two found out about his target! Because every time he and his team went on a hunt, they would cover their information so well. And why did the Sentinel, their guild’s name slip out like this!

“It’s still too soon to be shocked,” Nero said plainly. “I’m afraid you’d be even more shocked if I tell you how many members your guild has, and what their names are.”

The man was speechless. He was staring into the deep purple eyes in front of him as he was getting goosebumps when his instinct was alarming that this man was scary!

“Well, I’m not here today because of this kind of thing though. I’m here to discuss some business with you.”

“What business?”

“It’s about that Vincent guy,” Nero replied with a smile. “If I tell you that I can mark the guy’s location for you, what’d you say?”

Nero gave Allen a signal to get the sword away from the man before he stepped closer to Green.

“You’re saying that you know where Vincent is?” Green asked excitedly, while the other just smiled casually at his words.

“Yes, I do.”

----------------

“Thank you for this delicious meal!!” A clear shout came as she put down an empty bowl on the ground with a delighted face. Unlike the other one who was still busy scooping the rice into his mouth. He looked like he was about to die of starvation, and the two girls could not help but make a wry face.

“Slow down, Ae. you eat like a pig.”

“Leave me alone!” The pig shouted in response. “I traveled to the city and back for many kilometers. And I’m hungry. You were just sitting here and doing nothing. You have no right to criticize me.”

“Disgusting.” Maysa ended. She sneakily raised an eyebrow at Waree who was sitting next to her, and the other girl just smiled wryly in reply and quietly sipped the tea in her hand.

“But I still can’t believe that you can cook this well, Wisana.”

“Well, it’s just okay.” The cook turned and smiled, accepting the compliment.

A moment later, after Manoch was done with business in the city, he found out that the game had added a new debuff condition, which was being hungry. And personally, Wisana thought that it was total nonsense.

He did not understand why the developers would add the cooking system and the hungry debuff either. But anyway, it was not difficult for someone who had lived by themselves for a long time like him. If it was about cooking, he was sure that his skill would not be second to anyone. So, the first meal for their party ended up with a simple breakfast like some rice porridge with monster meat that he thought did not taste any different from pork in the real world.

And it was not just him talking big, because even the picky ones like Maysa and Manoch ate his food, emptying the bowls.

“Bro, this’s freaking delicious. Does your family run a restaurant? Your skill is like a pro cook.” The one who got complimented just laughed, looking at the younger man who kept asking for his rice bowl refills.

“Don’t be extra, Ae. it’s just a porridge.”

“But it’s really delicious.” He yelled. “Even my family’s restaurant can’t compare to your porridge skill. Are you interested in working at my restaurant? I’ll assign you as the head chef.”

“You’re being nonsense, Ae.”

“Hey, I’m being serious.” The young merchant still insisted firmly, before putting a full spoon of porridge in his mouth again, making Wisana burst out laughing at that.

Well, he acted like he had never had porridge before in his life.

And that was when Wisana noticed the cooking skill appearing on his character information window.

“I find that the new patch has changed a lot of things. This cooking skill is interesting and suits me, actually.” He said as he pushed the screen for his friends to see. “It’s a new system that gives us the ability to cook special food, too.”

“Special food?” Maysa asked.

“Yeah. From what I briefly read; the different types of food will add some stats for players who eat it. And the result depends on the ingredients, and the cooking process as well.”

“So, the result depends on the cook’s skills, too, right?” Waree said.

“Probably.” Wisana nodded. “I guess these cooking skills can be earned by unlocking it, too. Maybe, if we come up with some cool recipes, we can patent them with the association of food as well.”

“Man, why are there so many quests? Just unlocking the common skills alone is up to our ears already. And now we have food recipes to unlock, too?” The gunner said tiredly. She shook her head a couple of times, before pulling her buddy’s information window to check it out.

“Not kidding, May. Every menu has various results. Like this porridge I made, it increases the attack and armor by 10 points for up to three hours.”

“Whoa, really?!” The man nodded in reply, clicking on the screen to show them the reference.

“Click on the cooking skill.”

“Here?”