The Gourmet Customizer

"Mm-hmm, I’m fine." The tingling sensation finally faded. Wang Xiaoyi let out a sigh of relief and casually picked up a large bun.

"Alright, then! Teacher Wang, just call me if you need anything! I’m off to help the boss with a taste test!"

"Mmm-kay~" Now back to normal, Wang Xiaoyi broke into a cute smile. "Teacher Zhang, you should hurry and get back to it. I’m going to eat breakfast now."

Zhang Li nodded and turned to leave.

She had just taken a single step.

"EEEP!!!"

Zhang Li spun around in alarm, only to see Teacher Wang clutching a half-eaten bun, her cheeks puffed out. Just like before, she had buried her face on the table.

"Wang..."

With her face buried deep, Wang Xiaoyi suddenly shot an arm up. "I’m... I’m fine!"

Zhang Li frowned, turned back around, and continued walking. She hadn’t even taken two steps.

"MMH!"

Turning her head again, she saw Teacher Wang holding a peeled, half-eaten egg, and yet again, she was slumped halfway over the table.

’Huh... Is she crying because it’s so delicious?’

’Sigh, poor Teacher Wang. Next time I have something good to eat, I’ll share a little with her. I’ll even have to watch her eat it to make sure no one snatches it away.’

Sighing, Zhang Li returned to the kitchen, full of sympathy.

"Boss?"

She thought she’d get to taste the second dish upon returning to the kitchen, but instead, she found the boss staring blankly at the doorway.

"Boss!!!"

"Huh?" Su Chen suddenly snapped out of it. "What’s wrong?"

"Boss, what are you doing?"

"Nothing." Su Chen let out a breath. "Ah Bao, I’ll teach you those other dishes later this morning. I just remembered I have something else to do."

Su Chen walked quickly toward the elevators. As he passed by, he took a deliberate look at the young woman slumped over the table.

When he reached the elevators, Su Chen didn’t get in. Instead, he stood by the entrance, watching the scene inside.

[+9999 Delicious Points from Unknown Diner]

Shocking!

Utterly shocking!

If he hadn’t miscounted, the experience points that had just flashed through his mind were nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine!

’What does that even mean?’

The equivalent of ten Ling Shuyus!

Standing at the entrance for a long time, Su Chen noticed that every time the young woman took a bite of food, she would stay slumped on the table for a long while.

’What’s wrong with her?’

Two buns, two eggs... It took the young woman over twenty minutes to finish them, and Su Chen watched for the entire time.

Noticing the young woman stand up to leave, Su Chen finally ducked into the elevator.

’She gave me experience points three times. Once each for the shrimp, the bun, and the tea egg. It’s always the first bite; subsequent bites only give a small amount of points.’

Through his twenty-odd minutes of observation, Su Chen had discovered this pattern.

If Ling Shuyu was an EXP farm, then this young woman was a BOSS!

Every first bite of a new food provided an insane amount of experience points, but after that, it would drop sharply to a few hundred, then down to a normal level of a few dozen.

Ling Shuyu’s type provided a steady 999 experience points, making her something of a daily dungeon.

’This girl is a high-level dungeon, though. Farming her just once would feel incredible!’

Su Chen happily returned to the 19th floor, his mind already scheming how to get this young woman to come eat here often.

He had just sat down on his lounge chair when another new system prompt suddenly appeared in his mind!

It was a system prompt the likes of which he had never seen before!

[Hidden Quest Discovered. View?]

’What the hell?’

When he first learned about his mysterious system, Su Chen had noticed that there were three types of quests.

Main, side, and hidden.

Main quests had to be actively triggered by inputting a keyword. The conditions for activating side quests were stricter; he had to mentally set and accept a certain goal himself.

But hidden quests... they had never appeared before. This was the first time!

Anyone who played games knew that when this type of quest appeared, it usually meant an unimaginably rich reward!

"View..."

Su Chen couldn’t help but say it out loud.

[Hidden Quest: Peak of Flavor.]

[Peak of Flavor: Wang Xiaoyi is an ordinary kindergarten teacher who possesses a palate of a sensitivity rarely seen in this world. Dishes that earn her approval are often exceptionally delicious.]

[However, Wang Xiaoyi finds this palate to be a great source of distress. Fortunately, the sensitivity dulls considerably each time she eats a supreme delicacy. In order to help Wang Xiaoyi resolve her distress, please invite her to taste the finest cuisine in the world, dulling her palate and permanently freeing her from this burden.]

[Quest Reward: Peak of Flavor (You will gain the world’s most sensitive palate, able to smell and taste the absolute peak flavor of all ingredients and dishes. The Gourmet Practice Room will unlock SS Level evaluations.)]

HISS!!!

Skipping over the quest description and looking straight at the reward, Su Chen was completely floored!

’A hidden quest... this is insane!’

Perhaps for a normal person, this trait would indeed be a nuisance. For example, for a dish that an ordinary person finds decent, someone with this trait would clearly taste its flaws.

To them, ordinary delicacies are just average, and top-tier cuisine is merely ’a little bit tasty.’

But if they find a dish to be explosively delicious, then for a normal person, it would be a transcendent experience for their palate!

"It’s a nuisance for her, but a god-tier skill for me. This quest is a win-win!"

Su Chen stood up and began pacing back and forth in his office.

This quest had to be completed. Not only completed but treated as his absolute top priority!

Even more important than hosting those National Banquet Masters!

Previously, Su Chen had thought the pinnacle of cooking was S Level. Now, it seemed that wasn’t the case at all!