Takeru had expected a kitchen just like how it's usually depicted in novels and comics, with firewood or magical stoves, complete with rough, handmade iron pans and utensils. Instead, the room he entered was much like how one would expect a professional's kitchen in the real world would look; A world of silver utensils and equipment enveloped in a clean, white room and ceramic floors, with a high-powered shower in one side of the wall, which is typically used to clean the floors after a day's work.

"Oh, it's this room this time, eh? Been a while," Divega said as Takeru was still in awe. However, in awe as he was, Takeru didn't miss Divega's remarks. 

"Sorry, Mister Divega, what did you mean by 'this time'?"

"Nah, it nothing. Jus' that sometimes when people like you come 'round, my kitchen can suddenly transform to this white room. Wish it would stay instead of changing every once in a while. 'Sides, this one looks far better compared to my usual kitchen." 

"I... see..." 

"Anyway. For now, let me explain about the test. From now on, ye will be making me a food of yer own choice. Since this office is the one that appears, then the condition of the test changes. Unlike the usual test, ye have no time limit, and ye can use anything ye want that is inside the room. Keep in mind that the time ye use will affect  yer result. Well, at least it seems like any ingredients ye want can be find here when it appears this way. Just look around and ye can usually find what ye're looking for. Usually ye can find the meat inside that large metal box, and spices on the smaller one. So, ye have any questions?"

"None. I'll take a look around a bit before I start cooking."

"That's the spirit! Now off you go, then. Just bring the food outside of the kitchen once you're done. I'll be waiting outside," Divega replied before stepping out of the kitchen. As soon as he did, a window popped up on the top right of Takeru's peripheral vision with a timer inside it.

"Right now it's staying at zero, huh... So does this mean that it will work only when I start cooking? Oh well, I'll just get back to it later. This timer will help me anyways," Takeru mumbled, focusing his attention on the yet-to-move timer.

"Let's see. He said earlier that meats are inside this freezer?" Takeru said as he opened the large silver freezer. When he looked inside, he couldn't hide his surprise; Proteins from various sources were lined up neatly there. He could see on a glimpse that there were the standard proteins, such as beef, chicken, and mutton, up to the uncommon proteins such as innards, venison, and what looked like chicken. When Takeru inspected it, though, it turned out to be alligator meat.

"...Are you serious?" Takeru gulped. "This is... ostrich... This one is... Kangaroo?!" Takeru raised his voice in surprise as he checked the other meats inside the fridge.

"No, no, I need to focus. Let's see what the other cabinets and fridges contain," Takeru said as he closed the freezer. After walking around the kitchen and opening the cabinets and refrigerators, Takeru found all that he needed; utensils, tools, and other materials such as vegetables and spices. He even found various types of seafood in another freezer.

"This is literally a chef's dream, isn't it..." Takeru mumbled as he started to understand the reason why his father told him to train here.

"Right, that's enough of that. The important question now is what should I make..." 

Takeru became lost in thought. He juggled his memories of various foods and cuisines he had made before, as well as those that he saw his grandfather cook. Multiple food came and went inside Takeru's head, before he finally settled on one dish. One of the first dishes he had ever cooked.

"It just has to be that, isn't it, grandpa?" Takeru mumbled before he let out a sigh as he looked towards the ceiling. Focusing on his thoughts, he took several eggs out of the fridge, as well as fish stock. He also took out a square pan, a large steel bowl, and some soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. 

After everything was ready, Takeru switched the stove on. He put the pan on top of the fire, and pour a little bit of oil into it. As it heats up, Takeru breaks the eggs into the large bowl. He then pours in the dashi, and adds the soy sauce, sugar, and mirin inside, and whisks the eggs thoroughly, creating a mixture inside the bowl. He then pours some mixture inside the pan, cooking it slowly and rolling it as it cooks. After the small roll is made, Takeru repeated the process several times until there was no more mixture left inside of the bowl. The result is a brightly colored rolled omelet, resting on one side of the pan. Takeru then turned off the stove, and put the rolled omelet on top of a cooking board, where he proceeded to cut the omelet into four equal parts before putting them on a square plate. 

Feeling satisfied, Takeru took a peek at the timer, only to find that not even 30 minutes had passed since he started cooking. Nevertheless, he took the plate containing the dashimaki tamago and headed out of the kitchen. 

As Takeru exited, he spotted Divega sitting on one of the bar stools near the counter. He then quickly made his way towards him, putting the food on top of the counter in front of him.

"That was quite quick," Divega quipped.

"Indeed, it was."

"How satisfied are you with the food you're serving me?" 

"I am quite satisfied."

"Is that so? Well, then," Divega said as his face turned serious. Takeru could feel the air around Divega exerting pressure towards him, as if waiting to devour every mistake he made. "Tell me about the food you made."

"Of course," Takeru replied, plunging head-on towards the pressure he felt. "I made dashimake tamago, a rolled omelette made from an egg mixture with fish stock added."

"Hoh, I see. Quite the basic food you made."

"Indeed."

"Why?"

"..." Takeru fell silent upon hearing Divega's question. "This dish... is where everything began for me." He finally answered solemnly after staying silent for quite some time.

"Hrmph, I see. Here's to hoping the value is not purely sentimental," Divega said as he picked up a piece of the rolled omelette and put it in his mouth. He chewed it a few times before audibly swallowing it. He then fell silent for a while, looking as if he was thinking something.

"I see. Ye've practiced cooking before, but most of yer knowledge came from observing someone instead of actually cooking yourself, isn't it?"

Takeru is left speechless upon Divega's accurate observation. 

"Refusing to talk, hm? No matter. Ye can deny it all you want, but the food that ye made can't lie. The recipe is good, but the control over fire, the timing, and everything else is in sharp contrast with the recipe itself. Now, for yer evaluation..." 

The silence hung between them for a while. 

"Ye pass. Very barely. Be thankful to whoever made that recipe, because they are the sole reason ye passed, ye hear? However, ye have some knowledge of the basics, so all ye need is to practice. Also, remember that simply creating food is not what cooking is about. Got that?"

"I see. Thank you." 

"Well, then," Divega suddenly said cheerily as he slapped his knees. "Sorry, Takeru, but there's nothing I can give to ye yet. But I'm sure, if ye keep on practicing, ye will definitely improve. So, good luck out there!" 

As soon as Divega finished speaking, a window popped up, telling Takeru that he'd successfully completed the mission. After the message, Takeru saw that he had gained experience points, and he had actually gained proficiency for cooking, although what is written there confused him. To confirm, he quickly opened his status window, and there he could clearly see in the proficiency section:

"Uhh...?"

Takeru stood in the middle of the diner, unsure on whether or not what he's seeing is a bug or not. 

"I should just go back to the mission center first," Takeru mumbled after thinking in silence for a while. He exited the building and headed back to the mission center, and though the person himself has not noticed it, with a noticeably lighter step compared to when he went towards the diner. Not long after, he arrived back at the mission center, and went straight to the receptionist he had talked with earlier.

"Ah, Takemiya. Welcome back. How did the mission go?" she said while smiling.

"It went well, I think? Actually, I want to ask about something." 

"Of course. Please, go ahead."

"Well, I did complete the mission. At least, Divega told me that I passed. The problem is this. Do you have any idea why the proficiency is written like this?" Takeru said as he showed the receptionist his proficency status window. Upon seeing what was written there, the receptionist's face slightly contorted into a frown. 

"If I may enquire, Takemiya, what exactly did Divega say to you after the mission?" 

"Uh... I think it was that I barely passed, the reason I passed is because of the recipe, and that all I need to do is practice more? He also told me to remember that simply creating food is not what cooking is about." 

"I see... This is unusual. This is the first time I see this evaluation. Would you mind if I submit this as a report to the administrators?" 

"Oh, please. Thank you for your assistance." 

"Understood. Please wait for a moment... I sent the report. The result of the investigation should come out in a bit, but until then, you can still enjoy the game without any worry. Just like other skills, if you want to you can also proceed to cook, and the system will still be able to appraise you and reward you with appropriate level of proficiency. However, please note that the proficiency given by Divega will be prioritized, since greater resource are allocated there in order to evaluate your skill as accurately as possible. That means the proficiency level given by the system outside of your mission will be overwritten in case the investigation results in a proficiency level. Do you have any questions?" 

"No, it's clear enough."

"Thank you very much. Now, would you like to accept another mission?"

"I think I'll hold off on that for now. Instead, can you tell me where I can hunt and forage? Preferably somewhere not too far from town, and with weak monsters."

"Most certainly. There are two places that meet your criteria. First is the grassfields on the east side of the town. As the name implies, it is a wide open grassfields, and the monsters there consist of mainly fanged rabbits and slimes. You can also find some birds and other animal-based monsters. The monsters there are not agressive unless attacked, so if you're planning on hunting there, watch where you strike in order to avoid being ganged up on by the monsters. You can also find some berries, nuts, and other forageable stuff there, but do take care not to accidentaly ingest poisonous berries or the like.

"The second option is the large forest on the north-west side of town. You can find various animal and plant-based monsters there, and there are a lot of forageables such as fruits, mushrooms, and other varieties. However, please notice that some of the animals there are aggressive, and will attack you on sight. You may also get caught in the middle of a fight between two large sized animals, so do be careful if you choose to go there. Most of the monster in the forest is edible, and you may find monsters based on chicken and turkey if you go there.

"Also, please remember to set things up before you go in so you don't get caught off-guard. Please remember that if you choose to keep the realism on, then the bodies of the monster will be kept as-is, including the wounds you inflicted. You will then have to butcher the bodies yourself, or hire someone else to do it. You will get better yield if you play by realism, although you can find yourself getting overencumbered easily, especially when you're doing large volume hunting.

"If you decide to turn off realism, then just like the tutorials, the monsters you defeated will turn into light particles, and there will be drop items near where the body was. Please not that the items will be affected by the terrain, such as furs getting wet if it appears in puddles, or spherical objects such as eyes, smoke bombs, or other items will roll down a slope. As explained before, the yield will be less, but most people choose to turn it off for the simplicity's sake. However, please note that limb damage exists in both version, and please remember that you can get incapacitated or inflicted with abnormal afflictions such as bleeding or poisoned in both cases.

"Lastly, due to the nature of the monsters, if you are a true beginner, I recommend you going to the grasslands first, in order to get a better feel on how to use your equipments. Also, I recommend you to raise your status using skill points, considering you haven't used them yet. Dagger, short swords, and knife users usually raises their agility, strength, and dexterity, while crafters usually raise their luck. Please consider what kind of player you want to be before allocating your skill points. Should you need it, you can reset the allocation of the skill points, but please note that the fee will increase every time you do it over a certain time period. Do you have any questions?"

"No, it's quite clear. Thank you for your concise explanation."

"Most certainly. This is an additional information, but here at the mission center, there are various missions that asks for specific body parts, such as rabbit's leg, chicken's feathers, and other various body parts. Should you find items that you feel you don't need, please feel free to bring it to the mission center, and we can assist you in turning in those items for extra money should you choose to do so. Also, if you want to cook while on the field, you can simply find sticks and branches to try to light fire the old-fashioned way, but please note that monsters may be attracted to the smell of food. In any case, thank you for using the mission center. I hope you will enjoy the game, and we're looking forward to meeting you again."