“Father… Father…”

Mag Shen heard a crisp and childish voice seemingly calling to him. He moved his fingers, and suddenly caught something very tender; his desire to survive exploded in a sudden outburst, and he quickly sat up and opened his eyes, only to be rooted to the spot.

What is this place? he thought to himself.

Am I saved, or have I transmigrated to another world?

Mag Shen could still remember that he was catching the king crab in his own yacht just a moment ago, for which purpose he had gone to the trouble of dragging the chef of Imperial Restaurant with him. Who would have thought that, sitting at the stern, he would get thrown right into the sea by a huge wave instead of catching any crab? In his disorientation, he heard women cry and water splash, and then everything lapsed into silence.

When he came to, he found himself in a room that was rather European in style, holding the hand of a silver-haired little girl about four or five years old.

Before he even got a chance to speak, numerous messages flooded into his head, blocking all his sensation of the outside world. It was so very similar to the moment when he drowned.

In his previous life, Mag Shen was somewhat of a famous rich second generation, but he preferred to call himself a gourmet, and had no interest whatsoever in inheriting family business; instead, he was much more interested in tasting all the famous food around the world and writing comments in his microblog on every gourmet restaurant he tried. Because of his incisive, vicious comments and his extravagance to try almost all the Michelin restaurants, he had secured tens of millions of fans in just two or three years.

He believed his comments were authentic and fair, though mainly focusing on the flaws, with his words being exaggerated; still, he was always receiving thousands of messages cursing him, condemning him to drown in the sea or be a cook for his whole next life, which made him pretty upset.

Come to think of it, the drowning this time… could it be a dream come true for them? God, can you be any meaner to me? he thought.

Before he could think further, he got attracted by those messages. There he saw another dramatic life, tough yet fascinating. He was certain that he had traveled to another world, and that his soul had possessed the body of a disheartened knight, who could no longer lift his own heavy sword.

Part of those messages and emotions were beginning to slowly fuse with him, and he could do nothing but accept it.

This was a fantasy land where giant dragons, demons, orcs, elves, dwarves, humans, and many others lived together.

A hundred years ago, all the species on the Norland Continent signed an armistice, putting an end to the war among all species that lasted for a thousand years. Therefore, all of them got a chance to rest and recover in their respective lands.

However, a thousand-year-long conflict could not be settled once and for all with just a piece of paper; regional conflicts continued, but were normally kept to the border areas as if secretly agreed upon. No large-scale war among different species was waged.

The man Mag Shen possessed was known as Mag Alex. The Alex Family was a glorious family, existing on this continent for hundreds of years, during which they were guarding the borders for humans all along, having not even once let orcs come near the borders.

However, three hundred years ago, their fortress was breached by a force of orcs and demons allied together. The whole family was almost wiped out. The once glorious Alex Family had fallen ever since, and only several small branches survived. By the time of Mag Alex, he was the only heir.

But Mag Alex had shown his exceptional skills since he’d joined the army. His strong body and military skills helped him earn his leaders’ high regard, gain a lot of honor and glory, and become the youngest Griffin Rider in just a few years. He was the hottest young man in the whole empire, known as the successor of the empire’s commander and the man to restore the Alex Family’s glory.

Had it not been for the dark night three years ago, he would have been a man standing on the top of the whole continent.

That night, elves, demons and human magic casters attacked him together. They ruined his hands that once held a sword, cut his Achilles tendons, and left a barely one-year-old baby with him.

It was his child, born for him by an elf princess. The irreconcilable hatred between species resulted in him being betrayed by his most trusted friend; he had fallen to the bottom.

His broken limbs were barely cured by his old friend, but couldn’t hold a sword anymore. He’d changed his face and carried his child to the Chaos City to start from scratch there—a father and a daughter trying to make a living together.

Their days were very hard, and to make matters worse, a little cold put an end to this knight’s miserable life. He died with regret, but his death provided a chance for Mag Shen to travel to this world.

The sad end of a hero made Mag Shen sigh with emotion. However, he didn’t feel the knight’s obsession with seeking vengeance; instead, he felt a lot of worry about how his daughter would survive.

Rest assured and be at peace. I won’t avenge you, but I’ll take good care of your little girl. Mag Shen made a promise in his mind, and then all the messages suddenly vanished like a receding tide, along with the last trace of obsession.

He was still Mag Shen, only that Mag Alex’s whole memory stayed, and so did part of his emotions.

I guess I’ll use the name ‘Mag’ from now on, Mag Shen thought.

When he woke up again, his eyes became clearer, and fits of feebleness pervaded his whole body.

“What’s wrong, Father?” The little girl still had her hand held by him, tension all over her small face.

Mag’s eyes softened a little. The little girl kneeling down beside his bed had long silver hair hanging down loosely on her shoulder, a pair of clear and beautiful blue eyes, half-covered little pointy ears, and soft skin which she got from her elf mother. Her clothes made from cotton and linen were old and gray, but she was very cute and adorable, making you want to kiss her.

This was Mag Alex’s daughter, Amy, and she was his daughter now.

Mag hadn’t got married in his previous life, let alone had any children, so he had no idea how to get along with them. However, he had got the whole memory from his predecessor, and watching Amy’s nervous little face, he felt like he was looking at his own child. The impulse to want to be intimate with her made his heart race. In the previous life, his parents were too busy doing business to care about him, which made him expect… expect the feeling of being a father.

“I… I’m okay, Amy 1 . Don’t worry.”

Clumsily, he stroked her hair with his hand, his voice a little hoarse.

Her smooth hair had a pleasant touch, and touched his heart—she was hisdaughter! The subtle sense of father-daughter bond was very fascinating.

“Okay. I’m glad you’re okay.” Rubbing Mag’s hand with her hair and slightly narrowing her eyes like a cute kitten, Amy pouted like a spoiled child. “But, Father, Amy is hungry. Make something good for me.”

Mag felt like his heart was going to be melted by her cuteness, and he was ready to get the stars from the sky for her, but cooking was really a headache for him.

He sure had had a lot of good things to eat, but speaking of cooking, he had never even touched the kitchen knife. He tried to find something useful in his predecessor’s memory, only to find out that his predecessor’s menu was so lame that he didn’t even want to try. He was thinking about eating out.

Then, suddenly, a neutral voice sounded in his head. “God of Cookery Cultivation System, start!”

Mag was taken aback. What the heck? he thought. God of Cookery Cultivation System? How did this thing wind up in my head? Maybe it has something to do with this transmigration?

The neutral voice continued, “In the previous life, the host had recklessly ruined a lot of restaurants’ years, or even nearly a hundred years, of reputation, accumulating too much resentment from the cooks, so the God upstairs devised this God of Cookery Cultivation System to supervise the host to learn culinary skills in this world so as to make the host the God of Cookery. Since the host has little talent in cooking, the system will issue missions irregularly to assist the host. While completing missions will be rewarded, failing them will be met with punishment.”

Listening to the voice in his head, Mag froze for a long while before realizing what had happened. Damn! You must be kidding! he thought. I have traveled to this world just because my comments were too vicious for those restaurants? And because of that, you’ve brought me here to start afresh, and even went to the trouble of devising a God of Cookery Cultivation System to help me cook?

He remembered the message that he received the most in his previous life: Hope you become a cook in the next life!

Suddenly, an expression flew across his mind: everything gets a return…

Come on! Mag thought. I just randomly wrote something; the words might have been mean and vicious, and dozens of restaurants might have been shut down, but do you really have to go out of your way to make me a cook?!

The thought of being supervised by a system to learn to cook made Mag quite depressed. Being able to cook something regular is one thing, but becoming the God of Cookery is totally another!

God of Cookery? Are you freaking kidding me?! Mag was enraged.

“Father, are you feeling alright?” Amy asked worriedly while reaching out with her hand to touch Mag’s face. She had a feeling that today’s father was different than usual, but couldn’t tell what had changed.

The warm touch on his face brought Mag back. He tried his best to calm down, and managed a weak smile, and then he searched in his memory and fumbled in his pockets. He found the last two copper coins, and put them in Amy’s little hand. “Amy, go buy two pancakes. We don’t cook tonight.”

“Really? Amy loves pancakes!” Amy smiled in surprise immediately. Holding the two coins, she crawled to Mag to kiss his face, and then got out of bed, putting on her shoes, and ran happily on her short legs towards the door.

Somehow, Mag’s heart ached a little as he watched Amy disappear at the door. Pancakes were made from coarse grain, and sold at one copper each. The last few years, they barely had enough to get by from Mag Alex’s miscellaneous work at the guild, so pancakes were such a luxury that Mag only bought one for Amy during festivals.

Amy was very good and smart, so even though she loved pancakes, she never asked for them herself.

The system just came out of nowhere and now just disappeared? Mag thought.

Leaning on his arms, Mag struggled to get up from his bed, and dragged himself in the straw shoes on the ground towards an old, broken bronze mirror. He took a look at his reflection.

His skin was a little yellow from long-time malnutrition and sunburn, but his face was almost the same as his previous self’s. Only the long brown hair curling behind his head and the whiskers all over his face made him look a bit messy.

What a waste of a good figure! Mag thought. He would scare little kids with this look. How could he live with such a cute little girl with this face?

After that incident, his predecessor almost gave up. If it were not for Amy, he might have ended his glorious life on that night three years ago.

The little girl sure has suffered a lot with you. Leave it to me to make it up to her!Mag clenched his fist, but felt little strength.

One couldn’t derive much strength from the once broken limbs. Mag felt like a useless man—he could barely clench his fists.

Moreover, in the house, there was almost nothing but bare walls—only one bed with one small cloth blanket for Amy when she went to bed.

Let alone the God of Cookery, with the last two coins gone, tomorrow’s food was still a problem. It seemed like the key to all of this fell on that system.

Just now, the neutral voice of the system started again. “The system has issued the first mission: own a restaurant. The host needs only supply the land, and system will decorate and coordinate the whole restaurant based on host’s chosen style. The time limit is three days. Success will be rewarded, and failing the mission will be punished.”

Own a restaurant? Mag froze for an instant, but when he heard the words after that, he smiled happily, suddenly thinking this system wasn’t that bad after all.

His predecessor might have had a bad life, but the good thing might be having bought this two-story house first thing when he got to Chaos City. To be sure, the house was very old and located at a far corner of the Aden Square, but it was all his.

Moreover, though it was isolated, the first floor was a decent place to open a store, and there were people who had wanted to rent it but got turned down by that stubborn knight. Otherwise, how could the pancake that cost one copper each become a luxury for them?

Mag walked slowly down with his hand leaning on the wall. The wooden floor creaked from oldness, and some stairs were already broken—it was totally a ramshackle building.

At long last, Mag reached downstairs, gasping heavily. This body was indeed so weak. In the old days, he could tear orcs apart with his bare hands, but now, he had to rest after only a few steps. Now Mag understood somewhat why he would have given up. If it had been him, he might not have had the strength to go on, either.

“System, after completing the mission, is there a reward to recover my health?” Mag asked in his mind, clenching his fist subconsciously.

“Not for now,” the system replied emotionlessly.

Not for now? Does that mean there might be one in the future? Mag’s eyes brightened. If he had to keep on living like this, he wasn’t sure how long he could last, but if he could recover somehow… even if not as strong as the once formidable chief knight, he was satisfied to be a normal person.

In his previous life, he had money, women, power… everything. He was born in a position others couldn’t reach their whole life, so for a long time after he turned 30, he thought about life, and wanted to know exactly what he wanted from it, but he didn’t find it.

At that time, commenting on food and restaurants was his favorite activity. He was a little picky and addicted to vicious criticism, but it was just a win by words as he felt emptier when he looked at those comments afterwards.

Now, everything was different. He got a cute daughter, and lived at the bottom. Whether it was for his recovery or for giving his daughter a better life, he had to try his best and work long and hard to learn to cook and open a restaurant.

Having cleared up his dream and purpose all of a sudden, Mag suddenly felt alive again.

Noble lords are stomping their feet while waiting in the long line; elves are stuffing kebabs, paying no mind to their manners; giant dragons are sitting around a hot pot, strainers in their hands; demons are eating nice-looking dango… Mag pictured this visual in his head, finding it more interesting all of a sudden.

The first floor had a lot of room, and by removing the half wall in the middle, more than 80 square meters was available. On the floor were some boards and stuff; on the backside was a kitchen, dark and plain.

He’d rather leave this place unused than rent it out! No wonder he had no money…Mag shook his head, not understanding him. One sowed, and another reaped. At least his first mission’s requirement was met, so he immediately said in his mind, “I provide this land for the restaurant.”

“The system has confirmed that this house belongs to the host, and this position is fit to be a restaurant. Mission is complete. Please choose the decoration style.”

As the system replied, a row of 3D pictures suddenly appeared in Mag’s head—classic Chinese style, countryside style, western style… As long as it existed in real life, he could find it there. Mag was overwhelmed by so many pictures.

Since it was those cooks’ resentment that made me come here, the dishes I have to learn to cook must be from them. I mainly went to Chinese restaurants, but also a lot of western ones and various well-known restaurants on the Web, but I’m not sure how many more will appear. Mag didn’t rush to decision.

After a careful analysis, Mag thought that it can’t be a certain style; otherwise, he can’t serve steak with fork and knife in a quaint Chinese restaurant, which would have absolutely triggered his vicious criticism before.

A simple and cozy one which could accommodate more people was the best option. He was already looking forward to seeing the sight of a restaurant full of customers.

This is it!

A restaurant that had some classic European style caught Mag’s eyes. Its overall color was near brown, with beautiful drawings everywhere and a grand European chandelier hanging in the middle. The tables were the simplest brown log ones for four, oblong in shape; beside the tables were matching wooden chairs with no armrests. Before the counter lay a long adjoining table, which could fit 16 chairs easily. Without doubt, it could accommodate many people comfortably.

On the inside, a semi-open kitchen stood behind the counter; through the kitchen glass, one could see everything from inside, but the glass was just high enough to keep the customers from peeping at the cooking bench.

Its overall design was quaint and grand, capable of accommodating any cooking style. Even stuffing kebabs and bragging here were not out of character.

“Perfect!” Mag nodded in satisfaction, and was ready to decide, but then, he thought of a problem. “System, does the reconstruction include the second floor?”

“System will only decorate the restaurant, and other parts will not be included,” answered the system.

Mag stroked his chin with his right hand as he used to, took a look at the dilapidated stairs and the dark second floor, and remembered the straw-covered bed he had just left. This is no place for my baby girl to sleep. I shall change it by tonight, he thought.

Besides, I didn’t feel too much malice from the system. The said punishment must be just something to make me study hard and become the God of Cookery sooner.

If that is the case… Mag came up with an idea, and casually said in his mind, “System, I think you’ve got it wrong. I have provided this whole building for the restaurant, so you have to decorate the whole thing. I will not accept a restaurant under such a shabby house. Besides, if the second floor stayed unrepaired, someday a brick might fall down and kill a customer, which would be very bad, and if he was not killed by it, that would be even worse—I might get killed by the guy who can’t be killed by a brick. If that happened, how could I learn to cook and become the God of Cookery? It’s your choice.”

The system became silent, as if lost in thought. After a while, it spoke again, “Because the house is very dangerous, after analyzing, system has decided to reconstruct the whole building and then decorate it. Please choose the decoration style.”

Mag smiled secretly. As I’ve expected, these things can be reasoned with. Being led around by the nose would be so not fun. Still, he seemed pretty calm on the outside.

The style of the restaurant had been decided, and he chose a style quite like his previous house for the second floor—inconspicuous yet grand and comfortable. There were three rooms, one lavatory, and one bathroom, all on the second floor. Amy’s room’s main color was pink. So, everything was decided.

“The reconstruction and decoration will cost 30 seconds. Please leave this house. The countdown begins now from 60 seconds …” said the system.

Just 30 seconds?! Mag froze for an instant, but then he heard the countdown, so he dragged himself towards the door in a hurry. It took him much effort to step across the threshold, and then he turned around and closed the door. It was already dark.

“Father, are you here to meet me?” Amy’s cute little voice sounded behind his back.

Mag turned around. Amy was looking up at him, one brown pancake in each hand—too big in her little hands, her long eyelashes fluttering, happiness and joy all over her little face. Father has never come out to meet me before, but today it seems he has come downstairs to meet me, Amy thought happily.

“Yes, Amy, and Father will show you a magic trick.” Mag smiled as he went down, took Amy in his arms, and hugged her gently.

“A magic trick?” Amy looked up at Mag, a little confused, but soon her eyes brightened. “Is it magic? Can you conjure up a lot of good food, Father?”

“Yes. Father will conjure up a big beautiful house for you and a pretty restaurant and will cook a lot of good things for you every day,” Mag answered in a soft voice. A little chowhound all right, Mag thought.

“Really?” Amy seemed unconvinced, her mouth slightly open in surprise.

Mag nodded, smiling. “Close your eyes and count down from 30.”

“30, 29 …” Amy closed her eyes obediently, counting down the number.

Mag looked at Amy gently, listening to her cute little voice. The ground started shaking slightly, and he could hear the sound of things hitting the ground now and then, but he didn’t look back once.

The count of 30 was over in a short while.

Amy opened her eyes, expectation all over her little face.

“Now, let’s have a look at our new home.” Mag took the two pancakes from Amy, took her little hand, got up, and turned around with some expectation to look at their new house.

A warm light spilled from the door and landed right on the two very different figures—one big and one small.

“Wow…” Amy’s mouth was wide open. She gaped at the suddenly changed house that looked like a resplendent palace in the lamplight for a long time before she turned to look at her father and cried out happily, “Father, is this really from your magic? The house is so beautiful, like a crystal palace! And look, the rocks are shining! Father, you are amazing!”

“This will be our house from now on, and it’s also a restaurant.” Mag smiled happily. Nothing feels better than being admired by your own daughter.

It was still a two-story house, but it had changed from a ramshackle log cabin to a European-style villa. Facing the square was a floor-to-ceiling window, and the restaurant in the light of the European crystal chandelier could be seen from outside, cozy and stylish.

It seemed the shaking before had caused a little tumult, so Mag took Amy’s hand and went inside the door. “Let’s go home. Father will tell you more later.”

“Okay. Father is the best!” Amy rubbed her head against Mag’s hand, leaping into the doorway happily.

Mag turned off the light on his way in. In the meantime, a dwarf with a thick beard stumbled out from the next door. Looking around with his drunken face, he shouted, “Stupid trolls come dancing here again! Damn it, I’m trying to get some sleep here…” Then he went back and slammed the door closed.

“Father… is this really our house?” Amy stopped at the door, looked at the grand restaurant, and then raised her head to look at Mag, still not believing her eyes.

She had never seen a house so beautiful—the floor was flat and smooth, the chandelier was beautiful and crystal-like, and the aligned tables and chairs were brand-new, with exquisite tableware boxes on the table. Deeper inside was a long counter that was higher than her, and behind it was a room, but she couldn’t see what was inside.

“Sure.” Mag nodded, smiling. Then, waving his hand, he said, “This is our new home. The first floor can be used as a restaurant, and the second floor is where we’ll live…”

“Great!” Before Mag could finish his words, Amy had already run away. She extended her arms and ran around the restaurant, and then she found a table on the very inside and took a seat there. “Father, let’s have the pancakes here. Amy is hungry,” she said, waving at Mag.

“Okay.” Mag smiled. Sure enough, food was the most important.

“The mission ‘own a restaurant’ is complete. Since the host has required the reconstruction of the parts besides the restaurant, the reward this time is cancelled out. System has issued a new mission: learn the first dish—Yangzhou fried rice 1 . The time limit is three days. When the host is ready, enter the test field for the God of Cookery. The reward this time is: strength +0.5, and the punishment is: strength -0.5.” The system’s voice sounded again.

Mag stopped there immediately. A door suddenly appeared in his mind with four golden words on it: Yangzhou fried rice. This must be the so-called test field for the God of Cookery.

To be sure, Mag cared more about the reward it had mentioned. The most urgent matter for him was recovery because he couldn’t hold the kitchen knife still in this condition, to say nothing of cooking. He didn’t think the system would arrange a reward to help him recover this quickly, so he was a bit excited all of a sudden.

I don’t know what this ‘strength +0.5’ means to me, but I don’t think the system would cheat me. How hard could it be to make the Yangzhou fried rice?

When he was in Yangzhou, he had tried the authentic Yangzhou fried rice a few times in several different restaurants, but his comments then were too mean. To be frank, however, the taste was very good, but at that time, he was so obsessed with criticism that he somehow felt compelled to do that. It was said that one old and famous restaurant was closed for some time after his commentary, but those things were always happening, so he didn’t pay much attention to it back then.

“Father?” Amy looked at the absent-minded Mag, a little confused.

“Coming!” Mag quickly suppressed his impulse to open that door in his mind, and sat opposite Amy. He handed a pancake to her. “Let’s have a taste of Amy’s favorite pancake,” he said, smiling.

Mag took a close look at the pancake—it was about the size of a grown man’s hand and one centimeter in thickness. It must have been made from flour mixed with corn, mung bean, potato… and many other coarse grains, and then was put into a wood oven to bake. It felt like a rough tile in his hand.

“Okay.” Amy took the pancake with two hands, opened her little mouth, and took a bite. The pancake cracked, and Amy chewed happily like a little hamster, looking satisfied and very cute.

It tastes that good? Mag wondered. Still, looking at Amy eat gave him such a good appetite that he couldn’t help but bring the pancake to his mouth and give it a hard bite. He chewed a few times and got astounded.

This must be baked tile! Mag thought. Did the pancake crack, or did my teeth? It was really a torture to my mouth and choked my throat when trying to swallow. This thing can be used as a lethal weapon! Hundreds were sold in one day? Are you kidding me? This world’s food culture is so primitive! Damn, I choked! Mag felt terrible. He dropped the pancake on the table and ran to the sink in the kitchen with hands around his throat.