Ch.212[Chapter 212] Dungeon 5th Floor

Sir Dominic raised his shield, preparing for the imminent impact.

However, even after a considerable amount of time passed, the expected impact never came.

“I-I told you. There’s information remaining,” Mary, who was clinging to the ceiling, whispered to Sir Dominic.

“A voice?”

“Where is it coming from?”

The boss’s two faces looked around.

However, while the stiffened neck from the mycelium could look left and right, it couldn’t locate Mary above.

“Um, look beside you right now.”

Sir Dominic followed Mary’s instruction and looked to his right, the side where his vision was normal.

“Not there. The other side.”

“Ah.”

Sir Dominic turned his head again to look to the left.

And there was another window that had been swept aside when Sir Dominic had cleared away the system window containing the boss’s description.

[Please select how to deal with the Glutton and Gourmet Boss.]

[1. Gluttony: Win in an eating contest.]

[2. Combat: Grant peace to the Glutton and Gourmet.]

Sir Dominic finally realized why the boss wasn’t attacking him.

The boss battle hadn’t started yet because he hadn’t selected a boss mechanic.

Although Sir Dominic had tried to launch a surprise attack, it had failed, so they were still in a non-combat state.

Sir Dominic looked at the two options.

And without any hesitation, he pressed number 2.

However, no battle ensued.

[You have selected option 3, Gastronomy.]

[A cooking competition will begin.]

[Searching for judges…]

[NPC Bloody… no, ‘Sickly’ Mary has accepted the judging role.]

It took Sir Dominic quite some time to understand what was happening.

Mary approached the confused Sir Dominic and said:

“Um… you fell for a bait option. If you look carefully, there’s a tiny option 3.”

At those words, Sir Dominic hurriedly looked at the previous options.

[1. Gluttony: Win in an eating contest.]

[2. Combat: Grant peace to the Glutton and Gourmet.]

˛₃———-¸

When he had glanced at it earlier, he hadn’t noticed, but looking carefully now, there was something written in very small letters below option 2.

Since Sir Dominic’s eyesight wasn’t very good, he brought his face closer and saw these words:

[3. Gastronomy: Win in a cooking competition.]

“Good heavens.”

Sir Dominic slapped his forehead.

There really was a third option in extremely small letters.

Clearly, Sir Dominic had intended to press number 2, but in his haste, he must have pressed slightly below and selected number 3 instead.

“D-dare you challenge Entrée to a cooking competition?”

“Me, the Gourmet Entrée?”

The boss’s two heads looked at Sir Dominic with eyes full of hatred.

It was a look that seemed to ask how he dared challenge someone who stood at the pinnacle of royal chefs.

“…Very well! I accept your audacity!”

“I-I’ll prepare. Prepare the stage for the competition!”

The boss began sharpening a kitchen knife and whetstone, one in each hand.

Tables and chairs made of rotten wood and ingredients crawling with swarms of rats and insects.

And a chef patched together and tattered—nothing in the kitchen was intact, but the kitchen knife gleamed as if it were the chef’s pride.

The boss pulled out two relatively clean countertops from behind with another pair of hands and set them down so forcefully that dust and cobwebs fell from the ceiling.

“…This is not what I wanted.”

Sir Dominic said, looking at the hastily prepared cooking competition venue.

“Don’t worry. Since I’m the judge, I’ll make it as favorable for you as—”

[Collusion between the current judge and challenger has been detected.]

[Additional judges will arrive.]

“Oh no. Damn system.”

Mary cursed at the suddenly appearing system window.

It seemed that Mary’s plan to make things easy had failed.

“Sorry. I was trying to help since I received the jelly, but it seems the dungeon system doesn’t want that.”

Mary apologized to Sir Dominic with a bow.

However, Sir Dominic couldn’t respond to Mary’s apology.

He could feel something with tremendous energy coming up from below.

And finally, the individuals with the tremendous energy that Sir Dominic had sensed came up the stairs and sat in the prepared chairs.

“Why was I called here?”

[The King’s Nanny, Catherine.]

Sir Dominic looked at the woman called Catherine.

She was a middle-aged woman wearing a modest but incredibly layered dress, with stern wrinkles and tightly closed lips revealing her personality.

A system window appeared in front of Catherine.

After reading all the messages displayed on the system window, Catherine nodded.

“Indeed. No chef in this dungeon surpasses Entrée and Entrée. Perhaps it’s only natural that I was called for such a grand competition.”

“Well, being the best in a dungeon just means making rotten food taste less rotten.”

Next to Catherine sat someone in a patched-up jester costume with mending marks all over.

“Isn’t that right?”

[Renaissance Man, John Doe]

He was a man with narrowed eyes and a constant smirk, with a colorful paint-stained brush tucked behind one ear, a fountain pen behind the other, and a trumpet hanging from a cord around his neck.

Sir Dominic looked at the newly appeared individuals.

They didn’t look particularly strong on the outside, but the aura emanating from them was formidable.

“Who on earth are they?”

Sir Dominic asked, passing a handful of jelly to Mary.

“…Bosses from the second and fourth floors. The King’s Nanny and… artists sponsored by the King.”

Mary answered Sir Dominic’s question.

She kept glaring at the nanny, her eyes filled with intense hatred.

And that intense hatred seemed to reach Catherine.

“…Princess, what brings you down to this lower level?”

“Ha. I came because I wanted to. Is there a problem?”

“There is indeed.”

Catherine said to Mary with a stern expression.

“You obviously have a contract stating that you must not leave the top floor.”

“I don’t remember accepting such a contract.”

Mary shot back at Catherine with a sharp voice.

“Your fingerprint is on it. The contract is valid.”

“We don’t call it negotiation when you forcibly stab my hand and press my fingerprint. Under Gachaland law, that’s invalid.”

“This is both Gachaland and a dungeon. In a dungeon, we follow dungeon rules. They take precedence over Gachaland laws.”

Mary and Catherine glared at each other without backing down an inch.

If left alone, they might have continued their staring contest indefinitely, but fortunately, the chef’s words separated them.

“When can we start?”

“I want to teach this youngster his place right now.”

Entrée and Entrée grumbled.

Of course, their voices were bubbling and phlegmy due to the mycelium, but they were sufficient to express their discontent.

“…Please sit here. You’re a judge, aren’t you? Or… are you planning to give up your judge position to help the challenger?”

Catherine provoked Mary.

Mary glared at Catherine again but soon realized that giving in to the provocation would turn the situation against her.

In the end, all Mary could do was go to the judge’s seat and sit down.

“Princess?”

Sir Dominic muttered toward Mary as she moved.

Whether Mary heard him or not, she whispered softly into Sir Dominic’s ear.

“Later. I’ll tell you later. For now, the cooking competition comes first.”

Mary sat in the chair prepared at the judges’ table.

Fortunately, there was a spider chair among the spare chairs.

Of course, she chose to sit as far away from Catherine as possible… next to the jester John Doe.

John Doe didn’t seem to be particularly fond of spiders, as he frowned at Mary’s lower half—her spider body and legs—but soon returned to his usual demeanor and began smirking again.

One person with a stern expression, another with an inscrutable one, and a third whose thoughts were unreadable.

With the three judges seated, a system window appeared again.

[The cooking competition will now begin.]

[The theme of the cooking competition is… freshness.]

[Dungeon cuisine lacks novelty. The same dishes tend to appear repeatedly.]

[What’s needed is something to breathe new life into the dungeon… fresh ingredients and fresh recipes.]

[The scoring criteria for the cooking competition are as follows:]

[1. How fresh are the chosen ingredients? (10 points)]

[2. How fresh is the conceived recipe? (10 points)]

[3. How fresh is the taste? (10 points)]

[Each of the three judges will award up to 30 points, for a total of 90 points.]

[An additional 10 points will be reflected from ARS voting, determining the winner based on a total of 100 points.]

[Call now to vote for your chef! 555-8212 (Caller pays 100 Credits.)]

“Entrée! Choose the freshest ingredients!”

“Here! Here are fresh mushrooms!”

Sir Dominic turned his head toward the chef boss at the sound of the voices.

The chef boss was already searching for ingredients, crushing rotten materials as it moved forward.