Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Dense geometric shapes rained down, clattering against the pot atop Chef God’s head with a sharp, crackling sound.

Judging by the constant downward sinking of that pot, it was clear this pot’s ”defense” had its limits.

So, to counter Robin’s attack, which clearly showed no restraint from the start, Chef God had to temporarily set aside his ingredients and begin responding.

”Whoosh!”

Chef God rose up from within the range of [Hell Kitchen], then actively hoisted the giant pot onto his shoulders.

Although his body could be described as ”tiny” compared to that pot, he held it up from below, and the sinking trend did indeed stop.

But…

In a way, that was also the goal.

”That chef’s locked down,” Seagull said excitedly. ”Nice work, Robin!”

”As long as she keeps suppressing him non-stop, won’t he never get the chance to cook—doesn’t that mean Robin wins outright?”

Seagull was extremely optimistic, practically popping champagne already.

However, Bi Fang poured cold water on it.

”What are you thinking? He flew up there on his own, which means he must have a plan.”

Sure enough, after Bi Fang spoke, Chef God, holding the pot in midair, pulled out his megaphone again and addressed the Hell Kitchen below.

”Vice Chef! Get your team moving!”

As Chef God’s words fell, a voice rang out from the kitchen.

”At once, Head Chef!”

Then, a lobster in a chef’s uniform and a tall hat… jumped out of the tank filled with seafood.

It had been mixed in among those sea products the whole time, and almost no one had noticed it.

This cyan-colored lobster immediately hopped over to the pot as well.

”Team in position, Head Chef!”

As it spoke, the chef team commanded by this lobster appeared behind it.

They were all lobsters identical to it.

”Number One, Number Two! Go chop the peppers!”

”Number Three, Number Five, go crush the garlic and prepare the other seasonings! Measure out the chopped chilies and pickled chilies in set amounts!”

”Number Four, heat up the wok!”

”Number Six, watch the marinated meat on speed boost—don’t let it go past the time limit!”

”Vice Chef, get ready to stir-fry!”

In midair, Chef God distributed tasks in an orderly fashion.

The seven lobsters in chef uniforms all replied in unison.

”Understood!”

Then, they moved in perfect sync, their speed and efficiency not at all inferior to Chef God himself from before.

”Are these summons? Or some kind of Pure Abyss spell controlling ’ordinary lobsters’?”

Bi Fang murmured with a frown.

”They should be summons,” Tycoon said uncertainly, ”but I don’t know if it’s one summon and its six clones, or seven separate summons.”

”It’s one summon and its clones—I can feel it,” Grandmaster concluded.

”A Chinese chef pulling out this kind of Western-style team—that’s just pure cheating,” Seagull said indignantly. ”Where’s the Referee? Isn’t this the God of Fairness’s territory? Throw a penalty flag or something!”

Seagull’s words left the rest of Order and Night Watchmen a bit speechless.

However, Good Night actually agreed.

”Shit, this really isn’t fair. Can’t do it yourself, so you swap in seven people… seven shrimp bastards to help? Then is this still his own cooking?”

Although Good Night said that, he knew in his heart that the dishes Chef God commanded his summons to make would definitely count as his work.

But… Robin’s attack forced him to deal with it personally, yet now the ”speed” was even faster and the ”efficiency” even higher. This kind of contrast was naturally unacceptable to the audience supporting Robin.

”No, actually, Robin’s move was very effective,” Lin Yu analyzed, staring at the lobsters stir-frying and plating under Chef God’s command. ”Although these lobsters work together and speed things up… they’re still not Chef God.”

”Even if Chef God up there is remotely controlling them down to the second, with cooking—especially ’Chinese cooking,’ high-heat stir-frying—losing the visual inspection and the feel of the hand, the final product’s taste will definitely be compromised.”

”After all, if these lobsters had both speed and flavor, Chef God would have brought them out from the start, not just now.”

Lin Yu’s analysis made both Order and Night Watchmen turn their heads.

”He has a point.”

Li Hua adjusted his glasses, affirming Lin Yu’s answer.

”Now we’ll see how much the taste is compromised.”

Although it definitely wouldn’t be bad… as long as the dish presented wasn’t good enough, wasn’t undeniably delicious, Robin could skip it.

Soon, a steaming plate of stir-fried yellow beef was completed.

”Number Five, serve it!”

Chef God shouted from midair with gritted teeth, and one lobster nodded.

”At your command!”

It lifted the plate, then its little legs pattered rapidly, carrying the stir-fried yellow beef as it zipped swiftly through the narrow stone paths, finally arriving directly in front of Robin.

”Esteemed lady, stir-fried yellow beef, please enjoy!”

Looking at the steaming dish before her and the tray with delicate silver utensils, Robin continued drawing with one hand while using her free hand to pick up a chopstickful and pop it into her mouth.

A look of surprise crossed her face, then she ate up the entire portion of stir-fried yellow beef, one chopstick after another.

Still drawing with one hand, Robin looked up toward Chef God.

”This dish reminded me of my grandmother. Although her specialty was green bean eggplant, she sometimes made stir-fried yellow beef too.”

Chef God looked at Robin. ”So do you think it was good, or not good?”

Robin hesitated for a moment, then finally shook her head. ”Compared to my grandmother’s, it wasn’t good enough.”

”I grew up in Spring City. Your dish had rich layers of spiciness, but it focused too much on the heat… Although my ancestral home is Xiang Province, I really don’t like spicy food that much.”

”When my grandmother made this stir-fried yellow beef, she would add vinegar—enough that you could clearly taste the vinegar—and that diluted the spiciness.”

Hearing this, Chef God, still holding the pot in midair, nodded as well.

”Alright, even though you finished the dish, this… still counts as my failure.”

”Losing to the taste of grandmother, I accept it willingly.”

Chef God said cheerfully, then immediately barked orders at the lobsters.

”Alright, time to prepare the next dish!”

”Since ’Xiang cuisine’ didn’t work, let’s try Spring City’s Lu cuisine!”

”The guest just mentioned green bean eggplant… If we want to win, we definitely can’t go near her grandmother’s specialty, so… for the second dish, we’ll choose ’Flavorful Eggplant’!”

As Chef God spoke, the lobsters below responded in unison.

”Understood, Head Chef!”