DHMB - Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Watermelon Head didn't chase after him, feeling his teammate truly needed some quiet time right now.
He tilted his head back, looking at the center of the screen. At this moment, Kai Yun had finished preparing the ingredients and began cooking.
Her movements looked very practiced. Holding the pot with one hand, she scooped out the freshly cooked rice, gave it a quick rinse, and then put the pot back on the fire to dry.
Once a little steam appeared in the pot, she added lard to melt, then cracked in the eggs and stirred gently with chopsticks.
The oil sizzled, and the egg liquid gradually solidified into tender yellow scrambled eggs at the right temperature, constantly flipping in the air and against the bottom of the pot with Kai Yun's tossing motion to ensure even heating.
The unique aroma of the lard and the subtle fragrance of the eggs seemed to waft out through the white smoke on the screen...
Because she didn't have enough utensils, she only had one bowl, so she could only temporarily place the scrambled eggs on top of the rice.
After emptying the pot, she added oil again, waited for it to heat up, and then added the chopped tomatoes.
The view on the large screen was relatively distant, but you could still see Kai Yun's dedication. She stared intently at the iron pot in front of her, her eyes fixed, as if undertaking a great and sacred task. Even the audience was influenced by her mood, subconsciously focusing their gaze on the small pot.
A pair of slender and beautiful hands held the chopsticks, stirring patiently inside. She continued until the tomatoes were thoroughly cooked down and softened into juice, then poured the eggs back in.
The yellow eggs absorbed the bright red tomato sauce, becoming more plump and steaming, practically screaming "delicious".
After seasoning, the pot was taken off the heat and placed on the ground.
A large bowl of rice, plus a pot of tomato scrambled eggs, was thus laid out before Kai Yun.
Seeing her finish, the audience surprisingly felt a sense of relief.
It's just... wasn't there a bit too much rice?
Then they saw Kai Yun pick up a rice bowl slightly larger than a regular soup bowl, extend her chopsticks, and place a piece onto the rice.
Originally, she had intended to share this simple meal with Lei Kaiding and the others, which was why she had poured in all the rice she brought. But they were in such a hurry to reincarnate, leaving her to enjoy it alone.
Anyway, in the simulation system, there was no option to get stuffed.
Kai Yun adjusted her posture and shoveled the rice into her mouth.
The sweet, sour, and savory taste lingered between her lips and teeth. It was a gentle flavor, but for Kai Yun, it was the taste of life—because tomatoes were the first plant she was able to cultivate independently on her Rebuilt Barren Star.
She didn't know why her Master had chosen tomatoes for cultivation back then. Perhaps he wanted her to understand the taste of sourness; perhaps he liked their vibrant red and passionate appearance; or perhaps it was because tomato scrambled eggs was the first dish many people learned to cook while growing up.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that tomatoes were the first path her Master had paved for her dream of rebuilding Rebuilt Barren Star. It was something he had given her, along with the words "Then you must respect life," when she proposed this wild and absurd idea.
She respected it, and would engrave it in her heart, striving for it.
Kai Yun ate with the same inexplicable, almost obsessive seriousness she showed when cooking. But that obsession wasn't annoying; on the contrary, combined with the slight curve of her smiling eyes and her clear, bright gaze, it gave people a feeling of immense, relaxed satisfaction.
If only... if the direction she was sitting wasn't directly facing Lei Kaiding.
"I must be crazy. I'm actually watching with relish, and all I want to do is eat."
"That tomato scrambled eggs looks damn delicious..."
"Can someone tell me which meals today have tomato scrambled eggs?"
"Little sister is cute~"
"Wait... am I in the wrong channel?"
"Hahaha, isn't that Lei Kaiding from the First Military Academy on the ground? He was in the same exam room as me. At the start of the exam, he said he'd make everyone call him Dad. What kind of retribution is he getting lying there now?"
"Am I blind or is this a hallucination? Is this retribution for staying up late last night? I think I saw a little sister eating her meal next to a corpse?"
"The students participating in the Tournament are getting more and more twisted. Can't they eat without a corpse in front of them?"
"People nowadays will do anything for exposure. What path is left for those who come after if you block it all off? Can the big shots have some self-awareness? Tone it down a bit, okay?!"
"Mukbang has officially entered the Tournament. I knew you guys would get your hands on it eventually."
The live stream administrator outside the arena faintly heard the sound of their own swallowing, quickly coughed, snapped back to attention, and focused on the direction of the comments section for the exam room.
Fortunately, probably because everyone was too shocked, the comments section was very active. Topics were sprinting off in all directions, clearly indicating that thoughts were still in disarray.
The administrator pinched their chin, happily scrolling down.
It had been a long time since they'd seen a contestant with such a lively mind. She was truly a clever little imp~
He got an idea from the comments and took a moment to adjust the camera, bringing the "Lei Kaiding" lying on the ground and Kai Yun together into the center of the frame, creating a strong visual impact.
A small girl with a delicate, innocent appearance, looking frail and harmless. And a corpse lying sprawled and twisted, with a face smeared in blood.
It was truly something that once seen... you couldn't help but look a second time.
People had never paid attention to what they looked like after "dying," because the live stream never lingered its precious camera on a "corpse." But at this moment, all the contestants watching the video began to silently reflect: were their death poses also so miserable and unsightly?
From now on, teams might need to add a mandatory task—protecting our own corpses!
The special commentator invited by the central live stream commented on this. Since they hadn't seen the preceding events, they could only speculate broadly, dryly stating:
"Looking at the uniform of the student on the ground, they should be from the First Military Academy, right? Hmm... they might not be having a great time in this match."
Alas...
Listening to the surrounding discussions, Watermelon Head silently mourned for his old friend in his heart.
He went viral. As expected, everyone wouldn't let him off the hook.
The school leaders told them to make their appearance as high-profile as possible... it probably couldn't get any more high-profile than this, could it? It was just that the method was a bit different from what they imagined. He hoped the leaders wouldn't want to commit murder after seeing this.
To prevent the style from truly leaning towards entertainment, the live stream camera finally moved away from Kai Yun.
But none of this had much to do with Kai Yun; she always moved at her own pace.
Because she had been delayed by messing around with Lei Kaiding and the others for a while, and then delayed again by cooking, by the time Kai Yun returned to the finish line, the first batch of students had already completed the map, while the rest were scattered around scoring points.
She waited at the finish line for half an hour before two contestants who had gotten separated from their teammates arrived.
Utterly uninspiring.
What she needed was an absolute highlight moment to serve as the first promotional stage for Rebuilt Barren Star. This match was unlikely to produce any more exciting twists and turns and couldn't meet her requirements. She decided to be patient for now and see about the next assessment. So, she stopped wasting time and directly submitted the task to end the scenario.
The invigilator watched her exit the exam, sighed, and felt like he had just endured an incredibly long morning. Leaning back in his chair, his peripheral vision caught sight of the potted plant squeezed into the corner by Coach Fang, and he suddenly snapped back to reality.
"Holy crap!" he yelled, "My little tomato!"
Kai Yun ran out of the exam room with a large saber on her back, heard his shout, and chimed in, "It's mine! My little tomato!"
The invigilator quickly picked up the potted plant, examined it thoroughly, and found that apart from being slightly wilted, there wasn't much overall change.
Fortunately, plant wilting always appeared very slowly.
He guiltily handed the potted plant back to Kai Yun, along with the tube of plant nutrient solution. While she was carefully inspecting it, he offered a compliment: "Uh... you fought well."
Kai Yun looked up and said, not without regret, "Didn't really fight much. Just went in and had a meal."
The invigilator: "..."
You probably don't know how punchable that sentence is. A child like you will crash and burn sooner or later.
He looked at the large saber on Kai Yun's back and reminded her, "Remember to check in your weapon. Carrying weapons around freely within the Alliance is not allowed; you need to apply first. If you don't handle it within the time limit, you'll be reported and detained, so be careful."
But he was very curious, what could Kai Yun, with her Rare Energy Immunity constitution, do with a weapon?
Kai Yun nodded obediently across from him, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
The invigilator fumbled to pull up her information.
"Right, you'll be staying at the Alliance Military University during the competition. Take this slip to the student center to get your ID card. The dormitory building for visiting students is uniformly arranged in Building 31. You can just follow the map to get there."
Major prestigious schools are quite aloof towards visiting students; if you haven't passed the preliminary selection, they don't even want to keep you for a meal. So, only after confirming you've passed the first test will they arrange temporary dorms and meal cards for contestants.
Kai Yun took all the items, then picked up her little tomato with one arm and headed straight for the cafeteria.
People—they really do need to eat, huh.
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