After saying goodbye to Officer Ben, the three went inside.
Only after examining Aiden's body from top to bottom to confirm the absence of injuries
was Clara able to relax. Still, she picked at the shredded rag that had once been Aiden's
t-shirt and asked curiously, Strange, how is your body completely fine even after your
clothes were torn apart like this? Aiden knew this was an effect of his beginner-level
recovery ability. He touched his back and, sure enough, there was not a single trace of
the painful wound from earlier.
Feeling the smoothness of his skin with the palm of his hand, he couldn't help but marvel
at the system's power. After promising his parents that he would never do such a
dangerous thing again, Aiden was finally allowed to go up to his room and rest. Later
that night, Aiden lay in bed, unable to fall asleep.
Having experienced so many things in a single day, his heart still seemed to be pounding
from the adrenaline. Not only had a number of things happened to him in one day, but
his abilities had also improved by leaps and bounds. Aiden quietly brought up his current
attribute panel to have a look at his stats.
Less than a week after obtaining the system, he had already awakened dozens of
abilities, and among those, he had reached proficient level in several. Those abilities
included his knowledge of numerous subjects, cooking ability, flirting skills, driving
ability, hearing, and various others. After an ability had been upgraded to the proficient
level, he could see obvious improvements in his performance.
Taking the incident today as an example, he wouldn't have been able to catch up to the
kidnappers if it hadn't been for the miraculous effects of the system and the
improvements it made to his hearing and driving abilities. My next goal is to strengthen
the rest of my abilities to the proficient level as soon as possible. With this thought,
Aiden drifted off into a deep sleep.
On that same night, however, many other people found it very difficult to sleep. Having
tasted the supreme chicken noodle soup for themselves this morning, the delicious flavor lingered in their mouths, not to be forgotten for many years. No, I must remember
this experience forever! A young man picked up his cell phone and posted about his
experience at Midnight Snack Corner on his social media account.
His post was shared by his followers, and soon it had gone viral throughout Bayside
District. The post was titled, If you haven't eaten this chicken noodle soup before, you
have no right to say you're from this town. Accompanying the post was a picture of a
delicious-looking bowl of chicken noodle soup.
Below the title, the post described the author's personal experience tasting the supreme
chicken soup and was praised as though it were some sort of national treasure. The
author concluded the post with this statement, I have been alive for many years, but
never before have I tasted such delicious chicken noodle soup. After thinking about it for
a while, it would be a waste to keep something so wonderful a secret buried in an
alleyway.
That's why I'd like to share my story with everyone, whether in my circle of friends or
strangers from other parts of the county. Soon after the young man uploaded his post, it
was being shared across social media. Many of the customers who had waited with the
writer that morning commented on the post, OP, you should come out and have a good
chat with us about life.
I swear to God, if I don't get my share of that chicken noodle tomorrow, I will personally
come to your house and beat you up! Damn, I promised my wife that I would start
waiting in line at five tomorrow morning. Looks like I'll have to go at four o'clock now.
Thanks a lot.
This bowl of chicken noodle soup is indeed worthy of the word supreme. Everyone, don't
believe anything this guy has to say. He's just making stuff up.
Many people's first reaction was disbelief. After all, it didn't seem unlikely that the author
of the post might have exaggerated for reasons of his own. Others, however, were more
curious than skeptical, and they were intrigued by the promises of delicious food.
They decided it would be worth it to check out the restaurant for themselves. Under
these circumstances, the front page article with the headline, Young Hero at Megamart,
High School Student Defeats Two Kidnappers, was quickly overshadowed. At five the
next morning, Aiden woke up to the sound of his alarm clock.
Ding! Good quality sleep. Vitality plus one. While his parents were still dead asleep,
Aiden crept downstairs to the kitchen to experiment with his new pastry recipe.
After going over all the necessary ingredients,
procedures, and precautions in his mind, Aiden finally began to test out his new recipe.
Ding! Proficient level culinary ability activated. Hmm... First I'll need glutinous rice flour,
japonica rice flour, and sugar. Then the apricots and carrots.
This step requires one cup of water. Stir, stir. Now, put it in the oven.
Twenty minutes later, Aiden opened the oven and took out an orangey round cake. The
cake's aroma soon spread throughout the house. Aiden was confident that nine out of
ten girls who saw this cake would begin drooling immediately.
Once they smelled it, they wouldn't be able to control themselves. After carefully slicing
a thin sliver from the cake, Aiden took a small bite. The creamy texture of the cake
melted in his mouth, and the apricot chunks added extra dollops of sweetness
throughout.
After swallowing it, a warm feeling welled up from the depths of his stomach, and he felt
a soft glow of warmth and comfort spread over his body. With a nod of satisfaction,
Aiden looked proudly at his masterpiece and said, Premium Apricot Carrot Cake. That
seems like a pretty good name for this beauty.
Ding! Successfully created original dish. Cooking ability plus five. As opening time drew
nearer, the noises outside the snack bar gradually became louder.
Aiden raised his head to look at the clock and saw that it was already past six in the
morning. Unbeknownst to him, a long line had already formed outside the midnight
snack hut, all eager for a taste of supreme chicken noodle soup. Letting out a bitter
laugh, Aiden put away the Premium Apricot Carrot Cake and began preparing the
chicken noodle soup.
It was the start of yet another busy day. As soon as the clock struck 6.30 AM, the
entrance to Midnight Snack Corner opened. The number of customers today, however,
clearly surpassed that of the previous day.
There were almost twice as many. Only after Morris had chatted with a few of them did
they find out about the viral post that was now bringing new customers to their shop.
The customers were all looking forward to the special delicacy and each of them looked
purposeful as they entered the restaurant and ordered their bowl of supreme chicken
noodle soup.
Just like yesterday, Viola and Mia came early to help out at the restaurant. Although he
had learned his lesson yesterday and ordered more chicken, Aiden's supply was already
beginning to run low by late morning. Around that time, the sounds of an argument
taking place outside the store could suddenly be heard.
That's enough! We're done! We won't let them use our store anymore! Hurry up and tell
that little brat Aiden to get out here this instant! It was Barbara's voice. Viola and Mia
rushed into the kitchen and said anxiously, Little Aiden, let's go out and have a look.
There's something happening outside.
Aiden frowned and stopped what he was doing. He then followed the two girls out of the
shop to see what was going on. With the abundance of customers who came to eat at
Midnight Snack Corner, the small snack bar obviously did not have the space necessary
to meet their demands.
Morris asked a few of the neighboring stores to lend them part of their space so
customers would have somewhere to sit. The other restaurants didn't have any
objections initially, but Aiden noticed Barbara chasing the customers away from her
store. Naturally, the customers were stupefied.
Holding their bowls of soup in their hands, they stood outside in confusion, at a loss for
what to do. Despite Morris and Clara's best attempts to calm Barbara down, she refused
to listen to them and demanded to speak to Aiden directly. The moment she saw Aiden,
she crossed her hands and pointed directly at him.
Everyone, come quickly and take a look! He may be your favorite chef, but he's also a
sneaky little thief! The customers waiting in line all wore different expressions. Some of
them looked indifferent, while some of them looked rather curious. Some people even
started to take pictures with their phones.
When Aiden saw the reaction of these customers, his heart sank in a moment of panic. If
he did not explain things clearly today, it was very likely that his reputation would be
damaged. At the same time, Midnight Snack Corner's reputation would also be directly
affected.
His face became stiff as he said coldly, Barbara, enough with your lies!