This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 221 New Year

Chapter 221: Chapter 221 New Year

North Gate.

Beneath the spacious shed, a long table was set up, flanked by two braziers, their charcoal burning vigorously.

Chu Guang, clad in blue power armor, stood inside the shed, looking at the little players bustling about the fair, his face showing the smile of an indulgent father.

Not bad.

Drawing up a plan for the players to cook for themselves, that truly was the work of a planner.

Initially, Chu Guang thought the festival would deplete a lot of stock, but it appeared his worries were unwarranted.

Those little players had obviously read his event description multiple times and even dug out things he wanted to express but was too modest to write down, all from the perspective of the game’s setting.

Wasteland foodies, huh.

Naturally, they had to use "authentic" wasteland food.

How else could he claim his cooking was the "true essence of the wasteland"?

Crispy stove-cooked cricket meat, deep-fried mutant cockroach legs, leeches hopping about in the pot, and glowing bloodworm meat patties, bring them all on!

Of course, Chu Guang himself wouldn’t eat them.

He didn’t have many lives to spare.

It was better to eat something healthy and hygienic.

There were three awards for the competition.

One for the food heartily embraced by Waste Land Wanderers, one from the players’ point of view, and another approved by the almighty Manager.

The criteria for the three awards were different, and so were the judging panels, but the prizes were more or less the same.

Namely, a hefty amount of activity points!

An exclusive title!

And entry into the Hall of Fame, to shine brightly on the forum!

Like prior events, completing tasks during the event earned points, which could be used to exchange for limited-event rewards and a New Year’s red envelope—which was essentially just a repackaged lottery.

Prizes included but were not limited to a first prize of 666 silver coins, and a grand prize—a Carbon Nanotube Bulletproof Vest worth 6666 silver coins.

This item had never been listed in the NPC shops; its price was arbitrarily set by Chu Guang, who figured nobody would argue even if he added another zero.

Besides the lottery, what really interested the players were the exclusive title and the chance to enter the Hall of Fame.

Furthermore, according to the Manager herself, whoever won the "Wasteland Gourmet" title would have their recipes included in the menu for this year’s New Year’s Eve banquet.

For life-skill players, this was a huge temptation.

In their struggle for this title, nearly all spices except salt were bought out from the warehouse.

This forced Chu Guang to temporarily adjust his event strategy, removing spices from the warehouse shelves to instead be distributed as task completion rewards.

Thanks to this change, the daily active tasks had been progressing remarkably well, and he, as the Manager, had earned quite a number of reward points from the system.

To satisfy the players’ cooking needs, Chu Guang had spent nearly all his points on beginner Blind Boxes these past few days and had inadvertently acquired a good number of high-yield crop seeds.

This was an unexpected gain.

Looking at the wooden plaque on the table, Xia Yan, confused, turned to Chu Guang and asked,

"What’s a judge?"

She had never heard such a strange term before.

After pondering briefly, Chu Guang explained,

"Simply put, you walk around the North Gate, pick any food that looks good, bring a portion back, and if it tastes good, just give it a thumbs up."

Of course, they had to let Crow taste it first.

As a Perception-type player, her Talent was Toxin Intuition—she could spot inedible things instantly.

Plus, with her low Constitution score, if she could eat something without issues, it was likely safe for others too.

Crow, appointed as the "taster," was thrilled.

Chu Guang could still remember how the little player had assured him, patting her chest, that she would do her utmost to maintain order during the festival and pleaded with him to entrust her with this "honorable and challenging" task.

"Ah, I see." Xia Yan nodded, still dazed.

So, to sum it up... Just grab whatever food you like?

Eat and drink for free without spending a dime?

That’s way too awesome, isn’t it!?

Sitting behind the long table, Little Fish appeared somewhat uneasy.

She sneaked a glance at Brother Chu and whispered,

"But... is it really okay not to pay?"

Honestly, it was a somewhat superfluous question.

"What? Pay the judges for eating?"

"Isn’t it generous enough not to charge an entry fee?"

"Not to mention that entering the contest itself earns reward points, so even the poorest consolation prize should easily cover the meal costs."

Chu Guang had planned to say this, but seeing the guilty look on Little Fish’s face, he changed his words at the last second.

It was okay for the Dog Plan alone.

But he couldn’t set a bad example for the children.

"This is part of the celebration activities, and the expenses will be covered by Shelter No. 404... you could think of it as the payment already being made."

He paused for a moment.

Watching Little Fish’s bewildered face, Chu Guang smiled gently and continued.

"Remember to say ’thank you’ before tasting."

"They’ll be happy all day."

Boss Xia, standing by with his arms crossed, nodded somewhat understandingly.

He got it.

It wasn’t freeloading.

It was public funds eating and drinking.

The New Year’s food contest was in full swing, with both lifestyle and combat professional players giving their all to earn a limited title.

The event continued until the last day of December.

It was a rare clear day.

The howling north wind and the blizzards were at their last, and the harsh winter seemed to be coming to an end.

Everything indicated that dawn was near, and victory was at hand!

To welcome the upcoming year 212 of the Wasteland Era, Outpost Base was festooned with lights, creating a lively atmosphere.

Many houses had red paper pasted at the doors and big red cloth strips and ribbons hung.

To enhance the festive mood further, Chu Guang had specifically issued a task that led to the carpentry workshop making more than forty lanterns, hanging them from the nursing home square all the way to the north gate market.

Dusk approached.

More than forty lanterns lit up.

The hazy light, complemented by the blazing torches, added a festive air to the lively Outpost Base.

Chu Guang found his players to be simply brilliant.

Within just a week and under resource constraints, his players had incredibly unlocked hundreds of recipes.

Some of the creative ideas even made him marvel.

Like Teng Teng.

Reportedly having obtained experience from the Nomads, with the help of Autumn Grass and Autumn Leaves, she concocted a gelatin from Devil Moth pupae to create a dessert similar to "Jelly Brady."

The dish was translucent and white, soft and jiggly, tasting like jelly. If not specifically pointed out, no one would associate it with Devil Moth.

Unsurprisingly, this delicacy won the "Most Popular Wasteland Food" among players.

It cleverly found a balance between Old Na’s pepper-salt grilled mantis legs and some of the "real-world delicacies" that had nothing to do with the Wasteland at all.

Its taste and texture were fairly good too, fitting the "neutral order" category.

It was only a pity that there was no chili sauce, or else it would have been even more delicious.

However, not everyone was pleased with such an outcome.

Especially those who had come "just a bit short" of winning the competition...

"Damn! Why am I not the Wasteland Gourmet? It was so delicious!"

"Exactly!"

"That’s so unfair!"

The award ceremony had ended at noon, and now was the time for celebration.

Not giving up, Brother Mole, Gnome King Riches, and Old Na grilled all the leftover mantis legs, trying to prove themselves with the taste.

But alas, their stalls were sparsely visited, hardly drawing any customers.

Even after confirming there were no toxins, Crow still shook her head like a rattle drum.

"Sorry, it just physically doesn’t sit well with me; I really can’t accept this type of food!"

Kind-hearted Miss Teng Teng took a closer look, thinking of buying some to comfort them, but still ended up quietly asking before paying,

"So... this really doesn’t have any Iron Worms in it?"

Hearing this, Brother Mole felt as if salt was being rubbed into his wounds, and he said with a mournful face.

"Where are there so many Iron Worms! Not every mantis has Iron Worms!"

Gnome King Riches: "Exactly! It’s all blasted up! And it wasn’t poisonous, right?"

Elena: "Damn! Do you know how hard it is to look for these things in the dead of winter!"

"Sorry sorry, I...I won’t ask anymore..." Teng Teng hurriedly pulled out her VM, though she didn’t know why she was apologizing, but she paid anyway.

Unable to stand by any longer, Night Ten walked over and patted Elena on the shoulder, sighing.

"Let it go, Old Na, just give up. Don’t struggle anymore."

Elena said with grief and indignation, "No way! I’m not logging off until I sell everything!"

Night Ten silently let go of her hand.

Well, damn.

So she was ready to pull an all-nighter...

...

The most recognized delicacy award among the players was effortlessly seized by Teng Teng.

The food that won the approval of NPCs like Boss Xia, Little Fish, Yin Fang, Heya, the guards, and the Warehouse Manager was the "Mushroom Cloud Cake" made by Crow.

Being a taste tester herself, she also participated in this competition.

Using eggs bought from the Frost Spear Clan mixed with white sugar to beat egg whites, Crow skillfully used a round-tipped piping bag to shape them into delicate mushroom caps and sprinkled chocolate bits all around.

The whole cake looked just like a mushroom cloud, with the chocolate bits forming a nuclear crater. It could barely be considered Wasteland-style food.

But honestly, in Chu Guang’s view, this was nothing but a gimmick.

Chocolate, white sugar, and eggs were all bought and far from cheap.

Although Chu Guang emphasized that he wanted cheap yet delicious food, the NPCs were all won over by the taste of chocolate and had no interest in the Wasteland-style food.

Seeing the gleaming eyes of Little Fish, Chu Guang didn’t have the heart to veto it outright, so he kept quiet.

Fortunately, he had anticipated discrepancies in the voting results, so he had set up a third prize—"The Most Approved Delicacy by the Manager."

He personally awarded this prize.

The winning food was the "Crack Claw Crab Meat Pie" from the Beef-Cow Squad.

400g of Crack Claw Crab meat mixed with 450g of green barley flour, 10g salt, a bit of Buffalo Grass powder, and white berry juice resulted in exactly one kilogram of crab meat minced.

These meat pies, made from this mince, neither had the oxalic acid taste of green barley nor lost the flavor of the crab meat; they were undoubtedly delicious.

Large in quantity, satiating, and easy to preserve, Chu Guang, without a second thought, awarded the prize to its inventors.

As it was a team effort, only the chief cook’s name, Stir-fried Egg and Tomato, would be displayed on the main page of the Hall of Fame, while the rest of the collaborators’ names would be listed on a secondary sub-page.

The collaborators had no objections to this arrangement as their names were already in the Hall of Fame.

They had decided to give this rare opportunity to Brother Stir-Fried Egg after discussing it among themselves.

Standing at the northern gate of the base.

Chu Guang, in his power armor, announced the final results of the competition with a booming voice and then raised his glass to the crowd at the celebration.

"Enjoy the last day of the New Year!"

"Let’s toast to a bountiful year ahead!"

He had many things he wanted to say.

But seeing the excited faces of the little players, Chu Guang suddenly felt that a lengthy lecture would be somewhat redundant at this moment.

Better to give them the time.

He should just silently remain a handsome and impressive NPC.

As his words ended, the marketplace at the northern gate instantly burst into cheers, and wooden cups were raised high.

"Arrr arrr arrr!"

"The planner is awesome!"

"Woo woo woo, I don’t have to eat takeout alone on New Year’s Day this year!"

"Nah, brother, even if you take off the helmet, you still gotta eat."

"Okay, stop, or I’ll start crying."

There were probably about 500 players who chose to celebrate the festival in the game, almost all of whom were here.

As for the other 300 players, either they had matters to attend to in reality or were with their families, probably coming only after tomorrow noon.

Not just the players, but the NPCs who attended the celebration were also visibly happy and joyful.

So this is what a celebration feels like.

So this is what a festival is!

Life seemed to have a new hope, even though they hadn’t realized it, a sense of cultural identity was gradually taking shape in their hearts.

Chu Guang pulled out the last few barrels of red wine from the storage, giving everyone a small cup.

Although everything had been distributed, Chu Guang didn’t mind.

For one, he had already decided to drink less in his lifetime, avoiding it whenever possible.

Besides, the liquor was stolen from Old Leech’s cellar anyway, so it didn’t matter if it was finished.

There would be new supplies next year.

"Cheers! Burp—"

Boss Xia, excitedly holding his glass, gulped it down and staggered over with a red face asking Chu Guang if there was any left, perfectly embodying the phrase "bad at drinking but loves it anyway."

Sitting beside the fire pit, Little Fish sipped her milk and glanced at Xia Yan with a worried look, fearing she might pass out from drinking just like last time.

Yin Fang stared at his glass for a while, sniffed it, frowned as he drank it all, and then muttered to himself as he returned to Shelter No. 404 to continue his research.

Heya, after finishing her drink in one gulp, showed no change in expression and stood there, interestedly watching the lively scene among the players and Waste Land Wanderers.

For her, who had grown up in the shelter, everything here was utterly fascinating.

Be it DNA or culture.

Having given his own glass to Boss Xia, Chu Guang glanced at her empty-handed and looked a bit surprised.

"I didn’t expect you to hold your liquor so well."

Heya didn’t find anything hard to understand and naturally replied,

"After all, my liver and stomach and... all are biomechanical organs that can selectively absorb or not absorb at all."

Chu Guang: "..."

Well, that was a waste.

Not only at Outpost Base was the New Year being celebrated, Chu Guang, after announcing the start of the celebration, issued a mission through the VM, selecting a few minor players to go to a temporary shelter in an abandoned department store to bring New Year’s blessings to the refugees there as well.

It wasn’t much.

About 300 kilograms of crab meat pies.

Although each person could only get a small 200g piece of the pie, it was still Crack Claw Crab meat after all.

This New Year’s gift from Shelter No. 404 was bound to bring them a bit of warmth.

...

"Damn it, why is the bear paw and catfish soup not working!"

The celebration had entered its latter half, Tail, devastated by the soon-to-cool pot of pitch-black fish soup, squatted down and drew circles in the snow with a tree branch.

Si Si comforted her by saying,

"I think the ingredients are fine; maybe there’s something wrong with the cooking method... But why has the soup turned black? Wasn’t it white before?"

"Please don’t mind these details."

"No... I think it’s better to figure it out."

Elena, who had eaten all the roast mantis legs while no one was paying attention and pretended that everything was sold out, happened to stroll over.

Seeing the pot stuffed with bear paws and fish heads that comprised the dark cuisine, she couldn’t help teasing.

"You guys didn’t stew Meat Meat, did you?"

Tail looked at her displeased.

"How could that be! Meat Meat can talk!"

And that was her mount!

She had just barely tamed it.

Si Si, standing beside Tail, sighed and said helplessly,

"It’s not Meat Meat’s hand, but it’s somewhat related to Meat Meat. In short, Tail used Meat Meat as bait to lure the hibernating brown bear out of its cave, Emm... It was a bit chaotic at the time, so I won’t go into details."

Elena scratched the back of her head: "Uh, while I’m curious about the details, maybe I shouldn’t ask too many questions?"

The players around, who had overheard, all looked at Meat Meat with sympathetic eyes, only Meat Meat had nearly teary eyes.

"Wait a minute, you should clarify that! Everyone clearly misunderstood!"

Ignoring her teammates’ clamor, Tail continued to mutter,

"Damn it, it tasted alright!"

Si Si patted her shoulder.

"Alright, alright, don’t be sad... Ah, it looks like a mission has come up, and it seems to be a hidden one too, Ah Wei, do you want to come along?"

Upon hearing it was a hidden mission, Tail immediately sprang up, her eyes gleaming as she said,

"Yes!"

Si Si’s face broke into a fatherly smile.

This kid was just too easy to coax.

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