After the three of them sat down, they waited about ten minutes before the restaurant's head chef brought out the first dish himself—not the waiter who had taken their order earlier.
It's not that there's anything wrong with a chef serving food directly, but this particular chef-owner… well, whether it was some kind of weird sense of humor or something else, he was dressed in a bright red shirt with blue canvas overalls on top, and on his head sat a mushroom-cap-shaped hat.
It was obvious who he was imitating—the pipe-wielding plumber who had been a pop culture icon since his debut in 1981: Mario.
In fact, it seemed less like the chef's own eccentricity and more like the work of SAO's designers—since this chef's width was about equal to three Akimi's put together.
And it wasn't just his outfit that was odd—the food he made was just as strange.
In a large 20-centimeter wooden bowl sat a generous serving of pale yellow broth.
When stirred, two kinds of mushrooms could be seen floating to the surface.
One type looked like the upside-down mushroom caps painted on the restaurant's wall murals.
The other, however, was enough to make someone uneasy—white stems topped with shiny red caps dotted with irregular white spots.
Yes… that second one was instantly recognizable: the fly agaric mushroom, the very one Mario often "eats" in the games.
In reality, this species is poisonous, containing dangerous neurotoxins.
So Mario's "power-ups" after eating mushrooms are probably just hallucinations.
In real life, eating one wouldn't just make you "see little people"—it would lay you out flat.
While some studies claim heat destroys its toxins, no sane person would willingly stake their life on that.
After recognizing the mushrooms, Akimi and Asuna both swallowed hard and glanced at Argo, unsure what to say—surely Argo wasn't trying to poison them… right?
"What are you two staring at me for? The dish is here, so why aren't you eating?"
Argo said excitedly. "This double-mushroom soup is delicious."
The chef-owner nodded earnestly, clearly confident in his cooking skills—so much so that the fat on his face quivered with the motion.
Right then, a bubble rose from the soup and popped with a plop.
Akimi could have sworn he saw a faint purple-black puff of gas form into a skull above the bowl.
Gulp.
Akimi swallowed again.
Can you really eat something like this?
"Oh my, oh my, does Aki-bou need big sis to feed him? Careful, Asu-chan is watching…" Argo teased with a wicked grin.
"Of course, if you really need me to, I suppose I could make that sacrifice."
Then, without hesitation, she scooped up some broth and brought the spoon right to Akimi's lips.
As she did, an unnerving look of excitement flickered across her face, and her voice took on a faintly deranged tone: "Come on, come on, Aki-bou—taste the chef's masterpiece!"
The sight made Akimi's scalp tingle.
Leaning back as far as he could, he thought, Don't tell me this woman ate some of these mushrooms before we even met her, and now she's hallucinating.
But no matter how much he dodged, space was limited.
Seeing the spoonful of soup about to be shoved into his mouth, Akimi made a split-second decision—better you than me.
He grabbed Argo's wrist, twisted it around, and shoved the spoon straight into her mouth instead.
The movement was so fast that it caught Argo completely off guard, and before she could react, she was already completely filled.
"Cough… cough cough! What the heck, Aki-bou-Heyyo"
Argo wiped the soup that had spilled from the corner of her mouth while exclaiming in agitation.
But Akimi didn't reply.
Instead, he stood pressed close to Asuna, both of them wearing exactly the same alert expression.
Argo finished wiping away the mess and stared at him with a resentful look, puffing her cheeks.
"It was just a little joke…"
The corners of the two opposite her began to twitch slightly — Argo's expression just now didn't look like she was joking at all.
While they were bickering, Chef Mario had already begun serving the dishes one after another.
After the last dish was placed on the table, the chef removed his mushroom-shaped hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his broad palm.
Then, with a trace of pride, he said, "These mushrooms are all grown by me. Not to mention other floors, you won't even find a second restaurant like this on the twenty-seventh floor."
But looking at the mushrooms laid out on the table, Akimi truly felt that not a single one looked edible — at least among the ones he recognized, all of them were highly poisonous.
Especially that so-called mushroom sashimi — it seemed to be made from one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world, the Amanita virosa (Destroying Angel).
He exchanged a glance with Asuna, then silently turned to look at Argo.
Seeing that neither of them moved, Argo naturally understood why — these dishes did indeed feel a little… intimidating.
But she didn't mind at all and said casually, "Forget it. If you two aren't eating, I'll eat it myself."
She then picked up a slice of mushroom sashimi and popped it into her mouth, chewing with relish.
After she swallowed it, Akimi and Asuna still didn't make a move toward their chopsticks.
Argo scratched her head helplessly. "Alright, relax. This little mushroom just looks unfriendly — it's not poisonous."
Then she went on to taste each of the more than ten dishes one by one, and only then did Akimi and Asuna finally relax.
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