Chapter: Mage Barbecue Stand
Many adventurers gathered in front of the labyrinth's stone gate.
Some adventurers couldn't wait to enter the labyrinth to find treasures.
Generally speaking, it was easier to find treasures in a newly appeared labyrinth.
Some adventurers weren't in a hurry to go in and stood at the door to watch.
Though those who went in first might get more treasures, the corresponding unknown risks were also higher.
It was safer to go in later.
In the grill, the charcoal was burning red. The temperature around it rose a few degrees.
Cheng Yu took out ten skewers of barbecue and placed them on the grill, brushed them with sesame oil, and grilled them evenly.
Under the high-temperature roasting, the tempting aroma of meat emanated and drifted to the area nearby.
He sprinkled sesame, cumin, MSG, and other seasonings. The aroma became even more tempting.
A little girl in a white lolita dress smelled the aroma and ran over.
Seeing the golden barbecue skewers on the rack, the little girl's eyes lit up. A smile spread across her cute little face. She blinked her big, watery eyes and looked at Cheng Yu with a harmless expression. "Uncle, how much is this barbecue?"
What the hell—uncle?
Cheng Yu had a blank expression. "Call me brother."
"Uncle, how much is this brother?"
The little girl said with a smile.
"Hmph. Twenty copper coins a skewer, little brat," Cheng Yu snorted coldly.
Such little brats shouldn't be spoiled.
One called him uncle, the other called him brother. They hurt each other.
A trace of speechlessness flashed in her eyes. The little girl stared at Cheng Yu angrily for a while. "Big brother, I want two skewers."
"No problem, little sister."
Cheng Yu gave the little girl two skewers of barbecue.
The barbecue was golden in color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, extremely fragrant.
The little girl took a bite and said in surprise, "Big brother, your barbecue is really delicious!"
"Do you want more?"
"Yes! Give me two more!"
The little girl paid, took the barbecue, sat on a stone nearby, and savored it carefully.
[Positive Emotion Value +6]
[System Task Progress: 6/10,000]
The system task was to come here and get 10,000 positive emotion points. He'd just gotten 6 points.
After the little girl left, an old man less than 1.5 meters tall walked to the barbecue stall—slightly taller than the barbecue grill.
The old man had a wrinkled face, gray hair, a purple gown, and a magic staff. He was the priest of the Order God Cult.
"My friend, your barbecue smells delicious. Give me one skewer."
"Twenty copper coins a skewer."
The old man pulled out 20 copper coins and gave them to Cheng Yu, then received a skewer of barbecue.
After taking a bite of barbecue, the old man suddenly opened his eyes wide. "This... this taste..."
Mina, standing nearby, saw the old man's expression and asked with a smile, "Is it delicious, old man?"
"This tastes really good!"
The old man licked his lips with satisfaction and took two more bites. "Give me another thirteen skewers."
Including the old man, fourteen people from the Order God Cult had come this time. The old man planned to bring some to the others.
[Positive Emotion Value +5]
[System Task Progress: 11/10,000]
"Please wait."
Cheng Yu took out another ten skewers of barbecue and placed them on the rack.
The old man stood in front of the barbecue stall waiting. He saw the bottles of seasonings on Cheng Yu's barbecue rack—some big, some small, randomly placed. His obsessive-compulsive disorder flared up again.
"My friend, your seasoning bottles are too messy. I'll help you rearrange them."
Then the old man arranged the seasoning bottles in a row from tall to short and measured them with a ruler to make the distance between each bottle equal.
It looks much more comfortable this way.
Joyce saw an adventurer entering the labyrinth. "Brother Cheng Yu, I'm going inside the labyrinth."
"Go ahead."
The labyrinth entrance had the largest flow of people. Cheng Yu didn't plan to enter the labyrinth with Joyce.
He gave the thirteen skewers of barbecue to the old man. The old man took them to the other Order God Cult members.
[Positive Emotion Value +4]
[Positive Emotion Value +5]
[Positive Emotion Value +8]
After a while, Cheng Yu obtained positive emotion value from thirteen Order God Cult members.
[System Task Progress: 82/10,000]
The third person who came to buy barbecue was a young man in his early twenties with shoulder-length hair, tight shorts with long boots, a tight jacket, and aristocratic dress—looking gentle and refined.
Two middle-aged men followed the young man.
Cheng Yu knew this young man—Roy, a famous poet in Snow City, whose work "My Father, the City Lord" had won first prize in the Snow City Poetry Competition.
When taking the first-tier mage test, Cheng Yu had stood behind Roy. Roy recognized Cheng Yu. "Are you the person who took the first-tier mage test with me last time?"
"Yeah. Hello, my name is Cheng Yu." Cheng Yu introduced himself.
"What a coincidence!"
"How many skewers do you want?"
"Three—for the three of us."
Cheng Yu gave three skewers to Roy. The follower next to Roy paid.
[Positive Emotion Value +6]
[Positive Emotion Value +6]
[Positive Emotion Value +7]
[System Task Progress: 101/10,000]
Roy and the other two left. The fourth person who came to buy barbecue was a red-haired young man.
The red-haired young man had a warm smile on his face. He didn't talk to Cheng Yu but came to Ivennie and bowed like a gentleman. "This beautiful elf lady, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Thane. Can I invite you to explore the labyrinth together?"
"I don't know you. Why should I explore the labyrinth with you?"
Ivennie looked a bit unhappy. This man was obviously here to hit on her.
Thane stood up straight, glanced at the first-tier mage badge on Cheng Yu's chest, and sneered.
"You're such a beautiful elf lady—selling barbecue with this first-tier mage. There's no future. It's better to follow this young master."
"I'll only follow Master Cheng Yu in my life."
Ivennie not only liked the food made by Cheng Yu but also liked the feeling of home when she was with him.
"In that case, we can only use force."
The red-haired young man waved his hand. Not far away, seven or eight men came over.
Among these people were warriors, mages, and even a priest.
Seeing the other party was about to use violence, Cheng Yu said to Ivennie, "Ivennie, handle them."
"Okay!"
Ivennie sensed the magic power emanating from the other party. These people were either first-tier warriors or first-tier mages. They weren't very strong, but there were many of them.
Magic power flowed in her palm. A white light flashed. A magic staff appeared in Ivennie's hand.
Stepping back a few paces, she chanted a magic incantation and released first-tier vine magic with all her strength.
A massive magic array appeared on the ground with Ivennie as the center.
The soil cracked. Dozens of green vines burst from the ground and rolled toward Thane and his men.
The first-tier warriors pulled out the greatswords behind them and chopped at the vines with all their strength.
But they were surprised to find these vines were extremely tough—the greatswords couldn't completely cut through them.
The three mages released fireball magic to attack the vines simultaneously. Three balls of flame hit the vines, but the vines were still as flexible as before.
"Doesn't fire magic restrain plant magic? Why can't fireball restrain these vines?"
"Vine magic is only the most basic first-tier magic. Why is it so strong?"
"Is this elven girl a second-tier mage?"
Dozens of green vines entangled the red-haired young man and the others, throwing them to the ground—leaving them bruised and bleeding.