TSA Chapter 24

Ran Qi stepped out of the gaming pod, and the first thing he needed to do was take a shower. After all, the pod was filled with nutrient solution, and although it was automatically drained when the pod opened, the sticky feeling still lingered on his skin, and a shower was the only way to feel comfortable.

After his shower, his smart device displayed a notification that the Octopus Express had also arrived.

The mechanical little octopus verified his identity carefully and then opened its mouth wide, handing him a box. When Ran Qi opened it, he found a large piece of pork, a bag of tomatoes, and seven or eight eggs inside.

Just as he placed the items on the table, Gu Le requested a video call.

“Ran Xiaoqi! My delivery arrived! So much fruit!” Gu Le’s face was full of excitement, even blushing slightly, which made Ran Qi want to laugh.

He asked, “Hmm, I got mine too. I’m about to cook—do you want to come over and eat?”

“Yes, yes, yes! I’ll be right there!” Gu Le hurriedly agreed and quickly ended the video call to get ready to come over.

After finishing his conversation with Gu Le, Ran Qi opened the StarNet shopping mall on his smart device and ordered a grilling pan, an energy-saving electric frying pan, some plates, and seasonings. Of course, the school dorms didn’t provide kitchens for students, but the table in the living room was big enough so he could easily prepare simple meals with the kitchenware he purchased.

Though 99% of the population in the interstellar era relied on nutrient solutions for daily meals, there was still that 1% who could buy natural ingredients. With the empire’s population exceeding a trillion, even 1% was a huge number, so there was always cookware for sale on StarNet.

While waiting for the cookware to arrive, Ran Qi’s smart device rang again. Seeing the caller’s name, he immediately set down what he was doing and answered the call. A beautiful yet somewhat delicate-looking face appeared on the screen, with features that bore a striking resemblance to Ran Qi’s.

“Little Dad!” Ran Qi smiled and waved at him.

In the interstellar era, same-sex marriages had long been legalized, and thanks to advanced technology, even men could easily have children, solving problems like infertility and false pregnancies once and for all. A simple shot at the hospital was all it took for any type of receptor to conceive. This was how Ran Qi and his two brothers were born, biologically related to both their fathers, Ran Shaojun, and Qu Qing in every way.

Qu Qing didn’t like being called ‘mom,’ so for simplicity, they called Ran Shaojun ‘Dad’ and Qu Qing ‘Little Dad.’

“Xiao Qi, I just saw a charge notification on your dad’s account. Did you buy kitchenware?” Qu Qing frowned with worry. “Kitchenware is dangerous! You’ve never cooked before. What if something explodes? You’re Dad’s precious child—you can’t take such risks.”

Ran Qi couldn’t help but feel exasperated. His Little Dad was perfect in every way, except that he worried too much about him.

There was plenty of drama in wealthy families. When Qu Qing was pregnant with the original Ran Qi, they were kidnapped and attacked, and Qu Qing was injured, almost losing the baby. As a result, the original Ran Qi’s body was affected, and his aptitude ended up as a double E.

It wasn’t a big deal, really. Even with lower aptitude, he could still live a normal life, and the family was wealthy enough for him to live comfortably. But the original Ran Qi had been rebellious and reckless, constantly comparing himself to his more talented brothers. The more he was told not to do something, the more he insisted on doing it. He tried piloting a lighter armor since he couldn’t pilot a mecha. Without proper preparation or training, his first attempt ended in disaster.

When they pulled him out of the wrecked armor, he was already barely alive. That was when the current Ran Qi, who had been in an accident in his own world, transmigrated into this body.

After arriving in this world, Ran Qi spent three months in a medical pod and two more months under Qu Qing’s overly cautious care before he was finally allowed to return to school. Ran Shaojun, fearing he might try something reckless again, pulled some strings to get him into the service department of the First Military Academy. With the strict discipline there, Ran Qi had no chance of getting involved in anything dangerous.

But Ran Qi came from the 21st century, and the knowledge taught at school was far too advanced for him—like forcing an ordinary elementary school student to study for a master’s degree. He simply couldn’t grasp it. In two years, he had firmly secured his spot as the undisputed king of academic underachievement.

Struggling academically, he also had to deal with Zhang Shuo’s constant harassment and the rejection of his peers, making his school life anything but pleasant. Thankfully, he had Gu Le, who quickly became his friend. Without him, Ran Qi might have spiraled into depression.

“Little Dad, I’ll be fine. Didn’t I often watch Uncle An cook when he came over? I’ve already learned how—I just haven’t had the chance to show it yet.”

Since the original Ran Qi’s accident, Qu Qing had been deeply concerned about his health and believed that natural food was better for him. So he often hired a chef named Uncle An to cook for Ran Qi. Ran Qi indeed watched the chef and picked up some cooking skills.

As expected, Qu Qing believed his excuse. “Well, just be careful then.”

“Don’t worry, Little Dad. I’ll even cook something for you next time.” Ran Qi smiled.

Hearing that, Qu Qing’s eyes lit up with both excitement and surprise. “Really? Little Dad will be waiting!”

Seeing this, Ran Qi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The original Ran Qi had been so rebellious and cold toward his family that after his accident, they became overly cautious and even a bit fawning toward him.

Now, with just a few kind words, Ran Qi could make Qu Qing so happy. It made him feel a bit sad and guilty.

During his recovery, he developed a good impression of the Ran family. In his previous life, he had been an orphan and had never experienced the warmth of a family. A strict father, a gentle mother, and close brothers—this was the family he had always dreamed of.

But some things would need to change slowly, step by step.

He chatted with Qü Qing for a while until he heard a knock on the door.

It must be Gu Le.

Ran Qi said, “Little Dad, my classmate is here to see me. I’ll hang up now, and I’ll come visit you when we have a holiday.”

“Alright, alright!” Qu Qing responded quickly, only reluctantly ending the call.

Ran Qi walked over and opened the door to see Gu Le standing at the entrance, holding two large bowls.

“Why did it take so long to open the door? I almost dropped these!” Gu Le grumbled.

“I was on a video call with my dad.” Ran Qi took one of the bowls from him, and they both walked inside.

“The strawberries today are even sweeter than yesterday! And these grapes are super tasty too. You have to try them!” Gu Le said as he sat down on the sofa. “But that thing called mango? Why does it taste so awful? I took one bite, and it was so sour and astringent, really gross!”

Ran Qi couldn’t help but laugh. “Silly, you’re not supposed to eat the mango peel.”

The mangos sent by <Magic Realm>’s officials were small ones, about palm-sized, with a deep color that looked ripe and sweet. However, one had already been bitten by Gu Le and looked quite pitiful.

“This is how you should eat it.” Ran Qi peeled a mango skillfully, then took a big bite of the juicy orange flesh, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction.

“You jerk! You didn’t even offer to peel one for me!” Gu Le complained, quickly picking up the one he had already bitten and awkwardly started peeling it.

Just then, the Octopus delivery arrived again, bringing the kitchen tools that Ran Qi had ordered.

“You keep eating. I’ll go make the food,” Ran Qi said as he unpacked the delivery.

Gu Le, still munching on fruit, wandered over to watch his friend quickly set up the grill and various cooking utensils. By now, he had no doubts about Ran Qi’s cooking skills and was eagerly waiting to eat.

“Oh, by the way, when we logged off earlier, Night Owl and the others mentioned a competition. That reminded me that our school is hosting a tournament next month. Isn’t the timing a bit too coincidental? Do you think Night Owl and the others could be from our school?” Gu Le suddenly asked.

Every year, all military academies in the Empire held a nationwide tournament, but not all students got to participate. Only the top ten elite students selected from internal school competitions could qualify for the military academy tournament. People from their service department usually ended up just being spectators.

Ran Qi shook his head. “I don’t think so. Night Owl and the others are good-looking and so skilled. If they were at our school, there’s no way we wouldn’t have heard about them.”

“You’re right!” Gu Le nodded in agreement, then asked, “Do you think they might be from another school? With their strength, they’ll definitely make it into the top ten in a competition.”

“Does it matter if they are?” Ran Qi raised an eyebrow at Gu Le. “Why are you so interested in them?”

“I’m just curious!” Gu Le pouted and dropped the subject. “So, what are you making?”

“Grilled meat, and tomato and egg soup.”

“I’ve seen a live stream of grilled meat before. It looked delicious!” Gu Le’s eyes lit up, and he swallowed eagerly. “But I don’t know about this tomato and egg soup.”

Star beast meat was readily available for purchase, and grilling or frying it was a common method of preparation. Sometimes influencers would live stream themselves eating grilled meat, and by gifting 100-star coins, viewers could even activate taste-sharing. Gu Le had experienced that before, so he knew how good it tasted.

However, natural ingredients like tomatoes and eggs were not something that could be easily bought with money, so Gu Le had no idea what the soup would taste like.

“No worries, you’ll find out soon enough,” Ran Qi said with a smile.

Ran Qi sliced the pork belly into thin strips, lightly seasoned them with some salt, and laid them one by one onto the greased grill. The meat quickly sizzled, and the once-white slices gradually turned golden brown. The aroma of the grilled meat began to fill the room.

“Ahh, it smells so good! That’s the exact scent!” Gu Le exclaimed as he sniffed the delicious smell.

The seasoning options in the interstellar age were pretty basic, consisting mainly of salt, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar, so things like barbecue sauce were out of the question. Fortunately, the quality of the meat was so high that even a lightly seasoned pork belly was already incredibly tasty.

“Here, try this,” Ran Qi said, handing Gu Le a piece of the grilled meat with chopsticks.

The grilled pork belly had a slightly crisp edge, and as Gu Le bit into it, it was both crispy and tender, with a satisfying chew. The fat had melted under the heat, and as he chewed, the meat juices flooded his mouth, filling it with rich flavor. It was a level of satisfaction that the taste-sharing from a live stream could never match!

“This is amazing!” Gu Le was almost moved to tears by how good it was.

Ran Qi also tried a piece and nodded approvingly. The taste was indeed excellent, though he found it a bit bland.

Thinking for a moment, Ran Qi grabbed the electric frying pan, added some vinegar and sugar, and slowly heated it to create a simple sweet and sour sauce.

“Try dipping the meat in this,” Ran Qi said, handing Gu Le a small bowl of the sauce.

The smell of the sweet and sour sauce was already appetizing, and without hesitation, Gu Le dipped a piece of meat into it and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Mm…” The meat was still hot, slightly burning Gu Le’s tongue, but he refused to spit it out. Chewing eagerly, he made an exaggerated expression like he was about to faint, perfectly conveying how much he loved the combination of grilled meat and sweet and sour sauce.

A pound of meat wasn’t much, and it wasn’t long before the two finished it off.

“Next time, I’m not trading for fruit! I’m definitely going to get more meat!” For Gu Le, the goal of playing games had now become saving up to exchange coupons for delicious food.

A pound of meat might not go far, but a pound of tomatoes and seven or eight eggs was enough to make a big pot of tomato and egg soup.

Ran Qi didn’t hold back, using all the ingredients at once. He blanched the tomatoes in hot water to peel them, chopped them into small pieces, and then cooked them down to release a thick, rich juice. He added water and brought it to a boil before slowly pouring in beaten eggs, resulting in a full pot of tomato and egg soup.

“Here you go.” Ran Qi handed a bowl to both himself and Gu Le.

Although the soup was simply seasoned, the result was a richly flavored dish. The broth had a tangy sweetness with a hint of umami, and the eggs were soft and fragrant. After finishing a steaming bowl of the soup, the satisfaction was indescribable.

“Another bowl!” Gu Le said, clearly wanting more.

Ran Qi refilled both their bowls, then poured the rest into a container and placed an order with the octopus delivery service.

“Where are you sending that?” Gu Le asked curiously.

“To my family,” Ran Qi replied. The earlier conversation with Qu Qing had left him feeling a bit emotional, and he hoped the soup might brighten Qu Qing’s day.

After resting for a while, the two logged back into the game.

Since all six of their team members had logged off earlier, their party had automatically disbanded. As Ran Qi opened his friends list and was about to message Night Owl, he saw him appear on the World channel.

[World] Night Owl: Buying 25+ Mage blue gear at a high price. Before 12 o’clock, send pic and price via private message.

[World] Pathfinder: … I’d like to sell too, but I don’t even have any, qaq.

[World] September Sky: Buying 25+ purple gear at a high price, send price mmmmmmm!

[World] June Snow: ?????? Looks like you’re asking to die…

[World] Soul Chaser: Buying 25+ Archer blue gear at a high price. Before 12 o’clock, send pic and price via private message.

Ran Qi: “…”

It was obvious that Night Owl and his team were preparing for the Abyss Dungeon. Ideally, each player’s gear score should be above 3500 for stability, meaning they needed full sets of blue gear.

However, their leveling speed was so fast that they were at the top of the leaderboards. With so few players above level 25 in the entire game, if they couldn’t get the gear, how could anyone else?

Life-skill players weren’t reliable either. Even if some guilds specifically trained them, their crafting skills were still limited by character level. Until these players reached level 25, no matter how skilled they were, they couldn’t craft level 25 gear.

Dungeon loot was soulbound, and good-quality items from wild mobs were rare unless someone had extraordinary luck like Ran Qi. Even if someone did get blue gear, in such a tight market, they would likely keep it for themselves.

Ran Qi thought they were bound to be disappointed…

[Private Chat] Ran Qi: We’re here now. Stop buying gear. Just gather more materials, and I’ll make it for you directly. No need to buy.

[Private Chat] Night Owl: …Okay.

[System] Player [Night Owl] has sent you a party invitation.

After joining the team, Night Owl asked Ran Qi to head to the life skills area and traded him a massive pile of forging materials.

Ran Qi: “…Did you empty out the Trading Hall?”

Night Owl: “No, I heard that the quality and attributes of crafted gear depend on skill proficiency, so I brought extra materials for practice.”

“Alright, thanks…”

Ran Qi couldn’t exactly say that his proficiency was already maxed out and didn’t need any practice. He just focused on making the best gear possible for them.

“Why don’t we clear the Challenge Dungeon first, and I can work on the gear during breaks?” Crafting gear would take some time, so instead of having everyone wait around, they might as well finish the dungeon first.

“Sounds good.” Night Owl was also eager to claim the first clears of the remaining two dungeons, so he gathered the team, and they headed toward the Forest Cemetery dungeon.

After entering, Ran Qi and Gu Le noticed that Soul Chaser and the others seemed drained and low on energy.

“What’s up with you guys?” Gu Le nudged Soul Chaser with his elbow. “You just had a little offline training, why do you all look like you’ve been through the wringer?”

Soul Chaser forced a smile, “Why don’t you go train with our boss?”

“No way, no way!” Gu Le immediately backed down, dutifully pulling aggro.

Then they noticed something strange. As soon as Soul Chaser and the others saw the mobs, it was like they were suddenly injected with adrenaline, fighting like madmen. In less than 20 minutes, they had taken down the man-eating plant boss.

[System Announcement] Congratulations to players [Night Owl], [Soul Chaser], [Plume Ink], [Sword at Fleeting Time], [Coke], and [Bai Ran] for clearing the Forest Cemetery Challenge Dungeon in 19 minutes 11,07 seconds, and getting SSS-level evaluation. Additional reward of [Gold Treasure Chest].