Starred Tower: System Misinterpret Book One - A Post Apocalyptic Cultivation LitRPG

by Ryan DeBruyn

  *Small Kitchen App [Green]*

  Please choose a recipe to initiate a daily quest.

  ●Gallus breast with broccoli and rice [Gray](3 bitcoin)

  ●Striploin Taurus with kale and potatoes [Gray](3 bitcoin)

  ●Taurus filet with mushroom sauce, onion risotto, and asparagus [Green](8 bitcoin)

  When I try to select one to read more, it asks to confirm my selection and purchase, so I back out.

  “Does the green color mean a higher rank, Crash?”

  “Yes, Master. Please wait one moment as we display the ranks and associated colors for you.”

  *Small Kitchen App [Green]*

  Ranks and Color Correlation Chart

  ●Rank F – Gray

  ●Rank E – Green

  ●Rank D – Blue

  ●Rank C – Yellow

  ●Rank B – Orange

  ●Rank A – Purple

  ●Rank S – Red

  I’ve only seen purple text when reading Training Room messages. So the Training Room is Rank A? That’s incredible! That solidifies my decision to stay here. Other than that, it’s not surprising I haven’t seen colors besides green and gray. Still, having this knowledge makes it somewhat easier for me to make my current selection.

  “Does a higher rank recipe usually provide more qi?” I ask, hovering my finger over that selection. I want to know if I am making the intelligent choice.

  “No, Master, that isn’t always the case. You need to see it as a variable chart. If cooked to a grade of phenomenal, an F-ranked recipe will be better than an E-ranked dish cooked to fair. In this way, the skill of the chef plays a major role in the final product. For example, the rating under fair is mediocre. If you were to cook a meal with E-rated ingredients to this level, it would equate to excellently cooked F-ranked ingredients. Does that help you understand?”

  I clench my teeth and pointedly ignore Crash’s condescension; I don’t have the energy to rise to it. Instead, I nod. It seems relatively simple, especially if you look at the scale with numbers. There are nine levels of rating for a finished recipe. The F-ranks’ top can only ever be as good as the fourth from the bottom in E-rank. If I continue this analogy, even a poor quality job cooking of E-rated ingredients is better than a good quality cook of F-rated ingredients.

  “Thank you, Crash,” I respond as I select the filet recipe. I am somewhat confident that I will be able to do better than poor quality, which would be equivalent to my eggs and toast from this morning. The screen flashes, and a new daily quest and its recipes are available.

  *Small Kitchen App [Green]*

  Daily Quest (3 Servings)

  Taurus filet with mushroom sauce, onion risotto, and asparagus

  Follow the recipe below and cook the meal to a Fair quality to finish the quest:

  Ingredients:

  ●3 Taurus Filets

  ●1 ½ Pounds Button Mushrooms

  ●Salt and Pepper (To taste)

  ●One Large Onion

  ●Easy-Bake Risotto Mix (Garlic, Parmesan, Rice, Chicken Stock, Thyme)

  ●18 Asparagus Stalks

  ●½ Cup of Red Wine

  ●Garlic

  ●Butter

  ●Olive oil

  Preparing the Filet(s):

  -Place filet on cutting board and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Turn grill to high heat on the stove.

  Preparing and Cooking the Mushroom Sauce:

  -Turn on the burner to medium heat and place a frying pan over it. Use olive oil or butter to grease the pan and prevent sticking. Slice mushrooms and dice garlic before cooking both in the pan. Once the mushrooms are golden brown, add in wine and reduce. Place half of the mixture in a food processor and blend before combining again.

  Preparing and Cooking Onion Risotto:

  -Place risotto mix over medium heat and reduce until mixture is sticky. Add butter and continue to stir till completion.

  Upon completion, choose one reward(s):

  1)Status effect for 48 hours

  2)5 Bitcoins

  3) 2 Free Points

  My confidence takes a severe nosedive when I see the complexity of this recipe and the need to complete it with the fair quality distinction. That’s two whole levels higher than I was banking on. I begin fiddling with my ear tips in worry.

  Campfire cooking is about a single pot. Occasionally some sort of secondary toast or stone-seared potatoes over the coals. If multiple dishes are being prepared, it is usually to prevent old food from spoiling, and multiple people work together. I can’t help but reassess my earlier thought that completing this quest was easily achievable. My heart begins to clench, and I knead my fingers harder into my ears to try to regain some of my earlier composure.

  Stop—what are some of the positives?

  There isn’t a time limit for this quest, and after the earlier workout, noticing this makes me breathe a sigh of relief. I move about the kitchen, following the lights to collect all the appliances, utensils, and materials needed. Then I take a moment to learn how to use them—with Crash’s video help.

  Crash shows what I surmised earlier this morning. The AI truly has a strange fascination with cooking and I barely even have to ask the AI questions before it spits answers and tips at me like gunfire. I almost feel like I know too much by the time I am ready to start.

  “Master, to use the contacts’ [Identify] skill, stare at the food. They should activate,” Crash informs me, as his eyes stare at the plates of completed food. The earlier exuberance of his video demonstrations and advice is strangely missing. Its absence causes my head to tilt but I begin staring at the dishes. I am just starting to feel silly when a transparent blue screen jumps into my vision.

  Good Taurus Filet (3 Servings)

  Cook Medium Well

  This dish will replenish up to five drops of spiritual Fire qi.

  “So I completed it. And got a good quality?!” I ask Crash, as I perform a mini fist pump out of sight.

  “Keep identifying, Master,” Crash replies, with a hint of disappointment in his words.

  Good Mushroom Sauce (3 Servings)

  Adds up to an additional two drops of spiritual Earth qi.

  I missed the Fire qi distinction of the Taurus filet but recognize the difference when I see the Earth qi in the next description. I move on to the risotto before voicing the question that this brings to the front of my mind.

  Burnt Onion Risotto (0 Servings)

  This dish is mostly burnt carbon and is inedible. Who cares about the qi type? You burned it!

  My hand moves unbidden to my ear and begins massaging. I may have forgotten about the risotto with everything else going on. It was quite hectic! I was trying to time everything to be ready simultaneously, and I now know that even though there isn’t a time limit for this quest, I am still going to have difficulties. I remember the smoke when I got to the risotto pan, and the rice was sticking pretty badly, but once I added the butter, it seemed to separate—so I thought I got away with it. Guess not.

  “I thought the lowest rank was bad.” I cough and attempt to shrug my shoulders to play off the small embarrassment I feel.

  “No, Master, bad is the lowest level of edible food. There are several ranks below that for people who have brutalized their meal.”

  Ouch. The AI’s tone hammers home the mental note: I need to keep in mind that Crash is sensitive about food. I almost ask it why it cares so much, but I sense a dry, infuriating answer, so I choose to go another direction.

  “Does that mean I failed the quest?” I ask, not wanting to go to the holo-puck and read the results for myself. There is something less painful about being told about a failure.

  “No, sire, you managed to squeak by with a fair grade on average. Please pay more attention next time,” Crash says, his voice hollow. I turn away from Crash, unwilling to look at him. I can feel his disappointment, and even though he is just an AI, it feels too much like many of my childhood experie
nces with mercs or Leah.

  “While I eat, can you tell me about the types of qi? I noticed [Identify] differentiates between them.”

  “Certainly, Master. It may distract us from that lump of coal and shoe leather on your plate,” Crash begins as I sit down. I look at my plate and tilt my head. What does he mean by shoe leather? But his voice goes all announcer again before I can comment. “Buy a set of The Six Basic Types of Qi. These six books highlight the four elemental types and two light types. Get the most out of your Fire, Air, Water, and Earth qi or learn the differences between Sun and Moon qi.”

  My moment of frustration flies from my mind. That these distinctions exist is brand-new information for me. I have heard once or twice that the meal you eat before the battle is important but assumed the speaker meant it differently.

  “What is the difference? Isn’t qi just qi?” I state, thinking about the qi I currently hold in my Dantian. There didn’t seem to be a difference between the stuff from the pill and my morning meal.

  “No, sire. There are differences between all qi.

  “Purchase the Advanced Qi Uses set, six books that will go into great detail. The Earth book will describe how this qi is an excellent source of strength and healing. The Water book describes a perfect qi for speed and recovery. The Fire book offers the most destructive and volatile qi. The Wind book explains the fastest and best cancelation qi. Finally, the Sun and Moon books walk you through the qi best for cleansing abscesses.”

  “So, Sun and Moon qi are the same then?” I ask. I thought Alrick told me the light from the moon was just a reflection from the sun, which was why it could be cultivated. So for Crash to name both seems contradictory to that. Like the time of day one cultivates is an obvious answer, but there must be more to it, right?

  “Sire, try the book Advanced Sun and Moon Qi. The book that coined the phrase ‘Nothing different but everything altered.’ This book will go beyond the basics and explain how Sun and Moon qi are polar opposites. Moon qi the bringer of death and Sun qi the bringer of life.”

  “Nothing different but everything altered,” I repeat, not understanding the saying at all. Well, it would seem like Sun qi can help with healing, maybe. If that’s the logic for the bringer of life, then Moon qi would be great for poisoning or killing enemies? I will need to ask more questions later. “How can I tell the difference in qi?” I ask after a momentary pause to soak in the rules of this world Crash just revealed.

  “You must have a cultivation technique that helps differentiate between them, Master,” Crash responds pointedly.

  “And you can’t share a book that might help?” That strange buzzing followed by three beeps is my answer, and I groan. “Come on, you can’t even share a blurb!” I shout accusingly.

  “Unfortunately not, sire. Any book that is considered a skill tome or Cultivating Manual is placed in a special category within the Training Room Application Matrix. There is nothing I can do to guide you on those.” Well at least it was a straight answer, I think?

  Priority number one: buy one of these cultivation manuals or skill tomes.

  Chapter 9

  August 23rd, 151 AR

  Jeff Smith

  Selecting the reward for the cooking quest is more difficult than the choice I had to make on the daily workout. While the option for getting five bitcoins back is great. In theory, I should make eleven more tomorrow and I won't need it.

  Besides, I was able to gain six entire drops of qi from one serving of the meal I just made. Four of those partially refill my Dantian, and the other two begin circulating as Crash instructed. I even have two more servings of the filet, which should mean I can have it for dinner and another meal. Right now, Crash suggests I store it in something called ‘Tupperware’ and then place it in the fridge. I have never seen the plastic containers with sealable lids but follow the demonstration the AI plays on the holo-puck.

  Would it be best for me to start saving free points? I truly want to, but first, I open the status effect options since there seem to be a few to choose from.

  Chef’s Inspiration (48 Hours)

  -Temporarily increases the recovery rate of all healing in the Training Room by 100%.

  ----

  Chef’s Physical Boost (48 Hours)

  -Temporarily increases overall strength, speed, and endurance by 1 minor rank.

  ----

  Chef’s Mind Boost (48 Hours)

  -Temporarily increases overall capacity, speed, and recovery by 1 minor rank.

  “What is the difference between one minor rank and the free points, Crash?” I ask quickly, trying to understand my options before making a selection. If it is what I think it means, it’s practically like me infusing a drop of qi into my muscles for forty-eight hours.

  “Master, this would be much easier to explain if we could use the mirror in the locker room, but simply put, each minor F-rank requires ten free points. That is for minor increases of both the mental and physical statistics. The status effects you’re looking at are temporary whereas the free points are permanent.”

  While that explanation didn’t make this decision simpler, it did highlight a few strategies that I can use. The first is to push through the current workouts and earn two free points a day from the cooking quests. A solid option, but it wouldn’t help me as quickly as taking the status effects would. I can use the status effects to temporarily increase my strength, and it will be as if I have fifteen days’ worth of free points from the quest. Considering that I fell on my face after the workout today, I need to do something, or I’ll have a torturous few weeks ahead of me.

  Still, a nagging part of me wants to go another direction. I could also start saving bitcoins to purchase a cultivation technique, but I don’t know its cost.

  “Crash, do you have a list of cultivation techniques available and their prices?”

  “No, Master. You must first purchase a Shop Application from the main menu of the Training Room. The most basic shop, the Broken-Down Pawn Shop, costs one hundred F-ranked monster cores.”

  The fact that the shop’s purchase requires monster cores and not bitcoins makes my need to save bitcoins a different issue.

  “Crash, can you tell me how much a cultivation manual will cost?” I ask, trying to plan a bit for the future.

  “What quality are you looking for, sire?”

  “Uhh, the best I can get?”

  “Master, an S-rank Cultivation Manual recently sold for eighteen billion bitcoins.” My mouth falls open. What type of workouts was that person doing?!

  “The cheapest one then,” I stutter, then cough.

  “Master, your cultivating notes from Alrick would likely sell for a single bitcoin. . .” I blink at the blue head. I’m stunned. I’m so impressed that it’s even impossible for me to summon some small indignation on Alrick’s behalf. Crash basically just said the sum of Northern Cultivation techniques to the C-rank is worth a single bitcoin. What does eighteen billion buy? I swallow my saliva at what that huge disparity in price hints at for my future in the cultivation world. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

  “Master, you’re drooling,” Crash points out helpfully, and I wipe my mouth.

  “So anywhere from one bitcoin to eighteen billion then?”

  “That’s an appropriate summary, Master.”

  “Okay!” I say, my voice is a bit higher than normal. So who knows what a good cultivation manual will cost? I don’t even know if I will be able to collect monster cores. So, that cultivation manual pricing sounds like a future-me problem. Right now, it’s better to focus on tomorrow.

  Tomorrow, I will need to complete another workout quest within the time limit. Based on my current fatigue and inevitable muscle soreness, I better take the Physical Boost. I don’t miss that I could stack the status effects too, but a slight increase to memory or thought speed isn’t going to help me. Or is that just what my regular un-increased brain is thinking?

  That’s a dungeon portal I don’t want to
climb into today.

  “Oooohh!” I exclaim, as soon as I click the Physical Boost status effect. The fatigue in my muscles almost melts away like it was a figment of my imagination. I raise my arms over my head and rise onto my toes as the effect seems to wash through me. I can only describe the sensation as being like I am suddenly circulating qi into all of my muscles and organs at the same time. The fact that I am not using my own limited resource brings a wide smile to my face. I could definitely get used to this.

  A large portion of the day becomes a bit of a dull blur as I clean up after my cooking quest and eat the leftovers. Since I have a breakfast recipe the following day for a single bitcoin, I actually consume both of the other two filet servings. Each serving only brings up my total qi by six, and I am left with thirteen drops in my Dantian and ten circulating after my last portion.

  I sit down and meditate, ensuring that I push my qi flow into each of the eight inlets like Crash suggested earlier. I have already unblocked Subcutavian and have been applying some flow down both the Cumulae and Meriplass; now I supply flow down the remaining five. I think Alrick calls them the vessels of the Petronul, Diadore, Negrat, Laitvial and Geotema. But honestly, I am starting to see why Crash or whoever created him just uses numbers. Those are ridiculously hard to remember! I am about to congratulate myself when I feel some pressure left over.