Chapter 24: Level Two Grand Gift Pack

"Ding dong, special mission!"

"Special mission: Obtain the title of Spirit of Cuisine. Reward: Advanced Chef. No penalty for failure."

"No penalty?" Yun Xuan was slightly taken aback; this was the kind of special mission that couldn't be refused.

"Host, I must remind you, if you complete one more mission, you can level up. After leveling up, you can increase your ability tier, for example, from Bronze to Silver," the cat-eared girl Miaomiao smiled from the window.

"So it's an upgrade to the ability cap?" Yun Xuan wasn't surprised; perhaps every ability could eventually reach the divine rank.

"Exactly. After leveling up, you get a level-two grand gift pack, which contains special abilities," Miaomiao said with a wave, and a small silver box appeared on the screen.

"Does the achievement mission for surpassing one million followers count? Pull up the current number of followers on the public account," Yun Xuan thought to himself.

With a wave of her hand, Miaomiao displayed the account info on a virtual screen—it had reached 920,000.

"Just a little more. But it should pass a million before I get off the plane," Yun Xuan glanced at the time. The first wave of promotion from Koko Company was about to begin.

...

Yun Xuan's guess was correct. In less than an hour, countless pop-ups featuring the Northern Sauce sticker pack began appearing across all products under Koko Company.

Koko, Koko Games—anything under the company began pushing Northern Sauce stickers.

On Koko's official account, the sticker pack was pinned right to the top.

And this was only part of the campaign; Northern Sauce was a unique phenomenon for Koko Company.

First, it shattered their previous understanding of sticker packs and broke the traditional dominance of anime, opening a new realm for original stickers.

Second, it spurred the development of original sticker packs—submissions exceeded 100,000 in just a week, and the original sticker section began to rise.

Third, the sticker pack fueled development of merchandise and comics. From a single sticker, a whole comic could be derived, allowing Koko to attract talent in the animation industry.

Fourth, MangaVerse had long dominated the anime world, but this time, both the Northern Sauce sticker pack and its comic had nothing to do with them! This was precisely Koko's aim: to nurture a batch of sticker creators who could become comic artists, thus breaking into the animation industry.

Koko Company had originally only been interested in online literature, so their foray into animation was an unexpected delight.

The people at MangaVerse understood all this very well. Against a titan like Koko Company, there was nothing they could do to stop it.

The prosperity of the cultural industry was plain for all to see. How big was this piece of the pie? It's no exaggeration to say that whoever could grasp it firmly could generate profits of hundreds of billions in just one year!

...

The plane landed at Dongjing Airport.

Dongjing was known for its snowy scenery and cherry blossoms—at least, that's what most people from Huaxia believed. As for passports? Sorry, in this world, no citizen of Huaxia needed to apply for such a thing.

There was a reason why Huaxia was known as the Celestial Empire. The emergence of martial artists had defeated all challengers. Later, the development of technology advanced at rocket pace. In just a decade or so, Huaxia's technology was decades ahead of the world!

The plane's hover capability was a minor technology. The most impressive was the undersea nation in Huaxia's ocean—off-limits to foreigners—also known as the Dragon Palace, and the airborne suspension shield technology.

The suspension shield: a mysterious barrier over Huaxia, its materials unknown. One thing was certain—even if struck by a meteor, nothing beneath the shield would be harmed.

Imagine the military implications of the suspension shield. In the last conflict with the island nation, only a ten-member squad was dispatched.

Missiles? Sorry, that's just a tickle. Nukes? Sorry, it felt like a mosquito bite.

Its defensive power was despair-inducing. Those clad in armor made of shield material were called the Soldiers of the Gods.

The events written into textbooks were only a fraction of the story. The Soldiers of the Gods had long since been sent beyond Earth to explore new frontiers.

Yun Xuan found all this hard to believe. If the Soldiers of the Gods were so powerful, what if they turned on Huaxia? Yun Xue had provided the answer: members of the Soldiers of the Gods could not attack Huaxia, and if they ever felt the urge to betray, their armor would be reclaimed.

Well, that did sound rather fitting for Soldiers of the Gods.

...

Yun Xuan and his party of six exited the airport and easily found a car to take them to their reserved hotel.

Chinese was a universal language; most people could speak it.

As soon as Yun Xuan entered the hotel, he received a notification.

"Congratulations, Host! Followers have exceeded one million. Reward: 1,000 exchange points. System upgraded to level two."

"Congratulations, Host! You've received the Silver Grand Gift Pack."

"Exchange point recharge unlocked: 10,000 yuan equals 1 exchange point."

"Ten thousand for one exchange point!" Yun Xuan was taken aback by the steep exchange rate.

"Open the Silver Grand Gift Pack," Yun Xuan said, feeling a bit of anticipation.

"Congratulations, Host! You've gained special abilities: Thought, Hand Speed, and Silver-level Carving," Miaomiao announced crisply.

"Thought? Hand Speed?" Yun Xuan looked confused. What kind of special abilities were those?

"Special abilities cannot be upgraded with skill points. Please experience them for yourself," Miaomiao replied with a smile.

"...," Yun Xuan muttered.

Feeling a bit duped, Yun Xuan pulled out his laptop and began typing to test his hand speed.

In less than half an hour—4,000 words!

"I see, so increased hand speed really does mean faster hands. Which means, if I..." Yun Xuan grinned mischievously.

The improvement in hand speed was obvious, but Thought was odd—everyone thinks, so it seemed useless.

"Xuan, where are we going next? Sister Xun and the others have already gone out." Lin Qingyu's voice came from outside. He and Yun Xuan were sharing a suite, each with their own room.

When Yun Xun'er booked the rooms, she must have considered Yun Xuan's personal safety. If he shared a room with Lin Qingyu, he might really be in danger—on multiple levels.

"Let's go to the Culinary Academy. I have something to do," Yun Xuan said, opening the door. If Lin Qingyu hadn't reminded him, he would have forgotten about the special mission.

Since there was no time limit or penalty, it must be something that needed to be done soon.

Yun Xuan didn't plan to miss this chance. Success meant becoming an Advanced Chef. For the sake of cuisine, he had to give it his all—especially since there were no downsides.

"The Culinary Academy? I'll go change," Lin Qingyu said, looking at her shorts and T-shirt. It seemed a bit too casual. As a member of Holy Imperial High, she couldn't embarrass herself.

"You probably should change," Yun Xuan said, glancing at Lin Qingyu's legs. If someone posted a photo claiming they belonged to a boy, no one would ever believe it.

PS: Please vote for recommendations! Don't worry too much about how powerful the weapons are—this is a slice-of-life story... There will be some fighting, but not yet.