Stage 1: The Fiery End to a New Beginning

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Story Summary

Fenix Brooks' dream of becoming a renowned chef was shattered in a freak accident. In his final moments, he discovered that the woman he considered a sister had orchestrated his downfall.

But fate gave him a second chance, and this time he won't let that bitch get her way. Although he isn't one for revenge, after all she's done, he has no qualms about claiming what she desires: the title of top chef in Haven Online.

[Did you learn the Cooking skill? It's just a waste of a skill point.]

[You're learning potions?! Are you daft? There is no point in doing that.]

[You're such a dumbass. Why did you pick that trash class? You will never make it in this game.]

Even though everyone doubted him, Fenix simply ignored them with a knowing smile, because he knew they would soon be eating their words.

Prologue

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The sterile hospital room hummed with the steady beeping of machines, their rhythmic tones echoing off the walls. In the center of the room, a dark-haired man was lying motionless, his skin drained of color and almost blending in with the white sheets beneath him.

Tubes and wires extended from his body, linking them to monitors and IV drips, which kept him alive. Without these devices, discerning whether he even breathed would be impossible.

A thick layer of bandages concealed a sizable wound on his chest, though hints of red peeked through, evidence of a recent injury now under control. One couldn't help but wonder about the events leading to his current fragile state, and what kind of pain or trauma he had endured.

A brown-haired woman tightened her grip on the metal bar of the hospital bed, her face etched in worry as she stared down at the sleeping man. "Do you think Fenix will be okay?" she asked in a soft bell-like voice.

Her blonde counterpart shifted in her chair, hiding her annoyance. "Of course he will," she replied. "He's overcome everything else, hasn't he?"

Nodding and finally showing a small smile, the brown-haired woman tried to convince herself that her friend would pull through. But her worried eyes gave away her true feelings.

"Why don't you go get something to eat? You've been here all day," the blonde woman suggested.

"What if he wakes up?" the brown-haired woman hesitated, not wanting to leave his side.

The blonde woman placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, saying, "I promise to call you as soon as he opens his eyes. You won't do him any good if you end up fainting from exhaustion. So go and take care of yourself."

Torn between staying and leaving, the brown-haired woman finally relented and left the room.

As soon as she was gone, the blonde woman let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, some peace and quiet. That bitch was getting on my nerves." She muttered under her breath before settling back into her chair.

~

Fenix's body felt heavy, and his mind struggled to break through the fog that enveloped him. He could vaguely hear voices around him, but they seemed distant and distorted. They soon faded away altogether.

Struggling against the haze, he attempted to focus on the persistent beeping sound that echoed in his ears. As he became more alert, the noise intensified, pulling him out of whatever sleep or pain-induced stupor he had been in.

Feeling disoriented and bewildered, Fenix cautiously opened his eyes, only to quickly shut them again as a blinding white light assaulted his senses. Wincing in pain, he tightly squeezed his eyes shut as a dull ache throbbed in his head. 

"What...what happened? Where am I?"

With his eyes still closed, Fenix tried to piece together where he was, but his mind drew a blank. A complete and utter blank.

He couldn't shake off the dense fog that clouded his thoughts no matter how hard he tried. It felt like a barrier blocking him from accessing recent memories, and every time he attempted to push through it, the mist seemed to grow thicker. Almost as if it was warning him not to look, that he wouldn't like what he saw.

But Fenix had always been driven by curiosity. He needed to know. He had to see. So he tried to push past the fog with all his might. 

However, before he could, a familiar giggle shattered his concentration. Startled, he opened his eyes to see who had caused the sound.

It was his long-time best friend, scrolling through her phone with a clear display of amusement on her face. For some reason, he couldn't stand her smile at that moment.

And then the memories flooded back. Him watching the news. Him falling into a state of depression. His accident.

As he looked around at his surroundings and down at himself, he realized that he was in a hospital. It was a miracle that he had survived after what had happened - just thinking about it gave him shivers.

'I wonder who saved me,' he thought to himself. He knew it couldn't have been her since she was doing a live broadcast in another city at the time.

Lost in thought, he was once again startled by her giggle. His attention shifted to her. It dawned on him that this was the first time she had visited him in the hospital; the last two times she claimed she couldn't handle blood and would faint at the sight of it.

So why is she here now?

If she has come to visit, his condition must be more serious than the other times. But if that was the case, shouldn't she be more distraught seeing him in such a state?

Why did she look so cheerful? 

While he was getting more and more displeased by her expression, a sudden hopeful thought took root in his mind. 

'The doctor must have told her some good news while I was sleeping. That's why she is so happy.' 

He thought that must be it because there was no way his sister in everything but blood would be so smiley while he was lying in a hospital bed close to dying.

Wondering what the good news could be, Fenix turned his body a little so that he could see her face better, but it was quite tricky with him being hooked up to all the machines.

His small movements on the bed must have gained her attention, for she looked towards him. As she stared at him, she closed out of her phone, smiling brighter than before.

''Oh, you finally woke up!'' Chirped the blonde, looking at him in amusement, ''Took you long enough, Fefe, I didn't want to waste more of my precious time staying in this hospital.''

The candidness of her tone made Fenix reel back in shock. Was this really the girl he knew? It couldn't be.

"C-Camille? What..." However, before Fenix could ask what was going on with her, he was cut off by a malicious laugh. 

''But I forgive you~" She sang-sung while giggling. "Especially since I get to see you in such a pathetic state."

She was smiling, but her eyes were dark with malice. She emphasized every word of the last sentence as if savoring the taste of it. 

As if those words physically struck him, Fenix's head reeled back in shock. Eyes wide with confusion and uncertainty, he stared searchingly into his so-called friend's eyes.

Was this just another one of his nightmares? Were the drugs making him hallucinate? There had to be a reasonable explanation for why the person he grew up with would be acting like this. 

There had to be.

"Milla, why are you acting like this?" Fenix demanded.

"I'm just acting like myself. Do you know how sick it made me feel to act as your perfect little sister?" Camille grimaced, just thinking about it. "If it wasn't for the recipes your mother left you before she died, do you think I would have bothered with you all these years?"

With tears swimming in his eyes, Fenix furiously shook his head in denial at Camille's words. "This isn't real. It can't be."

Fenix truly wanted to believe with all his heart that what was happening at this moment was just a side effect of the drugs he was on, but when he saw the cold glint in the woman's eyes that held no compassion for him and his plight, he knew it was true. 

The person he thought of as his best friend had been faking it all along.

This knowledge broke something in him. Knowing that the person he considered to be his family all these years never even cared about him... was devastating. It hurt more than when he was splashed with boiling oil.

"Oh, but it is, Fefe," she said, spitting out his nickname in disgust. "Who do you think caused your previous two accidents?"

"W-What do you mean by that?" Fenix asked in a strangled voice, not wanting to know but having to.

With a raised eyebrow, she smirked menacingly at him. "Did you think what happened to you was merely an accident? Heh! Don't be stupid. I needed you out of the way." 

His breathing sped up. The hurt he felt slowly transformed into anger. He couldn't understand. How was he in her way? "Why? Tell me why Camille! "

"You don't know?" she laughed mockingly. "Of course, you wouldn't know, not with how oblivious you are."

"Just tell me?" He yelled. If he wasn't hooked up to all these machines, he would have reached over and slapped that smirk off her face. 

"Do you know how often our neighbors compare me to you? Starting when we were young until now, it was always 'Why isn't your chicken as yummy as his? Why does your rice taste so different from the way he makes it? Although your food tastes alright, it just can't be compared to Fenix's.' No matter how much I practiced, I was always second best. But now I don't have to worry about that anymore," Camille laughed, looking down at him.

"So you hurt me out of jealousy?" Fenix yelled, seconds away from pulling out the wires that were holding him in place. All he wanted to do at that moment was cause her as much pain as she caused him.

Camille gleefully watched his struggle. His pain amused her. She wanted to cause him more. "If it were only jealousy, I would have gotten you out of my way a long time ago. I did it for personal gain."

"Personal gain? What could you have gained from doing that?"

"I told you before I wanted to marry into a rich family," Camille started, smiling annoyingly at him. "But you just had to obstruct my plan by joining that cooking program. And just like always stealing the attention with your food."

Realization struck Fenix. He recalled being on the brink of victory, with the judges firmly in his favor. At the time, Camille seemed distant and upset, but he just thought she was upset that she was losing.

The night before the final episode, she pleaded with him to drop out, insisting she needed to win. He refused, and the next day his hand got mangled, forcing him to withdraw from the contest.

"You finally figured it out?" She smirked, noting the comprehension dawning in his eyes. "After your hand was injured, I thought you'd steer clear of cooking. But who'd have thought that just one year later, you'd come back to hassle me again? That's when I knew I had to get rid of you for good."

"It was you..." Fenix screamed, struggling to rise from the bed. "You're the one who caused me to be covered in boiling oil!"

Laughing, she rose and moved toward his bed, just out of his reach. "You got it in one."

Fenix attempted to grab her, his fingers itching to tear at her face, but she evaded him with a giggle of malicious glee.

"You know, I wasn't going to confess the truth and let you continue to believe I was your friend," she said teasingly. "But when I received the call from the hospital, knowing you were close to death, I had to come. To my disappointment, you survived, and now I can't obtain your mother's recipe book before I leave for Korea. But this makes up for it."

"You won't get away with this!" Fenix yelled, the heart monitor beeping wildly in the background.

"I already have," she replied, grabbing her purse and making her exit. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. I need to go home and finish my moving plans."

"You damn bitch! Come back here!" Fenix screamed, but all he heard was her laughter fading into the distance.

Despite his weakened state, Fenix managed to rise from the bed. Blood began to seep from his wound, but he remained oblivious, fixated on pursuing her. However, after just two steps, his vision blurred. The next thing he knew, he was collapsing to the floor as darkness engulfed him.