Divine Culinary Destiny

"Father… Father…" Shiva heard a crisp and childish voice calling out to him. He moved his fingers and suddenly felt something very tender. His desire to survive exploded, and he quickly sat up and opened his eyes, only to find himself rooted to the spot. "What is this place?" he thought to himself. "Am I saved, or have I transmigrated to another world?"Shiva could still remember that just a moment ago, he was catching king crabs on his yacht, dragging the chef from his Imperial Restaurant with him. Who would have thought that, sitting at the stern, he would be thrown right into the sea by a huge wave instead of catching any crab? As he flailed in the water, he heard women crying and water splashing, and then everything went silent.When he came to, he found himself in a room with a rather European style, holding the hand of a silver-haired little girl about four or five years old. Before he could speak, numerous messages flooded his mind, blocking out all sensations of the outside world. It felt very similar to the moment he was drowning.In his previous life, Shiva was a somewhat famous rich man, but he preferred to call himself a gourmet. He had no interest in inheriting his family business; instead, he was much more interested in tasting all the famous food around the world and writing comments about every gourmet restaurant he tried. Because of his incisive, harsh comments and his extravagance in trying almost all the Michelin-starred restaurants, he had secured tens of millions of fans in just two or three years.He believed his comments were authentic and fair, though mainly focusing on the flaws, with his words being exaggerated; still, he was always receiving thousands of messages cursing him, condemning him to drown in the sea or to be a cook for his whole next life, which made him quite upset. Thinking about it, the drowning this time… could it be a dream come true for them? "God, can you be any meaner to me?" he thought.Before he could think further, he got attracted by the messages. He saw another dramatic life, tough yet fascinating. He was certain that he had traveled to another world and that his soul had possessed the body of a disheartened knight, who could no longer lift his heavy sword. Part of those messages and emotions began to slowly fuse with him, and he could do nothing but accept it.This was a fantasy land where giant dragons, demons, orcs, elves, dwarves, humans, and many others lived together.A hundred years ago, all the species on the ashia Continent signed an armistice, putting an end to the war among all species that lasted for a thousand years. Therefore, all of them got a chance to rest and recover in their respective lands. However, a thousand-year-long conflict could not be settled once and for all with just a piece of paper; regional conflicts continued but were normally kept to the border areas as if secretly agreed upon. No large-scale war among different species was waged.The person Shiva possessed was known as Maharana Pratap. The Pratap family was a glorious family, existing on this continent for hundreds of years, during which they were guarding the borders for humans all along, never letting the demons come near the borders.However, three hundred years ago, their fortress was breached by a force of demons and allied creatures. The entire family was nearly wiped out. The once glorious Pratap family had fallen ever since, and only a few small branches survived. By the time of Maharana Pratap, he was the sole heir.Maharana Pratap had demonstrated his exceptional skills since joining the army. His strong physique and military skills earned him his leaders' high regard, much honor and glory, and he became the youngest Griffin Rider in just a few years. He was the most sought-after young man in the entire empire, known as the successor to the empire's commander and the man to restore the Pratap family's glory.Had it not been for the dark night three years ago, he would have been a man standing on top of the entire continent. That night, elves, demons, dragons, and human sorcerers attacked him together. In this battle, more than 30 9th-level warriors and 10 10th-level warriors and sorcerers were involved. They destroyed the hands that once held a sword, cut his Achilles tendons, and left him with a barely one-year-old child.It was his child, born to him by an elf princess. The irreconcilable hatred between species resulted in him being betrayed by his most trusted friend; he had fallen to the bottom. His broken limbs were barely healed by his old friend, but he could no longer wield a sword. He changed his appearance and carried his child to the Chaos City to start from scratch there—a father and daughter trying to make a living together.Their days were very hard, and to make matters worse, a slight cold put an end to this warrior's miserable life. He died with regret, but his death provided Shiva with a chance to travel to this world.The sad end of a hero made Shiva sigh with emotion. However, he didn't feel the knight's obsession with seeking vengeance; instead, he felt a lot of worry about how his daughter would survive.Rest assured and be at peace. I will avenge you, and I will take good care of your little girl. Shiva made a promise in his mind, and then all the messages suddenly vanished like a receding tide, along with the last trace of obsession.He was still Shiva, only with Maharana Pratap's whole memory, and so did part of his emotions.I guess I'll use the name 'Shiva' from now on, Shiva thought.When he woke up again, his eyes became clearer, and fits of feebleness pervaded his whole body. "What's wrong, Father?" The little girl still had her hand held by him, tension all over her small face.Shiva's eyes softened a little. The little girl kneeling down beside his bed had long silver hair hanging down loosely on her shoulder, a pair of clear and beautiful blue eyes, half-covered little pointy ears, and soft skin which she got from her elf mother. Her clothes made from cotton and linen were old and gray, but she was very cute and adorable, making you want to kiss her.This was Maharana Pratap's daughter, Nimi, and she was his daughter now.Shiva hadn't got married in his previous life, let alone had any children, so he had no idea how to get along with them. However, he had got the whole memory from his predecessor, and watching Nimi's nervous little face, he felt like he was looking at his own child. The impulse to want to be intimate with her made his heart race. In the previous life, his parents were too busy doing business to care about him, which made him expect… expect the feeling of being a father."I… I'm okay, Nimi. Don't worry." Clumsily, he stroked her hair with his hand, his voice a little hoarse.Her smooth hair had a pleasant touch, and touched his heart—she was his daughter! The subtle sense of father-daughter bond was very fascinating."Okay. I'm glad you're okay." Rubbing Shiva's hand with her hair and slightly narrowing her eyes like a cute kitten, Nimi pouted like a spoiled child. "But, Father, Nimi is hungry. Make something good for me."Shiva felt like his heart was going to be melted by her cuteness, and he was ready to get the stars from the sky for her, but cooking was really a headache for him.He sure had had a lot of good things to eat, but speaking of cooking, he had never even touched the kitchen knife. He tried to find something useful in his predecessor's memory, only to find out that his predecessor's menu was so lame that he didn't even want to try. He was thinking about eating out.Then, suddenly, a neutral voice sounded in his head. "Food God System, start!"Shiva was taken aback. What the heck? he thought. Food God System? How did this thing wind up in my head? Maybe it has something to do with this transmigration?The neutral voice continued, "In the previous life, the host had recklessly ruined a lot of restaurants' years, or even nearly a hundred years, of reputation, accumulating too much resentment from the cooks, so the God upstairs devised this Food God System to supervise the host to learn culinary skills in this world so as to make the host the Food God. Since the host has little talent in cooking, the system will issue missions irregularly to assist the host. While completing missions will be rewarded, failing them will be met with punishment."Listening to the voice in his head, Shiva froze for a long while before realizing what had happened. Damn! You must be kidding! he thought. I have traveled to this world just because my comments were too vicious for those restaurants? And because of that, you've brought me here to start afresh, and even went to the trouble of devising a Food God System to help me cook?He remembered the message that he received the most in his previous life: "Hope you become a cook in the next life!"Suddenly, an expression flew across his mind: everything gets a return…

Come on! Shiva thought. I just randomly wrote something; the words might have been mean and vicious, and dozens of restaurants might have been shut down, but do you really have to go out of your way to make me a cook?!

The thought of being supervised by a system to learn to cook made Shiva quite depressed. Being able to cook something regular is one thing, but becoming the God of Cookery is totally another!

"God of Cookery? Are you freaking kidding me?!" Shiva was enraged.

"Father, are you feeling alright?" Nimi asked worriedly while reaching out with her hand to touch Shiva's face. She had a feeling that today's father was different than usual, but couldn't tell what had changed.

The warm touch on his face brought Shiva back. He tried his best to calm down, and managed a weak smile, and then he searched in his memory and fumbled in his pockets. He found the last two copper coins, and put them in Nimi's little hand. "Nimi, go buy two pieces of bread. We don't cook tonight."

"Really? Nimi loves bread!" Nimi smiled in surprise immediately. Holding the two coins, she crawled to Shiva to kiss his face, and then got out of bed, putting on her shoes, and ran happily on her short legs towards the door.

Somehow, Shiva's heart ached a little as he watched Nimi disappear at the door. Bread was made from coarse grain and sold at one copper each. The last few years, they barely had enough to get by from Maharana Pratap's miscellaneous work at the guild, so bread was such a luxury that Shiva only bought one for Nimi during festivals.

Nimi was very good and smart, so even though she loved bread, she never asked for it herself.

The system just came out of nowhere and now just disappeared? Shiva thought.

Leaning on his arms, Shiva struggled to get up from his bed, and dragged himself in the straw shoes on the ground towards an old, broken bronze mirror. He took a look at his reflection.

His skin was a little yellow from long-time malnutrition and sunburn, but his face was almost the same as his previous self's. Only the long brown hair curling behind his head and the whiskers all over his face made him look a bit messy.

What a waste of a good figure! Shiva thought. He would scare little kids with this look. How could he live with such a cute little girl with this face?

After that incident, his predecessor almost gave up. If it were not for Nimi, he might have ended his glorious life on that night three years ago.

The little girl sure has suffered a lot with you. Leave it to me to make it up to her! Shiva clenched his fist, but felt little strength.

One couldn't derive much strength from the once broken limbs. Shiva felt like a useless man—he could barely clench his fists.

Moreover, in the house, there was almost nothing but bare walls—only one bed with one small cloth blanket for Nimi when she went to bed.

Let alone the God of Cookery, with the last two coins gone, tomorrow's food was still a problem. It seemed like the key to all of this fell on that system.

Just now, the neutral voice of the system started again. "The system has issued the first mission: own a restaurant. The host needs only supply the land, and system will decorate and coordinate the whole restaurant based on host's chosen style. The time limit is three days. Success will be rewarded, and failing the mission will be punished."

"Own a restaurant?" Shiva froze for an instant, but when he heard the words after that, he smiled happily, suddenly thinking this system wasn't that bad after all.

His predecessor might have had a bad life, but the good thing might be having bought this two-story house first thing when he got to Chaos City. To be sure, the house was very old and located at a far corner of the Aden Square, but it was all his.

Moreover, though it was isolated, the first floor was a decent place to open a store, and there were people who had wanted to rent it but got turned down by that stubborn knight.

Otherwise, how could the bread that cost one copper each become a luxury for them? Shiva walked slowly down with his hand leaning on the wall. The wooden floor creaked from oldness, and some stairs were already broken—it was totally a ramshackle building.At long last, Shiva reached downstairs, gasping heavily. This body was indeed very weak. In the old days, he could tear apart monsters with his bare hands, but now, he had to rest after only a few steps. Now Shiva somewhat understood why he would have given up. If it had been him, he might not have had the strength to go on, either."System, after completing the mission, is there a reward to recover my health?" Shiva asked in his mind, clenching his fist subconsciously."Not for now," the system replied emotionlessly.Not for now? Does that mean there might be one in the future? Shiva's eyes brightened. If he had to keep on living like this, he wasn't sure how long he could last, but if he could recover somehow… even if not as strong as the once formidable chief warrior, he was satisfied to be a normal person.In his previous life, he had money, women, power… everything. He was born in a position others couldn't reach their whole life, so for a long time after he turned 30, he thought about life, and wanted to know exactly what he wanted from it, but he didn't find it.At that time, commenting on food and restaurants was his favorite activity. He was a little picky and addicted to vicious criticism, but it was just a win by words as he felt emptier when he looked at those comments afterwards.Now, everything was different. He got a cute daughter, and lived at the bottom. Whether it was for his recovery or for giving his daughter a better life, he had to try his best and work long and hard to learn to cook and open a restaurant.Having cleared up his dream and purpose all of a sudden, Shiva suddenly felt alive again."Noble lords are stomping their feet while waiting in the long line; elves are stuffing kebabs, paying no mind to their manners; giant dragons are sitting around a hot pot, strainers in their hands; demons are eating nice-looking dango..." Shiva pictured this visual in his head, finding it more interesting all of a sudden.The first floor had a lot of room, and by removing the half wall in the middle, more than 80 square meters was available. On the floor were some boards and stuff; on the backside was a kitchen, dark and plain."He would rather leave this place unused than rent it out! No wonder he had no money..." Shiva shook his head, not understanding him. "One sowed, and another reaped." At least his first mission's requirement was met, so he immediately said in his mind, "I provide this land for the restaurant.""The system has confirmed that this house belongs to the host, and this position is fit to be a restaurant. Mission is complete. Please choose the decoration style."As the system replied, a row of 3D pictures suddenly appeared in Shiva's head—classic Indian style, countryside style, western style... As long as it existed in real life, he could find it there. Shiva was overwhelmed by so many pictures.Since it was those cooks' resentment that made me come here, the dishes I have to learn to cook must be from them. I mainly went to Indian restaurants, but also a lot of western ones and various well-known restaurants on the Web, but I'm not sure how many more will appear. Shiva didn't rush to a decision.After a careful analysis, Shiva thought that it can't be a certain style; otherwise, he can't serve steak with fork and knife in a quaint Indian restaurant, which would have absolutely triggered his vicious criticism before.A simple and cozy one which could accommodate more people was the best option. He was already looking forward to seeing the sight of a restaurant full of customers.This is it!A restaurant that had some classic European style caught Shiva's eyes. Its overall color was near brown, with beautiful drawings everywhere and a grand European chandelier hanging in the middle. The tables were the simplest brown log ones for four, oblong in shape; beside the tables were matching wooden chairs with no armrests. Before the counter lay a long adjoining table, which could fit 16 chairs easily. Without doubt, it could accommodate many people comfortably.Inside, a semi-open kitchen stood behind the counter; through the kitchen glass, everything could be seen from inside, but the glass was just high enough to keep customers from peeking at the cooking bench. Its overall design was quaint and grand, capable of accommodating any cooking style. Even stuffing kebabs and bragging here were not out of character."Perfect!" Shiva nodded in satisfaction, and was ready to decide, but then he thought of a problem. "System, does the reconstruction include the second floor?"