Okay, here's another side story. This one is really just a silly little story I'll throw in while all the rather serious stuff is happening in the main story.
I've got the idea while watching one of the events in HF, namely the cooking competition involving Strea's Hidden Bison Steak. To be more precise, I got an idea for a rather silly exploit in the system, and when I started to think about how this could potentially work, I've figured that I might as well turn it into a side story.
To warn you in advance, this story becomes quite dialogue-heavy at some point.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online:Re Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
Akinym walked through the streets of Arc Sophia. He had just finished his work at the castle, and now he headed to Agil's inn.
It was already relatively late in the evening, and the streets were almost empty at this hour. The majority of the players had already finished their "work" for the day, and even those who had got something to eat at a restaurant had mostly already returned to their "home", whatever that meant in detail in this world.
Even most of the shops had already closed. Well, NPC-run shops were open around the clock. The sight of them at this hour always reminded Akinym of that convenience store in his neighbourhood in the real world.
Some player-run shops "hired" NPC assistants who could keep the shop running without the owner, and which of these shops were still open at this hour usually said something about the point of view of the owner about NPCs.
For instance, Lisbeth always closed her smithy at night to "give her NPC clerks some rest". They didn't need rest since they were computer programmes, but they seemed too human to her to treat them that way. Frankly, she'd feel like a horrible boss if she did.
While he was walking through the almost empty streets, Akinym thought about his last task for today. It was something he had to discuss with Asuna.
The Assault Team had cleared the 90th floor about a week ago, and now, the KoB was clearing the 91st floor. The drop in the clearing speed had concerned many people throughout Aincrad, and therefore, the KoB had decided to pick up the pace again. They had prepared a to-do list, and they had checked quickly if there were any really interesting limited quests, but as soon as they had got all the limited resources that they really needed, they allowed the other members of the Assault Team to join them on the 91st floor. Now, they had reached the labyrinth in about half as much time as the DDA had needed on the 90th floor.
Regardless, one of the smaller clearing guilds had run into trouble because the KoB had cleared a limited quest which they needed. To be more precise, this guild was doing a certain quest chain, and they had reached the point where they needed a certain item to proceed. Said item was only available as a reward of the aforementioned quest.
The KoB hadn't known about this quest chain, and they had only done the limited quest because it also gave them upgrade materials, which they needed to enhance the shields that many KoB members were using.
The guild in question had asked Akinym to mediate between them and the KoB, so Akinym would ask Asuna about the item they needed. Frankly, he wasn't sure if the KoB needed said item, but he hoped that he could get the KoB to sell it. If it had been the DDA, he would've worried that they'd rather use the item for themselves, doing the same quest chain, but he was relatively positive that Asuna would agree to help the smaller guild.
Akinym entered Agil's inn. He was wondering if he'd even meet Asuna. If she wasn't at the restaurant, he could try asking some of the inhabitants, checking if she was visiting them or staying in her "guest room", but if she was at her log cabin on the 83rd floor, he'd have to wait until tomorrow.
The restaurant was almost completely empty, but Akinym had luck. The one group that was there was Asuna and her friends. Even some "visitors" were there, namely Klein and Strea. They all sat at a large table.
They seemed to have late dinner together since the table was covered with plates as far as Akinym could see. Whatever they were eating, it had to be beyond delicious judging from their… pace. Klein seemed to be particularly ravenous.
Akinym approached the table extremely cautiously, not knowing what to say to get their attention, which was indeed quite difficult. Maybe it was because of his slow approach, but nobody noticed him before he was basically standing right next to them. Well, it could also be that they were just too focused on the food.
Strea [cheerfully]: Oh, it's Akinym!
The others turned towards him, too, although some of them apparently needed a moment to muster the restraint they needed to stop digging in.
Akinym just happened to stand behind Klein and Agil, so Agil thought Akinym might have business with him.
Agil [slightly apologetically]: Ah, good evening! Sorry if you need something, but I guess it's the owner's turn to be served tonight! Call it an unexpected dinner party.
Akinym [slightly hesitantly]: I can see that. You certainly don't hold back…
Kirito [slightly excitedly]: What shall I say? We're just lucky that Strea got some Hidden Bison Steak today.
Akinym [quizzically, slightly contemplatively]: Hidden Bison Steak?
Lisbeth [teasingly]: What, does the Hollow Instructor not know about that item?
Akinym [slightly annoyed]: I'm not an expert on the cooking system, okay? And I certainly don't know every ingredient there is! [mutters, slightly exasperatedly] Especially if it's "hidden". [thinks, dryly] Although, by the end of the night, it will probably be hidden inside your stomachs…
Sinon: Well, keeping the name aside, it's the real deal, and we certainly got a wide variety of different dishes tonight…
Akinym [slightly contemplatively]: Well, you're right… What's that about? Did you go overboard today, Asuna-san?
Asuna [slightly taken aback and awkwardly]: Not all of this is my doing, you know? [calmly] We've got so much meat that all of us made a separate dish. Well, all the girls, that is.
Akinym: I see… [calmly] Well, you were quite creative, no kidding. There's steak, cutlet, roast… [hesitantly] Something with rice?
Leafa [mutters, dejectedly]: That was kinda mean…
Akinym [slightly taken aback]: Some of this is a bit strange, though, like this… meat on a bone, and… [very shocked] WHAT IS THIS?!
Akinym pointed at a bowl that was filled with a wild jumble of mostly red and purple… stuff. Frankly, Akinym had no words to describe this. Was this made from Hidden Bison Steak or from Extraterrestrial Bison Steak?!
Strea: That's from me! We don't know what it is, but it's apparently delicious!
Akinym [mutters, exasperatedly]: Why is the "delicious" part the only thing that surprises me about this?! [says aloud, calmly] Anyway, I'm actually just here to talk with Asuna-san.
Asuna [surprised]: Me? [apologetically] I don't know… I mean, if it's urgent. It doesn't feel right to just leave, though…
Akinym [slightly reassuringly]: It's not that urgent! It should be more than enough to discuss that tomorrow. [calmly] Well, I guess I'll leave you alone… with your dinner.
Akinym was about to leave, but Strea suddenly spoke up to stop him.
Strea [slightly surprised]: Huh, why? [cheerfully] Why don't you just join us?
Klein [excitedly]: Yoogh! Hoo goobbo gwhy whis huff, Agghinum!
Agil [exasperatedly]: Seriously, Klein, if you want to say something, [sternly] swallow first!
Akinym [dryly]: Very enlightening, Klein-san. [slightly politely] But I don't want to intrude. This is your party after all.
Asuna [reassuringly]: Well, this feast is courtesy of Strea-san, so if she says it's okay, it's absolutely okay. Besides, we have more than enough to invite one more person!
Philia [slightly teasingly]: Well, if you have doubts, how about you contribute something yourself? I wouldn't mind one more entry for our little cooking competition! And it would be kinda interesting to have one of the guys contribute something.
Lisbeth [excitedly]: Great idea, Philia! [teasingly, slightly mischievously] I would love to see how a certain someone fares in the kitchen…
Akinym [slightly confused]: Cooking competition?
Kirito: Well, it somehow turned into that. Everyone wanted to make a dish, [slightly exasperatedly] and they decided that I had to pick the "best one"…
Akinym suppressed a sigh. So Kirito had managed to become the centre of attention again, probably without trying to…
Despite that, he gave it some thought. There wasn't much he could do. He didn't even have the Cooking skill, so if he tried anything complex, it would be ruined for sure…
Well… There was one thing he could try.
Asuna [reassuringly, slightly nervously]: Well, you don't have to make anything, Akinym-san! If you don't want to, it's totally fine! [slightly reassuringly] But if you want to, I'd help! I've helped everyone else, so…
Akinym: That won't be necessary, Asuna-san. There's something I could try, and I'd like to try. Helping me with that might distort the recreation, though. I'd only need one serving of each dish.
Silica [insecurely]: That sounds… a bit strange. [slightly warily] Almost as if he just wants to eat it…
Lisbeth [annoyed, slightly warily]: Kinda sounds like that to me, too!
Akinym [slightly annoyed]: That's not it! Listen, it's hard to explain, but there's something specific that I want to try!
Strea: Oh, that sounds kinda interesting! I mean, we all got to be creative today, so it's only fair if Akinym gets to do it, too, right? Besides, he said something about a "recreation", so he had done that before, which means that it should work! [excitedly] Now I really want to see what it is! Maybe a mysterious surprise?!
Asuna [hesitantly, slightly taken aback]: W-well, Strea-san is certainly… convinced. I guess we should respect the wishes of our hostess, r-right?
Thus, Akinym went over to the kitchen with one serving of each dish. Frankly, nobody had the slightest idea what he might be planning.
Asuna went with him. While Akinym had said that he wouldn't need her help, she had her doubts, and she thought that he might change his mind.
Due to that, the others could follow the cooking process by observing Asuna's reactions. Frankly, Akinym seemed to do some pretty strange things given that Asuna kept asking him what he was doing in a surprised, almost panicking manner.
When he was apparently finished, Asuna even took a step back and looked in horror at his "creation". At this point, everyone was convinced that something extremely strange seemed to go on.
Akinym brought a large plate to the table, but nobody could get a good look at it from their seats until he set it on the table. At that moment, they all fell silent and stared at… this thing.
Whatever it was, it looked almost like a volcano, only that instead of lava, it emitted tomato sauce and Strea's whatever. There were a few holes in the "volcano", and the citrus sauce from Sinon's roast and Silica's stew poured out of it like a miniature river.
Speaking of which, the whole thing looked almost like a landscape. The rice from Leafa's dish, Yui's Hamburger steak and the salad from Asuna's dish were scattered around and looked like rocks or meadows.
A bone from Philia's dish stuck out of it, and the meat from Leafa's dish adhered to it.
Well, Strea seemed to be interested, but aside from her, everybody just seemed to be crept out. Yui even felt the urge to hide behind someone else.
It took a moment, but Kirito finally spoke up.
Kirito [very taken aback]: Akinym, what the hell is that?!
Akinym [flatly]: Well, it's… something.
Kirito [warily, slightly shocked]: Something?!
Akinym [slightly exasperatedly]: Listen, nobody knows what Strea-san's dish is supposed to be, but you still ate it, didn't you?! So what's the problem here?
Kirito [taken aback]: What's the problem?! Where do I even start?! This… thing reminds me of the volcanic area in the Hollow Area.
Klein [slightly taken aback]: Funny that you mention that. I thought that this reminds me of this dungeon I went to yesterday…
Akinym [flatly]: It's not as bad as it looks. Probably.
Kirito [shocked, slightly nervously]: Probably?!
Akinym [slightly defensively]: I've only made something like this once, and everyone was surprised how good it was. The thing is that I don't have any idea why that was! I don't have any idea if this turned out like last time, [sternly, slightly annoyed] so just try it already!
Klein [slightly nervously]: W-well, I guess it's your turn, Kirinoji!
Kirito [upset, slightly shocked]: Why me?!
Philia [nervously]: W-well, you're the juror, right? Of course you have to taste test… I mean, of course you'll get the first bite!
Silica [nervously]: You can do it, Kirito-san! Good luck!
Kirito [mutters, desperately, slightly dejectedly]: Why does that sound as if you're wishing me luck for a duel to the death?!
Akinym [dryly]: Listen, this whole "cooking competition" is obviously just a pretence to feed you, [points at his dish, sternly] so eat the damn thing already!
Kirito: Are you seriously threatening me so that I eat this?!
Akinym [exasperatedly]: Oh, please! This is nothing! My mother bought a funnel just so that she can threaten me to force food down my throat if I don't eat it on my own accord.
Kirito: That's not making this… [very shocked] Wait, she did WHAT?!
Strea seemed to grow impatient. These guys took way too long to taste test this in her opinion, so she stood up, leant over the table and cut off a piece of… whatever Akinym's creation should be called.
Strea: Seriously, just eat it already! You're so tentative! Be a bit adventurous!
The others watched in anticipation (and, to be perfectly honest, in dread) as Strea pierced the small chunk of meat she had cut off with her fork and brought it to her mouth. When she started chewing on it, most of them didn't even know if they should wait for her "verdict" or for her death.
It caught them by surprise when Strea smiled broadly.
Strea: That's soooo yummy!
The others stared at Strea in disbelief for a moment. Kirito was the first one who snapped out of that state because he was overcome with curiosity, so he tried a piece of Akinym's dish himself.
Kirito [very surprised, slightly excitedly]: W-what… What is this?! This is amazing! It's like… a combination of all the other dishes – in the truest sense! Yet… All these distinctive flavours come together perfectly! How is that even possible?!
Seeing this reaction a second time – and with a more detailed critique this time – the others made haste to try Akinym's dish themselves, and all of them agreed with Kirito and Strea. In another universe, they might've sent out waves that would spontaneously undress every player in Aincrad to form a giant tornado of clothes…
Asuna [slightly taken aback]: It's been a while since I had to admit defeat in a kitchen battle, but I think this really bests anything I've ever made! How did you do that, Akinym-san?
Akinym [slightly at a loss]: In all honesty? Beats me! It's not like I understand why throwing random dishes together – even without having the Cooking skill – works. [calmly] Besides, I think the only reason why this is so good is because the "ingredients" I've used were already high class. I've tried the same thing with mediocre dishes, and the overall quality of the result was rather so-so.
Kirito [curiously]: But still… Using complete dishes as ingredients… I would've never thought of that! How did you even get that idea?
Akinym: Well, a while ago, a group of students of mine happened to get an A class ingredient, and they decided to have a little feast to celebrate the end of their training. I guess they were one of the more grateful groups, and they invited me. [slightly at a loss] At some point, they got the idea that I also should cook something as some sort of… parting gift for graduation or something. [slightly annoyed] Frankly, I thought it was a dumb idea, and I just did the first nonsensical thing that came to my mind. [calmly] I took one serving of each dish they had made, and I meshed them together. Honestly, I didn't even think that it would work at all.
Agil [slightly taken aback]: I've heard my fair share of stories, but that's just crazy…
Kirito [contemplatively]: Hm… Well, it is strange that the system allows you to use items that are not classified as ingredients, that's for sure. I really wonder how this works…
Yui considered this her usual field of work, so she tried to think of an explanation.
Yui [seriously, slightly contemplatively]: I can only speculate about the exact mechanic since I do not have the necessary access to the system anymore, but it might be that there are no explicit restrictions as to what is considered "an ingredient".
Asuna [quizzically]: No restrictions as to… What do you mean, Yui-chan?
Yui: There are numerous preprogrammed templates for the cooking system or crafting in general. If players use the required materials or ingredients, the system will transform them into the designated product based on the player's skill level. However, that does not mean that an attempt to combine different sets of materials will necessarily result in an error. The Cardinal system is able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, and it can create new items and crafting recipes depending on the players' actions. It might even be that SAO's creators have used this to make the crafting system more versatile by allowing any items to be used, delegating the decision how the system should react to Cardinal.
Lisbeth [exasperatedly, slightly surprised]: Wait a second, Yui! Are you telling me that I could use… I don't know, a sandwich to craft a weapon from it?!
Yui: Hmmm… I suppose you could try, but Cardinal will probably not allow every combination to work. It is more likely that it will decide on a case-by-case basis if the items you use could be interpreted as "appropriate materials". In your example, it would most likely decide that the sandwich was never supposed to be used for smithing, resulting in an error.
Sinon [slightly contemplatively]: So, basically, this whole trick of throwing dishes together as cooking ingredients might have worked because the system thought that someone might try to cook something using already processed ingredients?
Yui: Yes. Cardinal might have recognised these ingredients as edible, so it tried to simulate the expected outcome when someone tried to combine them. However, judging from your reactions, this is nothing that people would normally attempt to do, so Cardinal probably could not determine what to base the simulation on. In such a case, it would most likely default to the basic directives behind the cooking system, meaning that it would blend the attributes of the ingredients together in a harmonic way. Normally, the level of the user's Cooking skill would determine how well this works, and Cardinal would use the default value of zero if the player does not have the Cooking skill, but under these circumstances, Cardinal probably could not determine an appropriate range for the product's parameters. Therefore, the system defaults to the ideal outcome. [slightly dejectedly] I am sorry, but since I have deduced this mostly from the observed result, I cannot say for sure if this is what happened.
Frankly, the others were astonished about Yui's ability to piece all that together, and nobody really doubted her theory. Kirito even patted her head reassuringly.
Kirito: Hey, don't worry about it, Yui! Thanks to you, we at least have an idea what might've happened. [slightly exasperatedly] But to think that all this might've been just a weird exploit…
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: Well, the whole cooking system seems a bit weird if you ask me. It's way too easy to cook something, and the hardest part seems to be to figure out how some of these ingredients taste when you put them together… I mean, it's nice that you can make something delicious to eat without it taking too much effort, but it's almost underwhelming…
Strea [slightly upset]: Geez, you guys are way too serious about this! What does it matter if it's easy or how it works [slightly cheerfully] as long as we get to enjoy ourselves with some good food?
Klein raised his fork in a determined, almost dramatic fashion. He instantly got everyone's attention.
Klein: You bet that I won't question it! At nights like this, we have to celebrate, even if we just celebrate being alive, and I won't waste a second of this opportunity!
Neither did he waste any food, and Klein continued digging in immediately after finishing his "speech". Frankly, the majority of the people around him thought that it was cringey and silly.
Nevertheless, they also agreed with him to some degree. Regardless of the circumstances, it was one of the joyful days (or nights) of their lives in Aincrad, and it was certainly an occasion that they would remember.
Okay, I know the idea is farfetched and probably not how it is supposed to work in canon. I'd say it's more likely that there's an "Ingredient" class, and the cooking system only allows to use them. Regardless, I had this silly idea, I thought it was funny, so here we are.
I won't apologise for the Shokugeki no Soma reference, though.