“Hey? So this is what you meant by the system? Learning through dreams?”
Joko found himself standing in a fully equipped, professional modern kitchen.
Every cooking tool was available there, from a blender to the refrigerator normally used to store meat.
Joko could even see Wagyu beef—the kind he had only ever seen on social media—displayed right in front of him.
“That’s right, Host! Every night, the Host will be taught by a chef based on the dish the Host wins in the lottery!”
“Lottery?”
“Yes! Let’s do it now! The lottery is starting!”
A huge prize wheel appeared in front of Joko and began spinning rapidly.
“Stop!”
“DING! Congratulations, Host! You’ve won the recipe set for garlic chicken, sambal, and kaffir lime leaf rice!”
“Huh? Not A5 Wagyu?” Joko complained.
“Host! Remember! Your current financial situation won’t allow you to get A5 Wagyu as an ingredient! Let’s get started right now!”
The prize wheel in front of Joko suddenly transformed into a middle-aged man with a large potbelly. His thick mustache and sharp eyebrows made him look even more like the strict teachers Joko had encountered in his science classes.
“Come on, it’s obvious from your hands that you’ve never cooked a single thing in your life,” the middle-aged man said in a deep voice.
Joko reflexively hid his hands behind his back.
“Get over here! You! My name is Burhan. We’ll start with the rice. Hey! Why are you just standing there? Get over here, quick!”
“What are you doing! How do you choose good rice? How much water do you need to make the rice fluffy and delicious? Hey! Are you listening?”
Joko could feel that the training was a nightmare.
The next morning, Joko could tell that the cooking training had been more than just a dream.
His entire body ached and felt exhausted. But his mind was fresh. It was as if certain reflexes had been etched into his mind. Joko could now cook rice properly.
Using a rice cooker.
Joko had thought the training would turn him into a chef instantly, but the learning process was surprisingly exhausting.
Even though he was tired, he tried to leave the hospital because he didn’t want to stay there any longer than necessary.
When he arrived at the five-hundred-thousand-rupiah boarding room where he lived, Joko suddenly remembered the text message he had received from Nur.
He immediately called his girlfriend.
The first time, she rejected the call.
The second time, she still rejected it.
The third time, Joko’s number was blocked.
“What’s going on?”
Curious, Joko called his mother.
“Mom? Why isn’t Nur answering my calls?” Joko asked.
“Huh? Nur? Wait, didn’t Nur get married today?” his mother asked in return.
“Married to who, Mom?” Joko cried.
“To her current boyfriend, of course, Joko.”
“But I’m Nur’s boyfriend, Mom!”
“Nur said you two broke up a year ago. That’s what I heard from her mother.”
Now Joko’s mother was the confused one.
“Wait, I transferred money to Nur just last month. For our wedding reception.”
“Oh my God, Joko! Why didn’t you save that money yourself? You should have kept it. Even if it was for your reception, you weren’t married yet. You could have broken up before getting to the altar.”
“Because I trusted Nur. I thought she was a good woman, Mom. I never knew she’d been cheating on me all this time.”
“Do you know who she was cheating with? That tapir, your friend from elementary school!” Joko’s mother added.
“Huh? The tapir? Oh! Deddy? Mom, but Deddy’s situation is like that. His father is always sick, his mother has already passed away, and he has a lot of siblings.”
Joko couldn’t believe Nur would marry Deddy, who had to shoulder his family’s burdens. The modern term for it was the sandwich generation.
Joko knew his girlfriend’s character all too well.
“You didn’t know? That tapir is successful now. He has businesses everywhere. That’s why Nur wants to be with him.”
“I see, Mom.”
After hearing his mother’s explanation, Joko finally realized why his girlfriend had always replied so coldly to his messages over the past year.
Her responses had seemed purely perfunctory. She sounded much more enthusiastic whenever Joko got paid. Nur would ask him to transfer money, claiming it was for their future wedding savings.
It turned out Nur had already planned to marry someone else.
Joko could only manage a bitter smile.
Meanwhile, Joko’s mother could tell that he wanted to be alone. She quickly ended the call.
“Host! Don’t be sad. Once you complete your classes and open a business, what woman could you possibly fail to win over?”
Joko was startled by the system’s voice.
That was right. He still had the system.
“All right, System! Let’s start class again!”
“Yosh! I love your spirit, Host!”
“Aaaaaaah!”
Joko once again felt like he was in hell during Chef Burhan’s class.