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Ch-54: Exclusive Chef

  "Hood, the greatest pirate in history and the captain of the Ocean's Phantom, hid his unimaginable riches somewhere in the world," Dan narrated as he led the group into the escape room. Having them enter, he stood at the doorway as he had his hands on the door. "You found a map left by the great pirate and you made it your life's goal to find his treasure. After years of research, exploration and facing things that are hard to explain using science alone, you finally find yourself in this location, the place where Captain Hood kept all his treasures and riches! Unfortunately, just as you enter the Treasure trove, the path behind you closes off!"

  Reaching that part, Dan pushed the door closed as Kathy at the control panel began their journey, the muffled sound of rocks cascading sounded from the other side of the door.

  As the sound of the girls shouting and the recorded mad voice of Captain Hood seeped from inside the room, Dan walked back to the control room with a light smile on his face. The group had 1 hour to find the treasure and escape the room or they would lose.

  "Do you think things are going to be alright with the cameras off?" Kathy asked as she looked back at the room worriedly, "With them off, it's hard to keep an eye on them and what they are doing."

  "It's alright." Dan waved his hand dismissively. "Jackie and Dex know a thing or two about the escape room, they can work as the hint givers to the others. I'm sure it's going to be alright."

  And just as Dan said, it didn't even take them 45 minutes to be done with the escape room. Seeing the two little girls giggling and joking as they left the escape room, he felt that this was totally worth it, even if it took 10 times as much effort he would still have been more than willing to go with it.

  They had a couple more groups before Leonard came to accompany his girlfriend, Kathy, so Dan took the chance to leave and go see how things were in the other locations.

  Dan made the Hanging Playgrounds his next target. Even before he got there he could hear the sound of music and the laughter of people. The first thing that he laid his eyes on was Robert flying through the air as he dove into the water, with the others looking on and smiling or laughing.

  Dan just shook his head at the sight as he greeted the people and made his way to the mini-golf course. He spotted old William and Old Raily facing each other with their golf clubs in hand.

  Seeing the old veteran there was more than a surprise to Dan, he felt that the man would stick with his role as a guard and wouldn't join in the fun. But he was wrong, the man was out of his bulletproof vest and without his weapon, he was standing and chatting with William from time to time while they enjoyed the mini-golf course.

  Not wanting to disturb the pair, Dan looked around and saw Mrs. Raily sitting on a chair a few meters away from them. Deciding that this might be the best time to deal with something that he had had in mind for a while now, Dan made his way to her.

  "Dan darling." The old lady saw him coming and put her cup aside as she greeted him with a smile. "I'm happy to see you here? How are you doing?"

  "Good, good," Dan said as he dragged a chair and sat next to the old lady, "What about you? How are you feeling, how are you dealing with this new situation?"

  "I'm doing better." Mrs Raily took her time before she answered. "I was scared and unsure at first, but I'm doing better."

  Following her gaze, Dan noticed how she was looking at Old Raily and after organising things in his mind, he said,

  "How is Old Raily doing?"

  "You noticed it too, huh?" Mrs Raily smiled as she moved her eyes away from him to Dan. "Surprisingly, he's doing great. At first, I got scared too, I thought the darkness that he had discarded after years was back. But now I see that that isn't exactly the case, it's different this time... Plus, I too am different this time, I have better means to help him fight it off."

  It was then that Dan remembered Mrs. Raily's Class, it was a class that dealt with helping in mending mental troubles.

  Feeling that the old grandma needed him there with her, Dan decided to spend more time with her as he pushed,

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  "I take it this isn't the first time he was like this? I mean, not really like this, but how he was on our first day here."

  "Yes." Mrs Raily nodded slowly. "When all this started, I feared that he had returned to that time when he used to come back with his soul still stuck in that far-off land. Fortunately, it wasn't the case. I don't know why, but he's doing way better than he was before. It's not the same."

  "That's good to hear," Dan said, and he meant it, the mental health of his passengers was at the forefront of his mind, especially in their current situation.

  Dan talked to Mrs Raily for a bit more, watching the two old men enjoying their time on the golf course. He then excused himself as he moved to talk to some of the others, socialising here and there. He even dodged Robert who tried to push him to the pool.

  A few hours after the sun had set, it was finally time for Diana's show. The previous part of the night was a success, even their guests had a bit of fun. Kathy told Dan that Nulara and the young man came to the escape room to try it for a bit, and how fascinated the young man was with the room. She said that he almost had to be dragged from it after the time ended. Dan was happy that he had fun.

  Diana sang a slow, warm song at the GrandDome. Dan could feel himself become calmer and his body relaxing more as he listened to her. He didn't know if it was a skill or if it was just the effect of the Class, but he felt that her voice was richer and sounded way gentler than how it used to be.

  The whole audience was silent, they were all focused on the stage. Dan could feel the song seep into his heart, as if speaking to his soul directly. Before he even knew what was happening, he felt wetness on his face. Lifting his hands to check, he realised that he had started crying at some point in time.

  Once the song was done, Dan looked around and saw that many people had red eyes from crying. That wasn't all though, they also seemed to be less stressed than they were before, their facial muscles more relaxed and with smiles on their faces.

  Clap! Clap! Clap!

  Clapping sounds started from a corner of the GrandDom. Dan looked and saw that it was Robert who started it. It didn't take long for more and more people to join in with him, and soon everyone in the venue was standing and clapping.

  "Thank you, everyone," Diana said as she bowed to the crowd, "Please head to the Skyline now. Raymond and the others prepared quite the feast for us tonight!"

  After another round of cheering, the crowd started leaving the room. Dan stayed back wanting to congratulate Diana and thank her, but he saw Robert go to his wife and decided to leave them be for the moment.

  The Skyline wasn't that far from the GrandDome, so it didn't take them long to reach the restaurant. Raymond, Nancy, Nik, along with some help from everyone else had already prepared the restaurant for the night's dinner.

  Dishes were laid out in a great spread. It included everything from different meats to some fresh seafood they had at some of the other restaurants. Dan had to say that the gang had outdone themselves. Just the smell made his stomach, which wasn't even that empty, growl.

  "Raymond, my friend, were you holding back on us all this time?" Dan joked with the cook, he felt that his usual was never this good.

  "It's this system, my man," Raymond said as he shook his head, "There is a reason I wanted to go all out and try my best at cooking ever since we got here, you know."

  Dan hadn't considered that. Raymond for sure took a class that had to do with cooking, and how that would reflect on his food? Dan didn't know.

  "What's your Class by the way," Dan asked, "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

  "There's no reason to hide it," Raymond said carelessly as he shrugged and looked into the air and read, "I'm an Exclusive Chef, it reads: You have spent most of your career cooking for a huge number of people, but you've always known, deep down, that for you, cooking for a cherished selected few is always much more fulfilling and blissful. Choose a group of people defined by a shared aspect. When cooking and serving food to these people, your skills are stronger and the effect of your dishes is clearer."

  Dan found himself speechless at the Class's description, not because of the Class itself or its effects, but more due to the small bit at the beginning there.

  "You weren't happy with your work at the Voyager?" he asked in surprise. He never noticed such a thing, Raymond was always a great guy who seemed to be happy with his job.

  "I just got tired," The chef sighed as he washed his hands and stood in front of Dan, "I started feeling that my food wasn't as appreciated as it could be. It was still fun serving it to the people and seeing them enjoy it, but it felt as if something was missing. I actually was preparing to retire from this and open a small restaurant in some corner and enjoy my days. You see how it all went through."

  "I'm sorry," Dan didn't know what to say to that, "I've never noticed..."

  "What did I say, captain," the chef said with a hearty laugh as he patted him, "That was then, and to be honest, cooking for everyone here is just as fulfilling as my dream restaurant might have been."

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