Chapter 59: Pricing Is a Troublesome Affair

"Sigh..." Heath sat in his chair and sighed. The giant purple crab was already thoroughly steamed; what else could he possibly do? It was not like he could ask Ho-Oh to use its divine powers to resurrect a giant purple crab. That was simply not how a legendary Pokémon's authorities were meant to be used, and besides, Ho-Oh would likely never admit to being Ho-Oh in the first place.

Shaking his head, Heath grabbed the blackboard from outside the food truck and intended to write down the prices and other details. What was done was done; remorse and regret were useless and only served to breed unnecessary trouble. Since things had turned out this way, Heath figured he might as well focus on how to sell these giant purple crab roe soup dumplings. At the very least, it would help him break even, though deciding on a price tag remained a tricky question.

"After all, this isn't the world of Toriko. Even if I wanted to ask for an exorbitant price, people around here probably wouldn't accept it, right?" Heath hesitated. The system had not provided an official price for the giant purple crab, and after searching for information on his phone, Heath found no related news whatsoever, which gave him a bit of a headache.

If he priced them too high, Heath worried they wouldn't sell; but if he priced them too low, it would be an injustice to the value of the giant purple crab. In the end, Heath decided to taste one himself first, and only after experiencing it would he determine how much to charge for the giant purple crab roe soup dumplings.

With that thought in mind, Heath opened the steamer basket and used tongs to retrieve five soup dumplings. Seven remained inside.

"Leek!" Farfetch'd looked at Heath with extreme excitement, completely unable to wait. Having watched the entire process from the side, that aroma was genuinely going to be the death of it. Farfetch'd felt that if Heath had simply pulled out these dumplings to treat it from the very beginning, it would have hugged Heath's thighs ages ago and begged him to take it on as a partner.

"Stop shouting, these are yours." Heath gave Farfetch'd an exasperated look. This little fellow really knew how to stir up trouble for him, but as an ingredient with a rarity level of two, Heath had to admit he was somewhat curious about the taste.

Before that, however, Heath still needed to bring some of the soup dumplings to his own Pokémon.

Stepping into the lounge, Heath saw Charmander lifting barbells—twelve and a half kilograms on each side, making a combined total of at least twenty-five kilograms. It seemed Charmander's training was coming along quite nicely.

As for Zorua, it was the same as ever, watching whatever it was looking at and emitting laughter that sounded like rattling barbells, while the snow Snorlax had already woken up and was gazing at Heath with an expectant look in its eyes.

"Come over and try the flavor." Heath cheerfully waved his Pokémon over, then picked up his own soup dumpling. After blowing on it gently, he carefully nibbled a hole in the wrapper, pursed his lips against the skin, and began to sip the rich broth inside.

An intense fragrance instantly burst forth. The flavor of the crab roe was concentrated to the absolute limit, making Heath feel as if he were drinking pure crab roe itself. Yet, when he actually tasted the roe, he realized that this giant purple crab truly deserved to be a top-tier delicacy rated as rarity level two by his cheat-code-like gourmet guide.

The flavor of the crab roe was rich and left a lingering aftertaste so profound that Heath did not even realize when he had finished the soup dumpling. Even after swallowing, smacking his lips allowed him to continue savoring the lingering aroma of the crab roe. Combined with the exceptionally fresh texture, Heath felt somewhat intoxicated. Is this what a level-two delicacy tastes like?

Heath suddenly understood why Gourmet Hunters existed in that other world. Eating food of this caliber genuinely brought extreme comfort and made one yearn for more. It was a pity, however, that the giant purple crab was so exceedingly rare; otherwise, Heath felt he would definitely have set out to search for one. Fortunately, he now had a corresponding way to acquire them.

It was just that getting a giant purple crab cost a staggering five hundred satisfaction points, a price far too extravagant for Heath to afford at the moment, meaning he could only save up slowly.

"Trainer! What is this?! How is it so delicious?!" Heath's head was grabbed and shaken by Zorua. Heath flicked Zorua on the forehead, secretly wondering if the little trickster was trying to turn him into a bald man.

While Heath considered himself quite handsome—the kind of fresh-faced youth popular in his past life—hair was undeniably crucial for a man. Heath certainly did not want to find out how attractive he would look completely bald.

"Giant purple crab roe soup dumplings, an extremely rare ingredient. I estimate we'll probably only get to eat these once in a blue moon," Heath explained calmly. Although the giant purple crab was delicious, it was far too difficult to obtain, not to mention that redeeming one required five hundred customer satisfaction points—a major undertaking.

"Such delicious food... My white god, I'm willing to stop watching—no, I'll only watch twelve hours of... whatever a day in exchange for this delicacy!" Zorua stared longingly at Heath, its puppy-dog eyes making Heath want to laugh.

"Stop dreaming, I can't even bear to eat them myself... But who is this white god you speak of?" Heath asked, feeling a tinge of curiosity. It was the first time he had heard Zorua mention that name.

"Oh? Are you interested?" Zorua's gaze instantly turned suspicious. Heath realized in a flash that whatever this creature with a mind full of unfiltered thoughts called the "white god" probably wasn't anything proper.

Therefore, Heath decisively walked back outside. He had already settled on a price. Inside, Charmander and the snow Snorlax were still looking at him with hopeful expressions, and Heath admitted that their gazes carried far too much emotional damage; if he stayed inside any longer, guilt would consume him.

"Well then, let's go with this price." In the end, Heath settled on an exorbitant figure: eight thousand Alliance Dollars for a single giant purple crab roe soup dumpling.

Heath felt he was still being quite reasonable. Compared to the exorbitant prices in Toriko, where a hundred grams could easily cost eighty thousand, his eight thousand Alliance Dollars could almost be considered a bargain.

Whether he could actually sell any at that price remained a question, so Heath added a "limited edition" label above it. He was far too familiar with human psychology, especially the psychology of the wealthy.

The most expensive item isn't necessarily the best, but if the most expensive item is also strictly limited, then it is guaranteed to be the finest. Furthermore, given that five had already been sold earlier, Heath figured the pool of potential customers shouldn't be too small.

True to form, as soon as Heath hung up the blackboard, it drew the attention of many passersby. Although Quartz League was a place with a very high cost of living, seeing such an outrageous price displayed on a tiny food truck still set people murmuring in discussion.

Heath was mentally prepared for this reaction, so he quietly lifted the lid of the steamer to let the giant purple crab roe soup dumplings air out. Instantly, the fragrance of the crab roe, concentrated to its absolute zenith, wafted outward, causing many people outside to unconsciously swallow their saliva.

This... actually smelled rather incredible.