A Second Life, A New Power

An hour later, Demi and Maria finished their mission.
Both of them were invited to escape the heat by sitting underneath a tree. The production team even prepared fruits and drinks for them.
This made the other six guests very envious.
In particular, the four guests who ate burnt food for lunch were starving.
Moreover, they realized that digging potatoes didn't rely purely on strength, but on skills instead. Otherwise, the potatoes would easily become
spoiled.
Comments appeared in the comment section.
"Haha! I didn't expect the two girls to win in the end!"
"We underestimated Demi!"
"Demi is very capable! Mr. Yale and Thomas took a break in between, while George and Chad took turns digging potatoes. Not only did Demi and
Maria work on one role continuously, but they also didn't rest at all!"
...
In the end, Demi's team won first place.
She surpassed everyone in speed and other capabilities. Chad and George's group, which came in second place, was many points away from her.
The third place belonged to Nigel and Wendy, while the last place was Thomas and Ana.
Demi didn't spoil a lot of potatoes, but the others destroyed at least half a bag of them.
Thankfully, those potatoes could be used to feed the villagers' pigs, so they didn't waste food.
"We'll be rewarding everyone with cooking ingredients. The winning team will be given eight materials!" Matt looked at everyone cheerfully.

"Wow!" All of them gasped.
"The second team wins four ingredients!"
"What? Why is the difference in materials so big?" Everybody asked in confusion.

"Should there be such a big difference in the first place?" Matt looked at everyone, an unreadable expression on his face.
After hearing that, everyone fell silent before nodding in unison.
The comments were filled with laughter.
"Third place gets three ingredients, and the last team gets two ingredients. These are for your dinner today and breakfast tomorrow. May the winning
team choose your ingredients now."
"We ate too much for lunch. Let's eat more vegetables for dinner," Maria whispered happily to Demi.
"Okay." Demi nodded.
Someone commented, "Haha! They ate too much! How would the others react after hearing that?"
Another person commented, "I heard the sound of stomachs growling from the coal-eating team in the afternoon."
"How dramatic! What coal-eating team? That's hilarious!"
In the end, Demi and Maria selected three meat ingredients and five vegetable dishes.
"But, what use would there be in choosing these ingredients? We'll only waste the food," Chad told Matt while he chose the ingredients with George.
"You can switch an ingredient for the chance to ask another person for help," Matt replied leisurely.
"Is that true?" Chad's eyes widened in surprise.
Meanwhile, George looked taken aback too.
"I haven't finished speaking. The person can only help you by telling you what to do instead of doing it for you," Matt answered.
Hearing that, George and Chad looked gloomy.

"That's fine as well. If someone tells us what to do, our food will probably be edible," Chad said uncertainly.
"But, we don't have any matches. What's the use of getting ingredients?" Thomas asked unhappily.
"You can exchange one ingredient for five matches. This time, Demi won't be the only one giving them out," Matt responded calmly.
"Five matches?" Thomas was stunned.

"We only have two ingredients," Ana said weakly.
"You haven't used the ingredients that you received for lunch," Matt reminded her.
Just then, Ana came to a realization.
"Let's exchange the ingredients, Thomas." Ana happily looked at Thomas.
She knew how to cook simple dishes, and didn't want to eat burnt food anymore.
"Okay, let us exchange the food." Thomas looked at Chad. "George, Chad, can we exchange the materials with you?"
"Well, we used a lot of matches for lunch today," Chad answered after a brief pause.
It wasn't a lie. They did use up many matches already.
Then, Thomas looked at Nigel. "Mr. Yale, do you have enough matches?"
"Not really. However, I think I can give you five of them." Nigel nodded.
Thomas became relieved. After that, he took the two remaining ingredients with Ana.
"Alright. Everyone can go home and cook now. I hope all of you will enjoy your dinner." Matt clapped his hands.
All the guests left hurriedly with their food.
To make things easier for them, the production team placed the ingredients in wooden lunch boxes.
"Wait a minute, Ms. Demi." Chad chased after Demi.
The comments started appearing again.
"That's it. He's going to ask for help."
"I wonder how much George and Chad would improve if Demi guided them."
"Me too!"
"I'm curious too!"