When he pulled the zipper open, bright-red cotton candy popped out like entrails from a belly.
It was a visual fit for Halloween.
While Jurim was once again doubting his daughter’s aesthetic sense, Geuru climbed down from her bicycle and approached the desk.
The child, wearing an ugly teddy bear costume, draped her arm across Jurim’s knee, wiggled her eyebrows, and spoke.
"Isn't it adorable?"
"...?"
Which part?
Mistaking Jurim’s stunned silence for agreement, Geuru continued.
"This Fluffy Cotton Candy isn't just cute; it's an A-grade buff item."
Then the teddy bear hand tore off a piece of the red cotton candy.
"It's more innovative than existing buff items!"
"...Innovative? The shape?"
The creepy cotton-candy shape certainly was innovative.
Existing buff items took the form of thick potions.
"It's unusual that it's not a liquid."
"Exactly. If you drop a potion, the ground sucks it right up, but this Fluffy Cotton Candy can use the '3-second rule.' So even if it falls on the floor, it's not dirty if you pick it up and eat it within three seconds."
For a moment, Jurim felt dizzy.
That was the innovative advantage?!
"What is this 3-second rule? Did Gidan tell you that?"
"That's right, Gidan told me. How did you know?"
Jurim squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead.
"Just throw away anything that falls on the ground. You didn't pick it up and eat it, did you?"
"I didn't. Not yet..."
"Yeah, don't eat it. It's dirty."
"Ooh..." Geuru nodded, dejected.
It seemed the momentum of the Fluffy Cotton Candy’s innovation, the "3-second rule," had been crushed by the rebuttal.
Just as he was agonizing over whether to tell her to stop hanging out with Gidan, Geuru clenched her fist again and raised her head with a determined glint in her eyes.
"The 3-second rule is only the first innovation."
"...Really?"
What kind of outrageous thing would the second one be? Jurim replied, slightly afraid.
Regardless, Geuru held up the pouch with organs spilling out.
"From now on, I'll show you the true value of Fluffy Cotton Candy. For your information, this cotton candy is clean and hasn't been dropped on the floor."
"Okay."
"So it's not dirty."
Speaking as if boasting, Geuru stuffed the bright-red cotton candy into her mouth and chewed.
Then she tilted up the corner of her mouth.
"Are enemy attacks frightening? Is it troublesome that buff items don't stack?"
The moment Geuru finished speaking, a fluffy, cotton-candy-like cloud enveloped her body.
"...?"
Jurim, who had been resting his chin on his hand propped on the chair armrest, blinked in surprise.
"Fluffy Cotton Candy is a product that covers all those weaknesses."
Fluffy Cotton Candy was not a product that acted directly on the consumer like existing potions.
"An area buff?"
"Exactly! When inside the fluffiness, you receive a 10% attack power and 10% agility buff."
When consumed, the effect wrapped around the user’s vicinity rather than their body.
That minimized the burden on the user’s body and made it possible to stack with potions.
"Hmm..."
Jurim nodded, letting out an admiring sound.
Energized by this, Geuru wagged her index finger side to side.
"That's not all."
After saying so, Geuru toddled backward, then hopped and bumped her body against the desk. Then—
Boing—bounce, bounce—
Geuru inside the cotton candy bounced back a step or two, and simultaneously.
Thwack—
Physical damage registered against the desk.
Jurim’s eyes went wide.
"Damage reflection?"
Geuru grinned, lifting both corners of her mouth, and spoke triumphantly.
"This Fluffy Cotton Candy absorbs half the damage enemies deal and reflects the other half."
This time, Jurim approached Geuru with a rather surprised expression and pressed his index finger firmly against the cotton candy.
Geuru bounced away.
The pushed-away Geuru toddled back, and as Jurim repeatedly pressed and pushed the child away, he fell into thought.
'The durability doesn't seem bad either.'
On the outside, it looked quite ridiculous and cute, but it was certainly an innovation.
The thought he'd had during the 3-second rule—that was just how kids think—was now terrifyingly proven wrong; Geuru had really brought an incredible item.
Then, when Geuru shook her sling bag, cotton candy pouches fell out in a heap.
So that was why she'd been making enormous amounts of cotton candy at home.
Jurim nodded as if only now realizing he had unwittingly had his labor exploited.
Meanwhile, Geuru tapped the mountain of pouches with her teddy bear hand.
"If you buy them all now, you get a discount. This is your chance to get them cheap. If our first transaction goes well, I can even take responsibility for regular deliveries."
At those words, Jurim, who had been wondering if he should buy the entire stock, narrowed his eyes.
This kid, she's pretty good at selling?
Come to think of it, it wasn't strange.
'She was quite the veteran.'
Geuru had been a baby merchant who rode her bicycle all around Onion Market, diligently selling items far and wide.
"What's the duration?"
"Ten minutes!"
It was short, but if used properly during crucial moments like boss raids, it wasn't that brief a time.
If forced to pick a flaw, first, bulky Hunters would have to fight inside that cute cotton candy.
'Well, it's not like I'll be the one using it.'
It wasn't Jurim's concern.
And the second flaw was...
"You haven't actually used it in real combat, have you?"
It was a subtly probing question.
He was worried she might have secretly entered a dungeon again.
But Geuru simply nodded with an innocent face.
'Guess she didn't go to a dungeon to test it.'
Relieved, Jurim crossed his arms.
At that, Geuru gasped.
'There it is... The arm-cross.'
It was the gesture Jurim made whenever something didn't sit well with him.
She hadn't even gone to a dungeon, so why?
The nervous Geuru opened her mouth into a small triangle and widened her eyes.
She would refute anything. This sale was for her dad, too, after all. As a devoted daughter, she had a duty to make this sale a success!
"Even if you thought it was a good item after running simulations at your desk, using it in reality might turn out differently than expected."
"...!"
Geuru nodded.
She had experienced that recently when receiving reviews.
No matter how good and excellent the options were, when she heard directly from people who had actually used the items, they often said it was hard to handle or difficult to use.
"So this is a prototype that hasn't been properly tested?"
"That's right..."
Her voice trailed off.
"I'll arrange for you to try it at this new recruit training camp, so set a few aside."
"Oooh!"
"However."
"...However?"
"You need unanimous positive reviews. If even one person has an adverse reaction, we can't use it. Consumable items are different from other items—safety is more important than anything."
Thud-!
Unanimous...!
Sweat beaded on Geuru's forehead as she recalled the previous ratings.
Last time, the reviews had been polar opposites—could she elicit unanimously positive reviews this time?
'Should I have just made it a regular item?'
In the meantime, Jurim popped off Geuru's costume.
The child was rolling her eyes around, seeming quite worried about the condition of unanimous praise.
'I don't think she needs to worry that much.'
He was worried their little one had made something terrifying again, whereas the child herself was worried she wouldn't be able to use it properly in real combat.
Jurim chuckled, picked Geuru up, and glanced briefly at the phone sitting on the desk.
It was probably ringing off the hook again, wasn't it?
The thought made his head throb.
"...Hmm."
Should he change his number?
*
And that afternoon, Fluffy Cotton Candy was supplied as support items straight to the new recruit training camp's locker room.
"What is this? The bear is super ugly..."
"Isn't this that thing? The Jjapsso signature?"
"Wow, is this a Jjapsso-brand supply item? As expected, Hyeonak is different. I'm really feeling the company loyalty."
"Not bad. It tastes good. Like strawberry candy. Everyone try it."
"Hunter Suhyeon looks cute now. Haha!"
"Huh. Cotton candy appeared around me. Ah! This, the options are better than I thought?"
"Huh? Really?"
"Huh?"
"Huh? What is it?"
Hunters gathered in a line and began opening their pouches one by one to taste the cotton candy.
The faces of those who checked their information windows were all filled with surprise and admiration.
"What dungeon are we doing today?"
"Let's hurry up and go!"
"How long does this last?"
"Ten minutes!"
The Hunters immediately rushed out of the locker room in a throng.
It was after that that the Hunter community erupted into an uproar.