At that moment.
Having returned home, Geuru hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign to proceed with the quest and holed up in her room.
Whir, whir.
In a corner of her room, at a children's kitchen set, she devoted herself to making dough, whipping the whisk round and round.
Whir, whir!
At first, she had intended to make cookies just for fun.
But when yesterday's frustrating events came to mind, her hands stirring the dough clenched tight.
*Thwack! Thwack!*
Eventually, Geuru was even punching the dough until she propped her chin up like a walnut and pouted.
Today, they had just breezed out without even returning her greeting.
'I hate everyone…….'
Did they get tired of playing with Geuru now?
Even at the orphanage, there had been a time when the older children gradually started playing only with others of the same gender.
Was Geuru also growing distant from her friends like that?
"Hic……."
Her lips trembled. Her vision blurred with sorrow.
A teardrop fell into the dough and was quickly absorbed.
In that instant, the dough began to emit light.
"Huh?"
At the same time, pop-up windows scrolled upward.
*Ding!*
[You have created 'Flour Dough Containing an Outcast's Fury (S)'.]
*Ding!*
[You have created the new abnormal status 'Outcast's Fury'!]
[Achievement: Complete!]
- You can imbue crafted items with the abnormal status 'Outcast's Fury'. When afflicted with this abnormal status, one feels immense rage and becomes pessimistic about the world.
Geuru narrowed her eyes as she read through the pop-up windows.
"……I made something weird."
Abnormal statuses, namely debuffs, were abilities that acted as curses when used on people, but yielded several times the efficiency when used on monsters.
Being able to freely imbue crafted items with such effects was impossible even for Amakusa Kazuki.
'Outcast…….'
But Geuru felt upset by the words 'Outcast's Fury', so she pouted her lips like a duck.
Something really strange had appeared, but…….
"S-rank dough!"
Geuru quickly cheered up and lifted the bowl of dough high above her head.
"With this, I can make anything!"
Setting aside the bizarre abnormal status, Geuru began worrying about what snack to make.
"Hmm……."
In front of the child were various cookie molds, ranging from fish-shaped ones to round takoyaki ones.
"Yay! I decided!"
After much deliberation, what she chose was a walnut snack mold.
"Since it's a snack that uses Filial Piety Points, it's a Filial Piety Snack! What do you think, Pereu?!"
"Kyu!"
When Pereu answered as if saying yes, Geuru muttered "walnut snack, filial piety snack," satisfied with her own rhyme, and grinned broadly.
"Geuru will make it super yummy for you."
Her tiny hands stuffed dough into a piping bag and squeezed it into the walnut snack mold.
*Thwack! Thwack!*
The dough splattered everywhere, but she didn't mind.
Wiping her forehead as she looked at the piped dough, Geuru moved her hands again and began putting toppings inside the snack.
Jelly, chocolate balls, marshmallows, various nuts—not knowing what others would like, she used all the snacks she herself loved.
"Yummy plus yummy equals super yummy!!"
Humming to herself, she randomly added all kinds of toppings.
She covered them with more dough, clamped the other half of the mold on top, and placed it in the oven.
"Uh…… how do I put in the points?"
*Ding!*
[How many Filial Piety Points would you like to invest?]
*Please turn the oven dial to invest the desired amount of Filial Piety Points.
The moment she closed the oven door, a notification window appeared before Geuru's eyes.
"Oh!"
*Click!*
Geuru boldly turned the oven dial and invested 100,000 points, then pressed the start button.
A notification sound chimed from the machine.
[Commencing production. Estimated time required: 15 minutes.]
"15 minutes!"
Long! ……Is it long?
Geuru paced around the oven restlessly.
Before long, a savory, sweet smell began to waft out—
*Ding!*
At the alarm announcing the completion of cooking, Geuru hurried over to the oven.
Wearing thick oven mitts, she opened the oven door; a wave of warm heat and a savory smell hit her nose.
"It smells so yummy!"
Carefully taking out the snack mold, she placed it on a tray.
Between the molds, walnut-shaped snacks that had pressed together snugly revealed themselves.
"Oho……!"
Each snack had its own unique appearance.
She first checked the one with the strangest shape. The jelly had melted and flowed all over its surface.
[Faulty Filial Piety Snack (F)]
A snack that no one would want to eat. Was the ingredient selection the problem? It is so tasteless that one might rapidly lose weight upon consumption.
"How mean!"
Shocked by the scathing description, Geuru fidgeted with the failure.
"Would Dad…… eat it?"
He'd probably throw it away.
Squinting her eyes, Geuru recalled Dad tossing away potatoes.
'Beyi wouldn't eat it either, and if it's Mepi or Uju…….'
Geuru grew sad again, but she pushed aside her disappointment and checked the other snacks in the mold.
Among the failures, she saw ominous Filial Piety Snacks emitting a red aura.
Their color was a crispy golden brown and they looked perfectly baked.
When she lifted one with tongs, the chocolate inside burst out and coated the surface.
[Rage Filial Piety Snack (Grade Undetermined)]
The grade of this crafted item has not been determined. Once the item is activated, the system will judge comprehensive factors and evaluate its grade.
※Please exercise caution when consuming, as children may be afflicted with an abnormal status.
'Undetermined?'
Though its grade hadn't been decided yet, by the feel of it…….
'It seems incredible.'
It was as though a tremendous radiance was shining from the Filial Piety Snack placed on a small plate.
'Alright. Let's test it.'
To measure its grade, someone had to eat it.
"Children should be careful when conshuming this……."
Having read the warning, Geuru's gaze slowly turned toward Pereu.
"Kyuu?"
Lukeusipereu tilted his head.
"They said it's hot, so eat it slowly and carefully."
Grinning, Geuru held out the Filial Piety Snack.
The two front paws of the white baby rabbit trembled as he looked at the red aura and picked up the snack.
"Kyu!"
*Chomp!*
Having steeled his resolve, Pereu devoured the snack in one bite.
As Pereu gulped it down, light gathered around him and he began to shine brightly.
[Abnormal status is purified by the kin's inherent ability.]
[The kin's rank temporarily increases.]
*Bulging. Bumping.*
Pereu's silhouette, enveloped in bright light, began to change.
And from beyond the light, Pereu—whose entire body had become nothing but muscle—struck a bodybuilding pose, flaunting his bulging muscles.
"P-Pereu?!"
"Kyuhu……."
Steam leaked from Lukeusipereu's mouth as he exhaled deeply in a low voice.
It was clearly a breath absolutely brimming with mana.
Startled, Geuru checked the information window of the snacks containing the red aura.
[Rage Filial Piety Snack (S+)]
The creator's tears have been baked to a crisp. Upon consumption, stats and mana increase drastically for a set duration, raising the consumer's rank, but the user may be afflicted with the abnormal status 'Outcast's Fury'.
※Please exercise caution when consuming, as children may be afflicted with an abnormal status.
"S…… hm?"
Geuru, stunned after checking the grade, rubbed her eyes.
Opening them blearily, the child checked the grade again and read along in a tiny voice.
"S…… plus……."
Her eyes opened wide and her mouth gaped.
An S+ item?
That S+ which had no precedent outside of the Amakusa Series?
Geuru covered her mouth to keep a shriek from escaping.
"~~~!!!"
Geuru stamped her feet as she looked at Lukeusipereu.
"Ha!"
'No running in the house!'
Geuru folded her knees and curled up like a pillbug.
But inside her chest, bulked-up earthworms were pounding and thumping. A tingling sensation, as if electricity had run all the way to her toes, coursed through her.
She couldn't hold it in any longer!
Geuru climbed onto the bed, did one forward roll and one backward roll, then spread her arms wide.
"Hoo-"
*Clap clap clap!*
Lukeusipereu applauded her.
Geuru responded to the support and bowed.
"Thank you, thank you."
Only after rolling around a few more times did Geuru finally calm down a little, and she smacked her reddened cheeks.
It couldn't be a dream, right? She checked the Filial Piety Snack again.
"S pluth!"
This wasn't the time to be running around in circles. She had to go show Dad right this instant.
Geuru sprang up to head to the company.