Chick 263
by Cristae263
At that moment.
Having returned home, Groo shut herself in her room, hanging a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door to embark on her quest.
Whirr, whirr.
Tucked away in a corner of her room at the children’s play kitchen, she busied herself spinning a whisk to make dough.
Whirr, whirr!
At first, she simply meant to have fun baking cookies.
But recalling yesterday’s hurtful events, her arms stiffened as she kneaded the dough.
Squish! Splat!
Soon she was punching the dough in frustration, a walnut-sized lump forming in her throat as she pouted.
Today, even though she hadn’t greeted them, they’d just gone off without her.
‘I hate everyone…’
Did they not want to play with her anymore?
At the orphanage, she remembered how, as kids got older, they gradually started playing only with others of the same gender.
Was Groo growing apart from her friends too?
“Sniff…”
Her lips quivered. Blurred by sorrow, her eyes grew misty.
A tear fell into the dough, quickly soaking in.
At that moment, the dough began to emit light.
“Oh?”
At the same time, a string of pop-ups floated before her eyes.
Ding!
[You have created ‘Dough Filled with a Loner’s Fury (S)’.]
Ding!
[You have created a new status effect: ‘Loner’s Fury’!]
[Achievement: [In Five Years, Never Been This Mad> Achieved!]
- The status effect ‘Loner’s Fury’ can be infused in crafted items. When afflicted, one will feel intense rage and become cynical about the world.]
Groo narrowed her eyes as she read through the pop-ups.
“…Did I make something weird?”
Status effects—debuffs—would curse people, or offer more than double their effect on monsters.
To freely imbue crafted items with such an anomaly would be impossible even for Amakusa Kazuki.
‘A loner…’
But the more Groo pondered the idea of “a loner’s fury,” the more her lips puckered out like a duck’s.
Even if she’d produced something odd…
“S-rank dough!”
Groo’s spirits soon lifted as she triumphantly raised the bowl of dough over her head.
“With this, I could probably make anything!”
Setting aside the bizarre status effect, she began pondering what kind of treat to make.
“Hmmm…”
Before her, she had molds for all sorts of shapes, from fish to round takoyaki balls.
“All right! I’ve decided!”
After careful consideration, she chose the walnut cake mold.
“Since I’m using Filial Piety Points, let’s call this a filial cake! What do you think, Per?!”
“Kkyu!”
With Lucipher’s enthusiastic reply, Groo, pleased with her rhyme, chanted “walnut cake, filial cake,” and grinned contentedly.
“Groo will make it delicious!”
Her tiny hands filled a piping bag with dough, squeezing it into the walnut molds.
Squish! Splat!
Dough splattered everywhere, but Groo paid it no mind.
Wiping her brow, she worked once more, this time filling the cakes with toppings.
Jelly, chocolate balls, marshmallows, all kinds of nuts—she used every snack she loved, uncertain what Per might like.
“Yummy plus yummy makes yummier!!”
Humming to herself, she tossed in random toppings.
After layering the tops with more dough, she pressed another mold over and put them in the oven.
“Um… so how do I put in the points?”
Ding!
[How many Filial Piety Points would you like to invest?]
*To invest Filial Piety Points, turn the oven’s dial to set your desired amount.
The moment she closed the oven door, a notification popped up before Groo’s eyes.
“Oh!”
Click!
With boldness, Groo cranked the oven’s dial to max and invested a full 100,000 points, then pressed the start button.
From the machine, a chime sounded.
[Manufacturing initiated. Estimated time required: 15 minutes.]
“Fifteen minutes!”
So long! …Is that long?
Fidgeting, Groo paced in circles around the oven.
Soon, a rich, sweet aroma began to fill the air—
Ding!
At the sound of the oven’s alert, Groo hurried over.
Donning thick gloves, she opened the oven door. A wave of warm, fragrant air hit her nose.
“Smells delicious!”
Carefully, Groo removed the mold and set it on a tray.
Within the mold, walnut-shaped cakes stuck together cheerfully side by side.
“Whoa…!”
Each treat had a different look.
She checked the oddest one first—a cake with melted jelly seeping out over the surface.
[Filial Cake Gone Wrong (F)]
A treat no one would want to eat. Was it the choice of ingredients? The flavor is so awful it could make you lose weight just by eating it.
“That’s harsh!”
Stung by the criticism, Groo poked the failed treat.
“Would Dad… eat this?”
He’d probably throw it away.
Groo’s half-lidded stare conjured the memory of her father tossing out potatoes.
‘Baily wouldn’t eat it. Neither Mephi nor Wooju…’
Groo’s sadness welled up again, but she set aside her disappointment and checked the other cakes in the mold.
Among the failures, some cakes radiated a peculiar red aura—ominous filial cakes.
The color was a nicely crisped brown.
Lifting one with tongs, she saw chocolate bursting from within, glossing the surface.
[Filial Cake of Fury (Grade Undetermined)]
The grade for this item has not yet been determined. After the item is used, the system will assess all factors and assign a grade.
*Warning: May inflict a status effect; children should eat with caution.
‘Undetermined?’
The grade hadn’t yet been set, but by the looks of it…
‘This seems amazing.’
Filial cakes on a small plate seemed to radiate a powerful halo.
‘All right. Time to test it.’
To determine the grade, someone would have to eat it.
“Children should exercise caution eating it…”
After reading the warning, Groo’s gaze slid over to Per.
“Kkyuu?”
Lucipher tilted his head in curiosity.
“It’s hot, so eat it slowly and carefully.”
With a bright smile, Groo handed over the filial cake.
Shivering as it stared at the red aura, the snow-white baby rabbit reached out its front paws to take the treat.
“Kkyu!”
Gulp!
Steeling itself, Per scarfed down the cake in one bite.
As Per swallowed, light swelled around it, and soon it gleamed even brighter.
[Status effect is cleansed by the Familiar’s innate ability.]
[The Familiar’s rank is temporarily boosted.]
Brrrip. Brrrumble.
Per’s silhouette, wrapped in blinding light, began to change.
Beyond the shining glow, Per—now a fully muscled rabbit—struck a bodybuilding pose, flexing its beefy limbs.
“Pe-Per?!”
“Kkyuhu…”
A deep voice escaped Lucipher as it let out a slow, steaming breath.
One glance was enough to see that breath was packed with mana.
Startled, Groo checked the details of the cakes radiating red aura.
[Filial Cake of Fury (S+)]
The creator’s tears were baked to a crisp inside. When eaten, stats and mana increase drastically for a time, boosting the consumer’s rank, but the status effect ‘Loner’s Fury’ may occur.
*Warning: May inflict a status effect; children should eat with caution.
“Ess… huh?”
Groo blinked at the grade and rubbed her eyes.
Squinting again, she reread it, then mumbled softly to herself:
“Ess… Plus…”
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.
S+ item?
S+, never seen before outside of the Amakusa series?
Groo clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream.
“~~~!!!”
She stomped her feet as she looked at Lucipher.
“Hup!”
‘No running indoors!’
Groo gathered her knees, curling up like a grub, careful not to leap for joy.
Yet, inside her chest, it felt as if bulked-up worms were jumping with excitement. A tingle of electricity danced through her from head to toe.
She couldn’t contain herself!
Groo climbed onto her bed, rolled forward, then backward, then stretched her arms out wide.
“Whew—”
Clap, clap, clap!
Lucipher gave her a round of applause.
Groo responded to the cheer with a bow.
“Thank you, thank you.”
After a few more rolls to calm herself, Groo slapped her flushed cheeks.
Was she dreaming? She checked the filial cake again.
“S Plus!”
Now wasn’t the time to make a fuss. She had to go show Dad right away.
Leaping up, Groo readied herself to head to his office.