“Upsy-daisy!”
Guru plopped down on the floor and opened her skill window.
‘Piggy bank!’
She opened her point bank—the one that stored [Filial Piety Points] every time she got praised—and her jaw dropped.
‘Twenty thousand!’
Even now, her [Filial Piety Points] were ticking upward by 1.
That meant people were praising Guru everywhere.
“Woooow...”
Guru let out a breathy gasp, her eyes sparkling.
Was it because of the gifts Santa Guru had delivered?
“Hoooff!”
Guru inhaled again, cheeks puffing out round like a balloon.
She was so giddy, she almost screamed.
“Pufff!”
Instead, she exhaled and, with a solemn heart, poured all her [Filial Piety Points] into maxing out the skill [Scoop-Scoop Pluck].
She used up every single point she had saved.
Would this be enough to make you mine?
‘You, Supreme Acorn!’
Guru took the acorn out from her inventory and locked eyes with it challengingly.
Hmph! She snorted through her nose and activated her skill.
[Activating skill: ‘Scoop-Scoop Pluck.’]
A star candy shimmered into her hand like a tiny jewel.
Guru raised the candy high above her head with both hands.
She did it! Her ❖ Nоvеlight ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеlight) arms trembled with excitement.
“Gwuu, Supreme...!”
[Star Candy Infused with Elixir (SSS)]
It contains a special power of purification.
SSS-rank?! Her head spun and her chest thudded with anticipation.
‘Now with this and this, smush-smush together...’
Guru took out the [Suspicious Star Candy], a reward from the [Caregiver Quest], and turned toward the snow bunny she’d just made.
‘Hm.’
It had two random leaves stuck on top for ears, but still—it was cute enough.
She placed the [Star Candy Infused with Elixir] and the [Suspicious Star Candy] on the snow bunny and activated another skill.
[Activating skill: ‘Smush-Smush’]
Thump-thump.
[You have created your first blood relative.]
[Achievement unlocked: <Great Creator>!]
‘Blood relative?’
From the plain white face, two tiny black dots popped open—eyes that twinkled like black beans and blinked a couple times.
Then the leaf ears sank into the snow, and two fresh sprouts with twin seedling leaves poked out.
“Kyuu...”
The tiny snow bunny toddled forward and nuzzled its cheek against the back of Guru’s hand.
The soft tickle of that white fluff made Guru giggle bashfully.
“So squishy-squishy.”
Guru’s innocent laugh echoed, and Mephisto—perched atop her head, watching with suspicious eyes—visibly jolted in shock.
Mephisto’s fiery gaze bounced between Guru and the snow bunny.
“Pbit!”
He kicked the baby bunny.
“Kyuuut!”
The snow bunny squealed as Mephisto’s foot thudded into it.
Its eyes welled up, and it trembled so hard that the cotton ball-sized snow clump shrank smaller than Guru’s fist.
“Mephi! No be mean tu yo’ wittwe sibwing!”
“Kyuuuu...”
The snow bunny sluggishly inched toward Guru and then... melted into her.
“Ohing!”
It vanished?!
Then—
A tingly tickle brushed the top of her head.
Guru reached up and touched her crown—and found two little sprouts growing from her scalp.
“Hupp?”
‘A-a sprout grew on Gwuu’s head!’
While Guru marveled in awe, Mephisto looked as if his entire world had shattered.
“Piiiiiit!”
Having lost his usual perch, Mephi angrily pecked at the sprouts with his beak.
“Kyuuuu!”
The sprout whimpered and darted away, dodging Mephisto’s flurry of attacks with panicked hops.
“Nooo, stawp iiiit—!”
Apparently, Mephi was a lot more jealous than expected.
The sprout transformed back into a marble-sized snow bunny and scurried into Guru’s palm.
Hmph! Mephisto puffed out his feathers, then strutted back atop Guru’s head like a conquering emperor.
Guru gently comforted the sobbing snow bunny.
“Eyyoo, waisin’ babi is hawd wowk.”
She shook her head wearily.
Just then, the snow bunny’s runny nose stretched into a droopy strand and plop—dripped onto the snowy ground.
The moment that snot touched the snow, the air quivered.
Then—
Ding!
[To the Cradle...]
Pop!
‘Huh?’
A status window had started to appear—
‘But it disappeared before it could finish!’
At that same moment, the sprout leaves on the snow bunny went pop and fell off.
‘Whaaat!’
The moment the leaves dropped, the snow bunny shivered violently, then flopped backward, belly-up.
‘Gasp!’
Guru picked up the snow bunny with both hands, swallowing hard.
‘I-it’s dead...’
What should she do now?
Was she really saying bye-bye to her very first blood relative (whatever that meant)?
While Guru stood frozen in shock—
“Pbit!”
Mephisto flew in again and kicked the bunny right in the belly.
Thunk, the bunny rolled to the side, letting out a weak groan.
“Kyuuut...”
“St-stop! Stawp dat!”
It really might die at this rate!
Guru grabbed Mephisto with both hands and plopped him back on her head with a big sigh.
‘It’s not dead.’
Thank goodness it’s not bye-bye. Guru gently tucked the softly snoring snow bunny into her bag.
Once the chaos had calmed, Suhyeong—who’d been glued to his phone—finally called to her.
“Guru, would you like to come inside with Grandpa for a bit?”
“Okaay—!”
Guru scampered over, and Suhyeong quickly bent down and scooped her up in his arms.
“Whoof, did you have fun playing?”
“Yeps!”
“That’s good. Isn’t a big house like this nice, too? The house next door has a big garden like this, too. Lots of room to run around, build snowmen all day.”
“Woooow—!”
Still coaxing her with sugary words, Suhyeong carried Guru inside, warmed her cheeks and hands with his giant palms, and then lifted her up onto the couch.
He checked something on his phone, then turned on the TV and flipped through the channels.
Just then, a special interview began to air.
Guru blinked a few times at the guest on screen, then craned her neck forward.
No matter how she looked at it...
“Dadda?”
The man on screen, legs crossed and bored expression on his face—that was definitely Jurim.
“Today we’re honored to welcome Guildmaster On Jurim. Hello, thank you for joining us.”
The anchor, clearly a bit tense, turned his polished face toward the guest.
Jurim smiled with calm confidence like a seasoned public figure.
“This is On Jurim of Hyeonak. Thank you for having me.”
The anchor struggled to contain his excitement.
He’d sent the interview request without much hope—and had been stunned when Jurim immediately replied, not only agreeing, but requesting to appear live on today’s broadcast.
“I understand the recent potion crisis has kept you extremely busy. What’s your outlook on the situation moving forward?”
“The situation has improved significantly. Negotiations are progressing smoothly, so I’m optimistic. All the stakeholders are working hard, so I ask the public for their patience.”
“Was there anything that personally took a toll on you?”
“Well, it’s hard when my daughter doesn’t appreciate how hard I’m working.”
Sloth, he muttered with a sigh, making the anchor chuckle.
After some formal Q&A about the potion crisis, the anchor brought up the next topic.
“With Hunter Gidan breaking into Rank 3 and Hunter Shin Nayeon reaching S-Rank, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say all eyes are on Hyeonak these days. And in recent days, rumors have exploded that the mysterious ‘Santa’ is affiliated with your guild. Until now, Hyeonak has maintained a ‘no comment’ stance, but some have taken that vagueness as confirmation. Is there anything you’d like to say on the matter today, Guildmaster?”
“Hmm.”
Jurim, still casually tapping his thigh, finally spoke.
“Yes. That awakened individual everyone’s talking about is with Hyeonak.”
“Yes... of course... wait, what?”
The anchor had expected a generic dodge—something along the lines of “I can’t confirm or deny”—but he was so caught off guard, he momentarily forgot how to speak.
Jurim didn’t stop there. He doubled down, crystal clear.
“The awakened crafter responsible for the recent potion donation is a member of Hyeonak.”

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