At that moment.
Back home, Guru had hung a Do Not Disturb sign and shut herself away in her room to work on her quest.
Whirr, whirr.
In the corner, at her little play kitchen, she was spinning a whisk round and round, fully focused on making flour dough.
Whirr, whirr!
At first, her plan had been to happily make some cookies.
But then, remembering yesterday’s hurtful moment, her hands began to knead with more force.
Splat! Splat!
Before long, she was even punching the dough, lips sticking out and her chin puckered.
Even today, they had gone off without her, without so much as a greeting.
'I hate evewyone...'
Did they just not want to play with her anymore?
Back in the orphanage, there had been a time when the older kids started playing only with ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) others of the same gender.
Was Guru growing apart from her friends in the same way?
“Hff...”
Her lips trembled, and her vision blurred with tears of hurt.
A tear dropped into the dough and quickly soaked in.
At that moment, the dough began to glow.
“Huh?”
And with it, a cascade of pop-ups appeared.
Ding!
[You have crafted ‘Flour Dough Containing the Rage of a Loner (S)’.]
Ding!
[You have created a new status ailment: ‘Rage of a Loner’!]
[Achievement Unlocked: <In 5 Years of Life, I’ve Never Been This Mad>]
You can imbue crafted items with the status ailment ‘Rage of a Loner’.
Those afflicted will feel intense rage and a deep sense of pessimism toward the world.
Guru narrowed her eyes as she read through the pop-ups.
“...Gwuu made somethin’ weiwd.”
Status ailments—debuffs—worked as curses on people, and on monsters they gave effects twice as potent.
Being able to freely put such effects into crafted items... even Amakusa Kazuki couldn’t do that.
'Wonew...'
Still, the name Rage of a Loner made her pout like a duck.
It was weird, but...
“S-Gwade dough!”
Her mood immediately brightened, and she hoisted the mixing bowl high above her head.
“Wif dis, Gwuu can make anyfing!”
Setting aside the strange debuff, she began to think about what kind of snack to make.
“Hmm...”
In front of her were molds shaped like fish, little round takoyaki, and more.
“Otay! Decided!”
After some deliberation, she chose a walnut-shaped mold.
“Since it’s gonna have [Filial Piety Points] in it, it’s a fiwial snack! Whatcha think, Pew?!”
“Kkyu!”
Pew answered enthusiastically, and Guru, pleased with her own rhyme—walnut snack, filial snack—grinned.
“Gwuu gonna make it suuu tasty.”
Her tiny hands filled a piping bag with the dough and squeezed it into the walnut mold.
Splat! Splat!
Dough splattered everywhere, but she didn’t care
Wiping her forehead, she started adding toppings to the centers: jelly, chocolate balls, marshmallows, assorted nuts—everything she personally loved, just in case Pew liked them too.
“Yummy plus yummy is mowe yummy!!”
Humming, she tossed the toppings in at random, covered them with more dough, closed the mold, and slid it into the oven.
“Uh... how do Gwuu put in da points?”
Ding!
[How many [Filial Piety Points] would you like to invest?]
To invest [Filial Piety Points], turn the oven’s dial to the desired amount.
As soon as she shut the oven door, the prompt appeared before her.
“Oh!”
Clack!
She cranked the dial and boldly invested all 100,000 points, then pressed the start button.
A cheerful chime sounded.
[Manufacturing has begun. Estimated completion time: 15 minutes.]
“Fifteen minutes!”
That’s... long? Or is it?
Guru paced anxiously around the oven.
Soon, a savory sweetness began to waft out—
Ding!
The timer chimed, and she dashed forward.
Pulling on thick gloves, she opened the oven, and warm, fragrant air hit her nose.
“Smewws yummy!”
Carefully, she took out the mold and set it on a tray.
Inside, the walnut-shaped pastries, baked snugly together, came into view.
“Oooh...!”
They were all different shapes.
The weirdest-looking one had jelly melted and running down its surface.
[Something’s Wrong with the Filial Snack (F)]
A snack no one would want to eat. Was it the choice of ingredients? So bad that eating it might make you waste away.
“Dat’s meany!”
Shocked at the harsh description, Guru fiddled with the failed one.
“Wouwd... Daddy eat it?”
He’d probably throw it.
Her eyes narrowed as she recalled her dad tossing a potato away.
'Bayi wouldn’t eat it eithew... Mephi or Woojoo, maybe...'
Sadness crept back, but she pushed past it and checked the other snacks in the mold.
Among the failures were some walnut snacks glowing with a red aura.
They were a crisp, perfect brown.
When she lifted one with tongs, chocolate oozed out and coated its surface.
[Filial Snack of Rage (Grade Pending)]
The grade has not been determined. The system will evaluate after activation.
※May cause a status ailment; children should be careful when eating.
'Pending?'
It wasn’t graded yet, but...
'Feels... amazing.'
It was as if a brilliant halo radiated from the snack on the plate.
'Otay. Time to test.'
To determine its grade, someone had to eat it.
“Chiwdwen shouwd be cawefuw when eatin’...”
After reading the warning, her gaze slid over to Pew.
“Kkyuu?”
Lukshifer tilted his head.
“’Cause it’s hot, chew it weaw swowwy.”
Smiling sweetly, Guru held the snack out.
The white baby rabbit, trembling at the sight of the red aura, reached out with both paws and took it.
“Kkyu!”
Chomp!
With determined resolve, Pew devoured it in one bite.
As he swallowed, light swirled around him, and his body began to shine.
[Status ailment has been purified by the follower’s unique ability.]
[Follower’s grade temporarily increases.]
'Bulge, swell.'
Within the bright light, Pew’s silhouette shifted—
And there he was beyond the glow, muscles bulging, striking a bodybuilding pose to show them off.
“P-Pew?!”
“Kkyu-huff...”
Steam rose from Lukshifer’s mouth in a deep exhale, thick with mana.
Guru, startled, checked the info on the red-aura snack.
[Filial Snack of Rage (S+)]
The crafter’s tears were baked to a crisp. Upon consumption, greatly increases stats and mana for a set time, raising the eater’s grade, but may inflict the ‘Rage of a Loner’ status ailment.
※May cause a status ailment; children should be careful when eating.
“Ess... pwus?”
She rubbed her eyes, then read it aloud again in a small voice.
“Ess... Pwus...”
Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped.
An S+ item?
The only other S+ was the Amakusa Series!
She clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming.
She stomped her feet, looking at Lukshifer.
“Hah!”
'No wunnin’ in da house!'
Guru clamped her knees together, curling into a little grub shape.
But inside her chest, bulked-up worms thumped around, sending tingling jolts to her toes.
She couldn’t hold it in!
She jumped on the bed, rolled forward once, rolled back once, and flung her arms wide.
“Whooo—”
Clap clap clap!
Lukshifer applauded.
Guru bowed in response to the cheer.
“Fank yoo, fank yoo.”
After a few more rolls, she finally calmed down enough to slap her flushed cheeks.
This wasn’t a dream, right? She checked the snack again.
“Ess Pwus!”
No time to waste squealing—she had to brag to Daddy right now.
Guru sprang to her feet, ready to head to his office.

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