16 Dinner With An Angered Little Sister
Hey, Shun here!
I like cooking, but color me surprised when I heard this one simple fact about the hat that chefs wear — technically called a toque.
Did you know that the 100 folds in a chef's hat represent 100 ways to cook an egg? I know, like, seriously?
I only know five recipes to cook an egg but there's actually 100 different ways? Who knew that those 100 folds in a chef's hat were there for a reason?
According to Reclutant Gourmet, the pleats used to signify a chef's level of experience, like the number of ways he or she knew how to prepare eggs.
The more you know, right?
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(Shun's POV)
In the game world, the dusky sky could be seen, but in reality where it's already midsummer, the bright sun is still quite high in the sky. It will probably set in a few more hour's time.
Even so, since it's already past six o'clock in the evening, a slightly cool wind was blowing compared to the scorching weather this morning. Although the soumen on the table was slightly cool, there was another reason for the atmosphere to feel cold.
When the time came for us to eat dinner, Miu came out of her room.
"..."
She sat beside the table and sipped the noodles in silence. Her glare was sharp, and the atmosphere was bad.
"What is it?"
"Nothing..."
Normally she's an energetic little sister, but occasionally she would sulk like so. Well, she's in her third year of middle school, in the middle of her puberty.
When I thought about that, I realized why was she feeling grumpy today. Even though I already explained it, it's probably because of my Sense build.
"Is it still about is not being able to go on an adventure together?"
"We-Well… It's because Onii-chan chose the bow so…"
"That's just the meta that you beta players established. Since the core principle of the game is to become the 'only one', I want to try doing just that."
She already know that I've had my fair share of practice with Kyudo and Archery so I think her only concern is the fact that I would have problems with arrows. After all, the price of the arrows that I fully consumed in-game was 300G in total, almost a third of the initial 1000G that us, the newbies, received.
Miu took a big breath and made a grand sigh.
"About that, I'm sorry Onii-chan."
"There's no need to be sorry. I quite understand where you're coming from, after all. I was quite skeptical at my choice at first, too."
"Speaking of that problem, did you find the solution, Onii-chan? Does it have something to do with the question you made me ask to my acquaintances?"
Oh, yeah. I did ask her and Shizuka-nee about the recipes of [Synthesis] in order to save some time in figuring it out.
"Nn, well, yeah. I've found the way to make a Wooden Arrow. I'll see if I can make a stone or iron arrow later on. Right, I think I need your help in gathering items for my arrows."
Miu tilted her head at my words, probably wondering about what I'm talking about.
"Items?"
"Yeah. If you have crow feathers and tree branches sitting in your inventory, can you trade it with me? I kinda need a lot of them to create arrows after all. I'll pay for it, of course…"
"Okay! Let's meet up at the plaza after entering the game tomorrow, then!"
"Alright."
It's good that she's cheerful now. However, I wonder if that was really what she was originally upset with… Or is it about some other thing?
"Then? What is it that made you so gloomy earlier?"
"It's like this, Onii-chan. The people with whom I've been playing with ever since β version of the game brought in a new person, and I'm kinda on bad terms with that person… Sorry if I brought my bad mood in front of the table."
"Is that so. Well, it's fine. I'll gladly hear your complaints."
"Sure. Well, to start with, that person's an absolute show-off! Although we were still recovering from a tough fight, they proceeded forward and died. After we gathered again, that person put all the blame on our support, even though it was all her fault! That's why I'm kinda angry…"
"A typical case of a DPS creating the mess and then putting all the blame to the support if they died, huh…" That's really quite the toxic behavior.
"On the other hand, without that person in our party, our exploration proceeded without any problems. As expected, one couldn't be accepted in a party after dying. Not like we would accept her in the party after knowing that she just died."
"If I'm not wrong, there should be some kind of penalty if you died, right? What was it?"
"It's called 'death penalty', to be exact. The effect of death penalty is the decrease of a player's status for one hour."
"That sounds like a pain. Not like I plan to die, anyway. Even if I die, I have my crafting Senses to pass time."
It seems that she got curious about what I said as she looked at me with a curious glint in her eyes.
"What are the levels of your Senses Onii-chan? Since seven hours of game time already passed, you should be around level 8 or so now, right?" Miu's eyes were practically shining.
"Mm… I already have a few skills that went past 8. Its like this; [Bow Lv16],[Physical Attack Increase Lv15],[Speed Increase Lv12],[Vital Points Knowledge Lv14],[Synthesis Lv4],[Alchemy Lv3],[Enchant Lv16],[Recovery Magic Lv12],[Magic Talent Lv13],[Magic Power Lv19]."
Miu stopped in her tracks for a few minutes before her mouth turned into an 'O' shape as she looked at me in bewilderment.
"Wow! Such a high level! What did you do to reach those levels Onii-chan?"
"Well, I fought against that Big Boar inside the forest. It was a hard fought battle and it lasted for two hours. Two and a half hours if you count the chase after I ran out of arrows. That's the reason why I got such a high level in my defense oriented Senses."
"Then, since you want to take those tree branches and crow feathers from me, I want Onii-chan to party with us! My party members also have those items so it's a win-win! I get to see how Onii-chan fight, too!"
I thought about her suggestion for a moment and agreed to her request. It's not like I'm gonna lose anything from participating in a party hunt.
Also, it's been a while since I've been in a party, so it's about time for me to practice how to move in coordination inside one. After all, there's about three days left before our quest starts.
Even though there's a high probability that the girls would go on a party together, it's still an experience I need to have.
"Alright. I want to increase the level of my [Bow] Sense too before moving on to searching through the forest for some adventure."
"It's decided, then!"
Since my roundabout errand is cut off mostly because I'll be receiving the items from my little sister's party, I'm in quite a good mood. Thus, I continued my conversation with my little sister.
"Miu, how do your Senses look like now?"
"Hmm, [Sword Lv12], [Armour Lv11], [Attack Power Increase Lv6], [Defence Power Increase Lv6], [Fighting Spirit Lv4], [Magic Talent Lv10], [Magic Power Lv14], [Magic Power Recovery Lv7], [Light Element Lv5], and [Recovery Magic Lv7], something like that?"
"That's quite a growth. You've gotten 4 SP too."
"Well, Onee-chan's about the same as me in level. It looks like Onii-chan is different, though…" Miu sipped some water from her glass before continuing.
"You have double my sense points. Also higher than what Onee-chan have right now… So… it kinda looks like you're the β player rather than me and Onee-chan."
"That's because you were in a party and I'm not. I hunted quite a lot of monsters today and got all of the experience without sharing it with party members."
"No, I think that you're just a cheat Onii-chan. Normally, the progress of a party is faster than a solo player. You're just the one who's abnormally fast."
After the dinner, Miu went to take a bath while I prepared a meal for my parents — since they said that they're gonna go home tonight — and cleaned up the dishes. I made sure to make the dinner extra special since, when they reach our home, they'll surely be tired because of the long travel.
After Miu was done bathing, I went into bathroom as well and leisurely enjoyed my bath time. Afterwards, I once again logged into [OSO].
I should really go look for a buyer for my items. If I can't find one, I'll just sell it to the NPC stores even though the selling prices would be cut down by half. I thought to myself as the hypnotic induction began.
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※~To be continued~※
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Author's Remarks:
※ I'll go into explaining what the individual Senses of Shun does. Since I already explained how Alchemy, Synthesis, and Vital Points Knowledge work, I'll explain the other remaining Senses below.
Shun's Senses and Descriptions
Possessed SP: 8
✽✽[Bow]✽✽
Level: 16
Description:
A Sense that allows a player to wield a Bow. Applies damage when players attack by using a bow, as well as a skill correction and use relative to its level.
[Arts]:
• "Long Range Shooting"
- Charge up the shot for a longer range. Range increases from 50-100 percent depending on how long the charge time is. Automatically unlocks once the [Bow] Sense reached level 5.
• "Rapid Fire Bow - Twin Needles"
- Adds a motion assist that allows the user to shoot two arrows at the same time. Applies an additional damage correction in each skill use. Automatically unlocks once the [Bow] Sense reached level 10.
• "Bow Skill - Arrow Stitching"
- This Skill applies an additional damage correction in each skill use. This skill also adds a 'piercing' effect to the arrow fired while using this skill, allowing them to deal damage while ignoring the opposition's defense. Automatically unlocks once the [Bow] Sense reached level 15
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✽✽[Physical Attack Increase]✽✽
Level: 15
Description:
A Sense that increases a player's physical damage relative to its level.
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✽✽[Speed Increase]✽✽
Level: 12
Description:
A Sense that increases a player's SPEED relative to its level.
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✽✽[Vital Points Knowledge]✽✽
Level: 14
Description:
A Sense that increases accuracy when aiming for vital spots and adds a damage bonus.
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✽✽[Synthesis]✽✽
Level: 4
Description:
A Sense which allows a player to produce combined items, creating an item from other items. It requires a synthesis kit to be used manually. The base kit allow for the synthesis from 2 items. Better kits allows synthesis from 3, 4, 5, etc items depending on their level. The process consume MP both when done manually or through a recipe.
[Recipes]:
• 2x Beginner's Potion => Poison(failure); Potion(success)
• 1x Tree Branch + 2x Crow Feather => 2x Wooden Arrows
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✽✽[Alchemy]✽✽
Level: 3
Description:
A Sense that allows a player to create an item from other items. It can mimic other Crafting Senses but with a lower efficiency.
[Skills]:
• Matter Conversion
- Has two results. First is[Higher Matter Conversion]. Allows a player to combine items to create a higher version said items. [Lower Matter Conversion], on the other hand, allows a player to create lower versions of an item.
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✽✽[Enchant]✽✽
Level: 15
Description:
A Sense that allows the user to apply buffs to themselves and others. The maximum range of the skill is 2 meters.
[Skills]:
• "Enchant Attack"
- Increases the target's Physical Attack for a short period.
• "Enchant Defense"
- Increases the target's Defense for a short period.
• "Enchant Speed"
- Increases the target's Speed for a short period.
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✽✽[Recovery Magic]✽✽
Level: 12
Description:
A Sense which allows using recovery-type magic which recovers HP and release abnormal states.
[Skills]:
• "Heal"
- Recovers a target's HP relative to the caster's level. Automatically unlocked once you learn the [Recovery Magic] Sense.
• "Curse Dispel"
- Removes the 'cursed' status effects on a target. Automatically unlocks once the [Recovery Magic] Sense reached level 5.
• "Round Heal"
- A stronger version of the Heal skill. Recovers more of a target's HP relative to the caster's level. Automatically unlocks once the [Recovery Magic] Sense reached level 10.
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✽✽[Magic Talent]✽✽
Level: 13
Description:
A Sense that allows the user to acquire and use Magic Talents as a Sense with the condition of him having an MP stat.
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✽✽[Magic Power]✽✽
Level: 19
Description:
A Sense that adds the Magic Power(MP) stat to the user. The MP's growth is relative to this Sense's level. Allows the user to use the [Skills] and [Arts] of Magic Talents and Senses.
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