MUP: Chapter 61. Unboxing

"Thanks for the hard work."

In the antique store, Ryan subconsciously spoke to Ah Xing, who had just returned.

Then, he realized the other party was just his clone, not a real person.

Because the clone changed its appearance with the transformation technique, which was fused with the card from the system, even Ryan, the real body, subconsciously ignored the identity of the other party.

Shaking his head, Ryan severed the chakra supply to the clone. The next thing he heard was a 'bang!'.

Ah Xing, who was just standing in front of him, disappeared into white smoke. The D-level card that was incorporated into the clone also returned to the system.

Looking down, Ryan glanced at the cards in the system. Ryan then turned his attention back to the column where the system displayed the reputation points.

[Reputation points]: 1255

With Phantom Thief Kid and Ah Xing's hard work, Ryan's point collecting speed was much faster than ever before.

It didn't take long to gather enough points to redeem the [Black Iron Treasure Chest].

Seeing that there were over a thousand reputation points on the system data panel, Ryan didn't hesitate and immediately used it to buy a [Black Iron Treasure Chest].

After the familiar white light, two items appeared from the treasure chest.

[Item: Cyclone Magnum]

[Effect: Racing]

[Introduction: Now, Cyclone Magnum! Use Cyclone Magnum tornado!]

The white and blue tiny raising car in the treasure chest brought back memories of Ryan's childhood. Cyclone Magnum, Hurricane Sonic and Ray Stinger; all of them had Ryan's heart racing back then. Tamiya bodies, rechargeable battery, tail unit, and plasma dash motor, which now seem to be full of gimmicks, had robbed him of a lot of pocket money.

Shaking his head, he pulled his thoughts back from his childhood memories.

He looked back at the Cyclone Magnum in front of him again. It seems that there were no other obvious functions besides bringing up childhood memories. Shaking his head speechlessly, Ryan then placed his attention on the card that came out.

[D-level card -- Shell]

[Skill: Dim Sum Master]

[Background introduction: Commonly known as "Steel Staff Shell". He is a "Dim Sum Master" from Shanxi who travels all over the world to add stars to the end of his steel staff. Each star represented a chef he had defeated. His staff was his cooking utensil and his weapon. It was the reason he was called "Steel Staff shell". His body is very sturdy and tall, muscular, brash and generous. He claims to be the number one dim sum in the world.]

[Remarks: Cooking is something that brings happiness to people.]

'Shell is also a D-level card?'

Looking at the new card that came from the treasure chest, a little doubt flashed through Ryan's heart.

'The [Dim Sum Master] skill aside, this guy is only an ordinary person!'

Perhaps his definition of a D-level card was off from the start, and [Phantom Thief Kid] was also just an ordinary person.

In the antique shop, Ryan touched his chin, lost in thought.

His previous definition of D-level was gradually inclined to a character with certain extraordinary ability, but now it seemed that it might be more accurate to describe it as people that reached the pinnacle of human abilities.

This explained why Ryan got [Shell] as a D-level card. Apparently, in the system's definition, [Dim Sum Master] was also one of the abilities at the peak of human performance.

The explanation was reasonable, but, 'Why do I feel that I have such a weak heart?'

Thinking about it, he spent a thousand points on childhood memories and being a chef. If it was someone else, they wouldn't be happy.

A thousand reputation points couldn't just go to waste.

Thinking about it, Ryan placed the newly acquired [Shell] card into the card slot.

He wanted to see what was so special about [Shell], which had the [Dim Sum Master] skill and had been defined as a D-level card by the system.

With the new D-level card, Ryan's original absent-minded expression slightly changed. He felt that some memories of cooking he did not have in the past started appearing in his brain. These memories started from the most basic, like noodles, to advanced dim sum making. Everything was available. It even gave him a feeling that if he tried it, he would be able to make those exquisite dishes in his memory.

Obviously, [Dim Sum Master] was also a kind of passive skill, and it was a passive skill that acted on memory, different from the past [Adrenaline Acceleration].

In the face of countless food in his memory, Ryan unwillingly gulped.

After spending a long time in this world, he hadn't tasted authentic Chinese food to his liking. Most of the Chinese restaurants in New York were selling 'improved' Chinese food.

'Maybe I should try cooking some?'

'I should practice more and familiarise myself with the cards. Yeah, that's the reason!'

After racking his brains to come up with a reasonable excuse for himself, Ryan stopped hesitating and rushed out of the antique shop towards the nearest supermarket.

"Shrimp, pork, beef, vegetables, egg yolk, and most importantly flour …"

"Uh, I need a steamer, too. Damn it, there's no steamer in the supermarket. Do I have to take a trip to Chinatown? Not only a steamer but a rolling pin too ..."

　　...

"Finally, everything is here."

He went home, carrying two big bags.

Looking at the kitchen full of cooking ingredients, Ryan was a little relieved. At the same time, he felt his hands twitchy and couldn't help but feel the urge to start cooking.

'Is this the culinary soul of the "Dim Sum Master"?'

With a subconscious remark, Ryan gave up on suppressing his urge to cook.

He mixed the dough and chopped the ingredients.

These things that were unfamiliar to Ryan at first weren't hard at all now. He saw his hands quickly stirring and kneading, nimbly moving the flour in and out. Soon, the loose flour in front of him turned into a smooth and soft dough. Looking at the finished noodles, Ryan nodded his head, but his hands didn't stop for a moment. He finished handling the various ingredients he bought with ease.

"These are frozen ingredients from the supermarket, after all. They're not as fresh as I thought, but I can make it work." Taking the vegetables out of the bag and without looking closely, with just a few glances, Ryan could already tell that the freshness of the ingredients wasn't ideal.

After picking and choosing from the ingredients to find the ones he thought would still work, Ryan raised the kitchen knife in his hand. With a flash of the knife, along with the crisp and rhythmic sound of chopping, the ingredients on the cutting board were transformed into the filling needed for the next dish.