New Tasks, New Delicacies

Before long, Barboach and Whiscash helped Angie plant the lotus roots, and the brothers then returned to their original home to prepare for moving.

Angie went to help as well.

The two brothers dug up the remaining lotus roots from the puddle, and Angie, along with Munchlax and the others, helped transport them back to his house.

Barboach and Whiscash had already decided to store all the lotus roots at Angie's place. Angie put them in the fridge and instructed Diancie to take some to Barboach and Whiscash every afternoon and evening.

And just like that, the two brothers officially became Angie's neighbors.

...

A few more days passed. One morning, after Angie and Munchlax had seen off the Pokémon that had finished their breakfast, Angie suddenly received a system notification—his task status had changed. The task bar now showed.

[ Entertain 100 Pokémon within 30 days (100/100) — ( Completed, click to claim the reward ) ]

The final beginner task was done, and Angie had been deliberately taking his time. He hadn't expected to finish it so soon.

Without hesitation, he clicked to claim the reward. A system pop-up appeared immediately.

[ Congratulations! You've earned the reward: Physique +2 ]

Angie had just claimed this reward when another notification instantly popped up in the task bar.

[ Congratulations on completing the beginner phase! Achievement reward: Physique +5, Intelligence +5, Home Binding Qualification, System Permission Sharing Qualification. ]

Glancing at his personal info, Angie saw that the stats had indeed been updated.

...

[ Angie ]

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 16 (+500)

Physique: 12

Intelligence: 8

Cooking Skill Evaluation: A fledgling who can make edible food.

...

He clenched his fists, feeling power surge through his body, as if he could punch out a Tauros with a single blow.

When he checked the system task bar again, he noticed that it had been updated. It now displayed.

[ (Daily Task 1) Train for 1 hour in the cooking training room — Incomplete. ]

[ (Daily Task 2) Entertain 10 Pokémon — Completed, click to claim the reward. ]

Angie didn't need to guess; he knew these two daily tasks were fixed and would refresh every day. He promptly claimed the reward for the already completed [ Daily Task 2 ].

A pop-up notification appeared.

[ Congratulations! You've earned: 1 pound of rice. ]

One pound of rice? That's a pretty meager reward, huh?

But thinking it over, Angie found it reasonable—daily tasks would refresh every day, so the rewards were bound to be modest.

He checked his system inventory and indeed found a label for "1 pound of rice." Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he'd had rice. Tonight's dinner would be rice, along with a couple of stir-fried dishes—surely a delicious meal. Luckily, the vegetable garden had plenty ready for harvest.

But wait... His beginner phase was over, so what about the spices in his kitchen? If those were gone, he'd be in trouble. Without spices, he wouldn't be able to stir-fry anything!

Suddenly, Angie remembered that the beginner phase completion came with a special reward—Home Binding Qualification and System Permission Sharing Qualification. What could those be?

"Diancie! Diancie!"

It was time to summon his trusty guide!

"Coming, coming!"

Diancie rushed over, thinking something was wrong. But after hearing Angie's question, she understood and replied, "Oh, that's what it's about!"

She then patiently explained what Home Binding Qualification and System Permission Sharing meant.

First, the Home Binding Qualification.

Angie could select a place as his "home" and bind it to the system. Once bound, any Pokémon living in that "home" could be summoned or sent back at any time, no matter where Angie was.

Next was system permission sharing.

Angie could issue salaries (Happiness Points) to the Pokémon living in the "home" and share access to the system shop with them. This would allow the Pokémon to shop freely in the system store!

After listening to Diancie's explanation, Angie exclaimed with delight, "Wow, that's so convenient!"

Diancie nodded excitedly, "Do you want to bind the home now?" Her face was full of anticipation—she too wanted to shop in the system store!

Angie responded eagerly, "Bind it, bind it! Of course, our current place will be the home."

"Alright."

As Diancie finished speaking, a system window popped up on Angie's interface.

[ Would you like to bind your current residence as the home? ]

[ Yes ]

[ No ]

Without hesitation, Angie clicked "Yes," and the system immediately notified him.

[ Congratulations! Your home successfully bounded. ]

Diancie then asked, "Do you want to share system permissions with the Pokémon?"

Angie didn't hesitate either, "Share, share."

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, another system window appeared.

[ Would you like to share the subsystem with the Pokémon? ]

[ Yes ]

[ No ]

This subsystem must be the shared permissions, Angie thought. After clicking "Yes," another window popped up immediately.

[ Please select the subsystem sharing recipients. ]

[ 1. Diancie ]

[ 2. Komala ]

[ 3. Munchlax ]

This was a multi-selection option, so Angie selected all three Pokémon. The system instantly showed a message.

[ Congratulations! Subsystem successfully shared. ]

After the permission sharing was complete, Angie noticed that a new button had appeared on the bottom of his personal info screen.

[ Distribute Salary ]

He clicked the button, and a new window popped up.

Please select salary recipients.

[ Diancie (+) ]

[ Komala (+) ]

[ Munchlax (+) ]

This was also a multi-selection, and the parentheses next to each name were for inputting the salary amount.

Angie thought for a moment and then entered 500 for each of them. It wasn't that he was stingy, he was just broke—but the salary would definitely increase in the future.

After inputting the amounts and confirming, his Happiness Points immediately decreased by 1,500. At the same time, Diancie and the other two Pokémon received a notification, as a screen popped up before them.

...

[ Diancie ]

Balance: 500

<<Shop >>

<<Backpack >>

...

The subsystem interfaces for all three Pokémon were identical except for the names. They were simple and easy to use.

Being the system's guide spirit, Diancie was familiar with everything. Seeing the interface appear, she playfully said to Angie, "Thanks for the tip, boss."

Meanwhile, Komala and Munchlax were puzzled by the sudden appearance of this interface.

Seeing this, Angie said to Diancie, "Alright, quit messing around. Go teach Munchlax and Komala how to use the system before their CPUs fry."

"On it, boss!" Diancie dashed off in a flash.

Angie shook his head with a smile.

Soon, the three Pokémon gathered together to figure out how to use their subsystems.

Later, while Angie was preparing lunch, he noticed that not only were his spices still there, but there were even more now, along with flour and other ingredients.

Diancie then explained the reason to him. To help him transition smoothly, the system provided him with enough ingredients and spices for one month. After they ran out, if Angie still hadn't found a way to source more ingredients, it wouldn't be the system's responsibility.

Angie once again felt that the system was truly considerate, thinking of every detail.

That evening, Angie and Munchlax continued their usual training session in the culinary training room. After one hour, the system task panel updated.

[ (Daily Task 1) Train in the culinary training room for 1 hour—Completed, click to claim the reward. ]

[ (Daily Task 2) Entertain 10 Pokémon—Completed, click to claim the reward. ]

He clicked to claim the reward, and the system popped up with a message.

[ Congratulations! You have received: A bunch of celery. ]

Well, the daily task rewards were about what he expected.

The next morning, Angie's door was knocked on by Diancie.

"Angie, there's a new task. Do you want to take it?"

"What kind of task?" Angie asked.

"Take a look." Diancie showed Angie the task window.

[ (Procurement Task) Go to Azoth City to purchase ingredients. Would you like to accept? ]

[ Yes ]

[ No ]

Angie was momentarily stunned by this task.

Azoth City—his former home! He had always thought about going back to visit, but knowing that everything might have changed there now made him hesitant.

Was it finally time to go back?

Diancie could sense Angie's mixed emotions. After all, Azoth City had once been her home too.

"Let's go back and take a look," Diancie said.

"Alright." Angie smiled and nodded at Diancie. He accepted the task, and the system task panel immediately changed.

[ (Daily Task 1) Train in the culinary training room for 1 hour—In progress. ]

[ (Daily Task 2) Entertain 10 Pokémon—In progress. ]

[ (Procurement Task) Go to Azoth City to purchase ingredients—In progress. ]

The daily tasks refreshed automatically every day, so Angie didn't need to accept them. The rewards might be ordinary, but they added up over time. Plus, as Diancie mentioned, there was always a slim chance of getting something really good, depending on Angie's luck.

Additionally, now that the beginner period was over, none of Angie's tasks would have time limits anymore. However, some tasks, if left incomplete for too long, might block the triggering of future tasks.

After accepting the task, Angie, Diancie, and Munchlax headed downstairs to start their day.

In the kitchen, Angie assigned Munchlax the task of making steamed buns, while he prepared the reward from the previous night—a bunch of celery.

"Munch~ Munch?"

Master, what are you doing?

Munchlax asked, while kneading the dough, eyes fixed on the celery in Angie's hands. Was his master about to make something delicious again?

Thinking about the fragrant rice they had eaten the night before, Munchlax couldn't help but drool. It was so tasty!

The only downside was the portion size. They had just barely gotten a taste.

Angie's rice reward from yesterday had only been one pound—not nearly enough for Munchlax's large appetite.

Angie smiled and said, "This morning we're not having steamed buns, we're going to try something else." He planned to use the freshly acquired celery to make stuffed buns.

Steamed buns had nothing on stuffed buns in terms of flavor.

Upon hearing Angie's words, Munchlax's eyes immediately lit up, and its dough-kneading speed increased noticeably.

I'm so excited!!!

Angie glanced at Munchlax and shook his head helplessly.

He carefully washed and finely chopped the celery, mixing it with various seasonings. He even added some green onions and garlic from his own garden, along with some system-provided sesame oil. The aroma was beyond tempting.

Once the stuffing was ready, Angie took the dough that Munchlax had kneaded, rolled it into long strips, and cut it into equal portions before starting to make the buns.

Supporting the dough with his left hand, he placed the filling inside and, using the pinch between his thumb and forefinger on his right hand, twisted the bun closed. His thumb remained still while his forefinger rotated the dough, forming neat folds along the top of the bun.

Without even mentioning the taste, the appearance of Angie's buns was impeccable—round, white, and the size of a baby's fist. The folds were evenly sized and perfectly aligned, resembling machine-made buns rather than handmade ones. Without solid skills, it would be impossible to produce such precision.

Angie worked quickly, and before long, the cutting board was full of plump, cute little buns. Munchlax's eyes sparkled, watching intently without blinking.

"Munch~ Munch!"

Master, I want to learn this!

Munchlax exclaimed.

Angie chuckled, "You want to learn?"

"Munch~~"

Munchlax nodded eagerly, gently touching one of the buns and thinking to itself: so adorable.

"Alright, I'll teach you later," Angie replied, naturally agreeing.

"Munch!!"

Munchlax was so excited it started spinning in circles on the spot.

After the other Pokémon finished breakfast, Angie, Diancie, Munchlax, and Komala gathered around a table, with a steaming pot of stuffed buns sitting in the center. The rising steam carried the delicious scent to the noses of the group.

Munchlax couldn't stop twitching its nose, as if trying to inhale all the aroma.

"Alright, everyone, let's dig in! Try today's stuffed buns and see if they're tasty," Angie announced.

As soon as Angie finished speaking, Munchlax eagerly grabbed a bun.

"Hoo ha~ Hoo ha~~"

The buns, fresh out of the steamer, were very hot. Munchlax winced from the heat, sucking in air to cool down, but even so, it refused to put the delicious bun down.

Although Komala kept its eyes closed, its movements were just as quick as Munchlax's.

Munchlax took a big bite, devouring half the bun. The crispy celery filling, juicy and bursting with flavor, was mixed with bits of green onion, and the fresh taste of the vegetables, combined with the wheat aroma of the bun, complemented each other perfectly.

Exquisite!

"Munch~~~"

So delicious!

it exclaimed.

Seeing Munchlax and Komala enjoying themselves, Angie smiled and urged Diancie, "Diancie, you should eat too."

The four of them quickly polished off the entire pot of stuffed buns. Munchlax, still unsatisfied, grabbed an entire pot of steamed buns to devour on its own.

There was no helping it—there wasn't much celery from the system reward, and Angie only had enough to make a small batch of stuffed buns. For Munchlax, it was barely enough to whet its appetite.

Since they had eaten so much, Angie decided to take Komala in his arms and, along with Diancie and Munchlax, went out for a walk to aid digestion.

The morning breeze on the Nebel Plateau carried a cool, refreshing chill. The family of four strolled leisurely across the grassy fields, occasionally greeting the Pokémon they passed along the way.

Compared to when they had first arrived on the Nebel Plateau, the Pokémon's attitude toward Angie had completely changed. Though it couldn't be said that all had fully accepted him, most no longer ran way at the sight of him. At worst, they pretended not to see him.

Of course, those were the exceptions. Most of the Pokémon were friendly now.