Volume 2, Chapter 7 – This Cake Is Poisonous!

Picking up the basin that had fallen by the door, Anran opened the door and went inside.

Then she locked the door behind her and happily began taking stock of her spoils.

“Basic Analysis!”

[Warhorse Pistol: Quality – Green. Magazine 20/20, Caliber 7.62mm, Attack Power 10-15]

Anran did not mind having more weapons on her at all.

To be precise, a vast stockpile of mechanical equipment was the true source of a Mechanic’s combat power.

The second item among the spoils was that copy of *Scout Manual, Second Edition*.

There was no author’s name on the white cover, so it seemed to be internal material from the Morningstar Resistance.

Anran opened the manual.

“Ding! You have opened *Scout Manual, Second Edition*, and begun reading!”

“Ding! *Scout Manual, Second Edition* learning progress has reached 100%. You have learned the basic knowledge of a Scout and successfully unlocked the Apprentice Scout profession! Strength +1, Agility +1, gained 3 free attribute points, gained 1 skill point.”

“…”

What a huge surprise!

She had never expected that the book she picked up would turn out to be a profession knowledge book.

The extra attribute points were enough to give even a Mechanic, whose early-game combat ability was very weak, quite respectable damage output, especially for players who were fairly confident in close combat.

“You have comprehended new skills [Basic Reconnaissance] and [Backstab], and successfully unlocked the Scout skill tree.”

[Basic Reconnaissance] could be used to investigate information on players or NPCs.

[Backstab] was even easier to understand. At Lv1, its effect was to increase damage dealt from behind by 10%, with a cooldown of 1 minute. It was a godly skill for stealth assassinations.

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But for Anran, it was not all that useful. Once a Mechanic developed properly, this skill was basically unnecessary.

Even so, Anran was still thoroughly satisfied.

This risky move was probably the biggest gain she had made since entering the game.

“Grrr…”

As she was immersed in her joy, Anran’s stomach suddenly growled, and only then did she realize that she had not eaten dinner yet.

Anran set down her spoils, briskly tied her apron back on, and went into the kitchen.

When she was fiery, she could transform into a cold warrior. When she was calm, she could devote herself to mechanical manufacturing. And when she had free time, she could even become a little home cook. Anran felt that she was becoming more and more versatile.

It was all because she was broke as hell. She had no choice but to do things herself to cut expenses.

Before she had gone out to pour the water, Anran had been making pastries.

She picked up where she had left off. This time, she was making osmanthus cake.

As a secondary profession, [Pastry Maker] gained experience by making pastries every day. Learning new pastry-making methods increased experience, and developing brand-new pastries increased it by a great deal.

By making use of the time she spent cooking every day, Anran had gradually raised [Pastry Maker] to Lv2 (156/1000).

She heated water in a pot, added white sugar and stirred it evenly. Then Anran put in the osmanthus flowers she had bought and simmered them over low heat for one minute, after which she added oil.

Once the oil had dispersed, it was time to pour in the starch and start stirring.

The recipe was very simple, but Anran had never made it before. Since she happened to have some free time, she made full use of it to increase her own strength.

Drawing on her experience making mung bean cake, she proceeded steadily!

“Swish, swish, swish-” The stirring rod knocked against the pot as it made its noise.

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Anran looked around and suddenly noticed the leftover fruit beside her. After thinking for a moment, she put the fruit into the hand-cranked juicer, squeezing the fruit while stirring the starch.

She drizzled the extracted juice directly over the starch and mixed it in. A faint fragrance could already be smelled.

Her luck had been so good today, so didn’t that mean—

“Maybe I can create a new recipe?”

Anran nodded in satisfaction, and even the boring process of stirring suddenly became lively.

At last, Anran poured the mixed starch into a mold and steamed it slowly over water.

After waiting for a while, when Anran lifted the lid covering the pot, the rising steam carrying the fragrance of fruit rushed straight at her face, and she could not help twitching her nose.

Once it cooled down a little, she could sit down and properly enjoy this freshly made [Fruit Osmanthus Cake].

“Obtained [Fruit Osmanthus Cake] x1”

“Ding-dong! You have successfully made [Fruit Osmanthus Cake], obtained a new recipe, received 30 EXP, and gained 200 free EXP.”

Double the happiness!

Anran stared at the [Fruit Osmanthus Cake] sitting on the plate. It was a light grassy green and gave off faint wisps of heat, enough to whet anyone’s appetite.

Holding a fork in her right hand, Anran speared a small piece of the osmanthus cake and put it into her mouth.

The osmanthus cake melted the moment it touched her tongue. The texture was excellent, and the flavor lingered pleasantly. It was as if the dual fragrance of fruit and osmanthus still echoed through her mouth.

After transmigrating into the game, I really am a genius. Even cooking is no problem for me.

Anran picked up another piece of osmanthus cake with her fork, put it in her mouth, chewed it carefully, and swallowed.

The fork in her hand reached toward the plate for the third time.

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However, at that very moment, a game notification suddenly rang out in Anran’s mind—

“You have entered a poisoned state. Stamina -5/minute.”

“…”

Anran froze.

ヾ(??﹏?)??

Pfft, this cake is poisonous!

She collapsed to the floor on the spot.

Anran opened the game panel and looked. Sure enough, there was now a poisoned status behind her name. Of her full 108 points of Stamina, only 87 remained.

5 points per minute.

87/5 = 17…4.

It’s over. She could only hold out for a little over 17 minutes. Once her Stamina hit zero, her HP would also start dropping rapidly until it was completely emptied, and then she would GG.

Ten thousand alpacas stampeded through Anran’s heart. A new recipe really had appeared, but it was a “culinary abomination” capable of poisoning people to death, and the key point was that she had eaten it.

“Stamina -5”

No, I can’t just die so easily.

With a single carp-like flip, Anran pulled herself together again.

“One normal mung bean cake can restore 3 Stamina. I still have several mung bean cakes left over from lunch. There’s still hope!”

Anran instantly took out the ordinary mung bean cakes, grabbed them with both hands, and stuffed them into her mouth one after another as fast as she could.

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Chew, chew, chew as fast as possible.

“Stamina +3”

“Stamina +3”

“Stamina -5”

…

The little mung bean cakes were no match for Anran at all. The five mung bean cakes in front of her were quickly wiped out clean.

Her Stamina was still at 97.

There were no more mung bean cakes. Anran looked around and immediately spotted the empty water dipper. Then she’d drink water.

She picked up the dipper and gulped water down noisily, completely ignoring the fact that her stomach was already swollen.

After drinking to the limit, Anran hurried to the toilet and threw up for a while. After rinsing her mouth, she felt her legs go weak, but fortunately the poisoned status behind her name had disappeared.

Stamina: 46/108.

So depressing.

Anran felt miserable. She had only wanted to reward herself. Why would fruit plus osmanthus cake, once steamed together, turn into this kind of poisonous dish?

Lying weakly on the bed, Anran could not make sense of it no matter how much she thought about it.

Still, this magical combination was not entirely useless. At the very least, it would be very effective for tricking people.

Thinking of that, Anran immediately became cheerful again and casually rubbed her bulging little belly.