Rita's eyes widened—Pine Bloom's status had changed.
She had gained a weakness.
[Pine Bloom – Stage 15 – 100%┃100%┃Mind Like Still Water┃Taboo: To Be Forgotten by the World┃Weakness: Mirror Reversal]
Mirror Reversal?
That was a devastating combat weakness.
If she tried to move her left hand, her right hand would react instead.
If she dodged left, her body would veer right.
Everything would be flipped, as if she were moving inside a mirror.
Back when Rita trained at Golden Tree Withered Leaf, she had practiced fighting against mirror reversal.
But overcoming reflexes was nearly impossible.
It went against every natural instinct—even after completing the training, all she could do was barely dodge, never fight as she normally would.
What about the other two teammates?
[Marmang-Crab – Stage 17 – 100%┃100%┃?┃Taboo: ?┃Weakness: ?]
[Black SpringMud Bears – Stage 15 – 100%┃100%┃Hates Maple Syrup. Hates Maple Syrup. Hates Maple Syrup┃Taboo: Crushing Teddy Bear Cookies┃Weakness: The phrase "I'll turn you into a teddy bear cookie" is an instant psychological break]
She still couldn't read Marmang-Crab's stats.
As for Black SpringMud Bears… his entire profile was just red flags.
Honestly, from the mont she first saw him, she had been avoiding eye contact—afraid of getting dragged into whatever grudge he had with Maple Syrup.
Luckily, he was rational.
He understood Maple Syrup's personality and recognized the BS and Lania Kaia connection.
Instead of taking it out on her, he had even warned her to stay cautious around Maple Syrup, lest she end up turned into a cookie.
Right now, his bear face was grinning—
He had gained sothing from the battle!
Marmang-Crab also looked pleased.
Rita had a bad feeling.
She sniffed the air, only to realize that the rich aromas of sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami—which had been lingering in the kitchen just monts ago—were fading rapidly.
By the ti she noticed, they had completely vanished.
She opened her status panel.
A new debuff had appeared.
[Olfactory Loss] (02:00:00)
Two hours.
Pine Bloom, looking completely unfazed, casually flicked her wings—sending the scattered tal pieces from the defeated mist creature floating over to Black SpringMud Bears.
Rita returned to the kitchen.
A new stat had appeared under Cleanliness and Mischief Score:
[Revenue]: 17◆23◇
She couldn't recognize the currency, but the ga had unified all exchanges into this standard unit.
The leaderboard had updated—
Their team, led by Marmang-Crab, had climbed to 9,000 place.
—
As the ga's chanics beca clearer, the food street turned lively.
Black SpringMud Bears left every few minutes, stirring up trouble to farm Mischief Score.
Pine Bloom handled the register, while Marmang-Crab guarded the restaurant.
Rita focused entirely on cooking.
The olfactory loss affected her slightly, but it wasn't crippling.
Still, worried that more unexpected problems might arise, she hurried to turn all their remaining ingredients into dishes.
Not every custor was as unreasonable as the mist creature.
And Pine Bloom didn't always have to use her warhamr to negotiate paynts.
Most notably—"Mirror Reversal" didn't seem to affect Pine Bloom at all.
Her warhamr still moved with precision, leaving afterimages.
Rita could hear the powerful whooshing of air every ti she swung it.
Her dodging remained as agile as ever, effortlessly evading enemy skills.
Yet, the weakness hadn't disappeared—Rita was certain of that.
By the ti she had transford all the ingredients into a variety of small dishes and snacks, their restaurant's Mischief Score had surpassed 1,000, and their revenue had climbed to 89◆2◇.
Black SpringMud Bears returned from causing havoc, his HP down to just 15%, but his face was filled with satisfaction.
For once, the usual brooding weight on his bear-like features had lifted.
He turned to Rita, the only teammate he could communicate with, and shared intel:
"Players have a minimum Mischief Score—no matter how much is stolen, it can never drop below 0.
But if a restaurant's Mischief Score is drained too quickly, it will be forced to shut down.
And there's a limit to how long we can cause trouble at any given restaurant—we can only stay for five seconds."
The huge Autumn Bear sat beside her, his height equal to her standing figure.
After speaking, he placed so stolen ingredients in front of her.
"Here. Stole these. Make sothing with them. Can you make sothing sweet?"
Rita was hungry too.
Despite only three hours passing, their energy consumption was abnormally high, just like in the Abandoned Zone.
She didn't refuse—
She couldn't add sugar, but she could use naturally sweet fruits.
anwhile, Pine Bloom never turned around—but every so often, a gust of wind would sweep a plated dish from the counter to a waiting custor.
Without looking, she would toss the received currency behind her—
Perfectly landing it in a handmade wooden basket on the table.
Marmang-Crab had left to farm Mischief Score.
Rita called over to Pine Bloom:
"Pine Bloom, what do you want to eat?"
Pine Bloom tilted her head slightly and shook the piece of fruit jerky in her hand.
"More of this."
Rita glanced at the stolen ingredients Black SpringMud Bears had brought back and nodded.
"Got it."
The mont she finished speaking, Rita moved.
From the start of the ga until now, she hadn't done many reckless things.
But there had been a few—
Like stealing Mischief Score behind Marmang-Crab's back while he was out farming.
Her [Sinful Act] skill had already stacked three layers of lightning shields.
As soon as she answered Pine Bloom's request, a vision flashed through her mind—
In two seconds, a dagger would slit her throat.
Rita's form blurred—
A dense mist exploded within the restaurant.
But just as the mist began spreading, sothing interrupted it—forcing her back into her physical form.
At the sa ti, both Black SpringMud Bears and Pine Bloom reacted.
A phantom bear claw and a pure white warhamr smashed into a small airborne figure.
Stage 17 player—Nuclear Flash Pear.
Two Stage 15 players versus a Stage 17 opponent.
This was not a fight Rita could participate in—
She instantly retreated to a corner.
But before she could escape, an invisible force yanked her back into the battlefield.
Pine Bloom had grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her forward.
Standing directly behind her, Pine Bloom's left hand gripped the warhamr, planted into the ground.
Her right arm wrapped around Rita, locking her in place.
Her forearm pressed against Rita's throat, tilting her head just slightly upward—forcing her to look up at Nuclear Flash Pear.
The enemy was charging a massive AoE attack, a shield protecting their body.
Black SpringMud Bears had already given up attacking, focusing on stacking his own shields instead.
Pine Bloom's face was close, her voice soft, almost playful.
At that exact mont, Rita's olfactory loss debuff expired.
She slled roses—Pine Bloom's scent.
Then, Pine Bloom murmured sweetly into her ear—
"BS Rita~ Forgive my curiosity, but I just have to know—did you get your hands on Winter Sea Frenzied Shark's Bedti Tale, too?"
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