Chapter 41 - Fujino, the Super Chef
Fujino, the Super Chef
41: Chapter 41: Fujino, the Super Chef
This encounter fundamentally altered Sato Miwako's perception of the frail-looking Fujino. Conversely, Sato's own ferocious combat prowess had once again recalibrated Fujino's understanding of this world's power levels.
Sato Miwako is definitely B-rank! Fujino assessed silently.
Later, guided by Conan and the other "useless" elementary schoolers, the police successfully located the stolen maple leaf gold coins on the rooftop of the Onizakura building.
Case closed.
After giving a statement at the station and collecting his one million yen reward (in cash, naturally), Fujino was escorted home by Sato Miwako herself.
Fujino stood on his balcony, watching Sato's Mazda RX-7 disappear into the night.
Suddenly, a system notification chimed:
[Congratulations Host! Italian Robbery Case Complete! +50 Detective Reputation, 1,000,000 Yen Bounty awarded.]
[Current System Balance: 3,302,000 Yen]
[Reputation needed for next Detective Rank Up: 250]
"Two hundred fifty?"
Fujino stared at the required reputation points.
"Such an auspicious number!" (250, or 'er bai wu', is slang for 'idiot' in Chinese.)
He immediately navigated to the Profession Orb shop.
Nine hundred thousand yen. Ten-pull!
[Congratulations Host! Rewards Acquired: Temporary Stat Boost Card (Strength & Perception; 1 min) x4,
Genuine Designer Handbag x1,
Soccer Ball x1,
Self-Heating Rice with Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork x1,
Pineapple Bun x3]
?
Damn it!
Fujino stared at the pathetic haul, his eyes widening in disbelief. If one phrase could capture his current mood, it was apoplectic rage.
"Is this stupid system glitching again?!"
He took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, reminding himself not to get worked up over this predatory gacha system.
He pulled out his cigarette pack, lit three sticks, placed them carefully on the balcony railing facing east (towards China), bowed slightly, and hit the ten-pull button again.
If science fails, try superstition!
[Congratulations Host! Rewards Acquired: Angler King's Fishing Hat (Purple),
Temporary Stat Boost Card (Strength & Perception; 1 min) x2,
Mobile POS Machine (Blue) x1...]
See! Superstition works!
Fujino mentally filtered out the non-Blue junk and focused on the new Purple item.
[Angler King's Fishing Hat: A fishing hat blessed by a legendary angler. While wearing this hat, you can catch anything except fish.
Abilities: +50% Defense to wearer; 50% chance to compel suspects to confess (Note: Attracts 50% more head-targeting attacks.)]
Fujino materialized the hat. Staring at the plain black fishing hat, his mouth twitched.
Compel suspects to confess... Seriously? That legendary angler really could catch anything but fish.
He put the hat on and looked in the mirror. The reflection – black-framed glasses, black fishing hat – stared back.
Am I... the Angler King now?
He sighed and took the hat off. The side effect – attracting double the headshots – was a bit much... but the defense boost was tempting. And the confession ability? Potentially useful.
Remembering those robbers Sato hospitalized... Yeah, defense is good. This world's power levels were still terrifyingly unpredictable.
Feeling lucky, Fujino decided to press his advantage. While the cigarette "offerings" were still smoldering, he bowed again towards the east (coincidentally, towards the Mouri Agency) and did one more ten-pull. Come on, something good...
[Congratulations Host! Rewards Acquired:
Red Scarf x1,
Reaction Speed Enhancement Card (Purple),
Purple Profession Card (Super Chef),
Otaku Happy Water (Cola) (Blue)...]
"A chef?"
Fujino frowned at the new profession card, momentarily confused. He opened the system interface:
[New Sub-Class Added:]
Chef (Rank: Basic)
(100 Proficiency needed for next Rank Up)
[New Class Skills:]
Super Chef (Basic): Any food prepared by the Host has a 5% chance of receiving a random beneficial enhancement.
[Current Funds: 602,000 Yen]
"Super Chef?"
Fujino examined the new skill, a strange expression on his face.
A cooking skill seemed pretty useless for someone like him who barely knew how to boil water... but...
More skills can't hurt, right? Might come in handy someday.
Satisfied overall, Fujino nodded. The first ten-pull was garbage, but the next two, fueled by questionable superstition, had definitely made the 2.7 million yen spent worthwhile. Five Blue-or-higher items from twenty pulls wasn't amazing, certainly not like his previous Gold/Purple luck, but still better than some gacha rates he knew.
Later, feeling hungry, Fujino decided to try the Self-Heating Rice with Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork, curious for a taste of "home."
As he peeled back the lid, he froze.
The instant meal began emitting a radiant golden light... accompanied by dramatic, swelling background music seemingly coming from nowhere.
"What the...?!"
Fujino stared, chopsticks trembling, at the glowing, mist-shrouded meal.
A system notification hovered above the self-heating container:
[Super Chef Enhancement: Minor temporary physique improvement (Duration: 12 hours)]
Ah. So that's the skill. Adding random buffs to food.
Worth it just for the special effects!
The next morning.
"BRRRING!"
The phone shattered Fujino's sleep once again.
He groggily sat up, stretched, and answered.
"Fujino-senpai! It's the weekend today!"
Sonoko's voice chirped brightly.
"You didn't oversleep, did you?"
"Weekend already?"
"Yesterday was Saturday, so of course today is the weekend!"
Sonoko sounded slightly exasperated, stating the obvious.
Fujino paused mid-stretch, confused.
Yesterday was Saturday? Today is the weekend?
Wait... that doesn't feel right. The usually chaotic timeline suddenly felt... normal? It was almost unsettling.
"Fujino-senpai!"
Fujino pulled the Taurus up in front of the Mouri Agency. Before he even stopped, Ran came bounding down the stairs.
Today she wore a deep red sweater, a bright red blazer, a yellow miniskirt, and grey thigh-high stockings.
Emm...
For this era, Fujino had to admit, Ran's fashion sense was uniquely stylish.
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