After the fun time in the amusement park, they returned to Althea's home to rest.
"Otto, Mina. You can take the guest room and I'll just sleep with the kids for now." Althea weakly smiled, her eyes glinting in heaviness.
Tactfully understanding, Otto and Mina nodded.
They parted ways as Althea moved the sleepy kids to their room and Otto moved towards the guest room with Mina following by his side.
"You know... I just dreamt of something... A disturbing dream that felt like the world is going to get chaotic from now on." Otto clenched his fist, knuckles turning white, jaws clenched and his eyes looking down.
"What did you see in your dreams, Otto?" Putting her hand on his back, Mina asked in concern.
"Was it back then? Where you were drenched in sweat at the taxi?"
"Yes... That one. I saw the building burned down, falling, people scrambling, and bodies laying, mutilated... Do you think... It will happen in the near future?" Looking back to his nightmare before, Otto couldn't help but felt fear clenched his heart.
He didn't say anything about the pain he felt when the spiked club hit him or the monster he saw from before.
He felt his heart thumping so hard that Otto could hear it loud and clear.
"That... There is no way it will happen, you know. It is just fantasy and even if it does happen, you still have me, Otto." With a soft kiss on his cheek, Mina tip-toed towards the room and her smile showed her dimples.
"Thank you, Mina." Otto muttered, his gaze lingering on Mina as he followed with a light step, leaving the burden behind for a moment.
.
.
.
Morning arrived and Otto woke up feeling his body heavier than usual, feeling confused, he looked to his left and saw Mina sleeping soundly.
Her hair felt like a storm just passed through, messing up her hair badly, her mouth open and a snore escape.
Otto chuckled lightly and carefully close her mouth to avoid waking her up.
Pulling his left arm away, Otto can finally feel his blood slowly returning in his arm.
He walked toward the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, waking him up a little.
Returning to the room and still seeing her sleeping, Otto smiled lightly and tidied her hair gently before leaving the room to cook some breakfast for others.
With how many times he comes here, Otto could say this is his second home with how well he navigated the house.
Checking the fridge, pulling the ingredients, eggs, tomatoes, sausages, and some chicken nuggets for the kids.
Otto retrieved all of it with efficiency and opened the stove and a pan, heating it.
With a splash of cooking oil, he poured it into the pan and waited for it to heat up.
While waiting, his hand already cracked 8 eggs and sliced some tomatoes.
Feeling the heat hitting his body, Otto put the eggs one by one to the pan.
Seeing that it takes some time, Otto retrieved some sliced bread and put it in the toaster.
A few minutes passes by and the breakfast is ready.
[Through repeated actions of cooking a breakfast, the 100x Reward System activated.
Grandmaster Cooking: Cooking ceases to be a chore and becomes a high-precision art form. You have reached the absolute peak of mortal capability.
Effects:
Clean Cut - Perfect Knife Handling, cuts flesh and bones like butter and stays fresh longer.
Heat Intuition - Easily know when the cuisine is ready by heat alone.
Efficient Palatte - Extract the maximum flavor from every gram of a seasoning.
Macro-Management - Mental Capacity that enables to track dozens of simmering pots and prep stations simultaneously.
Additional Skill: Parallel Processing - Can cook multiple dishes in a time it takes a normal person to cook one meal.
Waste reduction: Advanced butchery and peeling techniques that leave nothing behind. ]
A rush of information ingrained deep inside his brain, a sharp pain hit him like a tide like never before.
He put his hand on his head as he clenched his jaw in pain.
Multiple knife techniques, weak points of every meat, heat sensory, and multiple processing hit his brain and body.
His body convulsed from pain and integration of numerous techniques.
A rush of exhaustion attacks his body like a processor handling multiple pieces of information at once.
With a quick sharp and deep breath, Otto can finally breathe normally.
"That was... Exhausting. Do I have to experience this every time I gain something? I feel like dying" Otto patted his chest and wiped his sweat before pulling himself together.
"I should go and wake them up." Otto muttered, walking towards the guest room with an aching body.
"This is really weird. When I got the Mastered Pipe Mastery, it didn't take that much pain at all. Maybe, it was because of how much information is needed to become a Grandmaster Chef." Otto helplessly sighed as he dragged his body to the room.
Opening the door, Otto saw Mina still sleeping in peace.
Otto smiled lightly and leaned with, still having the scent of sizzling butter clinging on his shirt and lightly whispered to her ear while his hand resting on her shoulder.
"Mina, breakfast is ready." With a slight nudge, Mina grunted and covered her face with the quilt.
"Mhmm... 5 more minutes." Mina grunted and covered herself.
"That won't do, Mina. We are not in our house, you know." This time, Mina shot upright and looked around, finally realizing that they slept at Althea's house.
A light blush appeared on her face and looked at Otto with a pout.
"Why didn't you wake me up when you got up?" Mina asked, her face still blushing.
"Well, I don't wanna wake up a certain someone with her mouth open and snoring loudly by my side." Otto playfully smirked.
Before Mina could retaliate, Otto kissed her lips and smiled mischievously.
"Now, now... It is still early in the morning and the breakfast might get cold. Also, please wake three please. I'll be waiting downstairs, okay?" Otto said.
Mina could only nod weakly as her eyes were still hazy from the kiss.
Otto leaves the room and lets her get herself washed her face first.
Walling downstairs, Otto couldn't help but think how peaceful his life is right now.
A loving girlfriend by his side despite being an orphan.
Thinking of it, Otto's mood dampened. He thought of his time when he was still living at the orphanage and scraping by on little fun he can have but still, it was a nice childhood with children his age playing together.
Playing tag, hide and seek, hopscotch, and playing on the dirt.
That was the time where worries and stress are not present.
Worries in study, money, relationship, and life. Stress at work, school, savings and for his future.
Now, everything is going well like the universe intended for him to feel relaxed.