---o---
"Ermm... isn't there something a little off about this?"
Chen Li stared at the Curio he had forged after a herculean effort. He felt like something had gone wrong with his forging process, but at the same time, maybe it hadn't.
[Mom's Tablecloth]: There's a kind of hunger called "your mom thinks you're hungry."
Effect: When anyone says the word "hungry" or a word with the same pronunciation, the tablecloth will automatically activate, producing the most suitable snacks and delicacies for you, filled with love and care as if made by your own mother's hands.
Side Effect: All food that appears on the tablecloth must be eaten completely. No waste is allowed, otherwise, you will be subjected to "Mom's Punishment."
P.S.: Never say you're hungry in front of your mom.
(Miracle: I have to say, Master, you are truly worthy of being a member of the Genius Society. You always manage to come up with such "brilliant" ideas that make one's vision go dark.)
Chen Li decided to take Miracle's comment as a compliment for now.
This tablecloth was the best solution he could come up with after exhausting all his ingenuity. He had skillfully applied the principle of a terrible pun, combined with the full power of his [Allocation] ability, to successfully break down the [Call Me Mom] Entry into the concepts of "When you call for Mom" and "Mom hears you."
As for "Mom's Punishment"... alright, Chen Li admitted that in the interest of saving crystals, he had intentionally left in a tiny little side effect.
Well, in a sense, it wasn't really a side effect. For your mom to want to punish you, you first have to have a mom.
A child without a mother probably wouldn't have to worry about this problem.
Heh.
Chen Li actually felt that Mobius's practice of testing experiments on herself before using them on others showed she had a shred of conscience. He thought it was a practice worth learning from. Therefore, as the Curio's forger, the first person to use this tablecloth would naturally be Chen Li himself.
"Let's see what my mom will make for me. Mom, I'm hungry," Chen Li said after shaking out the tablecloth and spreading it on the dining table.
A golden light exploded from the surface of the cloth, blinding Chen Li, who was completely unprepared for such an event.
"Agh, what the hell! The side effects didn't say there'd be a golden flash before the meal!" Chen Li ducked his head, covering his eyes.
Perhaps because the bond between him and his friends was too strong, his guard against various accidents had lowered. The Chen Li of a while ago would never have fallen for such a crude trick.
Still, he hadn't expected the bond with his friends to be unable to defend against a golden light. Or perhaps, it didn't count as an attack?
After climbing out from under the table, it took him a while to recover. He then noticed that the previously empty tablecloth was now laden with a full spread of food.
"Ermm... this is called a delicacy? What is all this weird stuff?"
Chen Li shook his head as he looked at the food on the tablecloth.
It wasn't the charcoal-like substance his mother had concocted for him earlier, but this food wasn't exactly normal either. There were things like a large octopus tentacle that had only been simply prepared, a plate of "stir-fried pebbles" which consisted of sizzling hot pebbles with no other food on them, a Stargazy Pie made with the herring from a can of surströmming...
And West Lake Vinegar Fish?
In a sense, the fact that West Lake Vinegar Fish could be placed on the same table as these other dishes proved its status in the world of dark cuisine.
"Did this Curio get something wrong? Is this stuff really suitable for me?" Chen Li was baffled.
Was this tablecloth serious?
But considering this was a top-tier novice Curio that he had spent 20 crystals on and had intentionally preserved a certain degree of negative effects, Chen Li resisted the urge to flip the table and picked up a stir-fried pebble.
When he placed the pebble in his mouth and chewed lightly, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Hey, don't knock it till you try it. I don't know if it tastes good, but eating it strengthens my body."
Feeling his attribute points increasing by +1, Chen Li instantly became excited.
He couldn't really tell whether a food was delicious or not, because even with something like West Lake Vinegar Fish, he could taste the deliciousness of the vinegar. What's that? You're asking about the fish? Sorry, didn't taste it.
That was the effect of his [Gourmet Cells]; it made all food taste good. However, Chen Li could clearly sense the degree of enhancement an item provided him.
The food from [Mom's Tablecloth] was bizarre, but it was all stuff he had never eaten before. Although they weren't extraordinary ingredients and didn't provide a massive stat boost, every little bit added up.
The [Gourmet Cells] and this [Mom's Tablecloth] seemed to be a great match.
"But... can this stuff really be used to feed the Spirit of the Spring... no, I mean, the Herrscher of the Void?" Chen Li scratched his head.
Even if a human's body undergoes a transformation the moment they become a Herrscher, allowing them to survive in the vacuum of space, they probably still couldn't chew stir-fried pebbles, right?
With that thought, Chen Li began to eat the food on the tablecloth. Although the quantity was quite large, his [Gourmet Cells] had no limit. And the only good news was that the tablecloth only required you not to waste food; it didn't specify how long you had to finish it.
However, remembering that he was testing the Curio's effects, Chen Li picked up a stir-fried pebble and casually tossed it onto the floor.
Let's see what "Mom's Punishment" is really like!
As Chen Li watched with anticipation, the figure of Li Changxi appeared before him, though this phantom seemed a little older than his mother's current age.
"Hmm, very realistic. I'd like to see how you're going to punish me," Chen Li said, crossing his arms without a hint of fear. The Friends Circle will block any fatal attack for me. Punish away. If I even make a peep, I lose!
"Sigh, you're wasting food again, child. But... Mom doesn't blame you. Mom only blames herself for not being a good cook, for not being able to make the food you like. It's Mom's fault. But you don't have to worry anymore, child, because Mom has to go now. Getting lost in a Secret Realm is the fate of a Folklorist. But after your father and I leave you, you must live on strongly. Don't ever think about doing anything foolish..."
But contrary to his expectations, Li Changxi didn't pull his ear or scold him... She simply spoke to him in a rambling, conversational tone.
Except, the more he listened, the more unsettling her words became.
The more he listened, the more his heart ached.
Towards the end, looking into Li Changxi's gentle eyes, Chen Li vaguely saw a vision of his mother, holding his father's hand, walking into an endless, dark fog. He suddenly felt that this might be the version of his mother from some future, lost in a Secret Realm or the mists of time because of his own powerlessness.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong! I'll never waste food again!" Chen Li immediately threw his hands up in surrender.
He had thought the punishment would be physical, but he never expected it to be psychological.
Yes, it was true that under Jingliu's training, he possessed a passive skill called [Unbroken Mind-Mirror].
[Unbroken Mind-Mirror]: So long as the mirror-heart does not shatter, the mirror's master shall not perish. A martial art honed through a thousand deaths has granted you extreme resistance to mortality. As long as your state of mind is not broken, you can fight at full capacity until your body is utterly destroyed. In this state, you lose all fatal weaknesses and are highly immune to instant-death and mental attacks.
But this wasn't a mental attack, nor did it cause any physical harm. It was just simple, everyday advice, and it was enough to nearly break his composure.
Only after seeing that Chen Li seemed to be genuinely repentant for wasting food did Li Changxi reveal a gratified smile, her body dissolving into countless motes of light.
For a moment, Chen Li felt as if his mother was truly saying goodbye to him...
"No, no, this Curio is affecting me. Damn it! This is terrifying."
Chen Li only came back to his senses after the phantom disappeared. This Curio, forged by his own hands, seemed to possess a special magic during its punishment phase, one that could make people completely immersed in the experience.
As the forger, the Curio's effect on him should have been weakened, yet it was still enough to nearly break him. Chen Li didn't dare to imagine the critical psychological blow it would inflict on others if they wasted food while using this tablecloth.
It was too terrifying.
"But... if I throw this tablecloth out during a fight, get the opponent to say 'hungry,' and make them waste food, this thing could be an incredibly fearsome weapon," Chen Li mused, stroking his chin.
Heh, who doesn't have a mom? And if you really don't have one, it might cause even greater psychological trauma. It creates a mom for you, just to make her disappear... Holy crap, how is this Curio so malicious!
For example, if this tablecloth were given to the Herrscher of the Void, and she accidentally wasted food... Chen Li could already picture her, clutching her head with both hands, her eyes vacant, endlessly crying out Cecilia's name.
"How the hell can this be called [Mom's Tablecloth]? It should just be called the Orphan Killer!" Chen Li said, giving the tablecloth the middle finger as he dutifully finished the rest of the food.
"No, I can't be the only one to suffer. I need to think about who has ever wronged me..."
After eating everything, Chen Li looked at the tablecloth and began to recall all his enemies from childhood to the present.
"Ermm... it seems none of my enemies have survived to this day. Never mind then. Time to give this tablecloth to Yurine Hanazono. Hopefully, it'll let me get some blood back."
Chen Li folded up the tablecloth and passed it on to Yurine via Medusa as an intermediary. He and Yurine didn't have a direct connection through The Guide, but Medusa and Yurine were in the same world, so having Medusa send the Curio as a red packet through the Friends Circle would have a very low cost. Although the Friends Circle couldn't tear a Curio in half to use as a delivery fee, it could simply prevent you from sending it at all.
"I really need to upgrade this Friends Circle Curio. But I have so many Curios to forge recently... Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell Yurine Hanazono to never, ever, ever, ever waste food when using this thing."
Realizing this, Chen Li quickly sent Yurine a message.
As a normal person with only a slight case of chuunibyou, Yurine Hanazono shouldn't have much of a rebellious streak, right?
---o---