Celia curled up in a lounge chair, staring at the sky.
Everything that happened yesterday seemed a bit strange.
A casually thrown white porcelain plate had sliced through an Abyss Monster’s skull.
A carelessly tossed glass had frozen a Flame Demon in the middle of self-destruction.
‘When did I get this strong?’
Celia examined her own hand.
‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t the kind of hand that can dismantle a mecha barehanded.’
‘Could I be a hidden super-strong girl with mysterious powers?’
‘Or does this body have some setting where getting angry makes me stronger?’
The thought had barely appeared when Celia shuddered.
‘No.’
‘Something is definitely wrong.’
Celia began to replay yesterday’s events.
‘What did I do yesterday?’
‘It seems like I didn’t do anything except eat.’
‘Could it be the food?’
The breakfast before the fight was Golden Crispy Fried Chicken.
The afternoon snack before the fight was Double-Sugar Happy Water.
A bold guess surfaced in her mind.
‘Could the recipes unlocked by the cookbook have hidden tags like “stimulant” or “mana enhancement potion” in addition to being delicious?’
Celia squinted.
Fried chicken equals strength buff.
Happy water equals magic power buff.
‘In other words, I didn’t actually get stronger—I’m just a stat monster propped up by drugs?’
To verify this hypothesis, she had to conduct a controlled variable test.
Celia extended two fingers and picked up a leftover Red Sun Fruit pit from the small table beside her.
This thing was moderately hard, about the same as ordinary hardwood.
If she used the same force as yesterday when she threw the plate, crushing it should be…
Celia took a deep breath, then suddenly exerted force.
The pit didn’t budge.
Instead, her tender fingertips ached from the hard edges.
She let go. The pit fell onto the table completely intact, leaving a clear red mark on her thumb.
“Hiss…”
Celia sucked in a cold breath, but a relieved smile spread across her face.
‘Great.’
‘I really am still useless.’
Now nearly twenty hours had passed since yesterday’s lunch of fried chicken, and a whole night since drinking the Happy Water.
Her body’s metabolic system had done its job—those strange buffs had expired.
‘There’s no natural super strength. It’s all just science and shady stuff.’
‘As long as I don’t eat random things, I’m still the weak Priestess who can’t even twist open a bottle cap.’
That was very reassuring.
“Priestess?”
A sound came from the doorway.
Elent walked in carrying a newly forged broad sword.
After a night’s rest, the Hero Candidate’s face had lost its charcoal black color and reverted to the energetic, simple-minded big guy.
“What do you want for breakfast?”
Celia didn’t answer immediately.
‘To ensure rigorous test data, just crushing a fruit pit isn’t enough. I need a final test.’
‘Since the buffs have theoretically worn off, I shouldn’t even be able to lift this sword now.’
Celia sat up from the lounge chair and walked over to the broad sword.
Elent had been carrying it just now, as easily as lifting a poker stick.
Celia didn’t rush to grab the handle.
‘As a former programmer, it’s common sense to run one last test before going live.’
She didn’t channel any mana in her body, even deliberately relaxed her muscles, adjusting her body to its laziest state.
Exert force.
Lift.
The blade didn’t move at all, as if welded to the floor.
The muscles in her arms ached in protest, but the sword didn’t even wobble.
Unwilling to give up, Celia planted her feet, gripped the handle with both hands, leaned back, and used all the strength she had.
But besides turning her face red, there was no physical change whatsoever.
It was completely beyond what an ordinary human female could budge.
“Whew…”
Celia released her grip, massaged her sore wrist, and her smile grew even brighter.
‘I really can’t lift it.’
‘That’s right.’
‘I’m just a cold, emotionless buff carrier.’
‘Once the drug wears off, I immediately revert.’
‘As long as I control the timing of my meals, I can precisely manage my combat power—no need to worry about being too strong and dragged off to save the world, or too weak and eaten by Magical Creatures.’
‘The perfect ecosystem for slacking off.’
“Priestess?”
Elent stood a few steps away, watching Celia’s series of actions.
From his perspective, the Priestess hadn’t used any strengthening magic, nor had she activated that terrifying super strength.
She had just taken the most ordinary human stance, gripped the sword handle with both hands, and carefully felt the weight and balance of the blade.
Even though she couldn’t lift it at all, she didn’t use force to conquer the sword; instead, she smiled in satisfaction.
Elent felt his eyes grow hot.
‘This is a heavy sword that requires absolute strength to wield—it doesn’t need any flashy decorations.’
‘The Priestess is using this method to acknowledge this weapon, born for protection.’
“Elent.”
Celia was in a great mood, and even her voice sounded lighter.
“For breakfast, roast that leftover Flame Demon Thigh!”
‘Since getting stronger depends entirely on eating, I need to keep the buffs going.’
‘Only with a belly full of high-rank Magical Beast meat and a hand holding sugar-explosive Happy Water can this frail body feel a shred of safety.’
Celia sank back into the chair, took a bite of a Red Sun Fruit, and added:
“Remember to add lots of cumin. I want meat.”
“And from now on, before a fight, remember to cook first.”
The young girl pointed at the unbroken plate on the table.
“If I’m not full, I don’t have the strength to throw plates.”
“Understood!”
Elent nodded solemnly, flames of determination burning in his eyes.
‘The Priestess is reminding me that the battle isn’t over yet.’
‘Even with power, you can’t underestimate any opponent. You must always recharge and maintain peak condition.’
‘Is this the caution of a strongman?’
Elent turned and headed for the kitchen, his back radiating a sense of sacred mission.
“High heat,” Celia directed from the side. “This kind of high-rank ingredient needs intense fire to seal in the mana loss.”
In the corner, Iris was wiping the floor. Her hand trembled, and the rag fell into the bucket.
She had heard everything.
‘What that Witch means is… as long as she has enough food, she can unleash that terrifying attack infinitely?!’
‘The more she eats, the stronger her killing power?’
Iris looked at her own thin arms and legs, then at the Hero Candidate in the kitchen sharpening his knife and preparing meat.
‘To avoid becoming backup rations, I have to show value beyond “edibility.”‘
“M-Miss Celia!”
Iris sprang up from the floor, holding up her rag, her voice cracking with tension.
“I can make a special Abyss-style sauce! It goes great with roasted meat!”
“Oh?”
Celia chewed on the fruit, raised an eyebrow, and scanned Iris with her gaze.
“Go ahead and try. If it’s bad, you’ll get roasted.”
“Yes!”
Iris, as if granted amnesty, scrambled into the kitchen.
Then she hurriedly pulled out the Abyss Spices she had swiped earlier from her pocket.
These were materials she had originally planned to use for making a self-defense poison, but now she had to offer them all.
‘It has to be delicious!’
‘This is a life-or-death “Despair Sauce”!’
The Church Hall fell quiet. Celia looked up at the sun overhead and smiled contentedly.
‘Good. Everything is within the scope of scientific explanation.’
‘As long as I’m still a dried-up salted fish, no one can force me to flip over.’
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