Chapter 8: As Expected, a Kitchen Disaster

Mo Ying stepped forward, reaching out to tentatively pet the cat’s head. The black cat didn’t dodge.

So, Mo Ying simply picked up the black cat, sat down, and placed it on her lap.

“There’s a cat here? Is this the only one?” Mo Ying stroked the cat’s back rhythmically. The black cat squinted its eyes in enjoyment.

“Mo Ying, here’s your blanket—ah!” Kagumo pushed the door open with an armful of blankets, only to be met with the sight of the black cat.

“Thanks.” Mo Ying placed the cat on the floor and took the blanket.

“Oh, so you’re here, Shadow.” Kagumo petted the sleek fur of the black cat.

“This is your cat? Why haven’t I seen it before?” Mo Ying asked after placing the blanket on the bed.

“Black cats are experts at playing hide-and-seek. If they pick a dark corner to hide in, you could spend half a day looking for them.” Kagumo shrugged. “One time, we couldn’t find him for an entire afternoon, isn’t that right,Shadow?”

The black cat meowed in response before jumping onto the bed and curling into a ball.

“Looks like she’s sleeping here tonight. She really likes you.” Kagumo smiled.

Mo Ying nodded. She liked cats, but she just hoped this little guy wouldn’t pounce on her in the middle of the night like a falling boulder.

Kagumo seemed to read her thoughts. “Don’t worry, Shadow is very light. She slept on me all night, and I was fine.”

Mo Ying: “......” So she really does jump onto sleeping people, huh?

The night passed peacefully. When Mo Ying woke up in the morning, the black cat was already gone.

She glanced at the phone on the nightstand—7 AM. Maybe she could lie down for a bit longer.

Wait. What’s that smell?

Something was burning!

Mo Ying’s eyes snapped open. She shot up from the bed with alarming speed.

She rushed downstairs to the kitchen, where she saw Davis standing there, looking troubled. On the stovetop, a frying pan held a charred, unidentifiable mass.

As expected, a kitchen disaster!

Mo Ying quickly turned off the stove. Only then did Davis notice her.

“You’re up early.” Davis greeted her casually.

“You... are also up early.” Mo Ying’s gaze shifted to the frying pan. That’s going to be a pain to clean.

“I was trying to make an apple pie.” Davis gestured toward a cookbook lying open beside him.

Mo Ying glanced at the cookbook’s image of a golden, crispy apple pie, then back at the tragic abomination in the frying pan.

There was... absolutely no resemblance at all.

“So, why exactly did you need a frying pan to make an apple pie?” Mo Ying asked sincerely.

“I wanted to try a new method.” Davis said.

“Oh. Uh-huh.” Mo Ying wasn’t sure how to respond. As she pondered how on earth he managed to turn food into that, she missed her best chance to escape.

“Wanna give it a try?” Davis asked, holding the frying pan in one hand and a fork in the other.

Mo Ying: “......” Is it too late to run?

She seemed to make up her mind and slowly reached out to take the fork.

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It was like watching a terrible movie—people still bought tickets just to see how bad it was. Mo Ying was curious just how awful an apple pie could taste.

The moment she took her first bite, she immediately regretted her decision.

How to describe it... It was like biting into a stack of cardboard, with a filling of overly sweet, mushy gummy candy, all mixed with salt and chili powder.

Ah, she could almost see the underworld. A montage of her life flashed before her eyes.

When her vision finally cleared, she saw Davis looking at her expectantly.

“How is it?” he asked.

Mo Ying barely managed to swallow the questionable substance. “Uh... how about you try it yourself?”

Davis found her suggestion reasonable. So, he took a bite. And then—

Mo Ying sprinted upstairs to wake Kagumo.

Kagumo groggily rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep, but Mo Ying dragged her straight to the kitchen.

When Kagumo saw the frying pan on the floor and Davis looking like he was about to ascend to the afterlife, she instantly woke up.

She had a rough idea of what had happened. Without hesitation, she used her ability to heal him.

Davis slowly regained consciousness and sat up. “Why am I on the floor?”

Kagumo and Mo Ying had no intention of answering. Instead, they both glanced at the frying pan.

“Oh... was it because my cooking was too terrible?” Surprisingly, Davis had a keen sense of self-awareness regarding his culinary skills. He immediately understood.

Wait. If he knew how bad his cooking was, why did he still make her eat it? Mo Ying quickly realized this problem.

“Then why did you make me eat it?” she asked, exasperated.

“You actually ate it?” Kagumo was shocked.

Mo Ying nodded. Kagumo stared at her in disbelief. “And you’re still alive?”

Mo Ying: Barely. Haha.

“Why would you even put that thing in your mouth?” Kagumo glanced at the pile of blackened remains Davis was cleaning up. Hadn’t she warned Mo Ying about his cooking before?

“I was curious about how bad it could be. And then I regretted it.” Mo Ying replied expressionlessly.

Kagumo: “......” The old saying was right—curiosity killed the cat. At least Mo Ying hadn’t died.

Mo Ying pulled out her phone. “Let’s just order breakfast. What’s the best place around here?”

After placing an order for five servings, the three of them sat on the couch, waiting for the delivery.

Mo Ying read seven chapters of a novel before the doorbell rang—the food had arrived.

Davis paid for the meal. Just then, Yvette came downstairs in casual clothes. When she saw the food, she said, “Oh, what a coincidence. Tuna sandwiches, right?”

“Yep, I got one for you. And black coffee too.” Davis said.

“Ansel isn’t up yet?” Mo Ying asked.

“He usually wakes up around eleven. More of a brunch person.” Kagumo replied.

But the breakfast was for five people... Then, Mo Ying noticed Davis happily devouring two servings by himself.

Oh. So he was eating two portions.

After breakfast, everyone went about their own activities. Yvette cleaned her guns, Davis considered studying another recipe—but was sternly stopped by Yvette—so he went to the combat room to train instead.

Kagumo took the opportunity to introduce Mo Ying to the combat room.

“This is where we practice fighting. Though, things tend to break easily here.” Kagumo sighed.

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed through the room. A metal training dummy had a deep dent in its chest—courtesy of Davis’ punch.

Davis let out a small “Oops” and moved on to the next dummy.

“A metal dummy?” Mo Ying was puzzled. Wouldn’t that hurt?

“That’s Davis’ special set. He says it ‘feels better’ this way. The rest of us use normal ones.” Kagumo said, patting a foam-filled training dummy.

She then walked over to the hanging sandbag and threw a punch at it.

"Not bad. Want to give it a try?" Kagumo felt good today and waved at Mo Ying.

Mo Ying shook her head; she rarely trained with sandbags.

"Hahaha! Not bad, not bad! A sturdier dummy is still the best!" Davis laughed heartily.

Mo Ying glanced at the dented metal dummies. Unlike Kagumo and Ansel, who had reached peak human strength through training, Davis’ strength was... unnatural.

It was probably his ability—something related to enhanced physical power. Most likely, it was Chaos Affinity.

“You’re really impressive.” Mo Ying genuinely praised him.

Just then, Yvette walked in. She went to the far end of the training room and pushed open a hidden door.

“This is the shooting range. It’s not very big—only fits two or three people at once. But it’s enough,” Yvette said, beckoning Mo Ying.

“I saw you carrying a gun yesterday. You must be a decent shot. Want to give it a try?”

Mo Ying nodded and stepped inside.

Her shooting was excellent—out of ten shots at a 25-meter distance, nine hit the bullseye, and one landed just slightly off.

“Impressive. Better than those three,” Yvette said, pleasantly surprised.

Mo Ying just smiled.

Then it was Yvette’s turn. She drew her own pistols—one in each hand—and fired.

Bang bang bang! The shots rang out at least fifty times, far exceeding her gun’s magazine capacity, yet she never stopped to reload.

When she finished, Mo Ying looked at the target.

The bullet holes formed a perfect smiling face. Every curve was flawless.

“This is my specialty,” Yvette said proudly.

Mo Ying nodded in agreement.

At this point, all four of them were here.

They stayed in the training room until Ansel finally woke up. He wandered into the living room, the kitchen, then eventually found them.

“So, you’re all here? That’s dedication.” Ansel said, pushing the door open.

“We were waiting for you. You always wake up so late,” Kagumo said.

“No, I don’t!” Ansel protested. “At least I won't sleep until the afternoon!”

“Afternoon? Huh?”

“Well, to be fair, college students sleeping past noon on weekends isn’t that rare,” Mo Ying said.