I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 134

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 134. Hardtack’s Resilience (2)
There was one thing the fragment of the fallen Witch had never known.
Well, to be honest, it was actually two things.
One was the extent of Gora’s abilities.
“Gora, Gora.”
Despite my entire body being battered by that creature’s blood-whip attacks, Gora moved about as if nothing were amiss.
This was all thanks to the ability I possessed.
Self-regeneration that came alongside my gigantification.
No matter what damage was inflicted, as long as I had a sufficient quantity of dough, I could repair my wounds myself.
“Of course, that process does consume my BP.”
Gora and the Ginger Man Legion were already being utilized in nearly every baking process, including Wichi Food, so BP was perpetually scarce.
And just now, the battle had consumed an enormous amount of additional BP.
Which meant my remaining BP was….
[10BP]
I couldn’t speak it aloud—that creature might notice—but I’d essentially exhausted my reserves entirely.
It was fortunate that I’d contacted Nuri before coming here to ask if we could temporarily pause production operations.
Otherwise, something might have gone catastrophically wrong during the battle.
“And this friend has been an invaluable asset.”
As I moved my hand, hardtack pieces gathered around me with a crisp, crackling sound.
These pieces performing aerial acrobatics that ordinary bread could never achieve, circling around me, were naturally far more than simple bread.
They were my second summoned creature, born from countless deliberations.
[Autonomous Hardtack (Jaha)]
▷ An independent swarm summoned creature composed of ‘resilient hardtack.’ It displays optimal movements to accomplish objectives according to the Witch’s will.
▷ Skills
① Autonomous Operation: Individual commands can be issued to each hardtack piece.
② Organic Operation: Collective commands can be issued to the hardtack swarm.
I had baked this hardtack for my own protection.
But hardtack had only the advantage of being durable; otherwise it was limited.
Moreover, since it was merely biscuit-sized, it wasn’t particularly efficient at defending against multiple attacks.
Yet baking them larger created serious portability problems.
“So that’s the solution I devised.”
If the problem was that a single piece couldn’t be large enough, then I would simply increase the quantity.
And if all those pieces could move organically, each responding to my will?
After numerous trials and errors, I succeeded in infusing the right sincerity to create this autonomous hardtack—colloquially known as Jaha.
Naming things was difficult work, so I’ll spare myself that burden.
“Since it both defends and attacks, there’s nothing quite like it.”
I could move each individual piece simply by thinking of it.
And controlling the swarm as a collective posed no significant strain.
I could protect other targets like Gora, and I could even use their inherent hardness as weapons.
“This was my first deployment of it, so I’m curious what you’ll think.”
“Grrr… grrrrgh….”
The creature struck by the adamantium hammer, now reinforced with hardtack coating, was utterly mangled.
A single blow.
That alone was enough to leave it sprawled on the ground, its eyeballs burst, oozing putrid blood in rivulets.
“How… how is this possible…. You clearly had no power….”
“Basic physics.”
Force is proportional to mass and acceleration.
The adamantium hammer was already heavy, and with the hardtack coating added, the mass had increased.
And it’s the hardtack that augments my catastrophic physical capabilities.
Generating sufficient acceleration isn’t difficult.
So naturally, producing destructive force wasn’t difficult either.
“Gora gora?”
“Kyuuu?”
Chohong and Gora, burning with hostility toward the sprawled creature.
Perhaps it was because they’d become extremely agitated after it had launched an attack at me.
The cave under Chohong’s influence was covered in overgrown vegetation, trembling as if it might collapse at any moment.
As for Gora, well… being the one who’d directly received the attack, there was no way its anger wouldn’t be kindled.
So it only seemed right to give them a chance to vent their fury.
“Hold it tight. Both of you.”
“Kyuuu!”
“Gorarara!”
Gora tore off thick chunks of dough and slathered them all over the creature.
As Chohong poured its power toward the creature, now stuck fast to the ground, plants sprouted from the earth and bound it like threading needles through cloth.
The creature was bound so tightly it couldn’t budge an inch.
“Indeed… I did underestimate you.”
Yet even so, the creature continued speaking.
“But remember this. As long as you refuse to acknowledge the truth, you will never win, nor will you reclaim your freedom.”
“….”
“That is why you will forever flounder in the depths, lost in the delusion of your own righteousness….”
Crack!
There seemed no need to listen further.
This was a cliché, wasn’t it?
A defeated villain spouting curses and bitter laments at their opponent.
Some might listen to all of it, but I didn’t have the luxury for such indulgence.
After swinging the adamantium hammer once more to silence it, I retrieved the Witch’s Pondan O Chocolat I’d brought and pondered.
“Where is its mouth?”
The method to purify a fallen Witch’s fragment was to feed it this.
But there was one major problem—the creature had no visible mouth.
How was I supposed to feed it without a mouth?
“Through the bloodstream, Owner.”
“Bloodline?”
“Meow. If you think about what that creature did to draw power, it’s simple, Master.”
Noir, who had been calmly observing from behind until now, finally spoke.
When the bloodline binding Soo-min and Seung-hyun had bulged grotesquely, the creature’s power had indeed grown stronger.
Which meant the creature was absorbing nutrition or energy through those threads, didn’t it?
“I never thought of feeding bread this way….”
“That’s not really the point, is it?”
“True enough.”
I walked forward steadily and pressed Pondan O Chocolat against the creature’s bloodline, which was tightly sealed.
The bread melted instantly and was absorbed into the creature.
“Kiiiiieeeeeee!”
A piercing shriek followed—the kind that would accompany a monster’s death throes—and the creature’s body vanished without a trace.
Leaving behind only a single object.
[Purified Witch Fragment]
“Just like before. This means I need to make something from this too.”
“Indeed. Through the power of the corrupted Previous Witch contained within the fragment, you should be able to determine what it was. Master.”
“Didn’t you already know?”
“….”
The creature acted as though it knew about Noir.
Calling him Blackie.
That was probably Noir’s name back then.
Moreover, Noir also didn’t act as though he was unfamiliar with the creature.
“If that weren’t the case, you wouldn’t have been able to say things like bastard or temptation back there.”
Hit with the truth, Noir’s whiskers twitched for a long moment before he finally answered.
“…I suppose I should explain.”
“Yeah. Thanks. But I’ll hear that story when we get back.”
This was important too, but what mattered more right now was bringing the two fallen people back to consciousness.
Fortunately, they seemed to be regaining awareness—both were staring at me with their mouths hanging open.
Sandworm and Whitey were bouncing around, worried about their respective masters.
I was about to approach them when it happened.
Ding
[Quest has been completed.]
[You have acquired 200,000 BP as a reward.]
[Gate has been cleared.]
With the Gate’s clear announcement, the cave that had been nothing but darkness brightened brilliantly.
The oppressive heaviness that had settled over the space vanished as if washed away.
It must have been a phenomenon created by the corrupted Witch Fragment lurking here.
“Huh? I can see? I can see now!”
“Sensory organs confirmed to be functioning normally.”
“Woof woof!”
“Kyeeeeeee!”
At the same moment, the Gate began to gradually lose its existence.
It was at that very instant that a passage back to the original world appeared beside the remaining Soo-min and Seung-hyun.
“Owner. Those two seem to be fine.”
“You’re right. We can leave now.”
“It’s not a matter of ‘can.’ Owner. You’re in an incredibly urgent situation right now!”
“Huh? What do you mean urgent…?”
The direction Noir’s front paw was pointing toward.
In the distance, the Pastry Shop appeared as nothing more than a tiny dot.
Now, let me think about this.
The Pastry Shop had determined that it had completed all its business here.
Indeed, it had purified the fragment of the fallen Witch and received 200,000 BP as compensation.
And as a result, the Gate had been cleared as well.
So in such a situation, what choice would the Witch’s Cottage make?
No—what would happen to the beings remaining in a disappearing Gate?
“Run! Owner!”
“Gora! Chohong! Get on!”
“G-Gora!”
“G-Gora!”
“Noir, you too!”
“Weoooong!”
I hastily released my gigantification, and Gora settled onto my shoulder while Chohong took position on my head.
Cradling Noir in my arms as he tried to run alongside me, I bolted forward like a madman.
The space was collapsing rapidly and decisively.
With no energy left to maintain the space, the cave crumbled like old glass shattering—torn and peeling away in fragments.
It was as if the canvas upon which the cave had been painted was being ripped to shreds.
“You have to run faster, Owner!”
“I’m already running as fast as I can!”
I was already pushing beyond my limits.
Compensating for my insufficient running ability with Hardtack, I was moving at a speed rivaling that of a speeding automobile.
Yet despite all this, the collapse drew closer—nearly at my heels.
Craaash!
“Faster! Even faster!”
“Unyaaaaa!”
“Kyuuuuu!”
“Go! Ra! Goralarara!”
Watching that solid Hardtack tear to ash the moment it touched the collapse, I summoned strength I didn’t know I possessed.
When I finally reached the Witch’s Cottage, there was no time for hesitation—I hurled myself inside…
Whoooosh~
As if it had been waiting, the Witch’s Cottage shifted its position.
“Phew… I nearly died there….”
“That was genuinely dangerous….”
It was an experience that sent chills down my spine, one I never wanted to endure again.
If I had to describe it, it felt like my very existence was being denied, as though I were being erased from the world itself.
“That was really close to becoming a disaster….”
After dismissing my new summoned creature, Zaha, and checking on it, I confirmed that the creature wrapped around my heel was no longer functioning.
Whether the Witch’s power had completely vanished or the creature had turned to dust, it was no longer active.
“Does the nature of the Gate… transcend the Witch’s power?”
“I cannot say for certain, Owner. From what I have observed, the Gate is an extraordinarily alien entity.”
“Hmm….”
While it was true that the Witch’s power belonged to an alien category, the Gate and monsters were far more so.
Only because time had passed and they had seeped into daily life did people accept them naturally—but none of this was inherently inevitable.
“Regardless, I cannot discern where we are, Owner.”
At Noir’s words, I looked up at the sky, and an equally alien landscape unfolded before me.
Actually, I could have understood it simply by looking around.
“Good morning!”
“Good morning to you as well, Brook.”
People exchanging warm greetings.
Sunlight filtering over the castle walls painted the rough stone walls with golden hues.
Between narrow, steep cobblestone paths, the scent of hay and earth mingled together, while the distant sound of a blacksmith’s hammer striking an anvil broke the silence.
A space where, as travelers in tattered cloaks hurried along, the great bell of the Cathedral rang out majestically, as though concluding the village’s day.
“A Gate like this exists?”
A pastry shop stood naturally in the heart of the medieval landscape.
“A strange space indeed.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Whine….”
But the Gate being strange was nothing new.
More importantly, I had something to discuss with Noir.
“Let’s finish the conversation we were having earlier.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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