I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 25

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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 25. Suspicious Yet Competent Part-Timer (4)
“It wasn’t as difficult as it appeared.”
The gentle eyes from moments before had sharpened into the piercing gaze of a hawk surveying its prey.
As if she had pierced through to the very essence and answer of the information itself.
“Perhaps, Owner, if you had possessed some knowledge about coffee, you would have understood immediately.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. First, you said you deciphered the first line yourself, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I already had the relevant materials on hand.”
“The High Mountains shrouded in night’s veil—if you think of this as information about which beans to select, then the following lines become interpretable as well.”
“Isn’t the second line the same thing? The explanation seems similar.”
“No. If you think about the espresso extraction process, it will be easier to understand.”
According to Haeryang, the espresso extraction process consists of five major stages.
First, preparing and measuring the beans.
Then grinding, followed by dosing and tamping, and after group head cleaning and temperature stabilization, extraction proceeds.
“If this recipe is related to a skill, then the dosing and tamping process, as well as cleaning and stabilization, would be meaningless. Those are all equipment-related processes.”
“Then the second line is….”
“Since you’ve selected the beans, now it’s about the process of grinding them. Harvest only the dew gathered beneath the moonlight. It sounds difficult, but it’s a metaphorical expression. If you consider the light’s transmissivity and the dew’s cohesiveness, and substitute the common denominator between these two….”
After that point, I honestly had no idea what she was saying.
In the end, it seemed to simply mean grinding the beans to an appropriately fine particle size.
If too coarse, water flows through too quickly, resulting in under-extraction with weak flavor; conversely, if too fine, water gets blocked, resulting in over-extraction with bitter flavor.
“Then the part about ascending three times and purifying….”
“This I can say with certainty. It refers to the process of rinsing and purifying the cauldron.”
Noir, who had been listening quietly beside me, whispered softly into my ear.
She had witnessed the previous Witches go through exactly that process whenever they made potions.
“One fills the cauldron with purification spring water, then stirs counterclockwise three times. By moving against the flow of time and proceeding this complete number of three times, everything returns to its original pristine state.”
“How did you know that?”
“…or so the Witch from many generations before told me. Meow.”
I had confirmed that the purification spring water was in the warehouse, so I could use that.
“Finally, the part about pressing down like the earth means conducting the extraction under high pressure for an extended period.”
“Then….”
“Yes. I believe if you proceed exactly as instructed, you will succeed….”
After pouring out her words in a rush, Haeryang began to fidget again.
“Um… c… could I possibly wait here?”
With such earnest feelings, it would be more uncomfortable for her to return and wait.
* * *
I nodded slightly, gathered the remaining bread worth eating, and entered the Witch’s Cottage.
“Well then. Let me try doing this as instructed.”
I gathered the beans and ground them to an appropriate fineness.
I fetched the purification spring water from the warehouse, placed it in the cauldron, and stirred counterclockwise three times as Noir had said.
“Phew….”
“It must be because I haven’t used it in so long.”
Soon, grimy residue from previous brewing sessions poured out in a dark stream.
But in an instant, it vanished along with the spring water, and the cauldron returned to its original pristine state.
“Now, this is where my abilities become necessary.”
“Focus, Owner.”
I placed my hand on the cauldron and concentrated with my eyes closed.
The pre-ground coffee beans.
And the sustained high pressure.
The flowing water as well.
How long had I been sensing the humming vibrations emanating from the cauldron?
“It’s working! Owner! It’s actually working!”
When I opened my eyes at Noir’s voice, I nearly lost my concentration for a moment.
Everything I had been imagining began floating around the cauldron.
It was as if an invisible hand was working in my stead.
The coffee beans poured out from the bag in a single line.
They entered the grinder in sequence, were ground to the same particle size I had achieved earlier, and came out perfectly.
Soon the powder floating like clouds in the air compressed tightly toward the center, and water that had somehow appeared shot through the coffee grounds at high pressure.
Whoooosh!
The process ended just as the color shifted from deep brown to amber.
A rich espresso collected in the cauldron.
A fine layer of golden-brown foam—crema—had formed on top.
Ding~
[Witch’s Espresso (Midnight Dew)]
▷ A high-quality espresso made by precisely following the recipe. A perfect espresso with balanced acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma!
“Success….”
“We did it….”
It was only a single attempt.
With just one piece of advice from Haeryang, I surpassed everything that Noir and I had worked on throughout the night, and even received recognition from the status window as a perfect espresso.
As I stepped outside with the espresso I had created, Haeryang swallowed nervously and asked.
“Did… did it work?”
Having brought about this unbelievable result, Haeryang’s eyes wavered with anxiety.
“Can you come in starting tomorrow?”
“Huh? Tomorrow?”
“So what time can you start tomorrow?”
The Witch’s Bakery, Trèfle de bonheur.
Part-time position filled.
* * *
Kuuuung!
A woman shook off her sword amid a tremendous explosion.
The others were no different.
Not a trace of exhaustion showed on their faces as they maintained their respective weapons.
Yet if one traced the path they had walked, this was undeniably strange.
“I really don’t feel tired at all.”
“Even though I keep experiencing it, I can’t believe it.”
“When will I ever get another chance to cast magic in rapid succession like this?”
Behind them, exchanging words as if they were on a casual outing, the number of fallen Salt Giants had already surpassed a thousand.
Even Kim Han-ryul, the team leader of Cheongryong Guild’s first team, had torn out their life force with his bare hands.
If this was the level of achievement for an A-rank Hunter, what must it have been like for the S-rank Hunter leading them, Yu Ha-neul?
“Is anyone injured?”
“We’re all fine!”
“We could probably do this dozens more times, couldn’t we?”
Before them, shrugging their shoulders with ease, I gathered the ice sword I had conjured.
Since I utilized atmospheric moisture through rapid freezing as a weapon, this environment that stripped away moisture was incredibly challenging.
But once the limiter was released, it meant I could fly.
With wings of ice spread wide and moving at speeds exceeding the sound barrier, my form slaughtering the giants could rightfully be called an angel of the battlefield.
“It seems we’re almost at the end now.”
“I never dreamed we’d make it this far.”
“It’s all thanks to that bread.”
That’s right.
These fourteen people, who should have all met gruesome deaths here, were still alive thanks to nothing more than salt bread and coffee.
No, I shouldn’t have used the word “nothing more.”
Everyone would agree with that assessment.
“If we’d only had this, we wouldn’t have lost comrades while clearing gates.”
“There’s a twenty-four hour time limit, but it’s really a shame.”
It was exactly as the one from the pastry shop inside the gate had said.
The effects of salt bread and coffee lasted exactly one day.
After securing a safe zone and confirming it out of caution, it became clear that all of this was thanks to the bread and coffee.
The moment exactly twenty-four hours passed, their bodies began losing moisture again and drying out rapidly.
“If we could meet again and receive more bread….”
So from the perspective of Hunters who pursued power, it would be strange not to feel greed.
“That’s a dangerous thought.”
But I knew.
That the inside of gates was hostile to humans.
That even if it offered temporary aid, all of it was nothing but deception.
After all, hadn’t there been a Hunter who fell for sweet lies promising to resurrect their dead lover, slaughtered their own comrades, and was ultimately shot dead?
“We should be grateful just to have escaped from it.”
“You’re right….”
So naturally, everyone nodded at my words.
Still, even I couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of regret.
‘If only I had this, I could close every single gate in the world.’
If only that were possible, my younger sister—who fears even the bright sunlight—could live a proper life.
If only that could happen, I would have no further wishes.
After shaking my head to dispel the thoughts, I issued a command.
“We currently stand before a door that appears to contain a boss. According to Maestro’s analysis, what lies within is a monster with mana concentration equivalent to S-rank danger level.”
S-rank danger.
This was a metric incomparable to hunter rankings.
While hunter rankings were divided by rarity and combat ability, monster danger levels were classified purely by their threat level.
For example, E-rank could be eliminated by any adult male with a weapon, while D-rank could only be confronted by combat-class hunters who had awakened their skills.
“B-rank can annihilate a city, A-rank can destroy an entire nation. As for S-rank, you need not be told.”
A monster capable of obliterating the entire world.
Was it even appropriate to describe such a thing with the three letters spelling “monster”?
It was despair. It was calamity. It was the end.
We stood before such an existence.
And yet.
“When have we ever fought without such concerns?”
We were already resolved.
We had gathered here to eliminate the greatest threat to South Korea.
We had already heard the S-rank assessment before it even came through officially.
“So let’s go in quickly.”
“We need to finish before the bread effect wears off!”
“We should strike while we have the best odds.”
I let out a small chuckle toward my guild members, who shared the same thoughts as me, then spoke.
“Though it’s S-rank, the analysis shows it’s S-minus—slightly weaker than true S-rank.”
“That’s definitely manageable.”
“Let’s move.”
Without waiting for anyone to speak, they rose and drew their weapons.
“Everyone, prepare for combat.”
The massive temple door blocking our path swung open.
A vast space lined with enormous pillars.
At its center lay a colossal hole, its depth unknown, drilling down into the earth.
A black void gaping open in a space entirely covered in white salt.
“It’s coming.”
Something lurking within revealed itself.
[Queen, Fragment of Marie Labou (S-)]
Countless sluggish tentacles sprouted from a mass the size of a house.
Each tentacle, individually the size of a high-speed bus, turned its gaze toward us.
The mere sight of it corrupted the mind—clearly something of the mental contamination variety.
“Attack simultaneously! Pour everything into it!”
“Uaaaaaaaa!”
The attacks from both sides surged toward each other.
* * *
“Gasp… gasp….”
“Cough… hack! Hack!”
The pristine white temple’s form was nowhere to be found anymore.
Blood stains scattered everywhere, along with viscous black tar-like substances splattered across the ground.
The traces left by sword strikes, magic, arrows, and monster attacks were etched into the earth in their entirety.
But the one who remained at the end….
“We barely won….”
It was the Azure Dragon Guild, led by Sky.
Though the hunters’ bodies had corroded from the salt mucus that flowed from the creature’s writhing tentacles, it was only temporary thanks to the bread.
“Without the bread, we would’ve died a hundred times over….”
The power contained in the bread given by the mysterious being had instantly healed their wounds.
“Still, if the Guild Leader hadn’t been there at the end, we would’ve died anyway.”
“Right. When the bread’s effect finally wore off at the end, I really thought we were done for.”
As the battle dragged on, the bread’s effect inevitably began to fade.
Hunters whose effects had worn off began collapsing one by one.
Only Sky, who had eaten the bread and coffee last while looking after everyone else, still had the effect remaining.
“That was truly amazing.”
“Even so, we won’t be able to use it twice. No, we won’t be able to use it ever again.”
Sky spoke flatly to the guild member who lay collapsed with eyes already closed, mouth still moving.
Of course, this was a technique that couldn’t be used again.
It involved drawing out all of one’s life force and converting it into mana.
When complete recovery occurred from the bread’s effect, everything would be condensed again.
Continuously gathering so much S-rank power into a single point.
What accumulated was mana dozens of times greater than Sky’s own amount.
The ice sword that appeared, so densely condensed that space itself distorted.
A single sword strike cleaved through sky and earth without distinction.
But the power it contained was immense.
“Even with the bread’s power, my body couldn’t withstand it.”
That simple motion alone was enough to burst all the muscles in Sky’s arms.
And the creature that took the sword strike head-on….
Crackle!
Disappeared along with the sound of salt shattering.
[The boss monster of the ‘Fallen Witch’s Temple’, ‘Fragment of Queen Marie Labu’ has been eliminated.]
[Congratulations on clearing the gate.]
[Reward: Fallen Witch’s Scissor Blade]
Light sparkled from the sky, then a massive blade plunged down like a meteor.
That which resembled a sword was none other than one blade of a pair of scissors.
“How ominous….”
The scissor blade emanated an ominous black aura that seemed to corrupt merely by being held.
But it was only for a moment.
[The power of the fallen Witch, corrupted by the force generated during combat, is separated.]
[Additional Reward: Fragment of the Fallen Witch]
[The reward returns to the Owner.]
After the black aura vanished cleanly, a silvery-white blade emerged, sharp and cold.
[Marie Labu’s Scissors Blade]
▷ One blade of the scissors used by the Witch, Marie Labu. Her scissors will cut through absolutely everything. That which cannot be touched, and even concepts themselves.
Thus, the Gangneung Gate, which had plunged South Korea into terror for so long, announced its end.
“Additional reward? The reward returns to the Owner? The fallen Witch….”
At the same time, one S-rank Hunter was seized by doubt….
“What? What is this?”
“Owner? What’s wrong?”
“No… my status window….”
[The Fragment of the Fallen Witch has been recovered.]
A suspicious black substance was delivered to the Witch of this era.

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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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