I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 45

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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 45. Gate Break (2)
A goblin, its lower half torn away by savage bites, collapsed with only its upper body remaining.
The half-goblin, trembling its legs in confusion, simply toppled over.
Had ordinary hunters witnessed this, they would have been left speechless by the sheer destructive force.
Meanwhile, as if the amount of meat I had provided earlier wasn’t quite enough, the plant swayed its leaves contentedly, waiting for the next meal.
And following in their wake….
【Screeeech!】
【Shrieeeek!】
More goblins arrived in succession, but they only became food for Prettie and her kin in my Botanical Garden….
Some were torn to shreds, others dissolved, and yet another approached what it deemed a beautiful female goblin before getting caught in a trap and meeting its end.
Thanks to Prettie’s efforts, we could win just by holding out, but my thoughts were different.
“If their numbers keep growing, there’s nothing we can do about it… and there’s a troll too.”
Though these creatures were plants originating from the Gate, their basic ecology was identical to that of Earth’s carnivorous plants.
Which meant they required considerable energy to move.
Therefore, the time my Pretties could buy was not very long.
Once they became satiated one by one, they would stop hunting, and the goblins would brutishly force their way through the open path.
And eventually, though not immediately, trolls would arrive—creatures my Pretties couldn’t handle.
Yet still….
“Alright… let’s give it a shot… you bastards….”
【Shrieeeek!】
I had no intention of abandoning Seung-hyun, my only salvation to revive my Moisture Sprout coins heading toward the abyss.
“Let’s start with this one!”
Booooom!
The result of luring them with the explosive vine that detonated violently upon contact.
That alone was enough to seal the fate of three goblins in its path.
Seven remained.
“Next is this one!”
Crackle-crackle!
【Shrieeeek!】
The next in line was Prettie, the one I called Guillotine.
When enemies entered its range, it would drop its leaves, transformed heavy and sharp, to dispose of its prey.
A goblin’s head vanished in an instant as it fell under the downward strike.
I’d eliminated half in a flash, but my own situation was reaching its limit.
“Huff… huff….”
【Screeeech!】
【Shrieeeek!】
“These damn annoying bastards….”
Perhaps because I’d spent my entire life working with plants.
My stamina wasn’t particularly good.
Exerting great strength for short bursts was manageable since I was male, but my endurance was weak because I’d spent even my own food budget on the Pretties.
I had exhausted myself running about to lure the goblins, and my stamina had completely bottomed out.
“Huff… Hack! Hack!”
My vision had already darkened.
My head spun as if someone had rummaged through it with their hands, and my body burned like a ball of flame.
A maddening muscle soreness that felt like I’d worked without rest for days consumed my entire body.
Just as I tried to lift my trembling legs again….
Thud.
“Ugh….”
A faint sensation at the nape of my neck.
When I waved my hand to check, what I felt was a thin, crude needle.
At the end of that path, a single goblin stood grinning with a vial in its mouth.
“Poi… son….”
Strength began draining from my body.
Fever started rising madly.
Flame venom.
Why did I suddenly remember that the poison goblins use is so crude that it’s even difficult to make an antidote for it?
【Kerrrk! Hack! Hack!】
【Kkhack kkhack!】
“Grrrrr! Woof! Woof!”
Doo-sik rushed forward upon seeing his owner collapse, but he was no match for the monster’s strength.
With a single kick from the creature, Doo-sik was sent flying helplessly.
“Yelp!”
“Doo-sik!”
【Hack hack! Kerrrk!】
The creatures grew more excited, waddling toward me with increased vigor.
Watching them approach, dripping filthy saliva, Nuri finally squeezed her eyes shut.
Everything had gone so terribly wrong.
People had come offering to help, and yet it had come to this.
Truly, everything from start to finish was….
“This is the worst.”
【Kerrrk!】
Just as a goblin’s club was about to come crashing down on me lying on the ground.
“Chohong. Block it.”
“Kyuuuuut!”
Whoooooooosh!
A familiar voice humming and rumbling.
And with the cry of a small creature came the sensation of warmth.
“Good work, Chohong.”
“Kyuung. Kyung!”
“It seems you’ve been hit with the flame venom the goblins use. Your body is burning hot.”
“First, let’s deal with the situation here.”
In the fading haze of my senses, I heard voices conversing mixed strangely with the cat’s cries.
‘It feels like something I could trust and rely on… that kind of feeling….’
Warm words that came heavy and solid, like my dependable father’s voice from childhood, naturally drained the tension from my body.
Surrounded by these strange sounds, I was slowly losing consciousness.
Or rather, I was trying to.
“Ah, it would be problematic if you lost consciousness.”
“Oof!”
Until something suddenly filled my mouth.
I tried to spit out the foreign object that had abruptly entered my mouth, but my body wouldn’t cooperate.
“Owner, if I press like this, will it work?”
“It’s rather violent, but… it’s necessary, so….”
“This will keep them conscious?”
“Yes. Shouldn’t it?”
“Understood, meow.”
Someone mimicking a cat had sealed my mouth shut.
But that wasn’t the important part.
Something flowed into my mouth between my clenched lips.
‘Is this… water?’
After a straw was firmly inserted, cool water like thin ice flowed in.
As sweetness wrapped around and passed through, it added refreshing moisture to my parched throat burned by heat.
And it didn’t stop there—even the remaining heat in my body seemed to wash away.
‘The fever… is going down?’
I thought I felt refreshed, and indeed my body’s heat began to subside.
Just moments ago, the poison made me feel not merely hot but engulfed in flames, yet now I felt as comfortable as if doused with cool water.
And along with that came a taste both familiar and fantastical!
‘This is… the Moisture Sprout, isn’t it?’
It was definitely the Moisture Sprout.
How many times had I tasted it trying to commercialize the excess Moisture Sprouts?
In that process, I’d nearly died several times from moisture deprivation.
So I was certain.
This was definitely the Moisture Sprout.
‘But how does it taste like this….’
Cool and sweet with a salty note, and the flesh itself was refreshingly tart.
In this moment, my understanding of the Moisture Sprout’s taste was redefined.
To think the Moisture Sprout could produce such a flavor.
That the Moisture Sprout could even be eaten at all!
No, before that, I need to deal with the goblins that have swarmed in.
‘Ugh… to do that, I need to get my body up somehow… huh? It seems fine now?’
Strangely, the fatigue that had been pressing down and suffocating my body until just moments ago had completely vanished, so I carefully opened my eyes.
Only then did the surrounding landscape come into view.
“Kyuuuuu!”
A protective barrier of bright green light encircled his Botanical Garden.
Goblins struggling to break through from beyond it, but falling short.
“What… what is this? You bastards….”
“Ah. You’ve woken up.”
“So it seems.”
“Gasp!”
Two shadowy figures suddenly materializing before me.
But could they truly be called figures?
Those shapes resembled smoke clumped together, carved from pitch-black shadows devoid of a single glimmer of light.
That entity, whose expression and voice I could barely perceive, spoke to me once more.
“Are you alright?”
“Ugh….”
Nuri, who had regained consciousness, lost it again despite his grim resolve.
* * *
“Ah. I never expected this.”
“You lack foresight, Owner.”
“No, honestly, it was urgent.”
I had my retort ready for Noir’s sarcasm.
Because it truly was urgent.
“To witness a Gate opening inside the Gate itself.”
Anyone who heard this would have told me to stop spouting madness.
But it was the truth.
I had witnessed that very moment—the Witch’s Cottage appearing inside the Gate, connecting to the real world.
And the countless Goblins that had been waiting before it surging forward in a torrent.
The problem was….
“These creatures came charging at us too.”
“Such vermin all think alike. Owner. They cannot perceive the power their opponent possesses, so this is all they’re capable of. Meow.”
Some of the creatures that had been swarming toward the Princess Research Facility outside the Gate suddenly rushed toward us instead.
Of course, since we were inside the Witch’s Cottage, there was no danger of harm, but the sight of those creatures charging forward with wild, crazed eyes and drool streaming from their mouths was terrifying nonetheless.
Just as they reached the front gate of the Witch’s Cottage and were about to bring down their clubs.
“Chohong lent her strength.”
“Kyuuuuu!”
The fairy Chohong, who brightened and giggled upon hearing her name.
The creature cried out “Kyuuuu!” toward the charging Goblins and unleashed a surge of green energy from her hands.
And what received that energy was none other than the Moisture Sprout I had planted in my Kitchen Garden.
As if suddenly awakened, the Moisture Sprout’s stem swelled grotesquely, then tapered to a spear-like point, piercing through the creatures in an instant.
The thin, resilient stem prevented them from moving.
Perhaps because she had exerted such power, the fairy who radiated brilliant light across her entire body was given the name Chohong.
“If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have made it out here either.”
“Meow. The separation of the Witch’s Cottage was something even I didn’t anticipate… I’ve escorted countless witches over the years, but nothing like this has ever happened!”
And perhaps because the Gate had opened.
Despite Noir’s presence, the Witch’s Cottage remained disconnected from the real world.
So we had no choice but to use Chohong’s barrier and ride the opened Gate back to reality, and as a result…
“That’s why our appearance has to look like how we appeared in the Witch’s Cottage, right?”
“Precisely, Owner. To return to our original state, we would need to exit this place through the Witch’s Cottage, but…”
“Which means we’d have to close that Gate, wouldn’t we?”
“That’s correct.”
Noir nodded at my words.
But something felt odd about all this.
Until now, whether the Gate opened or not, the Witch’s Cottage had never experienced any problems.
That’s precisely why I was able to meet with so many hunters.
“Could it be… that…”
“What is it, Noir?”
“It’s nothing. But that strange and mysterious energy likely had an influence. Since its wavelength was similar to the Witch’s power, it probably mixed with this side and caused the problem.”
Noir seemed to be continuing to think, as if something kept bothering him from his perspective.
But there was no way around this.
In the end, all that remained was to close that Gate.
“So in the end, there’s no way, Owner.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because you’re still weak! For this tragedy to pile on while you’re still in the middle of growing… how frustrating!”
Noir spoke those words while genuinely wearing an aggrieved expression.
He wasn’t wrong.
To say it again, no matter how much power of the Witch I possess, I’m still just a simple Bakery Owner.
Gate breaking is the hunters’ job.
“Why would you think I need to do that?”
“What did you say, Owner?”
If the problem is that I can’t physically deal with the goblins, then I just need to find another way.
“First of all, we have our Chohong…”
“Kyuuuu!”
As if understanding Noir’s words, Chohong thrust his short arms forward powerfully and cried out.
“And we have plenty of plants that can tear goblins apart all on their own?”
I pointed to the plants still wailing about being hungry, their entire bodies covered in green goblin blood, and the scattered pieces of what used to be goblins scattered around them.
“What exactly are you worried about?”

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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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