I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 57

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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 57. Unwanted Yet Desperately Needed (1)
Owner.
Though the world had changed overnight, those three letters still held tremendous power in South Korea.
Of course, there were the unfortunate circumstances of Gates and Monsters—and the Hunters who fought against them—shortening the lifespan of buildings themselves.
“It just means there are more things to consider now, that’s all.”
The Seoul-centric real estate phenomenon of the past could no longer be found in the market.
Instead, the deciding factor was Gate occurrence frequency.
An era had arrived where property values and land prices were determined by where Gates appeared most often and how frequently they manifested.
Naturally, experts claimed this held no scientific merit whatsoever.
After all, even scientists couldn’t predict where Gates would open years in advance.
“Still, that’s how people are. The desire to settle in a safe place is instinct.”
“That was always true. Only serfs lived in regions where war broke out frequently. Master.”
“Well… I suppose you could look at it that way.”
“Humans are truly irrational creatures. They have a talent for making their already difficult lives even harder. Meow.”
Leaving Noir’s sarcasm behind, we headed toward a spacious vacant commercial unit on the first floor near the existing Bakery.
A place I’d coveted every time I passed by.
“Be quiet now. The Real Estate Agent will be arriving soon.”
“Meow.”
“Yes, that’s good.”
“Oh my! Who is this! Aren’t you the Bakery Owner from over there?”
Thanks to contacting her beforehand, I was able to meet the real estate agent in front of the commercial space.
She opened the door with the keys she’d retrieved and showed me inside.
She’d explained something, but I hadn’t really heard it.
My attention was entirely focused on the layout and arrangement.
“We could put the kitchen over there, and run the water line over here instead.”
“Meooow.”
“And if we do a display case running all the way across, it would look really nice, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh ho ho! You seem quite pleased!”
“Yes. It’s really beautiful.”
Compared to the existing Bakery, this shop was five times larger and even came with its own separate restroom.
That wasn’t all.
The first floor could operate as my business space, while residential housing was available above it!
For someone like me who’d been living in a studio apartment, this place represented the optimal choice—a way to satisfy both housing and commercial space needs with a single contract.
How could I not be satisfied?
“Then I’ll let the Owner here know. Just a moment? Ho ho! Yes. Owner! Someone’s come who wants to move in here!”
The agent picked up her phone and called the person who owned this building.
While waiting for the call to connect, I was surveying the empty commercial space.
That’s when Noir cautiously spoke to me.
“Master. Be careful.”
“Suddenly? About what?”
“That human is steeped in greed. I can feel it.”
The creature’s whiskers trembled as it pointed a foreleg at the Real Estate Agent.
The man had rings crammed onto every finger and thick crimson lip gloss plastered across his lips.
He wore expensive clothes that didn’t suit him at all.
Because of this, I couldn’t say I disagreed with Noir’s assessment.
But one’s appearance alone wasn’t enough to label someone with the word “greed.”
“Let’s just observe for now.”
“If I had my way, I’d bolt from this space right now, Master.”
“Bear with it.”
This building was far too appealing to abandon based solely on a physiognomy reading.
How long did I wait with that thought in mind?
An old man appeared with heavy, plodding footsteps.
His chubby cheeks and bloated belly were evident as he wiped his stomach while greeting me.
“Oh my. You’re young, aren’t you? You’re the one running the bakery over there, right?”
“Ah… yes… Hello…”
I grasped the extended hand and shook it a couple of times.
“Mm-hmm. But then… hmm…”
He released my hand slowly, his eyes wide as he studied me.
“Will a young fellow like you be profitable?”
A spasm ran through my right hand that had just been clasped.
It wasn’t merely because I felt insulted by what he’d just said.
“Oh my! Sir, you don’t know! This young bachelor is the owner of that bakery over there! Ohoho! Business is booming these days, isn’t it?”
“Is that so? Then you must have plenty of money? Let me see… so then…”
After exchanging a few words with the Real Estate Agent, from that man who now fixed me with a half-lidded gaze…
“How much have you looked into?”
A black thread I’d never seen before emanated from him.
* * *
“Didn’t I tell you, Master?”
“How was I supposed to know?”
Needless to say, I didn’t sign the contract.
It wasn’t just because I was frightened by the thread of a color I’d never witnessed before.
There was an emotion emanating from it.
Resentment, rage, and despair.
All of it woven together, inflicting an almost maddening pain upon me.
“That is karma, Master.”
“Karma?”
“Haven’t we only seen two types of destiny’s threads until now? Now there’s a third.”
Noir explained that the red thread signified those already bound by fate.
The blue thread represented those whose destiny could change depending on my actions.
For example, Haeryang, who was currently working part-time at my bakery, was like that.
And finally….
“Black threads signify accumulated karma. That man must have built up quite a bit of it.”
“So the Real Estate Agent is in the same boat?”
“Yes. Both of them were wrapped in black threads, weren’t they?”
No matter how I looked at it, only a bleak future materialized, so I left without signing the contract.
They persistently touted the merits of that commercial space, but after that point, I barely heard a word.
“Sigh… This really is difficult.”
“Humans are strange. In the old days, you could just lay down some planks anywhere and start a business.”
“Now that’s apparently illegal.”
I had returned to the Bakery and was doing nothing but heaving sighs when it happened.
Ding~
“Owner! Hello! Oh? You don’t look so good?”
“Welcome, Haeryang.”
Haeryang arrived at the Bakery right on time for her shift.
She tilted her head for a moment before speaking to me.
“Owner, was that commercial space you said you were going to see today the 1st Floor Store one block over?”
“How did you… ah….”
“I have that skill, remember?”
Once again, Haeryang’s meticulous analysis was working hard.
“I can’t believe it was there. From your expression, it looks like you just walked out—you did the right thing.”
“Do you know something about it?”
“I just naturally pick up on these things. It’s easy once I understand what’s happened at that space and the nearby ones.”
Though I suspect that’s only easy for her.
In any case, what Haeryang had uncovered was quite shocking.
“So they’re deliberately working together to recruit successful businesses to their space?”
“Yes. There’s no other way to interpret it.”
Just as I’d suspected, the Owner and the Real Estate Agent were in cahoots.
They used prime commercial spaces as bait to lure self-employed entrepreneurs who’d already tasted some success, getting them to operate in their building.
And then all the disasters would begin.
“They’d stuff the contract with all sorts of clauses and trap them.”
And that wasn’t all.
They’d install structures blocking signage under the guise of safety, and continuously wear down the tenants’ spirits through maintenance of aging bathrooms and common areas.
Then when tenants tried to leave, they obviously wouldn’t return their key money deposits.
And as if targeting tenants exhausted in body and spirit, they’d open shops of the same type nearby.
“So if you look at the new shops around that building, they’re all the same type of business as the ones that operated in that space.”
“Just hearing about it makes me sick—it’s so petty and vicious.”
“Right? I don’t know why monsters don’t just drag away people like that.”
Haeryang grumbled as she prepared for work, but my mind was anything but settled.
Would I have to abandon my dream of expanding the Bakery?
Because of one person like that?
I could only sigh at the situation, but customers still had to be served.
“Noir, let’s get ready.”
“Meow.”
“Haeryang, please do your best today too.”
“Of course.”
I flipped the sign on the door from Closed to Open and began the day’s business.
* * *
Today was just as bustling as always.
Everyone purchased bread, and as they ate, their faces radiated pure happiness.
Right, what was expanding the bakery in the grand scheme of things?
It was something I could do whenever I set my mind to it.
All I needed to do was seize the opportunity whenever it came knocking.
As I thought this and moved to restock the depleted bread on the display, that’s when it happened.
“Is the young bachelor owner here?”
I recognized that voice.
How could I not? It belonged to the woman who had encouraged me to stay strong even when my rent fell behind, saying life doesn’t always go as planned.
“Elder? What brings you here…?”
“Can’t I visit a shop doing business in my own building?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
She was short in stature with a bent back.
Her white hair was thick, and her face and hands were covered with wrinkles earned through years of struggle.
She was the Grandmother who owned the commercial building where Trèfle de bonheur had opened.
Yet despite her age, those keen eyes had not dimmed.
“There’s nothing wrong with it, is there?”
“Ah. Yes, yes. Of course.”
Well, she did have a rather sharp personality, I’ll admit.
Dressed in sweatpants and a floral patterned vest, leaning on her cane as she looked around the bakery, Grandmother eventually picked up a loaf of bread and brought it to me.
“How much is this?”
“That’s a chestnut butter cream bread. It’s 4,000 won.”
“What, that expensive? Wait a moment.”
Muttering to herself, she rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a crumpled 10,000 won bill, handing it to me.
“Yes. I received 10,000 won. Your change is 6,000 won…”
“Keep the change. Say, did you bring that over there today?”
“Huh? How did you know that?”
“What else would old folks waiting for death while holding onto money be doing all day? Gossiping about what sucker they caught today, that’s what.”
“No…”
Her words were crude, but there was always a reason she spoke so bluntly.
It meant that the building owner I’d seen today—the one brimming with karmic debt—had been spreading word around the neighborhood.
“Would you like me to give you something extra?”
“No need. I’m old and have no appetite anyway.”
“But that cream bun is quite large, isn’t it?”
“Should I just raise the rent dramatically? Huh?”
“I’ll be quiet.”
Indeed, the building owner is a god.
While I scratched my head in embarrassment, Grandmother stared blankly at the cream bun still in its wrapper for a long moment.
As if it held some cherished memory within it.
“Is it really that delicious?”
“I’m confident in the taste.”
“Sure. If that were true, business would have been thriving from the start.”
“But it’s doing well now, isn’t it?”
“A merchant through and through—all talk and no substance. Ridiculous. You’ll just keep your mouth running. Tsk!”
She clicked her tongue once, then unwrapped the cream bun with trembling hands and took a bite.
But her reaction was entirely different from the other customers.
Instead of the familiar exclamations of delight that came immediately, Grandmother hesitated for a moment, then swallowed and suddenly spoke bluntly.
“I don’t know what’s so delicious about this.”
“Pardon?”
“Young man. Are you thinking of expanding the bakery?”
“Yes. It’s difficult for customers to move around inside, and it’s inconvenient for those waiting outside.”
“Then do you want to buy this?”
Grandmother pointed at the ceiling with her finger as she asked.
Not understanding what she meant, I simply stared, and Grandmother spoke loudly in frustration.
“This building! Do you want to buy it?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Huh?”
It was the moment an unexpected proposal fell into the bakery.

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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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