I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 66

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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 66. The Giant and Candy (2)
It was an enormous eye.
Or rather, it was so massive I questioned whether it could even be called an eye at all.
Please forget what I just said.
It means my mind was that rattled.
“What… what on earth is that…”
“Meoooow… hisssss!”
“Kyuu! Kyuu kyuu!”
Sensing what I felt, Noir’s fur stood on end, bristling across his entire body, while Chohong had already prepared herself to unleash her protective green powder at a moment’s notice.
“This is the right place… it has to be…”
The eyeball rolls.
A movement to check what’s inside.
But unable to see properly, the mysterious creature shifted its posture, doing its utmost to peer in.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before I was discovered.
“You need not worry about being discovered, Owner.”
“Is that also the Witch’s power?”
“Indeed. Right now, you do not wish to be discovered, do you? Then the Witch’s Cottage simply answers to that desire.”
Just as Noir said, the presence outside continued peering in before eventually rising to its feet.
Even that alone produced a tremendous boom, enough to give me a rough sense of the creature’s size.
It had to be at least the size of a blue whale, the largest mammal on Earth.
It could be even larger than that.
“Hmm… I suppose there’s no helping it…”
The creature muttered in a voice befitting that massive body, and I felt the thud-thud vibrations as it took a step.
One step, two steps, and then…
“The sound… it stopped?”
“Meoooow… do not lower your guard, Owner. Surely something…”
Knock knock knock
The sound of knocking on the door.
This time it wasn’t loud.
Just an ordinary knock.
“Is anyone home?”
The voice that came through was different from before—not resonant, and certainly not ear-splitting.
It even sounded somewhat youthful.
Of course, that alone wouldn’t have eased my anxiety.
“This is… a thread?”
A thread connected to the outside of the door.
Its color was a luminous blue.
“Blue was supposed to mean possibility…”
“Meoooow! A customer! It’s definitely a customer! Owner!”
“Kyuu? Kyuu?”
“Ugh! There’s no need to put up a barrier! What kind of Witch pushes away customers!”
While Noir, who had picked up the habit of calling people “customers” from working at the Bakery, tried to stop Chohong, I straightened my clothes and headed toward the Door.
When I opened the Door made of candy and bread….
“There’s no one here?”
Outside, mountains were piled high with scrap metal.
A sky tinted only in gray.
It was a strange sight like something from a science fiction movie, but the person who had knocked earlier was nowhere to be seen.
“I definitely heard knocking just now….”
“I’m here!”
“Huh?”
“Down here!”
Along with bouncing sounds, orange hair fluttered in my lower field of vision.
To be precise, it was hair.
When I lowered my gaze, there was a small child about the height of my stomach doing their best to jump in place.
“Ah! You finally see me!”
“Who are you? And how did you get here….”
“I’m so happy! I knew I was right! I was absolutely right!”
“No, I’m asking who you are.”
“Huh?”
The small child stopped jumping at my straightforward question and stood firm, looking at me.
Not stopping there, tears began to well up in the creature’s eyes as they opened their mouth.
“Um… could this… not be where Yeon-gi lives…?”
“Yeon-gi?”
“It can’t be! It can’t! I thought I could finally get rid of this damn, miserable thing! Damn it! My life is wrong! It’s rotten! It’s ruined! Waaaaaahhhhhhh!”
“No! It is Yeon-gi, so please calm down! Calm down! Stop!”
“Waaaaaahhhhhhh!”
I found myself trying to calm down the small child.
* * *
“So… to summarize what I’ve heard so far….”
“Sniffle… cough… sniffle….”
“Sigh… here you go. A handkerchief.”
“Th… thank youuuu… *sobs*!”
The small child grabbed the handkerchief I offered and blew their nose forcefully.
They had been crying continuously until just moments ago, so their eyes were swollen and they couldn’t speak properly.
Still, without giving up, I managed to have a conversation and figure out who this small child was.
“So, your name is Seong Si-woo.”
“That’s my name….”
“And you’re 23 years old… right?”
“I really am 23….”
I examined Siwoo once more as he introduced himself as an adult.
He’s small.
Incredibly small, in fact.
Of course, his growth might be delayed in terms of height alone.
But his proportions and appearance made it difficult to regard him as an adult male in any way.
Those bright, innocent eyes, the tiny nose, the small hands and feet.
Anyone looking at him would mistake him for an elementary school student in the lower grades, or perhaps a kindergartener.
“As I explained earlier… there are circumstances here… that… *sniff!*”
“Yes, yes. I heard you. So please don’t cry.”
According to Siwoo, all of this was due to a skill he possessed.
More precisely, it was due to the side effects of that skill.
“Because of the Gigantification skill…”
Gigantification.
Literally, a skill that enlarges the caster’s body to enormous proportions.
In combat, it’s an incredibly useful skill.
The greater the size, the more physical power is guaranteed, and the body becomes so durable that ordinary attacks leave no wounds.
While other hunters fight monsters with their lives on the line, laden with all manner of equipment, a Gigantification caster can sweep them away like autumn leaves with nothing but bare fists and feet.
I was curious about what happens to clothes, so I asked.
“Gigantification enlarges everything around the caster as a whole, so there’s no risk of clothes tearing…”
What kind of absurdly broken skill is this?
A skill that transforms one into an avatar of destruction, a giant.
Of course, there are drawbacks—the resonance causes his voice to become excessively deep and his movements sluggish—but those are trivial compared to the ability itself.
“At first, I thought I could really handle it well. I believed it was an amazing skill… but…”
But as they say, there’s no such thing as a free meal in this world.
There was a very serious side effect here…
“The longer I maintain Gigantification, the younger my age becomes…”
There is only one way to age.
Simply the passage of time.
Siwoo became afraid of his ability when his body regressed beyond that of a middle schooler to an elementary school student.
If you’ve heard this much, you’d all think the same thing.
“If he just controls the Gigantification skill well, he can stay young for life and become a hunter with a good skill, right?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
“If only it were that simple… The Gigantification skill… I can’t use it at will…”
A double-edged sword.
An incredibly powerful skill, yet one he cannot control at his discretion, and one with the side effect of his age regressing endlessly after use.
“I can’t get a job because I suddenly grow during daily life… but I can’t be a hunter either because the skill doesn’t work properly… I tried my best, but D-rank was my limit. Even when I applied to participate in gate raids, they wouldn’t accept me…”
“Is there anyone around who could help you…”
“No… not a single person…”
While he should have sought help from acquaintances and adults around him, Siwoo was not in a position to do so.
He lost his parents in a Gate Break incident.
With a younger sister to care for, earning income was essential.
Moreover, upon registering as a Hunter, I could no longer receive government subsidies.
“Once you register as a Hunter, you’re automatically excluded from all support programs… There’s no way around it. Hunters earn good money, after all…”
“…”
“My younger sister is quite intelligent… She’s already in her third year of high school and aspires to medical school… and she’s determined to go to medical school specifically to cure me…”
I understood well enough.
Siblings with a strong bond.
She couldn’t bear to watch her older brother gradually regress, eventually crossing a river from which there was no return.
That’s why she’d chosen to become a doctor herself.
“There’s simply no way. I’ve searched everywhere… but all I’ve heard is that it’s terminal…”
And that wasn’t all.
She’d diligently sought out people of some renown in the region.
But most of them turned out to be con artists, and the rare few legitimate doctors all said the same thing.
At this rate, in less than half a year, he’d regress to the level of a newborn.
It was in the depths of that despair that Siwoo saw the news.
“The S-rank Hunter, the Flame Saint, said so! She was able to receive help from Yeon-gi, who was inside the Candy House!”
Siwoo recalled how a faint but final glimmer of hope had kindled within that despair.
To give his skill actual purpose.
He’d glimpsed his only hope.
From that point on, he’d wagered everything.
It all began with risking his life to enter Gates in search of the being called Yeon-gi, who supposedly existed inside the Gate.
The sighting locations were always high-grade Gates.
“I’m not sure why, but fortunately, the gigantification kept happening… hehe…”
“It’s not luck—it’s destiny guiding you. Master.”
“Be quiet.”
According to Noir, destiny must have increased the frequency of his skill’s manifestation to guide him this way.
Of course, Siwoo would have to bear all the side effects alone.
That’s why he’d become far more regressed than before.
“I’m not even asking you to remove just the side effects! I just want them gone!”
He must have wanted to escape this wretched fate that held his leash and shook it like a noose.
“Any price is fine! If you need my arms, I’ll cut them off! So please!”
But why had the conversation turned like this.
“Let me explain first.”
I spoke to Siwoo, who was trembling as if he truly meant to sever his own arms.
“Your arms are not necessary, Siwoo.”
“Then what do you…”
“No other body parts are necessary either.”
Why did these people keep trying to give me such things.
If anything, I’d rather they give me flour.
Flour prices have gone up these days too.
“Also, while it’s true that I helped awaken the abilities of S-rank Hunter Joo Gyu-ri…”
“Exactly! Then that means—!”
“However, I merely helped awaken abilities she already possessed.”
The abilities Gyu-ri now displayed to the media were merely skills she had already possessed.
All I did was add one additional skill on top of what she already had.
In other words, contrary to what Siwoo might be thinking, I didn’t erase or transform her existing skills.
“Therefore, I cannot give you a definitive answer.”
“I… is that so…? Then… what am I supposed to do now…?”
Upon hearing my words, he collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself.
He must have felt as though he’d lost everything.
He’d come all this way clinging to a single hope, only to receive a declaration that it was a false one.
But there’s a rule about Korean—you must hear it through to the end.
“I will make an effort.”
“Yes?”
“In exchange, I’ll need your help.”
“What kind of…?”
“Well… for now…”
Rather than continue speaking, I gazed at the status window floating before my eyes.
[The dough could not bear the sincere resolve to create a summoned creature to assist with kitchen work.]
[Dough fermentation has failed.]
[An additional ingredient is needed: the earnest sincerity of another person!]
“I need Siwoo’s sincere heart.”
Since the Witch’s Cottage had issued this warning through the status window, I had to heed it.
Having spoken without much thought, I was about to head toward the kitchen when—
“Me…? Why me?”
“Yes. I need Siwoo’s… ah…”
I’d misspoken.
He stared at me with grim determination.
“If you want to know how sincere I am, then you must need my arm after all…”
“I don’t need it.”
* * *
It wasn’t difficult to stop Siwoo from ranting about cutting off his arm.
With my size, overpowering someone with an elementary school student’s frame was effortless.
Frankly, Noir could have done it just as easily.
“Kyuu? Kyuu-kyuu?”
“You’re probably not suited for this, Chohong. You’re incredibly small, after all.”
“Kyuu… Kyuu!”
“Yeah, yeah… I get it. I know you’re strong, so let’s not grow plants in here, alright? This is the kitchen. You understand?”
Thinking she’d been ignored, Chohong had nearly caused the plants to overgrow with her power—I barely managed to stop her.
This is truly chaotic.
“So… what exactly am I supposed to do?”
“Please wait a moment.”
The status window’s warning was telling me something.
That I needed the earnest sincerity of another person.
The other person in question was likely Siwoo.
I agreed with that assessment.
To create a summoned creature in the form I desired, that was precisely what I needed most.
“I never thought I’d be bringing someone else into the kitchen….”
“Pardon?”
“Just talking to myself.”
I retrieved the dough I’d stored in the refrigerator.
“It definitely failed.”
The dough hadn’t set properly.
If I tried to make cookies in this state, something terrible would happen.
Because the butter hadn’t fully hardened, the dough that entered the oven as a human figure would emerge as a flat, cloud-shaped gingerbread instead.
Moreover, the flavor would be off, resulting in something with the worst possible taste.
“So that means what’s needed here is already determined….”
After discarding the dough on the verge of ruin, I glanced swiftly at Siwoo.
Startled by my gaze, he began to hiccup.
I approached him and spoke.
“Have you ever made cookies?”
“Huh? Once, a long time ago, to give to my younger sister…. But why suddenly cookies….”
“Then let me teach you. Shall we do it together?”
“Ah… yes….”
Until now, the act of infusing sincerity had been performed while baking bread.
Then to infuse Siwoo’s sincerity, he would also need to participate in the process.
“First, let’s soften the butter….”
Fortunately, Siwoo understood my instructions well and followed them.
Though he had the drawback of being overly cautious, his nimble hands executed my directions perfectly.
Of course, there was one crucial part I needed to focus on.
“I’d like you to infuse your sincerity while making it.”
“Sin… cerity?”
“Simply work while recalling the earnest desire you hold dear.”
He worked the dough diligently, his lips moving as he spoke.
I strained to hear what he was muttering….
“Please, let me escape this hell….”
In that moment, I resolved that after creating the Gingerbread Man, I would definitely bake bread for Siwoo.
How much time had passed since we made the dough and placed it in the refrigerator?
Ding
[The dough absorbs some of Seong Si-woo’s power.]
“Wh-what…?”
When I removed the dough from its resting place, a brilliance so dazzling it hurt my eyes burst forth from within it.

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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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