I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 69
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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 69. The Capable Cookie Man (1)
“Kyuu kyuu! Kyuu kyuu kyuu!”
“Gora gora? Gora rara.”
What in the world was happening?!
Chohong’s mind reeled at the catastrophe that had unfolded in the Kitchen.
The utensils my Owner had so carefully organized lay scattered everywhere.
The pristine counter was now caked with flour and egg.
And that wasn’t even the worst of it.
“Gora gora.”
That Cookie—the source of all this calamity.
Chohong knew exactly what that Cookie was.
She had watched my Owner bake it from start to finish!
“Kyuu kyuu kyuu!”
Chohong cried out in fury, “How could you destroy this place like this?!”
But the Mandrabread Man, freshly born and utterly disoriented, replied curtly.
“Gora. (So what.)”
“Kyuu kyuu! Kyuu! (Do you think the Owner will just let this slide?!)”
“Gora gora. (If you don’t like it, call her.)”
“Kyuu kyuu kyuu! (Arrrrrgh!)”
This Creature was utterly unreasonable.
Was this that MZ-generation speech pattern Noir had mentioned before?
It was indeed the kind of bewildering way of talking that lived up to its reputation.
But I couldn’t just stand by and let this situation continue.
“Kyuu kyuu….”
With nothing but the resolve to inform my Owner of this disaster, Chohong fluttered toward the Door and turned the handle.
But there was something Chohong had overlooked.
“Kyuu wut!”
The Witch’s Cottage was not a Space anyone could freely enter and exit.
Without the help of my cute senior, Noir, who served as the key, escape was impossible!
“Kyuu kyuu kyuu!”
As Chohong fell into despair and frantically grasped the Door handle, shaking it desperately….
“Gora gora.”
The Mandrabread Man continued his work with leisurely indifference.
He roughly understood the composition of the dough that made up his body.
The real challenge was finding where those ingredients were located in this Space.
But for him, this wasn’t much of a problem.
“Gora rara ra.”
Fortunately, his creator and Owner had drawn two small nostrils on him, allowing him to smell.
So the Mandrabread Man rose to his feet and managed to complete the dough.
Now only one thing remained.
“Gora-ra-ra!”
I plunged both hands—or rather, the blunt cookie-like appendages that barely qualified as hands—deep into the dough.
Ding~
[Using the ‘Gigantification’ skill.]
[5,000 BP consumed.]
“Gora gora.”
There was some notification about BP or whatever, but a creature freshly born had no time to comprehend it.
I simply acted on instinct.
The moment I thought vaguely to accomplish what I desired quickly, the dough was sucked into the Mandrabread Man with a squelching sound.
Each time the dough writhed, my cookie body began to grow progressively larger.
From palm-sized to the size of a small puppy.
From puppy-sized to the size of a small child.
And then, eventually….
“Gora gora!”
Having grown to roughly human height, I pounded my chest with satisfaction.
Seeing this, Chohong decided to abandon all reason.
But the Mandrabread Man had no intention of stopping here….
“Gora gora.”
The sincerity my Owner had poured into my creation was etched into me like revelation or destiny itself.
It was the work of baking bread and crafting confections.
I had grown my body for this purpose, but it alone was insufficient.
I needed friends to help with the work.
“Gora gora.”
I began tearing off the remaining dough and kneading it.
What appeared were cookies shaped exactly like myself.
Of course, they only had the bare minimum of icing, so compared to the original they weren’t particularly pretty, but it didn’t matter.
“Gora-a-a-a-at!”
I raised both arms high and cried out triumphantly.
After a moment of silence, the cookies began to stir.
Soon the small cookies, now alive, rose clumsily to their feet and stared blankly at the Mandrabread Man.
Workforce replenished. Perfect.
“Gora gora.”
Now I needed to give orders.
Suddenly, turning my gaze, I spotted an enormous hammer.
That’s it.
A matte black body.
Elegant and elongated, yet simultaneously crude and rough in its head.
I felt certain that possessing it would enhance my dignity.
It was only natural that I approached as if entranced and picked up the adamantium hammer.
“Go… gora….”
The moment I grasped the handle, a cool sensation seeped through the cookie dough.
Ah, this weapon was surely something the Owner had prepared for me.
Thud!
The creature brought the hammer’s end down against the floor, drawing the attention of all the subordinate cookies.
“Gora gora! (Rookies. It’s time to work!)”
The subordinates scattered throughout the kitchen in perfect unison, taking their positions.
There was only one objective.
“Gora gora. (Let us bake bread that will satisfy the Owner!)”
Baking bread.
* * *
“What in the world is all this…”
“Meow…”
I couldn’t believe the sight unfolding before my eyes.
Noir seemed to feel the same way.
“What happened while I was out checking on things for a bit…”
I hadn’t done that much.
I’d only briefly checked on how the interior work and expansion were progressing, and organized some documents for business operations.
Ah, I did have a brief conversation with Nuri about Witchfood, and I did mention that we could probably start releasing new products soon.
“But even adding all that together, less than five hours have passed…”
“Five hours is plenty of time for many things to happen, Owner. For example, when the great-great-great Witch stepped away for just ten minutes, something happened…”
“That’s not the point. Did something like this situation happen back then?”
“It did not.”
In any case, the moment I returned to the Witch’s Cottage after finishing my work, what I saw was Chohong collapsed in front of the door.
Wondering if she’d been attacked, I picked her up, and the creature came to her senses.
‘Chohong! What happened!’
‘Kyuu… kyuuu… kyuuu…’
‘No! Chohong!’
She hadn’t died.
She’d simply collapsed from exhaustion due to excessive stress.
And I could quickly confirm the reason for that stress.
Because the sound of banging continued to echo from the kitchen.
Along with a loud “Gora!”
What was happening in the kitchen I entered was something I never could have imagined.
“I said I forgot something, but I never expected it would be this…”
The Mandrabread Man, who had grown to a size similar to mine, was wielding an adamantium hammer and issuing orders.
And small Gingerbread Cookies moving in response to that creature’s commands.
About thirty cookies, each the size of a palm, had occupied the kitchen.
Several of them dragged sacks filled with golden flour and poured it slowly, while the creatures waiting below sifted it through a sieve.
The creatures carrying eggs on their heads cracked the shells with precise strikes and extracted only the yolks inside.
It was like a factory assembly line in motion.
“I’m asking again, Noir…”
“Don’t ask, Owner. I’ve served many Witches over the years, but never one who summoned such an unhinged summon.”
“So I’m the first? That can’t be right.”
“It’s true. So please, really don’t ask. My head is pounding too. Meow.”
True to his word, Noir grasped his head with both front paws and repeatedly groomed his face in distress.
As I stood there gawking, the Mandrabread Man sensed my presence and spun toward me with a whoosh.
“Gora!”
Whoooosh!
He set down the hammer he’d been holding and came scrambling toward me, even lowering his head in deference.
Like a vassal reporting his accomplishments to his lord, the creature even gestured to the small cookies behind him—his sincerity was unmistakable.
“Gora-ra-ra.”
“Uh… so that means…”
“Gora-ra-ra.”
My mind simply froze at the sight of countless Gingerbread Men bowing before me.
It was only because Noir, who’d regained his senses first, tapped me repeatedly with his paw that I didn’t just stand there staring blankly.
“Phew. Wait a moment. Let me check something.”
As I clutched my aching head and focused my mind, the notifications came flooding back.
It said “them.”
It seemed the status window alerts I’d carelessly left unread while dealing with outside matters were piling up considerably.
[Summon ‘Mandrabread Man’ fulfills his calling.]
[Summon ‘Mandrabread Man’ uses ‘Gigantification’.]
[5,000 BP consumed.]
[Summon ‘Mandrabread Man’ summons minions for the work.]
…
Below that were notifications listing various breads that had been completed.
Beyond the special baguettes, pumpernickel, and castella that could be baked from the Witch’s recipes, the names of several breads I’d made at the bakery were listed.
Was that all?
It appeared he’d also made the Subunseo Cheong that Witchfood carried.
“Ah. My BP…”
The 5,000 BP I’d earned from completing the quest had vanished in an instant.
5,000 BP was the amount I’d need to earn from selling bread to a thousand customers.
“Well, this is more efficient anyway.”
With stable production secured, this level of BP expenditure didn’t concern me.
I already had a steady stream of BP coming in through establishing Witchfood.
“Still, I should keep an eye on my BP reserves just in case.”
“Gora-gora.”
“Hm?”
Noticing my serious expression, the Mandrabread Man approached and held something out to me.
It was a plate holding a single piece of castella.
Baked to appetizing perfection, the castella looked flawless down to the smallest detail.
Upon closer inspection, it was unmistakably baked using that special recipe I’d obtained from clearing the previous Quest.
Ding!
[Special Castella]
▷ A special castella baked using the Witch’s recipe. The freshness of steel berries comes through distinctly.
▷ Effect: Upon consuming and entering a Gate, Defense increases by 500% for one instance
It possessed the exact same effect I had confirmed before.
I had been planning to make it myself since the Warehouse had all the necessary ingredients, but to receive it like this first…
Could it be that because they’re my summoned creatures, we can share information together?
In any case…
“You baked this well…”
“Gora gora!”
At my words, all the Cookies looked toward me with their icing eyes sparkling brightly.
“Then let me try…”
I took a fork that was handed to me along with the castella and brought it to my mouth.
It’s delicious.
Simply delicious.
Sweet and fluffy, it was clear they had made an effort to preserve the true taste of castella.
I had felt this emotion before.
‘It was when I skipped after-school classes to raise money for opening a bakery.’
I had eagerly volunteered to invite an instructor for after-school pastry and baking classes.
That was how I ended up at an elementary school.
Children who had been hesitant and uncertain at first made that exact expression when they baked their first cookies under my instruction later on.
And I was truly delighted when I heard these words.
“You made this well. It’s delicious.”
“Gora gora! Gora rara!”
The Mandrabread Man and the Cookies threw their arms up toward the Sky and cheered.
They seemed to be discussing something with each other, and then they began their work with even greater vigor.
“Hey, wait a moment. So… Gora?”
“Gora? Gora rara?”
“Yes. I’ll call your name Gora. How does that sound?”
Ding
[The summoned creature ‘Mandrabread Man’ is registered with the name ‘Gora’.]
[‘Gora’ expresses boundless gratitude for receiving a name.]
Anyway, that doesn’t really matter.
“Before we work, let’s learn a few things.”
“Gora rara?”
“You can make it taste even better. I’ll teach you various things.”
“Gora gora!”
“Ugh! Get away!”
I nearly got crushed under the pressure of the Cookies rushing to embrace me in their overwhelming joy.
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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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