I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 73

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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 73. The Girl with the Needle (3)
Anyone could see that Dayeon’s condition was far from normal.
She continued speaking as if she were a person with a split personality.
“When she says something different, karma keeps overflowing. Is that even possible? I thought karma was just showing what someone did wrong?”
“It’s possible, Owner.”
Noir answered as I gazed at Dayeon, who wept tears of black.
“Karma is not as simple as you think, Owner. Sin requires both a perpetrator and a victim—it is inevitable.”
That was the nature of sin, Noir meowed.
Of course, there were simple sins with clear perpetrators—theft, envy, jealousy.
But more often, the perpetrator and victim were not clearly defined.
“When someone is deceived and genuinely harbors resentment against another, causing them harm—how is sin established?”
“Well, the one who caused harm would be—”
“But that happened because they were deceived, didn’t it? By human standards, that makes them the victim.”
“…”
“Exactly. Sin and karma are sequential. With such powerful forces at work, when they accumulate layer upon layer, phenomena like this become possible.”
Karma accumulated over long periods.
And within it, the resentment and hatred of countless unnamed souls.
When all of that merged together into something genuine, such phenomena could occur.
“But something’s strange. In such cases, she shouldn’t be able to speak so coherently. Since it’s mixed together, her true feelings should be equally muddled. Meow.”
“So you’re saying that’s one person’s karma? Can karma that strong even exist?”
“It’s not without precedent. Humans call it corruption, I believe. Regardless, what matters now is resolving this. With karma of that magnitude, that woman might lose her sense of self and be consumed.”
Even I, who understood little, could see the situation was grave.
Dayeon now twisted her face grotesquely, making sounds that were neither crying nor laughing.
I couldn’t predict what might happen if I left her alone.
I immediately grabbed my phone and called the personal number I’d received today.
Making a call at 2 AM might be impolite, but this wasn’t a matter of etiquette.
Brrrring~
I stood up as the dial tone continued.
“I’m going to bake bread right now. Chohong, Gora—help me.”
“Kyuuuu! Kyuu!”
“Gora gora!”
“Noir, make a report using my work phone.”
“Understood. But where should I report this to?”
“Where else?”
I rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a business card I’d received before.
[Hunter Association Special Investigation Team 1, Team Leader Kim Ri-a]
“For something like this, it has to be the Association.”
I never thought I’d use this business card this way.
Noir held the card in her mouth and dashed out of the Witch’s Cottage.
The call was still connecting, the dial tone continuing to ring.
Since my connection with Gora remained active, I could continue observing Da-yeon.
“She’s not responding at all?”
– The connection failed, followed by a beeping sound…
“Kyuuuu…”
“Gora gora.”
Even as I repeatedly hung up and called again, my thoughts never stopped.
I kept wondering how to resolve this situation.
“In the end, all I can do is bake bread.”
I’d already requested help just in case something went wrong.
But it was impossible for me to go there directly and intervene.
When I reached the conclusion that there was no answer except to bake using the Witch’s power, a single thought flashed through my mind.
“That’s it! The Prophecy Room!”
“Kyuuuu?”
“Chohong! I’ll be back in a moment! Gora, if anything happens, tell me right away!”
“Gora gora!”
Leaving those two reliable creatures in the kitchen, I rushed up to the second floor.
The moment I opened the Prophecy Room door, a status window appeared before my eyes.
[2 prophecies are available for listening.]
[Future’s Monologue: 10,000 BP]
[???: 100,000,000 BP]
I decided to set aside the prophecy covered in question marks and immediately listen to the Future’s Monologue.
The statue’s eyes opened at once.
At the same moment, objects began scattering in all directions.
As they swirled, the prophecy’s contents flowed forth simultaneously.
– Those who harbor poison in their hearts shall wither from addiction to it.
– That which wears a shell, coveting its true nature, shall rise.
– When what one originally possesses is surrendered, it shall come to naught.
[A Quest is generated from listening to the prophecy.]
[The Sorrow of the Innocent]
▷ One who is not the target of sin and karma harbors unjust grievance. The Witch’s role is to resolve the sorrow of such people and return them to their true nature.
▷ Deliver ??? to Yeom Da-yeon 0/1
▷ Reward: 10,000 BP
“10,000 BP, huh…”
After hearing a prophecy I couldn’t fully comprehend, a Quest worth 10,000 BP was generated.
This meant that my involvement in Da-yeon’s situation would change many destinies.
What on earth did that dark karma signify to warrant such a reward?
“First, I need to interpret the prophecy.”
The first line surely referred to Da-yeon.
She harbored sorrow and unjust grievance in her heart, and I’d witnessed with my own eyes how she was crumbling beneath it.
“The problem starts from the second line…”
A shell taking form to pursue its true essence—that’s what the prophecy meant.
I could sense what it was trying to convey.
It meant that ‘that thing’—the one who’d smiled coldly—would seize control of Da-yeon’s body, not the Da-yeon I knew now.
“I’m not sure what it means by ‘give up what you possess’…”
The final line, which seemed most crucial, proved difficult to interpret.
I had no way of knowing who possessed what, or why it needed to be surrendered.
“Could it be…?”
A thought flashed through my mind, but I decided to set it aside for now.
Surely I wouldn’t be baking bread using ‘that thing’ as an ingredient.
Who could possibly eat something like that?
Yet my instincts kept screaming at me.
That without using it, this situation couldn’t be resolved.
“Damn it… might as well go all in.”
I burst out of the Prophecy Room and ran straight out of the Witch’s Cottage.
Toward where Noir was.
* * *
Beep beep beep
“Ugh…”
Ria’s body twitched at the alarm blaring in her room.
Today was her first day off in a long time.
She’d pulled all-nighters for days investigating the recent Gate Break incident at the Princess Research Facility.
The suspiciously sudden Gate Break, the inexplicable defection of a researcher, the note from the entity called a Witch, and the subsequent interview with Blue Dragon Guild’s Master Yu Ha-neul—it all formed a tangled web of weighty questions.
As the captain of Special Investigation Team 1, Ria had no choice but to pour herself entirely into the case.
Beep beep beep~
“Ugh… seriously…”
Of course, the work wasn’t finished.
Unable to bear watching their captain waste away, her team members had pleaded, “You’ll die if you keep this up! Please, just take today off!” So she’d left early.
That’s why she’d set her alarm for 6 AM and was now enjoying the sweetest rest imaginable.
Beep beep beep beep~
“Argh! Seriously! Why are you doing this to me! What the! Please! Nooooo!”
Ria sat up in bed, dressed in a way that contrasted sharply with the cold, sharp demeanor she always showed her team.
Pink elephants were scattered all over her pajamas.
She’d even hunted down customer reviews before buying these pajamas for this day off.
-gofkd11(☆☆☆☆☆) : I struggle to sleep, but with these pajamas I’ve finally been able to get some rest.
“And I was having such a good sleep too!”
Beep beep beep~
The phone kept ringing without a shred of consideration.
She wanted to ignore it, but she couldn’t.
A call to her personal number at this hour could only mean an emergency.
“Y-yes, hello?”
– You’re slow to answer your phone, human.
“Excuse me?”
I was dumbfounded.
I glanced at the clock—it was past 2 AM.
It was strange enough to receive a call at this hour, but the tone was even stranger.
As if the caller wasn’t human.
‘Wait, not human?’
My mind snapped to full alertness.
I bolted upright from bed, my eyes suddenly sharp, and positioned myself at the computer to draw out more information.
“Who is this?”
– This one serves the Witch with great pride and honor, a Familier… ah… you need not know! That’s not what matters. Are you Kim Ri-a, the captain of the Hunter Association’s Special Investigation Team 1?
“Yes, that’s correct. So who are—”
– I told you that’s not important, human.
I needed to buy time.
A being that spoke human language yet behaved as if it weren’t human.
I recalled Sky’s testimony from the Princess Research Facility incident.
A house located inside a Gate.
She’d said she’d exchanged help with someone living in that house.
‘And after that, H&G has been collecting bread. There’s definitely a connection.’
This call might be from that mysterious being she’d met inside the Gate.
I couldn’t let go of this thread I’d barely grasped.
To trace the location using my authority as team captain, I needed to stall for time…
But the caller spoke quickly.
– So… the owner wrote down… Seoul… meow! I don’t know! Just feel it yourself! Meoooow!
“Feel it? What do you mean by—”
Along with an incomprehensible cat’s cry, something seeped into my mind.
Memories that felt as if I’d witnessed them firsthand, as if I’d seen and heard them beside someone, even though I’d never experienced them directly.
Within those memories, I saw Dayeon groaning in pain, saw something viscous and sickening, and simultaneously, I knew exactly where she was.
“What… what is this?”
– I’ve done what I was asked to do. Act quickly, human. That’s what humans do, I’ve heard.
“Wait… hold on!”
Click.
The call ended.
The screen showed 2 seconds remaining until the location trace completed.
Those 2 seconds prevented me from pinpointing the location.
“Damn it!”
Crash!
My fist, swung in fury, shattered the desk.
Everything on the desk was destroyed by the strength I’d gained since becoming a Hunter.
Kim Ri-a, who appeared slender to anyone’s eye, was an A-rank Hunter after all.
“Ugh… argh….”
I forced my mind to work, struggling to suppress the frustration that still wouldn’t settle.
I compiled the information I’d gathered from that phone call.
‘Witch’, ‘Familier’, ‘Owner’.
“A witch in the 21st century—strange, but in a world where monsters exist as skills….”
And on top of that, a technology that implants memories directly.
If she truly belonged to the axis of evil as the Association Director said, this was an ability capable of causing serious catastrophe.
“That call just now was the 13th number….”
Among the twenty phone numbers I had, this contact was the 13th.
Thinking of the list of people who’d given me the 13th number, I hurriedly dressed.
“Acknowledged. Special Investigation Team 1, Team Leader Kim Ri-a. Responding to the report.”
And I stepped out the door to rescue the woman from the implanted memory.

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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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