I Only Baked Bread, but I Was Mistaken for the Best - Chapter 8

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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 8. Fortune’s Flower (1)
‘Time’.
The reason every step of baking is so sensitive is that measurements and time have a profound impact on the bread’s condition.
And being able to manipulate time freely means eliminating many of the constraints that baking imposes.
“And the quality won’t suffer either.”
But was such a thing even possible?
No matter how many magical things were happening, manipulating time itself seemed utterly absurd.
“If you don’t believe it, why not just bake something yourself?”
“That’s a fair point.”
Seeing is believing.
It was time to verify the performance of the Witch’s Oven now that it had reached Level 2.
“So what are you planning to make?”
“Something that normally takes an incredibly long time to bake.”
“Think carefully, Master. You can only reduce the baking time, not the time the dough takes to rise and rest.”
“Of course I know that.”
That’s why I was planning to bake bread that was already prepared—dough that had already been mixed, fermented, and rested.
I briefly returned to the original Bakery and retrieved dough from storage.
The dough was beautifully puffed and fluffy.
“This took quite a bit of effort to prepare.”
The process begins with soaking whole rye for at least six hours.
Then I add the soaked rye flour, grains, salt, starter, molasses, and water to create a heavy dough.
“This part was quite difficult.”
“Isn’t that because of the rye? It probably doesn’t mix well.”
“So you’ve served witches for generations and know your craft well.”
Rye has lower gluten content than regular wheat, so it doesn’t create a chewy dough.
That’s why you have to knead it more like mixing.
In my case, I added nuts like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds.
This way, I could bring out the nutty flavor while creating an interesting texture.
“After that, room temperature fermentation for one to two hours produces this.”
“I think I know what bread this is. Isn’t this Pumpernickel?”
“Exactly.”
Pumpernickel.
A bread originating from the Westphalia region in northern Germany, baked by steaming.
True to its etymology—devil’s fart—it has a dark color.
The soluble sugars in the rye darken the color while creating a sweet taste during the long baking process.
“Normally, it’s baked for an entire day using the residual heat of a cooling oven.”
This was precisely why I chose to attempt pumpernickel.
Since it bakes at low temperature for an extended period, it’s a bread that takes an overwhelmingly long time.
“You were planning this all along, weren’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t have prepared dough for bread you’re not even selling.”
“That’s not it. I was in the middle of researching it.”
The era of eating only delicious bread was fading away.
Now, a culture emphasizing health in bread was taking root.
Pumpernickel, made with whole grains, was the perfect bread for this emerging culture.
“Then let’s bake it first.”
I opened the upgraded Witch’s Oven and placed the shaped dough inside.
Normally, it would need to bake for 24 hours using residual heat, but that was practically impossible, so I planned to set it to 120 degrees and bake for 16 hours instead.
“But there’s no need for that.”
As I mentally envisioned the temperature, heat distribution, and time, a status window appeared.
[‘Witch’s Oven’ has detected bread inside.]
[Failed to read the target’s sincerity.]
[Ceasing operation.]
“Huh?”
The oven shut off with a hissing sound.
As I stared blankly at the dough left behind, Noir burst into laughter.
“Nyahahaha! The master is still a beginner! You forgot to put your heart into it!”
“No, I did put my heart into it.”
“You were definitely half-hearted about it. ‘This should work one way or another, right? This much should be fine.’ That’s not enough to operate the Witch’s Oven at all.”
Just as Noir said, I’d vaguely thought it would be nice if people who ate it became healthier, but that wasn’t sufficient.
I never expected to hit such an obstacle.
I wanted to test the oven as soon as possible.
“Do you need help?”
“Can you help?”
“I can manage this much.”
Ding
[With Sincerity]
▷ There is someone whose destiny your bread must change. Bake bread filled with sincerity and deliver it to them!
▷ Deliver Pumpernickel to ??? 0/1
▷ Reward: 50 BP
“That’s not helping at all.”
“When humans have a purpose, they’ve always achieved it. If this isn’t help, then what is?”
Now I realized she was just teasing me.
Since there was no proper answer to that, I could only sigh deeply.
* * *
Looking out the window, a landscape completely different from urban alleys came into view.
“Is it the sky this time?”
Though thick mist covered everything, it was definitely the sky.
Mountain peaks rose so high that the ground was invisible, their tips sharp as needles pointing toward the heavens.
The Witch’s Cottage was situated on the highest of these peaks.
“Isn’t this going to fall?”
“That’s impossible. The Witch’s Cottage exists in a Dimensional Rift, so it’s unaffected by this environment.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
This would be a place no one with acrophobia could ever reach.
Would there really be any Hunters willing to venture into such a perilous location that yields nothing of value?
“Probably not, under normal circumstances.”
Resources within Gates translate to money.
So it’s only natural that Hunters flock to Gates that are profitable.
That’s why the Hunter Association supposedly takes it upon themselves to patrol and clear Gates that can’t be resolved otherwise.
Regardless, it’s none of my concern.
What matters to me right now is something entirely different.
“What is sincerity, Noir?”
“It’s the heart that cares for another.”
“That’s incredibly abstract.”
Where in this world would you find a human without a heart that cares for others?
As I was thinking I’d asked a pointless question, Noir lifted his head and looked at me, speaking.
“When you hold the sincere desire to make another person happy, you naturally begin to think about what that person truly wants.”
“That’s difficult.”
“Did you think it would be easy? Master?”
Watching Noir’s meowing form, I gazed up at the high sky beyond the window for a long while.
Pondering what it truly means to care sincerely for another.
“Don’t pretend to be sentimental. It looks pathetic. Master.”
“Then keep your mouth shut.”
That was when it happened.
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door.
Someone was knocking on the gate of the Witch’s Cottage.
“A customer? In a place like this?”
“We must open the door. It would be unbecoming of a witch to turn away one drawn here by fate.”
“I was going to do that anyway.”
After all, it wouldn’t be proper to leave someone standing outside when we’re inside a Gate.
Leaving the failed dough where it was, I stepped outside and opened the door.
“There’s no one here?”
As the door swung open, a biting wind rushed in with a whistle.
Perhaps because we were at such a high altitude, the howling gale was merciless and sharp.
Of course, being inside the Witch’s Cottage, not a single thread of my clothing fluttered, but fear is fear nonetheless.
“If there’s no one, I should close—”
“Wait! Please wait just a moment! Just a moment, please!”
A desperate cry echoing from empty air.
“Down here! Down here!”
When I lowered my gaze toward where the screams were coming from, I saw a worn brown glove.
More precisely, the fingertips of a right hand wearing that glove.
Suppressing my fear, I stretched my neck forward and peered downward—only then did I see a man.
“Oh! Please save me! I beg you!”
“What kind of situation is this….”
A man was dangling precariously beneath the front gate of the Witch’s Cottage.
* * *
“Phew… I nearly died there. Haha! I’m alive thanks to you!”
The man spoke while scratching his head heartily.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Miracle.”
“Haha! You’re right, it really is fortunate! Hahaha!”
The man, who had introduced himself as Miracle, laughed with the same booming voice as before, as if he’d been boiling a train smokestack and eating it.
Could this really be the same person who’d just been on the brink of death?
“By the way, Selfish.”
“Ah. The surname is a bit….”
“You’re right. I’ll be careful.”
“Haha! Thank you! I’ve been teased about it since childhood…. Hahaha!”
This person… truly seemed to lack any sense of crisis.
“By the way, are you using an artifact?”
“An artifact, you say?”
“Yes! That black smoke rippling around—isn’t that an item’s effect?”
Just as with Gyu-ri before, Miracle couldn’t seem to see me.
He merely appeared to have mistaken it for an item’s effect.
When I didn’t answer, he seemed embarrassed and scratched his head again, so I asked him instead.
“Where is this place?”
“Pardon? Where is this….”
“Which Gate is this?”
“Ah… It’s the Gate that opened in Siheung, Gyeonggi-do, right? It’s the oldest one among them….”
Siheung, Gyeonggi-do?
Considering I was in Seoul, it seemed the Gate where the Witch’s Cottage manifested was selected differently each time.
“Did you come looking for Taegohua?”
“Ah… Yes, that’s right.”
The Siheung Gate—one of the oldest Gates to have appeared and one of the few that remained uncleared to this day.
This place was so famous that even someone like me, with no particular interest in Hunters, knew of it.
Taegohua.
A flower said to have bloomed since the beginning of time, it was known that possessing it would bring all manner of fortune while healing even grievous wounds.
This Siheung Gate was also where countless Hunters, blinded by the flower’s value, had challenged it and lost their lives.
First, the space was filled with endless sheer cliffs, and mist spread thickly, obscuring visibility.
Moreover, numerous ice-type monsters lurked to prey on Hunters.
Ultimately, this became one of the rare Gates that the government restricted access to.
A situation where one couldn’t enter without special permission from the Association.
“You snuck in, didn’t you.”
“Y-yes, that’s correct…”
Since he snuck in without being caught, I shouldn’t get caught either.
Even if I somehow do, I had no malicious intent, so it should be fine, right?
I was thinking such thoughts when it happened.
Miracle suddenly sprang to his feet and fell to his knees before me with a plea.
“P-please! I beg you to help me find Taegohua!”
“Me? You want my help?”
“I implore you! Mountain Spirit of this place!”
What? A Mountain Spirit?
I had plenty I wanted to say, but Miracle’s deadly serious tone left me speechless.
* * *
‘It must be a Mountain Spirit!’
At this moment, Miracle was certain of it.
The being before him was a Mountain Spirit.
The black smoke he’d initially thought was an artifact’s effect felt increasingly mystical the more he observed it.
Moreover, when asked if it was an artifact, the being hadn’t even answered.
Hadn’t it asked him whether he’d snuck in to find Taegohua—a question that seemed to pierce straight through his heart?
‘Most of all, this house. This house absolutely cannot be an artifact.’
Miracle had clearly witnessed it.
A single house appearing faintly on a mountain peak that had been empty moments before.
It materialized like mist, then solidified into clear form—yet the house seemed not to exist in reality at all.
It wasn’t just its peculiar exterior made entirely of confections.
‘How is it standing so stably on such a sharp peak?’
As if precariously balanced, the house stood directly atop the peak’s apex.
Then Miracle remembered.
The stories of a Mountain Spirit that spread throughout this vast Siheung Gate alongside Taegohua.
‘I thought it was just a rumor…’
Until seeing it himself, he’d dismissed it as nothing but a ghost story circulating among Hunters.
After all, no humanoid creatures existed within Gates, and even if they did, they were nothing but grotesquely twisted monsters.
But hadn’t he entered the house and faced a humanoid being in the form of black smoke?
‘The Mountain Spirit’s clothing is strange, but… there’s no other way to explain it.’
And then.
“My wife is ill! Taegohua is absolutely necessary!”
The elixir known as a panacea.
He was asking for help finding Taegohua, the primary ingredient of that elixir.

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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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