Dungeon Bakery – Chapter 16

Author: isuzuuy

“Exactly…… one person?”

“Yes. My master. But…….”

She trailed off, making Baek Seol feel a little uneasy.

And the answer that followed was devastating.

“He disappeared after last year’s Dungeon Break. I get countless inquiries from people looking for my master, but no one has been able to find him.”

“Don’t tell me his name is…….”

“Oh Juk-heon.”

Oh Juk-heon.

It was a name Baek Seol remembered because it was the same as that of a famous place.

Even though he was a non-combat-type Hunter, there were probably very few people in South Korea who didn’t know his name.

He had made all sorts of world-famous items with his own hands, after all, so he had appeared on the news countless times.

‘Wait. If she’s Oh Juk-heon’s disciple, then……?’

Baek Seol looked at “MakeAnythingForYou,” creakily turning her head.

She had heard a little about her, too. She didn’t know the details, but she had made a name for herself as a genius Hunter every bit as talented as Oh Juk-heon.

On top of that, she’d heard that her graceful appearance had earned her a level of popularity comparable to that of a celebrity.

Baek Seol had unexpectedly found herself face-to-face with someone who was practically as famous as a celebrity.

Baek Seol was very surprised, but it wasn’t because she was shocked that this woman was a famous hunter.

More precisely, she was shocked that such a famous Hunter turned out to be such a peculiar person.

‘This is why you can’t trust the media.’

Baek Seol quickly brushed aside her stray thoughts and asked “MakeAnythingForYou,”

“Is there really no way to find him?”

“I hear that question every day to the point of exhaustion, but no.”

The answer was firm.

But that wouldn’t do……

Baek Seol let out a small groan.

Seeing her groan with an indifferent look, “MakeAnythingForYou” casually crossed her arms and said,

“If the blueprint is really that impressive, I’d like to see the finished product myself.”

“Yeah……. Well, I suppose you’ll have to be able to make it first before I can show it to you.”

Baek Seol answered halfheartedly, her shoulders drooping.

There was only one person who could make it.

And that person had recently disappeared without a trace.

How on earth was she supposed to find him?

Baek Seol let out a deep sigh.

Just then, a business card was held out toward her.

“If you find my master and manage to make the finished product, please contact me. I’ll compensate you.”

“You mean you want me to contact you if I find your master? If I do find him, I’ll ask if he’s willing. Though I don’t know if he’ll be willing to…….”

“No. I don’t particularly want to meet my master.”

“MakeAnythingForYou” answered firmly.

“It’s just that I want to see the finished product myself.”

“…….”

So her master wasn’t particularly important to her.

Baek Seol nodded awkwardly.

“I’ll think about it if I manage to make it. I can’t promise anything.”

“Thank you.”

After that, “MakeAnythingForYou” coolly left.

Left all alone, Baek Seol repeatedly sighed as she headed back to the bakery.

“Hm? You’re back already, ppi!”

Lucy greeted Baek Seol, who was sprawled across the table in an extremely relaxed position.

Baek Seol became endlessly envious of how carefree he looked.

She plopped down into a chair and rested her chin in one hand, letting out a long sigh.

“You couldn’t find anyone to make the workbench, ppi?”

“I did find someone.”

“Oho! Ppi!”

“They said they’re missing.”

“……Ppi.”

Lucy looked at Baek Seol with pity.

But his posture remained just as lazy as ever, making him incredibly irritating.

For no particular reason other than sheer spite, Baek Seol pouted.

“Lucy. You’re the Staff of the World and my supporter, right?”

“Hmph. Of course I am, ppi!”

Still lying down, Lucy crossed one leg over the other and raised his chin.

The pose somehow became even more irritating.

Baek Seol narrowed her eyes and slowly reached a hand toward Lucy.

“Then shouldn’t you be helping me somehow in this situation?”

“……Ppi?”

Lucy sensed something strange about the shadow approaching him and trembled.

Baek Seol was quick, too, trying to snatch him in one swift motion.

Unfortunately, Lucy’s wingbeats were faster.

Baek Seol barely missed him and clicked her tongue.

What a shame.

She could have grabbed him and given him an endless session of tickling.

As Baek Seol flexed and unfurled her fingers regretfully, Lucy squeaked indignantly.

“There are things even I can’t do, ppi!”

“There’s nothing you can’t do. You even made the Beginner’s Quests, didn’t you? Hurry up and give me a quest that lets me make a workbench easily.”

“I didn’t make those, ppi! I only gave a suggestion! Only the system can create quests, ppi!”

“Hmph. Then hurry up and send a suggestion to the system…… Huh?”

Baek Seol stopped mid-sentence and widened her eyes as if she had suddenly realized something.

Lucy tilted his head.

“What is it, ppi? Why are you suddenly like that, ppi?”

“Wait. Come to think of it…… You said ‘workbench’ was a prohibited keyword, right?”

“Hm? You mean on the Suggestion Board, ppi? That is true, ppi…….”

Baek Seol lightly clapped her hands.

Then she could simply leave out everything related to the workbench when submitting the suggestion.

And the suggestion itself would be……

Not related to a workbench, but as specific as possible.

Baek Seol plopped down into a chair and spoke with a solemn expression.

“Using the ‘I Have a Suggestion’ skill.”

<System: Activating the ‘I Have a Suggestion’ skill. Please compose your post for the Suggestion Board.>

“I’d like to request a quest. The objective is to find one person. His name is Oh Juk-heon. He’s a famous non-combat-type Hunter who…….”

The suggestion began to be recorded according to everything she said.

After getting that far, Baek Seol paused to think.

Should she mention the reward and things like that, too……?

Probably not, right?

When Baek Seol fell silent, the system window appeared, apparently deciding that the suggestion had been completed.

<System: Your suggestion has been registered.>

Once again, a reply appeared immediately.

[This is an appropriate suggestion that does not disrupt the balance. The suggestion will be implemented immediately.]

It worked!

Baek Seol’s face brightened.

<System: A Forced Quest has been generated!>

A Forced Quest?

Baek Seol blinked at the system window, which was different from usual.

A quest window immediately appeared.

As Baek Seol hurriedly read through it, her face gradually turned pale.

Forced Quest: Looking for a Person!

We’re urgently looking for someone. Hurry to the location marked on the map.

– This Forced Quest was created by an Involved Party and is a quest the system did not intend to generate. The difficulty and penalty have been drastically increased.

Condition: Find ‘Oh Juk-heon’ within 1 hour

Reward: None

Upon Failure: Supporter ‘Staff of the World’ will be retrieved

What……?

“A quest appeared, ppi? What kind of quest is it, ppi? This quest is strangely invisible to me, ppi…….”

Lucy flew over with frantic wingbeats and muttered unhappily.

He continued grumbling that there was obviously something wrong with the system, but Baek Seol stared blankly at him before suddenly snapping back to reality.

“I’ll be out for a while. Lucy, you have to stay right here. Don’t move, okay?”

“Wh-What? O-Okay, ppi. But you don’t look well, ppi. Wouldn’t it be better to rest a little before going, ppi?”

Looking at Lucy’s innocent face as he worried about her, Baek Seol bit her lip hard and rushed out of the bakery.

Oh my god.

Apparently, if you opened up a quest through a suggestion, the difficulty and penalty would increase drastically.

If she had known that beforehand, she never would have casually requested a quest like this.

‘One hour. Hurry, hurry!’

She immediately opened the quest window and checked the map.

Fortunately, Oh Juk-heon was in Suwon.

And even better, he was in the neighborhood right next to hers!

Baek Seol practically leaped onto the bicycle she had bought as an interior decoration.

It had been a long time since she’d ridden a bicycle, but that wasn’t important right now.

‘If I fail this quest, Lucy…….’

<Upon Failure: Supporter ‘Staff of the World’ will be retrieved>

The “Supporter ‘Staff of the World’” obviously meant Lucy.

They were going to take Lucy away.

That meant if she failed this quest, she would never be able to see Lucy again.

In the past, she’d jokingly threatened to request a supporter replacement and even shoved Lucy into the dungeon, but she’d never meant any of it.

“Eek!”

Screeech! Crash!

Maybe because she hadn’t ridden in so long, or maybe because she was in such a hurry, the bicycle lost its balance and toppled over.

Red blood immediately began flowing from Baek Seol’s knee after she hit the ground, but she didn’t care and hurriedly got back up.

She couldn’t waste any time.

Even though she’d only known Lucy for a short while, she had grown attached to him……

‘I’m still a beginner who needs help!’

……Or rather, there was a much more practical reason.

Baek Seol knew absolutely nothing about this world, and Lucy’s presence was invaluable to her.

If she lost Lucy like this, she could already see the miserable road ahead of her.

Of course, that didn’t mean she hadn’t grown attached to Lucy.

Baek Seol deliberately told herself that, but the trembling in her eyes wasn’t solely because of that reason.

Baek Seol rode her bicycle and kept going.

“Haah, haah. It’s definitely somewhere around here…….”

The place where Oh Juk-heon was located was a hillside neighborhood.

The slope was so steep that she couldn’t ride her bicycle up it.

She tossed the bicycle aside at the entrance and ran uphill.

“Where is it around here?”

She zoomed in on the map as much as possible, but the neighborhood was made up of such a complicated maze of alleys that Oh Juk-heon’s exact location was unclear.

“Ow.”

When she tried twisting her body to the side, she suddenly felt the muscles in her thigh twist from the strain.

She almost fell again because of it, but managed to regain her balance at the last moment.

She checked the time.

There were only seven minutes and fifty seconds left.

Not much time.

Baek Seol grew desperate.

She bit her lip over and over as she ran, squinting as she checked the map as best she could.

“This way…… I think. Hah, hah.”

Two minutes and thirty seconds remained.

Baek Seol’s body was screaming at her to stop after running without rest, but she couldn’t stop.

She turned into the alley she had chosen.