Dungeon Bakery Chapter 22

Come to think of it, the only bread she had left right now was the white bread she had made in advance. She had just sold all the red bean buns to Oh Juk-heon.

But asking what kind of bread the customer wanted……

‘I’m not exactly in a position to give the customer a choice, am I……?’

Baek Seol felt a cold sweat break out as she watched the Black Rabbit’s eyes gradually grow more sullen while it looked around the bakery.

Should she ask it to wait a moment and make some red bean buns as well?

She had just obtained the recipe, after all……

Baek Seol was looking down at the Black Rabbit with an awkward expression when the rabbit suddenly began to move.

“……Sniff.”

The Black Rabbit hopped over to the display shelf where the white bread was arranged and began twitching its nose in front of it.

It seemed to be smelling the bread.

“……Snort.”

Tap, tap!

The Black Rabbit’s hind foot thumped against the floor.

It was an obvious gesture of displeasure.

“Ugh. So it doesn’t like white bread either…….”

Unlike the slime, the Black Rabbit’s fur was incredibly glossy.

‘Then I guess I’ll have to bring out some red bean buns.’

Baek Seol cautiously made a suggestion to the Black Rabbit.

“Customer. If you could wait at this table for a moment, I’ll bring out another kind of bread.”

“Sniff!”

Fortunately, the Black Rabbit seemed to have some patience. It obediently went over to the table Baek Seol had indicated, hopped onto the chair, and stared intently at her as if saying it would wait.

That sullen gaze was rather intimidating, but Baek Seol moved quickly.

‘Let’s see. The ingredients needed for red bean buns are…….’

[Red Bean Bun]

Description: Bread filled with sweet red bean paste. Some people love it, some people hate it.

Race Compatibility: Human (Elderly) ◎

Effect upon Consumption: Causes the consumer to recall memories.

Looking at the description of the red bean bun, Baek Seol noticed that new information had appeared under Race Compatibility.

The ingredients were almost identical to those for white bread, but there was one additional ingredient she needed: Dungeon Red Bean Paste.

‘Dungeon Red Bean Paste…….’

It was an ingredient she had never encountered before, but she didn’t have time to panic.

Baek Seol hurriedly searched the underground shop.

Fortunately, Dungeon Red Bean Paste was also available for purchase.

‘So expensive. So expensive.’

She placed the Dungeon Sugar she had just made beside her, checked the remaining ingredients, and started baking.

‘Use Baking skills.’

Now that she had more recipes she could make, a selection window appeared.

<System: Activating the Baking skill. Please select a recipe.

– White Bread

– Red Bean Bun>

As soon as she selected the Red Bean Bun, Baek Seol’s body began moving automatically.

After making white bread so diligently for the slimes, she had become quite accustomed to using the skill.

‘Knead the dough…… Good, next…….’

In the blink of an eye, the dough was finished with the red bean paste tucked inside, and it slipped straight into the oven.

Baek Seol glanced toward the table.

Fortunately, the Black Rabbit still looked sullen, but it didn’t seem bored.

Ding!

Thanks to the baking skill, it didn’t take long for the oven to announce that the bread was finished.

Baek Seol quickly took it out.

Freshly baked red bean buns emerged, golden-brown and giving off a delicious aroma.

‘Mmm. That smells good!’

A smile formed around Baek Seol’s lips.

The smell of freshly baked bread was always wonderful, no matter how many times she smelled it.

Humming softly, Baek Seol carefully arranged the red bean buns and carried them over to the display shelf.

Then she turned toward the Black Rabbit.

“Customer, how about this bread? It’s called a red bean bun, and it was just baked, so it’s even more delicious…….”

“Sniff.”

Baek Seol had been introducing the red bean buns with a small spark of hope that perhaps the Black Rabbit would like them.

But she had to stop mid-sentence.

The Black Rabbit must have caught the delicious scent as well, because the moment Baek Seol placed the red bean buns on the display shelf, it came scampering over.

Then the Black Rabbit stuck its face forward and sniffed the bread before eagerly—

“Sniff!”

It kicked its hind legs into the air!

Then—

Tap, tap, tap!

It stomped the floor repeatedly as if it really, really didn’t like it.

Hmph!

The Black Rabbit even snorted through its nose before looking up at Baek Seol with an even more sullen expression.

‘Is this all you can do?’

Baek Seol could practically read that message in its sulky eyes.

“…….”

What was this?

Why did she feel like her pride had been hurt?

No, more than that, there was a slight ache somewhere in her chest……

Had she just been emotionally wounded by that rabbit?

Baek Seol’s lips trembled at the unbelievable reality when—

“Ppi-pik…… Ppi-pik-pik-pik……!”

She heard Lucy laughing mockingly from behind her.

Baek Seol whipped her head around and saw him rolling around on the table, laughing.

Her eyebrows shot up.

She was just about to say something when—

A system window suddenly appeared.

<System: A quest has been generated!>

If it weren’t for the system window, Baek Seol would have scolded that wicked little bush warbler.

With an extremely sour expression, Baek Seol checked the quest window.

Quest: The Injured Black Rabbit’s Earnest Request

Oh my! A Black Rabbit has appeared. Oh dear. It seems to be limping on one leg. Is it injured? How unfortunate. The Black Rabbit is making a sorrowful plea.

Black Rabbit: Give me something sweet.

Oh, how pitiful. Please listen to the Black Rabbit’s heartfelt and earnest request that touches the heart! Develop and sell a menu item that will satisfy the Black Rabbit!

Condition: Black Rabbit’s Satisfaction

Reward: Dungeon Bakery Owner Lv. up!

**   Acquire 10,000P**

Upon Failure: Black Rabbit’s Revenge

“…….”

As Baek Seol read down the quest window, her eyes became as lifeless as those of a dead fish.

There was something very strange about this quest.

Baek Seol narrowed her eyes and stared at the Black Rabbit looking up at her sullenly from below.

‘How exactly is this thing supposed to be pitiful?’

Just look at those irritated, grumpy eyes!

Baek Seol hadn’t forgotten the look the rabbit had given her after seeing the red bean buns earlier.

As she stared intently at the Black Rabbit……

‘Hm……?’

One of its hind legs did seem to be bothering it.

Come to think of it, the quest had said that one of its legs was injured.

Was that the injured leg?

When Baek Seol looked at the Black Rabbit’s hind leg with slightly softened eyes, the rabbit twitched its nose.

Then, as if to say it didn’t need her sympathy, it abruptly turned around and left the bakery.

“Ah…….”

The Black Rabbit hopped away and disappeared, and the brown door automatically closed behind it.

“It left……?”

“Hmm. It seems something has happened to the Black Rabbits as well, ppi. Then that means the Black Elephants must be in the same situation, ppi…….”

As Baek Seol stared blankly at the door, she heard Lucy muttering with a serious expression.

Black Rabbits and Black Elephants?

The Black Rabbit was obviously that little black rabbit from earlier, but where had she heard about Black Elephants……?

‘Ah. It was in the description of Dungeon Sugarcane.’

She couldn’t check because she had no sugarcane left, but……

She was certain it had said something like this:

Black Rabbits and Black Elephants had Dungeon Sugarcane as their staple food.

‘I guess they like sweet things.’

Baek Seol glanced at the quest window.

The Black Rabbit’s words were also written there.

Give me something sweet.

“Do I really have to do this quest?”

“Hm, ppi?”

“I don’t know. Somehow…… I’m not really feeling it.”

Baek Seol pouted.

The quest told her to develop a menu, but she didn’t even know how to do that.

And the Black Rabbit had been rather unpleasant.

“Are you not afraid of the Black Rabbit’s revenge, ppi?”

“Hmph. Revenge, my foot.”

What was there to fear about such a tiny Black Rabbit?

Baek Seol folded her arms.

Lucy then muttered in an ominous voice,

“The Black Rabbit’s revenge is frightening, ppi. It will follow you around for the rest of your life and place curses on you, ppi.”

“……Curses?”

“That’s right, ppi. They’re very minor but irritating curses, ppi. For example, you might cut the soft flesh of your finger while taking a book off a shelf…….”

Baek Seol scoffed.

“That happens to me sometimes anyway. That doesn’t sound very scary.”

“What if you got cut once every hour, ppi……?”

“…….”

Getting cut once every hour was a little much, wasn’t it……?

Baek Seol’s face went pale.

“Or the item you wanted to buy would always sell out right before you clicked purchase, or the escalator would break down every time you were about to leave the subway, ppi……. Things like that, ppi. They’re minor, but the fact that they happen far too frequently and continue for your entire life makes them truly terrifying curses, ppi.”

“I…… I see.”

Such vicious curses.

Baek Seol looked horrified.

“Many people underestimate them because they’re small curses, only to suffer terribly later, ppi. Even the smallest misfortune can trigger a butterfly effect, ppi.”

“…….”

As Lucy continued, Baek Seol slowly unfolded her arms.

Come to think of it, no matter how unpleasant the customer was, they were still a precious customer of her bakery.

Perhaps she had been thinking too immaturely.

There was an old saying that the customer was king, after all!

Baek Seol laughed.

“Hahaha.”

Then she obediently pressed Accept Quest.

“Fine. So what am I supposed to do now? I have to develop a menu?”

Baek Seol carefully examined her system window.

But no matter where she looked, there was no tab for developing menus.

Lucy lightly shook his wings and said,

“Think back to the very first time you used the baking skill, ppi. Back then, you didn’t have any recipes or ingredients, ppi. Don’t you remember what appeared at the time, ppi?”

“The baking skill……?”

That had been so long ago.

Baek Seol rummaged through her hazy memories.

The very first time she had used baking skill……

She hadn’t had any recipes or ingredients……

The system had switched over to recipe creation……

“Ah. Recipe Creation?”

“That’s right, ppi. That’s it, ppi. When you use the baking skill, instead of selecting a recipe like White Bread or Red Bean Bun, you can select Recipe Creation to develop a new recipe, ppi.”

“Oh-ho…….”

Has there been something like that?

Perhaps because she had gotten into the habit of making bread, she had never noticed it while using the baking skill.

Baek Seol immediately tried using the baking skill.

A recipe selection window appeared before her, and……

“Ah. It was tucked away in the corner.”

At the very edge of the window, she could see the word Creation.

Baek Seol quickly touched it.

A system window appeared.

<System: Beginning Recipe Creation. Please select your ingredients.>

Hmm…… ingredients.

Baek Seol lightly rubbed her chin.

First, she needed to decide what she wanted to make.

Then she could choose the ingredients.

“Since the Black Rabbit asked for something sweet, should I try making cookies?”

Among the sweet things Baek Seol knew about, there were cookies and cakes…… probably.

The cake seemed difficult somehow.

But she thought she could make cookies like the ones Aunt Eunju occasionally made for her.

Lucy nodded as though he thought that might work.

“Hmm. Whatever you make, it needs to be very sweet, ppi. And if that’s the case, the Dungeon Sugar you have right now won’t be enough, ppi.”

“Hm?”

Not enough?

Baek Seol blinked.

She had just turned the Dungeon Sugarcane she received from the achievement into Dungeon Sugar.

She had made the unexpected red bean buns, but……

“Isn’t this enough?”

Baek Seol tilted her head.

Lucy clicked his tongue and said,

“Did you forget that the Black Rabbit rejected the red bean bun earlier, ppi? Red bean buns contain quite a lot of sugar too, don’t they, ppi?”

“Uh……. Well, now that you mention it, they do.”

There was sugar in the dough, of course, but the red bean paste itself must have contained quite a lot of sugar as well.

Baek Seol hadn’t made the red bean paste herself, but she knew that red beans themselves weren’t naturally sweet.

How much sugar must have been added to make them that sweet?

‘Red bean buns are already pretty sweet, and it rejected those…….’

That meant whatever she made had to be much sweeter than that.

And to do that, she would need much more sugar.

Then should she just make more sugar?

Baek Seol scratched her head, lost in thought.

Lucy narrowed his eyes and said,

“I think…… sugar is important, of course. But I think you’ll need something else besides that, ppi.”

“……What is it?”

Lucy’s expression turned serious.