Dungeon Bakery Chapter 26

Seo Doha and sugarcane.

It was a rather unlikely combination, but among all the people Baek Seol could think of right now, there was no one who seemed more likely to have a connection to sugarcane.

The other graduate students definitely mentioned something about that…….

Baek Seol opened a café called Seorubweo on her smartphone. Its full official name was A War-Like Gathering That Loves Seo Doha, and it was the largest of Seo Doha’s fan clubs.

I have no idea why they call themselves a war-like gathering, though.

With a dubious expression, Baek Seol entered the café and pressed the search button. A message popped up saying that she had to become a member before she could search.

She didn’t particularly want to join Seo Doha’s fan club, but there was a possibility that her information was wrong……. No, actually, she joined because she was hoping her information would be wrong.

Then she searched.

Seo Doha, plants.

Quite a large number of search results appeared. One title in particular caught her eye. It had just been posted.

[Is it true that Seo Doha likes plants?]

It was exactly the information Baek Seol had been looking for. She clicked on the post, and the contents and comments appeared.

[I just joined recently, and I heard Seo Doha likes plants. How did you find that out? There’s nothing known about Seo Doha except his face.]

[Comments]

-Anonymous: New members can’t write question posts. Delete this.

-Anonymous: I’ll answer before it gets deleted. Seo Doha was accidentally caught on a news video holding a plant book a while ago. Some genius zoomed in like crazy and even figured out the title. It’s Everything About Dungeon Plants, which is currently out of print.

-Anonymous: I’m the original poster. Is that really all……?

-Anonymous: Yep.

Whether it was really true that new members couldn’t post questions, the post soon disappeared. It seemed the administrator had deleted it.

Baek Seol stared at her smartphone and let out a small sigh. There was so little information about Seo Doha that whenever even the tiniest detail stood out, people tended to blow it way out of proportion.

The claim that Seo Doha was interested in plants, especially dungeon plants, might not even be true.

“Come on. No way. He doesn’t look like someone who’d like plants at all.”

People who liked plants were supposed to have an image of being kind and warm-hearted.

Seo Doha had absolutely none of that image.

Baek Seol shook her head vigorously, erasing the connection between Seo Doha and sugarcane from her mind.

Isn’t there anyone else……?

It would probably be best to ask Aunt Eunju or Uncle Changho, since they ran a Hunter guild.

But I don’t have a good enough excuse.

The best option would have been to say it was for a graduate-school assignment, but Aunt Eunju already knew that she had taken a leave of absence. And Uncle Changho would definitely tell Aunt Eunju that she had contacted him……

“Hmm…….”

“Ah! That’s mine, ppi!”

“Puu~”

A noisy commotion erupted from the creatures huddled around the table, eating cookies. Baek Seol glanced over and saw that the Black Elephant seemed to have stolen Lucy’s share of the sugar cookies.

As Lucy furiously flapped his wings, the Black Rabbit quietly stepped in front of him.

“You naughty little blackies, ppi!”

“Puu-puu~”

Even without Baek Seol paying attention, Lucy seemed to be taking good care of them. The cookies on the table were almost gone.

Once they finish all of those, I’ll have to send them back to the dungeon.

There were still cookies left on the display shelf, so she had some time.

But considering their appetites, she doubted that time would last very long.

Baek Seol picked up her smartphone and tapped out a message to someone.

[There are subjects related to dungeons on the civil service exam too, right?]

Since that guy was notoriously slow at replying, she hadn’t expected an immediate response.

But unexpectedly, the reply came right away.

[Baekho: Of course. What kind of world do we live in these days? Why are you suddenly asking?]

[Ah…… no, I suddenly got an assignment from school related to dungeons. It’s about plants found in dungeons……. I figured you might know something about it.]

Thank goodness.

After the Cataclysm, government officials could be assigned to departments that handled dungeon-related affairs as well. She had just wanted to check, but apparently there really were subjects like that.

Maybe Hoya knew the information Baek Seol needed.

[Baekho: Dungeon plants……? Hmm……. What do you want to know?]

[Do dungeons have sugarcane too? I mean, Dungeon Sugarcane, the kind that only exists in dungeons……. Is there any way to get seedlings?]

[Baekho: I’ve never heard of Dungeon Sugarcane. I can give you information on plant-type monsters, though.]

No, she wasn’t asking about monsters.

[Baekho: Things like their main methods of attack and how to defeat them.]

Without Baek Seol even asking, Hoya proceeded to send her a long message. It was all information about plant-type monsters.

Do government officials actually learn this kind of strategy, too?

He knew an incredible amount.

Almost as if he had hunted them himself……

[How do you know so much? Anyone would think you’ve actually hunted them yourself. lol]

She sent the message as a joke, but there was no reply for a while.

Did he get busy again?

Baek Seol tilted her head and waited for Hoya’s response.

 

***

 

Baekho was in the middle of clearing a dungeon with his guild members when he received a message from his older sister.

Ding-dong.

He normally kept his smartphone on silent, but he had turned on every notification for messages from his sister. Thanks to that, Baekho immediately knew she had contacted him.

What is it?

With a single gesture, he sliced the snake-like monster Naga charging at him in two.

Then Baekho turned on his smartphone. After checking the message through the preview, he hurriedly tapped the screen.

[Noona: There are subjects related to dungeons on the civil service exam too, right?]

His sister believed that he was still preparing for the civil service exam.

She normally never asked him anything about it because she was worried she might distract him.

Why had she suddenly asked him this?

Baekho’s mind began racing.

Did she figure out that I’m not actually preparing for the civil service exam?

Then…… Did she figure out my identity too……?

Cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.

Baekho hurriedly typed a reply.

[Of course. What kind of world do we live in these days? Why are you suddenly asking?]

He tried to sound as natural as possible while asking why she wanted to know.

Then he waited for his sister’s reply with a pounding heart.

In the meantime, another Naga charged at him, but its body exploded from a casual kick.

The dungeon had already been cleared before, and they were only accompanying some new guild members for a skills assessment, so its rank wasn’t particularly high.

The Nagas here were nothing more than trash mobs to Baekho.

“Baekho? Is something wrong?”

One of the guild members assigned to supervise the skills assessment asked in a puzzled voice.

Baekho never got distracted while running a dungeon, no matter how easy it was.

So it was only natural that they found his behavior strange.

The guild member was much older than Baekho, but Baekho was the most experienced person here. He casually ignored the respectful tone and shook his head.

“No. I just have somewhere I need to respond to. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ah. Yes! Understood.”

Baekho, of all people, getting distracted while running a dungeon?

There was no way such an absurd thing could happen.

It must have been some important work-related message.

The guild member replied energetically and returned to his position.

Regardless, Baekho stared intently at his smartphone with the most serious expression imaginable.

Why isn’t she replying yet?

Just as his heart began pounding anxiously, her reply finally arrived.

[Noona: Ah…… no, I suddenly got an assignment from school related to dungeons. It’s about plants found in dungeons……. I figured you might know something about it.]

Baekho’s slightly stiff shoulders immediately relaxed.

Haah. So that’s what it was.

I thought…… I got scared for nothing.

Baekho let out a small sigh and began tapping out his reply.

An assignment about dungeon plants.

Graduate school really does make them do all sorts of things.

Dungeon Sugarcane? Was there something like that in dungeons?

Besides, the plant his sister was asking about was something even Baekho, who had over ten years of experience as a Hunter, had never heard of.

Isn’t sugarcane only found outside?

It was possible he didn’t know because he had absolutely no interest in plants.

Baekho immediately walked over to the guild member who had asked him a question earlier.

Several Nagas that got in his way went tumbling across the floor as he approached.

“Excuse me, I have something to ask.”

“Yes, yes! Please, ask me anything!”

“Have you…… ever heard of something called Dungeon Sugarcane?”

“……Excuse me?”

The guild member, who had tensed up at Baekho’s sudden question, stared at him blankly.

Judging by his expression, he didn’t know either.

Well, I’ve never heard of it myself.

I wonder if Uncle Changho knows?

Baekho considered asking him too, but then stopped.

His sister didn’t particularly like getting Aunt Eunju or Uncle Changho involved in things.

So Baekho diligently typed out his reply.

[I’ve never heard of Dungeon Sugarcane. I can give you information on plant-type monsters, though.]

It was rare for his sister to ask him for help.

Baekho wanted to help her somehow.

If it was about dungeon plants, then plant-type monsters were technically plants too…….

Based on that logic of his own, he began writing down detailed strategies for dealing with plant-type monsters and as much information about their characteristics as possible.

It was the kind of strategy data packed with his own know-how that would become a hot post on the Hunter community Another in no time.

As he stood completely still, furiously tapping away at his smartphone with both thumbs, the guild members stood there with blank expressions.

He was the leader of this assessment.

If he didn’t move, they couldn’t move either.

Just as everyone began glancing at one another, Baekho suddenly let out a groan.

“……Ugh.”

The hand holding his smartphone was trembling slightly.

The guild members realized that something serious must have happened to him.

The guild member who had spoken with Baekho earlier cautiously approached him and asked on everyone’s behalf.

“Baekho? Is something wrong with the guild……?”

“Ah. No.”

Baekho suddenly looked up and gave an awkward smile.

“I held everyone up. I’m sorry. Let’s get moving.”

At his command, the guild members quickly took their positions and began heading deeper into the dungeon.

Baekho led them forward with a firm expression.

Seeing him return to normal so quickly, the guild members erased his strange behavior from their minds.

But Baekho was actually burning up inside.

All because of the message he had just received from his sister.

[Noona: How do you know so much? Anyone would think you’ve actually hunted them yourself. lol]

His heart had nearly dropped to the floor from sheer shock.

How startled had he been to let out an involuntary groan?

Knowing that he’d almost given himself away, Baekho couldn’t bring himself to reply immediately.

He decided to wait until they left the dungeon before answering.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

Come to think of it…… wasn’t Noona’s major related to magic stones? Why is she suddenly asking about dungeon plants?

A small question crossed his mind before disappearing.

 

***

 

Hmm. So he doesn’t know either.

At Hoya’s reply that he knew absolutely nothing, Baek Seol let out a small sigh.

“Ugh. Then where am I supposed to find this information?”

Baek Seol was aimlessly scrolling down the message window when a text suddenly arrived from Seo Doha.

[Seo Doha: Would it be okay if I came to buy some bread tomorrow?]

Oh my gosh. That scared me.

Baek Seol nearly dropped her smartphone when she saw Seo Doha’s name, but barely managed to catch it.

Tomorrow is Tuesday, so……

That was the day she opened the door facing the village.

And since she had already told him he could come, she couldn’t exactly stop him.

Baek Seol tapped out a reply.

[Yes. Come over.]