Dungeon Bakery Chapter 32

The skill window she had been looking at before MakeAnythingForYou arrived appeared before her.

[We Are All Neighbors] Lv.-
No fighting inside the store. Those who interfere with business shall die. (This skill is automatically applied without activation. Basic Buff Skill.)

[Baking] Lv.2
Let’s make delicious bread.

[I Have a Suggestion (Hidden Skill)] Lv.1
You can now leave posts on the Suggestion Board.

[Whistle] Lv.1
Instantly summons one creature from the ‘Dungeon of Beginnings’ to the caster’s location. The summoned creature will obey the caster’s commands for 5 minutes. (Cooldown: 7 days)

“Hmm…… Whistle.”

There were a few differences in the skill window from before.

First, her Baking skill had increased to Level 2.

Judging from the description, it seemed to have made the bread-making process somewhat faster.

There was also a skill she hadn’t seen before.

A skill called Whistle.

It was the reward for the ‘Help the Dungeon Family Twice’ achievement she had completed after moving the sugar beets the previous day.

Baek Seol rested her arms on the table and propped up her chin as she muttered.

“Summon a creature……”

If it was a creature from the ‘Dungeon of Beginnings,’ then it had to be a monster.

“Can I summon a monster and make it do whatever I want for five minutes?”

The fact that a monster could be summoned at the caster’s call and forced to obey for five minutes certainly made it seem like an incredibly overpowered skill.

But……

“……What am I supposed to use this for?”

Baek Seol couldn’t think of a proper use for the skill.

For one thing, she didn’t even know what kinds of monsters existed in the Dungeon of Beginnings……

And summoning a monster as a bodyguard would only work for five minutes anyway.

The only time Baek Seol was likely to be in danger was inside the Dungeon of Beginnings.

‘Gu-chil will be following me around the Dungeon of Beginnings anyway.’

On top of that, the cooldown was seven days.

That meant she could only use it once a week.

Wasn’t a seven-day cooldown a little too long, even by human standards?

Baek Seol stared blankly at the skill window with a sullen expression.

No matter what she thought about it……

“It seems like an emergency-use skill, right……?”

If she were suddenly separated from Gu-chil when her life was in danger, or if she needed additional help from someone.

Perhaps she could use it then.

Thinking that, Baek Seol closed the skill window for now.

And right at that moment, MakeAnythingForYou came out of the kitchen with a dazed expression.

“This is truly…… incredible.”

She looked completely out of it.

“It’s a machine so perfect that it’s beyond description. I had some idea from the blueprint, but……”

MakeAnythingForYou trudged over, dropped heavily into the seat across from Baek Seol, and spent quite some time muttering incomprehensible sounds.

It took a little while before she finally returned to a state where she could communicate properly.

Then she suddenly made an unexpected proposal.

“Would you consider selling that machine?”

“Excuse me……?”

Baek Seol blinked.

“Do you run a bakery too?”

“No. Not that…… I just want to put it next to my bed as a decorative piece. I think simply looking at it every day would send me into ecstasy. The thought of being able to start every morning in such a blissful state makes my heart race just thinking about it.”

“……”

“I’ll pay whatever price you name.”

Baek Seol realized that MakeAnythingForYou was an even more hardcore machine fanatic than she had imagined.

The offer to pay whatever price she named was certainly tempting.

But……

“I’m sorry. We really need it at our shop.”

“……That’s unfortunate.”

She had no idea what ingredients she would need to process in the future, so there was no way she could give it away.

At Baek Seol’s refusal, MakeAnythingForYou’s shoulders drooped.

She looked genuinely disappointed.

Seeing her hanging her head, Baek Seol said awkwardly,

“You can come and look at it anytime you want. Ah. We’re only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. You can come then……”

“……Is that really okay?”

“Yes, of course. You can even buy a piece of bread while you’re here.”

MakeAnythingForYou’s shoulders, which had seemed to have sunk through the floor, instantly shot up toward the ceiling.

“That is an excellent proposal. If you’ll allow that, then I should repay you as well. If you wish, I can add some options to the machine.”

“……Options?”

Options?

Baek Seol blinked at the unfamiliar term.

MakeAnythingForYou lightly rubbed her nose before explaining,

“It’s my special skill. My master doesn’t have it. I’m a craftsman specializing in creating new options for existing machines or enhancing their functions.”

“Oh……”

Apparently, even craftsmen had their own areas of specialization.

That was new information.

If she could add new options or improve the functions of the Processing Workbench……

Baek Seol’s eyes lit up.

“Uh…… What kind of things, for example?”

“An option that makes it wag its tail when it sees its owner, for instance.”

“……What?”

MakeAnythingForYou tilted her head at Baek Seol, whose eyes had gone completely dead.

Then she lightly clapped her hands as though she had figured something out.

“Oh. You’re more of a cat person than a dog person. Then I could add an option that makes it knead with its paws……”

“No, thank you. I don’t think I need an option like that.”

Baek Seol rejected it without hesitation and gave MakeAnythingForYou a bright smile.

She was even more unhinged than Baek Seol had expected.

Haha.

MakeAnythingForYou looked slightly dejected as she muttered,

“You don’t need it, then. There are also options that allow people other than the owner to use the machine, and options that remove the messages that appear when it’s being used.”

“Wait.”

At the sudden appearance of a useful option, Baek Seol’s eyes lit up.

She had only recently realized that she was the only one who could use this machine.

‘That’s why I gave up on the idea of borrowing someone’s help to process materials that required higher stats than mine.’

But she could add exactly those options!

And she could even make the system messages that appeared every time the machine was used disappear.

That meant she could have someone operate the machine for her without revealing that she was an Awakened one.

She broke into a wide smile.

“Why are you only telling me that now? Add them right away!”

“Understood. Then I’ll also add the kneading option……”

“Not that one.”

Baek Seol’s expression instantly cooled.

MakeAnythingForYou reluctantly nodded.

MakeAnythingForYou immediately added the options to the Processing Workbench.

It didn’t take as long as Baek Seol had expected.

“It’s done.”

Baek Seol looked at MakeAnythingForYou with slight excitement and asked,

“How high is your Strength stat?”

“……Pardon?”

Even the poker face that seemed impervious to almost any question wavered for a moment.

MakeAnythingForYou was a fairly famous craftsman, so her Strength stat should be higher than Baek Seol’s.

Baek Seol recalled her own stats.

Name: Baek Seol
Class: Dungeon Bakery Owner Lv.4
Title: Involved Party
HP: 130/130 Stamina: 130/130
Strength: 17 Intelligence: 40 Agility: 17 Luck: 2

Her level had increased after completing the previous quest, but her Strength was still terribly low.

Instead, her Intelligence had increased by a whopping 11 points at once……

‘Lucy said stats seem to increase differently depending on how you accumulate experience.’

It seemed her stats reflected how she had obtained her experience—in other words, how she completed her quests.

Baek Seol had barely used her physical strength at all, so it made sense that it had only increased by a tiny amount.

But at this rate, processing the rest of the ingredients would be difficult.

‘Fresh Yeast requires 30 Strength. And the butter made from Eight-Colored Unicorn milk requires a whopping 500…….’

If other recipes were added in the future, there was a good chance even more ingredients would become impossible for her to process.

For now, at least, she was lucky that she could make the most basic ingredient, sugar.

While Baek Seol was lost in thought for a moment, MakeAnythingForYou regained her poker face and answered,

“My Strength stat is 90.”

“Hmm.”

It was certainly much higher than Baek Seol’s stat……

But it was nowhere near enough to process butter made from Eight-Colored Unicorn milk.

Perhaps noticing her disappointment, MakeAnythingForYou added defensively,

“Craftsmen require Intelligence more than Strength.”

“Oh……”

Baek Seol scratched her cheek and nodded.

Still, she might be able to ask her to process Fresh Yeast from time to time.

Since she would be directly operating the Processing Workbench, she would probably be thrilled to do it.

‘I have other things to take care of right now, so I’ll ask her later.’

She had already shown her the workbench, and she didn’t particularly need to ask her to operate it right now.

It seemed like it was about time for her to leave.

But MakeAnythingForYou was still hovering around the workbench as though she had no intention of going anywhere.

And so, an hour passed.

‘I really need to send her home now.’

She probably needed to rest too.

Baek Seol already had plenty of things to do.

She glanced toward the door, preparing to send her on her way.

Perhaps sensing Baek Seol’s intentions, MakeAnythingForYou, who had been staring only at the workbench until then, suddenly spoke.

“The weather is really nice today. Don’t you think? Just like this workbench.”

“It was raining today.”

“Ah.”

“……”

MakeAnythingForYou’s eyes spun around before she opened her mouth again.

“The bread tastes very good. You could probably sell it. Though you absolutely cannot sell this workbench.”

“You haven’t even tried my bread yet. And I’m already selling it.”

“Ah.”

“……”

Was that sweat trickling down the back of MakeAnythingForYou’s neck?

Or was Baek Seol imagining it?

Baek Seol sighed and opened her mouth.

“It’s getting late, so you should probably start……”

“Oh! Come to think of it, have you heard the news? About the owner of the 100,000 sugar beets?”

“……What?”

The owner of 100,000 sugar beets?

Baek Seol’s eyes wavered.

Then, astonishingly, MakeAnythingForYou looked slightly excited as she continued.

“Oh. You haven’t heard? The theory about the 100,000 sugar beet army. There was actually an article saying someone plans to create an army of 100,000 sugar beet zombies and attack the Blue House.”

An army of 100,000 sugar beet zombies……?

What on earth had been written in that article?