Dungeon Bakery – Chapter 43

Author: isuzuuy

“I can’t do it.”

The answer was far too firm.

Baek Seol was hurt by that decisiveness.

Ugh. That hurts.

“Ugh……. I see. Your daughter said it would be difficult too. Then I suppose there’s no way.”

“If she said that, then there’s probably no one who can add such an option to this workbench.”

With that, Oh Juk-heon began going on about the greatness of the Processing Workbench.

Apparently, it was such an incredible and extraordinary machine that even adding a single option required sophisticated techniques and considerable stats.

The longer he talked, the darker Baek Seol’s expression became.

“The stats required seem to be different for each material you process, right?”

Noticing her gloomy expression, Oh Juk-heon casually asked.

Baek Seol nodded in agreement.

“Yes. But the materials I need right now require stats that are nowhere near what I have. It’s a big problem.”

“Hmmm. May I take a look?”

“Uh…… yes.”

Maybe there’s another way.

Baek Seol followed Oh Juk-heon to the kitchen with a little hope.

And then she was disappointed.

“There’s nothing more that can be done about it. The options that the girl added are already the best this workbench can have.”

“I see…….”

“An option that prevents the system window from appearing for the user……. But why did you add an option like this?”

Baek Seol flinched.

“Ah……. As you know, there are people who don’t know that I’m an Awakened one. So, in case I ever had to ask someone to use the workbench for me……”

“Aha. So you were planning to ask someone with a higher Strength stat than you while hiding your identity?”

Oh Juk-heon immediately hit the nail on the head.

“For example, Hunter Seo Doha, who is ranked number one? His stats would be far higher than yours.”

“What?”

At the sudden mention of Seo Doha’s name, Baek Seol made a choking sound.

Oh Juk-heon still didn’t know that Baek Seol knew Seo Doha’s true identity.

So Baek Seol had to put on her most innocent expression.

Oh Juk-heon narrowed his eyes and stared straight at her.

“Hmmm. You don’t have to force yourself to make such a face. I had already guessed.”

“W-What did I do……?”

For some reason, a chill ran down her spine.

Oh Juk-heon grinned and slowly stroked his beard.

“You knew that Seo Doha, the graduate-school junior you mentioned, and Hunter Seo Doha are the same person, didn’t you?”

“…….”

“Don’t even think about wriggling your way out of it. Your eyes have already told me I’m right.”

Oh Juk-heon chuckled, and somehow his expression looked incredibly smug.

Baek Seol unconsciously clenched her fists.

When did he figure it out?

“It was after the three of us happened to meet last time. If the two of you had originally known each other from graduate school, you would have mentioned him to me at least once. Something like how amazing it was, or asking how we knew each other.”

“…….”

“But you never mentioned him at all. Almost as if you were deliberately avoiding the subject. Yes. Almost as if you had already figured out the relationship between him and me.”

At this point, Baek Seol felt as though she had become the suspect in a detective novel.

The atmosphere was so perfect that she wouldn’t have been surprised if Oh Juk-heon suddenly said, Aha! The culprit is you!

“So I thought that perhaps you already knew Seo Doha’s true identity. I won’t ask how you found out. I don’t think that’s something I need to know.”

Is this the part where I’m supposed to say thank you?

Baek Seol pondered for a moment.

Then she scratched the back of her head and casually said,

“Yes. You’re right. I know. But what were you going to do if I hadn’t known that the Seo Doha I knew was that Seo Doha? He seems to really hate other people knowing his identity.”

Oh Juk-heon scratched the back of his head with an Ah, right expression.

“Th-That’s true. He does seem reluctant to let his identity be revealed. But I was right, wasn’t I?”

Apparently, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Baek Seol let out a small sigh before speaking.

“Please keep it a secret from Seo Doha. That I know his identity. If he finds out that I know when he doesn’t want me to……”

“Ahem! Understood.”

The answer came instantly.

Baek Seol asked with an unconvinced expression,

“Really?”

“Of course. Absolutely. In exchange, you keep it a secret that I sounded you out like this. From Seo Doha.”

It seemed even Grandpa Oh was wary of Seo Doha.

Well, that made sense.

He was someone who went to great lengths to hide his identity.

“Okay. I’ll keep it a secret too.”

Oh Juk-heon shifted his gaze slightly before continuing.

“Ahem. I only sounded you out because I didn’t want there to be any secrets between us. I genuinely wanted to help you. You want to use this workbench to make those difficult materials, don’t you? Through Seo Doha.”

“That’s true…….”

“Then why not simply ask him? You said you’re graduate-school seniors and juniors.”

Baek Seol let out a deep sigh.

“I was going to ask him. But there’s a restriction.”

“A restriction?”

“Um……. Yes. Well……. A new Part-Time Worker tab appeared, but the hourly wage was absolutely outrageous.”

“……?”

Oh Juk-heon looked utterly confused.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Aren’t all Hunters’ systems the same? I thought everything except their skills was the same even if their classes differed. Is there even a Part-Time Worker tab?”

As he spoke, he looked around at the empty air, as though he were checking his own system window.

Seeing this, Baek Seol realized something.

Come to think of it, the system said it was configured according to me.

Perhaps the system window Baek Seol saw was different from those of other Awakened ones.

And it seemed Oh Juk-heon had never encountered such a case before.

Then it’s probably better not to tell him about this.

Baek Seol corrected herself.

“No, it’s not that……. It just feels wrong to make him work for free. I should give him something, right? As you know, he’s the number-one Hunter. I feel like I’ll be asking him for favors fairly often. So, since I was going to be asking him anyway, I thought, well, I could bring him on as a p-part-time worker……”

“Hahaha. You want to employ Seo Doha as a part-time worker?”

Oh Juk-heon burst out laughing as though he found the idea utterly ridiculous.

Well, even Baek Seol had to admit the idea was outrageous.

Hiring the number-one Hunter, an EX-rank Hunter at that, as a part-time worker.

Damn it. But it wasn’t my idea.

If someone else wanted to use the Processing Workbench, she had no choice but to hire them as a part-time worker.

Oh Juk-heon laughed for quite some time before finally calming down.

“Ahem. Well, perhaps that would actually be better for him. It would give him a legitimate reason. Then why don’t you offer him a part-time job?”

“……To the number-one Hunter?”

“Yes. Isn’t that what you just said? Since you’ve already thought of it, just hire him as a part-time worker.”

“The hourly wage……”

“Did Seo Doha agree to that hourly wage?”

Baek Seol blinked.

Seo Doha’s agreement?

“Agreement?”

“Yes. I mean, is that something you discussed with him? He may not want money as payment for his time.”

“That…….”

She hadn’t actually discussed it with Seo Doha.

The system had unilaterally determined Seo Doha’s value.

But since it was the system that had calculated it, Baek Seol had assumed it would be perfectly accurate.

She was simply paying him what he was worth, after all.

So of course Seo Doha would agree.

“Why don’t you talk to him about it? Directly.”

“…….”

With that, Oh Juk-heon carefully tucked the red bean buns Baek Seol had wrapped for him into his arms and left the bakery.

Left alone, Baek Seol opened the Part-Time Worker tab and stared blankly at the window.

[Part-Time Worker Information]

Name: Seo Doha
Class: ??? (EX-rank)
Title: ???
HP: ????/???? Stamina: ????/????
Strength: ??? Intelligence: ??? Agility: ??? Luck: ???
———————————————————————-
Hourly Wage: 100,000,000 Points

The hourly wage was a restriction imposed on her by the system.

The system probably refused to stand by and watch her use someone as ridiculously overpowered as Seo Doha for free.

But what Oh Juk-heon had said also made sense.

What if Seo Doha himself doesn’t want an hourly wage?

Could I hire him as a part-time worker then?

She suddenly remembered how she had sent Seo Doha away before even properly making the offer.

Baek Seol stared at the Part-Time Worker window for a while before tapping the [Hire] button beside Seo Doha’s name.

A system window appeared.

<System: You do not have enough points to hire Seo Doha as a part-time worker.>

But before she could do that, it seemed she needed to fix the system first.

She needed a way to negotiate with a part-time worker.

Baek Seol thought about it for a moment, then swallowed hard and muttered,

“Use the I Have a Suggestion skill.”

She was reluctant after suffering so much during the Forced Quest last time, but the suggestion she was about to make wouldn’t generate a Forced Quest.

So it should be fine.

***

“Today’s the day, ppi.”

“Yes. Today’s the day.”

Baek Seol answered Lucy’s solemn words in a firm voice.

She was holding a black carrot and a tree branch in both hands.

“Okay. Let’s go, Lucy.”

“Ppi.”

Baek Seol opened the door leading to the dungeon with determination and headed inside with Lucy.

Today marked exactly seven days since she had summoned the Eight-Colored Unicorn last time.

Baek Seol glanced at her skill window.

Five minutes remained on the cooldown.