Dungeon Bakery Chapter 44

“Huff, huff. Neigh!”

A long tail swished energetically right before her eyes.

Whoosh, whoosh.

It was so powerful and fast that it stirred the air around it.

Baek Seol stared at the dog…… no, the Eight-Colored Unicorn before her with an exhausted expression.

Does this thing…… not get tired?

She had already been doing this with the Eight-Colored Unicorn for two hours.

Perhaps displeased that Baek Seol was just staring blankly at it, the Eight-Colored Unicorn let out a whining sound.

Baek Seol quickly snapped back to reality and hurled the Centaur’s Horn she was holding in one hand as hard as she could.

“Go fetch!”

The Centaur’s Horn, which she threw with considerable force, flew far into the distance.

The Eight-Colored Unicorn hopped excitedly in place before shooting off like an arrow.

“I never thought the Centaur’s Horn would end up being used as a toy for an Eight-Colored Unicorn.”

“Hmm……. Neither did I, ppi. I think I finally understand why Centaurs hate Eight-Colored Unicorns, ppi.”

Lucy nodded from where he was perched on Gu-chil’s heart-shaped antenna. Gu-chil was dozing off, and Lucy looked sleepy too.

Baek Seol scratched the back of her head.

The gifts from the Black Rabbit and Black Elephant—the Carrot of Eternity and Centaur’s Horn—had fortunately been effective on the Eight-Colored Unicorn.

No.

They had been too effective.

I’m definitely going to have sore muscles tomorrow. One hundred percent.

Baek Seol muttered inwardly as she patted her aching shoulders.

The moment she held the two items out to the Eight-Colored Unicorn, it had initially lunged straight for the Carrot of Eternity.

Then it gnawed and sucked on it frantically as though it had discovered an oasis in the middle of a desert.

She had even thought it would disappear soon because the unicorn was chewing on it, but……

The item description is ridiculously accurate.

True to its description as a “carrot of eternity,” the carrot hadn’t changed shape at all, no matter how much the Eight-Colored Unicorn bit, sucked, and chewed it.

The carrot is for keeping the Eight-Colored Unicorn in one place…….

The Eight-Colored Unicorn was completely obsessed with the carrot.

Even while playing with Baek Seol, hearts would practically pop out of its eyes before it rushed back toward the carrot.

Thanks to that, even though the five-minute time limit of the Whistle skill had long since passed, it remained glued to Baek Seol’s side.

The Centaur’s Horn must be for increasing Affinity.

The Eight-Colored Unicorn came hopping toward her with the branch clenched in its mouth.

As it approached Baek Seol, a message she had now become familiar with appeared.

<System: Affinity with the Eight-Colored Unicorn has increased by 5. Current Affinity: 100>

At last, its Affinity had reached 100.

The maximum.

Baek Seol’s face lit up.

Finally…….

She had no idea how high the Affinity needed to be before she could use the items on the Eight-Colored Unicorn, so she had aimed for the maximum value first.

Safety first.

“Good. Well done, Pal.”

“Hee-hing!”

The Eight-Colored Unicorn placed the Centaur’s Horn at Baek Seol’s feet, then happily shook its head while snorting.

Then it raised its backside and swished its tail back and forth, as though demanding that she throw the horn again.

“Wait, wait. Pal. That’s enough for today. Let’s play again next time. But I think I need to do this now……. Is that okay?”

“Hee-hing…….”

Baek Seol had arbitrarily named the Eight-Colored Unicorn Pal, and she quickly took the Powder Duster, Milking Machine, and Comb out of her inventory.

Perhaps realizing that the game was over when the Centaur’s Horn disappeared, Pal looked disappointed.

However, while Baek Seol used the Powder Duster, it obediently stayed still without moving.

It didn’t even give her the sullen look it had last time.

<System: Using the Powder Duster.>

Her hand began moving automatically, gently dusting the Powder Duster over the Eight-Colored Unicorn’s body.

Then another system window appeared.

<System: You have obtained Eight-Colored Unicorn’s Sparkling Powder.>

When Baek Seol checked her inventory, the Eight-Colored Unicorn’s Sparkling Powder had been placed inside a box.

She had wondered if she needed to bring a separate container to collect it, but fortunately, the system seemed to have this much flexibility.

After using the Powder Duster several more times, she took out the Milking Machine.

“Puh-hing.”

Pal made a slightly displeased sound, but obediently gave her its milk.

She also collected a little of its mane with the Comb.

Baek Seol gently stroked Pal’s cheek.

“Thank you, Pal. I won’t forget this favor.”

“Hee-hing.”

Pal rubbed its cheek against Baek Seol’s hand as though it were pleased.

After all that playing with Baek Seol, Pal had finally calmed down from its excitement.

Even from up close, it was truly beautiful.

Baek Seol smiled as she gazed into its eyes, which sparkled like a lake.

Pal stuck out its tongue slightly.

“Ah. That tickles.”

“Puh-hing.”

Pal immediately licked her cheek.

Unable to hold back the laughter bubbling out of her at the ticklish sensation, Baek Seol burst into giggles.

Hearing her laughter, Pal happily wagged its tail.

At first, she had thought it was simply bad-tempered.

But now that she knew it better, it was actually incredibly affectionate.

Baek Seol stroked Pal’s cheek once more, playing with it, when a system window appeared.

This time, it had nothing to do with Affinity.

<System: Congratulations! You have completed the achievement ‘Become Best Friends with the Eight-Colored Unicorn.’ New items will be added to the Shop as a reward.>

Oh.

New items?

Baek Seol checked the Shop.

Sure enough, there were several new items she had never seen before.

“This is……”

“Hoho. Looks like you can ride that Eight-Colored Unicorn now, ppi.”

Just as Lucy said, a set of equipment required for riding the Eight-Colored Unicorn had been added to the Shop.

Perhaps because Baek Seol had named it Pal, the system had named the set ‘Pal’s ♡’ as well.

The system really wasn’t very good at naming things.

Despite being a set, it wasn’t particularly expensive either.

Baek Seol immediately purchased it.

Several items neatly stacked themselves inside her inventory.

A saddle, reins, and other equipment.

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

Pal even bent its knees slightly, as though inviting Baek Seol to put the saddle on it, but she shook her head.

“No, Pal. I have something I need to do today. Maybe next time?”

There was also a small bell in her inventory.

Its name was ‘Pal, Come Here.’

It was obviously a bell meant to summon Pal.

If so, she wouldn’t need to wait for the Whistle skill’s cooldown anymore.

This is incredibly lucky.

Baek Seol smiled brightly and lightly patted Pal’s thick neck.

“I’ll call you soon, Pal, so make sure you come out, okay?”

“Hee-hing.”

Just thinking that the most expensive ingredients she needed had been taken care of made her feel like she could fly.

Of course, there was still one very important matter left.

And that was this.

[Seo Doha: I’m almost there. See you soon.]

After checking the message, Baek Seol hurriedly said goodbye to Pal and Gu-chil before heading back to the bakery.

Once she arrived, Baek Seol roughly organized her inventory and quickly washed herself.

She was drenched in sweat from playing with Pal.

“Phew. All ready.”

She turned the sign on the door for human customers to OPEN and let out a long breath.

She had managed to finish preparing with only a little time to spare before their appointment.

Seo Doha arrived exactly on time.

Ding.

The bakery door opened, and he walked inside while adjusting his @-shaped glasses.

“Hello, Senior.”

“Welcome.”

Seo Doha naturally took a seat and began elegantly tearing apart the white bread Baek Seol had given him with both hands.

He already looked so comfortable that it was as though the bakery were his own living room.

He had messaged her yesterday asking if he could visit again, and she had eagerly told him to come.

Following Oh Juk-heon’s advice, she planned to offer Seo Doha a part-time job.

I don’t want to get involved with Seo Doha.

But she had no choice.

She absolutely had to operate the Processing Workbench to complete the quest.

And to operate the Processing Workbench, she needed someone with ridiculously high stats.

There was no one more suitable than Seo Doha.

……I wonder if Seo Doha has ever had a part-time job before?

Probably not.

He was already obscenely wealthy.

There would be no reason for him to work part-time.

Baek Seol remembered the reply she had received on the Suggestion Board the previous evening.

The response to the post she had submitted using the I Have a Suggestion skill had taken a little while.

[Suggestion accepted. The employment conditions for part-time workers have been changed to ‘Negotiable.’]

Fortunately, no strange quest had appeared afterward like last time.

As expected, it seems those extreme penalties are only attached to things that could trigger a Forced Quest.

There hadn’t been any particular penalty when she changed the design of the system window last time, either.

Thank goodness.

Anyway, thanks to the system accepting her suggestion, the Part-Time Worker tab had changed slightly.

[Part-Time Worker Information]

Name: Seo Doha
Class: ??? (EX-rank)
Title: ???
HP: ????/???? Stamina: ????/????
Strength: ??? Intelligence: ??? Agility: ??? Luck: ???
———————————————————————
Hourly Wage: 100,000,000 Points
(Employment conditions can be negotiated with the part-time worker.)

There was now a note beneath the hourly wage stating that the employment conditions could be negotiated with the part-time worker.

“Senior? Is there something you wanted to say?”

Oh my God.

Did EX-rank Hunters have eyes in the backs of their heads?

Baek Seol, who had been standing behind Seo Doha and staring intently at the back of his head, flinched.

Then she gave an awkward smile and casually asked,

“Uh, um. Junior, have you ever had a part-time job before?”

Seo Doha slowly tilted his head to the side.

“……A part-time job?”

He looked upward for a moment, as though trying to recall something.

Then he looked at Baek Seol and said,

“I think I may have.”

“You think……?”

“Yes.”

How does someone not know whether they’ve had a part-time job before?

Baek Seol slowly blinked.

There was something strange about Seo Doha.

He tapped his long fingers slowly against the table while staring at her.

It was almost as though he were waiting for something from her.